♪ theme music ♪
(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,
an in-depth, interactive study
of the Word of God.
We're in the middle of an amazing series,
The Message to the Hebrews and also to us.
Our topic today is vitally important,
Jesus, the Perfect Sacrifice.
I'm just praying that as we study together,
if you've not accepted Jesus as your Savior,
you'll do it today,
because He is the perfect atonement
for the sin of the world.
Welcome to Hope Sabbath School.
Good to see the team, glad you're here.
Yup, great to be together.
You can tell I'm excited today
for a couple of reasons.
One is that one of our team, Brittany,
is going to be teaching today.
Brittany, looking forward to you sharing
the Word of God with us.
And we've also got
some remote team members,
always happy to see them.
Rodney, good to see you again
from Toronto, glad you're here.
Shaina, good to see you from Maine,
glad you're with us
for Hope Sabbath School today.
And Travis from Michigan,
Travis, good to have you with us.
You know, that technology
allows us to connect together,
but we're glad that you're here, too,
because we've got
Hope Sabbath School members,
we know of, at least, in over 200 countries.
Someone told me there aren't 200 countries in the world,
but there are.
There are just more than the ones
recognized by the U.N.
We know our app, Hope Channel app
(if you don't have it,
download it on your smartphone),
is used in more than 200 countries
around the world; people are watching Hope Sabbath School.
We're glad you're part of our family.
This one is from Jennifer in Australia.
Jennifer writes and says,
"We're in Sydney; my 89-year-old mother
has many health problems
that have kept her
from attending Sabbath School
at her local church
for the past few years.
Since COVID-19 and restrictions
have been worse, we're able
to watch Hope Sabbath School
each week - what a blessing."
(Team) Amen!
(Derek) "Mum often says
she can understand things better
with your discussions
than just studying by herself."
How old was she again? 89.
Never too old to learn.
"We miss seeing the large panel,
but we're so grateful
that you are able to continue,
even with pandemic restrictions.
Thank you for your continued service.
God bless your ministry, each one."
Well, Jennifer, thanks for writing
to us from Australia.
We're glad; give our greetings
to your 89-year-old mother.
Here's a note from a Nepali.
I looked it up; is it Nepalese or Nepali?
I think it's both, but Nepali
is what they prefer.
...From Nepal, living in Australia.
Everybody's moving to Australia.
"Hello Hope Sabbath School family!"
(Team) Hello!
(Derek) "My name is Pawan,
originally from Nepal,
now a citizen of Australia
in the beautiful city
of Wollongong, New South Wales.
I came to know about Hope Sabbath School
back in 2011," that's a long time ago,
"and I watch every Friday evening
with my wife, Manju,
and with my children
Neeron and Sahana,
especially if I have to teach
the next day at church.
Every participant there is so encouraging.
I always have some takeaway
from your discussion to share
with my Bible study group the next morning.
I pray for all of you,
that your mission will continue,
to spread the Word of God
to the rest of the world.
Oh, and a very special wave to Jason."
Jason, could you give
a wave to Pawan there.
And you know, it's just so wonderful,
isn't it, that God is reaching people
in so many parts of the world.
Well, here's a regular old note.
We get these every once in a while,
hand-written from a donor couple in California.
I just want to say thank you
to each one, but you know who you are
when I read your note.
"Dear Hope Sabbath School family,
during the pandemic,
we've been watching online,
and we've been blessed.
Thank you so much.
May God bless you.
We hope this donation will help
with the ministry of Hope Sabbath School,"
and a donation of 600 dollars to help
the ministry of Hope Sabbath School.
I want to say thank you, California,
but I want to say thank you to each donor.
Someone just asked me yesterday,
is Hope Sabbath School
a donor-supported ministry?
The answer is yes.
We can all be part
of the great miracle of God.
Just go to hopetv.org/donate,
and you can make a secure donation.
Or, go to our website,
click on that donate button.
Thanks for being part
of the great miracle that God is doing.
Well, Ajah writes from Nigeria,
A-j-a-h, "Ah-JAH," or "Ah-HA,"
depends what the language is, right?
"I praise God for the Hope Sabbath School team," writes Ajah.
"You've been a blessing to me.
Frankly speaking, you've been
instruments of inspiration to me,
especially now that I've been taken
far away from my local church
to a place where there are
no Adventist believers.
Every Sabbath I listen
to Hope Sabbath School online,
sometimes with a friend of mine,
who, though not a church member, loves
to listen to the Bible study with me!"
(Team) Praise God.
(Derek) Hallelujah,
that's being a missionary, right, Harold?
"May God bless you all
with the wisdom for the work. Amen."
Well, Ajah, thanks, not only for being
part of our family,
thanks for being a missionary
there in your part of Nigeria.
One last note, from Joan in Northern Ireland.
Joan writes and says, "Hello,
Hope Sabbath School team."
(Team) Hello.
(Derek) Joan gets the wave.
"I just wanted to say a little message
of encouragement to you all,
to let you know how truly blessed I've been,
first by finding Hope Sabbath School,
and I've been truly blessed
to study alongside with you.
