While I was in Alaska I had many people tell me that they made the greatest discovery of their life. They discovered that they could rest and not be afraid. Some of them told me that in Alaska it was considered the great day of discovery when gold was discovered. One of the men said we're going to get this word out, God's going to help us; it's going to spread. This is the greatest that Alaska has ever had. That God has made a way whereby we can be accepted without fear. Where we can come boldly right into the presence of God and not have to worry and be afraid.
You see Satan is the accuser. He is the one that comes up to people and says are you sure? Some of you wives spoke a little sharply to your husbands yesterday. And Satan comes up to you and says if Jesus comes right now you're not going to make it because you acted like a human being. Some of you men have reacted to some of the things that have come your way. Do you know that Satan and all of the demons of hell are constantly reminding you and wanting you to believe them that your position with God is questionable? That you may have done something to have lost your hope. But God is giving wings to this message and people are finding out how true it is. You know God prepares people a long time before they ever know Him. One of the things that I thought was so interesting in Washington was the pastor's wife was an Indian lady. She seemed like she was happy enough to me. But as this messenger from heaven spoke to me, he said I want you to bring a message to this pastor's wife that she is very special to God. She has a very poor image of herself. She thinks she's worthless. She thinks she's not accepted as she ought to be because of her race and so on. She needs to have this message that God loves her. God's put her right where she belongs. That she is special. I told her husband. He said you can't believe how right on this message is. She needed to hear that. Then I told them some other things, about this message and why the sacrifice has been so important in the messages that he has brought to me.
And I didn't realize how closely associated the function and the ministry Gabriel had to the sacrifice of Christ. I knew it from Scriptures that he had given me that he was there but he built up on this again. He told me the tremendous need that people had of hearing this message that God had taken care of everything that it was covered because, and then he went into a description of the Old Testament. You can turn to some of the verses here, Hebrews 10:3. Paul was speaking here and he said that the sacrifices were made at that time for the atonement had to have been made year after year. But in those sacrifices there was a remembrance again of made of sins every year. Then he told me where I could find these beautiful truths. In Luke 1, an example here of the critical hour that took place when the sacrifice for the year had come to an end and the other one was going to be made. The importance and the meaning had been lost down through the centuries but now people were being reminded. And he said that men and woman who have not recognized the truth of the constant covering that Jesus Christ had provided are in the same position exactly as Israel was when they came to the end of the year when the covering was over and it had expired. They were again standing naked and hopeless, helpless before the eyes of the eternal God. That all of the charges that were against them were again under review by God. He saw their sins, He saw their guilt.
Then Gabriel told me, I was present at every sacrifice for the atonement standing in the presence of God whose position was above the altar in the holy place. He said my position is in the presence of God. When God moved in I moved and stood there but unseen. Then he said that the world had forgotten the real meaning of that incense that was to be offered by the priest. But he said to show you here while the priest was there and taking care of this, in verse 10 while he was preparing to offer the incense, the whole community was standing and trembling. Their acceptance was based on the observance of certain rules. If the priest would not have thrown in the incense, you read it in Leviticus 16:12-13 that he would die because there was no covering. As perfect as he could possibly be made could still not do his priestly duties without the covering. So he said the priest was there at the time of the burning of the incense and as he fulfilled this obligation and the cloud rose and covered him and God could again smile because the sins were covered for another year. He smelled the sweet savor. The fire of His wrath struck the incense instead of the priest. God said to Gabriel you can appear in full form to Zechariah. Zechariah saw this giant angel and it scared him like it scares me. But the angel said to him fear not Zechariah your prayer has been heard. And farther down it reads, "I am Gabriel that stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you and show you these glad tidings." And every time he has appeared with a message throughout the year it has been a message of good tidings. God is allowing him to be seen and it's still a message of good tidings. The covering is complete.
The festival of atonement of the Old Testament was a reminder that their probation had expired. That one year of probation, that their covering must be renewed. It was time for the annual sacrifice for sin. For this reason man was given certain guidelines based on complete obedience so that he would earn a reprieve during this time of exposure. Gabriel mentioned to me that the sad thing that is happening in so many lives is that many people feel that they are still living in this time of reprieve and their acceptance is based on what they are able to earn by the completeness of their achievement and for that reason there's a fear constantly.
Then he went on to say the remembrance of sin every year, the sacrifices by these animals could never make these people perfect. A substitute had to be used. Hebrews 10:12. "This man after He had offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the right hand of God. For now on expecting all of his enemies to be made his footstool. Whereby one offering He has perfected forever those that are being sanctified." That word sanctified means the sharing of His life. He has perfected forever those who share His life. He took care of it. One sacrifice forever.
Now I'd like to read what he gave me about Jesus' sacrifice. As the fire of God's judgment struck Him who was the sacrifice by the offering of Himself, He didn't offer something else, He offered Himself. As the fire of God's judgment struck Him a cloud ascended that covered all time and all space. It was carried on the wings of grace until it stretched backward across the ages to the beginning of man erasing all of those charges that kept coming up every year. It spread outward from Calvary across all ages to the end of time completing a plan that was formed in God's heart before the world began of making man acceptable in His sight.
Today you'll remember a time when it happened, this is the remembrance of our atonement today at our communion time. You'll remember a time when it happened when sin was disposed of once and for all. When all charges against us were satisfied. Today in coming you reaffirm your faith in the one sacrifice that was made forever. Then what about those who sin and remove themselves from the covering through open rebellion and through idolatry in their rejection of God as their leader and King? He said that those people place themselves in that same position under the blazing eye of God open, exposed to the eye of God. They place themselves in the position that believers who are under the covering fear that they are in all of their lives. They live subject to fear because they feel that they are exposed to the eye of God. But he tells us that they are covered. He said there will not be an offering for them. There's no other way accept to say Jesus I accept the offering that you made and I repent, I'm sorry for trying to go my way and I come back. And the cloud covers them and they're at peace again. This is the message that God wants the world to hear today. He wants people to know that the sacrifice is complete and that the cloud is still there.
God in His great plan has desired to make it easy to come to Him and hard to get out. So at this communion time were looking again and were reaffirming our faith. Our guilt is covered and washed away because of His blood. Now we can come boldly into the throne of grace.
END