Not a Mediator of One
Transcript from Presentation
by Adrian Ebens
Passover April 25 2024
Pr Adrian: I listened this morning to a presentation on Father of Love Fellowship by a young Patrick Irving. Another Irving? Patrick Irving. And did you hear it?
Wonderful testimony of a young man and how that he and another young man, Sean, they were in Arkansas, how they have studied themselves into this message, [they] came out of the new age, studying Alice Bailey, Helena Blavatsky, all the new age stuff. And they've come out of that and all of the joints they were smoking and all the other substances they were taking.
And they've come out of that and they've come into this beautiful message. [I am] really excited about what is happening in the United States. We have a young group of people there, as well as in South America, that is really getting excited about this message.
And I'm very, very happy about that. Big things are happening in Colombia. There's an explosion of the message there and South America. It does seem like we're going to be speaking Spanish in heaven. I'm sorry, everyone. The Spanish are going crazy and we've started learning. We've learned early, so I'm going to get on board now. So excited about what is happening in South America and the amount of the momentum that is starting to pick up there and the excitement for the message. And soon, soon this message will be visible, but not yet.
Not yet. In the meantime, we are coming to grips with all these beautiful things that we are learning. Just really nice yesterday afternoon to go through parts of A Priest Forever Again. And I'd forgotten about those quotes from Waggoner in there about in the days of His flesh. And it's just like it's a bit of a picture change in your head to think of in the days of His flesh as referring to when he became the seed of the woman right in the very beginning. It's sort of a real jolt to the brain.
It's like, well, but Waggoner said it. Waggoner presented it as part of the 1888 message. And it's opening up many doors for us in understanding. And as we presented yesterday, that the high priestly ministry of Jesus is intimately linked with being the begotten Son. And so I want to move on from there. And Eddie asked me to expand this, which I was more than happy to do.
But before we do that, we're going to kneel and pray.
Opening Prayer: Father, we thank you that we can come to you through your only begotten Son, our high priest. It is in the Spirit of Jesus that we are unable to approach you and to know you and to find you. And I pray that as we study together, that more of the pieces will come together and this beautiful picture that we're seeing will grow more firm, more solid, more clear in our minds as we seek to share this with those around us. And I pray, Lord, your angels would be in attendance as we dig deeper into the New Testament. And we thank you in Jesus name. Amen.
Part of the work that God has given me probably is best summed up in the words of one of our French translators. And he said, Adrian, you know, you just take the Bible and you just scale these cliffs, you just go straight up these cliffs and I'm trying to follow you. And then I'm climbing, I'm climbing, I'm trying to follow, I follow you. And then I get up onto this ledge and I think, oh, I've caught up. And then you are halfway up the next ledge. What are you doing up there? It's like it's part of the challenge of not getting too far ahead, but making sure that you leave footholds and toe holes and finger holds and ladders, elevators, helicopters for people to follow. And that's why we have written this material for people to be able to follow and keep tracking with what's going on.
When I first began in ministry I prayed, Lord, what do you want me to do? And He said to me, four things, write, write, write, preach. So that's what we're trying to do is to explain this, to build on the 1888 message, to put all the pieces together. And I am amazed as the pieces come together, how they all fit together. You would think that we just planned this all from the beginning. but I'm looking at it. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. That's amazing how that all fits together.
Discovery Channel, the real Discovery Channel, the wonderful numberer, Jesus. So we're coming back to Galatians chapter three and verse 20. And Paul says, now, a mediator is not of one and King James has added the words a mediator, which in this case, it fits. A mediator is not representing one, but God is one. And if you'll notice in the corner, [of the computer screen] I've got the Seventh-day Adventist Bible commentary on this verse and it says literally not of one.
That is, a mediator does not represent one person only. Mediation presupposes two or more parties with the middle man representing the interests of both. Does that make sense? So Christ is not only representing the Father's interests. He's representing humanity's interests. That's what a mediator does. And we remind ourselves of probably the first verse that I quoted when I started the Identity Wars series was this verse. What does it say?
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” [Isa 55:8] So clearly that's why we need a mediator. We need someone to represent us. And what is it that man needs? We looked at this yesterday and Gavin put the quote up again this morning, Desire of Ages 761, “In the opening of the Great Controversy,” Satan said a number of things, one of them, which was “every sin must be punished.” “You can't simply forgive sin.” “You must punish it.” This is what Satan said. And so Adam embraced Satan's thinking on this subject, which is completely contrary to what God is thinking.
God wants to show mercy. God wants to offer grace simply by acknowledging that you are in the wrong. “I am wrong.” “I am so sorry. Please forgive me." And the Father will forgive you. This is how God operates. And we know this is what happened to the 15-16 percent of the angels in heaven who sided with Lucifer. And then when they realised that they were in the wrong, they went back to God.
Nobody had to die. Nobody had to lose their life. No blood needed to be shed. They were forgiven, really forgiven. And so this is a point that we need to remember when we're thinking about the plan of salvation is that Christ is representing God, but also man. And He is providing for man that which man believes is necessary.
