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HopeLives365

Secrets from the Ancient Sanctuary

Mark Finley

01 How Will God Solve the Greatest Problem in the Universe

Inviting you to come with me on a journey a journey to the ancient Sanctuary has anybody ever said to you in your life How's your day going and you've said to them?

Mean like sit down for an hour, and I'll tell you man if I got problems.

Have you ever sensed though too that God has a problem?

Have you ever said to God in those evening meetings as you've knelt before Him, God, how's your day going?

And if you were careful enough to listen, God would say to you, you know, you may have some problems, but I've got problems too.

As challenging as crime is, as difficult as it is to feel insecure when somebody has broken into your home.

You know, when we lived in England in St.

Albans, we once had a robber break into our home when we were gone.

You feel that that is your private space.

But yet God's greatest problem isn't crime.

God's greatest problem isn't broken homes.

As challenging as divorce is, and as much as that brings pain to the individual who's gone through that, that's not God's greatest problem.

God's greatest problem isn't disease, although you can see the sorrow and the tears in a man's eyes as he senses his wife is dying of cancer, or as a woman sits by the side of her husband that's dying of heart disease, who's had a heart attack and is dying.

God's greatest problem isn't war, although war is such a horrible thing, and often it's women and children that suffer in war.

But you might be saying, what indeed is God's greatest problem?

God's greatest problem certainly isn't hunger, although His heart bleeds and He weeps over every child that's crying out for food, but that's not God's greatest problem.

God's greatest problem isn't even world terrorism.

What is the problem that weighs greatest on God's heart that if you could solve that 1 problem, you'd solve every other problem in the world.

The greatest problem in the universe is the sin problem.

Now you might think that is simplistic to say.

But when you really consider it, and you consider the sin problem until the problem of sin is finally and fully solved, all other human problems will continue.

That unless you solve that sin problem, the problem of crime, the problem of broken homes, the problem of disease, the problem of heartache, the problem of suffering and death.

What is the ultimate solution to the sin problem?

If you go back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned, immediately after they sinned, God said to them, offer a sacrifice.

Why did God have Adam and Eve offer a sacrifice at the gates of the garden?

The scripture says the wages of sin is death.

And so sin brings forth death and God wanted to reveal the horrible nature of sin to Adam and Eve.

Since sin separates us from God, God must have a plan to deal with sin forever, to reestablish harmony, peace, and joy in the universe.

As Israel was led out of Egypt, previous to that time, human beings offered sacrifices to God as they have sinned.

Those sacrifices were to reveal the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ.

But as Israel was led out of Egyptian bondage, God then said to Moses that he was to build a sanctuary, and only God can solve the sin problem, and he reveals his plan to deal with sin in the ancient sanctuary.

So as we walk through the sanctuary together, as we travel together, we're going to see a God that's great, a God that's huge, a God that has 1 desire, and that God's desire is to solve the sin problem.

In Psalm 77 verse 13, can you read it with me please from the screen?

You have declared your strength among the peoples.

You have with your arm redeemed your people.

First, God's way is, where's God's way everybody?

Second thing about the text, He's a God that does what?

As you're watching around the world, you're going to sense in your life the Spirit of God.

You may be watching in a living room, you may be watching with a small group in a church.

God's gonna touch you, and he's gonna move in your life in powerful ways.

You'll sense freedom from anxiety, and freedom from guilt.

You'll sense a new power in your life, and you'll sense how God is going to deal with the sin problem in the universe.

So notice he's a God that does wonders and it says you've declared your strength among the people you have with your arm redeemed your people.

So the whole purpose of the sanctuary is to reveal God's plan to get us out of this earth of sin, suffering, and sorrow.

There must be something more than famine in this world.

There must be something more than heartache and sorrow and tears and disappointment.

There must be something more than a dark hole in the ground, in the grave, and a long night without a morning.

And God's sanctuary reveals in very practical terms how God's going to end this problem of sin in the universe.

