The Blueprint (Pastor Greg Hudson, 03/22/25)

Does this look familiar to anyone of a certain

age? What is this referring to? There was a trial

that was going on where a former famous football

player was arrested for allegedly murdering some

people and the trial was going on and it was

on all the news stations almost 24 hours a day,

time after time, wherever you looked. the trial

was going on. And it came down to October, and

finally the trial was going to be over, and there

was going to be a verdict. And it was October

3, 1995. And I happen to remember where I was

at this moment in time, because I was a student

at Southern. And at the time that the verdict

was scheduled to be announced, I was in class.

We were having class. We were disappointed because

we weren't going to be able to see the verdict

that people had been talking about for so long.

But someone in the class, you know, there was

a TV in the classroom used to show videos, probably

VHS tapes back then, and somebody had figured

that if you hit a couple buttons, it could actually

pick up one, maybe two stations over the air.

It was a little fuzzy, but as class was beginning,

someone in the class said, Professor, could we...

You know, there's a big verdict today. Could

we watch that verdict? And they're like, no,

we're here to learn. We're not doing that. So

we're going to learn. And so class went on. And

I forget the exact time of day that the verdict

was to be announced. But in the middle of class,

someone raised their hand. Yes, do you have a

question? Sir, the verdict is in about two minutes.

Are you sure that we couldn't? watched the verdict

here in class. And I don't know if maybe the

professor was curious himself. Maybe he just

wanted the students to simmer down about it,

whatever it was. But he relented and turned on

the TV, and we saw the verdict. Of course, it

was not guilty. Maybe surprising for some. But,

you know, a few minutes later, we carried on

in class. So let me just be clear. This story

is not about the O .J. Simpson trial. It's not.

It seems like it is, but it's not. The story

that I'm telling took place about two weeks later.

Because you see, as we were having class, after

a few minutes, one of the students said, I need

to use the restroom, and they went to the restroom.

And a little bit later, it came back, and nobody

thought anything about it. Until two weeks later,

the student newspaper at Southern, the Southern

Accent, I thought it was the next day, but I

actually went and found the issue. It's kind

of blurry because it was an online archive, but

it was dated two weeks later, and the front page

of the Student Accent was the Student Center.

And you can see there with blurry faces that

there's 50 or 100. Students in the student center

because there's a TV and they're watching the

verdict. And what you can't tell because it's

so blurry is that right front and center was

Tom. And he's the one who had raised his hand

and said, hey, I need to use the restroom. So

what he had done, he had left the classroom,

had run down the promenade, and went into the

student center, saw the verdict. ran back down

the promenade, and came back into class. No problem.

No one will ever know. Until two weeks later,

on the front page, his secret was out. You know,

what's the saying? Be sure your sins will find

you out. And that's exactly what happened in

this case. As we went back to class, a few weeks

later, front and center, there he was, and his

secret was revealed. And the fact of the matter

is that at some point in Earth's history, that's

going to be the case for each one of us. We might

try to do something that we think nobody knows

about, but our secret is going to be revealed,

at least to some. So we're going to look at a

couple of verses here. Let's go over to Matthew

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12. We'll have these verses on the screen,

but as always, I encourage you to look them up.

Matthew chapter 12. And we're going to look at

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

verse 36. So Matthew 12 and verse 36. This is

Jesus speaking. And in Matthew 12, 36, he says,

But I say to you that for every idle word, men

or women, humanity may speak, they will give

account of it in the day of judgment. Whatever

we say, whatever we speak, even the idle words,

we're going to give account of it. At some point.

Let's look at another verse. Let's go back to

the Old Testament. Ecclesiastes. So you've got

Psalms and then Proverbs and then Ecclesiastes.

And we're going to look at the very last chapter

of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes chapter 12. And

Ecclesiastes 12 · chapter mention

it gives us almost the exact same idea. The very

last two verses of Ecclesiastes. It says, let

us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. This

is the end of the book of Ecclesiastes. Fear

God and keep his commandments, for this is man's

all. Or some would say this is the whole duty

of man. And then notice verse 14. It says, for

God will bring every work into judgment, including

every secret thing, whether good or evil. Everything

we do, everything we say, at some point, it's

going to be known. It's going to be judged. It's

kind of a scary thing sometimes to think that

you're going to be judged. If you're driving

down the road and a police officer happens to

pull out behind you, it can be a frightening

thing for a few minutes until you're sure that

they've gone on, that they're doing something

else. I have gotten a couple speeding tickets.