I have written about this in the book Atonement, and I just want to read to you a little bit from chapter 12, and I've got it up here on the screen here. And it's the chapter entitled The Veil of His Flesh. And it says, Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary.
“Who is so great a God as our God? The primary meaning of the word way is road. Your road is in the sanctuary. The starting point of the road is where fallen man sits in darkness, while the end point is where our Father of light is represented. The road between these two points is revealed in the sanctuary representing Christ. Parallel to this, Jesus says, I am the way, which in Greek is horos, which also means path or road.”
Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary and Christ is the way to the Father. Jesus says, No man comes to the Father except through me. This way starts where man is and it ends where God is. Now, on this road, we can place another layer of understanding, and that is Isaiah 55:8, and we just read this man's way, God's way. What is the difference between those two? The difference between righteousness and sin.
“They are completely opposite. The path in order to reach from man's way to God's way is going through a complete transformation as represented elsewhere in Scripture as darkness to light. We have another verse we can lay down over this, Ezekiel 36:26.”
“I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and I'll give you a heart of flesh. We are not saying that God is flesh, but represents the softness, the gentleness, the meekness of God rather than the cruel, stern, stony character of man. These are some of the parallels where opposites exist.”
In order for God to reclaim us and to reach us, God sent His only begotten Son. God had to send His Son down to where we are. Now, in the studies we've done over the last number of years, we know that with respect of the sanctuary [draws diagram of Sanctuary] and we have the Ark of the Covenant, we remind ourselves,[and here] it's the altar of sacrifice. [Drew altar large] not to scale.
And what metal is the altar of sacrifice made out of? Brass. Now, who was the inventor of brass? Tubal Cain. Tubal Cain, who was a son of Cain. He mixed two elements into an alloy, which was copper and zinc, and he created brass, which means that this piece of furniture is man-made.
Audience: And in our minds, that actually is to scale.
Pr Adrian: Thank you, Colin. There you go. It's like, have you seen the picture from NASA of the blue marble and the picture of the United States, which is massive. So, yes, it's all in the mind, isn't it?
So, the altar of sacrifice. This is man-made. This is where man is. This is what man wants. This is what man needs. Now, the Ark of the Covenant is made out of what?
Audience: Gold.
Pr Adrian: Overlaying acacia wood. Did man make any of those things? No, they are made from elements that God Himself has made.
So, the law of God, which is under the mercy seat, the mercy seat, the angels looking into the law. This represents where God is. And so Christ, as the high priest, He is often in here between man and God.
He is between the two, representing man, and He is bringing into this sanctuary that which man requires. And we remind ourselves, and I just want to read you this statement. And I've got, this is in, this is a book we've just released, Cleansed by the Blood of Jesus.
This is more of a thought document about directions that I think will be interesting for us. But this is a quote we should be familiar with to remind ourselves who required this. And this is E.J. Waggoner, again, leading the way, where in Present Truth UK, August 30, 1894, he said:
“of course, the idea of a propitiation or sacrifice is that there is wrath to be appeased. But take particular notice that it is we who require the sacrifice and not God.”
I try and imagine what it was like for people in the Adventist church who read this article. What was going on inside of their brain when they read this? Like that is just boom. Like we require the sacrifice? We were the ones that required this. This is a completely new thought. But again, what do we read in Psalm? [Let’s] just remind ourselves of some of these things.
We've been looking at them recently. Psalm 40 and verse 6. What does it say?
“Sacrifice and offering, thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt offering and sin offering thou hast not required.”
... whenever I used to read this, I used to think, OK, you didn't want lambs, but you did want Jesus to die. That's how I used to understand this. "I want you to follow and listen to what I'm saying. And I'm providing you my Son as a sacrifice." But we read in the Spirit of Prophecy that there are two statements that I have come across and I haven't got them right here at the moment. But one of them is the statement where Jesus says, foxes have holes and birds have nests. But the Son of Man has not where to lay His head. And then she says, 4000 years before this, a mysterious voice was heard coming from the throne. Sacrifice and offering, I have not desired. [Southern Work p. 85]
Which means right back in the beginning, God is saying, I don't want sacrifice and offering. I don't want this. This is not what I want. But I'm willing to provide for you the sacrifice that you think is necessary. And as we have said in a number of places that we as a human race have been captured by Satan and we have Stockholm syndrome, we are convinced that the kidnapper is correct and that what is necessary is to do exactly what the kidnapper says in order for us to be released. And that is for God to send His Son to die.
“Sent him to die. I scarce can take it in.” Thank God I don't have to take it in because it's not required. God didn't require it. But we think this is what God has required. Now, remember again, Waggoner says, of course, the idea of propitiation or sacrifice is that there is wrath to be appeased. [Present Truth UK Aug 30, 1894]
The question is, and I've gone through this in detail in the book Atonement, whose wrath is being appeased? The carnal mind is enmity. What is enmity? It's against..., it's hatred. The carnal mind is enmity against God, not subject to the law of God. Neither, indeed, can it be. [Romans 8:7]
So the wrath to be appeased is the wrath that exists in the heart of man. And where did man get this wrath from? His father, the devil, is a murderer from the beginning. [John 8:44]
Satan has wanted to murder Christ. And when Satan insinuated to Adam and Eve that because they ate the fruit of the tree, that God was going to kill them and that they really had life in themselves, it changed their picture of God and it made God look arbitrary, controlling and dominating. And so this created enmity in the human heart.
