1. A Sandbox In The Desert More about Jesus Seminar #14 - Guide To see the 26 Video seminars complete links list, visit http://nfltrashtalk.com/peaceful-resources/ Camping in the desert for 40 years isn't my idea of a good time! Carefully analyzing the basic principles shows that all of the elements of the Christian life can be found in the Sanctuary services. 2. The alter of burnt offering and the laver filled with water are the two items found in the outer courtyard. The alter is where the lamb was sacrificed & Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, John 1:29 & He was sacrificed for our sins. When we accept His sacrifice (symbolized by the Lamb) for our sins, then we experience the good news of justification. Justification means that our sins are forgiven & we stand before God as though we had never sinned! The Laver represents baptism & the washing away of sins, just like Paul was told to do after his conversion. Now all of the elements of the daily Christian life are displayed in the next compartment of the temple. The first of the two compartments has a table with Bread on it. The Bread of Life, also refers to Jesus. 3. This represents Bible study which is where we find Jesus, the Bread of life. Next is the alter of incense which represents our prayers to God and you see that this is covering our communication with God in, our daily, ongoing, growing relationship with Him, and so it is certainly appropriate that it would be happening right next to the most Holy Place where God is. 4. And finally we have the lamp stand representing Christian witness, sharing the good news of Salvation. Letting your light shine. So here we have in this room the three tangible items of the every day life that keeps us in touch with God! The three legs of the stool! Now, when we move into the most holy place, we find the Ark of the Covenant. 5. The Ark contained the 10 Commandments which represent obedience, so not only are the people of God justified, but then through the continuing daily relationship with God they are brought into obedience to His will. This is not a command but a promise & a privilege. Read it this way, If you love Me [you will be able to] keep My commandments. The role of the High Priest was very important as He was the only one who could enable our obedience or obtain our forgiveness through His ministering in the Temple before God! 6. It is important to understand that we don't WAIT until we are in need, to come before the throne of grace, but we are already there day by day obtaining mercy whenever the need for help comes along. We need to have an ongoing daily relationship with God before we start asking for special favors. You need to have money in the bank to write a check, or the check will bounce. So, in the Sanctuary plan we have God teaching us the major elements needed for the successful Christian experience. Then once a year they had what was called the Day of Atonement, or also called 'the cleansing' of the sanctuary. When the High Priest went into the most Holy Place once a year it represented the judgment. This is the time when the children of Israel all took a long hard look at their lives over the year & made sure that they had confessed all of their sins. It was a solemn day of judgment. 7. Two goats were selected on this day. One representing Christ was sacrificed for the penalty of sin, while the other representing satan had the sins of the people placed upon his head and he was lead into the wilderness never to be heard from again. This represents that day when sin will, once and for all, be placed upon the originator of sin, satan, the devil, the evil one, and it will be done away with eternally. That is a great promise right there. So now we get into the judgment that takes place prior to the second coming of Jesus. This is all covered in a parable that Jesus told that include both of the aspects of Justification & Sanctification. Some people have argued about the different merits of Justification & Sanctification & Glorification, and from all that someone ended up writing a parable (The mud puddle kid.) that Morris tells here at the 14:30 mark of the video. The parable Jesus told is found in Matt 22:2-14 Mt 22:2 "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 "and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 "Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are 8. killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding."' 5 "But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 "And the rest seized his servants [The Prophets of old], treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7 "But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 'Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' 10 "So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 "So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. 13 "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 "For many are called, but few are chosen." This parable I believe was Jesus saying that the Israelite's were the original invited guests who chose to ignore the invitation to the wedding and killed the prophets (messengers), and so then the invitation was sent to the rest of the world. The invitation to the wedding represents justification, & it's because of Christ sacrifice on the cross that everyone can now be invited to the wedding. So, now the wedding was filled with guests, but the King noticed a bit of a problem with one of the guests. 9. One of the guests wasn't wearing the wedding garment that the King sent for him to wear. Well, what an insult to the King and His Son for anyone to refuse the garment that was sent! This is representative of the end time when we all must chose to put on the wedding garment or to have no excuse, like the guest who was speechless. It's clear that the wedding garment is sanctification, and that is why there is no excuse. Speechless! The Wedding Garment (Sanctification) represents a transformation of life. The invitation is the offer of forgiveness (Justification) through the sacrifice of The Son. The righteous acts or deeds of the saints? Now this isn't talking about righteousness for us it is talking about righteousness IN US. It's talking about what we do? Then we have this warning... 10. So is the garment a requirement for salvation? Absolutely, but like everything else it's a free gift bought and paid for by the Son of God. We must accept it and chose to wear it but, it is provided by the power of God working in us. Surrender is the greatest battle ever fought. We are sinners, and always will be, and only in that acknowledgment do we have safety. It is only through our surrender of our will to God knowing that without His power we are helpless to do any good thing, that we may be conquers through Jesus Christ's life that He lived for us. Surrender doesn't mean giving up our sins. It means giving up on the idea that we can do anything about our sins. Surrender is giving up on ourselves, self-surrender. WE, do not give up our sins, nor do WE work on our sins! The story about a student named Charlie is at the 36:00 minute mark. Charlie couldn't understand the class instructions on Righteousness by faith but was experiencing it working daily in his own life. All he needed to do was to continue to give up on himself and let God do it for him, and he would continue to see the victories being played out in his life. Thank God that the invitation and the robe are both free! There are just 2 responses that can be given to the King regarding His 11. invitation. #1 To the King of kings & Lord of lords, I have received your urgent invitation to be present at the marriage of Your Son. Please have me excused as I'm going to be too busy to attend, or #2 To the King of kings & Lord of lords, I have received your urgent invitation to be present at the marriage of Your Son. By God's Grace I will be there, and Thank You for the beautiful robe. To see the 26 Video seminars complete links list, visit http://nfltrashtalk.com/peaceful-resources/ Now for the bonus material: The Visual Bible - The Gospel Of Matthew You'll find more of these in the side bar. 'The Visual Bible' is the best.