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00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends, and welcome again to 00:37 "Sabbath School Study Hour" coming to you from the Amazing 00:39 Facts offices in Sacramento, California. 00:42 I'd like to welcome those who are joining us across the 00:44 country, and around the world, part of our extended Sabbath 00:47 School class. 00:49 And today we're looking at a very important study in our 00:52 lesson series. 00:53 The series is entitled How To Interpret Scripture and today in 00:57 particular, we're looking at lesson number five, The Great 01:00 Cry Of The Reformation, By Scripture Alone or 01:03 Sola Scriptura. 01:04 That's going to be our study, lesson number five. 01:06 We also have a free offer we'd like to let our friends know 01:09 about, it is one of our little sermon books entitled "Satan's 01:12 Confusing Counterfeits." 01:14 And we'll be happy to send this to anyone today who calls 01:17 866-788-3966 and all you have to do is ask for Offer Number 191, 01:24 and we'll be happy to send it to you in the mail. 01:26 Or you can receive a digital copy of the book by texting the 01:30 code SH058 to the number 40544. 01:37 And you'll be able to get a digital download of the book 01:39 entitled, "Satan's Confusing Counterfeits." 01:43 Doug Batchelor: Yeah, so we're ready for our lesson, and our 01:45 lesson, of course, is Sola Scriptura, The Bible Alone. 01:49 This was the, what do you call it? 01:51 The the battle cry for the Reformation, and we have a 01:56 memory verse and that's Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, Hebrews 02:00 4:12 and it says, "For the Word of God is living and powerful, 02:04 and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the 02:08 division of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow. 02:12 And it's the discerner of the thoughts and the intents of 02:15 the heart." 02:17 The Holy Spirit, the Scriptures, I should say, you know, brings 02:21 great conviction and it can divide. 02:25 You know, Jesus said, "I came not to send peace, but a sword." 02:28 The Word of God is a sword and it can sometimes cause division 02:32 in culture and in families, but it causes, the design is that 02:36 it's a scalpel to separate us from sin. 02:40 Jean: You know, Pastor Doug, talking about the Scripture, in 02:42 order for us to understand the Scripture correctly, we always 02:44 need to seek the leading of the Holy Spirit, and maybe it would 02:47 be a good time for us after our memory texts we just read, to 02:50 take just a moment and have a special prayer. 02:55 I know we're going to pray for those who are watching, we're 02:57 also going to pray for us here in the studio that as we study 03:00 this important subject, the Holy Spirit would be able to really 03:02 help guide our hearts and our minds. 03:05 So, let's just bow our heads for prayer. 03:07 Dear Father, once again, we are grateful that we're able to 03:09 gather together around your Word to study a very important 03:11 subject on how we ought to interpret the Bible. 03:14 Father, we know the Bible has power to transform the hearts 03:17 and the lives of those who take time to study it and so we ask 03:21 for that transforming power of your Spirit to come and work in 03:24 our hearts, be with those who are listening wherever they 03:27 might be, and lead us into a clear understanding of this very 03:30 important study today. 03:32 For we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. 03:34 Doug: Amen. 03:36 Jean: Now, Pastor Doug, in our Scripture reading in Hebrews 03:38 chapter 4, verse 12, it talks about the Word of God as a 03:40 sharp, two-edged sword. 03:43 Do you think there's any significance to the fact that 03:45 Paul specifically mentions here, not just any sword, but a 03:48 two-edged sword? 03:50 Doug: Well, a two-edged sword you can cut both directions when 03:53 you're working with it, and that means it can be used offensively 03:57 for blocking and defensive--or offensively for attack and 04:01 defensively for blocking. 04:02 You can swing it to the right or to the left. 04:04 And it's a symbol, the Word of God is often symbolized in a 04:08 dual nature. 04:11 The Ten Commandments are on two tables. 04:14 The Word of God is often identified as the law of God and 04:18 the testimony, the commandments and the testimony. 04:21 It's identified as Moses and Elijah. 