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Series Code: SSH
Program Code: SSH022015S
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00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Jean Ross: Hello, friends, and welcome to "Sabbath School 00:37 Study Hour," coming to you here from the Amazing Facts office in 00:41 Sacramento, California. 00:42 As you can notice, it's a little different than our regular 00:45 "Sabbath School Study Hour" time and we will probably get into 00:48 that in just a few moments. 00:50 But I do want to tell you about our lesson today. 00:52 The study is in our new series of studies on the Bible. 00:55 It's called "How to Interpret the Scripture." 00:57 That's the title of our quarter. 00:59 Today, we're looking at lesson number two, which is "The Origin 01:02 and the Nature of the Bible." 01:04 So if you have your lesson quarterly, you can open it and 01:06 study along with us a very important subject that we'll be 01:10 talking about today. 01:12 And before we go any further, we just want to let those of you 01:14 who are joining us live--I know we have a number of family 01:16 members who are joining us. 01:18 If you have young people in your family, there is a live Sabbath 01:23 School broadcast that'll be starting in the next minute or 01:26 two and we want to encourage any young people, any youth to join 01:30 us for that. 01:32 If you'd like to be a part of that, you just need to go 01:34 to Instagram. 01:36 It's Granite Bay SDA Youth on Instagram, and you'll be able to 01:39 join live the special Sabbath school that's taking 01:42 place there. 01:44 Again, that's Granite Bay SDA Youth on Instagram. 01:47 Pastor Doug, before we got to our study, maybe we just want to 01:50 say a few words about why we're here and things look a 01:54 little different. 01:55 There's a lot happening as you know. 01:57 Doug Batchelor: That's right. 01:59 Yeah, well, of course right now around the country and different 02:01 parts of the world, we recognize that churches are being asked 02:04 not to meet in large groups. 02:06 In some places, it's no meeting at all. 02:09 That's the case here in Northern California, and so--but because 02:12 Amazing Facts is a media entity that operates stations, we're 02:15 exempt from some of the things that would prevent a gathering 02:18 of a crew to broadcast. 02:20 And so we're very thankful we're able to come together in our 02:23 studios here, broadcast a live Sabbath school. 02:26 This is going to be a special Sabbath school. 02:28 Matter of fact, you want to probably just text and email 02:31 your friends right now and let them know that we are live, that 02:33 we are online. 02:35 They can watch on--of course, you're probably seeing it now 02:38 on AFTV. 02:40 It's going to be on the Doug Batchelor Facebook page, the 02:42 Amazing Facts Facebook page, the granitebaysda.org Facebook page 02:49 and Vimeo and YouTube. 02:53 You might pick up your phone right now. 02:54 We're going to share some exciting things in the next 02:56 2 hours in our Sabbath school and church service. 02:58 Just text your friend and say, "They're live now. 03:01 You can go--" 03:02 You also have an opportunity to send in questions. 03:05 And so if you've got questions, you can send your questions to 03:08 the--is it the Amazing Facts Facebook page? 03:11 Jean: Well, it's actually on the Facebook page, yeah. 03:13 Doug: Yeah, and then they'll be sending those questions about 03:15 the lesson, or maybe you've got questions about what in the 03:18 world is going on right now, if there's any relevance to 03:20 Bible prophecy. 03:22 Those will pop up on Pastor Ross's computer. 03:25 And text your friends. 03:27 Let them know that. 03:29 Now, I also want to mention if you want to get some ongoing 03:31 information during these difficult times when a lot of 03:34 folks are hunkered down in their homes and they can't travel 03:36 freely, if you would like to know more, then all you have to 03:40 do is text us. 03:42 Text "Online" to 40544. 03:46 Text the phrase online to 40544 and we'll be giving you updates 03:49 of new programs that are coming. 03:52 And--anyway, with that, maybe we should have a word of prayer and 03:58 we can get into our lesson for today. 04:01 Jean: Absolutely. Let's bow our heads then for a word of prayer. 04:04 Dear Father, once again we thank you that we're able to gather 04:06 together, even though the format is a little different than what 04:09 we're used to, but you're still here and your Spirit is here and 04:11 you're still guiding in the hearts and lives of those who 04:15 are joining us for our study this morning. 04:17 And, Lord, we ask that you would guide us. 04:19 It's a very important subject that we will be talking about, 04:21 but it's also a rather interesting time that we are 04:24 facing in this world's history. 04:26 So we just ask for your Spirit and pray for guidance, and bless 04:29 this program in a special way. 04:31 In Jesus' name, amen. 04:33 Now, Pastor Doug, we have a free offer that we like to tell 04:36 people about at the beginning of every "Sabbath School Study 04:38 Hour" that we do, and usually our subject is connected to the 04:41 lesson in some way. 04:43 But we thought based with everything going on right now in 04:46 North America and other places around the world, it might be 04:49 helpful to give you something practical dealing with health. 04:53 And so our free offer today is one of the Amazing Facts 04:56 study guides. 04:57 It's entitled "God's Free Health Plan," and this is what we'll be 05:00 happy to send to anyone in North America. 05:02 All you'll need to do is call and ask for it and we'll send it 05:04 to you there at home. 05:06 The number is 866-788-3966, and you want to ask for offer 05:10 number 139. 05:13 You'll also be able to digitally download a copy of the lesson. 05:17 Text the code "SH032" to the number 40544. 05:26 And that, of course, works not only in North America, but 05:27 around the world. 05:29 So wherever you might be, you can get a digital copy of "God's 05:31 Free Health Plan." 05:33 It got some very practical information on how you can boost 05:36 your immune system and your overall health. 05:39 What does the Bible say about health? 05:41 And, you know, Pastor Doug, this probably leads into one of the 05:42 questions that we have that people are asking just based on 05:45 what's happening here. 05:46 Here in California, certain orders have come through the 05:49 state government and I believe it's also in New York where 05:52 they're not wanting people to gather together in any groups, I 05:56 believe, larger than 10, which of course definitely impacts 05:59 churches and impacts our church. 06:02 One of the questions people have asked is, you know, is this 06:05 somehow fulfillment of prophecy, forbidding people to gather 06:08 together to worship? 06:10 Could this has something to do with maybe even the beast power 06:13 trying to enforce his influence in America in these last days? 06:17 How do we respond to that? 06:19 Doug: Well, that's a great question. 06:21 And it's an ever-growing number of states that are asking 06:23 people, especially in the cities, that they don't gather 06:26 in groups and they're asking churches to go to online 06:29 services, which is why we're doing this. 06:31 Is that any kind of sacrifice of the Sabbath principle or is this 06:35 an effort to enforce a certain day of worship? 06:39 Well, not at this point. 06:41 It's not just the Sabbath-keeping churches. 06:43 It doesn't matter if you're a Muslim and you gather on Friday, 06:46 or Sabbath keepers or Sunday keepers. 06:49 They're asking any large groups to avoid interaction because 06:53 they're very concerned about the virility of this plague and the 06:58 dangers connected to it. 07:00 So sometimes when a person is sick, they stay home from church 07:04 and nobody thinks there's any moral dilemma there. 07:06 Now they're asking people, "Please stay home from church," 07:09 so people don't get sick for a limited period of time. 07:12 And so I don't think there's anything wrong with that, and 07:15 that we're so thankful that we're able to stream to you 07:18 right now. 07:19 Matter of fact, I'll ask Santiago, do we have people 07:22 watching online at this point? 