It's so nice to listen to the way
each lesson you bring out some points
I've never thought of myself.
How much more God has blessed me
through Hope Sabbath School.
May God continue to bless you all
as you serve Him faithfully.
Your sister in Christ."
Well, Joan, we're glad we have
Hope Sabbath School members
in Northern Ireland.
Right now we need your help.
We need you to sing
our theme song with us; it's taken
from a 3,000-year-old Scripture song.
Psalm 103, "Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all that is within me,
bless His holy name!"
Let's sing together.
(Derek) I'm looking forward to the study today,
and, Brittany, as you lead,
I'm just thinking it really is holy ground
as we talk about Jesus
and what He's done to save us.
So, lead us in prayer
as we begin our study today.
(Brittany) Let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we just want
to thank You so much
that we can call You our Father,
and it´s only because of what Jesus has done for us.
We thank You, Jesus, that You came
and You were that perfect Sacrifice
and that You are continuing
Your work for us in Heaven,
interceding on our behalf.
And we just ask for Your Holy Spirit
to be our Guide and our Teacher.
You promised before You left this earth, Jesus,
that You would give us the gift
of the Holy Spirit,
and so we're asking today
as we open Your Word,
that Your Holy Spirit would illuminate
our hearts and our minds,
and that You would just guide us
as we study, that each one of us
would draw closer to Jesus,
and if anyone has not accepted Jesus as their Savior,
that they would make that decision today.
In Your precious name
we pray, Jesus. Amen.
(Derek, Team) Amen.
(Brittany) Well, have any of you
ever been looking for the perfect gift for a loved one?
Maybe their birthday is coming up,
maybe you just want to show them
how much they mean to you,
and you're just thinking
about their favorite color
or their favorite clothing
or their favorite food
or whatever it may be,
and you're just searching,
"What can I give them
to show them how much I love them?"
Well, today we get to study
about Jesus, the Perfect Sacrifice,
and we can think about Him
as the perfect gift as well,
the greatest gift that was ever given to mankind.
And so, as we get started together
in our study about Jesus,
we're going to look
at some of the Old Testament sacrifices
and what they meant
to Israel and to us today.
And I'm going to ask Rod to start us off.
We're going to go to Hebrews,
chapter 10, Hebrews, chapter 10,
and we're going to read
verses 1 through 4.
And once we get there, Rod,
would you read that for us?
(Rod) Certainly, Hebrews,
chapter 10, verses 1 to 4,
and I'll be reading
from the King James Version:
(Brittany) Thank you, Rod.
So, the question for the team,
if it's not possible for the blood
of bulls and goats to take away sins,
then what was the purpose?
Why did God instruct the people -
God's the One who gave them that system,
right, to make these sacrifices -
why, what was the purpose
of that ceremonial system? Yes, Pedro.
(Pedro) Well, we see
that the sacrificial system pointed to Jesus,
so it was by faith that the Lamb of God
will come and die for their sins in the future.
The same way we have the same faith
to look backwards and see
that Jesus has done,
and has died for us, 2,000 years ago.
(Brittany) That's right, so God was trying to teach them
the plan of salvation, right,
through this sacrificial system.
Shaina, did you have
something to add to that?
(Shaina) Yes, as it says in verse 3,
those sacrifices are a reminder of sins,
and so, every time we have
to sacrifice these animals,
we're reminded of not only what was going to come
through Jesus' ultimate sacrifice
or through the Messiah's ultimate sacrifice,
but I'm reminded that it's because of sin
and because of the pain
and the anguish of sin,
these animals have to die,
or there has to be blood shed
in order for my sin to be forgiven.
(Brittany) So, a reminder
of the penalty of what sin costs.
Yes, Travis, you want
to add to that as well?
(Travis) So, there is something
that struck me, too, in these verses,
and one of the things was
it says it's not possible for the blood
of bulls and goats to take away sin.
And as I was contemplating that,
and I'd heard somewhere else
the same ideas, that the thing
that bulls and goats have
in relation to human beings
is that they're created.
And I thought, "Wow, there's
a deep underlying beautiful message in here,
and that's that I can't save myself either."
Back in the Pagan times,
they would sacrifice children
and these kind of things to appease a god,
but God gave Himself.
And that's what this is pointing to,
is that God gave Himself,
and we can't save ourselves,
even if we would sacrifice
a human or any, it doesn't qualify.
Jesus came and gave Himself for humanity.
(Brittany) Most important point,
we can't save ourselves.
And the lambs and the goats
were all pointing forward to Jesus,
that perfect sacrifice.
Now, as we continue in our study,
we want to look at some of the sacrifices,
because there were many different types
in the ceremonial system,
and each of them was teaching a lesson.
And so, let's just review
the book of Leviticus.
The first few chapters of Leviticus
give us a description of each type
of sacrifice that God gave
for His people to perform.
And we're just kind of going to do
a review of some of those sacrifices
and see what was the point.
What was God trying to teach them,
and what can we learn from that today?
So, as we review some of the sacrifices,
can anyone think of one
of the types of sacrifices?