The very first speeding ticket I got, Someone

told me that if you go to the courthouse, if

you go to the trial, that maybe sometimes they'll

throw it out or at least reduce the fine. So

I thought, well, I'm going to give that a try.

So I drove from Knoxville all the way back down

to Cleveland. It was where I had gotten the ticket.

I went to the courtroom. It's a little frightening

to stand before the judge. How do you plead?

Guilty. Well, just pay the fine. What are you

doing here? So it didn't work. I still had to

pay the full fine. But there's been other times

since then where I've served on jury duty. How

many have ever served on jury duty? A few hands

have gone up. And as you sit there in the courtroom,

you know, there's 10 or 12, usually 12 people

on the jury, maybe some alternates. There's,

you know, a defendant. with some lawyers, there's

some prosecutors, and there's witnesses, and

there's bailiffs, and then, of course, there's

the judge, and there's a courtroom full of people.

It's a serious thing, and as I've observed sitting

there in jury duty, there's respect that takes

place, and those people need to respect the judge.

his decisions and the things that he's saying.

It is a solemn and serious event for judgment

to take place. And if you're the one being judged,

it can be a scary time. And believe it or not,

the Bible talks about times of judgment, a day

of judgment. Let's turn over to Daniel chapter

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

7. We're going to look at a picture that Daniel

gives us. As Daniel 7 is tracing down through

history the rise and fall of different kingdoms,

and it talks about a judgment that takes place.

Notice Daniel 7, and we're going to start in

verse 9. It says, This is a judgment scene here.

Would this be a scary, solemn place to be? It

says, was white as snow and the hair of his head

like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame,

its wheels a burning fire. And then it goes on

in verse 10, a fiery stream issued and came forth

from before him. A thousand thousands ministered

to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood

before him. The court was seated and the books

were opened. This is a solemn time here. This

is a judgment taking place with all of the universe,

it seems, observing and watching and listening

as the books were opened. And many people, when

they think of this moment, when they think of

this thing, it can seem very scary. It can seem

upsetting to think that they are going to be

pictured here, that they are going to be represented

here. It seems scary, but if we go just a few

verses down, down to about verse 22, the same

judgment scene as the way Daniel 7 is set up,

it tells the story and then it explains it a

little bit later. Daniel 7 and verse 22, it says,

until the ancient of days came. Well, I'll go

back to verse 21. I was watching and the same

horn was making war against the saints and prevailing

against them until the Ancient of Days came and

a judgment was made. Then notice that next line.

In favor of the saints of the Most High. And

the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.

So even though there's a judgment, it seems like

a scary time, and yet the Bible tells us that

it doesn't have to be something scary. It can

be good news because it says judgment is made

in favor of the saints. So what does all this

mean? Does the Bible explain it anymore? We're

going to dive into this as we're going through

our sermon, and we're going to go back to an

ancient... In the Old Testament, it describes

an ancient structure, a tent, a sanctuary, a

tabernacle, which would later be the pattern

of the temple that was formed. And in our scripture

reading, it says, I will also meditate on all

your work and talk of your deeds. And then notice

what it says. Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary.

Your way, O God. is in the sanctuary. Some might

say, who cares about this? That's a long time

ago. With all that's happening in the world,

is something, you know, some procedures, some

actions that were in the Old Testament, are they

still relevant? Well, God goes on and says, your

way, my way, is in the sanctuary. And believe

it or not, We're going to see that in our personal

life, in our walk with Jesus, every aspect of

the sanctuary, every aspect of the tabernacle

points to Jesus. Every single thing that goes

on is actually pointing down through history

and pointing to Jesus. Let's look at a New Testament

verse in John 1 and verse 14. John 1 and verse

14. John chapter 1 begins with that famous couple

John 1 · chapter mention

of verses that says, In the beginning was the

Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word

was God. And so we understand that that Word,

who's that talking about? Jesus. The Word is

Jesus. And then you scroll down just a few verses

to verse 14, and it says, The Word, Jesus, became

flesh. That's the incarnation. That's Jesus leaving

the glories of heaven and coming to this earth.