04:24 In the last words in the Old Testament, "Behold--remember the 04:27 law of Moses, Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet." 04:30 And, of course, Moses and Elijah, a symbol for the Word of 04:32 God appear to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. 04:36 And so, and you probably have some other ideas. 04:39 Jean: I'm just going to add to that in Revelation chapter 11, 04:41 you read about the two witnesses. 04:43 And if you look at some of the similarities of the two 04:45 witnesses, it talks about how that fire can proceed out of 04:48 their mouth and devour those who are opposed to them or 04:51 the wicked. 04:53 You have the experience o Elijah that called fire down 04:55 from heaven. 04:57 He talks about the plague coming upon the land for those who wish 04:59 to destroy them. 05:02 Well, you recall Moses was the one that brought the plagues, 05:04 well, God brought the plagues, but Moses announced the plagues 05:07 that came upon Egypt. 05:09 So, the two witnesses, again, are a symbol for the old and--or 05:12 the two witnesses, the law and the prophets in the Bible is 05:16 divided into two parts. 05:17 You got the Old Testament, you got the New Testament. 05:19 So, the two-edged sword, it's significant because it relates 05:21 to the Word of God. 05:23 >> Doug: In case everyone's wondering, they say, you know, 05:25 part of good production is to do what they call an established 05:27 shot, that means so the people that are watching kind of figure 05:30 out, "Where are they?" 05:32 In case you're wondering where we are, we are not in the 05:34 Amazing Facts studios. 05:36 When this whole pandemic struck, we were building 05:38 sets downstairs. 05:40 We are in the Amazing Facts building, our office building, 05:42 in the worship room where we normally have our staff worship 05:45 every morning, and it has been converted into a studio. 05:50 We're doing a revival here. 05:52 We've got a few of our crew, Mrs. Batchelor's here, and a few 05:55 friends here. 05:57 We're all keeping safe distance just so we could bring you this 05:59 study, but we want to engage you, so let us know. 06:01 You know, I've got an amazing fact, Pastor Ross, about the 06:04 Word of God. 06:06 According to the Guinness World Records, the US Library of 06:10 Congress is the largest library in the world and contains more 06:14 than 151.8--that number is changing all the time so this is 06:18 outdated already, 151.8 million items. 06:24 The library is housed, not in one building, it's in three 06:26 separate buildings in the Washington D.C. area, and 06:29 contains 838 miles of bookshelves and corridors that 06:36 currently hold over 34 million books. 06:40 In addition to books, this mega library houses 3.3 million 06:43 recordings, 13.4 million photographs, 5.4 million maps, 06:48 6.5 million pieces of sheet music, didn't know there was 06:52 that much music, and 66 point million manuscripts. 06:56 To top things off, the inventory grows by approximately ten 06:59 thousand new items every working day. 07:03 And yet in spite of this massive volume of material, guess what 07:07 book has been the best selling book consistently every year? 07:11 The Bible, the Word of God. 07:14 So, in this lesson where we've been talking the whole quarter 07:17 about the Bible, but in this lesson in particular, we're 07:20 talking about how it's really the Scriptures alone have the 07:23 authority we discussed earlier. 07:26 Jean: Pastor Doug, I understand that also in Washington, D.C. in 07:28 the mall area there near the Capitol, there's a new museum 07:31 that's opened up. 07:33 And I don't know, I've never been there. 07:35 I'd like to go there, but t museum is all about the Bible. 07:38 Have you had a chance to see that? 07:40 Doug: I went to a virtual version at NRB. 07:43 They let you put on these goggles and you could walk 07:45 through it. 07:47 So, I think I was there but I wasn't, but it is 07:49 pretty amazing. 07:51 >> Jean: I understand, it's got some old manuscripts and old 07:53 copies of the Bible, and it's just very interesting to look 07:55 at that. 07:56 We do have a question that's come in. 07:58 Jonathan is asking a question, he says, "If we sin against 08:00 others, should we confess our sins to those people? 