But as we have read in the book of, I think it's Hosea and again, I've got it all in the book Atonement, the hidden enmity of Adam, the enmity was hidden. [Hosea 6:7] The enmity is hidden deep within the heart. It's not even recognisable to humanity until suddenly it bursts out, like when Cain kills Abel. When Cain kills Abel, this is Satan seeking to kill Christ. This is the first evidence of what's coming in the future for humanity. And as I present in this book, Cleansed by the Blood of Jesus, this enmity, this is the key issue.
This is what the cleansing of the sanctuary is all about. And we might go a little bit into this in the next presentation, that there is a parallel between Daniel chapter eight and Ephesians chapter two. We'll have a look at that, the cleansing of the sanctuary and the slaying of the enmity, the removal of that anger, that enmity.
And how do we manifest this enmity? Every time we think towards another person, one that they are doing the wrong thing and two, they need to be punished. We are manifesting the enmity. And one of the ways that we can punish people is to withdraw our affection and withdraw our presence from that person. That is a judgment, isn't it? And it is enmity. I withdraw myself from you because I consider you obnoxious, rude, arrogant. Now, that person may be obnoxious, rude and arrogant. But if you withdraw from them, what are you doing?
Audience: Being obnoxious, rude and arrogant.
Pr Adrian: Well said. It takes one to know one. What did Luther say? We're all made of the same dough. And all this judgment that goes on and is taking place.
This now is the great life struggle I'm engaged in to get free of this spirit of judgment. And I won't go into detail, but we were talking just before the meeting about some of the things that are going on from where the places we've come from and the temptation to judge is really great. And the fact that I partly it's... you know, I've got a double dose of this one from the Dutch and the other from the Scottish and the English.
When you misuse and misappropriate funds, that is blasphemy of the highest order. So I got a double dose of that one. And when people misuse funds, I don't like it because I had a father that when he went to a shop,... we were travelling from Sydney to Brisbane and we stopped in at [ a town,] Coffs Harbour and we bought an ice cream and then we get 10 kilometres down the road. And dad suddenly says, “the cashier paid me back too much money. I've got to go back.” We travel 10 kilometres back to the shop and he handed them two dollars. “You overpaid me, man.” Who needs to be that honest? Isn't that a win?
I've got two bucks. It used to be two bucks back in the 80s. Well, it's worth something. It's not worth anything anymore. It's like a one cent piece now. but back then it was worth something. We don't use them anymore. We had a piece of paper, didn't we? Exactly.
So judgment, when it comes to judgment and who are the best people in the world to judge? The politicians. "They're the ones we should judge." But the Bible tells us what? Pray for those in authority. Pray that God will bless them and be near them. Why do you need to pray for them? To stop you from judging them. That's why you need to pray for them.
And so we see this mediation between Christ mediating for us to God, offering His blood to the Father and the Father on the other side wanting to pour His Spirit upon us and bless us. And so when we understand that Christ is actually representing both God and man, that then we can begin to understand truly God's thoughts are not our thoughts. So the idea that we say that God requires the death of the transgressor is only proving that we think that God is altogether like one of us.
We are thinking that God thinks like us. This is the problem. But God doesn't think like us. Now, I want to read,... I think I [will] just read a little bit more here in the Book of Atonement. "We are represented." [adjusting text size on screen] Is that better? So we are represented by the lost sheep.
Christ comes to us because there is none who seek after God. Man is not walking towards God. Christ is walking or running towards man to take those who are willing back to the Father.
I still remember the first time when it dawned on me, Romans chapter 3, verse 10, there is none righteous. There is none that seek after God. And I just studied enough Greek to know that the tensing of that word was present continuous, which means when I realised I have never of myself in myself sought after God.
And instantly I began to cry because I realised the reason I was seeking after God is because God was seeking after me. And all the times when I thought that God was far away from me was actually me being far away from God. And that when I thought about being far away from God, it's because God was drawing me by His Spirit.
So the very thing that I was thinking was actually positively false. When I thought that I was far away from God, that was proof positive that God was close to me. Is that true? Yes. I found that very comforting. So every time when I felt that distance from God, now I can rejoice. That means God is near me. God is reaching out to me. He is sending His Spirit towards me.
And the reason I feel far away from God is because I have judged myself according to my own judgment system, which is not the way that God thinks. Beautiful thoughts. It says here, the condition of man in the darkness of sin is dire, because when the light of righteousness comes to us, the Bible tells us that we naturally turn away from the light.
And the things that we have been learning, the things that we have been studying, when you present this to some people that you love, what do they do? Do they go, Oh, wow, this is wonderful. What's your strike (success) rate? “You will not mention that in my presence again!” “That's an order.” OK.
