The Colors of the Bible (Pastor Bob Maehre, 05/17/25)

We realize that the sanctuary is God's gift to

humanity because not only is it all about Jesus,

but it's all about salvation, how we are saved,

in what ways. And it's the seventh -day Adventist

gift to the Christian world. We're not bragging

when we say we've studied it more than other

denominations because it's just true, because

of our theology and our history. Everything,

you know, we are scholars of the scripture. We

base our complete faith on the Bible. All of

our 28 fundamental beliefs are based directly

on the scriptures. And so we thank the Lord that

he's given us this incredible visual aid to teach

us about Jesus and his salvation. So as it says

on the screen, it's... The sanctuary is God's

battle plan on how to deal with sin. And it's

from the beginning to the end. It's amazing how

complete it is. It's the whole plan of salvation

in symbols. Of course, there's the altar of burnt

sacrifice. You notice on the north side, you

see two people. That's where the lambs were sacrificed.

The lamb died there. and then was sacrificed

on the altar of burnt sacrifices. So we looked

at the views of the sanctuary, the salvation

experience, Jesus' experience, and then the second

coming experience. And it's all right there in

the sanctuary and the festivals. So the Bible

says that we have such a high priest who is set

at the right hand of the throne of the majesty

in the heavens. We know that there's a sanctuary

in heaven. And the one here on earth was just

a little tiny model and miniature of the glorious

sanctuary that's in heaven. It's the throne of

God. And the Bible says, thy way, O God, is in

the sanctuary. Who is so great a God as our God?

Isn't that true? And that's what we want to talk

about, God's way in the sanctuary. And so Jesus

has created an incredible world for us, don't

you think? I mean, when you look around at the

world, in spite of the 6 ,000 years of sin, it's

still beautiful. There's still incredible beauty

in nature. And God gave us this beauty to praise

him, to learn about other things. You know, nature

teaches us about God as well. Not as accurate

as the Bible, but there's still lessons to be

learned in nature. But what if we couldn't see

the beautiful colors of nature? What if God had

created us with a black and white world? You

know, he could have, right? Just like I tell

people, you know, God could have given us motor

oil to eat for energy. He could have given us

anything to eat, and it would have been a chore.

I've got to stay alive, so I've got to stuff

this junk down my... Instead, what did he do?

He gave us incredible things to eat, strawberries

and blueberries. raspberries, and everything

under the sun that you can eat. And it's all

what? Delicious. God is such a wonderful God.

He loves us so much. He's given us so many wonderful

things. So he's given us the colors of the rainbow,

and our eyes are incredibly made, just incredible.

Talk about something that totally defies evolution,

the human eye, or other animals' eyes, for that

matter. However, there's one little problem.

Sin has come into our world, and we don't see

as well as we used to. And some of us are colorblind.

So we're going to talk about the colors of the

Bible, so we have to have a little test and see

what numbers that you see here. And if you don't

see them all, then you might just be a little

colorblind. So just a little test to start a

service. So you can see all these numbers. If

you didn't see one, if it was just like nothing

there, then, you know, you have to go to your

optician, I guess. So did you see all the numbers?

Yeah? Okay, good. Great. So we're going to talk

about the colors of the Bible. There are five

colors. In the sanctuary service. Five, specifically.

No more, no less. Or if you call bronze a color,

I guess you could make that one more. But here

are the colors. White, red, blue, purple, and

gold. Gold is yellow, actually. And that's what

they call it in the jewelry business. It's yellow

gold. Because gold can be... Different shades.

But it's yellow in its essence. And God has given

us an incredible world that reflects all these

colors. Imagine a sunset has all the colors of

the sanctuary. All the colors are there. It's

amazing. So we'll talk about that maybe a little

later if we have time. But does the Bible use

color? As a symbol for anything? Does it really

use an abstract word? Colors is an abstract idea,

right? Does it use abstract ideas to symbolize

something in God's kingdom? And of course the

answer is obvious. Come now and let us reason

together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be

as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though

they be red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

Did you notice something? He uses three different

words for red and three different things for

white. I think he's saying this is important

stuff. Take note. You know, your sins, like red,

they're just staining you all over. But guess

what? I can help you clean yourself of sin. And

you can be as white as snow. So it's God's promise

to us. So red represents sin. It's extremely

obvious. But it also, well, let me tell you what

scientists talk about the word, or the color

red. It's the most dominant color. It's filled

with energy. It accelerates growth, raises the

blood pressure, raises the pulse rate, helps

direction. attention, direct attention outward,

and it's a stimulant. Those are the attributes

of the color red. Red is exciting. Don't let

anybody fool you. Sin is exciting too, isn't

it? God wants us to wean our way away from the

excitement of sin. So red also represents the

cure for sin. Jesus' blood on Calvary. He died

for you and me that we can have life eternal.

