SWYC 2015: Christ Our Righteousness

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GYC Southwest

Plenary Meetings

Keala Thompson

Why Can’t We Forgive

I've been realizing that there's such a great need today for forgiveness.

And as I've been pastoring and going to different places, I realized that many people today are longing for peace in their hearts.

But they can never have it unless they first have full and complete forgiveness for those who have hurt them in the past.

I've heard it many times people say, you know, I want to forgive but I just cannot.

Or he didn't say, you know, It's just too painful for me to even think about forgiveness.

They've hurt me so much in the gossip, in the lies, in my family, in what my parents did, and my children.

I felt it's such a great need in today's world for the power of forgiveness.

In fact, in order to heal from our past wounds, we must first forgive.

For forgiving others is critical to both our physical and emotional well-being.

In fact, the people who don't forgive, sooner or later, they become very bitter in life.

In fact, they are never truly set free from their abusers, as everything in their lives, both consciously and unconsciously, revolves around those who have hurt them and abused them in their lives.

You know there is a true story of a woman who went to counseling.

And as she went to see this counselor, in the first session she was saying to the counselor about her mother.

And she started talking about her mother, you know, my mother, she did this, and my mother did that, and my Mother, this happened with me and my mother and she was very bitter.

You know, my mother did this and my mother did that and very angry and a lot of unforgiveness and bitterness in her heart.

Then the next session, she goes, you know, my mom did this and my mom did that.

And the next session, my mom did this and my mom did that.

And the next day my mom did this and my mom did that.

And finally the counselor was kind of sick and tired and said, look, what you need to do is you need to go to your mother, You go to your mom and you know, in fact, this cut all ties and this hell, I'm no longer going to see you.

You need to stop this and unless you stop your action, in fact, you probably need to move far away because this bitterness is killing you.

Not only your relationships in your life with those whom you love, but also your physical health.

This unforgiveness and you need to just get away from her and move far away as possible you can from her.

The lady was looking down and kind of looked up in shock and surprise at what he said.

And she said this, Oh I'm sorry, I guess I didn't tell you that my mom's been dead for 5 years.

It links you to those people who wounded and hurt you.

And that person may not even be living anymore.

That pain and the hurt they cause you is still like a chain of unforgiveness.

And you may not consciously, you may be hurting those people who are innocent all around you by the abuse and pain and hurt that you received from your past.

And many times it's subconsciously you're actually hurting those whom you love the most.

And that's why God wants us to break those chains, and God wants us to set us free.

Because Jesus came to set the captives free, and he wanna set us free tonight.

So we're gonna be studying forgiveness, and that's the power of forgiveness.

As we journey through forgiveness, may God give us a revelation of His forgiving love.

Father, as your word is open, help us to understand it and may you speak.

Matthew chapter 6 verse 12, how are we truly forgiven?

The Bible says here, the Bible says, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Now, how many heard it from people saying, look, God's not going to forgive you unless you forgive that person.

Okay, you guys have seen that, heard that before, right?

In other words, you have to forgive that person, right?

You just need to because if you don't forgive that person, God's not going to, what?

Now, it may be a play on words in the beginning, but I want you to pay close attention as we go through this study.

Now it's true from Matthew 6 verse 15 that God doesn't forgive us if we don't forgive.

But I want you to know that, in other words, you are not forgiven because you forgive others.

In other words, God doesn't forgive you because you forgive someone else.

Matthew 6, verse 12 says, as we forgive, right?

Notice what it says here in inspiration from Christ's object lessons, page 251.

By the way, I love this theme this weekend, Christ our righteousness.

The righteousness by faith message has been dear to my heart for 20 years and I love this message.

So if you look at this, not only says here from Christ's observations, it's a parable and it's talking about here it says we are not forgiven, what?

Because we forgive, the spirit of prophecy says.

Now when I first read this I didn't understand what it was saying.

And so tonight as we're going to go through this and go through a parable I hope that it comes to light and actually You see Christ's righteousness in a different way.