I remember saying to a friend of mine who I went to college with in ministry, and I said to him 10-14 years ago, “you realise the gospel that we preach will not save a single person.” “Oh, Adrian, that's a big statement.” I said, it's true. The gospel that we preach will not save a single soul. Is that right? The gospel that the churches preach. We're in the latter rain message. We are in the final time of the sealing, the sealing message. And if you reject that light, you cannot receive the seal of God. And because I said it with earnestness, he was sure that I was a fanatic.
"Can't be, can't be. This great empire that we have, worldwide empire that we have built." Have you seen the amount of times that [the church has declared] "we are operating in 216 countries and we have hospitals and we have educational facilities and blah, blah, blah?"
None of it is of any use whatsoever when you preach a false gospel. It's completely pointless. And for me [who was] as a minister of this organisation to realise that I was not sending people to heaven, I was sending them to hell. That was such a shock for me. I didn't even have correct who the Son of God was. I was teaching a false view of the Son of God. Oh, Father, forgive me. Thank God to be free! oh wow. He that has the Son has life.
If you're not presenting the begotten Son, you are not saving a single soul. You are using tithe payers money to send people to hell. Boy, I'm bowling bouncers today. [preaching strongly]
[Audience mentioned a term about the sport Cricket related to the message that was funny.]
And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Since God's thoughts are not our thoughts, everything He says is interpreted in our darkness as something against us.
You remember that as a child? I remember that as a child. Particularly in my early teen years, whenever my father would come towards me, I started to get nervous. What's going to happen now? Like, has he found out? Has he found me? Has he discovered what I'm up to? Anyone relate to what I'm saying? Oh, no, he's found out. There's this sick kind of enjoyment in the adrenaline that comes from fear. You know, you sort of get off [enjoyment] on it. It's like, oh, here he comes.
Oh, no, I'm in big trouble now. I'm going to get it now. He says, sorry, interpreted in our darkness as something against us and for our harm. We see this in the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. The sight of the glory of the Lord was like what? A consuming fire in the top of the mountain.
Audience: The eyes of the people.
Pr Adrian: Liam taught me that text. [Exodus 24:17] Oh, Liam, that's a good text.
The beautiful glory of God appearing as consuming or devouring fire to the people in order for God to reach man. He had to come to where man was. But when God came towards us, we naturally fear that He is coming to harm us for our sinfulness. It's our own judgment on ourselves. We therefore need a mediator to plead our case before the one we think seeks our punishment and death. We need a mediator.
We need someone to intercede for us. And I might mention at this point, "there is now therefore no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." [Romans 8:1] I used to think that text meant that Jesus, as it were, the battered wife of the father, that he would beat Jesus instead of me.
And I had no condemnation because I was hiding behind Jesus and Jesus' blood was going everywhere and I was being protected. But as we have come to understand, there is now therefore no condemnation in Jesus because Jesus reveals to us that there is no condemnation in the Father. And when you understand this and you believe this and your conscience can be purged of your sins, you will be able to live in the sight of God without a mediator for sin.
Do you know how frightful many of you, those of us that are older, when we're reading the book Facing Life's Record, [in Great Controversy] you remember reading that and running to the toilet? Every sin, you have everything, sins not only of commission, but of omission, things you didn't do that you should have done. All of it's recorded. And you're going to be judged and condemned for all these things. You're hiding in Jesus. And then to think we have to live in the sight of God without a mediator!
And a whole theology that came along and this is the great tragedy, the whole theology that came along in the 1980s to deal with this problem because of a wrong understanding of the character of God, because of a wrong understanding of the Son of God. And [then as a reaction] that was, you know, like it doesn't matter. “Sin until Jesus comes.” “It just doesn't matter. You don't have to live [without sin]. You always have a mediator for sin. You will always live in sin. You can't overcome sin. When we go to heaven and we walk in the front door, God will just flip the switch [adjust our minds] and we don't sin anymore.”
Finally. As we have learned, as in the God that has been worshipped, it's all a role play. It's just a big exercise to prepare us for the Oscars. [movie awards] It's just all drama without substance. That's what is taking place now.
Next paragraph, "the enmity that originated in the heart of Adam against God and has passed to the whole human race prevents the possibility of effective communication without a mediator." Such a mediator is Christ, the Son of God. And then we quote from this in the text in Ephesians, “but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he Himself is our peace, who has made both one.”
OK, was two, [now] one. And this is why it's so important to understand the aspects of the 1888 message that teach us that Christ took upon Himself our sinful human nature. He didn't, and notice carefully...He did not become sinful human nature. He took upon Himself, His divine nature, all of our sinful human nature. And what did He do with that?
What does it say? Having abolished in His flesh, He's broken down the middle wall of petition, having abolished in His flesh, He condemned sin in the flesh, but as it says here, having abolished in His flesh, the enmity.
