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00:10 ♪♪♪ 00:20 ♪♪♪ 00:25 ♪♪♪ 00:31 CC BY ABERDEEN CAPTIONING 1-800-688-6621 WWW.ABERCAP.COM 00:36 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends, and welcome to 00:37 "Sabbath School Study Hour" 00:39 here at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:41 in Sacramento, California. 00:43 We'd like to welcome those who are joining us 00:45 across the country and around the world. 00:47 And you notice we always mention where we are. 00:50 We're in Sacramento, California. 00:51 Sometimes we have those who are joining us and you might not 00:55 know that we're right here in Sacramento. 00:57 You might be in our backyard, so to speak. 01:00 If you live in the area, we'd love you to come join us every 01:03 Saturday morning at 9:30 right here at the Granite Bay Church. 01:08 And you can get our information on line. 01:10 Just take a look at the Granite Bay Church website and you can 01:14 get the address. 01:15 We'd also like to welcome our regular Sabbath School members, 01:18 and I know we have some who are visiting with us. 01:20 And again, a very warm welcome to all of you. 01:22 We've been studying through the lesson dealing 01:24 with the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. 01:28 We have a very important study today, an important chapter. 01:32 It's lesson number 10 is our study for today and it's 01:36 entitled, "From Confusion to Consolation." 01:39 "From Confusion to Consolation." 01:41 We'll be looking at Daniel chapter 9. 01:44 Now, we'd also like to tell those who are joining us online 01:47 or on the various television networks, we do have the free 01:50 offer and it's entitled, "The Final Judgment." 01:54 We'll be happy to send this Amazing Facts study guide 01:56 to anyone who calls and asks. 01:59 If you'd like to receive it, the phone number is 02:01 866-788-3966, and just ask for offer number 132. 02:09 Or you can text the code SH077 to the number 40544 and you'll 02:16 be able to read this study guide online. 02:19 Again, it's called from-- 02:20 Oh, it's called "The Final Judgment" and it goes 02:23 along with our study for today. 02:25 Well, before we get to our Sabbath School lesson, I'd 02:27 like to invite our song leaders to come forward and they'll lead 02:31 us in our Sabbath School song. 02:34 female: Good morning. 02:36 Happy Sabbath. 02:37 Please join us in singing number 428, "Sweet By and By. 02:42 ♪♪♪ 05:16 Jean Ross: Let's bow our heads for prayer. 05:18 Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that we have this wonderful 05:21 opportunity on such a beautiful Sabbath that you have given us 05:23 to gather together, to open up your Word, study a very 05:26 important passage, a passage that was written long 05:30 before the coming of Jesus and yet gives us the very time 05:33 of the beginning of his ministry. 05:35 Thank you, Lord, for this very important, fascinating chapter 05:39 in the Bible, Daniel 9. 05:41 Bless us, Lord. 05:42 Give us understanding and impress upon us those things 05:44 you want us to know. 05:46 For we ask this in Jesus's name, amen. 05:49 Our lesson today is going to be brought to us by Pastor 05:51 Shawn Brummund, our family life here at Granite Bay. 05:55 And as you can tell, all of us enjoy the book of Daniel and we 05:59 almost had to flip a coin to figure out who's gonna teach 06:02 what chapter. 06:03 But no, we're excited that he's going to be able to share 06:05 with us Daniel chapter 9. 06:07 Thank you Pastor Brummund. 06:09 Shawn Brummund: Good morning to everybody. 06:11 It's good to be back here in the Granite Bay Church 06:14 and to be able to study with you on this very important topic. 06:17 One of my favorite chapters that we can find in all of Scripture 06:21 is found in Daniel chapter 9 and the prophecy timeline that 06:26 is found there. 06:27 And so I found it a privilege to be able to be here. 06:31 And as we looked at last week's subject, as we looked at that 06:35 powerful vision and experience that Daniel had in Daniel 06:38 chapter 8, as we came to the conclusion of that, we 06:41 came to a very powerful and really packed statement that 06:46 was made at the conclusion of the vision, and we find it 06:47 on the screen here. 06:49 Daniel 8, verse 14, "And he said unto me." 06:51 And we can turn there if you want to, and I invite you to do 06:54 that. 06:56 He said, "And he said unto me, 'For two thousand three hundred 06:59 days, and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.'" 07:04 And so, Pastor Jean had done such a great job in unpacking 07:09 a little bit about the what and the where. 07:12 And so where do we find the sanctuary? 07:13 For those of us who are in review, where do we find that 07:16 sanctuary? 07:17 We find it in heaven, don't we? 07:19 Okay, so we find a sanctuary in heaven. 07:21 And so really, the Bible talks about two key sanctuaries, one 07:25 reflecting the other. 07:26 The first one is the Old Testament sanctuary, and that is 07:30 the one which Moses had established with the old 07:32 covenant and which he had established--God established 07:34 a covenant with Israel. 07:36 They had developed a tabernacle, a sanctuary, that eventually 07:40 became a temple, and it was a two room temple. 07:43 And then we also have the earthly priesthood that was 07:45 permanently set there, a human priesthood. 07:47 And then we also have the altar of sacrifices that took place 07:50 there every day and throughout the year as they 07:55 continued to worship the Lord in that--in that way, respect. 07:59 But as we looked at last week, and this is in review, there is 08:02 a heavenly, even grander, much better, more important sanctuary 08:06 than that of the one in Jerusalem on earth and that 08:08 is the New Testament sanctuary. 08:10 So we have the Old Testament sanctuary in earthly Jerusalem, 08:14 but we have a heavenly New Testament sanctuary that is 08:17 found in heaven. 08:19 And the new--the Old Testament priesthood is replaced 08:23 with a much better and perfect priesthood, which is found 08:26 in the person of the Son of God, Jesus Christ Himself. 08:30 And the earthly sacrificial system that surrounded 08:33 the earthly temple and sanctuary was replaced with the perfect, 08:37 once-for-all sacrifice, which is found on a hill called Calvary 08:41 in which Jesus Christ Himself died for the sins of the world, 08:45 and so we have a much better priesthood that is in heaven. 08:48 And I don't know about you, but I'm just glad to live 08:50 in the New Testament era, because we can come to God, we 08:53 can come through Jesus and to Jesus as our High Priest 08:56 24/7, and He is there to mediate for your sins and mine. 09:00 And He'd be able to give us a continuing walk with Him as we 09:04 grow into His holiness as He works in our hearts. 09:07 And so that's a little bit of review of what we looked 09:09 at last week in regards to Daniel chapter 8, 09:12 and the reason I'm doing that is because we are going to discover 09:15 now the when of this cleansing of the sanctuary. 09:18 Because again, last week we looked at the what 09:20 and the where, but today we want to also unpack and look at where 09:25 the when is. 09:26 When does this 2,300 day, and of course, a day 09:30 in prophetic prophecy always represents a literal year. 09:34 And we find that principle, if you haven't studied it 09:35 in the past, in Ezekiel chapter 4, and verse 6. 09:39 God had very clearly started to establish in symbolic 09:42 prophecy only that a prophetic symbolic day represents 09:47 a literal year. 09:48 And so is this a long prophecy, friends? 