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Series Code: AFDB
Program Code: AFDB000169S
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00:02 male announcer: This presentation is brought to you
00:03 by the friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry. 00:06 ♪♪ 00:14 Doug Batchelor: Christians should try to imitate Christ, 00:16 have the character of Christ, to reflect to the world what Jesus 00:19 is like, to live out his teachings and share 00:22 his teachings. 00:23 That's what it means to be a follower. 00:29 Doug Batchelor: Well friends, I'd like to have you go to 00:32 the Gospel of Luke. 00:33 We're gonna be talking about following the Lord. 00:37 Chapter 9, verse 57, there's a passage where several 00:41 individuals come to Jesus with the intention of following him. 00:45 I'm going to read this and then we're gonna--we'll back up 00:47 and we'll talk about it a little bit. 00:49 "Now it happened as they journeyed on the road," Jesus 00:52 is going down the road, "that someone said to him, 00:56 'Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.' 00:59 And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air 01:03 have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' 01:08 And then he said to another, 'Follow me.' 01:11 But he said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' 01:14 And Jesus answered to him, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, 01:18 but you go and preach the kingdom.' 01:20 Then another said, 'Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go 01:24 and bid them farewell that are at my house.' 01:27 And Jesus said to him, 'No one, having put his hand to the plow, 01:30 and looking back, is fit for the kingdom.'" 01:34 So here we have three vignettes, little scenarios of people who 01:39 were invited to follow Jesus. 01:40 One actually invites himself to follow the Lord. 01:43 And Jesus is trying to tell us what's involved and what kind 01:46 of commitment it is in following him. 01:49 And I remember hearing about a lady that she called the police 01:52 department and she said, "What shall I do? 01:54 I opened the basement and there's a skunk in the basement. 01:57 How do I get them out?" 01:59 Policeman said, "You know, we can't take care of every 02:01 call like this. 02:02 I just recommend that you get a loaf of bread, take a piece of 02:05 bread, curl up a bunch of crumbs, put the crumbs of bread 02:09 on the steps, and place them in dots on outside and the skunk 02:14 then, you know, will follow the pieces of bread outside." 02:18 In a couple of hours, she called back the police and she said, 02:21 "I've now got two skunks in my basement." 02:25 I guess another skunk outside found the trail of crumbs before 02:27 the one in the basement found 'em and followed in the 02:30 wrong direction. 02:32 Well, you know, sometimes that happens even to believers. 02:35 We follow in reverse. 02:37 You can read about that happening to one of Jesus's 02:40 most faithful followers. 02:41 You remember when Jesus called Peter, he said, "Follow me." 02:43 Peter was willing to leave everything right then and there 02:46 and follow Jesus. 02:48 But Jesus warned Peter, "Now, your following is 02:51 not consistent." 02:53 And you can read about this in the Bible if you go to Mark 02:55 chapter 14, "Peter followed him at a distance, and he went 03:01 into the courtyard of the high priest. 03:03 And he sat down with the servants," servants of the 03:06 priest who is now trying Christ. 03:08 He sat down and mingled with the enemies of Jesus and he warmed 03:13 himself at their fire. 03:15 You know, a lot of Christians get into trouble because we try 03:18 to follow Jesus from a distance. 03:19 We don't want to get too close because we might get ridiculed. 03:23 And we start hanging out with the world and we act like the 03:25 world because we know it's very unpopular to be a Christian. 03:29 Peter was somewhat affected by the crowd. 03:32 When the crowd was hailing Jesus, Peter wanted to be right 03:36 at Christ's side, and so did James and John. 03:39 And when he was working miracles, then the disciples 03:42 were hovering around and they wanted to be his bodyguard. 03:45 But the Bible tells us that at the cross they stood afar off. 03:49 At the trial, they all forsook him and fled. 03:52 Peter, he loved the Lord so he did want to follow, but he 03:55 followed from a distance. 03:57 And they kept saying, "Aren't you one of his disciples?" 04:01 "I don't know what you're talking about." 04:02 He tried to ignore the question. 