08:03 However, sometimes the sin is not publicly done against 08:06 another person, so should we confess those sins to that 08:10 person if they're not even aware of it?" 08:12 Doug: You know, I would encourage Jonathan to tune in 08:15 tonight, we are talking about confession. 08:19 Now, in our message, our revival message that follows Sabbath 08:21 School, we're talking about repentance tonight, we're 08:23 talking about confession. 08:25 I'm answering that exact question. 08:27 So, in order not to sound redundant, I won't do that 08:28 right now. 08:30 Jean: Okay, so tune in tonight, Jonathan, or we'll be able to 08:33 share more about that. 08:34 Okay, moving into the first section of our lesson, if you're 08:37 following along with us, the first area that we're going to 08:40 focus in is Scripture As The Ruling Norm. 08:42 You'll notice that the title on the top of the page there and 08:45 Genesis chapter 1, verse 3, we have these well-known words. 08:49 God said, "Let there be light," and there was light, and then 08:53 you can compare that passage with John chapter 1, verse 1, 08:56 "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and 08:59 the Word was God." 09:01 And we notice the creative power of the Word of God. 09:04 Whatever God says, it always happens. 09:06 Of course, Jesus in a little boat in the midst of the storm 09:09 in the Sea of Galilee, when he spoke to the wind and the waves, 09:12 he said, "Peace, be still," immediately, the wind and the 09:15 waves obeyed the voice of the Creator. 09:18 That so impressed the disciples at that time that they began to 09:21 really realize, "Wow, who is this that we have in our midst?" 09:25 You know, it really pressed home the truth that Jesus is the Son 09:28 of God, he's the Creator. 09:30 There is power in the Word of God. 09:32 Doug: Absolutely, and there's creative power in the Word, and, 09:35 of course, the Bible begins by saying, "And God said." 09:39 And then the New Testament says, "And he is the Word." 09:44 So, one reason the Bible needs to be the sole authority is 09:48 because all knowledge comes from God. 09:52 They say that, you know, some animals like ducks and swans, 09:56 and there are other animals, when they're very young, the 10:00 first voice they hear is the one they--it's called imprinting or 10:04 bonding, they connect with it, and then they'll follow 10:07 that voice. 10:08 Little sheep learn that with their shepherds. 10:10 And because God's voice is the first voice in the universe, it 10:15 is the ultimate authority that we listen to. 10:18 Yeah, I heard years ago in Nova did a program called "The 10:23 Elegant Universe," and it was about string theory, and they 10:27 said that research now indicates that absolutely everything in 10:32 the universe, all of the particles that make up matter 10:35 and force is comprised, notice, of tiny, vibrating 10:39 fundamental strings. 10:42 So, when it says, "In the beginning, God said," sound, the 10:44 sound of God had creative power and everything came from 10:48 His Word. 10:49 And so, that needs to be the sole authority because it is the 10:51 original Word. 10:53 Jean: Absolutely. 10:55 Well, we've got a question, Pastor Doug. 10:58 Eric is asking, "What is t best evidence that the Bible can 11:00 be trusted?" 11:02 Doug: Now, and you may have a little different answer, but the 11:04 first thing that comes to my mind is prophecy. 11:07 For me growing up pretty much agnostic or atheist, I thought 11:11 the Bible was a collection of fairy tales and what changed my 11:14 mind is when I began to study the Bible, and see that it was a 11:18 supernatural book because God was able to foretell in great 11:22 detail events that had not taken place yet, which meant that it 11:26 was on a whole different level. 11:28 And then something that's hard to quantify is, as I read the 11:33 Bible, something was happening in me. 11:35 The words that I speak, Jesus said, there's spirit and 11:37 they're life. 11:39 I noticed there was a conviction. 11:41 There was a transformation happening as I read it that was 11:43 unlike anything I'd read. 11:45 I'd read a lot of religious books, but the Bible was 11:47 different and it's always so hard for me to explain what was 11:49 happening, but I was changing as I read it. 11:53 Jean: You know, the Bible says "Come let us," actually God 11:56 speaking to the Bible says, "Come let us reason together." 