07:25 And you--if you tell me some of the places that our friends are 07:28 listening from, I'll just repeat what you say. 07:30 Santiago is here in the room. 07:33 We got to maintain our 6 feet distance, and he's going to be 07:36 telling us--who's watching? 07:38 We got-- 07:40 Santiago: We got Holloway watching from Oakdale. 07:42 Doug: Oakdale. 07:43 Santiago: We got Louis watching from Indiana. 07:45 Doug: Indiana. 07:47 Santiago: Lynn watching from New Jersey. 07:48 Doug: New Jersey, Lynn. 07:50 Santiago: Bettina watching from Grand Rapids, Michigan. 07:52 Doug: Bettina in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 07:55 Santiago: We got Ennead watching from the US Virgin Islands. 07:58 Doug: Ennead from the US Virgin Islands. 08:00 Santiago: Renda from Oregon. 08:02 Doug: Renda from Oregon. 08:03 Santiago: Doris from Pipersville, Pennsylvania. 08:06 Doug: Doris from Pipersville, Pennsylvania. 08:07 See, we see you're there. 08:10 Now, he's just giving--he's got these names that are just 08:12 scrolling by, and so he's just giving a handful. 08:14 We know there's people all over the world that are tuning in. 08:16 Once again, you can get online or make a call, whatever you 08:19 want to do. 08:20 Tell your friends to tune in. 08:22 We got some important things to share. 08:24 But no, it's not a moral dilemma for people to be doing 08:28 online church. 08:30 You know, we said for years--'cause we're in a 08:32 building program. 08:34 Just behind the set that you see here, you can see construction 08:37 going on. 08:38 They're completing the Amazing Facts Worship Convention Center 08:41 and--but we've reminded our people all along the way the 08:44 church is not the building, and now we know more than ever the 08:48 church is not the building. 08:50 It's the people. 08:52 And we're so glad that this technology is available, that 08:54 we're able to study God's Word with you that are scattered all 08:56 over the country. 08:58 Well, do you want to do--shall we do the lesson title, 09:00 memory verses? 09:01 Jean: Absolutely, one more question, though, 09:03 one more that we have, just before we dive into the lesson 09:04 here, another question that people have, is it a lack 09:08 of faith for us not to gather together or to try and cocoon 09:13 ourselves in our homes? 09:15 Doesn't that show a lack of faith in God's power to heal 09:18 and protect? 09:21 Doug: Well, maybe this is God's way of healing, is for us to use 09:24 common sense. 09:26 You know, the Bible tells us that you can also tempt 09:29 the Lord. 09:31 You know, the devil told Jesus, "If you got faith, jump off 09:34 this pinnacle." 09:35 And he said, "Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God." 09:37 If we know that there's a contagious plague going through 09:40 the land and we can take precautions to limit people 09:43 being infected, then why would you tempt the Lord if you can 09:46 stay healthy by just following common sense? 09:49 So no, I think that--I think it would be foolish to ignore what 09:54 we know is a way of preventing the disease and to preserve 10:00 other people's health. 10:02 Someone might say, "I've got faith and so I'm just going to 10:03 become a personal breeding ground for the disease 'cause 10:06 I've got faith." 10:08 You could spread it to somebody else and that would make you 10:10 doubly guilty. 10:11 Jean: That's right, all right, well, I think we're ready to 10:13 go to our lesson for today. 10:15 As mentioned, it's lesson number two on the subject of the Bible. 10:17 It's entitled "The Origin and the Nature of the Bible." 10:20 We do have a memory text. 10:22 You'll find it in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 10:25 and verse 13, and maybe I'll just read this, Pastor Doug, 10:27 and then we'll get into it. 10:29 It says, "For this reason, we also thank God without ceasing 10:31 because when you receive the Word of God, which you heard 10:34 from us, you welcomed it not as the word of man but as it is in 10:39 truth the Word of God, which is also effectively works in you 10:43 who believe." 10:45 So there we have Paul commending believers when they received the 10:49 Word they didn't receive it as the word of man but as the Word 10:52 of God. 10:54 Doug: That's such an important truth when we're talking about 10:55 the Bible, that this is not just another book. 10:58 This is not the words of man, and it's hard to really 11:02 articulate that the Bible is a supernatural message from 11:08 the Creator. 11:10 Jesus said, "These words that I speak to you, they are spirit 11:12 and they are life," and that it is--it's unique, it's special, 11:16 and that's why we call it holy. 11:19 It's a book that is set aside. 11:21 And, you know, it's interesting and providential we're studying 11:24 this lesson at this time. 11:27 A friend of mine who is not a Sabbath keeper sent a message 11:31 this morning. 11:33 He's standing out in front of the supermarket. 11:35 Well, he may be in now. 11:38 And the line--he took a picture and the line went down the 11:41 street of all these people lined up with shopping carts waiting 11:44 for the store to open so they can run in and get 11:46 their provisions. 11:48 And I did a video about a week ago called "How to Hoard Food 11:51 for the Storm" and I actually said it is appropriate to hoard 11:56 food before a storm with an explanation. 12:00 You know, the Bible tells us that before the storm Noah 12:04 stored food, and that's how they survived. 12:07 God told Joseph a famine was coming, and he said, "I'm 12:10 telling you in advance so you can store extra to get you 12:13 through the dry spots." 12:16 But really our message is not that people should be hoarding 12:19 food 'cause, you know, God knows how to supply people. 12:23 It's good idea for people to be practical and have a little bit 12:25 to last a little while. 12:27 But really we're talking about a famine that's coming for the 12:30 Word of God, talks about in the Book of Amos, and now is the 12:34 time for us to hoard and store food. 12:38 "Man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word that 12:40 proceeds from the mouth of God." 12:42 So, friends, we're hoping that you're going to use these, 12:45 maybe, unexpected hours of leisure that you have--I see 12:49 families for the first time are eating meals together. 12:52 I see families in our neighborhood out walking 12:54 together, and I hope that people will start reading the Bible, 12:57 studying the Bible. 12:59 This morning Karen said, "We've got a friend that wants to study 13:01 with us and I've just been so busy." 13:03 And she said, "Well, maybe you could get on the Internet now 13:06 and do Bible studies with this friend that's in Georgia." 13:10 I said, "Great idea." 13:11 So let's be hoarding, storing, feeding, stockpiling the Word of 13:16 God because we're going to need to say, "It is written, it is 13:20 written," to defend our beliefs in the days to come. 13:23 Jean: Absolutely, and as Pastor Doug says, man shall not live by 13:26 bread alone, but by every word. 13:29 What's the point of storing up food and the time comes where 13:31 your food gets bad and you can't use it, or somebody breaks in 13:35 and steals? 13:37 But one thing that no one can take, not even the devil, is the 13:40 Word of God that we store in our minds. 13:42 So now we want to take advantage of this opportunity, study the 13:45 Word of God. 13:47 And really our lesson brings out the point that the Bible isn't 13:49 just another book. 13:51 It is a divine revelation from God. 13:53 Matter of fact, it's called holy--the Holy Scriptures, the 13:56 Word of God. 13:57 We have another verse, Pastor Doug, in 2 Peter chapter 1, 14:00 verse 19 through 21. 14:02 And I'm going to read this and I'm sure, Pastor Doug, you got 14:04 some comments you'd like to make. 14:05 It says, "And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which 14:09 you do well to take heed as a light that shines in a dark 14:11 place, until the day dawns, until the morning star rises in 14:14 your heart; knowing this first, that no prophecy of the 14:18 Scripture is for private interpretation." 