Plantation SDA Church
Welcome! Our speaker today is Pastor Joseph Salajan.
Welcome to our Online Bulletin.
The online bulletin has been enhanced with additional information to make it more relevant to you. It includes:
• Links to the live stream and service rebroadcasts
• Sermon Outline.
• Bulletin
• Church Newsletter
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Online Services
If you'd like to watch today's service again or if you can't make it to church, here are some links so you can view the live service and/or sermon/service rebroadcast.
Sermon Theme:
Our prayers have value only if mixed with the merits of Jesus Christ. When we pray for justice in His merits, He takes care of our enemies.
Social Media Tags to share with your friends:
#justice #mercy #angel #prayer #blood #altar #prayers #judgement #scent #incense #trumpets
Revelation 8:3-6 ESV
Our Need
In Ancient Israel, there was a Sanctuary where interesting rituals or ceremonies were performed. It was God’s object lesson to teach His people the Plan of Salvation. The main point was this: we are in need of a Messiah… we need a Savior; and God will provide a Savior!
Question: when we make an altar call for prayer… what do we have in mind?
We are referring to the altar(s) of the heavenly Sanctuary. That Sanctuary has two altars… one in the courtyard… (altar of the sacrifice) and one in the Holy (altar of incense).
In verse 3 both altars are mentioned:3Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at [on]the altar. He was given much , that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
What is the role of incense?
Frankincense is known to have antiseptic and disinfectant properties, so it may have been part of the physical cleaning of the Sanctuary. However, it is obvious that incense was not used merely to clean or cover up the bad smell of blood…
Incense was burn as pleasing fragranceoffered up to God…
It is significant that God gave a unique “holy recipe” for the preparation of the incense that was going to be used at the Sanctuary. You were not allowed to prepare the same composition of spicesfor personal use. Doing that had extremely severeconsequences.
Incense is given at the altar of sacrifice, which represented the cross (in the courtyard). The significance of the incense has to do with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is actually the merits of Jesus Christ at the cross that give our prayers the right scent…Prayer without incense is mere self-talk; wouldn’t go up!
Angelic Role
The whole ritual of the incense is performed by an angel… In chapter 5:8 the 24 elders had bowls full of incense in their hands. I told you before that they seem to be representatives of the un-fallen worlds (chief-angels)... Somehow, the angels (“ministering spirits”) are part of God handling/answering our prayers.
An angel takes the incense (Christ’s merits), mixes it with the prayers of the saints and ministers with it on the altar of incense in front of the throne. Then he fills the censer with fire from the (same) altar and throws in on the earth...Fire thrown on earth is a symbol of divine justice… What I am suggesting is that God’s angels are somehow agents of God’s justice…
This scene of fire thrown on the earth calls to mind the cry of the martyrs under the altar asking for justice(in the section about the 7 seals): "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:10).
The Trumpets
The whole section of the trumpets is about divine justice… The 7 seals present the history of God’s people; the 7 trumpets outline the history of God’s people’s enemy. So here’s the meaning of the incense: when we pray for justice in Christ’s merits, God “takes care” of thise who treat us unjustly.
The 7 trumpets are manifestations of divine justice on his people’s enemies!
Coming to the Altar
The Bible doesn’t teach self-justice…We cannot do ourselves Paul says: 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath [of God]; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord (Rom. 12:19).
Divine justice is needed because God knows how to mix mercy with justice so that the sinner gets a chance to repent…There will be a time when God’s wrath will be poured unmixed… at the final phase of judgment. But throughout history, when His persecuted children pray, God does justice on those who persecute them. That’s the 7 trumpets…
When we pray without the merits of Jesus Christ, that’s a scentless prayer. A scentless prayer is a senseless prayer. It wouldn’t go up!
When we pray without thinking of the sacrifice of Jesus allowing mercy for other sinners, that’s a scentless prayer. A scentless prayer is a senseless prayer… It wouldn’t go up…
When we pray for justice and then do ourselves justice (revenge… payback…) that’s a scentless prayer. A scentless prayer is a senseless prayer. It wouldn’t go up!
When we pray for justice while treating unjustly those for whom Jesus was sacrifices, that’s a scentless prayer. A scentless prayer is a senseless prayer… It wouldn’t go up…
Let’s come to the altar…O come to the Father through Jesus the Son…
Romans 12:19 NKJV
Bulletin
This section contains the traditional bulletin, including:
• The Ministry of Giving
• Service Order and Participants
• Songs in today's service
• Sunrise/Sunset times
Newsletter
The last section of the online bulletin is the newsletter. Its similar to the print version but enhanced with live web links and other interactive features. It includes:
• Prayer Ministry Update
• Calendar of Events
• Social Media Links for Plantation SDA Church