So what Christ had to do was to take, to be both representing God as the divine Son of God and to be representing man as the son of man. And these two are brought together in one. And in that one person, He has slain the enmity. And how did He slay the enmity?
Audience: They can't live together.
Pr Adrian: They can't live together. He slew it with love. But when His human nature would seek to cause it. Did Jesus have cause to judge human beings? And when His human nature would prompt him, ... And [we remind ourselves from] Ellen White, we're not separating the divine and human, but they [two natures] were mysteriously blended. But Jesus, when He was tempted to judge and condemn, He slew that enmity with love and with grace and compassion and kindness.
When He was slapped in the one cheek, He gave the other cheek. He slew that enmity. He destroyed it. And He has broken down the middle wall of petition between us and God. That's why the human nature of Christ is everything to us, as Ellen White says. It's part of the gospel.
He had to slay that enmity, bring the two together. And we notice in Hebrews chapter 10. What does it say? This is really,... hopefully this will be an aha [realisation] moment for us. Hebrews chapter 10. It says, verse four, For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not. And then how does Paul interpret Psalms next? But a body has prepared for me.
What did He do in that body? He slew the enmity. And where did the enmity come from? The lie of Satan that every sin must be punished. A false justice system had to be defeated. This is what is going on to bring us, the humanity, back to God. He had to slay that enmity. He had to expose that false justice system… notice that carefully. It's really, really important. I didn't want sacrifice and offering, but a body has now prepared for me in order that I can get into the human heart and mind. I will make a tabernacle that I may dwell among them.
Christ is that tabernacle, the human tabernacle that He could dwell amongst us and give to us that divine nature. And so that we now can become partakers of this divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And, of course, on the earthly side, and this is one of the main points about being cleansed by the blood of Jesus, on the human side, the blood of Jesus is His literal blood.
We require the sacrifice. We are the ones. And when you look at the sanctuary itself, all of the sacrifices, everything here, the blood was poured out at the base of this altar for all of the sacrifices, except two or three. There was only,... there was when there was a sin offering of the whole congregation or one of the priests, blood was taken and sprinkled on these horns. OK, that in itself is another whole study, which we won't go into. And one time in the year, blood was brought into the most holy place and sprinkled here.
One time in the year. Now, this is for those that are students of the sanctuary system, and that is we were taught that in the daily ministration of Jesus, that His blood is transferring sin into the sanctuary. But the reality is that blood was not transferred into the sanctuary on a daily basis.
Audience: The priest, he also had to partake of the flesh.
Pr Adrian: So the only way it came into the sanctuary was that the priest, here, would eat the flesh and go in here. Therefore, making of two, one. One.
There's a whole lot of stuff in there we can't go into, but there was twice. There was in the sin offering of the whole congregation or the high priest, blood would be sprinkled here on the day of atonement would be sprinkled there. And all of this is still accommodation to what man requires for atonement to take place.
But when we think about what is the cleansing of the sanctuary? What is the cleansing of the sanctuary? And I used to think about, as I used to understand it, all the time, every day, blood going in and being sprinkled at the foot of the garment must stink in there. It must be horrible. So what do you need to cleanse the sanctuary? Just on that point, stop bringing blood into the sanctuary. This will cleanse it, won't it?
Audience: Begin.
Pr Adrian: It'll begin the cleansing process. Stop bringing blood into the sanctuary. And the way I used to understand this was, well, just stop sinning. But when you have a wrong view of God, it's impossible to stop sinning when you have an incorrect view of who God is. How do we stop bringing blood into the sanctuary? We come to the point where we realise God never desired sacrifice and offering. And it's interesting, of course, that in Daniel chapter nine that it said Jesus would cause sacrifice and oblation to cease. [Daniel 9:27] The question is, where did He cause it to cease? In the heart.
That we come to the point of realising we don't need to offer sacrifice and offering anymore. Now, it's of interest to note that the sanctuary in Jerusalem, did the sacrifices stop when Jesus died on the cross? No, they continued for another 40 years until the sanctuary was trodden underfoot of the Gentiles [Revelation 11:2]. Then it was stopped. And that's one of the reasons why you have a dome of the rock in Jerusalem to prevent that barbaric behaviour. God allowed this to take place. He gave it to the Gentiles to prevent this so that it wouldn't distract people from what is really needed.
Now, E.J. Waggoner tells us that, or let's put it this way, and I'm just again, I'm summarising and picking parts of this. There was something that Jesus said in John chapter 6, and I call it the 666 moment. What happened in John 6:66? From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. Why? Why did they walk no more with Him? What did He just say to them? Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood. So what are they thinking? Literal blood, literal flesh. And if you read through this chapter, we'll just go back a little bit and it says. [verse] 53, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of God and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Now, what does it say in the Torah?
Audience: Not allowed to eat blood.
Pr Adrian: Isn't this proof then that He's a false Messiah? Isn't that what the Jews would think? We know what the Torah says. You should not drink blood. You should not eat blood because it has life in it because the life is in it. And here Jesus says, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood. That's why many of them no more followed Him because “you're violating the Torah!” The Torah says we shouldn't do this. And then He says, “Whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
But notice Jesus defines His terms. What does He say? “For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him.” So He's defining His terms and He continues to define: “as the living Father has sent me and I live by the Father. So he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” “This is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever.” Clearly, He's talking of a spiritual symbol here, isn't He?