Any one type of sacrifice come to mind? Yes, Jason.
(Jason) There was what was called
the burnt offering, and that was
the sacrifice that would happen there
every day in the courtyard
at the altar of sacrifice.
And that specifically was an example
of Jesus Himself, the Savior,
the Lamb of God, who would take away
the sin of the world.
So, that was very specific
as a representation of salvation.
And that's the first sacrifice
actually listed in the book of Leviticus here.
(Brittany) Thank you, Jason,
so the burnt offering.
And something that I found interesting
when I was studying
about the burnt offering
is that the whole animal was consumed.
And in some of the other sacrifices,
parts of the animal were burned, and parts
of them the priests actually ate.
And this one, the whole thing was consumed,
and what that points forward to in Jesus
is that He gave His whole life.
He didn't just give a body part.
Like today, we can be organ donors, right?
If something happened to us,
we can donate our organs
to save someone else's life.
But Jesus gave His whole life for us.
And what a beautiful illustration
of that in the burnt offering.
And we find that in Leviticus, chapter 1.
Any other offerings come to mind? Yes, Rod.
(Rod) So, in chapter 2,
there is the grain offering,
or in my Bible it says the meat offering,
that "meat" is just being
a generic term for "food."
But the grain offering would have been
an offering, not to forgive sin,
because there was no shedding of blood,
so that becomes important to understand,
especially when you just read
back in Genesis when you see
that one brother's sacrifice is accepted
and another's is not, you know.
(Brittany) So, the grain offering,
and what was the grain offering given for?
There was a purpose
for that grain offering.
No shedding of blood, like Rod mentioned.
Pedro, did you want to add to that?
(Pedro) It was an offering of gratitude,
something of a blessing,
a child given or a family celebration.
That's the time you come
and celebrate, and you want God
to be part of that celebration with you.
(Brittany) That's right.
And in each one of these sacrifices,
we're going to see Jesus represented in a different part
of His ministry for us.
And as I was studying into this,
I learned that this offering
of grain or of bread,
sometimes they would make
unleavened bread and offer that,
it was a representation
of Jesus' sinless life
that He lived for us.
Because no blood was shed,
it wasn't representing His sacrifice,
but it was representing His perfect life
that He lived on our behalf.
And what a beautiful picture of Jesus.
Any other sacrifices come to mind?
We've talked about the burnt offering,
the offering of the grain.
Any other ones come to mind in Leviticus?
Rodney, can you think of an offering
that we haven't mentioned yet?
(Rodney) Yes, there is one that is called
a peace or fellowship offering; that's another one.
We find that in Leviticus,
chapter 3, specifically.
(Brittany) And anyone can explain
what does that mean?
What's the significance
of this peace offering? Yes, Jason.
(Jason) I'm going to take a stab at it.
I may not be correct, but I think it has something to do
with the relationship
that God has with us,
and this offering is an example
of that relationship.
In this case it was
thought of more social,
but in a larger context,
it's more the relationship
that God has with man.
(Brittany) Yeah, and even in that offering
part of it was for the priest to eat,
and part of it was consumed.
So, we see the relationship
between God's part and man's part,
so that's beautiful to see that as well, yes.
And then we also have mentioned this sin offering
or purification offering.
That's probably the one
we're most familiar with.
We often hear about lambs
being slain, right, and the reason
was because of sin.
Can anyone tell us a little bit
about the sin offering that was given?
Harold, would you explain
that one to us a little bit?
(Harold) Yeah, and actually,
it's found in Leviticus, chapter 4.
And just quickly looking at it,
the interesting thing, it says if a person
sins unintentionally or through error,
they would actually offer this sin offering.
And it's interesting that it doesn't say,
like, willful, if it was willful.
So, I wonder, it's like, eventually,
they will understand that it was willful,
but maybe through the Holy Spirit
they get that understanding.
(Brittany) That's a great point.
And something I found interesting,
reading about this sin offering,
the animal was actually burned
outside of the camp.
And if we think about Jesus,
where was He crucified?
Outside of Jerusalem, right?
So, each of these sacrifices
was pointing to Jesus
in one aspect of His death or His life
for us, and so beautifully portrayed.
I'm glad that we don't
have to sacrifice the animals today,
but we can learn a lot
from each of these sacrifices.
There was one more kind of sacrifice
mentioned in Leviticus,
and this one's often called
the trespass offering
or the reparation offering.
Can anyone explain to us
what that offering was all about?
Travis, would you be able
to explain that one to us?
(Travis) Well, as I studied
these different offerings,
Jesus becomes the fulfillment of each of them.
And the guilt offering,
as I was studying it,
seemed to point to Jesus
taking the guilt for us on the cross.
And I could be wrong,
but the different sin offerings
and things offered, each one
pointing to Jesus in a significant way,
but that's the way I saw this offering.
(Brittany) Definitely, so Jesus
takes away our guilt,
not just the penalty of our sin, but He
clears our conscience, right, as well.
Jason, did you have
something to add to that?