14:21 Maybe you can say something about that in a minute. 14:23 "For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God 14:27 spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 14:30 Doug: You know, this passage in Peter, he is actually 14:34 referencing a life-changing experience he had with his 14:38 friends, John and James, where Jesus brought them up, what we 14:43 call, the Mount of Transfiguration and they heard 14:46 God the Father say, "This is my beloved Son." 14:50 Moses appeared, Elijah appeared. 14:53 Moses is a symbol. 14:55 He's a real person, but he symbolizes the law. 14:58 Elijah was the greatest of the prophets. 15:00 Typically the Jews called the Scriptures the law and 15:02 the prophets. 15:04 You know, when they wrote this, the New Testament wasn't 15:05 completed yet. 15:07 And so here they had this experience with the law and the 15:09 prophets, and Peter said, "We were with him in the 15:12 holy mountain. 15:14 We heard the Father say, 'This is my beloved Son in whom I'm 15:16 well pleased,'" but we have a more sure word of prophecy, even 15:21 more important than the vision that Peter saw that day. 15:24 He says, "The words that God has committed, they have been 15:26 codified, codified. 15:30 It is permanent, it's eternal. 15:32 Heavens and earth pass away. 15:34 My Word does not pass away. 15:36 The flowers fade. 15:39 My Word does not change." 15:41 And so we have the eternal Word of God that tells us what 15:43 is truth. 15:45 Jean: And then just to add to that, he mentions the Bible is, 15:47 now the Scriptures, is not for private interpretation. 15:49 There's a lot of private interpretation taking place with 15:51 reference especially to prophecy in the Bible. 15:53 I think this means that or that means this. 15:55 How are we to understand the Bible? 15:57 I think a principle we find and we mustn't forget is that the 16:00 Bible needs to interpret itself. 16:02 Then it's not a private interpretation if the Bible--if 16:03 we allow the Scriptures to interpret itself, then it's God 16:06 interpreting his Word. 16:08 Doug: That's right. 16:10 Jesus said, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses, then let 16:12 everything be established." 16:15 And so when we are studying the Bible to know what is truth, if 16:17 you get an idea from a particular verse, you think, 16:20 "Well, I think that might mean this." 16:23 Well, you don't want to just invent your interpretation. 16:26 You need to back that up by going to other verses in the 16:29 Bible that reinforce that, and you want at least two or 16:33 three witnesses. 16:35 And, you know, you and I do public evangelism. 16:37 And some people when they hear a truth for the first time, we 16:41 don't want to give them one verse. 16:43 We go through the Bible and we show them through sometimes 16:45 multiple verses, "This is what the Bible really teaches." 16:49 Another thing about private interpretation, you not only 16:53 need the Scriptures. 16:55 The Bible tells us in the multitude of counselors 16:56 there's safety. 16:59 I think one of the dangers when people kind of live in a cave, 17:00 like I did, and you start reading the Bible by yourself 17:03 and you don't go to church, you end up coming up with some 17:06 eccentric interpretations. 17:09 And you need to be able to study with others and bounce your 17:13 understanding off, you know, Christians who are reading the 17:17 same book and say, "Oh yeah, that makes more sense." 17:21 It really does help sometimes to get the input of others who are 17:24 reading the same verses, and that's why God has a church. 17:27 He's got some who have gifts of teaching and preaching and 17:30 prophecy and so forth. 17:32 And I know that when I'm studying sometimes I'll think, 17:35 "Oh, I think I know what that means." 17:37 And then I'll go to some of the great commentators of the Bible, 17:40 who just great giants of Scripture, and I'll read their 17:44 comments and I'll go, "Oh, I was way off on that. 17:48 That makes a lot more sense. 17:50 I'm sure glad I read that." 17:52 And so you need to avoid coming up with these exotic, eccentric 17:58 private interpretations. 18:00 Be in a Bible study group with other people and then compare 18:04 Scripture with Scripture. 18:06 Jean: You know, the amazing thing about the Bible is that 18:08 even the writers of the Bible recognized that there was 18:11 something very special about the writings of the other prophets. 18:16 They recognized that it's the Holy Scriptures. 18:18 Now, we don't find the word Bible in the Bible, but we do 18:21 find the word Scripture. 18:22 And often when you have your Bible, you'll notice it often 18:25 says Holy Bible. 18:27 Well, the holy part is definitely found in Scripture. 18:30 We find in Romans chapter 1, verse 1, I'll just read this for 18:33 us, "Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an 18:37 apostle, separated to the gospel of God which he promised 18:40 beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures." 18:45 So there Paul acknowledges that the prophets in the Old 18:47 Testament, the writings, it's holy. 18:49 Calls it the Holy Scriptures. 18:52 And of course we have many times in the Bible where it actually 18:55 writes and says, "The Lord said," or, "The Lord said 18:58 to me." 19:00 I think you did a little bit of an account on that. 19:02 Doug: I did, just this morning I was looking, and this is only 19:05 two of multiple possible phrases. 19:07 138 times in the Bible, that's the New King James Version, it 19:11 says the Lord spoke, 140 times in the Bible it says thus saith 19:16 the Lord. 19:18 And so the Bible--and there's many variations of that. 19:20 And so hundreds of times in the Bible it is saying God 19:23 is speaking. 19:26 And, you know, I was going to share something else while we're 19:27 talking about a quote from 1 Peter in 2 Peter, and this may 19:32 be somewhere else in our lesson as--I mean, our study guide as 19:35 we go through other chapters. 19:38 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 15, here it says, "And consider that 19:43 the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, as also our beloved 19:47 brother, Paul, according to the wisdom given him has written--" 19:51 He's talking about Paul has written, the Apostle Paul. 19:54 "As in all of his epistles, speaking in them of these things 19:58 in which are some things that are hard to understand, in which 20:02 those who are untaught and unstable they twist to their own 20:07 destruction as they do the rest of Scripture." 20:10 Meaning, Peter considered what Paul had written under the 20:14 influence of the Holy Spirit to be Scripture and people twisting 20:17 it were twisting Scripture. 20:19 So here's an example of them even recognizing their writings, 20:22 now New Testament Scripture, were holy. 20:26 Jean: Now, of course, the Bible says in the mouth of two or 20:28 three witnesses--we have the verse that you just read. 20:30 We have two New Testament prophets recognizing the 20:34 inspiration of the others' writing. 20:36 But in the Old Testament, you have the Prophet Daniel who was 20:39 studying or reading the writings of the Prophet Jeremiah. 20:42 That was pretty much a contemporary, at least in the 20:45 early part of Daniel's life, also recognizing that, that was 20:49 inspired by God. 20:51 So it's kind of interesting we have them in the old, we also 20:53 have that in the new. 20:55 So the Bible is indeed a special book, a powerful book. 20:57 The Bible also has practical purposes, especially when it 21:01 comes to theology. 21:03 It guides us. 21:05 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16 says, "All Scripture is given by 21:08 the inspiration of God." 21:09 The word the inspiration is God-breathed. 