11:59 One of the key in understanding the authority and inspiration of 12:02 the Bible is to recognize that the Bible is written in order 12:06 for us to understand what God's will is for our lives. 12:09 It's also written to help explain why we are here, where 12:13 we are headed, what brings joy and peace. 12:16 And if a person approaches the Bible with a sincere desire to 12:19 know God's will for him or her, the Bible takes on power 12:22 and relevance. 12:24 You got prophecy that foretells the future, but it also gives 12:27 you practical instructions as to how you can gain victory over 12:30 sin, how you can live a joyous life, how you can be a witness. 12:33 So, the Bible addresses every area of a person's life. 12:37 There is counsel in the Bible for children, counsel for 12:39 parents, there is counsel in there for the elderly, it talks 12:43 about how to deal with finance, talks about marriage, talks 12:46 about education, every aspect of life is addressed in the Bible. 12:51 It's a powerful book. 12:52 Doug: Amen. 12:54 All right, you know, another thing when we're talking about 12:56 the Scriptures alone, in the Bible both from beginning, well, 13:01 at least from Deuteronomy all the way to Revelation, it talks 13:03 about that this, these are the words that must not be changed 13:07 because they are the ultimate authority. 13:09 So, you can read, for instance, in Deuteronomy 4, verse 2, "You 13:12 shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it 13:15 that you might keep the commandments of the Lord God 13:18 that I command you." 13:20 Proverbs 36, "Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you, and 13:24 you be found a liar." 13:25 Also in Deuteronomy 12:32, "Whatever I command you, be 13:28 careful to observe you shall not add or take away from it." 13:32 And then there's that sobering curse in Revelation. 13:35 It says Revelation 22, "I testify to everyone who hears 13:39 the words of the prophecy of this book. 13:42 If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues 13:45 that are written in it, and if anyone takes away from it, then 13:49 I will take his part from the Book of Life, and from the holy 13:52 city, and from the things that are written in this book." 13:55 So, the Bible, one reason we believe it is the 13:58 sole authority. 14:00 It says it is the words, it's the utterance that you must 14:02 never add to or take from. 14:04 It stands alone on its own authority. 14:07 Jean: Now, talking about the Bible, we have a question that 14:09 came in from Gloria and she's asking a very 14:10 practical question. 14:13 She says, "I've been attending church for years, but I still 14:15 don't know how to read the Bible on a daily basis. 14:18 Can you suggest steps that I could use to do so?" 14:21 Doug: Thank you, good question, Gloria. 14:24 And again, if you have questions, friends, send them 14:26 in, we're going to do our best to engage the class here. 14:31 You know, Martin Luther used to say you should read the Bible 14:33 the way you pick apples. 14:35 First, you go and you shake the tree, and whatever is ripe will 14:38 fall, and he said, then you go and you shake the limbs, and 14:42 then you shake the little branches, and then you shake the 14:45 twigs, and then you look behind every leaf. 14:47 It's sometimes a good idea to get an overview of the Bible so 14:51 you get the context and the history of who the people were 14:54 and what's the backdrop of history, where's it happening, 14:58 what the culture was like, that gives you a lot 15:01 of understanding. 15:03 But you may not be able to, for me, I couldn't even read the 15:05 Bible so to read the whole thing through was difficult. 15:07 So, I had someone finally--I read Genesis and Exodus just to 15:11 kind of get the history of creation and Abraham because 15:15 everything springs from the first 11 chapters of 15:17 Genesis, really. 15:19 And then I jumped to the N Testament, and that gave me 15:21 enough background so when I was reading about Jesus, so much of 15:25 what Jesus says he's quoting from Genesis, then I was able to 15:29 pick up more. 15:31 And then I began to go through the kings to get the history of 15:32 Israel, and Samuel, and the Chronicles, and along with the 15:37 prophecy, and for me, I mixed it up. 15:39 Now, Amazing Facts has a great, we got a great tool if people 15:42 want to study the Bible, it's free and it's online. 15:45 It's just been updated, our Bible school. 