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Eden Valley SDA Church

The Sanctuary

Frank Fournier

1. Mystery of the House that God Built

I'm happy to be here, but I'm happier that you're here than I'm here.

And if I was here and you weren't here, I wouldn't be so happy.

There's almost 3 quarters of the seats are filled and I'm overjoyed.

Thank you for coming and I hope that we can stay together night by night.

We're going to have meetings for 14, 16 nights, is it 16 nights that we're going to have meetings here Thursdays to Sundays, 4 weeks in a row.

Some of you may have had the opportunity of seeing the Messiah's Mansion, the sanctuary replica that we had put together out there on Highway 25.

And when that happened, and 6, 200 and so many people came to visit this thing, Many people said that they were interested.

They wanted to come and they wanted to see, they wanted to understand more.

We decided since people were interested in knowing more about the sanctuary, then we would organize these little meetings together so that we can delve deeper into the sanctuary.

I am especially grateful for Candy Katsma.

This is 1 of our staff members at Eden Valley.

She's been working feverishly for the last few weeks.

We're going to be studying the sanctuary.

That's what we're going to do for the next few weeks.

We're seeing it from, of course, from the sky here.

And the roof is off the building, so you can see the furniture that's inside.

And as we study through this, We're going to go step by step through the building, trying to understand how God has given us the plan of salvation, not just in the New Testament, but all the way back there in the Old Testament, Even in the wilderness when Moses was existing, the Lord had him build this thing and the Lord illustrated the plan of salvation for humanity.

What's interesting to me is that there are a lot of people, a lot of religions, a lot of denominations who understand to some degree the plan of salvation.

I assume we all understand to some degree the plan of salvation.

And we walk through the sanctuary understanding and saying, well, this is what we understand.

But when we get to this little veil here in the sanctuary, do you know that the sanctuary is as well prophetic as it is symbolic?

And then once you cross this veil, you're crossing into the future or into what God's intentions are for his people.

And I believe with all my heart that this is what a lot of people don't understand about the plan of salvation.

God has specific intentions for his people in the last days.

We find the secrets revealed beyond this veil.

So we're going to work our way to that point.

And after so many meetings, we're going to cross in there.

And I hope we can learn things that we don't know about the plan of salvation, especially what God wants to do in the last days with his people.

Very interesting, very important, and I hope you'll stay with us through that.

Do you mind if we start with a word of prayer?

I'm so grateful for the people that have come.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity for us to study the plan of salvation through the sanctuary together.

We just are totally dependent upon what the Holy Spirit will do.

We need you to bring conviction to our hearts when conviction is what's needed.

We need you to bring comfort to our hearts when comfort is what's needed.

Some of you may or may not be familiar with the Bible.

And so, as I have you turn to texts in the Bible, I will actually call out the page number.

Whatever you understand, listen, I never picked up a Bible until I was 25 years old.

I'd never even had 1 in my hands until I was 25 years old.

So don't be embarrassed if you're not acquainted with it.

And so to make it easier for everyone, I'm going to use the same Bible you're using.

And when I have you turn to a text, I'm going to actually give you the page number so that you know where to go with it.

It says, Mystery of the House that God Built.

Now have you turned in your Bibles to John chapter 4, and that's page number 941.

And if you want to be a blessing to yourself, I would encourage you to study, to learn, to memorize the books of the Bible.

Many of you already know all of that, but sometimes, occasionally, as you know, we have a wellness center there at Eden Valley, and I have the privilege of sharing the gospel with the lifestyle guests that come.

In November, we're expecting 16 lifestyle guests to come, and we give them all Bibles, and we study for 1 hour every morning with these people.

And many times, some people, well many times, people don't know anything about the Bible.

The people learn the books of the Bible, and pretty soon we're all proficient.

It's going to be a blessing, the mystery of the house that God built.

Oh, by the way, when I begin a sermon, I always throw a text out there, but I'm not going to read that text right away, sometimes.

Sometimes it might be 10 minutes, sometimes it might be...

So, I've had you turn to a verse or a page in the Bible.

Just hang on to it, it's coming, we're going to read that verse, don't get nervous.

Have you ever heard of a mystery house in San Jose, California?

Yeah, it's a really strange thing over there.

And maybe some of you have visited this place.

If I ever get to San Jose, I really would like to visit this place.

2. Mary Had a Little Lamb

I'll have you turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 14.

You have Bibles, and if there's someone here that is not acquainted with the Bible very much, I'm going to be giving just the page number so that you don't have to worry or look like you don't know the Bible.

And we're studying together the sanctuary.

We're going to be studying the sanctuary together for several days and more.

And then I want to move into some other stuff that is going to be really interesting, like the Mark of the Beast and stuff like that.

Anyway, did you notice our title this evening?

I have it on good authority that it's a cute title.

Well, it's only a cute title if you can relate the nursery rhyme to the spiritual significance of it.

If you don't catch it, you'll have to ask me about it later.