04:03 And finally the third time, still in Mark 14, and you can 04:06 read in verse 69, "A little later those that stood by said 04:11 to Peter again, 'Surely you're one of them, for you're 04:14 a Galilean, your speech,'" your accent, "'shows it.'" 04:18 Now, this time he realized he's exposed and he tries to just 04:21 prove that he wasn't a follower of Jesus by going back into his 04:25 old vocabulary as a lost sailor. 04:28 Now, Peter was a pretty rough character. 04:29 Even when he first came to Christ, he knelt down 04:32 at Jesus's feet and said, "Lord, depart from me. 04:34 You don't know I am a sinful man," and he was. 04:38 And Peter drew on all those old curse words he knew and he began 04:41 to swear, and to curse, and to say, "I don't know the man of 04:45 whom you speak," blankety, blank, blank, blank. 04:49 And then the rooster crowed. 04:51 And you read in the gospel, it says he went out and 04:53 he wept bitterly. 04:56 Some of us have wept before because we said, 04:58 "Lord, I love you. 05:00 I want to follow you," but we're trying to do it from a distance. 05:04 You know, the Bible tells us that John follow Jesus right 05:06 into the judgment hall. 05:08 John did not deny Jesus 'cause he did not try to hide that 05:11 he loved Jesus. 05:13 If anything wonderful could come from this revival, something 05:17 I would pray for would be that those that say 05:19 they're Christians would really follow Jesus. 05:22 What is a Christian? 05:23 A Christian is the follower of the teachings, and the life, and 05:27 the example of Christ. 05:28 The Bible says he has given us an example that we should walk 05:32 in this wicked world, even as he walked; that we should follow 05:35 in his steps. 05:36 Christians should try to imitate Christ, have the character 05:39 of Christ to reflect to the world what Jesus is like, 05:43 to live out his teachings and share his teachings. 05:45 That's what it means to be a follower. 05:47 It means the self-denial, the humility, the commitment of 05:52 Jesus, the love for the Father. 05:54 Now, going back to some of the vignettes that we started with, 05:58 I want you to notice it says followers of Jesus here on Earth 06:01 have no earthly security. 06:03 You remember what he said? 06:05 "Lord, I'll follow you wherever you go," and Jesus said, "Foxes 06:08 have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man 06:12 has nowhere to lay his head." 06:14 Some people realize when they follow the Lord that it might 06:17 mean they could be unpopular. 06:19 It might mean they could lose their job, which could threaten 06:22 their house, and they say, "I-- you know, I can't afford 06:25 to follow Jesus. 06:26 It costs too much." 06:27 Jesus said, "If you're following me because you think there's 06:30 earthly gain, don't follow me." 06:32 I'll tell ya, I've yelled at my TV a few times because I scan 06:35 sometimes through Christian programs and I hear these 06:38 prosperity preachers say, "Oh, if you just follow Jesus, you're 06:42 going to get your new house, and you're gonna get healed, 06:45 and you're gonna get your pick up truck, and you're gonna have 06:47 money, and all your debts will be paid," and this act like 06:51 following Jesus means you're supposed to get rich, 06:53 when Christ actually teaches the opposite. 06:55 It might cost you to follow him. 06:58 And Jesus said, Look, if you're following me because you think 07:01 you're gonna get an earthly palace, "I don't even have 07:04 anywhere to lay my head." 07:06 Jesus didn't have much in the world to call his own except 07:08 his robe, and they gambled for that when he died. 07:11 And so if you're following Jesus for earthly gain, you're gonna 07:15 be disappointed. 07:16 Another point, followers of Jesus point two, they have 07:21 no earthly ties. 07:23 Not only no earthly security, we don't have any earthly ties. 07:25 Remember that other man said, "Lord, I'll follow you, 07:29 but I first need to go bury my father." 07:31 Now, it's okay if you're a Christian to go to the funeral 07:33 of your father. 07:35 In this story, the man is saying, "I can't follow you 07:37 because, you know, my father's gettin' old. 07:38 I probably need to wait, hang around till he dies and take 07:40 care of affairs." 07:42 And Jesus said, "You know, as long as you're gonna find 07:44 excuses like that and you put other people first, you're never 07:47 gonna follow me." 07:49 He realized that Jesus even left his own home when he went 07:52 out teaching. 07:54 Jesus had a mother. 07:55 Joseph was probably dead, but Jesus said, "I've got to put the 07:58 kingdom of God first." 07:59 You cannot put somebody else ahead of Christ. 08:03 No earthly human tie can come between you and Jesus. 