(Jason) Sure, and one thing about this,
not that we work out our own salvation,
but there is a recognition
in this sacrifice or this offering
that there is something we've done wrong,
and there is a restitution
that needs to be made.
And so, there is a part of the sacrifice
that actually the person has to add or do,
something specific; I think it was one fifth.
So, there's a point there that when you
have done something wrong,
there's a rule you have
to repay the wrong,
and that was part of the sacrifice.
(Brittany) Yeah...
(Derek) I was just listening to all of this,
and, of course, it's interesting
to hear them all,
and I'm thinking how simple the gospel is.
Everyone who calls upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved.
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) I think the tragedy,
and it can happen even today
with religious services and traditions and rituals,
is that Jesus gets lost.
It could happen in the old system,
that they thought that actually somehow
those sacrifices, "Maybe if we
killed a thousand rams,"
which Micah says, "No, that's
not going to please God," that that is...
But it's all pointing to Messiah.
And I just love the simplicity,
Brittany, of the gospel,
that everyone who calls
upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
And all of these lessons can be learned,
but it's as simple as saying,
"Jesus, will You save me?
Will the work that You accomplished
be applied on my behalf?"
(Brittany) That's right, thank you, Pastor Derek.
Pedro, did you want to add to that?
(Pedro) It's a beautiful thing
to learn this because even today
we have some traditions that we do
that might cause us
to draw ourselves away from God.
But what I'm thinking
is that every sacrifice you administer
to a part of our life, that Jesus can come
and fulfill it is the beauty,
that God can mold and solve
every aspect of our spirituality.
And He's there to connect with us
every step of the way.
(Brittany) Amen. Thank you
for sharing that, Pedro.
One question for the team
that's not here on the outline,
but just thinking about all these sacrifices
that the people would bring,
what kind of sacrifice does God
want from us today?
We don't kill lambs.
We don't, you know, take bread
to the church and burn it,
or those types of things.
But what does God want from us?
What kind of sacrifice
could we offer to Him? Yes, Rod.
(Rod) I think He wants us
to follow in His example
where He gave His life, His time,
His talents in complete submission
to doing His Father's will.
I think that's what He's after today,
not blood or anything like that, or grain.
I think He just wants us to sacrifice
of our time and to be united to His will,
bringing other people into understanding the love of God.
(Brittany) Definitely, so, our time,
definitely our talents, using that for God's glory.
Yes, Sabina, did you want to share?
(Sabina) With your question,
the first verse that came to me
is Hebrews 10,
actually it's from Hebrews 10:5-10,
but most specifically verses 8 and 9.
Can I read that? Yes.
I'm reading from the New King James Version, and it says:
So, I think the key word here
is saying, "Behold, I have
come to do Your will."
So, it's the desire to do God's will and to please Him
and to follow His commandments
and to obey because He loves us
and as a response to our own good also.
(Brittany) Definitely. Yes...
(Derek) And I thought, also,
if I may read a text
from Romans, chapter 12.
When you said what sacrifice,
and it ties in with what Rod said, too,
Romans, chapter 12 and verse 1.
I have the New King James Version of the Bible,
and the Apostle Paul
appealing to Christians,
so these are people who have been saved
by faith in Jesus, right?
The salvation is accomplished, but he says:
Not your reasonable atonement,
not your reasonable payment.
You've been saved by grace
through faith in Jesus, your Savior.
But he says, "I want you to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice,"
which, I think, ties in
with what Rod said.
The way that we live for Christ
is our way of sharing our thanks to Him
and also a witness to others
of what He can do.
(Brittany) That's right.
Thank you, Pastor Derek, beautiful.
And there is much more
we could go into about how do we live
that life that glorifies God.
We could spend a whole lesson on that,
but we want to continue on,
looking at Jesus, our perfect sacrifice,
and He's also our perfect High Priest.
And so, the next part of our lesson,
we're going to look a little bit
at some of the Levitical priests.
And we know that,
unlike the Levitical priests,
Jesus didn't have to offer
a sacrifice for Himself, for His sin,
and then on behalf of the people.
He just offered Himself
on behalf of all of us - why was that?
Why didn't Jesus have to offer
that additional sacrifice? Yes, John.
(John) The priests themselves were sinners,
so they needed to make an atonement
for them and their family before they
make an atonement for the people.
But Jesus was not a sinner.
Jesus lived a perfect life,
and He lived a holy life,
so there was no need
for Him to offer a sacrifice for Himself.
(Brittany) That's right.
Are there any verses
that we could go to that kind of show us
more about Jesus being sinless
and how He was that perfect High Priest and sacrifice.
Sabina, did you have one
you wanted to share?
(Sabina) Yeah, the one verse
that came to mind is Hebrews 7:26
Maybe, shall we read that?
Yeah, so I'll be reading
from the New King James Version, and it says:
(Derek, Brittany) Amen.
(Brittany) So, here we see His perfect life
and His perfect sacrifice exemplified. Yes, Pedro.
(Pedro) I remember 2 Corinthians 6:21.
There it is very blunt...
(Derek) Chapter 5, I think, verse 21.