Now this, of course, is an American nursery rhyme.

You've heard it a long time, all your life, I'm sure.

A girl by the name of Mary Sawyer owned a pet lamb, and her brother decided 1 time that he would try to encourage his sister to take the pet lamb to school 1 day.

Well, she did take the pet lamb to school that day, or at least for once, and naturally it caused a stir.

Now there was a young man there by the name of John Ralston, and he was quite amused by the stir that this was causing, and the very next day he came on horseback across the fields, and he handed Mary a little note with 3 stanzas of, Mary had a little lamb.

Later, a lady by the name of Sarah Josepha finished the entire poem, and today we have a poem with 8 stanzas.

Now, I've never heard Mary had a little lamb in 8 stanzas.

Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow.

Pure, white, innocent, without spot or wrinkle, perfect without sin.

And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.

How sweet, how catchy, how cuddly, how fuzzy, all of that.

But in the gospel story, unlike the rhyme, Mary is the 1 that follows the lamb.

And so we're doing a study on the plan of salvation as illustrated in the sanctuary model of the Old Testament.

In our last study, we read in Exodus 25, verse 8, and Jesus was speaking.

He said, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

Apparently God, Jesus, longs to be close to his people.

As a matter of fact, we have kind of a parallel text to that in John chapter 14, and that's where I had you turn.

John chapter 14, we're looking at verse 3.

I want you to notice how Jesus relates to His people in this verse.

So this is John 14, we're looking at verse 3.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself.

And that's why he said, let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell where you dwell.

And so when we think of the sanctuary, we're supposed to see Jesus, because everything about the sanctuary tells something about Jesus and the plan of salvation.

The solution to sin is right there, and we're going to develop that more and more as we study the thing together Now in the book of Numbers and I'll have you turn to page 119 in the book of Numbers God commanded Moses and told Moses that they were to pitch their tents afar off.

Now that's the King James Version, says afar off.

We're going to read verses, this is Numbers chapter 2.

We're going to read verses 1 and 2, page 119.

If I was at the right place, I could read it to you.

Numbers chapter 2 and we're reading verses 1 and 2.

And the Lord spake to Moses and Aaron, saying, Every 1 of the children of Israel shall camp by his own standard beside the emblems of his father's house.

They shall camp some distance from the tabernacle of meeting.

You know, I left my pointer in my other suit coat.

In any case, when you're looking at this picture, do you see how far the tents are from the sanctuary?

And so, on the east side, the tents were half a mile.

As a matter of fact, that's how far it was actually, because if you study the Bible, you'll find out that God told them that the closest tent needed to be 2, 000 cubits from the sanctuary.

And If you convert cubits, which is 18 inches approximately, if you convert 2, 000 cubits, you're going to have 3 quarters of a kilometer or half a mile.

On the south side, the tents would be half a mile away, and on the north side, half a mile away in the west and east.

This isn't the south side, by the way, this is the east side.

Yeah, and that's the north side and that's the south side.

And they're all half a mile away from the sanctuary.

Now not only that, between the tents up there, which represent the world, by the way, between the tents and the sanctuary, the 2 first rows all around on all sides were the tents of the Levites.

Now you want to ask, well, why in the world did he do it that way?

Why didn't the Levites just have a block of space like everyone else had?

But the reason for that is because God had sequestered the Levites to guard the sanctuary, and the first rows of tents were all Levites, and no 1 could get through there to go into that empty space.

And, of course, the question is, well, if God yearns to be close to his people, then why did he ask that they be pitching their tents afar off?

It seems to be a contradiction, it seems to be a paradox there.

He wants them close and then He tells them to pitch far away.

Well, the reason for all that is because this is the plan of salvation and God has a reason for everything that He does and everything that He does and everything that He commands needs to be studied out so that we find out what the reason is.

And we are sinners, corrupted, defiled sinners.

If you turn with me to Hebrews 12, look at Hebrews 12.

And this is a verse perhaps you're familiar with.

That means if you're full of sin and you approach to God too closely, you will be consumed.

As a matter of fact, in another place in the Bible, it says, no 1 can see God face to face and live.

And the reason for that, of course, is that we are corrupted, we are defiled, we are full of sin, and God, to protect His people, said, let them make, let them put distance.

3. Buried- Dead or Alive

I'm going to invite you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 12.

I'm not supposed to broach the subject that I'm broaching tonight.

It's too early in the series of meetings, but what I'm doing is following step by step through the sanctuary.

And so, we've come from the tents out there, which represent the world.

We've crossed the great Gulf Fix because of the estrangement between God and the fallen people.

We've come to the gate of the sanctuary, and we met there – we were met there – by a priest who brought us to the altar of sacrifice which represents the cross.

Well, right after that is the labor, and that's what we're going to talk about, even though in a little series like this it wouldn't be conducive, I think, to talk about that next, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Now, you've noticed the title this evening, Buried, Dead or Alive.

You know, there was a time, and I'm sure you know this, there was a time when there was no embalming.