The Word became flesh, and then notice what it

says, and dwelt among us. The Word became flesh

and dwelt among us. Another way to translate

that is the Word became flesh and tabernacled

among us. Because just as the glory of God was

in the midst of that sanctuary, in the midst

of that tabernacle, so the glory of God is in

the midst of humanity as the Word became flesh

and dwelt among us. And every single aspect of

that Old Testament structure and those symbols

and those things that they did, it pointed down

through salvation history to Jesus. So we can

take a couple minutes here. and just observe

what's going on. So if you were to walk into

the sanctuary, it's a tent, it's got two compartments.

What's the first compartment called? The holy

place. And then deeper inside, you've got the

most holy place. But before you get to that even,

you're going to come into a gate, into a courtyard.

And the very first thing you're going to come

to is... an altar of sacrifice. And that's where

every day, several times a day, offerings were

brought. Lambs or goats or cattle or different

animals were brought to be sacrificed. And of

course, we recognize that each one of those sacrifices

pointed down through the years down to the great

sacrifice that Jesus made. We've talked about

this verse before, John 1 .29, where John the

Baptist looks at Jesus and he says, Behold, look,

the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the

world. It was the death of Jesus that took away

the sins of the world. And then you go a little

deeper into the courtyard and there's a basin,

there's a tub, it's called a laver. And believe

it or not, that points to Jesus. You can look

in... For instance, John chapter 4, when Jesus

John 4 · chapter mention

is talking to the woman at the well. And he says,

I need something to drink. And he tells the woman,

the water that I have to give you is better than

any water you can get out of a well. Because

the water that I have to give you is the water

of eternal life. And she's like, how can I even

get that water? You don't even have a jug to

draw it from. And Jesus is... looking at himself

as the water of life. And then as you go into

that first apartment, that first section of the

tabernacle, if you were to turn to the right

-hand side, you would see a table. And what would

be on the table? There'd be some bread on the

table, the table of showbread. And of course,

Jesus, later on in John chapter 6, he says, I

John 6 · chapter mention

am the bread of life. He who consumes me, eats

me, will never hunger again, will never thirst

again. And as you're looking at the bread of

life, if you were to turn and look on the other

side, what would you see? Anybody remember? You'd

see some candlesticks. And of course, Jesus in

John 8, he said, I am the light of the world.

And that oil of these candlesticks can represent...

The Holy Spirit. And so you've got a table and

you've got a lamp stand. And then as you look

towards the veil ahead of you, there would be

another altar, a smaller altar. What's this altar

referred to? The altar of incense. And they would

take scented materials and crystallize them and

they would burn this incense upon this altar

of incense. And in Revelation, Chapter 8, verse

Revelation 8:3

3, it clearly says that the smoke of the incense

is the prayers of the saints ascending to heaven.

As those prayers on that altar of incense go

over the veil into the most holy place. And what

was in the most holy place? Oh, I had that verse

on there. He was given much incense that he should

offer it with the prayers of all the saints.

upon the golden altar, which was before the what?

The throne. So on the other side of that veil,

it's called a throne here, but what do we usually

refer to it as? Inside the most holy place. The

ark, the ark of the covenant. This throne room

of God, as there's these two angelic models there

overlooking this golden chest. What was inside

that chest? There were three different things

at different times. There was a rod. Whose rod

was that? Aaron's rod. And it had budded. It

had grown buds, this dry stick, to show that

it was that family that God had chosen. And there

was a bowl of something, manna, to remind the

people that God was protecting them, that God

was sustaining them throughout their time in

the wilderness. And then the most... recognized

thing that was in there were two tablets of stone

what was on those tablets the ten commandments

and so there's this character of god inscribed

on stone but above that above that chest was

this golden um slab that we refer to as the the

mercy seat so before the law was this mercy seat

and that's where the glory of god Let's look

at a verse here. Let's go to Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

10. Hebrews chapter 10. And we see that this

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

sanctuary, this tabernacle, gives all of these

pictures of this plan of salvation. Hebrews 10

and verse 16, it says, This is the covenant that

I will make with them after those days, says

the Lord. I will put my laws into their... Their

hearts. And in their minds, I will write them.

It's not just about a list of things we're supposed

to do and not do, but it's about having God's

law, having God's character written on our heart.

And each part of this sanctuary service would

point to some aspect of the ministry of Jesus.