08:07 Jesus must be first. 08:08 Let me give you--I know this is tough. 08:10 This is what Jesus said. 08:11 Matthew 10:37: "He who loves father or mother more than me 08:16 is not worthy of me. 08:17 He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy 08:20 of me." 08:21 Here today, we've got a handful of people. 08:23 I've got my wife I love. 08:24 I've got one of my sons I love. 08:26 I love them, but you know, I can't love them more than God. 08:30 What would you love more, the giver or the gift? 08:34 If someone gives you a gift, is it right to love the gift more 08:37 than the giver? 08:38 Everybody that you love in your life is a gift from God. 08:41 It's not right to love the gift more than the giver. 08:44 You need to love God first. 08:45 I knew a dear lady that she accepted the truth, she came 08:48 to church, but she was real sporadic in her attendance. 08:51 And I talked her, she said, "Oh pastor, you know, my husband's 08:54 not a believer, and he wants me to go shopping with him, and he 08:57 wants me to do this. 08:58 And you know, I love my husband." 09:00 And she kept putting her husband first, above her commitment 09:04 to God. 09:05 And I understand that's tough. 09:06 It's a difficult situation. 09:08 Then she called me one day, she said, "Pastor, can you please 09:10 come to the hospital. 09:12 My husband was nearly killed at work in an accident 09:17 and he's in ICU." 09:19 And I came to her, had prayer for her and her husband. 09:21 He actually started coming to church after that. 09:24 He survived, but she told me, "During that accident," 09:27 she said, "God almost took my husband. 09:29 And God told me I am putting my husband ahead--" 09:33 God said, "You're putting your husband ahead of me." 09:35 She said, "I've learned a very valuable lesson." 09:37 She said, "Lord, if you save my husband, I'll always 09:39 put you first." 09:40 And then she was at church every week. 09:42 Don't ever put somebody ahead of Jesus. 09:44 The devil will always have someone in your life, might be 09:47 a boyfriend, or girlfriend, or somebody that's trying 09:50 to pull you away. 09:51 You know, Jesus said it might be as hard as plucking out an eye, 09:53 or cutting off a hand, or cutting off a foot, but if 09:56 you're going to follow him, you can't have any earthly tie that 10:00 is going to stop you from making that decision. 10:03 Followers of Jesus have no earthly distractions. 10:06 You notice that other example that we read. 10:08 He said, "Someone said, 'Lord, I'll follow you, but let me 10:10 first bid them farewell that are at my house.' 10:13 And Jesus said, 'No man, putting his hand to the plow, and 10:16 looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'" 10:19 Now, when Jesus says this, he is talking about the story 10:22 of Elisha. 10:24 When Elijah first calls Elisha, Elisha is out plowing in the 10:29 field with a yoke of oxen. 10:31 And Elijah goes over to Elisha and he takes his mantle and he 10:35 puts it on his shoulders, and that was a symbol in those days 10:38 that he was being called to be the apprentice prophet, to train 10:41 in to replace Elijah, a very great honor. 10:45 But Elijah is a poor prophet. 10:47 It says he lives in a lady's attic, and he's fed by birds, 10:50 and he stays in a cave, and he's, you know, out by a creek. 10:53 And Elijah had no earthly treasure, but Elijah had 10:57 the Spirit of God. 10:59 And Elisha, he came from a wealthy family. 11:02 The Bible says he's out with his family and they're plowing with 11:05 12 yoke of oxen. 11:06 That means you've got a lot of land. 11:08 He's a wealthy, young man. 11:09 He's got a lot to inherit, but he was willing to walk away from 11:13 that plow, he actually burned it, and follow Elijah. 11:17 He never turned back to his family. 11:20 He said, "I am going to follow Elijah," matter of fact, when 11:23 Elijah went to heaven, he says, "My father, my father, the 11:25 chariot of Israel and its horsemen." 11:28 And the Bible says he saw it. 11:30 He saw it. 11:31 So now he gets a double portion of Elijah's spirit. 11:34 You know, friends, this is a reminder. 11:36 We're talkin' about the new heart. 11:37 We're talking about the revival. 11:39 What did Jesus do before he ascended to heaven? 11:42 He went from one group of disciples to another 11:45 to encourage them, just like Elijah. 11:47 Then Christ ascended to heaven and then he sent 11:50 the Holy Spirit. 11:52 And this is what this story is telling us, and if we keep our 11:57 eyes fixed on Jesus as Elisha did Elijah, then we're going 12:02 to receive a double portion of his spirit. 12:04 How could we have a double portion? 