If you're willing to listen, but because He's already said unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you want to say, “Jesus, look, we need to give you a few lessons on how to win friends and influence people.” “You're going about it the wrong way. To a Jewish congregation, you've got to speak a bit differently.” “You've got to warm them up a little bit before you get to it.”
“These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. And it says many therefore His disciples, when they heard this, they said, this is a hard saying, who can hear it?”
That's a nice way of saying "He's lost His marbles." This is crazy. “And so when Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, does this offend you?”
And you would think He would say, “look, I'm sorry. Look, maybe you've misunderstood. Let me explain it.” No, He doubles down. [He reinforces His point] “What and if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before?” It is now He says it clearly.
“It is the Spirit that quickens. The flesh profits nothing.” So now He's telling them, “when I'm talking about blood, I'm talking about Spirit.” Can you see that? So blood is Spirit. “Unless you drink my spirit, you have no life in you.”
So the blood of Jesus of the new covenant is His spirit. And how are you cleansed by the blood of Jesus? You are cleansed by the Spirit of Jesus.
Audience: Because where the Spirit is, there can't be sin.
Pr Adrian: There can't be sin where the Spirit is. “He that is in Christ is a new creation. All things have passed away. All things have become new.” “He that is in Christ, 1 John 3, “does not commit sin.” Mum's talked to me about this, about these funny hymns, you know, in the fountain of blood and I'm there, I'm getting washed in the fountain of blood.
Audience: It's interesting that a lot of the new or younger generation won't sing those hymns because of that. imagery they receive
Pr Adrian: [Singing] “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins.” That's a horror movie. But it's drawn from His heart, from His spirit. This is the cleansing of the new covenant. The cup. This is the new covenant in my blood. Drink ye all of it. It is a symbol of His spirit. Do you see the difference? So to God and you've read in Early Writings and there's Jesus pleading before the Father. “Father, my blood, my blood, my blood.” To us as human beings, we are thinking in our natural state. Jesus is asking God to remember His sacrifice and that God's justice is satisfied and He doesn't need to kill anybody else because God's already been satisfied. “I've already paid the price. Father, remember there's enough blood now, isn't there, Father?” That's how human beings think.
But when in the new covenant, when Jesus is saying, Father, my blood, my blood, He's saying, let my Spirit go forth and fill your people. Isn't that a beautiful gospel?
Audience: This is what He said to the disciples.
Pr Adrian: I go to my Father. Send you the comforter. The comforter is blood. We shall wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb. What is the blood? It's His life. It's His spirit. This is the new covenant. And this is why we can say John 17:4. What does it say? John 17:4. “I have glorified thee on earth. I have finished the work which you gave me to do.” Jesus finished the work without shedding physical blood. Is that right? He finished the work which God had given Him to do, but He had not finished the work which man had given Him to do. What did man require? Blood. This is really important that we understand this. If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. [John 12:32] He had to be lifted up. He had to be offered as a sacrifice on a cross that represents the Son. Pagan Son worship. Now, it's on this point that I discovered a few statements because we've been talking about this.
If you saw my recent presentation, you'll be familiar with the statement in Patriarchs and Prophets that when God made the covenant with Abraham, Ellen White uses the words “God condescended to enter into a covenant with Abraham using customs or ordinances customary amongst men.” That is accommodation. That is meeting man where man is. That is doing something for man that man needs, but God doesn't need. So I want to read to you a few statements, and I came across these recently and I found it very interesting. This is in Spirit of Prophecy. Let's bring it up on the screen. I haven't got Spirit of Prophecy open, but we'll open it. [looking for the quote online]. I think this is partway through.
"God was a wise, compassionate lawgiver, judging all cases righteously and without partiality." Yes. “While the Israelites were in Egyptian bondage, they were surrounded with idolatry. The Egyptians had received traditions in regard to sacrificing…” So when we noticed that Israel was offering all these sacrifices, all the other nations were doing this as well. Shouldn't that tell you something?
Audience: What was the abomination that the Egyptians had? The type of sacrifice?
Pr Adrian: It was the Apis Bull. That was a god to them. So you couldn't sacrifice that. I think it was a particular thing you couldn't sacrifice. "They did not acknowledge the existence of the God of heaven. They sacrificed to their idol gods.
“With great pomp and ceremony, they performed their idol worship. They erected altars to the honour of their gods. And they required even their own children to pass through the fire as the sacrifice.”
And is it interesting, their own children. So the Son of God is being offered. Your son, your daughter is being offered. "Fruit of my body for the sin of my soul." Now it says, if they could do this without being burned, the idol priests and the people received it as an evidence that their God accepted their offering. And then it goes on and talks a bit about that.