15:48 Jean: All you have to do is just go to the Amazing Facts website, 15:50 and you can see a link there and you can enroll for free. 15:53 It's online, the Amazing Facts Bible school, and we just 15:55 recently revamped it and updated it. 15:58 And I was talking with our Bible school director, and she was 16:01 saying how that we've just seen a tremendous increase in 16:05 enrollment in our Bible School. 16:07 Maybe part of the reason is people are at home and they have 16:09 a little more time to do reading and studying. 16:11 Doug: It's been revamped, and then we had a pandemic. 16:14 We've got a 50% increase in the enrollment. 16:17 Something else I know Shamika will appreciate our mentioning 16:20 is that we've also taken the Bible school, and you can listen 16:24 to the lessons being read. 16:27 I think the first 14 are done, or is it all of them? 16:29 I forget. 16:31 Jean: The first 14. 16:32 Doug: Fourteen lessons. 16:34 So, if you're walking around and you want to do the Bible lesson, 16:36 you can listen to it as it's being done. 16:38 Also, just go to our website, BibleUniversity.com. 16:40 Then you'll see the lessons in other languages as well. 16:42 Jean: The next part of the lesson, Pastor Doug, is talking 16:45 about the unity of the Scripture. 16:47 And one of the powerful evidences for the inspiration of 16:49 the Bible is the fact that the Bible is written over 1,500 16:53 years with 30, at least 36 different authors, and yet 16:57 they're in perfect harmony. 16:59 And even today, you get a group of theologians together and ask 17:03 them to discuss some particular passage of Scripture, you don't 17:05 always get harmony at the end. 17:08 But here you have these different Bible writers over 17:11 such a long period of time writing in different languages 17:13 and yet the Bible is in perfect harmony. 17:15 It explains itself and so, that's an evidence of the 17:18 trustworthiness of the Bible is the unity that we find in 17:20 the Bible. 17:23 Doug: Amen, I heard one pastor said the whole Bible is the 17:26 story of one problem, sin, with one solution, Jesus. 17:30 And it always was amazing to me that the first three chapters of 17:33 the Bible talk about how man lost the tree of life, and he 17:37 was evicted from the garden. 17:39 The last three chapters of the Bible talk about how man is 17:43 brought back into the garden and restored to the tree of life. 17:46 And so, the whole Bible is about how to get back to the garden. 17:50 And if you look in Genesis, it begins with God asking the 17:54 question, where are you? 17:56 Because of sin, man ran from God, God didn't run from us. 18:00 The New Testament begins by the wise men saying, "Where is he?" 18:05 And so, we've been separated from God. 18:06 The Bible tells us about t great atonement at-one-ment, how 18:10 we can get back together with God. 18:12 Jean: And that's an important principle. 18:14 I think it's important when we're reading the Bible. 18:16 It's not just a book of facts. 18:18 It's not just a historical document, it is a life-changing 18:21 document, and so in our study, the Bible we're always asking 18:24 the question, "What is the spiritual application? 18:27 What is God trying to teach me through the study of His Word?" 18:30 Now, in the New Testament in 2 Timothy chapter 3, we have a 18:33 rather important verse. 18:35 This the Apostle Paul and he's writing to Timothy, who was a 18:38 pastor of one of the churches and he said, verse 16, "All 18:41 Scripture is given by the inspiration of God." 18:45 The word there "inspiration" is sometimes translated as God 18:48 breathed, or inspired by God and then it lists four things that 18:52 you can use the Bible for. 18:54 It is profitable for doctrine. 18:56 Pastor Doug, probably doctrine represents teaching. 18:59 Reproof, maybe there are areas in our life that we need 19:02 reproof, the Bible can reveal that. 19:05 For correction, tells us how to get back on the right path. 19:09 And instruction, we are educated through the Bible. 19:13 And then it says, "for righteousness that the man of 19:16 God might be complete, thoroughly equipped for all 19:19 good works." 19:21 So, the Bible, the study of the Bible, can bring about a 19:23 completeness where we are reflecting the character of God. 19:27 It's through the power of the Word. 19:29 Doug: Amen, I heard about, this popped into my mind. 19:32 I heard about two criminals that were just thought, "Well, maybe 19:35 we'll get caught one of these days." 19:36 And they said that, "if you get caught and get thrown in jail 19:39 and you can only have one book, what book would you want?" 19:41 And one of the guys said, "I'd want the Bible." 