21:11 "It's profitable for doctrine," that would be our teaching; "for 21:15 reproof," when we're doing something wrong the Bible can 21:18 bring us back; "correction," tells us how we get back in a 21:21 right connection with God; "and for instruction in righteousness 21:24 that the man of God might be complete, thoroughly equipped 21:28 into all good work." 21:30 So another work of the Bible is to make us complete in our 21:33 understanding of truth, in our relationship with God, giving us 21:36 purpose and meaning in life. 21:39 It leads to righteousness. 21:41 Doug: It is amazing when you think about it, the broad 21:43 spectrum of themes in life that are covered by the Bible. 21:47 There's no book like it. 21:49 You know, the Bible talks about love, talks about war. 21:52 It talks about agriculture. 21:54 It talks about marriage. 21:56 It talks about health. 21:58 It talks about government. 22:00 It talks about weather. 22:02 There's scarcely talks about clothing, talks about modesty. 22:05 I mean, the Bible really covers the spectrum of life. 22:09 Now, some people say, "Well, the Bible doesn't say 22:11 I shouldn't smoke." 22:12 Well, they didn't have cigarettes back then. 22:14 So you're right, the Bible doesn't talk about that, but it 22:15 talks about drugs. 22:17 It talks about don't destroy the temple. 22:20 And so the principles are there that really apply in every age 22:23 to ever--almost every dimension of life that you can think of. 22:28 Jean: So not only the Bible holy, not only is the Bible 22:31 purposeful, gives us guidance. 22:33 Thirdly, the Bible reveals the future, and this particular 22:36 interesting area. 22:38 Here's a verse that I've often quoted in Bible studies and 22:40 evangelistic series. 22:42 Amos chapter 3, verse 7 says, "Surely the Lord God will do 22:45 nothing unless he reveals his secrets to his servants, 22:48 the prophets." 22:50 So some people might be looking at what's happening in our world 22:52 today with this pandemic just sweeping across the globe and 22:55 they wonder, you know, "What is the future have in store? 22:57 Does this somehow tie in with Bible prophecy?" 22:59 Well, the Bible does reveal to us how things will end. 23:02 Is this the end? 23:04 No, but it could be a sign that we're nearing the end. 23:08 Matter of fact, the Bible says there will be an increase in 23:10 natural disasters and pestilence before Jesus comes. 23:14 Doug: You know, I started a list last night, I'm not quite ready 23:17 to go through it all, of what the current crisis is teaching 23:21 us about prophecy in the Bible. 23:23 And I'm up to about five or six different points right now. 23:25 But a couple of things that you can't miss, how quickly an 23:32 economy can turn. 23:35 In Revelation 18, it describes in the end Babylon when it 23:38 finally falls, it says, behold how in one hour all our riches 23:42 are come to nothing, and that's of course a paraphrase. 23:45 No, I'm not saying this is the fulfillment of that, but what we 23:47 are learning from what's happening is how quickly you can 23:50 go from a booming economy to one that's paralyzed. 23:55 We can also see how quickly government power can be 23:59 increased, telling people to stay home. 24:03 I mean, you're in the freest country in the world and yet now 24:06 the government is saying--and I understand the reasons. 24:09 They're good reasons. 24:11 "Don't go anywhere." 24:13 And so freedoms can be lost almost overnight. 24:15 And so there's a lot of things we're learning about, 24:19 you know, prophecy. 24:20 Some of what's happening, it feels like we're living in a 24:22 piece of Revelation. 24:23 I don't know what chapter, but it feels like Revelation. 24:25 Jean: It's amazing. 24:27 We've never been in this type of position before, at least not on 24:29 a global scale. 24:31 So it is unique. 24:33 Well, then that probably brings us to our Monday's study, and 24:35 it's talking about the process of inspiration. 24:37 How did the Bible writers get the messages that they 24:40 wrote down? 24:42 There's one verse in particular that I like to look at with 24:44 reference to the steps involved in Bible prophecy. 24:46 It's one of my favorite books, Revelation chapter 1. 24:48 And if you look at Revelation 1, verse 1 and 2, you get a 24:52 sequence of how the message was given. 24:54 It says, "The revelation of Jesus Christ--" 24:57 So first of all, all of Scripture is a revelation 25:00 of Jesus. 25:01 And then it goes on to say, "Which God gave him," that's God 25:04 the Father, "to show unto His servants," that would be the 25:07 prophets, "things that must shortly take place," while the 25:10 Bible reveals the future. 25:12 And then it says, "And he sent and signified by His angel to 25:15 His servant John, who bore witness of the Word of God, the 25:19 testimony of Jesus, and everything that he saw." 25:21 So I think of this verse as God being the fountainhead of 25:24 all truth. 25:25 This truth about Jesus is sent by an angel to His servant, the 25:29 Prophet John. 25:32 And what does John do? 25:34 He writes down everything that he sees in vision, the things he 25:35 hears in vision, and that which the Spirit of God reveals to 25:37 him, known as the testimony of Jesus. 25:40 So Revelation as well as all of the Bible, to me, it is an eye, 25:44 ear account of what the prophet sees in vision. 25:48 It's a direct message sent from God, recorded by the prophet. 25:53 Doug: Yeah, amen. 25:55 It's amazing how that first chapter tells the flow, how 25:58 you've got a message coming. 26:00 It mentions God, Jesus, John, the churches. 26:04 I left out the angel, sorry. 26:07 God, Jesus, the angel, John, the churches. 26:09 And sometimes it's through the Holy Spirit that God speaks to 26:13 the prophets, that it might be disseminated among the people. 26:16 And then the church is to the world, you could say, 26:18 from there. 26:19 Jean: Another thing the Bible--that the lesson brings 26:21 out, which is interesting, is there are passages or documents 26:25 that are not included in the Bible, but we do have some of 26:28 the Bible writers actually referring to documents that we 26:32 don't necessarily have today. 26:34 For example, you find in Joshua chapter 10, verse 13 a reference 26:39 to the Book of Jasher. 26:41 Now I think there is a book out there, the Book of Jasher, but 26:44 here we find one of the Bible writers referring to that. 26:46 That doesn't mean the entire book is inspired, but they are 26:50 bringing out maybe a historical accuracy or historical point, 26:53 and that is what they use. 26:55 Also, we find Luke in the writing of the gospel, 26:58 it says that he spoke to those who are eyewitnesses of Christ. 27:02 He recorded different things that they had said. 27:05 All of this, of course, under the guidance and the inspiration 27:08 of the Holy Spirit. 27:10 Doug: Yeah, and you can even see in the Scriptures that there's 27:12 one theme through the whole Bible, and the theme of course 27:16 is Christ. 27:17 And just to give you an example of how that works, if you look 27:19 in Revelation chapter 3--this is the first prophecy in the Bible. 27:23 Verse 15, "So the Lord said to the serpent, 'Because you've 27:26 done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than 27:30 every beast of the field. 27:32 On your belly you shall go, and you will eat dust all the days 27:35 of your life. 27:37 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your 27:40 seed and her seed. 27:42 He will bruise your hand, and you shall bruise his heel.'" 27:45 So here you've got a prophecy that involves or talks about 27:48 God, talks about the woman, talks about the serpent, talks 27:53 about the seed of the woman, and that there is a war that rages 27:57 enmity between the two. 27:59 You go to Revelation, the last book in the Bible. 28:02 "And the dragon," it says in the same chapter he's also the 28:04 serpent, "was enraged with the woman and he goes to make war 28:08 with the rest of her offspring," it's her seed, "that keep the 28:11 commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." 28:15 So you got a theme. 28:17 It's going all the way from Genesis. 28:18 The whole Bible is about this battle for redemption and it 28:22 comes through the seed of the woman, which is Christ. 