09:51 It's a very long prophecy. 09:52 In fact, it is the longest-reaching time 09:54 prophecy in all of Scripture, and it is also one of the most 09:57 important, and for our day and age also one 09:59 of the most relevant. 10:02 And so as, again, a review, when we come to the conclusion 10:05 of the 2,300 year prophecy, when the sanctuary begins to be 10:08 cleansed in the heavenly sanctuary, indeed it marks 10:11 the final work that Jesus would do in earth's history and in His 10:15 plan of salvation, which He would move from the first room 10:19 at the sanctuary into the second room, the most holy place, 10:23 in which He would do that final work. 10:26 And we'll talk about that more in detail as we come to this 10:29 study a little bit later on. 10:31 But not only that, but as we come back to verses 16 and 17 10:34 in chapter 8, we discover there that indeed, the conclusion 10:37 of this particular time prophecy also points us to the time 10:41 of the end. 10:42 Let's read it quickly. 10:43 "And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, 10:45 who called and said, 'Gabriel, make this man understand 10:49 the vision.' 10:50 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid 10:53 and fell on my face, but he said to me, 'Understand, son of man, 10:58 that the vision refers to the time of the-- 11:01 to the time of the end.'" 11:03 And so this prophecy even becomes more important relevant 11:05 because not only does it point to the cleansing of the heavenly 11:08 sanctuary, Christ's final work in the plan of salvation, but it 11:11 also points us to the beginning of what we can say-- 11:13 the beginning of the end, the last phase of earth's 11:18 history when God is wrapping things up in heaven that he 11:20 might send His Son back to Earth as God and Jesus had promised 11:24 to be able to take His people home and live eternally 11:27 with Him. 11:29 So let's fast forward now to the last two verses of Daniel 11:32 chapter 8, verses 26 and 27. 11:35 And as we fast forward to that, of course this is review, Daniel 11:39 has had this experience, not only in a prophetic vision, 11:41 but also with the great Angel Gabriel, as Gabriel has been 11:44 faithfully doing that which we had just read he was 11:47 commissioned to do, and that is to unpack or to give 11:50 the interpretation of the symbolic vision that 11:53 Daniel had received. 11:54 Did Gabriel do a good job at that? 11:57 Sure he did, didn't he? 11:58 He did a very good job at unpacking it. 12:00 In fact, he gives us some of the most detailed 12:03 interpretations and understandings in regard 12:06 to the symbolic vision that Daniel had received. 12:09 But then as we come to verse 26, as he is continuing his job, 12:13 Gabriel that is, it says, "In the visions of the evenings 12:16 and the mornings, which we're told is true, therefore seal 12:19 up the vision for it refers to many days in the future." 12:23 Indeed, very many days, 2,300 years into the future. 12:28 Well, poor Gabriel, he probably was intending to continue 12:31 to unpack that a little bit more and allow a little bit 12:33 of interaction between him and Daniel in understanding that 12:35 further, but his student passes out. 12:38 Not only did he pass out, he had to take sick leave for several 12:40 days, and we read that in the next verse. 12:43 It says, "And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days. 12:47 And afterward, I arose and went about the king's business and I 12:51 was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it." 12:56 And so here's Daniel. 12:57 Gabriel has done a very good job in giving him understanding 13:00 of the entire vision until he gets to the very last verse, 13:04 where it is stated for under 2,300 days, then 13:08 the sanctuary shall be cleansed. 13:10 Well, Daniel so overwhelmed by this that he passes 13:13 out and has to take sick leave for a time. 13:15 And so was Gabriel able to finish his job? 13:18 No, it's very hard to teach a student that's passed out, 13:20 isn't it? 13:22 And that's what we find in this particular case, and so Gabriel 13:24 returns back to his Father in heaven. 13:26 And as it turns out, when we come into chapter 9 we find that 13:29 about ten years has passed since that experience. 13:32 And so God lets Daniel sit on that for about ten years. 13:35 Now, friends, I want to ask you for us to be able to put 13:38 ourselves in Daniel's shoes. 13:40 Why was Daniel so overwhelmed? 13:42 Well, we have to remember that Daniel had been in captivity 13:44 in Babylon for about 60 years at this point in history when he 13:47 received this vision, okay? 13:49 Many of his fellow countrymen had been killed when 13:52 the Babylonians came in and destroyed Jerusalem, 13:54 level-led the temple, brought many of the--most 13:58 of the Israelites back to Babylon, the ones that 14:00 weren't killed, and they became slaves for many years to come. 14:04 And Daniel was a slave for the rest of his life. 14:08 And so Daniel's totally blown away by this 2,300 year prophecy 14:12 because his mind is on the earthly sanctuary. 14:15 His mind is on reestablishing not only Jerusalem, but most 14:19 importantly in his heart is to reestablish God's holy 14:22 temple, that they begin the sacrificial system 14:24 and to worship God through the plan of salvation 14:27 that is spelled out there and played out there. 14:29 And the most important, or one of the most important ceremonies 14:32 that took place was Yom Kippur, as our Jewish friends call it 14:36 today, which is the Day of Atonement, and that was 14:39 the annual cleansing of the earthly 14:41 Old Testament sanctuary. 14:43 So in Daniel's mind, almost for certain, he's thinking, 14:45 "Now, wait a minute. 14:47 I've got a major tension in my mind because we're 60 years 14:49 into captivity. 14:50 I've read Jeremiah's writings, and in Jeremiah chapter 29, 14:54 in verse 10, it tells me very clearly amongst other places 14:57 in that book that God says that our punishment in captivity 15:00 in Babylon will last seven years." 15:03 And so in Daniel's mind, he's thinking when he received 15:05 the vision in Daniel 8 it should only be ten more years 15:07 before the sanctuary starts to be cleansed again in the Day 15:10 of Atonement. 15:11 But now God throws a curve ball and he says, Listen, actually it 15:14 sounds like now that the sanctuary won't be cleansed 15:17 for another 2,300 years and there'll be multiple world 15:20 empires that will rise and fall in that part of the world 15:23 and all these things will take place before the sanctuary will 15:26 be cleansed. 15:27 And so for ten years now, Daniel is sitting on this, until he 15:30 comes to the conclusion of the 70-year period, and now 15:33 he's really distressed because he's still wondering, "When is 15:37 God going to fulfill the cleansing of the sanctuary?" 15:41 And so we find as we come to Daniel chapter 9 that he's 15:43 on his knees, praying fervently. 15:46 He's traded his clothes for sackcloth. 15:47 He puts his food aside and begins fasting. 15:50 And he starts to pray in intercession for Israel, 15:53 claiming that promise that God had given in Jeremiah, that 15:56 indeed the time had come in which His promise was to be 15:59 fulfilled and the Jews were to be able to be free to go back 16:03 to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. 16:06 And he claims that promise and he pleads with God, "Please 16:09 help your earthly temple to be built once again 16:12 in the Holy Jerusalem." 16:14 Well, we don't have time to look at that actual prayer. 