19:45 He said, "Fred, why would you want the Bible? 19:46 You're not religious." 19:48 He said, "Well, you can keep reading it, reading it and it 19:50 never really comes to an end. 19:52 It gets deeper and deeper every time." 19:55 Jean: Well, Pastor Doug, how many people have studied. 19:56 I know you spent a lot of time studying, I study the Word. 19:59 You never run out of new things. 20:02 It's amazing that way. 20:04 Doug: It's a three-dimensional book. 20:06 It just keeps going deeper and deeper. 20:07 Jean: When you're reading a historical book, you can only 20:09 read it so many times, and you really have a good picture of 20:11 what it's saying. 20:12 But the more you study the Word of God, the more you compare 20:14 Scripture with Scripture, the more things you discover that 20:16 you've never seen before. 20:18 It's really exciting. 20:19 It's like mining for gold, you find a thread of gold and you 20:21 just keep following that. 20:23 And you discover more and more. 20:25 >> Doug: You read Robinson Crusoe and because it's written 20:28 by Daniel Defoe, pretty soon you know what Defoe is thinking, and 20:31 that's all it is. 20:33 But when you read the Bible, you're reading something written 20:36 by God and so you're going, every time you read it, it just 20:39 gets deeper and deeper, and there's so many different 20:42 angles, and so many connections. 20:45 And yeah, it's a spiritual book. 20:49 Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. 20:51 And someone asked a minute ago, we may have more questions, 20:53 about reading the Bible. 20:56 Always pray when you read the Bible and ask the author, God 21:00 the Spirit, it's God breathed, ask the one who authored it to 21:03 help you understand it. 21:05 Jean: Okay, well, we have quit a few questions coming. 21:08 We're going to try and take a few of them. 21:10 Dwight is asking about the two witnesses. 21:12 We mentioned that in the intro. 21:14 He has a question about the three-and-a-half years, what is 21:16 that talking about? 21:19 Three-and-a-half days, I should say. 21:21 What is he talking about where the two witnesses are killed and 21:22 they're lying in the streets of the city for 21:24 three-and-a-half days? 21:25 Doug: Well, we believe in what you would call a historic 21:27 interpretation of prophecy. 21:30 And when you look at the span of history, there was a time in 21:33 history, if the witnesses are the Word of God, you can say the 21:37 New and the Old Testament are the law and the prophets. 21:40 There was a time in history when during the French Revolution, 21:43 the people had become so exasperated with the church and 21:46 they lost so much trust in the church, that not only was blood 21:49 running in the streets because they were overthrowing the 21:52 government and the king, Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette, and it 21:56 was rather brutal. 21:58 Karen and I was stood at the spot where he was executed a 22:01 year-and-a-half ago, I guess now or a year ago. 22:05 And but that was also a time when they revolted against 22:08 religion, and they were burning Bibles in the streets. 22:13 And they were mocking the Bible. 22:16 They said, "We don't need the Bible," even tried to enforce a 22:17 seven day week. 22:20 And so, over a period of three-and-a-half years, and you 22:22 can help me see if I remember. 22:23 It ended in 1798 so was it 1793-- 22:29 Jean: Would have started three-and-a-half years before. 22:31 Doug: Before that, yeah, an three-and-a-half years, and it 22:34 ended in 1798. 22:36 At the end of that time, the country was economically in such 22:39 a disastrous shape. 22:41 They made some reforms, they reinstated the seven day week, 22:43 they allowed the Bible again. 22:46 So, they had been rejoicing over the Bible, and they exalted this 22:49 goddess of reason. 22:51 And so, for three-and-a-half years, it looked like the Word 22:54 of God was in the streets and dead. 22:56 At the end, it was ascending up to heaven. 22:58 Jean: That's amazing. 23:00 In the early 1800s, we find a tremendous revival of interest 23:02 in the Bible. 23:04 The Bible is translated into multiple languages. 