(Pedro) Yes, 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
(Brittany) Let's go there.
(Pedro) Verse 21, and I'll be reading
from the New King James Version,
2 Corinthians 5:21, and it says:
("For He," mention of Jesus)
We see that He had no sin,
and He came to this world
and died for our sins.
(Brittany) Right, thank you, Pedro.
And, Rodney, would you share with us?
(Rodney) Yes, I'd like for us
to look at 1 Peter 2, verses 21 and 22.
(Brittany) Let's go there together.
(Rodney) First Peter 2,
verses 21 and 22, I'm reading
from the King James Version:
(Brittany) Beautiful, thank you, each,
for sharing those promises
that show us Jesus is our perfect High Priest
and our perfect sacrifice because He's sinless.
He didn't have to offer any sacrifice
on behalf of Himself.
He lived that perfect life on our behalf,
and then He sacrificed Himself
so that we can have hope
of eternal life with Him.
Sabina, you had something you'd like to share with the team.
(Sabina) I think it's very interesting,
at least in my version; it says
that this was the fitting sacrifice
or fitting High Priest for us,
which gives a contrast as to who we are,
really in desperate need of a Savior,
versus who Jesus was,
who was perfect, sinless.
When it says that it is fitting for me,
it's not because I am a good person,
right, that I deserve that.
But it's fitting for me
because I'm so hopeless
that I would need Someone like Jesus
who has all these qualities here.
He not only says holy,
he says holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners,
so He needs to be all those things
to cover up for our sins.
And I just find it beautiful
that it says it is fitting,
and in His love, He comes to us
because we need it.
(Brittany) That's right, so it's fitting
because that's our greatest need.
Yes, Harold, did you want to add to that?
(Harold) But He is also a fitting High Priest
because He also became like one of us.
Because, I mean, as humans, we have
a tendency to point out to people....
Like, we relate more with people
who have gone through our experiences.
Generally, if people who don't experience what we have experienced,
we tend to not listen, like, "You don't know what you're talking about."
I mean, obviously God knows everything. He doesn't have to be a human.
It's like, "I know, I made you; I'm seeing."
But yet, He brought Himself
to the lowest level.
He gave up glory to show us
how much He loves us.
I mean, that is amazing love.
It's like you telling a king,
"Can you become a pauper today?"
Jesus was homeless, and I don't
know anybody who is in a high position
willing to become homeless
in order to relate with each other.
People can see, like, "Oh, wow.
This is so-and-so; I never thought
he would be willing to do this."
But, yeah, He can empathize,
and we can see that.
And we can say "Wow,
if God is able to do this for me,
of course, I'm going to follow Him.
I mean, He loves me so much, why not?"
(Brittany) That's right.
Thank you for sharing, Harold.
Travis, you wanted to share something with our team.
(Travis) Yes, I was just thinking
about the Mount of Transfiguration.
You know, Jesus is being glorified there,
and then Peter steps out,
and he wants to build a house
for Elijah and for Moses,
like almost completely missing the fact
that it was about Jesus.
And then I am thinking
about the priesthood in the same way.
We can exalt a man, right,
Aaron was, or Moses, or whatever kind
of prophet God would send.
But the point, I think,
as Pastor Derek has been pointing out
is that it's about Jesus.
He was the perfect priest,
He was the only One
qualified to do the job,
and He could do it.
And as men, you know, any priests
that would have been there prior,
whoever it was, they would
and did fail over and over.
And so, Jesus, needs to be
the center of the sacrificial system,
and is, in the fulfillment of each thing.
(Brittany) That's right. Thank you, Travis.
Now, another unique thing about Jesus
is He was not sacrificed many times, right?
Every day the priests were
performing these sacrifices
on behalf of the people.
Many thousands and thousands
of animals were slaughtered
over the years, right?
Why was Jesus sacrificed just once?
Why was that the case? Yes, Sabina.
(Sabina) All those animals,
and even as we read, the high priest,
so both the high priest
and the sacrifice, they were imperfect.
So, even if it was pointing
to the perfect One, as we have read
and discussed before,
even if it was speaking
as a shadow of the perfect things to come,
Jesus alone is the One
that can be the perfect High Priest,
sinless, and the perfect sacrifice.
And that's the only sacrifice
that can be enough to cover up
the original sin and for the sins
that we carry, you know,
since the fall of human beings.
(Brittany) That's right Sabina.
And, Rod, can you share with us?
(Rod) I really like what she just said
and just to kind of add to that,
there is no way that these animals
could actually fulfill the Law
the way that Christ's life did.
So, in all of these sacrifices,
what we see is this recurring theme,
is it's drawing attention to the Law,
because it's the transgression of the Law
that's necessitating this sacrifice.
So, it's pointing toward the Law
and the Lawgiver by default
is also the center of the focus.
And the animals can't do that,
but Jesus did do that.
He came here; He fulfilled the Law.
He said, "I didn't come to change the Law; I came to fulfill the Law,"
and that's what He did.
(Brittany) Thank you, Rod. And, John.