12:06 You know, Jesus said, "These works that I've done, greater 12:08 things than these will you do because I go to the Father." 12:11 If God's people would only follow--not that we have 12:14 greater power than Christ, but the scope of what we do around 12:18 the world is gonna be greater than what Jesus did 12:20 in the territory of Israel. 12:21 I believe in the last days, God wants to give his people 12:24 the latter rain. 12:25 How's it gonna happen? 12:27 We need to know what it means to really follow Jesus. 12:29 So Elisha followed without any earthly distractions. 12:35 And one old minister told another minister, a young one, 12:38 "Endeavor to keep your church is small as you can." 12:41 What he meant by that was, preach the truth. 12:44 Don't try to grow your church by making it popular. 12:47 Preach the truth. 12:50 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing, 12:52 free resource. 12:53 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 12:56 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 12:58 mobile device. 13:00 To get your copy of today's free gift, simply call us and ask for 13:03 the offer number shown on your screen, or visit the web address 13:07 and download a digital copy and be sure to select the digital 13:11 download option on the request page. 13:13 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 13:16 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most 13:20 important, to share it with others. 13:24 Doug Batchelor: The followers of Jesus do not hesitate. 13:29 Matthew 41:8: "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, 13:33 he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his 13:36 brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. 13:40 And he said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you 13:43 fishers of men.'" 13:45 This is amazing. 13:46 "Immediately, they left their nets and walk away and 13:49 they follow him. 13:51 Going from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son 13:54 of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with 13:56 Zebedee their father, mending their nets. 13:59 He called them, and immediately they left the boat 14:03 and followed him." 14:04 Clearly not putting their father above Jesus. 14:07 They understood this was the Messiah, that it was the call 14:11 of God and it's to have a great priority. 14:14 Matthew 9, he comes and he sees Matthew sitting at the tax 14:17 booth, and he says, "Follow me." 14:20 He arises, he walks away from his cash register, 14:24 and he follows Jesus. 14:25 Now, I'm not asking you to walk out on your boss without giving 14:27 two weeks' notice, but I think it says illustrating to us that 14:31 God wants it to be the priority. 14:34 Follow him. 14:35 John 1:37, there at the Jordan River, two disciples 14:39 who heard Jesus speak, they followed Jesus. 14:43 When we are called to follow Christ, we should 14:45 follow immediately. 14:48 So often people will say, "Well, you know, I'm gonna try and fit 14:52 God into my calendar." 14:54 If you're a Christian, God is your calendar. 14:57 You lay your plans and your calendar before him and you say, 15:01 "Lord, I am yours every moment of every day." 15:03 Some people say, "Well, I gave God--you know, 15:06 I went to church. 15:07 I gave him those two or three hours in the morning," or maybe 15:10 you went to prayer meeting. 15:12 You think the rest of the time is mine. 15:14 You know why? 15:15 I've had it happen to me. 15:17 I come home, I'm flying home from a country, I do an 15:20 evangelistic meeting. 15:21 I'll preach sometimes, you know, in 20 days I'll preach 30 times 15:25 easily, and I think I worked really hard for the Lord. 15:28 And then on the plane on the way home, the Lord will sit me down 15:31 to someone, a little voice will say, "You should witness to 15:34 this person." 15:35 I think, "Oh Lord, man, I just finished doing--I'm off the 15:37 clock now." 15:39 And the Holy Spirit's like, "Doug, you're never off 15:41 the clock. 15:42 You're my servant. 15:43 You're supposed to be workin' for me all the time." 15:47 That doesn't mean Christians don't rest. 15:48 I mean, that's what the Sabbath is all about, but we follow 15:51 him immediately. 15:52 We don't just try and fit him into our calendar. 15:54 Something else you learn about the followers of Christ, 15:58 they come as they are. 16:01 Now, I love this story you're gonna find in Mark chapter 10. 16:04 It's about this man named Bartimaeus, Blind Bartimaeus. 16:09 Jesus is passing through Jericho and there's a blind man there. 