HSS_2022_Q1_EP09

♪ 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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