And that will actually give you the power to forgive.

So as we forgive others, God forgives us.

The Bible says, and be kind to 1 another, tender hearted, what does it say?

In other words, God has only asked you to forgive others only because, even as, He has already forgiven you.

In other words, it doesn't start with you.

Like, I need to forgive first, and because I forgive, God then next forgives me.

Norman McNulty

Revelation’s Sanctuary Theme

Our Father in heaven, we thank you so much for your goodness to us.

We thank you that we can still come and worship in freedom.

And I pray that you would speak through me this morning.

Give me a message that will be what each 1 of us needs to hear.

And may Christ be lifted up is my prayer in Jesus' name.

The title for my Sabbath school message this morning, and it's going to be a Bible study, is entitled Revelation's Sanctuary Theme.

Before I get into some of my slides here, you know, at Seventh-day Adventist, we have a very special, unique message.

We have a message that we should not be ashamed of.

We have a message that God has given to us to take to the world.

And when I look at the world that we are living in now, undoubtedly our message has become more relevant than ever.

Now is the time for us as Seventh-day Adventists to be challenging our fellow church members and friends to study this message as never before, to accept this message and to incorporate this message so that we can go forth to meet the Bridegroom because Jesus is coming soon.

And when we study the Bible, when we study the book of Revelation, we find that the sanctuary message that we hold very dear as Seventh-day Adventists is found very clearly in this book.

So I'm going to get into my slides now, and I believe that you can see them over here on this side, hopefully the projector on this side will start working at some point.

I'm going to start with a quote from Testimonies to Ministers page 116.

�Those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God will bring from the books of Daniel and Revelation, truth that is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

They will start into action forces that cannot be repressed.

Now when I read that statement, the statement says those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God.

In other words, you have a living relationship with Jesus.

So if you have a living relationship with Jesus, you're not going to be saying, you know, we need to stop talking about Daniel and Revelation so much.

If you have a living relationship with Jesus, inspiration tells us that we will bring from the books of Daniel and Revelation truth that is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And I want to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God, amen?

And I want to be part of a movement that starts into action forces that cannot be repressed.

If you want to be part of Earth's final movement to usher in the Second Coming, study the books of Daniel and Revelation.

As we start to look more at the sanctuary, I want to talk about the sanctuary in the 2300 days of the Great Controversy, 423.

The subject of the sanctuary was the key which unlocked the mystery of the disappointment of 1844.

And I notice this, it opened a view, a complete system of truth, connected and harmonious, showing that God's hand had directed the great Advent movement and revealing present duty as it brought to light the position and work of His people.

Friends, if you want to understand the Adventist message, you understand it on the basis of the sanctuary message.

The sanctuary message is a message that is a complete system of truth that is connected and harmonious.

And what we're going to see today is that the book of Revelation is actually a study through the sanctuary.

And this is 1 of my favorite statements that Elamite has about the sanctuary.

And over the next 3 slides we're going to look at this statement.

Here it says, The great plan of redemption, as revealed in the closing work of these last days, should receive close examination.

The scenes connected with the sanctuary above should make such an impression upon the minds and hearts of all that they may be able to impress others.

All need to become more intelligent in regard to the work of the atonement which is going on in the sanctuary above." Now notice, you should have such a connection with God that as you study the sanctuary message, that it makes such an impression upon your mind and your heart that you would impress others with the importance of this message.

And she says all need to become more intelligent.

That includes every 1 of you here today, including me.

All need to become more intelligent in regard to the work of the atonement which is going on in the sanctuary above.

And when you understand the sanctuary message, you'll understand that the atonement wasn't finished at the cross.

It's going on in the sanctuary above even now.

When this grand truth is seen and understood, those who hold it will work in harmony with Christ to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God and their efforts will be successful.

Notice this, when you understand the grand truth of the sanctuary message and how it relates to the plan of salvation.

When you hold to it and accept it, you will work in harmony with Christ.

You know, there's all sorts of ideas of ministry out there in the world.