And he shall sprinkle, this is from the sanctuary

in Leviticus, and he shall sprinkle the blood,

the blood of the animal, upon it, or the horns

of the altar, with his finger seven times and

cleanse it and hollow it from the uncleanness

of the children of Israel. So there was a lot

of blood in the sanctuary. I'm glad I'm living

in New Testament times. I don't know. I'm sure

I would have handled it because I would have

been raised that way. You know, you get used

to it. But there was a lot of sacrificing, a

lot of killing of animals. And some people could

call it cruel. But guess what was cruel? Killing

the creator of the universe on the cross. That

was cruel. As a matter of fact, that's the cruelest

thing that the universe could ever even think

about. Think about that. The creator, the giver

of life, dying. It's an incredible thought. We

will study that throughout eternity. That's how

deep it is. Amazing. wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement

of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes

we are healed. So Jesus wants to heal us. You

know, there's a curious sacrifice in the Old

Testament, and it was the red heifer sacrifice.

Red heifer sacrifice. The Bible says, And the

priest shall take cedar wood. What color is cedar?

Red. And hyssop. Purge me with hyssop and I shall

be clean. Hyssop is a cleansing agent. Literally.

It's not just a symbolic. Hyssop was an actual

cleansing agent, like soap. And scarlet. And

cast it into the midst of the burning of the

heifer. How do we... What do we say about fire?

We usually think of it as red. Fire trucks most

of the time are red. And then there's the heifer.

So all these things represent cleansing. We're

going to cleanse. That's what Jesus wants to

do is get rid of sin from his human beings. So

the red heifer was sacrificed outside the camp.

He was sacrificed seven times in Jewish history.

That's through the Jewish history. They tell

us about it. It's not necessarily in the Bible.

But it was sacrificed with hyssop, cleansing

agent, fire, cleansing agent, sacrificed with

cedar wood, red, and scarlet cloth. And then

it was red itself. So why was the heifer red?

All of these red things, all of this put together,

unique sacrifice. And by the way, the Zionists

that believe that the Jews are going to rebuild

the temple have made sure that they have a red

heifer already in Israel. So anyway, but the

Bible tells us why the heifer was red. For he,

God, hath made him, Jesus, to be sin for us,

who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness

of God in him. He became sin itself. Wow, another

mind -boggling idea. The pure Son of God becoming

sin and receiving the punishment of sin for us.

Again. Come now and let us reason together, saith

the Lord. He is a reasonable God. And one of

the reasons I love the Adventist church is because

it's a reasonable religion. It takes its theology

directly from the Bible and says, let's reason

this thing out. What's truth? It takes the whole

Bible, not just a few passages here and there.

So come now and let us reason together, saith

the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they

shall be as white as snow. So it's obvious what

white represents. He that overcometh, the same

shall be clothed in white raiment. It is the

righteousness of Christ. He is our salvation.

He is our righteousness. We have none of our

own. We can depend on his. And it's done. It's

settled. Every person on earth is saved. You

have to receive it to get it. But Jesus died

for everyone, didn't he? And if only people would

know that. That's why the message is so important.

To go tell it to the world. You're saved in Christ

Jesus. Red is a warm color. Blue is a cold color.

Now, blue, red and white are obvious. They're

very, very clear. Blue, we have to look at a

few more passages to see what blue is. But let's

talk about blue. Blue is a restful and a sedateful

color. It lowers blood pressure and lowers pulse

rate. So it has a calming effect. Have you ever

wondered why the sky is blue? Here's a theological

reason. Because God says, look, I know that in

the last days especially, you guys are going

to be totally stressed out. So you have living

in a world that's going to try to calm you. Green,

by the way, is another restful color. So, you

know, no wonder God says, go out in nature. Relax.