Have you ever wondered why wickedness prevails at times?

And have you ever thought, why is it at times that the righteous seem to suffer and the wicked seem to triumph.

If you've wondered about that, you are not alone.

In Psalm 73 verse 17, David talks about the suffering in the world, And he talks about the wickedness that's in the world.

And David says this, when I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me.

It was too painful to think of children being killed in war.

It was too painful for me to think about the famine in the world.

It was too painful for me to think about the wickedness and the triumph of evil.

David says, when I thought about how to understand this, that this is the wickedness, the sorrow, the heartache, it was too painful for me until.

David says, I was, it was too painful to me until Until I went into the sanctuary of our God Then I understood therein when David by faith entered into the sanctuary He found their refuge he found their security he found their peace in the sanctuary.

When David entered into that sanctuary, he saw God's plan for dealing with sin, and he saw the end of evil and the end of wickedness.

That's why we're reading together Exodus 25 verse 8.

You see, sin had separated human beings from God, and sin had brought that great chasm.

And God said, I want you to make me a sanctuary.

And there, I want to come and dwell among my people.

I want to reveal my love to them in the sanctuary.

Every aspect of the sanctuary reveals God's love.

Every aspect of the sanctuary reveals God's care and God's goodness.

Now, it was God that gave the workmen both the wisdom and skill to build the sanctuary.

We're going to look at all those ornaments in the sanctuary.

We're going to look at each aspect of the furniture in the sanctuary and its construction and see how that touches us in our personal lives.

It was God that gave the workmen the wisdom and the skill to build the sanctuary.

They would not have the skill naturally to weave those fine linens.

They wouldn't have the skill to weave that multi-colored tapestry of purple and gold.

02 Let God Break Your Heart

Barbara Mackel was a student at Emory University there in Atlanta, and she had become sick with the flu, and so her mother came to pick her up early and was going to take her home.

As they were staying in a roadway hotel in Duluth, Georgia, a knock came on the door.

And as Barbara opened the door, the people on the other end said, we're the police, and 1 of Barbara's friends has been in a very terrible accident.

As they entered that small hotel room, they chloroformed Barbara's mother.

She passed out instantly, and Barbara was taken, kidnapped.

And as she was kidnapped, in fact, 1 newspaper put it this way, kidnapping with Daytona ties gripped the nation 50 years ago, was actually 50 years after the event happened.

Barbara was the 20-year-old daughter of a millionaire real estate developer in Florida.

The kidnappers put Barbara in the trunk of the car and They sped her away to a very distant site in the woods of Georgia.

Once they were there, they took Barbara, who was from Miami, and they placed her in a pine box that had a battery-powered fan.

It had some water with some sedatives in it, and it had a little bit of food.

Barbara was buried in the hills of Georgia, and she actually survived 83 hours in that pine box.

The kidnappers sent a message to her parents, and they said, if you will send us $500, 000, we will then give you a map and let you know where Barbara is hiding.

Now the first attempt to pay off these kidnappers failed, but the authorities found the car, and in that car there was a photo of Barbara with a sign on her that said, kidnapped.

They began to search frantically, and eventually a switchboard operator took a message from those kidnappers, and the ransom money was provided, and Barbara was found alive.

It was an absolutely amazing journey for her.

The ransom was paid, the girl was found, a glorious reunion took place in the Mackell family that holiday season.

Do you think Barbara woke up 1 day after her release wondering, I wonder, does my father love me?

You think Barbara woke up 1 morning and was raising that question.

Now let me ask you another question though.

Let's suppose somebody kidnapped you, and let's suppose a ransom note came.

Would somebody pay the equivalent of 3.6 million dollars for you?

Would they actually pay a ransom price so expensive for you?

Somebody said, no, Pastor Mark, I don't think so.

Maybe they might pay 5 bucks to get me back, maybe 10 dollars, you know, maybe twenty-five dollars, but nobody would pay that much money for me.