(John) I mean, Jesus was
a very unique Person.
He was God; at the same time, He was Man,
and so His sacrifice was sufficient enough
that there was nothing else
that was needed in this entire universe
to help us escape from the penalty of sin.
(Brittany) That's right.
Thank you to each one of you
for explaining that, expounding that to us.
Jesus' sacrifice
was the greatest sacrifice;
all the other ones pointed forward
to the ultimate sacrifice,
and no more sacrifices are needed.
He has already paid the price.
Now, let's look a little bit more
at some verses because sometimes
we celebrate what Jesus did for us
in a service we call
the communion service, right?
And whenever we partake
of the communion service,
we could look at it in two different ways.
And many times, if you look
at many different churches within Christianity,
it is looked at in two different ways.
So, how does Jesus want us
to look at this communion service?
Is it a reenactment of His death
over and over again,
or is it a remembrance
of His sacrifice for us?
Can anyone give us
some enlightenment on that? Yes, Travis.
(Travis) So, the communion service
has become something really special to me,
especially in my studies
of the book of Revelation.
Jesus explains in Revelation 14
that He doesn't want anyone
to receive the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out of this cup;
that's what it talks about.
In the Garden of Gethsemane,
Jesus prays that the cup
might be taken away.
Of course, there's no reply from Heaven
because it was the only way -
He had to drink the cup,
which means that He suffered the wine
of the wrath of God in our place,
and He offers us the cup
of communion in return.
And so, communion has become beautiful to me,
because it's like I get the trade,
the blood of Jesus, for Him taking
the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out full strength.
And I'm thinking that's unfair;
He didn't deserve that,
and what a beautiful thing.
So, to me, communion is special
in the sense that it's an amazing trade
where He gets what He didn't deserve,
and I get what He did deserve.
(Brittany) Beautiful, thank you, Travis.
Shaina, would you like to share with us?
(Shaina) Yes, so in 1 Corinthians 11,
verses 23 to 26, it's recounting that... oh, yes, I can [read it].
(Brittany) First Corinthians.
(Shaina) I'll be reading
from the New King James Version,
1 Corinthians 11, verses 23 to 26:
And so, what I remember,
the word "remember," and He says
to do it "in remembrance of Me,
to remind yourselves
of what I did for you."
And I'm also thinking
back to another verse
where He also says to remember,
and I'm thinking of the fourth commandment
where He says to, "Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
And so, we're not honoring God
by, you know, doing any sacrifices,
but we're remembering Him,
we're honoring Him,
we're obeying His Word
by remembering when we partake
of the communion,
when we celebrate the Sabbath.
(Brittany) Thank you, Shaina,
for those two great points.
Rodney, please share with us.
(Rodney) Just to pick up
from Shaina's point, God was
the One that instructed
the Israelites to look
at the sacrificial system
and to perform the sacrificial system.
And in everything that was there,
it was a pointer to Jesus.
Every article, even the veil
was a representation of the Lamb
that was supposed to come.
And here it is again
in the New Testament.
Jesus is encouraging us
to remember, to do the communion service,
as we call it today,
in remembrance of Him.
And back then, unfortunately,
they missed the point.
They missed the point of seeing Jesus
in the sanctuary system.
And so, if we're not careful,
we can look at all, just like
back in the Israelite time,
we can look at all the form
and how we turn the cup, and the bread,
and where the bread should be placed,
all the form around the service
rather than focusing on Jesus.
Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice
that we should really accept
in our hearts and live today.
So, the encouragement is for all of us
to focus on the reason why
we're having the communion service,
which is all about Jesus.
(Brittany) That's right.
So, just like the Old Testament sacrifices
we're pointing forward to Jesus
and were giving them a little picture
of what He was going to do,
now the communion service
is pointing back to what Jesus did
for those of us living after the fact,
so that we can remember
what He did do, right?
All of it's a reminder
pointing forward to Jesus,
that ultimate sacrifice,
that greatest gift we could ever receive.
Now, we want to continue on in our study,
and we're looking at the greatness
of Christ's sacrifice,
which is a continuation of everything
we've been talking about.
But we want to look at Hebrews, chapter 9.
And I'm going to ask Rodney
to read that for us, in Hebrews,
chapter 9, verses 22 through 28.
(Rodney) Hebrews, chapter 9,
verses 22 to 28, and I'm reading
from the King James Version:
(Brittany) Amen. What a beautiful hope
that we have, right?
Those of us who have accepted that gift,
looking forward to His returning
where we get to see Him in person
and thank Him personally
for what He's done for us, right?
We can thank Him today
when we're talking to Him,
but I don't know what it's going
to be like to see Him in person
and bow before Him and hug Him
or however we're going to react.
It's going to be beautiful.
There are so many passages
that we can look at in Scripture
that show us the greatness of Jesus
and His sacrifice for us.
Can any of you think of a promise
or passage of Scripture
that is meaningful to you that shows you
how great Christ's sacrifice is for us? Pedro.
(Pedro) I am reminded
of one of my favorite verses in the Bible
is 1 Corinthians 1, I'm sorry, 2...