“Now it says, even some of the children of Israel had so far degraded themselves as to practise these abominations. And God caused the fire to kindle upon their children.” And we know how to read these statements now. [in the light of God's character]
“With who they made to pass through the fire. They did not go to all the lengths of the heathen nations, but God deprived them of their children by causing the fire to consume them in the act of passing through it or allowing the children to perish.”
Audience: So this was in Egypt.
Pr Adrian: This is in Egypt.
Audience: I thought that was Canaan.
Pr Adrian: This is Egypt. They're sacrificing their own children in Egypt.
Audience: So the plague of the firstborn was directly related.
Pr Adrian: It's directly related to this, offering your own children. Now notice what it says next. “Because the people of God,” Who? God's people “had confused ideas of the ceremonial sacrificial offerings and had heathen traditions confounded with their ceremonial worship.” Here's that word. God what? “Condescended to give them definite directions that they might understand the true import of those sacrifices.” Which sacrifices? The sacrifices that were confused with pagan traditions.
This sacrificial system that the Jews were operating was a system confused with paganism. But God, through their wrong conceptions, would teach them the truth. This is the principle of the mirror, isn't it?
That they believe this. This is what they believed. So what can God do with people who believe in a certain way? He can only meet them where they are. God didn't want daily sacrifices. He didn't want all His animals slaughtered. He didn't want any of this. That's why the daily is paganism. Now, I make a statement in here.
And again, we're up in the tops of the trees [High level thought process] when we talk about this. So forgive me if you're not picking this up, but the pioneers understood in Daniel chapter 8 that when it comes to the word daily, that the word sacrifice is a supplied word. Because and it's for the reason that the word, the reason why they added sacrifice was because all of Protestants believed that the sacrifices that it's talking about was the ones that Israel were performing that Antiochus Epiphany stopped.
And so in order to break this understanding, they had to say that the word sacrifice was supplied. But once you get outside of that understanding, the word sacrifice fits perfectly in the text. Fits perfectly in the text because all sacrifices are pagan. Oh, that's a bouncer. [A strong point] How's that? Knocked out. Knocked for six. [out of the park] All sacrifices are pagan because God never required sacrifice and offering, but a body you prepared for me. Just when you think, oh, wow. You know, like we've learned so much. There's so much more for us to learn. There is so much more for us to learn. All sacrifices are pagan!
Audience: Because the next verse in Hebrews 10 says verse 6, Thou hast not required, but I have not required.
Pr Adrian: Yes. Hebrews 10. What does it say? “In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice and burnt offering for sin, thou wouldest had no pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second.” And again, we're going into many layers here. But the main point is, and what I present in this book is that the ram and the goat, which are symbolised as representing Medo-Persia and Greece, that the clash of these two are representing enmity because the goat has choler, has anger towards the ram. And the point we're making here is that the anger between Medo-Persia and Greece or Greece for Medo-Persia has stemmed from a justice system that comes from Satan and that the war between Medo-Persia and Greece is simply a manifestation of man's hatred for the Son of God. And that's why at the higher invisible level, the goat, which represents Satan, attacks and destroys the ram, which represents Christ.
This is at the higher level. And when we understand this, we then understand that the cleansing of the sanctuary is the removal of the indignation. It's the removal of the false justice system. It's the removal of the need for blood. It's the removal of all sacrifices. This is a pivotal moment in this movement.
We need to think about these things. And we say, oh, these things are so deep. No, it's because we are so shallow. We're so surface readers. But now God is offering to us. These things are not hard to understand.
I learned that when I was in South Africa and this beautiful young black boy, 14 years of age, and I shared with him some of the principles that were a little bit deeper. And you should have seen the look on his face as the light went on in his mind. And he looked at me and he said, "too much light!" and ran out. 14 years of age. He got it. He understood it.
And I knew from that point forward, we're not taught by men. That's the Spirit of Jesus that teaches us these things. And it doesn't matter whether you're 40 or 14 or 400, whatever the Spirit can teach you, if you are willing to learn, if you're willing to listen.
And so Satan will tell you, oh boy, this is difficult. No, it's not difficult. It's simple. Once you say, Lord, help me to understand this. As soon as you say that, He will teach you. He will help you to understand and He will give you the evidence.
What we are presenting here is proof positive of the statement of Ellen White in Great Controversy, because this has been one of the founding principles of my ministry. And it relates to this. And I thought of this quote every day that I was in Avondale College. And I hung on to this with all my might. And this is what it says. “The Scripture, which above all others has been both the foundation and central pillar of the Advent faith, was the declaration under 2,300 days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
And in the past, and for many Adventists, what a horrible text to have as the foundation of your movement. Some cleansing of some ancient Jewish sanctuary before Jesus even came to the world. And you make that the foundation of your whole belief system? "What's wrong with you people?" But now we understand this, that the cleansing of the sanctuary is the removal of the indignation that false justice system is taking out of us. The pagan need for sacrifices and offering, taking all of this away through the preaching of the Third Angel's Message.