28:24 And so this is common theme that you can find in all 28:26 the prophets. 28:29 Jean: Now, sometimes people might say, "Well, you know, I 28:30 can understand that the New Testament might be relevant for 28:32 us today. 28:34 It gives us some good instruction. 28:35 But the Old Testament is just filled with stories. 28:37 Is that really relevant? 28:39 All the history that we find in the Bible, how does that relate 28:41 to me today?" 28:42 Well, the Bible does tell us that there's a reason for all of 28:44 these stories in the Bible. 28:46 Of course, it reveals different aspects of God's dealing with 28:49 people throughout history. 28:50 But Romans chapter 15, verse 4 makes the point for us. 28:54 It says, "For whatsoever things are written beforehand were 28:56 written for our learning, that we through the patience and the 28:59 comforts of the Scriptures might have hope." 29:03 So there is hope found in reading how that God brought 29:06 peoples through some very difficult situations in the Old 29:08 Testament, and even in the new, it brings us comfort, brings 29:11 us hope. 29:13 Doug: That's very helpful today. 29:15 Folks are--some folks are afraid when they're looking at what's 29:17 going on in the world out there. 29:19 And it says, "Hope comes through the Scriptures and through the 29:23 study of God's Word." 29:24 Let me share something here, and this is from the book, "The 29:27 Great Controversy," page 7, talking about the process of how 29:30 inspiration flows from God to us and that God uses the unique 29:36 personalities maybe of some of the inspired men that wrote. 29:40 "The Bible points to God as its author, yet it is written by 29:44 human hands. 29:46 And in the varied style of its different books, it presents the 29:49 characteristics of several writers. 29:51 The truths revealed are all given by the inspiration of God, 29:55 yet they are expressed in the words of men." 29:58 And so, you know, when you're reading Paul--well, Paul had a 30:02 different vocabulary than Peter. 30:04 Paul was more highly educated. 30:06 But I really appreciate Peter and James, who--they were very 30:10 succinct in what they said and is sometimes hard to understand. 30:15 And so the different personalities of the writers 30:20 are in it. 30:21 David was a shepherd, but under the inspiration he says, "The 30:24 Lord is my shepherd." 30:25 And so you can often see him using the language of 30:28 a shepherd. 30:29 And Jesus says to Peter and John, "You're fishing for men," 30:32 you know. 30:34 And so God took into account the personal experience of the 30:37 different Bible writers, and I think he deliberately chose 30:40 people from all different backgrounds so it would appeal 30:44 to people from all different backgrounds. 30:46 Jean: Now, Pastor Doug, can a person approach the Bible the 30:48 way you would approach maybe a history book or maybe a textbook 30:53 from a scientific sort of critical perspective? 30:57 There are people that will try and pull the Bible apart and 31:01 look at it as just any other book. 31:03 And in essence, what they are doing is they're opening the 31:06 door to doubt. 31:08 If somebody is looking for a reason to doubt the Bible, the 31:11 inspiration of the Bible, can they find it? 31:14 Doug: Oh, yeah, you know, they say--I think Mark Twain said, 31:17 "A person convinced against his will is of the same 31:19 opinion still." 31:21 If a person is cynical and they don't believe the Bible and they 31:23 don't have the Holy Spirit, spiritually--things are 31:25 spiritually discerned. 31:27 And if we're not praying for the Spirit of the Author to help us 31:29 understand this book, then they're bound to come to wrong 31:32 conclusions and they'll probably look for--they'll look for flaws 31:35 and they'll look for fault. 31:38 The devil will try to provide something to hang that on in 31:41 their minds. 31:43 Jean: Of course, you quoted a verse a little earlier where 31:45 Peter is saying that people twist the Scriptures to their 31:47 own destruction, and that can still happen today. 31:49 Like what Jesus said. 31:52 If you're willing to know the truth, know the doctrine or do 31:54 the doctrine, then you will know the truth." 31:56 They need to be a willingness to seek for truth. 31:58 Our ultimate goal is to find salvation and peace in Christ. 32:01 If we're willing to do what God asks us to do, we will be 32:04 affirmed in the Scriptures. 32:06 Our faith will grow. 32:07 Doug: You know, there are some places in the Scripture where 32:11 there are a few difficult passages where it seems like 32:13 there's a contradiction. 32:15 Let me just give you an example. 32:17 I don't think we should ever be afraid of these. 32:19 When you look in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 32:21 at the sign that is above the head of Jesus when he's 32:24 crucified, in one place it says, "This is the king of the Jews, 32:28 Jesus Christ the king of the Jews. 32:30 He said he was the king of the Jews." 32:32 I don't remember the exact wording, but they--all four of 32:34 them are a little bit different. 32:36 Not much, but a little different and people say, "Aha, look at 32:38 the inconsistency in the Bible. 32:40 It can't be trusted." 32:42 What they fail to recognize is that it tells us that it was 32:46 written in three languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. 32:50 And so it depends on what language. 32:53 The translator said, "Well, you know, in Latin, this is what it 32:55 said, in Hebrew, this is what it said, in Greek, this is what 32:57 it said." 32:59 They were a little different. 33:01 I mean, these are Roman soldiers that are just painting something 33:03 up on a board above a cross. 33:05 It probably wasn't, you know, the finest print job. 33:07 And so once you understand--" 33:09 Oh, that makes sense." 33:11 So when you run into an apparent inconsistency in the Bible--in 33:15 studying you'll often find there are reasons where you can 33:18 reconcile that. 33:20 That's what I really appreciated some of the great commentators. 33:22 I'll run into something and I'll say, "How come these dates seem 33:24 different in these two places? 33:27 And then you go in the commentators. 33:29 They'll say, "Oh well, that's because this one is starting 33:31 from this point, this one was starting from this point, and 33:33 you want to understand that they both match up perfectly." 33:37 I would just say, if you're going to make a mistake of 33:42 believing too little of the Bible and thinking that maybe 33:45 it's a flawed book, or believing too much and think it's the Holy 33:48 Word of God, make the second mistake. 33:50 Believe too much of it. 33:53 I find as soon as people start thinking that they can judge the 33:56 Bible and pick it apart and say, "I'm going to believe this part 33:58 and not this part," the whole thing--it's like poking a hole 34:02 in a bucket. 34:04 The whole thing starts to lose its power. 34:05 Believe it's--every word is inspired. 34:08 Read it and study it intelligently, but don't doubt 34:11 it, have faith in the Bible. 34:13 Jean: You know, another point just add to that, Pastor Doug, 34:14 sometimes you'll be reading the parables or even the teachings 34:17 of Jesus and you read it in one gospel and it might be a little 34:21 different than if you read it in another gospel and you think, 34:23 "Well, how could there be such a difference between the parables 34:27 or between the teaching?" 34:28 What we need to understand is that Jesus traveled to many 34:31 towns and villages, and it's quite possible that he told the 34:34 same parable in different areas and one of the apostles might 34:38 have remembered a particular parable the way it was worded in 34:42 one place and he recorded it that way, whereas the other 34:45 might have heard it or remembered it spoken in 34:48 another place. 34:50 I know we do a lot of evangelistic meetings and often 34:52 we will preach in different places. 34:54 We'll preach, in essence, the same sermon. 34:56 We might even tell the same illustration, but it might be a 34:58 little different from place to place. 