16:16 If you've read your quarterly, that particular quarterly does 16:20 just a wonderful job in being able to unpack that for us 16:23 and give us some good insights, but because of limited time, I 16:26 just want us to be able to fast forward to verse 21 as we come 16:29 to the conclusion of that particular prayer. 16:32 Because as Daniel is in the midst of this prayer 16:35 for whatever hours that was, we find here in verse 21 that he's 16:39 interrupted by no one else but the Angel Gabriel, who had 16:45 an encounter with him in just the previous vision 16:49 in chapter 8 itself. 16:51 So let's go to verse 21. 16:53 Verse 21, it says, "Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man 16:56 Gabriel whom I had seen in vision at the beginning, 17:00 being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time 17:04 of the evening offering." 17:05 Now, isn't it wonderful to know that angels can be sent in just 17:08 a moment's notice and arrive here all the way from heaven? 17:11 Now, we know, just knowing the size of the universe 17:13 and that our telescopes can't even come close to reaching 17:15 where heaven, that it's multiple light-years away 17:19 from this planet. 17:21 And so for angels, the thought of traveling at the speed 17:23 of light is very primitive, and they're thinking, "Man 17:26 alive, that's really slow because I can go way 17:28 faster than that. 17:30 I can go millions of light-years or thousands of light-years, 17:31 whatever it is, in just a moment's notice." 17:34 And Gabriel shows up on the scene with Daniel. 17:38 Verse 22, "And he informed me and talked with me and said, 'Oh 17:41 Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill 17:44 to understand.'" 17:45 Well, that's what he was doing before Daniel passed 17:47 out in the previous chapter. 17:50 Verse 22, he says, "And at the beginning of your 17:52 supplications, the command went out and I have come to tell you, 17:56 for you are greatly beloved, and therefore consider 17:59 the matter and understand the vision." 18:04 Now, friends, I want to ask you a very important question 18:06 in regards to this, because some people have a hard time seeing 18:10 the connection, the inseparable connection, between what Gabriel 18:14 is now about to start to unpack and give to Daniel in the last 18:17 part of this chapter 9, and how it is inseparably connected 18:21 to the last verse of the vision that he received in Daniel 18:23 chapter 8, and this is the question that you need 18:26 to ask yourselves now and in the future to be able 18:28 to see this clearly. 18:30 How many visions did Daniel receive in the 9th chapter 18:36 of the book of Daniel? 18:39 How many visions did Daniel receive? 18:42 Somebody said none. 18:44 That's right, zero, okay? 18:46 He received zero visions, alright? 18:48 So if Daniel--Gabriel shows up and he says, "Listen, I have 18:51 come to give you understanding of the vision," and there is no 18:55 vision in Daniel chapter 9, we have to back up further 18:59 before Daniel chapter 9, and that is Daniel chapter 8. 19:02 The very last vision that Daniel received and the only vision 19:06 that he received since he was with Gabriel previous to this, 19:10 and now with his experience with Gabriel, is the vision 19:13 that's recorded in Daniel chapter 8. 19:15 And so there's no other vision that Gabriel can be referring 19:18 to 'cause there is no other vision recorded in Daniel 19:20 chapter 9. 19:22 And so he has to, inevitably, be referring to the vision before. 19:25 Now, did Gabriel do a good job at unpacking and giving 19:28 understanding to Daniel to every different symbol in that vision 19:32 until he got to the last verse? 19:34 He did, didn't he? 19:36 Alright, so Gabriel did a very good job and that's why we enjoy 19:38 studying it, because God just unpacks it so wonderfully 19:41 through his angel. 19:42 But then when we come to this particular verse, when we come 19:45 to this particular statement, there is still more that God 19:48 wants both Daniel, and you, and I to understand. 19:51 And so now, Daniel of course has received his health, 19:54 his strength. 19:55 He's in a good state of mind. 19:57 He's in deep prayer, claiming the promises of God. 19:59 And now, Gabriel gives us more information. 20:03 So then we come to verse 24. 20:05 In verse 24, it says, "Seventy weeks are determined for your 20:09 people and for your Holy City." 20:11 Now, who would Daniel's people and city be? 20:15 Okay, Daniel's a Jewish person, so his people would be 20:18 the Jewish Israelites, alright? 20:19 And his city would be none other than the Holy City and capital 20:23 of Israel, which is Jerusalem itself. 20:26 And so, "Seventy weeks are determined for your people 20:30 and for your Holy City to finish the transgression, to make 20:33 an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, 20:36 to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal 20:39 up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy." 20:44 And so here, we have Gabriel and he says, "Listen, I'm givin' 20:47 you an additional timeline. 20:49 I'm giving you more information that is directly related 20:53 to the last vision which I gave you," which is found in Daniel 20:55 chapter 8, and verse 14. 20:57 Now, there's a couple of things that we need to understand. 20:59 We already concluded very simply and easily that Daniel's people 21:02 would be the Jewish people, but the term that is found 21:06 in many translations "determined," some translations 21:09 may say separated or cut off, and that's because they're all 21:13 accurate and right. 21:15 And so the original Jewish word is talking about being cut 21:18 off or separated from something else other than itself. 21:22 Now, because it's directly related to Daniel 8, verse 14 21:25 in the 2,300-year prophecy, we know that what Gabriel's now 21:29 giving is also part of the same timeline. 21:33 And so God essentially here is saying, "Listen, that 2,300-year 21:36 prophecy that I gave you, I'm giving you a sub-timeline that 21:40 is also directly related included in that time space." 21:44 And this particular timeline is directly related to the Jewish 21:47 people, and the Jewish nation, and the capital city 21:51 of Jerusalem, and of course its temple that is included. 21:57 Alright, so there we have it, and so let's go back. 22:00 In fact, I want to look at a bit of a time chart here. 22:02 When we look at a time chart here, we find here that this is 22:05 the start of the 2,300-year prophecy and this will be 22:10 the conclusion of it when the sanctuary is cleansed 22:12 at the end of the 2,300 years. 22:15 Then we come to the 70-week period, and so God now is giving 22:18 us a sub-timeline. 22:20 The first 490 years, because of course 70 weeks, if you have 22:24 70 weeks times 7, that is how many days? 22:27 Four hundred and ninety days. 22:28 And in symbolic prophecy, a day represents a literal year, 22:33 and so now we know that the first 490 years of this 22:36 particular prophecy is determined, is cut off, is given 22:40 to that of the purposes of the Jews, the Holy City 22:43 of Jerusalem, and of course the nation of Israel. 22:46 And then of course, there's 1,810 remaining days. 22:49 That brings us to the conclusion of the 2,300-year prophecy. 22:54 And are you with me so far? 22:56 All right, okay, so let's go to verse 25. 22:58 Now, verse 25 is no small verse because how much is all these 23:02 timelines and prophecies that God gave to us if he doesn't 23:05 give us some indication and help in understanding when those 23:08 particular timelines begin? 