23:06 Missionaries go in the early 1800s to the uttermost parts of 23:09 the earth. 23:10 You know, Voltaire, the great philosopher who was an atheist 23:15 or rejected Christianity or the Bible, he made a statement. 23:18 He said, "Within 100 years, the Bible will be dead." 23:23 What's amazing is that eventually a Bible Society 23:27 bought his house and the very printing press that Voltaire was 23:31 using to produce his anti-Christian literature was 23:35 eventually used to print the Bible. 23:37 And, of course, the Bible went on long after Voltaire and, of 23:40 course, today, it's still a powerful book, transforming 23:43 people's lives. 23:44 Doug: And almost nobody reads Voltaire. 23:46 So, he said the Bible would be an extinct book, but it 23:49 didn't happen. 23:51 Let's read a little more lesson, then we'll do another question 23:52 if you have one. 23:54 In Titus 1:9 it says, "Holding fast the faithful word as he has 23:58 been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to 24:02 exhort and convict those who contradict." 24:05 And so, for Paul when he said as you're picking leaders in the 24:08 church, they must be faithful to the Word. 24:11 The Word must be the authority that is used by church leaders 24:14 in teaching. 24:15 Now, Pastor Ross, does that mean that believers should never read 24:19 anything but the Bible? 24:21 Jean: Well, I think it's important to, first of all, 24:23 understand what the Bible says, that needs to be our anchor. 24:27 There's nothing wrong in reading what some other theologians or 24:30 what a pastor might say. 24:32 Other people reflect their experience and they share about 24:35 that in the Bible. 24:37 But when it comes to receiving doctrine or absolute truth, 24:40 everything has to be tested by the Bible. 24:42 It is the acid test, you might say, of what is truth. 24:46 So, nothing wrong in reading some of the other writings, and 24:49 they are some great, you know, you and I use 24:51 different commentaries. 24:53 If you want to get a further explanation of a particular 24:54 passage, there's some great commentaries by the early 24:57 reformers, but even they will say, you know, the Bible is the 25:01 absolute authority. 25:03 So, you can look at different things, but always go back to 25:05 the Word. 25:07 Doug: Now, one of the great classics of history is 25:09 "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan, and it's an allegory. 25:12 Of course, it's an allegory of the Christian life and it's 25:14 filled with Scripture but even in his allegory he says the 25:17 Bible is the book, it's the scroll that he takes with him 25:20 through his journey that gets him into the Promised Land, so 25:23 to speak. 25:25 So, everything, when we say Sola Scriptura, we're not saying 25:28 believers are only allowed to read the Bible. 25:31 I think that's important because there are some churches that say 25:34 you can only read the Bible. 25:36 There's some churches that say, "You can only read stuff that 25:39 comes from our publishing house," and they want their 25:41 members to put blinders on. 25:43 But the most important thing is to be reading the Word of God, 25:48 and it's the final truth for all that we believe. 25:51 Jean: You know, somebody is asking a question and Natasha, 25:53 good question, she says, "How can one know when the Spirit is 25:57 speaking to him or her?" 26:01 Doug: That's a difficult question to answer because the 26:03 Spirit is kind of it's a nebulous thing that is a little 26:07 bit subjective. 26:09 And first of all, the Holy Spirit is never going to say 26:12 something contrary to the Word. 26:14 Sometimes you'll feel the Holy Spirit can be easily confused 26:17 with your conscience. 26:20 Sometimes you think, "Well, my conscience is telling me," well, 26:22 that may be the Spirit of God speaking to your mind saying you 26:25 should do or should not do something. 26:27 And it's these impressions. 26:30 And so, I think that the more you walk with the Lord, the more 26:34 you'll recognize the voice of God's Spirit speaking to you. 26:37 When you're Spirit filled, you know, you've ever seen you get 26:41 two drops on a windshield, and they're just moving around as 26:44 individual drops and when they touch each other, they coalesce. 26:47 And when you've got the Holy Spirit in you, you will quickly 26:51 coalesce and recognize when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. 