And yet, inspiration tells us if you want to work in harmony with Christ, to prepare people to stand in the day of God, understand the sanctuary message.

And Not only that, the promise comes with it that our efforts will be successful.

And then she closes by saying, By study, contemplation, and prayer, God's people will be elevated above common earthly thoughts and feelings and will be brought into harmony with Christ and his great work of cleansing the sanctuary above from the sins of the people.

Right now in heaven above, Christ is working to cleanse the sanctuary from the sins of the people.

And I believe that at a weekend like this, this is a time of special opportunity where God can do a work in each of our hearts to cleanse us, to prepare us for the coming of Jesus.

And I hope that as we go from this camp meeting, this retreat this weekend, that we will not go back the way we came.

Now, we are going to look today at the sanctuary in Revelation.

And when we look at the sanctuary in Revelation, we have a basic understanding when we look at the diagram from the Old Testament of the outer courtyard and the holy place and the most holy place and the various articles of furniture in the courtyard, holy place, most holy place, and we may have a basic understanding of what each of these articles represent.

Now as I've been studying the book of Revelation over the last few years, it's been fascinating to me to see just how detailed the sanctuary message is described in the book of Revelation as it relates to the work of Jesus in the sanctuary above.

That if you really look at the big picture of Revelation, the sanctuary message is right there in front of you.

And I want to say this as I get into the big picture, as we start to look at the outline of the book of Revelation and of the sanctuary message in Revelation.

There are a variety of interesting interpretations when you come to the 7 churches, the 7 seals and the 7 trumpets.

And I would submit to you as we start our study through the sanctuary message in the book of Revelation, that if you get lost in the weeds of the trumpets before you understand the big picture of what Jesus is doing through the church of seals and trumpets as part of the sanctuary message, most likely you're going to have a bad interpretation.

So you want to understand the big picture first and then you can dig down into the details.

That should be a basic concept, but sometimes we get lost in the woods and we don't look at the big picture first.

So we're going to look at this big picture and we're going to see that we can find Jesus at every article of furniture that is outlined in the sanctuary, the altar of sacrifice, the 7 candlesticks, the table of showbread, the altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant.

Let's start off in the courtyard and we have in Revelation 5, verses 5 and 6, I'm going to invite you to turn there, looking at the courtyard.

In Revelation 5, verses 5 and 6, I'm going to invite you to turn there, looking at the courtyard.

In Revelation 5, verses 5 and 6, we read, 5 And 1 of the elders saith unto me, Weep not, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the 7 seals thereof.

And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the 4 beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a what?

A lamb, as it had been slain, having 7 horns and 7 eyes, which are the 7 spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth." Here we see in verse 6 especially Jesus as the Lamb who had been slain.

So we're in the courtyard at the altar of sacrifice.

And in Revelation 13 verse 8, the very familiar verse that says Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

And this reminds us of what the Apostle John said in John 129, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

So here we see courtyard language and of Jesus' sacrifice.

And here is the important point, that without the sacrifice of Jesus, without His death on the cross, the rest of the sanctuary cannot take place.

And we heard a beautiful message last night from Pastor Thompson on the power of forgiveness.

If you weren't here last night, go back and listen to it.

That is the beginning of the sanctuary message.

Jesus and His death and His love and his forgiveness that he is offering to each 1 of us.

Interestingly though in the book of Revelation, when you go to Revelation chapter 11 verses 1 and 2, looking at Revelation chapter 11 verses 1 and 2 we read, And there was given me a reed like unto a rod, and the angel stood saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot 40 and 2 months." Now the 42 months, that's talking about the 1260 days or the 1260 years of papal persecution and the holy city refers to spiritual Jerusalem which represents God's people who were persecuted in the wilderness during this period of time.

But interestingly, by the time you get to the Dark Ages, which is 538 to 1798, certainly by then, inspiration is telling us Jesus is no longer in the courtyard.

That's not the place to find him anymore.

And so it's telling you go to the altar and them which worship therein and we're going to see the significance of that as we go forward.