But also each section of this sanctuary service,

of this tabernacle, points to a different segment

of Jesus' ministry. For instance, think about

it. In the courtyard, you've got that altar of

sacrifice where when Jesus was on this earth

and he laid his life down on the cross and he

died for each one of us. But then as we read

through the Gospels, we recognize that after

Jesus died, then he resurrected. And where did

he go after a few weeks? He ascended back to

heaven. And we see that the next aspect of this

sanctuary, as you go inside, well, that was a

place that only priests could go. We're in Hebrews,

so let's go back just a verse here to Hebrews

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7. Because believe it or not, Jesus is

the sacrifice, but Jesus also serves as the priest.

Look at Hebrews 7 and verse 24. It says, but

he, because he continues forever, has an unchangeable

priesthood. And it says in verse 25, therefore

he is also able to save to the uttermost those

who come to God through him since he always lives

to make intercession for them. What is Jesus

doing now? He's making intercession for us. He's

serving as our high priest. So we have that full

redemption of salvation as Jesus laid down his

life on the cross. We have Jesus serving now

as a heavenly high priest making intercession

for us. And another page or two back, Hebrews

Hebrews 4:14

4, verse 14. Hebrews chapter 4. It says, Therefore,

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

let us hold fast our confession. Jesus is our

high priest. What does that mean for us? Well,

verse 16 says, Let us therefore come boldly to

the throne of grace, boldly to that mercy seat,

that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help

in our time of need. And so we have this... segment

of Jesus's ministry where now he is serving as

our high priest, as a perfect high priest. He's

the sacrifice and he's the high priest. But of

course, there's one more segment of the tabernacle,

one more section that takes place. There's the

holy place where the priest would go on a regular

basis, but there's that most holy place where

the high priest could only go one time, one day

of the year. And so on a regular basis, the people

would go to the tabernacle with their sacrifice,

usually a lamb or something like that. And me,

the sinner, I would confess my sins over the

head of that lamb. And the priest would take

that lamb. What would he do to it? He would sacrifice

it. He would kill it. The blood would be shed.

I was the one that sinned, but the lamb died

in my place. And then the priest would take my

sin, he would take a bowl of the blood, and he

would carry it into the most holy place, and

he would sprinkle it before the veil, before

that altar of incense. And so my sin is transferred

in. And then maybe you come the next day, and

you've sinned, and you confess your sins on the

head of the lamb. What do they do to the lamb?

They kill it. They take the blood, which represents

the sin symbolically, and they take it into the

most holy place, and the sins are transferred

in. And then the next day, well, maybe I'm back

again. And I've sinned again, and I bring the

lamb, and I kill the lamb symbolically, the blood.

My sin is in that blood, and the priest takes

it in, and he sprinkles it. In the holy place.

And so all year long, the entire camp, we sin

and we confess our sins and the sin is transferred

to the lamb and the lamb is killed and the blood

symbolically transfers the sin into the holy

place until a particular day. The Bible calls

it the day of atonement or Yom Kippur. If you

look on a calendar now, There's still a Yom Kippur

on your calendar. It's in October this year.

It's usually in the fall. On that day, it was

a day of judgment. It was a day of cleansing

the sanctuary. And so it was a little different

this day. They would take two goats. They would

select a goat. They would cast lots, and one

goat would be the Lord's goat, and one goat would

be the scapegoat for Azazel. And the Lord's goat,

Well, what would they do to it? They would sacrifice

it. They would kill it. And they would this time

take the blood not to the holy place, but they

would go a little further into the most holy

place. And they would sprinkle that blood onto

the ark, onto the mercy seat. And that was their

way of symbolically once a year cleansing the

sanctuary. taking all of these sins and getting

rid of them once and for all. And so all year

long, these sins are filling up the sanctuary.

And then once a year, they would sweep it out

with this transfer of blood. They would take

these sins and get rid of them. They would cleanse

that sanctuary once and for all. It's kind of

like in our homes. You know, we have our trash

and we fill up our trash can. Maybe in the kitchen.

And then once a week, maybe we take that trash

can and what do we do with it? We take it outside

and we dump it in the bigger trash can. And then

again, maybe once a week we throw it in the truck

or take it to the curb and another truck comes

and they dump and they take it somewhere else.

They cleanse my trash can and they take away

all of that trash. And that's what happens on

this day of atonement. It's in Leviticus 16 if

you want to read all the details about it. A

solemn time of Israel. A time of judgment when

the Lord's goat was slain and the blood was taken

in to the most holy place. Now there's one more

goat. The scapegoat. What did they do with that?

They took it into the wilderness and they pushed

this thing out and said, get away from us. Get

far away from us. It's Satan that causes all

the sins in the world. And that goat doesn't

die, but that goat is left with the blame because

that's where the fault for the sin comes for.