Life doesn't have to be so stressful. So who

prefers blue and green and avoids red? Those

who keep their emotions in check. So blue stimulation

was associated with increased relaxation, less

anxiety, and less hostility, while stimulation

with red definitely increased tension and excitement.

During red stimulation, manifest levels of anxiety

significantly correlated with increased psychological

activation and subjective disturbance, while

the converse was true with blue stimulation.

Interesting. Now, there's an artificial light,

but we don't have time for that. So we'll go

on and talk about the Bible. So, moreover, thou

shalt make the tabernacle. of fine twine linen,

and blue, and purple, and scarlet with cherubims.

So we have those three colors. They were all

over. They were in the covering above. It was

in the priest's garments. It was in the curtains

that separated the compartments. And all of that.

So the Bible says, Speak unto the children of

Israel. and bid them that they make them fringes

on the borders of their garments throughout their

generations, and that they put upon the fringe

of the borders a ribbon of blue. Ah, now we're

getting somewhere. And what was that supposed

to tell us, remind us? And it shall be unto you

for a fringe, and remember all the commandments

of the Lord, and do them. So blue represents...

the commandments of God. Jewish tradition tells

us that the original Ten Commandments that were

written by God's hand were written on a sapphire

stone. It was a blue stone, the commandments.

Interesting. And here's another passage in Exodus.

And they saw the God of Israel, and there was

under his feet, as it were, a paved work of...

sapphire stone and as it were the body of heaven

in his clearness. So interesting to juxtapose

the sapphire and all it was clear as heaven.

It's amazing. So and on the breastplate of the

high priest there were 12 stones and of course

one of them was the sapphire stone. Then I looked

and behold again in Ezekiel in the firmament

Firmament sounds like it should be the earth

because it's firm, but it means heaven. In the

firmament that was above the head of the cherubims,

there appeared over them as it were a sapphire

stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a

throne. Now that, now we're getting somewhere.

The Ten Commandments, we're told, are the foundation

of God's government. So he sits on a throne,

a sapphire stone. It's his throne. It's because

it represents the Ten Commandments. So blue represents

the Ten Commandments. Great peace have they that

love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.

So we're, you know, blue is an incredible color.

So, radical sin. Red is the blood of Jesus, our

grace that saves us. We're saved by grace only,

not of works, lest any man shall boast. White

is the purity, the sinlessness that Jesus gives

us. We don't deserve, but he gives it to us.

And the blue is the Ten Commandments of the law

of God, which Jesus said. In the last days, here

are the patience of the saints, and here are

those who keep the commandments of God. So it's

pretty clear. Purple is neutral biologically.

It's very aesthetic. It's a combination of red

and blue, and it's a royal color. Then came Jesus

forth wearing the crown of thorns. They crowned

him in mockery as the king of the Jews, making

him bleed from his head. And they put upon him

a purple robe, mocking again as the king of the

Jews. Again, we'll study his death on the cross

throughout eternity. That's how important it

is. It is the center of time and space. It's

such an important event. We can't even begin

to emphasize its importance. So red is that warm

color. Blue is the cold color. Jesus puts them

together in his body. He is the embodiment, and

his purple represents Jesus. So we're supposed

to spend a thoughtful hour each day contemplating

Jesus and his great love for us. So we're told

that grace and the law kissed at the cross. Isn't

that true? Jesus kept the law perfectly, and

yet he died the death of a sinner to give us

grace so that we could be saved. Without that,

we'd all be lost. And again, come now and let

us reason together. The invitation goes out very,

very clearly. Believe in Jesus and you will be

saved. So I love the color wheel. I was an art

major in college, actually. Later on, I went

back to the seminary, got another degree, but

I have a degree in art. And the color wheel is

amazing. But I want to tell you something that

you may not know. The color wheel was not devised

by human beings. God created the color wheel.

You see, when you spin a color wheel, what happens?

All the colors merge, and you see white. White

light is composed of all the colors of the rainbow.

And so there's a really interesting thing that

happens in the human eye. It's called complementary

color. In the color wheel, you notice red is

opposite of what color? Green. What is blue opposite

of? Orange. What is purple opposite? Yellow.