Well, you don't remember, probably, because it never was in our time.

But there was a time when there was no embalming.

And there was the risk, of course, when people died, that they were not altogether dead always.

In the early 17th century, so that's probably 16-whatever, 1625, 1610, 1615, whatever it might be, there was a lady, Marjorie Ethelstone, who died.

She was buried in Arden, Tannies, Scotland.

Now, grave robbers in those days were maybe more active than they are today, I assume so.

In any case, there were grave robbers, and they decided that this lady was wealthy enough and she was buried with enough jewelry that it was worth digging her up and getting the jewelry that she was wearing in her casket.

The only problem is, she wasn't about to let it happen, even though she was dead and buried.

Well, she was supposed to be dead, and she was buried down there in, so they dug her up, and as they began to work on her, trying to get the jewelry off of her body, she began to groan and moan, and she scared the living daylights out of them.

Apparently, well anyway, she revived and walked home and I would like to have been there to watch her husband's face when she came through the door.

Apparently she outlived her husband by 6 years.

Now maybe he got a heart attack the day he came in through the door and she lived 6 more years, but it doesn't say that in the story, so I really can't tell what happened.

Well another Marjorie, Marjorie Howcrow Erstine of Churnside, Scotland.

Now, I don't know if all these things always happened in Scotland, and it only happened to Marjories, but, you know, that's what I've got right here.

She died in 1674, and it happened in the 16th, 17th century also.

She was buried in a shallow grave because the Sexton, the Sexton is just a fancy name for a grave digger, by the way.

Anyway, the Sexton decided that he wouldn't bury her too deep because he intended to rob her of her jewelry also.

It was an occupation in those days, it seems like.

Well, anyways, he did, he dug her up and guess what?

When he was trying to cut her finger off to get her ring, it hurt.

And she woke up apparently and she scared the living daylights out of him too.

She went on to give birth to 2 more sons in her life and no 1 knows what happened to this extent.

Anyway, she probably shaved a few years off his life that night.

And I don't know if he gave up that profession or not.

Again in the 16th century, the body of Matthew Wall was being born to his grave, and 1 of the pallbearers tripped and fell, and the casket dumped on the ground, and the jolt jolted him back to life, and he lived several more years.

And oh, here's the punchline, he celebrated his resurrection every year thereafter.

Now, most of us celebrate our birthdays, but I tell you what, if I come back from the dead, I will not celebrate my birthday.

I will celebrate my resurrection, if it happens.

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to wake up in a coffin 6 feet underground?

I mean, wouldn't that be 1 of the scariest thoughts?

I've grown up with thoughts like this all my life, and all my life I can just imagine myself in a coffin, and they've buried you, There's 6 feet of dirt over you, and there's no way to get out of this thing.

And I know that they've pulled, I mean, they've exhumed people, and they've seen scratch marks on the lid of the coffin, and things all torn up in there, and the look on the people's faces is horrible, and all of this stuff.

It's amazing and it's just not imaginable.

What do you think people are thinking if they wake up in a situation like that?

I'll have you turn to Matthew chapter 12.

We're looking at verses 34 and 37 in Matthew chapter 12.

This is page 860, by the way, and I promise to give the page number.

If I forget, you just raise your hands and let me know because there may be someone that is not familiar with the scriptures here.

Jesus is speaking And he says, Brood of Vipers.

Brood of Vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks?

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

But I say unto you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Now, if you happen to be in a grave, buried prematurely, and you're alive in your coffin, what kind of words would come out of your mouth?

Well, the words that come out of your mouth will prove whether you were truly justified, whether you were truly converted or not, or whether your words will condemn you.

And I can't tell from here, of course, what I would be saying down there.

Do you know that spiritually speaking many people are buried alive?

I'm going to start a few verses above the verse we really want to look at to get a little bit of context.

We're looking at verse 19 in Romans chapter 5.

Verse 19, For as by 1 man's disobedience many were made sinners." Who is the 1 man who disobeyed that made so many sinners?

I don't know why the Bible says he made many disobedient.

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

4. Why the Mess

Okay, I'll have you turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6, and the page number is 1037, 1037.

By the way, I've decided not to use this Bible myself anymore.

It's not going to be so far away from what you're reading in the New King James, but it'll keep me from messing up.

What happens is, I read the words in the New King James, but my mind remembers the King James, and then I get all tripped up, and I get all entangled, the 2 versions together, and I think I'll do better.

Well, maybe I won't, but anyways, I'm going to try to do better this evening.

And I'd like to begin by asking you a question.

Have you noticed the mess that the world is in today?

What do you suppose would happen if the economy would collapse worldwide all of a sudden?

Do you know that there are people out there predicting that the economy is going to collapse altogether within a few months, at least within the next year?

And these are people who apparently have all the credibility that you can ask for, and they're making this prediction.

How would you like that to happen within the next year?

You know, I really don't know what to think about it.

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The Sanctuary

3. Buried- Dead or Alive

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