23:11 It's not worth anything, is it? 23:13 And so we need to be able to know what historical event 23:16 or what year in earth's history is the beginning of this 23:20 greatest and longest reaching and one of the most important 23:24 timelines that we can find in all of Scripture? 23:27 Indeed, we have verse 25, and that's what makes verse 25 23:31 absolutely priceless in concern to these two visions 23:35 or in concern to these two chapters of Daniel. 23:38 So verse 25, it says, "Know therefore and understand that 23:41 from the going forth of the command to restore 23:44 and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince--" who 23:48 do you suppose that is? 23:50 None other than Jesus himself, okay? 23:52 That's why many translations have it with a capital M. 23:54 "There shall be 7 weeks and 62 weeks." 23:57 Now, let's do some quick math. 23:59 What 7 weeks and 62 weeks later? 24:02 That's 69 weeks, isn't it? 24:03 Okay, so after 69 weeks, "The Messiah the Prince shall come 69 24:09 weeks after the command to go and restore and build Jerusalem. 24:13 The street shall be built again and the wall, even 24:16 in troublesome times." 24:17 And indeed, as you read the book of Ezra and Nehemiah, as we have 24:20 in just recent history here in Sabbath School, it was very 24:23 troublesome times in which the Israelites that went back 24:26 to Jerusalem found themselves rebuilding the wall, 24:28 and the city, and the temple once again. 24:31 And so verse 25 is absolutely critical and essential, why? 24:35 Because it points us to the historical event that 24:38 will mark the beginning of these particular timelines. 24:42 And indeed, God even in verse 25 began to divide up this 24:46 particular timeline of 490 years, and we're gonna look 24:49 at some of those details in a powerful way just shortly 24:52 here in the future. 24:54 And so as it turns out, as we look at our history books, 24:56 but not only our history books, but the most reliable history 24:58 book in all of the world, which is the Holy Bible itself, we 25:02 find in Ezra in the 7th chapter that God knew that this 25:05 particular decree, and historically that was 25:07 so important, understanding his prophecies in Daniel, that He 25:10 saw to it that the very decree, word by word from the very hand 25:15 of King Artaxerxes himself, was preserved for us to be able 25:20 to read. 25:21 Now of course, we don't have time to read that here this 25:22 morning, but in Ezra chapter 7, verse 7, he also tells us that 25:26 that decree of Artaxerxes was given in the 50th year 25:30 of the reign of King Artaxerxes himself. 25:33 Now, if we look in the history books, the history books tells 25:36 us that King Artaxerxes in the 7th--sorry, in the 15th 25:39 year of his reign, that was the year 457 BC. 25:44 Is that an important date, friends? 25:46 It's a vital date. 25:47 It's a priceless date. 25:49 It's an essential date because it gives us the beginning point 25:52 and year to be able to start to count down these particular 25:56 timelines that God has given to you and me. 25:59 And so let's go ahead and do some math. 26:02 If we start at the starting point now, because the command 26:05 to go and rebuild Jerusalem takes place in 457 BC, and we 26:09 want to find out when does the 490-year prophecy and time 26:13 period that applies to the Jews in the city of Jerusalem take 26:16 place, and conclude, friends, we have to go from 457 BC 483-- 26:22 sorry, 490 years into the future, and where does 26:25 that bring us? 26:28 We have some mathematicians out there? 26:32 34 BC. 26:34 Okay, so it brings us to the year 34. 26:36 Sorry, 34 AD. 26:38 And so as we come to the year 34 AD, we come to the conclusion 26:42 of God's timeline and period in history that would bring us 26:47 to the conclusion of God's purposes for the Jews 26:50 and for the Holy City of Jerusalem here on earth. 26:54 Now, there's something very critical that's recorded in Acts 26:56 chapter 7 that took place, and that is that the very--one 26:59 of the first deacons by the way, his name was Stephen, was 27:03 the first Christian martyr in Christian history. 27:06 Now, Stephen was no small individual. 27:08 He was a key individual in which God had called to be able 27:11 to bring his last appeal to the nation of Israel. 27:15 The Israelites in general as a nation, and its religious 27:17 leaders, and political leaders had rejected Jesus. 27:20 They had led Jesus to the cross. 27:22 They had killed him and they had been denying him ever since. 27:25 And they've been persecuting his people and his apostles. 27:29 Well, 3 1/2 years after Jesus resurrected, 27:31 ascended back to His Father, the Christian church was going 27:34 into its--into its evangelistic stage and was expanding 27:39 and baptizing people on a daily basis, we find that God sends 27:43 Stephen. 27:45 Now, not only as a deacon, but also as a prophet 27:46 before the Sanhedrin, which was the highest ruling body both 27:51 religiously and politically in the nation of Israel 27:55 in concern to the Jews. 27:56 And so Stephen begins to give a speech as God inspired him 27:59 to give this last appeal and speech that they might see 28:02 and accept Jesus as the promised Messiah that they had rejected. 28:06 Sadly, he doesn't even get to the end of his speech. 28:09 They are so enraged by this attempt of God and Stephen to be 28:13 able to appeal to them that they drive him out of the Sanhedrin 28:17 building, and they bring him over outside somewhere, and they 28:20 pick up stones, and they throw rocks at him until he is dead. 28:26 And so friends, this is the final conclusion 28:28 of the 490-year prophecy and period that brings us 28:33 to the conclusion of God's use and purposes for the city 28:38 of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. 28:41 You see, friends, one of the most tragic and hardest 28:43 decisions that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ had 28:46 to make in concern to the nation that God had loved, 28:50 and nurtured, and patiently had guided as best as he possibly 28:54 could for centuries, God and His Son Jesus Christ had determined 28:59 at the end of the 490 years, when they completely 29:03 and persistently rejected Jesus as the Messiah, God is going 29:07 to have to look for another nation to be able to fulfill his 29:10 purposes in bringing the gospel to the world. 29:13 And that's why when we come to Matthew chapter 21, and verse 29:15 43, when again He's in a tense conversation with the religious 29:19 leaders of the Jewish nation and He says, "Listen, there is 29:22 a time in which the nation and the kingdom will be taken 29:25 from you, and given to another nation bearing 29:29 the fruits thereof." 29:31 This is why the Apostle Paul later on in Galatians chapter 3, 29:34 and verse 29 made this statement in his letter. 29:37 He says, "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's 29:40 seed and heirs according to the promise." 29:44 In other words, all of us here as believers are Jews. 29:47 Did you know that? 29:48 Okay, so in God's eyes according to the New Testament theology 29:52 and revelation that God has, God's purposes for the Christian 29:54 church, now there is a nation without borders. 29:57 There is a nation without a civil body that rules it. 30:02 It is the body of God's believers, 30:03 the holy church of God. 30:05 And so each of us, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord 30:08 and Savior, become a spiritual descendant of Abraham, 30:12 a spiritual Jew. 30:14 That's why Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 2, and verse 9, as 30:17 he spoke to the church, he says, "But you are a chosen 30:20 generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special 30:27 people." 