16:14 You know, actually there's probably two blind men. 16:17 If you read in the Gospel of Mark, it says there's two men, 16:20 but it's only Bartimaeus we get his name, and he's the one that 16:23 does all the speaking. 16:24 And they hear that--they hear there's a commotion. 16:28 You know, if you're blind, your hearing is sort of accentuated. 16:31 And they started asking, "What's the fuss? 16:32 What's going on?" 16:34 They say, "The Great Rabbi has come from Nazareth, Jesus. 16:38 He's on his way to Jerusalem for the feast." 16:40 By the way, this is the last time that Jesus is going to be 16:42 passing through Jericho. 16:45 It's also the same occasion when he runs into Zacchaeus in 16:49 Jericho, and now he's on his way out of the city. 16:53 And Bartimaeus had heard that Jesus had healed the blind 16:56 before, so as he hears the crowd approaching, he calls out. 17:01 He says, "Son of David, have mercy on me." 17:04 And he wants to make sure that he can be heard above the crowd. 17:07 "Son of David, have mercy on me. 17:09 Son of David, have mercy on me." 17:11 Now, if you know--if you believe that Jesus can open your 17:14 eyes and this is the only time that he's come within reach, 17:19 how fervently, how loudly will you cry that your eyes 17:23 might be opened? 17:25 You know, if the Lord is speaking to you during this 17:27 revival and saying, you know, it's time for you to get 17:29 serious, look at what's happening in the world. 17:31 If you don't think these are the last days, what are you 17:32 waiting for? 17:34 Now is the time to get ready and seek first his kingdom. 17:37 Cry out to the Lord with passion, with fervency, with 17:40 zeal, with persistency. 17:42 You might be thinking, "I don't know how I can live 17:43 the Christian life. 17:45 When I get to the place where I think I can live the Christian 17:47 life, then I'm going to commit my life to Jesus." 17:49 This is where the devil traps the most people. 17:51 Don't try to figure out how you're going to obey tomorrow. 17:54 You come to Jesus now, then he gives you power to obey. 17:59 Bartimaeus came just like he was: poor, wretched, 18:02 blind, naked. 18:05 And the Bible says he said, "What do you want?" 18:07 Now, he--it was pretty clear what he wanted. 18:09 He was blind. 18:10 He had to get led to Jesus. 18:12 But he and his companion, they said, "Lord, that we might 18:14 receive our sight." 18:16 Jesus said, "Go your way. 18:18 Your faith has made you whole." 18:20 And then it tells us immediately he received his sight. 18:23 Can you imagine the first thing he sees is the face of Jesus, 18:26 and that love, and that compassion? 18:28 Jesus is not going anywhere. 18:30 It says he followed Jesus, no doubt rejoicing, leaping and 18:33 skipping down the road because Jesus had opened his eyes. 18:37 And friends, if you--you know, this is kind of how I feel 18:39 because I was so lost out in the world. 18:41 I had no idea what the purpose of life was, but when I found 18:43 Jesus, I said, "Wow, where have I been?" 18:47 This is the purpose of life. 18:48 The gospel is the truth. 18:49 This is the only thing that makes sense in this world is 18:52 Christianity, real Christianity. 18:55 So you follow him. 18:57 Follow Jesus completely. 19:00 You know the story in the Gospel of Mark chapter 10, the same 19:03 chapter as Bartimaeus. 19:05 What a contrast. 19:07 Jesus, after he blesses these children, there's 19:10 a rich young ruler. 19:12 A good man, a godly man, a generous man, a very rich man. 19:17 And he sees Jesus and he thinks, "Something's missing 19:19 in my life." 19:21 Sees Jesus blessing the children. 19:22 And as Jesus is going down the road, he runs after him. 19:26 He says, "Lord, what good thing shall I do that I might inherit 19:29 eternal life?" 19:30 Christ says, "Why do you call me good? 19:31 None is good but one, and that's God. 19:33 But if you would enter into life, keep the commandments." 19:36 He says, "Which ones?" 19:37 Jesus begins to recite from the Ten Commandments, from the table 19:42 of the second table, commandments of man between man. 19:46 He's saying, "Do you really love your neighbor?" 19:48 He says, "Oh, you're quoting the Ten Commandments." 19:50 Every Jewish boy knew the Ten Commandments by heart. 19:52 A lot of Christians don't know them today, but every Jewish boy 19:55 knew the Ten Commandments. 19:56 He said, "Lord, all of these I've kept from my youth up. 19:58 What do I lack yet?" 20:01 He said, "Go, sell what you have and give it to the poor. 20:03 You will have treasure in heaven. 20:06 And take up your cross and follow me." 20:09 And when Jesus said that, his whole countenance changed. 