A ransom of infinite price was paid for you.

A ransom that was much, much more than $3.6 million.

The ransom of Christ on Calvary is spoken about in 1 Peter 1, verse 18 and 19.

Can you read it with me, please, from the screen?

"'For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot or blemish.

His sacrifice for you was much more than a ransom that was worth 3.6 million dollars.

The precious Son of God left the glories and splendor of heaven.

He faced the enemy on the enemy's ground.

And as He overcame, He overcame for you and for me.

And with nails driven through his hands and a crown of thorns placed upon his head and blood dropping from his brow and spurting from his hands and pouring from his feet, the divine Son of God, This Christ worshipped by all the angels, this Christ at whose very word angels sang holy, holy, holy.

This Jesus who existed from eternity with the Father.

This Christ hung on a cross called Calvary and died on a mountain called Golgotha.

Our planet was caught in the grip of sin, condemned to eternal death, kidnapped by a devilish invader.

But heaven provided the costliest ransom imaginable, the divine Son of God.

There was nothing more that heaven could have done.

There was nothing more that heaven could have provided.

Do you think you were worth what Jesus paid for you?

Somebody said, no, pastor, I'm not worth it.

If you were not worth it, then he got cheated.

If you were not worth the price he paid, then he got cheated.

You are worth a lot more than you'll ever recognize.

You are worth a lot more than you ever know.

To heaven, there's nothing that heaven would have done that could have been done to save you.

Jesus believes that you are worth every drop of blood He shed for you.

That's why the price He paid was so high.

The message of the sanctuary is a message of love beyond comprehension.

The message of the sanctuary is the message of a Christ who in miniature and shadow form reveals to you and me the price, the worth that we have.

The point of salvation, as revealed in the sanctuary, foreshadows Christ's sacrifice for sin.

In His high priestly ministry in heaven's sanctuary which provides both ransom and reunion.

The purpose of the ransom is for a reunion.

Have you ever put anything on layaway plan?

Now, when we were growing up, I remember I was a college student, and I learned that my wife needed a winter coat, and I wanted to impress her because we were just dating at the time.

Now as a college student, I didn't have the money to buy that winter coat that she needed.

But I did have 5 dollars, so I remember going down to J.C.

Now you say you weren't very extravagant to buy a coat in JCPenney's Look, I was a college student That was all the money I had so went down and I was so proud went down to JCPenney's and I said I'm gonna Put that coat on layaway.

I did it about 5 months ahead of time, gave them 5 dollars.

Next month took a little bit of savings, had a little more, 7 dollars, 50 cents.

By the end of those 5 months, I had that coat paid for.

Now let me ask you this, if I paid for the coat, you think I was going to go pick it up?

If I paid for that coat, you think I was going to leave it there for somebody else to get?

When Christ hung on Calvary, He paid a ransom for you, and that's why He's coming back.

Because you are too valuable not to take home.

Where there is a ransom, there must be a reunion.

That's what Jesus' high priestly ministry is all about in Heaven's Sanctuary.

Jesus is the Lamb that dies, but Jesus is the priest that lives.

Jesus died for us, but Jesus lives for us.

Jesus' death in His life is doing everything He can because He wants 1 thing.

He wants to say, welcome home my child 1 day.

He wants to put His arms around you in love 1 day.

And that is the message of the sanctuary.

1 Peter chapter 3 verse 18 says, Christ has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.

So there Christ, the sinless 1, must take the sinner's place.

The righteous 1 must take the place of the unrighteous.

The just must take the place of the unjust.

Here, Christ, the sinless 1, takes our place.

From the day that man fell, God sought to reveal His wonderful plan.

03 What Is Jesus Doing Right Now?

A number of years ago, in fact in 1965, I was a student missionary on the Amazon River, and we spent the entire summer, 3 months, on a mission launch traveling up and down the Amazon.