30:28 And so Peter understood very clearly that the time prophecy 30:31 of Daniel chapter 9, the 490-year period 30:34 and probation for the Israelite nation to come to its 30:37 conclusion, and indeed God now was giving and working 30:40 through a different nation, the New Testament nation 30:43 of the holy Christian church. 30:47 Alright, so that being said, let's return back to verse 25, 30:50 because verse 25 reveals something for us in addition 30:56 to the beginning point and the beginning year 30:58 and historical event that begins this great timeline 31:01 that we're looking at. 31:02 It actually pinpoints when Jesus would arrive on the earth scene 31:05 and Israel's scene as the true Messiah, 31:08 the deliverer of sinful mankind. 31:11 Let's read it again. 31:12 It says, "Know therefore and understand that 31:14 from the going forth of the command to restore 31:16 and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there 31:19 shall be 7 weeks and 62 weeks." 31:23 Friends, how many weeks is that again? 31:25 Sixty-nine weeks. 31:27 Now I'm going to really test your math. 31:28 What 69 times 7, if we want to convert this to days? 31:33 It's 483 I heard. 31:34 Okay, so somebody said 483 days, and in prophecy, symbolic 31:39 prophecy only, a day represents a literal year, and so we're 31:42 looking at 483 years. 31:46 And so let's do some math. 31:48 If we go at 457 BC, God is saying, "If you start at 457 BC 31:53 and you make your way 483 years into the future, you will 31:57 pinpoint the exact year in which My Son Jesus Christ will arrive 32:01 on the earth scene as the Messiah." 32:05 And so let's do some math. 32:06 If we start in 457 BC and we go 483 years into the future, we 32:10 come to the year 27 AD. 32:15 Now, there's something instrumental that took place 32:17 in the year 27 AD. 32:19 Jesus was baptized. 32:21 He was approximately 30 years of age, okay? 32:24 By the way, I'm not--some of you may be looking 32:26 at the math and going 457 BC, 483 years into the future, 32:30 and you're saying, "Wait a minute, I think Pastor Shawn 32:31 has to go back and take grade three math again, because it 32:35 really should be 26 AD." 32:38 And trust me, I know my math and, you know, I still would 32:42 pass math in grade three, but the fact of the matter is 32:46 that there's a bit of a complication when you take 32:48 a timeline that starts in BC and goes into an AD date, 32:51 and that is the fact that there is no such thing as a 0 AD. 32:54 You can't find 0 AD or BC in any history book. 32:57 Why? 32:59 Because as you come up to 1 BC, the very next year in history 33:02 books is 1 AD. 33:04 And so, but if you just kind of go from Old Testament times 33:08 or pre-BC times to AD and you just do the math directly, you 33:13 actually--when you do that, you actually lose a year because 33:16 it's--your math is assuming there's a 0 year, a year 0, 33:19 which there isn't. 33:21 So if you don't get that, still trust me. 33:23 I know what I'm doing when I say the date is 27 AD, okay? 33:29 So Jesus is baptized in 27 AD, okay? 33:33 The Bible tells us some very powerful things in concern 33:36 to his baptism. 33:37 The Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove 33:39 upon him, okay, and a voice came down from the heavens, saying, 33:42 "This is my Son in whom I'm well pleased." 33:45 Now, as it turns out, the word "Messiah" means anointed one. 33:48 This is a Hebrew title in terms that literally means 33:51 the anointed one and it's equivalent to that of Christ. 33:54 The Greek equivalent to the Hebrew term "Messiah" is 33:57 "Christ," and both of them mean the anointed one. 34:00 And as it turns out, at approximately 30 years of age 34:02 when Jesus went into the River Jordan to be baptized by John 34:05 the Baptist, indeed He was anointed. 34:08 Now, He wasn't anointed with oil as the other kings and prophets 34:11 of the past and priests were anointed when they were 34:13 receiving their particular ministry, but Jesus was anointed 34:16 with a greater anointing and that is the anointing 34:18 of the Holy Spirit. 34:21 And indeed, Acts chapter 10, and verses 37 and 38 say, 34:25 "That word, I say, you know. 34:27 After the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus 34:31 of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power." 34:35 You see, up until 30 years of age, Jesus was the Son of God 34:38 from conception on, amen? 34:40 But He didn't become the Messiah until He was about 30 years 34:43 of age because Messiah literally means the anointed one, and He 34:47 wasn't anointed until He was 30 years of age. 34:49 Once He left the carpentry shop, once He left his hometown 34:52 of Nazareth, walked into the River Jordan, baptized, 34:54 afterward He was anointed with the Holy Spirit, from that 34:57 point on He is now the Messiah. 35:00 And so the fascinating thing about verse 25 is not only does 35:03 it give us the historical event that tells us the beginning date 35:05 of this great time prophecy, but it also tells us the exact 35:10 date 500 plus years before it actually took place in which His 35:14 Son would be baptized and anointed as the Messiah 35:18 of the entire planet. 35:20 Powerful, powerful prophecies that we find here 35:23 as we continue on. 35:25 All right, so let's continue on and do that as we go to verse 35:28 26 now, 'cause God isn't finished pinpointing some 35:31 of the key events surrounding the earthly ministry of Jesus 35:34 Christ Himself. 35:36 Verse 26, it says, "And after the 62 weeks, Messiah 35:39 shall be cut off." 35:41 Now, some of your margins may actually put there, as mine 35:43 does, the translators tell me that particular "cut off" 35:46 in the original Hebrew literally means to suffer the death 35:49 penalty, to be killed, to be executed, okay? 35:53 And after the 62 weeks--now, remember the 62 weeks comes 35:56 after the first 6 weeks, and so we're really 69 weeks 36:00 or 483 years into the 490-year prophecy period that God is 36:05 revealing through his Angel Gabriel. 36:08 So he says, "After the 62 weeks, sometime after Jesus of course 36:12 is anointed as the Messiah, the Messiah shall be cut off. 36:15 He shall suffer the death penalty, but not for Himself." 36:20 And so here we find that the Messiah is cut off, but not 36:22 for Himself. 36:23 Did Jesus deserve to die? 36:25 No, okay? 36:27 Why did Jesus die? 36:30 He died for sinners, didn't he? 36:31 That's why it says in Romans chapter 6 and verse 23, "The 36:35 wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal 36:38 life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 36:40 That's why it says in Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 that all 36:43 have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 36:45 Do we all need Messiah to die for us? 36:48 There isn't a single human being that has ever lived that does 36:50 not need the messiah to die for them, and that's why Jesus 36:53 went to the cross of Calvary and died for the sins 36:56 of the world, that you and I might have cleansing, 36:57 and forgiveness, and hope of eternal life 37:00 with our eternal Savior. 37:02 That's the good news that we find here 37:04 in this particular chapter. 37:06 And so, "After the 62 weeks, Messiah shall be cut off. 37:08 He shall suffer the death penalty, but not for Himself, 37:11 but for sinful humanity. 37:13 And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy 37:17 the city and the sanctuary. 37:20 And indeed, the people of the prince--" 37:22 What prince was ruling when Jesus was on earth? 