20:13 "Sell all I have?" 20:14 He was rich. 20:16 I mean, that's what gave him his prestige and his power, 20:20 and sell it all? 20:22 He said, "Lord, I want to follow you, but--" 20:23 And as he went away 20:25 pondering the sacrifice of taking up his cross and 20:27 following Jesus, the Bible says he did not follow Christ because 20:32 it cost too much. 20:33 He was sad because he had great possessions. 20:36 And Jesus said to the disciples, "How hard it is for those who 20:38 have riches to enter the kingdom of heaven." 20:41 They said, "Lord, who can be saved?" 20:43 And you know, right after that experience, Zacchaeus, a very 20:46 rich man, gets saved. 20:47 So the Lord shows, even with God, all things are possible. 20:50 But you don't want to let things get in your way. 20:53 Don't let stuff block you. 20:55 1 Timothy 6:9: "Those who desire to be rich fall into many 20:59 foolish temptations and snares." 21:02 Final point. 21:03 Bible says Jesus leads his people right to heaven. 21:08 Mark 10, verse 28, Peter began to say, "Lord, we've left 21:13 everything and followed you. 21:15 What will we have?" 21:16 And Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there 21:20 is no one who has left house or brothers or sister or father or 21:23 mother or wife or children or lands, for my sake and the 21:27 gospel's, he will receive a hundredfold now in this time." 21:32 I thought, "What does that mean?" 21:33 Does that mean that you get 100 times more? 21:35 Is that the prosperity message? 21:37 No, I'll tell you what that means. 21:39 When I decided to be a Christian, my mother and father 21:41 thought I went crazy. 21:44 But do you know what? 21:45 I got adopted by a lot of other saints that took me in. 21:47 If your father and mother forsake you, the Lord will 21:49 take you up. 21:51 Not only that, though I may not have had an earthly home, 21:54 they all brought me into their homes. 21:56 And when I joined the little church up in Covelo, I was able 21:59 to pick who I wanted to eat dinner with every week 22:02 for years. 22:03 I got to choose who I was going home with. 22:05 It was wonderful. 22:06 And I had all these grandmas, and grandpas, and family, and 22:10 homes, and I can stay with any of 'em, and you've got a family. 22:13 Karen and I travel around the world. 22:14 Everywhere we go, "Stay with us." 22:16 Some friends are watching the Seychelles and we were 22:19 just over there. 22:20 So nice, we stayed in their homes and it's like we have 22:22 family everywhere we go now. 22:25 Jesus said, "I've got a place for you in my kingdom." 22:28 Christ said in Luke 9:23, "If anyone comes after me, let him 22:33 deny himself, take up his cross. 22:36 If you lose your life for my sake and the gospel's, 22:39 then you'll really find it." 22:42 You know, I remember hearing a story about a man, and it was 22:45 during the Christmas season, and his wife was telling the 22:48 children the Christmas story of the Incarnation. 22:51 He wasn't a believer. 22:52 His wife--he said, "It's okay, you can take them 22:54 to Sunday School. 22:55 You can teach that stuff," he said, "but I don't buy it. 22:57 I don't see how in the world God can become a man or even why he 23:00 would become a man." 23:02 And she was sad, she had prayer, put the kids to bed. 23:05 And that night, there was a terrible blizzard. 23:07 And he lived on a ranch out in the in the wilderness and he was 23:11 smoking his pipe and reading his paper there by the fire, and all 23:14 of a sudden he hears this terrible thud. 23:16 And he looked up at the window just in time to see another 23:19 thud, and what had happened is there was a flock of geese that 23:23 had been trapped in this blizzard trying to fly south, 23:26 and they were coming--they saw the warmth of the light inside 23:29 his home and they were banging into the window. 23:32 And he thought, "I gotta stop that. 23:33 They're going to break the window." 23:34 And so he walked outside and he saw all these geese that were 23:37 aimlessly flying around, they're colliding. 23:39 Some of them are on the ground, and they're honking, and 23:41 they don't know where to go. 23:42 He thinks, Look, "I'll just open the barn, let 'em go 23:44 in the barn." 23:46 So he opens up the barn. 23:47 He turns on the light in the barn and he thinks they're just 23:49 gonna know to go in, but they don't go in the barn. 23:52 And so he gets out behind them and he tries to shoo them in 23:55 the barn, but it just scares them. 23:57 He's trying to let 'em know, "Look, the barn is warm," and he 24:00 waved the light in the barn, but they won't go in the barn. 24:02 They're kinda hanging back in the shadows and they're freezing 24:05 in the blizzard. 