(Brittany) First Corinthians, chapter 2?
(Pedro) Chapter 2, verses 1 to 5,
1 Corinthians 2, verses 1 to 5.
(Brittany) Please read that for us.
(Pedro) Yes, and it says:
Now, when looking to this verse here,
I see the importance of focusing on Jesus.
Verse 2 is my favorite verse there.
It's just to focus on Jesus.
Paul was determined not to know anything
among the people other than Jesus Christ
and Him crucified because Christ
was the center of his life.
He's looking at Jesus and saying,
"He died for me; I want
to die for Him, as well."
(Brittany) Thank you, Pedro, beautiful passage.
Anyone else have a passage
that they would like to share
about the greatness
of Christ's sacrifice? John.
(John) Revelation, chapter 5,
verses 8 through 14,
talk about why Jesus is worthy.
Often the book of Revelation is only seen
as symbols and scary beasts,
but it centers once again
around Jesus and His ministry for us.
So, Revelation, chapter 5,
verses 8 through 14, tell us,
and I'm reading from the English Standard Version:
(Brittany) What a beautiful picture.
That's the greatest worship service
we can ever imagine, right?
Our little worship services
in our little churches or our homes
are just a tiny little picture
of this beautiful, immeasurable worship service
of our King of kings, who died for us, in Heaven.
And one day we'll get
to join them, right, before the throne,
and that will be amazing.
There are so many other passages
that we could look at
that show us the greatness of Jesus
and His sacrifice for us.
And the whole point of it
is because God wants to show us
the immeasurable and unfailing love
that He has for each one of us.
And there's a passage I'd love
for us to read in Romans, chapter 5,
and I'm going to ask Rod
to read that for us in Romans,
chapter 5, verses 6 through 8.
And it's just amazing because we think
about how people will sacrifice
for someone that they love
and someone who's done
kind things for them,
but we're going to see that Jesus
goes above and beyond that call.
Rod, would you read that for us?
(Rod) Romans, chapter 5, and what were the verses?
(Brittany) 6 through 8.
(Rod) 6 to 8, from the King James Version, It says:
(Brittany) What a beautiful picture
of the love of Jesus
for each one of us, right?
Rod, you're part of the military, right?
And you have served your country
in protecting people who are good people,
people who are not good people, right,
but you've been on the call of duty,
and I think of this verse tying in with that.
You know, scarcely for a righteous person
would someone die, but Jesus looked at us
when we were rebelling against Him,
when we were His enemies, and died for us.
And I'm just reminded of how you served
your country so well, and how Jesus
is even a greater example of that.
(Rod) Better example.
(Brittany) Yes, that's right.
Travis, would you like to add to that?
(Travis) This is just a beautiful picture of God's love
for each and every one of us.
And I'm sitting here thinking,
many times I've come across people
who are struggling with sins,
struggling with many things.
And the question is always asked,
"Well, what should I do?"
or, "What can I do?" as if they
have to do something to earn God's favor.
And so, I always tell them,
and I reiterate to myself
when I do tell them,
is that you don't have to earn it;
you already have it.
Jesus loved us while we were still sinners.
You don't ever have to wonder if God loves,
no viewer, myself, any of us,
we don't have to wonder.
God already does love us.
Nothing can separate us
from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus.
And that's a beautiful picture.
(Brittany) That's right; thank you
for sharing that, Travis,
because there are many of us
who are struggling, thinking that we
have to do something
to clean ourselves up first
or make ourselves acceptable before God,
but He says, "No, I already died for you
in your sinful state."
(Derek) And just to add to that,
we already have it if we accept it.
So, you started, Brittany,
at the very beginning of our study
saying maybe someone's watching today,
saying, "I need a Savior."
And the answer is salvation
is available through Jesus,
but we have to accept that gift.
That's the choice we have to make.
(Brittany) And that's the last part
of our lesson together.
What are the consequences
if I choose to reject that gift?
What would happen if I do not accept
that immeasurable, unfailing love of God?
So, let's look at a few verses.
Let's go to Hebrews in chapter 2,
verses 1 through 4, and Shaina,
would you please read that for us,
Hebrews, chapter 2, verses 1 through 4.
(Shaina) Hebrews 2, verses 1 to 4,
and I'll be reading
from the New King James Version:
(Brittany) So, what stands out
to you in that verse?
What would happen if we do not
accept Jesus, the greatest sacrifice? Yes, Harold.
(Harold) Death, I mean,
the wages of sin is death,
and if we want to cling to that,
that is killing us,
in the end, we will cease to exist.
(Brittany) Yes, definitely.
(Derek) And also, Brittany, I think
the onlooking universe,
and sadly, even those of us,
it may be a loved one
who chooses to walk away,
that we will confess, "God, there is
nothing else that You could have done.
You did everything, even miracles,
signs and wonders, to reveal
Your grace and love."
But that person had a choice to make.
(Brittany) That's right, and what I loved
about that passage in Hebrews,
it showed us, it mentioned an escape,
the only way of escape.
And I think about, you know,
we're in this world of sin; it's crumbling.