37:25 Who is the prince of that part of the world, okay? 37:30 Alright, somebody said Titus. 37:31 Well, he was a general for Caesar, okay? 37:35 So the king of the empire in which Jesus actually lived 37:38 when he actually was cut off and died for the sins 37:40 of the world was the people of the prince 37:42 none other than Caesar. 37:44 So here when he says the people of the prince, God is referring 37:46 to none other than the Romans, friends, the Roman Caesar as 37:49 well as the Romans that made up the Roman Empire. 37:52 "And indeed," it says, "shall destroy the city 37:54 and the sanctuary." 37:55 Yes, the sanctuary was eventually rebuilt just shortly 37:58 after Daniel's time in the city of Jerusalem and then existed 38:02 all the way until past Jesus's time, until 70 AD. 38:05 And so here, God is looking into the future and recognizing 38:10 that, indeed, the final and complete destruction, not 38:13 only of Jerusalem but also of the holy sanctuary on earth, 38:17 would take place by the Romans and its prince in 70 AD. 38:21 "And the end of it shall be with a flood until the end 38:23 of the War of Desolations are determined." 38:24 Horrible times when that took place. 38:29 And so let's continue on, okay? 38:31 So we know that sometime after the first 69 weeks, 38:34 after 27 AD, the Messiah would be cut off, but God now is going 38:38 to pinpoint it for us in the very next verse. 38:41 In verse 27, it says, "Then He shall confirm a covenant 38:44 with many for one week." 38:47 Okay, so He shall confirm a covenant. 38:49 Now, when Jesus died on the cross, did He confirm 38:52 a covenant? 38:53 Sure he did, okay? 38:54 Now, "covenant" is synonymous with "testament." 38:57 Now, most of the time we refer to the era before Jesus and his 39:00 death as the Old Testament, and rightly so, and we refer 39:03 to the new era after Jesus died on the cross as the New 39:06 Testament era, because Jesus sealed and confirmed that 39:10 testament on the cross. 39:12 Also, you'll refer--sometimes hear us refer to it as the old 39:15 covenant and as the new covenant, okay? 39:19 "Covenant" and "testament" are synonymous. 39:21 It's important for us to understand. 39:23 "Then He shall confirm a covenant," Jesus did that 39:25 on the cross with His own blood, "with many for one week." 39:28 Well, what week is that? 39:30 Well, there's only one week remaining in the timeline that 39:32 is relating to the Jews. 39:33 And now the ultimate Jew and the most important person 39:36 in all of history, Jesus Christ Himself, has arrived as 39:39 the Messiah. 39:41 And indeed, as we come to verse 27, it's saying that He confirms 39:44 it with His own blood in that final week of this great 39:47 and powerful time prophecy that is relating to the Jewish 39:50 nation, to the Israelite nation. 39:54 It goes on and says, "But in the middle of the week, He 39:57 shall bring an end to sacrifice and to offering." 40:01 And so in the middle of the week, He brings an end 40:03 to sacrifice and to offering. 40:05 Friends, exactly as God had prophesied it, in the middle 40:09 of the week, we find that Jesus brings an end to sacrifice 40:13 and to offerings. 40:14 Why is that? 40:16 Because when Jesus died on the cross, is the sacrifices 40:19 that were offered on the earthly altar relevant anymore 40:22 from that point on? 40:24 No, why is that? 40:26 "Because Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice," 40:28 I hear some of you saying. 40:30 That's right. 40:31 And so when Jesus died on the cross, every other single 40:33 sacrifice of an animal that was related to the--or brought 40:37 to the altar became completely irrelevant, because now the copy 40:41 and the shadow which the sacrificial system on earth 40:43 was at the temple now was fulfilled in the sacrifice which 40:47 is Jesus Christ Himself. 40:49 And so when Jesus died on the cross, it confirmed that 40:51 new covenant, that New Testament. 40:53 In that final week of earth's-- of this great timeline prophecy 40:56 related to Israel, Jesus indeed brought an end to sacrifice 41:00 and to offerings on the altar. 41:04 And so in verse 27, God here is revealing the exact time 41:08 of God's crucifixion. 41:10 That's why John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus coming 41:13 into the Jordan to be baptized and to receive the anointing as 41:15 the Messiah of the planet and of the nation of Israel, 41:19 indeed he said, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin 41:23 of the world. 41:25 Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin 41:27 of the world." 41:28 Why? 41:30 Because John was starting to comprehend and starting 41:31 to understand that indeed Jesus was the Lamb of God. 41:35 All the lambs that had been sacrificed pointed up to this 41:37 time was now to be fulfilled in the perfect Lamb of God, 41:40 the final and last Lamb of God, which is the Son of God Himself. 41:49 And so if we go--if we come to the end of the 69 weeks 41:52 and we come to that final one week in which versus 26 41:56 and verse 27 are referring to, we find that in the middle 41:59 of the week, Jesus confirms that covenant, 42:02 that new covenant with His own blood. 42:04 He brings an end to sacrifice and offerings. 42:06 Indeed, if we cut seven years in half, we have 42:10 3 1/2 years, don't we? 42:11 And so if we go from 27 AD, and most scholars agree that 42:14 Jesus actually was born in the fall, and so as we come 42:24 to the middle of the final week of His life and also of this 42:29 great timeline, we find that exactly on time 42:33 during the Passover feast itself, the Passover Lamb dies 42:37 in the middle of that week, which is the year 31 AD, 42:40 the spring of 31 AD. 42:44 And so indeed, we have a very, very powerful prophecy that God 42:47 gives to us. 42:49 It is the only time prophecy in all of Scripture that was 42:51 given over 500 years before Jesus ever came onto 42:55 the scene, before these prophecies were ever fulfilled, 42:58 and Jesus fulfilled them perfectly. 43:00 Now, if you've read your quarterly, it was pointing 43:02 out very accurately that that is the reason why Jesus, as soon as 43:05 He came out of the water of the River Jordan at His 43:10 baptism, He's anointed with the Spirit, He spends 40 43:12 days fasting and praying with His Father in the desert, 43:15 and when He comes out of that desert to begin His public 43:17 ministry, the very first words that come out of His mouth is, 43:20 "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand 43:25 and the time is fulfilled," why? 43:28 Because Jesus understood that He was fulfilling this powerful 43:30 prophecy that He and His Father had determined 43:33 over 500 years before. 43:35 In fact, the Apostle Peter told us that He and His Father had 43:37 determined this before the foundation 43:39 of the world, but He chose not to reveal it to us in detail 43:42 until He came to Daniel's time, approximately 500 BC. 43:47 Friends, this is powerful, powerful stuff that we're 43:50 looking at here that God has given to us to build our faith, 43:53 to understand that God is sovereign, He has a plan, and He 43:55 is right on time. 43:58 And some of us may say as Seventh-day Adventists, "Well, 44:00 you know, Jesus is taking too long to come." 44:02 It says that we are in the end time. 44:03 We've looked at that again tonight, today, and He still 44:06 hasn't come. 44:08 And so some people get discouraged, but friends, 44:11 God is on track and He is on time. 44:13 He is not caught by surprise by any event that's taking place 44:16 on this planet. 44:17 He knows the exact day and hour in which He will return. 