This is the foundation of our movement, the cleansing of the sanctuary and the cleansing of the sanctuary by the life of Jesus Christ, His spiritual blood. And I've given many proofs in here to show this. And of course, starting with Waggoner, that, you know, because as soon as you say the sacrifices are not required, Hebrews 9.22, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. But it doesn't say without the shedding of blood, God does not give remission. It simply says without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. Why did he write this?
For the same reason that Moses wrote in the Torah, that you may have a bill of divorcement. He wrote it because of the hardness of your hearts. That's why he wrote that.
Audience: Didn't he say almost all things?
Pr Adrian: Almost all things. But they don't quote that part. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. We have decided it because that is what Satan has taught us because he was a murderer from the beginning. So hopefully I've given you an introduction. [There is] a lot more in here.
And again, OK, hopefully I've put some footholds. We're climbing up another cliff here. It's quite a lot for us to take in because we've all been taught very differently to this. But now, now we begin to see what it means to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. It is His Spirit. This is what it means. And what does He take out of us? He takes out of us that anger.
I remember a few months ago, because, you know, I'm placed in situations where lots of people like to bang on my head with sledgehammers. They really like to stick it to me. And I had this one situation and I could feel this person had really stuck it to me and I could feel it wrangling around inside of me. You feel that burning in your heart and you're wanting to react. You're wanting to say something. I said, Lord, I've got to get this out. I've got to get this out. This is going to kill me. When you get a burning in your chest like that, all it does is burn you. I've got to get this out. I said, Lord, you're going to take this away. Take this away from me. Please take this out of my heart. You promised you will do it. And as I was there and I was talking to my wife and I was saying, God's going to take this away. He's going to take this away. And then like that, it was gone. Enmity was gone! He slew it. He destroyed it. I've experienced it. He can do it, but you have to want it and believe it, that that kind of anger is totally against the character of God, that anger that desires retribution, that desires judgement.
And we are about to be engulfed completely with this spirit. And if you're not anchored in and having your sanctuary cleansed, you're going to be sucked into this spirit. That's what I'm praying for all the time now. Lord, deliver me from that spirit. Deliver me from that spirit. I don't want it. I want to be completely cleansed of this. Give me your blood, your life, that I may not react this way so that when someone would strike me on the one cheek, I might turn the other cheek. Isn't it?
You can only grow stronger through trial and through tribulation and difficulty. And this is where I want to pay respect to our dear brother, Jared Chapman. He told me the story and it just completely moved me when he was working in a psychiatric ward. And this person went crazy and he'd been studying our message. And this person was going on the loose and he was coming towards Jared and had his hand raised like this. And Jared said, I want to be like Jesus. And he just said, Lord, help me. And as the person came towards him, Jared said, “I just put my shoulders down. I just put my head down. I waited.” Everything inside me screamed, no, no. And as the person came to strike him, something stopped him. There was no vibration inside of Jared that provoked any kind of response like that. Stopped him in his tracks and he sat down and he began to talk to Jared and Jared ministered to him and helped him. The next day he was released from the psychiatric hospital and sent home. That is power. That is pure power. And I just I wept when he told me that story.
I thought, wow, could you do that? Knowing that some madman's coming towards you and just smack you in the head like, aren't you like this? [raised arms in defence] You know, he just put his head down and he said, Lord, I put myself into your hands. I commit my spirit. That is Christ likeness. And so Jared's given me hope for the human race.
And I've experienced it myself in that other story where he just took that fire away from me. But I wasn't where someone was coming at me. Like everything in my being would be screaming, like, prepare for action. You know, it's just like, no, no. You know, I come by it honestly. My grandfather was a boxing trainer, trained people to beat people and knock them to the ground. So it's all in the blood. Oh, God, forgive me. Help me, help me. Yes, [Read the book] Resist Not Evil by Danny Brown.
Audience: Very, very good.
Pr Adrian: It's very good, isn't it? We all need it, don't we? And to believe that God is going to do this in us, He's going to change us. We are going to become meek and mild and gentle. Isn't that wonderful? This is our inheritance. Our God is our reward. And it comes to us through the blood of Jesus, which is His life. So I hope that you've been inspired, you've been encouraged and again, more in here and more in the Book of Atonement. So let's close with a prayer.
Audience: I'll take the words out of [my son] Peter's mouth, “it all makes sense.”
Pr Adrian: If it all makes sense. Hallelujah.
Father, we thank you for speaking to us at this feast. This is light for your people and it helps a lot of things make more sense. And Father, we want to confess that we possess naturally this enmity. We want you to take it out of us.
And we know that the way it's taken out of us is to be faced with situations where naturally we would have enmity. Lord, help us to walk this path. We want to go from Peter, who wanted to slice off the guy's ear or kill him, to where he was willing to be crucified upside down. You can do this in a person. We believe it. That's the Spirit that we want.
We ask you to give it to us. And this will mean that we are able to reconcile, bring reconciliation to the whole world, that they'll be able to see Christ in us. And we thank you that you will give us this spirit.
We ask for it now. We plead for it now. This is the latter rain and we thank you in Jesus name. Amen.