It's the Lamb of God, the goat of God that dies,

and it's the scapegoat that is pushed out into

the wilderness. Someone else is ultimately the

source of sin. And that's what Satan is. Let's

look in Hebrews. And I think this might... Help

to make it clear here. Hebrews 9 and verse 26.

We don't have time today to look into the timing

of this, but in Hebrews 8, 14, it says unto 2

,300 days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

And I think that comes down to a time in the

1800s that that's already passed, where we are

living in this time of judgment right now. And

why do I think that? If you have some questions

about that, please ask me. But Hebrews 9, 26,

notice what it says. It says, Who's that talking

about? Jesus. Jesus came to this earth. He appeared

one time to put away sin. by the sacrifice of

himself. Then notice the next verse, verse 27.

It says, and as it is appointed for men to die

once, but after this, the judgment. So Jesus

came, he died, he was sacrificed. After this,

the judgment. Notice the next verse, verse 28.

So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of

many. To those who eagerly wait for him, he will

appear a second time. What's that say? Apart

from sin for salvation. And so Jesus died and

he became the sin bearer. But when he returns

again, the sin is going to be gone. The sin is

going to be wiped away. Jesus came once and he

died for our sins. And then there's this time

of judgment. And it says when he comes again

at the second coming, he's going to be apart

from sin. Why? Because the sanctuary. The sins

are cleansed. The sins are wiped away. Every

single aspect of this sanctuary, of this service,

every single aspect of it points to Jesus. And

the beautiful thing is, is that judgment is in

favor of the saints. Jesus is on our side. I

want to look at just a couple more verses. We

don't have to be afraid of the judgment. Let's

look at John chapter 5. John chapter 5. We're

John 5 · chapter mention John 5 · chapter mention

going to look at John 5 and then 1 John. John

John 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 and verse 22. It says, The Father judges

no one, but has committed all judgment to the

Son. So who's the ultimate judge here? Jesus.

Jesus is the judge. With that in mind, turn over

to 1 John, way back by Revelation. 1 John 2.

Notice what it says, starting in verse 1. It

says, That's the ultimate goal, that we won't

sin. I write this so you may not sin. But then

it says, An advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ,

the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation.

He is the sacrifice for our sins and not for

ours only, but also for the whole world. Jesus

is the judge, but Jesus is also the advocate,

the attorney. That's a court case that you can't

lose. Jesus is the judge and Jesus... is the

attorney. We can't lose when we choose to have

Jesus on our side. There's an old story, perhaps

a legend, about a mayor of New York, LaGuardia.

There's an airport named after him. But in the

30s, during the Depression, he was the mayor

of New York. And from time to time, he would

go into a courtroom and he would tell the judge

to step aside, and he was going to rule over

the court cases. And the story goes that on this

particular day, there was a poor lady that was

brought in, and she was charged with stealing

a loaf of bread to feed her child. And the mayor

asked the shopkeeper, do you really want to charge

this poor lady who's just trying to feed her

child? And the shopkeeper said, oh, judge, this

is, mayor, this is a bad section of town. This

is the law. We've got to uphold the law. And

so Mayor LaGuardia said, well, ma 'am, you are

guilty. And the fine, the lowest fine we can

do is $10. You're guilty. Fine of $10. But as

he said that, he was reaching into his wallet

and he was pulling out a bill to pay the penalty,

to pay the fine. And that's what Jesus has done

for us. He says, you're guilty. The wages of

sin is death, but I died that death so that I

might pay you with that free gift of eternal

life. And that's what this... sanctuary reminds

us of each and every day that we are guilty but

jesus is a sacrifice for us jesus is a interceder

for us as the high priest and jesus is the one

who ultimately wipes those sins away once and

for all and if you will have him he's the best

lawyer that you could ever have he's never lost

a case and he's waiting to represent you Are

you ready to accept Jesus as your Savior, to

accept him as your high priest, to accept him

as the one who will wipe away your sins once

and for all? Let's bow our heads for prayer.

Dear God, what an incredible show and tell that

you give us. We're so grateful that we don't

have to sacrifice animals anymore. How tragic

that would be. But even more tragic is to realize

that the Son of God died for me. And God, I'm

grateful that you're a sacrifice. I'm grateful

that I can come boldly before the throne of grace

and have the mercy that only you can give. In

your name we pray, amen.