44:20 And friends, He knows exactly what needs to take place 44:22 before that comes. 44:24 And I pray, Father, I pray, friends, that you will continue 44:28 to have that faith in Jesus and have that faith 44:32 in the promise that Jesus is coming soon. 44:38 And so we come to the very last date. 44:39 Now, we've looked at some of the sub-dates that God had 44:41 revealed through His Angel Gabriel in the 9th chapter 44:45 of Daniel chapter 9, but of course this is all 44:47 within the big picture that God had first revealed in the first 44:51 vision or--well, the only vision in which Gabriel is 44:53 referring to, which is Daniel chapter 8, and that is 44:56 the 2,300-year prophecy. 44:58 And of course, we have the same start date, and so we can do 45:01 some quick math. 45:03 And if we start at 457 BC and we go 2,300 years into the future, 45:07 where does that bring us to? 45:11 It brings us to the year 1844. 45:14 Now, friends, I'm going to ask you a very easy, easy question. 45:17 Of course you're all going to get it. 45:19 Has 1844 already come and passed? 45:23 Okay, it already has, hasn't it? 45:24 Okay, told you it was gonna be easy. 45:26 And so 1844 has come and passed. 45:29 What does that tell us, friends? 45:31 It tells us that the time of the end has already begun. 45:34 God has already wrapped-- started wrapping things 45:37 up in heaven. 45:38 As He stepped into that second stage of His ministry 45:41 in the heavenly sanctuary, He stepped into the most holy 45:44 place, and He began to cleanse the sanctuary. 45:48 It started in 1844. 45:49 The 2,300 year prophecy, the last, and final, 45:52 and longest-reaching prophecy in all of Scripture 45:56 has now been fulfilled. 45:58 Friends, we are that close to the second coming of Jesus. 46:00 We are literally in the final stage of the plan of salvation 46:05 here upon this planet. 46:06 The final stage that's leading up to Jesus coming in glory 46:09 and in judgment to deliver his people for all of eternity. 46:15 And so, friends, Daniel is telling us very clearly and very 46:18 powerfully that ever since the year 1844, we have 46:21 been living in what the Bible calls God's judgement hour. 46:24 Now, there's a parallel prophecy that's found in Revelation 46:26 chapter 14, in verse 6 and 7. 46:28 It's the first angel's message. 46:30 Many of us are familiar with it. 46:32 And that particular message is not relevant until the year 46:36 1844, the conclusion of the 2,300 prophecy-- 46:39 2,300-year prophecy in 1844. 46:41 Why is that? 46:44 Why is that? 46:45 Because it tells us that there is a judgment hour that will 46:48 finally come upon the planet. 46:50 "I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having 46:52 the everlasting gospel to preach to all those who dwell 46:56 on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, 46:59 saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, 47:03 for the hour of His judgment has come.'" 47:07 Now, friends, you cannot claim that His judgment has come 47:10 until it has come, right? 47:12 Okay, so in 1843, has His judgment come yet? 47:15 In 1600, had His judgment come yet? 47:17 No, His judgement hour doesn't arrive until the conclusion 47:20 of the 2,300-year prophecy, which has already taken place. 47:24 Friends, we can clearly and confidently know 47:27 and proclaim before the world and to ourselves that 47:31 the judgment hour has come. 47:32 There is a judgment process that is taking place that is 47:36 intricately involved in that of the judgment hour--I mean, 47:39 that of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. 47:43 This is the grand day of atonement. 47:46 Now, we have to remember the day of atonement that took place 47:48 in the Old Testament earthly sanctuary was none but a copy 47:52 and a shadow of a greater day of atonement that would take 47:54 place in heaven. 47:56 And that great day of atonement is taking place now. 47:58 Now, the Jews understood very clearly in ancient times that 48:01 the day of atonement was the great day of judgment 48:04 and reckoning. 48:05 It was the one day in which they were to search their souls more 48:07 clearly and deeply than they ever have before. 48:10 It was the one day in which all the records of the sins 48:12 in the previous ceremonial year was to be washed away 48:15 and cleansed. 48:17 And they needed to make sure that every sin was confessed. 48:19 They needed to make sure that all their heart was given 48:21 before their Lord so that when the high priest that one day, 48:25 one day a year, walked into the most holy place, 48:27 the only person that was allowed to come before the Shekinah 48:30 glory and throne of God Himself, he was to take all the sins 48:34 of Israel out of the sanctuary and to cleanse that sanctuary 48:38 from all of the previous year's sins. 48:40 And friends, now on a grander scale, Jesus Christ Himself is 48:44 the High Priest that is working for us. 48:45 He is the Priest now that goes and has walked into the Holy 48:48 place, and He is asking us and telling us that we need 48:53 to confess every sin that we have ever committed that we are 48:56 conscious of and pray that God will not only forgive us, but He 49:00 will continue to give us more and more victory over that sin 49:04 that we might be ready when Jesus comes back again. 49:07 Daniel chapter 7, verse 9 and 10. 49:11 We're coming to the conclusion of our study here, but let's go 49:13 to Daniel chapter 7 verse 9 and 10, because in that 49:15 particular vision, Daniel was actually given a heavenly 49:18 glimpse of what is taking place in the cleansing of this 49:22 particular sanctuary. 49:24 And by the way, Daniel chapter 7 is parallel with that 49:26 of the vision of Daniel chapter 2, as well as the vision that we 49:30 studied last week in Daniel chapter 8. 49:33 These are all parallel visions that are looking at the same 49:36 rise and fall of the different empires. 49:39 And as we come to the conclusion of Daniel chapter 7, we find 49:42 indeed that there is a judgment process that takes place at its 49:46 conclusion just before Jesus comes. 49:49 In Daniel chapter 8 and 9, that particular judgment process is 49:53 symbolized by the cleansing of the sanctuary. 49:58 Verses 9 and 10, he says, "I watched while thrones were put 50:00 in place and the Ancient of Days was seated, and His garment was 50:03 white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. 50:07 His throne was a fiery flame and its wheels a burning fire." 50:11 This is none other than God the Father Himself on His 50:13 judgment throne. 50:15 "A fiery stream issued and came forth before Him and thousands 50:19 thousands ministered to him. 50:21 Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him." 50:25 These are millions and billions of angels that are making 50:28 up the jury. 50:29 "And the court was seated and the books were opened." 50:32 Does that sound like a judgment scene, friends? 50:34 Sure it is. 50:36 This is the literal judgment process that began its place 50:39 and its work in 1844. 50:42 In 1844, the entire population of heaven began to be involved 50:46 not only in working in our salvation as they're coming back 50:49 and forth between heaven and the earth, but they're also 50:51 very busy looking at the records of every single human being 50:54 that's ever lived and to see if their faith was sincere. 51:00 Was their faith sincere? 51:02 Did they truly confess all of their sin before the feet 51:05 of Jesus? 