35:00 You try to contextualize it for your audience, and I think 35:02 that's what Jesus was doing in a lot of his teaching when he 35:05 traveled from these different towns. 35:07 So that shouldn't discourage us. 35:08 Just recognize that Jesus is telling the same story, but he's 35:11 bringing out a different point for a different audience. 35:14 Doug: Yep, absolutely. 35:16 So probably we ought to move on here a little bit. 35:18 I see that we've got 14 minutes left for this part of the study. 35:22 Under the written Word--so in the beginning--you know, you 35:28 don't really find the Bible being started until the time 35:30 of Moses. 35:32 And he lived what? 35:34 About 1,500 years before Christ. 35:36 That means that there were nearly 2,000 years when there 35:40 was no written Word of God as we have it today. 35:45 Does that mean that God did not have inspired truth before 35:48 that time? 35:51 I believe he did. 35:53 The Ten Commandments, for example, were always there. 35:55 They were not written down until you get--you know, God of course 35:59 has them written in heaven, but they weren't written down for 36:02 the people until you get to Exodus chapter 19. 36:05 But you can read where God told Cain, you know, murder was 36:11 a sin. 36:13 God told Joseph adultery was a sin. 36:15 They knew stealing was a sin. 36:18 So they knew what the truth of God was, but it was passed on 36:20 back then orally. 36:23 Now, you might be thinking, "Well, how could they remember 36:25 all of that?" 36:27 Well, you look--you know, Abraham lived 175, Isaac 180, 36:32 Moses 120. 36:35 Think about how good their memories must have been 36:37 back then. 36:40 I've met a few people that have just about 36:41 photographic memories. 36:43 Here at Amazing Facts we carry a series--now we're not selling. 36:46 This is free. 36:47 We carry a series by an evangelist, Byron Spears. 36:53 He's passed away. 36:55 He lived to 100. 36:57 He was still giving Bible studies at 100. 36:59 They call him the walking Bible. 37:01 If you're interested in that, just jot this down. 37:03 Don't leave the station and go listen to it right now, but jot 37:05 down "The Trumpet of the Lord," Evangelist Byron Spears. 37:10 And he does over 30 evangelistic series, 90-minute sermons. 37:15 They're only audio. 37:17 But just keep in mind as you're listening, he's giving 50 verses 37:20 in every presentation, at least long passages. 37:23 He never opens his Bible. 37:25 There's no screen for him to read it from. 37:27 It is all from memory. 37:29 Now, if someone in this generation could do that, he 37:32 lived to 100, imagine how good people's memories were when they 37:35 lived 300 years. 37:38 So the Word of God was all passed on very accurately--they 37:41 had photographic memories back then. 37:43 But with the erosion of sin, I think man lost that ability. 37:47 There was a danger that the Word of God would get altered 37:50 or corrupted. 37:52 You go around the world, you listen to the different stories 37:53 of the flood. 37:55 And all these nations have stories of the flood, but 37:58 they're all kind of different. 37:59 You know, you go to Hawaii and they say he had a big canoe. 38:01 His name was Noe, and he had a pig and a dog and his family in 38:06 this canoe and the whole world was flooded 'cause of 38:09 their wickedness. 38:10 And so there's a lot of similarities, but it got changed 38:12 over time. 38:13 And you can go--the Babylonians had the "Epic of Gilgamesh," 38:18 very similar story of the flood, but it was corrupted because by 38:20 that time people started passing it on and making 38:24 little adjustments. 38:26 So God needed to codify it and write it down. 38:30 Jean: One of the things we forget is that you have Noah who 38:32 lived before the flood and of course lived after the flood, 38:35 his son Shem lived before the flood and after the flood. 38:38 And he was alive as an old man, but he was alive at the time of 38:42 Abraham, when Abraham was born. 38:44 So you can understand how these things were passed on from 38:47 father to son and then grandson. 38:49 And so there wasn't really a need to write this down until we 38:52 get closer to the time of Moses. 38:54 Doug: So Abraham could have talked to somebody that talked 38:58 to Methuselah, who talked to Adam. 39:00 Think about that. 39:03 So they had a pretty straight line so that the truth was not 39:06 corrupted back then. 39:08 By the time of Moses, lifespan's shorter. 39:11 They needed--God says, "You need to write it down." 39:14 Jean: Well, the next section that we have is Wayne's Day, and 39:16 this is just a very important part. 39:17 We want to take a few moments to talk about this. 39:19 It talks about the parallels between Christ and the 39:22 Scriptures, and this is just incredible to me. 39:25 Here's something to think about. 39:27 Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, we know that, yet he was 39:31 born of a woman. 39:33 He became a man. 39:34 The Scripture is given or conceived, if you like, by the 39:38 Holy Spirit, but it is communicated through 39:41 human beings. 39:43 So you see a parallel between Christ, he's God divine, and yet 39:46 he's revealed in humanity. 39:48 You have the Word of God, the Bible truth revealed in 39:51 human language. 39:53 So you see that connection. 39:55 That's why Jesus is sometimes referred to as the Word of God, 39:58 and you can see a couple of verses on this. 40:00 In Matthew chapter 1, verse 20, the angel is talking to Joseph 40:03 and he says, "Don't be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that 40:07 which is conceived of her is of the Holy Spirit." 40:10 And then in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 21 it says, "The prophecy 40:14 didn't come by the will of man. 40:16 Holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit." 40:20 So you see the Holy Spirit working through human agents or 40:23 human means. 40:25 It's still the truth. 40:27 Christ is 100% divine. 40:28 He's 100% human. 40:30 The Word of God is 100% divine. 40:32 It was inspired by the Holy Spirit, but it was also brought 40:34 to us through human language, through human beings. 40:37 Doug: Amen, that's rich, you know, I was thinking as you 40:40 were sharing we said earlier in the program if folks have 40:42 questions on this study or something else--is anything 40:45 popping up for you? 40:46 Jean: I haven't got anything other than the ones we had at 40:48 the beginning, Pastor Doug. 40:50 We might be getting some more coming in, or we might have some 40:52 connectivity challenges. 40:54 So if you have questions, keep typing it in and we'll be able 40:57 to try and get it. 40:59 Again, we'll probably be doing this next week, Pastor Doug. 41:01 So you can also be asking your questions next week on Facebook 41:05 as we go through. 41:07 Doug: That's right, you know, I thought I'd read something since 41:09 we're talking about parallels between Christ and the Bible. 41:11 Many people out there have heard or read Charles Spurgeon, a 41:16 great Christian pastor. 41:18 He wrote a book called "Morning and Evening." 41:20 It's one of the most famous devotionals in the world. 41:22 And under his morning reading for June 10, he has a section. 41:27 It's called "These Are They That Testify of Me," talking about 41:31 Scriptures and the inspiration of the Scripture. 41:33 It says, "Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega of the Bible. 41:37 He is the constant theme of its sacred pages. 41:40 From the first to the last, they testify of him. 41:43 At creation we had once discerned him as the sacred 41:46 Trinity--in the sacred Trinity. 41:48 We catch a glimpse of him in the promise of the woman's seed. 41:51 We see him typified in the ark of Noah. 41:54 We walk with Abraham as he sees Messiah's day. 41:57 We dwell in the tents of Isaac and Jacob, feeding upon the 42:00 gracious promise. 42:02 We hear venerable Israel talking about Shiloh, and in the 42:05 numerous types in the law we find the redeemer 42:07 abundantly foreshadowed. 