24:06 Then the man got an idea. 24:08 He had a goose. 24:10 He went around into the goose pen and he grabbed the family 24:13 goose, put the goose under his arm, he ran around behind 24:17 the wild geese. 24:18 He knew as soon as he let hold of his goose, it was going to go 24:21 right back into the barn. 24:23 He let hold of its goose, it flew right through the middle of 24:26 all the other wild geese right towards the barn. 24:29 When they other geese saw him go in the barn, they followed him 24:32 into the barn. 24:34 He shut 'em in from the blizzard and protected him that night. 24:36 And then the Lord spoke to him and he said, "The reason that 24:40 they followed the goose is because it was a goose. 24:44 And the reason that I sent my Son into the world is so that 24:47 we could relate to him." 24:49 God so loved the world, he gave his Son. 24:51 Jesus came into the world to show us what God is like. 24:55 He said, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." 24:58 He came to show us how to live, to give us an example through 25:01 his teachings, through his life, how we ought to love each other, 25:04 and treat each other, and forgive each other. 25:07 And then he came as our substitute. 25:09 He said, "I love you so much, I don't want you to perish. 25:11 I will die for all of your sins." 25:14 And he died on the cross to forgive us of our sins. 25:17 Friends, have you made a decision yet to completely 25:20 surrender your life to Jesus, to come as you are without any 25:23 restrictions, to not let anybody get in the way, and to say, 25:27 "Lord, you're offering me a hundredfold more in this life 25:30 and eternal life in the world to come. 25:32 You've died to save me. 25:34 I trust you. 25:35 I'm willing to follow you 100%"? 25:37 If you get the scourge and if you make mistakes like Peter, 25:41 from time to time you might find you're not faithful, 25:44 you deny the Lord. 25:45 Peter repented, he wept, and he became one of the most 25:48 devoted followers. 25:49 Return to the Lord at that time and he will accept you. 25:57 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing, 25:59 free resource. 26:00 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 26:03 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 26:05 mobile device. 26:07 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 26:10 the keyword on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address 26:14 shown on your screen and be sure to select the digital download 26:18 option on the request page. 26:20 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 26:23 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most 26:27 important, to share it with others. 26:30 male announcer: The statistics are grim. 26:32 Millions have been infected by coronavirus. 26:35 Thousands have died. 26:36 Race riots have broken out on streets. 26:38 Political tensions are at an all-time high. 26:41 Does the Bible have anything to say about the times in which 26:45 we are living? 26:46 Doug Batchelor: Hi friends, this is Pastor Doug Bachelor. 26:49 Many people are wondering if the world's about to implode. 26:52 Some are fearful that global events point to a coming crisis 26:56 unlike anything we've ever witnessed. 26:58 Did you know the Bible book of Revelation actually speaks about 27:02 the days in which we're living now? 27:04 And it contains a message of hope if we would only listen. 27:08 That's why I'd like to invite you to "Revelation Now: Decoding 27:12 the Bible's Greatest Prophecies." 27:15 In this multi-part series, I'll be sharing relevant truths 27:18 for our time from the last book in the Bible. 27:21 male announcer: Coming October 23. 27:22 To learn more, 27:24 visit revelationnow.com. 27:28 announcer: What if you could know the future? 27:32 What would you do? 27:33 What would you change? 27:36 To see the future, you must understand the past. 27:41 This intriguing documentary, hosted by Pastor Doug Batchelor, 27:45 explores the most striking Bible prophecies that have been 27:48 dramatically fulfilled throughout history. 27:51 "Kingdoms in Time." 27:53 For more information, visit kingdomsintime.com. 27:57 ♪♪ 28:03 announcer: Don't forget to request today's free offer. 28:05 It's sure to be a blessing. 28:07 And thank you for your continued support as we take the gospel of 28:10 Jesus Christ to the world. 28:12 We hope you'll join us next week as we delve deep into 28:16 the Word of God to explore more amazing facts. 28:19 ♪♪ 28:24 announcer: This presentation was brought to you 28:26 by the friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry. |
Revised 2020-10-21