It's almost like we're
in a burning building,
and there is only one way out.
And Jesus is that escape plan.
He is the only way out,
and He has already done everything
for us to be rescued.
But we just have to hold onto His hand as He leads us
out of this burning building, right?
And he's going to lead us
to a brand new world, and we're not going
to be in another burning building someday. Yes, Rod.
(Rod) You actually bring up a good point.
There is a time coming
where there will be a heat,
where the rocks and the elements
will even melt away.
There is a fire that's coming,
and the only escape
is to be in that city with Jesus.
That's our only chance;
that's our only hope.
And whatever the devil
could possibly offer you
cannot possibly withstand
that kind of power.
You have to choose the only side
that's going to give you salvation,
like Harold said, or you're going to die.
I mean, there is just no other way.
There is no other name that can save you other than Jesus.
(Brittany) Thank you, Rod.
Pedro, did you want to add to that?
(Pedro) Yes, and I see the beauty of God.
God says, "I paid for all your sins."
All of our sins have been paid for.
There is no sin that is not paid at the cross.
And God is saying, "Now,
I'll give you My judgment,
and the judgment is going
to be between choosing life in Me,
or continue in death,
which is the condition that you are in."
So, we have to choose, and God is saying,
"I want you to choose Me."
That's what the judgment is all about,
"Choose Me," "Choose Me," "Choose Me,"
and we come, and we choose Him
because He is a loving Savior.
(Brittany) That's right.
Travis, please share with us.
(Travis) So, in Revelation,
the end of Revelation, chapter 6,
it's describing the coming of Jesus,
and it says, "Who is able to stand?"
The question is asked,
"Who is able to stand?"
You're talking about fire and escape,
and if we continue reading on in 7,
John says, "I looked, and I saw
a multitude of every nation,
tribe and tongue and people,
and they had clothed themselves
with the righteous robe of Jesus Christ."
And I'm sitting here thinking,
we can escape always
when we take Jesus at His Word.
It's not about us; it's about Jesus,
and when we clothe ourselves
with His righteousness,
we will be able to stand,
we will be able to escape.
(Brittany) That's right.
Thank you for reminding us
of that promise in that passage, Travis.
Rodney, please share with us, and then we're going to have to wrap up,
because there's so much more on this topic, go ahead.
(Rodney) I was just following up
on what Rod was saying
a little bit earlier.
In Revelation 20, we're going
to be in one of two spots.
We're going to be in that city descending,
or we'll be around that city
like sands of the sea.
And what Jesus is saying to us is,
"Come to Me; I will save you,
and you will be in that city
if you accept Me.
But if you will not,
if you do not accept Me,
you'll be like the sands of the sea.
And Revelation 20 tells us what happens
to those that are outside of the city.
Essentially fire will consume all of them.
So, we encourage each other
that we will choose Jesus today
and be in that city.
(Derek) And I just want to share that text
that God is not willing
that any should perish,
so that tells me, Brittany, that God
doesn't want anyone outside the city.
People have this distorted view of God
that Satan has propagated or promoted
that God is vengeful.
If God didn't care,
the plan of salvation wouldn't even exist.
But He loves us with an immeasurable and unfailing love.
He wants us to repent
and to get inside the city.
(Brittany) That's right; He wants
to spend eternity with you and me.
That's His ultimate goal,
and that's why He set in motion
this whole plan of salvation, right?
That's why He was willing
to give Himself, the greatest gift,
because He loves us so much.
So, as we wrap up our study,
I just pray for each one of us
that we will accept that gift.
He's holding it out to us.
He's saying, "I gave everything for you.
Please, just accept Me,
and you can live with Me forever."
Would you pray for us, Pastor Derek?
(Derek) Thank you so much, Brittany.
What a powerful study, I just want
to use my favorite Hebrew word.
(Derek, Team) Hallelujah!
(Derek) I don't know about you,
maybe you're watching, I have a loved one
who has rejected Jesus,
and I'm just praying
while there's still time that he will
accept the grace of God.
I'm encouraged by the testimony
of a dying thief, "Lord,
will You remember me when You come
in Your Kingdom?"
You say, "Derek, that's me!
I've been trying to sit on the fence."
I just want to appeal to you today,
while you're hearing
of the immeasurable, unfailing love of God,
to say, "Jesus, save me," "Jesus, save me."
And the amazing and beautiful truth is He will.
He's able to save to the uttermost
all who come to Him in faith.
Let's pray together.
Our Father in Heaven, we have seen again
Your immeasurable and unfailing love.
You've provided all that is needed
for our salvation.
How can we escape if we reject
so great a salvation?
You're not willing that any should perish.
I thank You that even today
someone is saying, "Jesus, save me.
Let the plan be effective for me."
And, God, may we also be courageous
and bold to share that good news,
that others, too, might be with us
inside that heavenly city,
saved by Your grace.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
(Team) Amen.
(Derek) Thanks for joining us for Hope Sabbath School.
We've got good news to share.
Accept what Jesus has done for you,
and then go out and share the good news
with those around you.
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