42:09 Prophets and kings, priests and preachers all look one way. 42:13 They all stand as the cherubim over the ark, desiring to look 42:16 within to read the mystery of God's great appropriation. 42:20 Still, more manifestly in the New Testament we find our Lord 42:24 the one pervading subject. 42:26 It's not an ignite here and there or dust of gold thinly 42:28 scattered, but here you stand upon a solid floor of gold for 42:31 the whole substance of the New Testament is Jesus crucified, 42:35 even its closing sentences bejeweled with the 42:38 redeemer's name. 42:41 We should always read Scripture in this light. 42:44 We should consider the Word to be a mirror in which Christ 42:47 looks down from heaven, and then we looking into it see his 42:50 face reflected. 42:52 As a glass darkly it is true, but still in such a way as to be 42:55 a blessed preparation for seeing him as we shall see him 42:58 face to face. 43:00 This volume," the Bible, "contains Jesus Christ's letters 43:03 to us perfumed by his love. 43:05 These pages are the garments of our king. 43:08 They all smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia. 43:11 Scripture is the royal chariot in which Jesus rides. 43:15 It is paved with love from the daughters of Jerusalem. 43:18 The Scriptures are the swaddling bands of the holy child, Jesus. 43:22 Unroll them and you find your Savior. 43:25 The quintessence of the Word of God is Christ." 43:29 That last statement is the best. 43:30 The quintessence. 43:32 You know, we talked about the basic elements of life. 43:34 You have water and fire and so forth. 43:36 The quintessence, that final missing element that is the 43:39 mystery of all of the Bible is Christ. 43:43 The whole thing it's really telling us, he is the Word, he 43:46 is the rock, he is the stone, he is the light. 43:48 You look at the different allegories of the Bible, they're 43:51 all talking about Jesus. 43:52 Jean: Right, you know, they often write biographies of 43:54 people, and some of them are pretty thick, usually written 43:58 by one person. 43:59 An author does some research. 44:02 Maybe two or three, they do some historical research. 44:04 But when it came to--if you like the biography of Jesus, it took 44:07 over 1,600 years, 36 different authors, 3 different languages 44:13 on 3 continents. 44:15 No other person's experience. 44:18 He's dealing with history. 44:20 His teachings, his life has been so fully revealed as we find in 44:23 the Bible. 44:24 Doug: And, you know, that in itself is one of the reasons 44:27 that you know that the Bible is inspired, is because that 44:30 prophecy Jesus said, "These things that I say--heaven and 44:33 earth will pass away, but my teachings will not pass away." 44:36 And that is such an audacious, outrageous statement for a 44:42 carpenter to make. 44:46 But his prophecy--who can deny that prophecy came true? 44:48 He predicted, "My teachings are going to go into all the world," 44:51 and that his teachings would be the cause--he says, "My words 44:54 are going to be a sword. 44:56 There'll be wars that will be fought over my teachings." 44:58 And it happened. 45:00 And now history is dated from his birth. 45:03 You know, it's sad that there's people that think the Bible is a 45:06 common book, but they don't read it. 45:08 Because God, he's wanting to communicate with us and he says, 45:10 "I've got a blessed communication for you." 45:14 Jean: You know, Pastor Doug, you got in your notes here 45:15 a parallel. 45:17 Maybe you want to read this, a parallel between Christ and 45:19 the Scriptures. 45:21 I was just looking at it now. 45:22 I think this is just fantastic. 45:24 Why don't you read that for us? 45:26 Doug: Well, it says a person can be like a book. 45:28 Jesus is called a light, the Bible is called the light. 45:31 Jesus is called truth, the Bible is called truth. 45:32 Jesus is called bread, the Bible is called bread. 45:35 Jesus is called the Word, the Bible is called the Word. 45:38 Jesus is called eternal, the Bible is called eternal. 45:41 And as I mentioned, Jesus is called the rock. 45:43 The Bible is called the rock. 45:45 And this is only a few of the metaphors that are used in 45:47 the Bible. 45:49 Jean: There is a quote that we find from the "Great 45:51 Controversy," page 8 that I think it's important for us 45:53 to remember. 45:55 It says, "The Bible, whether it's God-given truths expressed 45:56 in the language of men, present a union of the divine and 45:59 the human. 46:01 Such a human exists in the nature of Christ, who was the 46:03 Son of God and the Son of man. 46:06 Thus said it is true of the Bible as it was with Christ that 46:10 the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." 46:13 So the mystery of the divine and the human combining in Christ, 46:16 that mystery is also found in the Word of God, the Bible. 46:19 Doug: Amen. 46:21 Now, the Bible being a spiritual book--we pray for the Holy 46:24 Spirit when we read the Bible, and he will bring--and this 46:27 should happen not once, but every day. 46:29 When we read the Bible, we should ask God's Spirit to give 46:31 us understanding as we read, and he will reveal truths to us that 46:35 will just be so exciting that it just brightens our life and 46:39 our mind. 46:41 You know, sometimes words spoken can change a whole 46:43 person's attitude. 46:45 You can speak words that can make a person salivate 'cause 46:47 they're hungry. 46:49 You can start describing something delicious. 46:50 It'll have a physiological effect on their body. 46:53 You can speak words that are discouraging that'll--just the 46:57 words going through the--that will depress a person. 46:59 You can speak words and say, "You know, I got good news. 47:02 There's $1,000 just deposited in your bank." 47:05 Those are words. 47:06 But if they believe those words, they're suddenly so excited all 47:08 their troubles are over, they think. 47:11 So the Bible is a book to be read combined with faith. 47:15 Faith changes everything. 47:18 Jean: Now, of course the Bible tells us that. 47:19 In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6 it says, "But without faith, it 47:23 is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe 47:27 that He is," meaning that He is a God of love, that He's 47:30 concerned about us and our well-being and our salvation. 47:33 "Believe that God is and that is a rewarder of those that 47:36 diligently seek Him." 47:37 So if we come searching the Word of God, seeking to know His 47:40 will, we need to have faith that God will reveal it to us. 47:44 Doug: Amen, and this, of course, is part of our last section 47:47 where it talks about understanding the Bible 47:48 in faith. 47:50 As we pray and we approach the Word of God, believing it is the 47:53 Word of God, just that belief unpacks it by itself. 47:58 Hebrews 11, verse 3, "By faith, we understand that the worlds 48:02 were framed by the Word of God so the things that are now seen 48:07 are not made of things which are visible." 48:09 That God from His Word can take things that are not seen or 48:14 known, things that are invisible and make them real. 48:17 You know, we just have a minute or two, and I wonder if we could 48:20 remind people of what the special offer is and then 48:23 encourage them. 48:24 We're going to be coming back. 48:26 We're just taking a little 10-minute break. 48:27 We're going to have a special video we'll roll in just a few 48:29 moments that I think you're going to find inspiring. 48:31 And following that, we'll come back with our church service. 48:33 But before that-- 48:35 Jean: Our free offer, again, as we mentioned earlier is "God's 48:37 Free Health Plan." 48:38 I think it's important that we look at what the Bible says 48:40 about our health. 48:42 The number is 866-788-3966, and you can just simply ask for 48:47 offer number 139. 48:49 As long as the postal service is still delivering mail, we're 48:52 going to try and get this out to you. 48:54 So call and ask. 48:55 We'll be happy to send it to you. 48:57 You can also get a digital download of the study guide by 48:59 texting the code "SH032" to the number 40544. 