The Amazon is the second longest river in the world.

The Nile is the longest river, but the Amazon drains more water than any other river in the world.

It winds its way through the jungles of… starting up in the mountains actually of Peru and Colombia, winding its way through the jungles of Brazil, coming down to the mouth of the Amazon, which is 110 miles wide at the very mouth of the Amazon.

We spent the summer there traveling on the Lucero 6, which was a mission launch, and traveling to villages, providing medical care, and preaching in the evenings.

Now, it was on the Amazon that I learned to pull teeth.

I watched the dentist pull teeth on a number of occasions, and we had… didn't have any Novocain or anesthesia in those days, any dental people here tonight.

And we took the people up and put them on a little stool, and I'd sit them down, and I watched the dentist do this for a number of extractions, and I'd sit people down on a little stool and put their head on my lap.

I knew 2 Portuguese words at that time, obra and fecha.

And I remember the first lady that I pulled her teeth.

She opened her mouth and every tooth was black.

And I looked around and I said, now which ones do I pull?

So I said, this 1 looks worse, I pulled it and then pulled the second and a third, called my colleague, the dentist, over to look and he just smiled and said, Mark, you just pulled 3 wrong teeth.

But you know the amazing thing about the Amazon River is this, as the Amazon winds its way down through the mountains, as it winds its way down to the northern part of Brazil in the city of Manaus, it is joined by the Rio Negro.

Now the Amazon is quite muddy, it's quite dirty, but the Rio Negro is black and silky black, and this is 1 of the wonders of the world.

These 2 mighty streams come together, the muddy Amazon and the silky black Rio Negro, and they flow together for 4 miles.

And as you fly over this, you look down and you see this amazing natural wonder that thousands of tourists come to see these 2 mighty streams, these 2 mighty rivers flowing together.

We've been studying 2 great rivers of truth in this series.

Jesus of the sanctuary is the dying Lamb, and Jesus is the living Priest.

He is the Christ that died for us and the Christ that lives for us.

He is the Jesus that hung on the cross for us and the Jesus that intercedes in the sanctuary above for us.

He is the Jesus that wore the crown of thorns and the Jesus that wears the crown of glory.

Jesus is our dying Lamb and Jesus is our living priest.

The book of Hebrews in the New Testament is the singular book in the Bible that focuses on Jesus as our living priest.

And as we dig into the theme of Christ's priesthood tonight, we're going to take a new look at this book of Hebrews and discover the majesty of Christ.

The theme of the book of Hebrews is Jesus is better.

The sacrifice of Christ is better than the sacrifice of bulls, goats, and lambs.

The priesthood of Christ in heaven is better than any priesthood on earth, and the tabernacle in heaven is better than any earthly tabernacle.

If you understand what I have just said, it will save you from a thousand heresies.

There is no amount of works that can save us.

No matter how many times you and I come to God with our good works, they are insufficient because the Bible says, by grace are you saved through faith.

But second, the Bible says in 1 Timothy 2 verse 5, there is 1 mediator between God and man, and who is he?

Do we need to kneel before an earthly priest.

But here's something that many evangelical Christians are going to be deceived over.

They are looking for a new temple to be built in Jerusalem.

We are not looking for a temple on earth, but we're looking to the temple in heaven because it's the temple in heaven where Christ dwells.

It's there where His high priestly ministry is.

Jesus, that great high priest, stands before the universe for you and for me.

Now, the basic question is this, what is Jesus' work in the heavenly sanctuary?

And how does the ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary powerfully impact my life today?

What difference does Jesus' ministry in the heavenly sanctuary have for a woman who is so depressed she doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning?

What impact does Jesus' ministry in the heavenly sanctuary have on a teenager that's lying on the railroad tracks and wants to commit suicide?

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Series

Secrets from the Ancient Sanctuary

05 Millions are Looking at the Wrong Temple

Transcript

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