So it says, "...measure not, that is the times of the Gentiles." So interestingly, most of Christianity has stayed in the courtyard.

Now the cross is beautiful, the cross is powerful and we exalt the cross, we uplift the cross and that remains the heart of our message as Adventists, but we don't stop there.

And many Christians stop at the cross and they haven't followed Jesus all the way through the book of Revelation.

So we're going to keep following Jesus through the book of Revelation.

We're going to follow Jesus now into the holy place.

Now when we look at the holy place, we see that there are 3 articles of furniture here.

And we see the 7 candlesticks, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense.

Now here is what's very interesting, and I'm gonna give you a bit of a preview and then we're going to move forward.

Each 1 of these articles of furniture is seen as a prelude or a preview before entering into 1 of the 3 sevens in the first half of the book of Revelation.

The 7 churches, the 7 seals, and the 7 trumpets.

Now what you're going to see as we study this morning is that the 7 churches, the 7 seals and the 7 trumpets are actually a very key component to the sanctuary message in the book of Revelation.

Sometimes we just study the 7 churches and we'll come away and say, oh wow, now I understand Thyatira so much better.

Doug Batchelor

Humble and Proud Of It

Our theme this week is Christ our righteousness.

And my effort this morning is going to be talking about Christ our humility.

My sermon title in particular would be humble and proud of it.

The theme of pride and humility is a very important subject for us.

And let me have 1 more prayer with you as we proceed.

Father in heaven, we do thank you for this beautiful place and that you've brought your people together here for the Sabbath morning.

You've promised that when we come together in your name to be in our midst, please be here, Lord, and especially as I delve on a subject dealing with the issues of both pride and humility, things that are polar opposites, things that we all struggle with.

I pray that the vehicle through which you communicate will be lost today and Christ will be seen and that we'll all be transformed through your spirit to be more like him.

And it's the handle to which the devil can attach every other sin.

And right there in the middle, sin is all about I.

If you turn, you can see where this problem first appeared.

If you look in Revelation chapter 14, Revelation 14.12, How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning.

How you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations.

For you said in your heart." Oh, did I say Isaiah?

I know the pastor checked on us last night.

Now Revelation 12 is also a good chapter but I'm getting ahead of myself.

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

How you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations!

For you have said in your heart, notice, I will ascend into the heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides in the north.

You know, you can't get to the end of east and west.

They go on forever, but there is a place you can go towards the North Pole and you get to the top, the zenith.

The devil was looking for the zenith position.

I will also sit in the farthest, the highest part of the north.

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

Yet you'll be brought down to Sheol, to the grave, to the lowest parts of the pit.

The devil, someone said, had eye problems.

And we've won, all of us have been eyed by pride.

Jesus died because we've been eyed by pride.

It was pride that nailed Jesus to the cross.

You can see this theme entirely through the scriptures, dealing with the devil and the issue of pride.

Someone said that pride is the devil's dragnet in which he catches the most fish.

The spirit of the world is 1 of selfishness, which manifests itself in pride.

The spirit of heaven is love, the very opposite of that is the devil, and it's the spirit of selfishness and pride.

Pride is the epitome, it is the main manifestation of selfishness, And it's 1 that I wrestle with all the time.

What was it that brought down Nebuchadnezzar?

You remember the story, he had that dream of a great tree that filled the whole earth and fed the whole earth and all the earth and the creatures and the people found shade in its branches and food from its fruits, and he wondered what it meant.

And when the wise men of Babylon couldn't tell him, finally Daniel was called.

They always called Daniel and Joseph last to figure out what these dreams mean.

God has given you a great position of influence, but you are taking the glory upon yourself and you're that tree that's going to be cut down.

But after you've been humbled, after 7 times passes over you, you'll be restored.

And the king didn't want that to happen, and Daniel said, well, I've got some advice for you.

Break off your sins by righteousness, showing mercy to the poor.

It might be a lengthening of your tranquility.

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A Study of Zacchaeus

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