We're going to come back to that. But first I

want to prove to you what I'm talking about.

Your eye, God created. I want you to look at

that flag. Look at the dot in the middle. And

I'm going to time you. We have time for this.

I know I'm running out of time, but we have time

for this. So I'm going to time you a minute.

while you look at that black dot in the middle

of the flag. And my watch keeps turning itself

off. So just keep looking. And what's going to

happen is your eye will automatically call up

the complementary colors of those colors. See,

we have green and orange. And so in another 30

seconds, I'm going to move to a blank screen

and keep looking at the screen. And sometimes

some people don't see this, but most do. So it's

almost, I think it's time enough, 45 seconds.

Let's try this. What do you see? You see a red,

white, and blue flag? If you didn't, let's try

this one. Look at her nose. Keep your eye, the

more you can keep your eye still on her nose,

I know it's a little difficult, the better it

is. Now, you notice what this looks like. It

almost looks like a black and white photo, a

negative. It is a negative, but it's not black

and white. Because in another 30 seconds, when

I switch this, you're going to see the miracle

that God put in your eye. God put a miracle in

your eye that when you see one color, your eye

automatically calls up its complement. And that

is an incredible theological implication. So

again, I think 50 seconds is good enough. Yeah.

For some reason, we see it better with a female

than the flag. Not sure why that is. Okay, so

the color wheel is made by God. And theologically,

guess what's happened? Modern religion has moved

one color. When you spin the spinning wheel without

blue, you don't get sanctification. You don't

get white. Now notice, I haven't told you what

yellow is yet, or gold, because I wanted to wait

till now. Guess what happens when you, remember,

purple is Jesus' color. When we have that thoughtful

hour of contemplating the life of Jesus every

day, something happens in our soul. Gold is faith

and love. And so when you see Jesus, faith and

love automatically spring up in the heart. There's

no way you can create love in your heart. Did

you manufacture love for your spouse? Or was

it just for some reason it was just there, right?

That's the same way with God. When we look at

Jesus, love springs up in our hearts. Our task

is to keep our eye fixed on the Savior so that

we have this faith and love springing up into

our soul. That's what God wants. It's a natural

reaction to studying the life of Jesus is to

have faith in God and love. So one of these days,

God's going to come and take us home. And it

is by beholding that we become like Jesus. When

we go to heaven, we will be like Jesus. We will

have love, faith, joy, all the attributes that

God wants for us because we have kept our eyes

fixed on the Savior. So white is sanctification,

and we are going to be sanctified when we get

to heaven. God does the miracle in our hearts.

There isn't anything we can do to conjure up

faith and love. It's by beholding Jesus that

it happens. So Jesus says, I am the light of

the world. Isn't that perfect? I'm the light

of the world. and his raiment became shining

exceedingly white as snow, so as no further on

earth can white them. That was when the disciples

were up on the mountain with Jesus. And here

he was, his raiment was glowing. So balance is

another word in the Christian faith. The balance

of keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and not letting...

Other little things distract us, which that's

what Satan does all the time, try to distract

us. So in every truth, there's a counterfeit,

except for obedience. There's no counterfeit

for obedience. There's a counterfeit for love.

You can imagine the words I might say for the

counterfeit of love. There's a counterfeit of

all kinds of things. But there's no counterfeit

or substitute for obedience. God is going to

come back and take us to heaven with him. The

heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament

shows his handiwork. And now with our telescopes,

we have incredible pictures of the heavens. And

look what's there. All the colors of the sanctuary.

Incredible. Happens to be Orion. The heavens

declare the glory of God. Day unto day utter

a speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.

Their line is gone out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world. In them

hath he set a tabernacle for the sun. Isn't that

interesting? Tabernacle for the sun. Next time

you see a beautiful sunrise or sunset, you'll

know that God is painting a beautiful picture

of himself in the sky to remind you of who you

are and where you're going. Let us pray. Father

in heaven, we thank you so much for Jesus. His

incredible world that we are living in. Lord,

help us to praise him often during the day. Help

us to think and talk of Jesus and let self be

lost in him. And we pray that you'll bless us

with your presence. In Jesus' name, amen.