51:06 Have they truly found themselves cleansed by the blood 51:09 of the Lamb? 51:12 And for those who had a sincere faith and the records prove it 51:15 beyond a doubt to every person in that jury, every angel, Jesus 51:18 rises up with His nail-pierced hands and says, "I stand 51:22 in place of this particular believer, of this human being, 51:27 and his name continues to be written in the book of life." 51:31 Friends, this is the great news that this powerful prophecy is 51:35 giving to you and I. 51:36 This prophecy and process is taking place right now. 51:40 And the Bible says there's only two sides that we can find 51:43 ourselves in. 51:44 We can be in the camp of Jesus. 51:46 Jesus says, "Either you're with Me or you're against Me." 51:49 Jesus made it very clear, there is no fence in between. 51:52 Sometimes the devil convinces us that we can find a fence and we 51:55 can kinda straddle between the two and sit 51:56 on the top. 51:58 No, there is no fence. 51:59 Jesus says, "Either with Me or you're against Me." 52:02 There are only two camps Jesus says when he comes back in glory 52:06 and in judgment. 52:07 Because at the end of this process when Jesus comes, 52:09 everybody's eternal fate has already been decided. 52:13 When Jesus comes, there's no more opportunity to be able 52:16 to confess our sins and find salvation in Jesus Christ. 52:19 And that's why the Bible says, 52:21 "Behold, now is the acceptable time. 52:23 Behold, today is the day of salvation," because Jesus 52:26 wants us to be able to be ready when He comes. 52:29 He wants our name to be written in the Lamb's book of life 52:31 before He comes because He knows when it comes 52:33 it will be too late. 52:36 "When Jesus comes, He will not come as a babe, but He will lay 52:39 aside his priestly robe and He will put on the robes 52:42 of the King of kings and Lord of lords. 52:46 And he who is filthy, let him be filthy still," the last chapter 52:49 of Revelation tells us. 52:52 "But he who is just, let him be just still. 52:54 He who is righteous, let him be righteous still." 52:58 And when Jesus comes, He has a reward to give to everyone 53:01 according to his work. 53:03 Is your heart with Jesus today? 53:05 Before your case is decided, friends, I want to encourage you 53:08 to make that decision for Him. 53:12 So that concludes a very powerful truth and prophesy that 53:16 God has given to us. 53:17 I pray, God, that--to God that not only will you come to see 53:21 it, but if you have not responded and accept Jesus 53:24 Christ as your Savior, that you will accept Him even right now 53:28 and that you'll say, "Lord, I want You to be my Lord 53:31 and my Savior. 53:33 I want You in my heart. 53:34 I want to confess all my sins before You, knowing that You are 53:35 the only mediator between God and between man, and that it is 53:40 only through the blood of Jesus Christ that we can be cleansed 53:43 of all our sin." 53:45 1 John chapter 1, and verse 7 tells us 53:48 that powerful gospel truth. 53:49 Have you accepted the blood of Jesus? 53:51 Is Jesus your Lord and your Savior? 53:55 That's the important conclusion. 53:57 That's the most important message that comes from this 53:59 powerful truth and prophecy line that we have looked at 54:02 here today. 54:03 Let's pray. 54:05 Father in heaven, I want to thank You for the opportunity 54:06 to be able to look at Your Scriptures. 54:09 And I want to pray for each and every person that is either 54:11 watching or is here in the room here today, that if they haven't 54:14 made a decision for You that they will make it for You even 54:17 right now, that they will accept You as their Lord and as their 54:21 Savior, the great High Priest in heaven that they can--You, 54:24 Jesus, can stand up before the great angelic jury 54:27 and before the Father and say, "My sacrifice is sufficient. 54:32 This is My child, My son, My daughter," and that their name 54:36 will be written in the Lamb's book of life. 54:38 In Jesus's name do we pray these things, God, amen. 54:42 Well, for those of you who are watching, don't forget to take 54:45 advantage of our free offer that we have. 54:47 And the free offer is one of my favorite study guides. 54:49 It's directly related to what we studied today. 54:52 You can receive the charts and the different timelines that 54:54 we've looked at. 54:55 It's called, The Final Judgment. 54:57 Please take advantage of that and call into the number, 54:59 1-866-788-3966, and you can receive that for free. 55:05 And for those of you who have a smartphone and like get 55:07 a digital copy, you can text it to SH077, or at least text 55:11 that code, SH077, to the number 40544. 55:16 Please take advantage of that if you haven't studied and read 55:18 that and have the study guide. 55:21 Until next week, God bless you and we look forward to seeing 55:23 you again. 55:27 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 55:29 free resource. 55:30 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 55:33 download a digital copy straight to your computer 55:35 or mobile device. 55:37 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply 55:40 text the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web 55:44 address shown on your screen, and be sure to select 55:47 the digital download option on the request page. 55:50 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word 55:53 with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most 55:57 important, to share it with others. 56:01 ♪♪♪ 56:12 Doug Batchelor: Have you ever worried that you don't have 56:13 enough time in your days or you can add 56:16 another day to your life? 56:18 Well, perhaps there is a way for you to add a whole 'nother 56:20 day to your existence. 56:21 Watch how easy it is. 56:24 I just stepped into yesterday. 56:26 No, I'm not talking about going back to the future or back 56:29 in history. 56:30 I happen to be standing here in Taveuni, Fiji, one 56:33 of the only places in the world where the international Meridian 56:36 Dateline runs through a piece of land. 56:39 People have not always been able to play with time this way. 56:43 Back in 1878, Sir Sanford Fleming, a Canadian, he 56:46 recommended to the science community of the world that 56:49 the globe be divided in 24 even segments, each separated by 56:54 15 degrees of longitude, that would establish 56:57 the international time system. 56:59 In 1884, there was a Prime Meridian conference held 57:02 in Washington DC to standardize time and select the point 57:06 for the Prime Meridian, which would be 0 degrees on the globe. 57:10 It ended up being Greenwich, England, but that's 57:12 not where we are. 57:14 We are on the polar opposite side of the planet right now, 57:16 but we're gonna step into the future. 57:18 Want to come? 57:20 And look at that, the Lord is still with us even here. 57:23 He'll continue to take care of you, friends, 57:25 wherever you go. 57:27 Friends, do you sometimes worry about the future? 57:28 What will you eat? 57:30 Will you have a home? 57:31 Are you going to still have your job? 57:33 What will you wear? 57:34 Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 6, verse 25 to 34, 57:38 "Don't take thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow will 57:41 take thought for the things of itself." 57:43 He tells us that He feeds the birds and He clothes 57:46 the flowers, He'll take care of us. 57:48 We know that God will watch over us. 57:50 He forgives the past, He promises to be with us 57:53 in the present, and He will continue to lead us 57:56 in the future. 57:57 But you've just got to give yourself to Him. 57:59 I invite you to do that right now. 58:02 ♪♪♪ 58:12 ♪♪♪ 58:17 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-02-28