49:07 And, Pastor Doug, it's probably a good time for us to remind our 49:08 friends if they want to stay in contact with us and we can give 49:11 you announcements of things that we are doing here, you can 49:13 simply text the word online, the word online to the number that 49:17 we gave you-- 49:20 Doug: 40544. 49:22 Jean: There it is, 40544, and we'll be able to stay 49:24 in contact. 49:25 Doug: Yeah, thank you very much, friends. 49:27 We're not going away. 49:28 We're coming back with a special message. 49:30 It's going to be a worship service message for you. 49:32 We're not going to have everything we might normally 49:34 have in a group setting, but we know right now out there, there 49:37 are thousands that are worshipping. 49:39 You are a church. 49:41 Want to give a special greeting also to the Granite Bay members 49:44 that are out there, and we know there's folks that are all over 49:46 the world tuning in. 49:48 Stand by. 49:49 We'll have a special program for you. 49:52 And in the interval is a little video clip that I think you'll 49:54 find encouraging and inspiring. 49:59 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 50:01 free resource. 50:03 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 50:05 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 50:07 mobile device. 50:09 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 50:11 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 50:16 shown on your screen and be sure to select the digital download 50:20 option on the request page. 50:22 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 50:25 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most 50:28 important to share it with others. 50:36 announcer: Amazing Facts Changed Lives. 50:45 Wendell: When I was a little boy, I grew up in a typical 50:48 Christian family. 50:50 We had the American dream, but I began to realize that something 50:54 was not quite right. 50:57 I wanted to be with the girls. 51:01 I wanted to do girl things. 51:03 I would pretend to be one person, but yet feel like I 51:08 was trapped. 51:12 Like this girl was trapped inside my body. 51:16 You know, my parents would go to the mall or we'd be at a store 51:20 and I would sneak off to, you know, the girls department. 51:28 I was living this double life. 51:30 So as I started to attend college, on one hand I would be 51:33 going to school; and on the other hand, I would be starting 51:38 to dress up and something was working in my mind and in my 51:43 heart to tell me that this is not right. 51:48 And so I joined an on-campus Christian group. 51:53 We took several trips to overseas to Taiwan. 51:56 And after I graduated from the university, I got my ticket and 52:01 I--it was a one-way ticket and I was planning on staying in 52:04 Taiwan for a while. 52:07 And there I met my wife. 52:10 We finally came back to America and I thought, "Well, maybe 52:13 marriage, you know, would be the right answer." 52:17 It was only a couple of years into our marriage and the 52:20 desires to be a woman started to come back up again. 52:27 I would get airline tickets and I would fly to get away from 52:30 here so that I could live my lifestyle, you know, for 24-hour 52:34 periods, for 1-week periods. 52:37 Go shopping, just spending inordinate amount of--amounts of 52:41 money because I felt like I had missed so much and I was trying 52:45 to be that person that I thought I was on the inside. 52:51 And so I started to live my life full-time. 52:57 I started wearing women's clothes. 53:02 I started to grow my hair out real long, and I just didn't see 53:06 any way around it. 53:08 So finally I had made my transition and I had realized 53:11 fully who I thought I was supposed to be, but there was 53:13 still something missing. 53:15 Like, I was feel--I felt empty inside. 53:17 I started to search online. 53:19 I stumbled upon Amazing Facts and I started to watch one and 53:23 then I had watched the entire seminar series, and I started to 53:26 see who God was and who I was, and that God loved me so much 53:35 that I just can't live this life anymore. 53:41 He says to me, "I'll work with you on this. 53:44 I love you, and you can change." 53:48 Going through the central study hour Sabbath school lessons on 53:52 the Amazing Facts website, I decided to finally change into 53:57 male attire for the first time in a couple of years. 54:01 I still have my long hair, but, you know, I'm going to go to 54:05 church, and I attended the [inaudible] series. 54:08 It was just an amazing experience. 54:10 My life was totally different. 54:13 That love that God showed me started to work in my life to 54:19 where I wanted to do exactly the same for others. 54:22 I started to want to give more, to give more of my time and give 54:28 more of my energy. 54:30 God continued to gradually change me. 54:33 The desires to be that person finally they went away and I 54:37 finally felt free at last. 54:40 And I can say with a big smile on my face that God has 54:44 completely healed me through the process. 54:48 I just thank God for giving me a second chance. 54:52 I'm Wendell and God has used [inaudible] to change my life. 55:16 Doug: Today's smartphones are a virtual universe of information 55:19 that fits in the palm of your hand. 55:21 It's good thing we have opposable thumbs. 55:23 With it, you can buy your groceries, take care of your 55:27 exercise regime, watch a video, listen to music. 55:30 You can surf the international World Wide Web, which may not 55:34 always be a good thing. 55:36 And, you know, there is more computer processing technology 55:39 and power in a little smartphone today than was used by NASA to 55:43 put a man on the moon. 55:45 And I almost forgot. 55:47 You can also use these to make a phone call, but who does 55:49 that anymore? 55:50 Today communication is not in complete sentences. 55:53 It's all about short message servicing, or SMS texting. 55:58 That's right. 56:00 There are about 2.5 billion people in the world today that 56:03 are communicating with their fellow humans in short bytes 56:05 called texting. 56:07 That's more data that is being used than those who are surfing 56:10 the web or even playing video games. 56:12 And, friends, nowhere is this more true than right here in 56:14 the Philippines. 56:17 Even though the Philippines has about 100 million people, they 56:19 are responsible for the largest number of text messages of 56:22 anywhere in the world. 56:24 They're the 12th largest country, but they send 56:26 400 million text messages every day, wow. 56:32 That's a lot of finger fatigue. 56:34 Even though the greatest number of texters is here in the 56:36 Philippines, the record for the fastest texter in the world is 56:39 from Brazil, a young man by the name of Marcel Fernandes Filho. 56:43 He was able to text 25 very complicated words in a little 56:46 more than 18 seconds, wow. 56:49 It takes me longer than that to just say I love you to my wife 56:52 and press send. 56:54 All thumbs. 56:56 One of the neat things about texting is you can text just 56:58 about anywhere. 56:59 If you're surrounded with people, you want to send a 57:01 personal message, you text. 57:03 You're in a crowded subway or an airport, you can text. 57:05 If you're surrounded by noise or nosy people, you can text. 57:10 Just don't text while you're driving. 57:13 That's what's so wonderful, friends. 57:15 You can always text God a message of prayer from 57:17 your heart. 57:18 When you're wondering, "What school do I go to, 57:20 what job do I take, who am I supposed to date that may be a 57:23 future life partner?" 57:24 Your prayers don't have to be long. 57:26 The shortest prayer in the Bible is three words when Peter 57:28 prayed, "Lord, save me," and Jesus answered his prayer. 57:32 And it doesn't matter how fast you can text when you're talking 57:35 to God. 57:36 He'll know what you're asking for and hear your prayer before 57:38 you have a chance to say amen and press the send button. 57:41 In fact, friends, you'll bring joy to God when you send Him 57:44 regular messages from your heart to His. 57:47 So why don't you talk to Him right now? 57:58 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-04-03