26:54 There's a connection that happens. 26:56 Jean: And we also need to recognize that the Holy Spirit 26:58 speaks to us through our conscience. 27:00 That doesn't mean every impression that we have from our 27:02 conscience is always the Holy Spirit speaking, but in a very 27:05 real way, the Holy Spirit will often convict us through our 27:08 conscience and if that conviction is in harmony with 27:11 the principles of the Word of God, it's humbling to think that 27:15 God is taking the time to actually speak to us to convict 27:18 us and guide us. 27:20 So, Paul speaks about having a clear conscience. 27:23 So, we want to have a clear conscience, allow the Holy 27:25 Spirit to speak to us through the conscience, and submit it to 27:28 the Bible. 27:30 Doug: Amen. 27:32 You know, when we're talking about the unity of the Bible, 27:35 before we go on to the next section, one more thought. 27:38 I saw somebody wrote, "The Bible is as though it was a 27:42 magnificent symphony that was clearly orchestrated by a single 27:48 master conductor." 27:50 They say the key in, you know, a happy marriage is the closer 27:55 that the husband and the wife come to God, the closer they 27:57 will come to each other. 27:59 Even though God used such incredibly different people when 28:03 he was inspiring the Scriptures, I mean, you think about the, you 28:07 have shepherds. 28:09 You've got farmers, you have, you know, Elisha and Amos 28:13 were farmers. 28:15 You've got tax collectors, you've got scribes, like Ezra. 28:19 Technical, I think Judas was a scribe too, but we won't 28:21 go there. 28:23 You've got Pharisees like Paul. 28:25 You've got kings. 28:28 You got nomads like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 28:30 I mean, just such diversity. 28:32 You get people who are educated in the courts of Egypt like 28:34 Moses, such diversity, and yet they all knew the same God so 28:38 they maintained that harmony. 28:40 Yeah, it is really incredible. 28:43 Probably we ought to talk next about the clarity of the 28:44 Scripture before we run out of time, and take more questions. 28:47 Jean: Yes, the next section may be a good time for us to get 28:50 into that. 28:52 He's talking about the clarity of Scripture and understanding 28:54 the Bible. 28:55 I like the illustration that's brought out about the Bible can 28:57 be thought of as a telescope, one of probably the most 28:59 well-known and famous telescopes is the Hubble telescope. 29:03 And I've read some statistics about the Hubble telescope, and 29:07 one of the statistics I read about it is so accurate and can 29:10 dial in so precisely that if the Hubble telescope was on the 29:14 earth and you were able to actually zoom in, you could see 29:17 an object less than the size of maybe a peanut, we'll say, or a 29:24 pea, a bean. 29:25 You'll be able to see that object over a mile away if it 29:29 was on the earth. 29:30 So, the ability of the Hubble telescope to zoom into a tiny 29:33 object is rather remarkable. 29:35 So, you can spend a whole lot of time studying about the 29:37 telescope, how it was made, what it does, but you don't really 29:40 benefit from the telescope until you look through the telescope 29:44 and you begin to see what it reveals of the universe. 29:47 So it is Bible, the Bible is a remarkable book and you can 29:50 spend a lot of time studying the languages, and the different 29:52 wording that's used in the Bible, and some of the 29:54 symbolisms, but you really benefit from the Bible when you 29:58 look through the Bible and you see the God behind the 30:01 Scripture, the God that the Bible is revealing and eternity 30:03 and the life to come. 30:06 That's why the Bible has so much power. 30:08 Doug: Absolutely. 30:11 You know, when we talk about the clarity of Scripture, some 30:12 people think, "Well, I read the Bible, when I first read it, I 30:14 didn't understand it." 30:17 And I struggled to understand some things, but if you keep 30:19 reading, the Bible explains itself. 30:22 And an example of it would be Jesus shared a lot of things 30:25 in parables. 30:26 For instance, you get the parable of the soils. 30:28 He talks about four different kinds of soils, and the sower 30:30 goes forth to sow, and the disciples are going, "What does 30:32 this mean?" 30:34 Well, He sits down with them, and this is Matthew 13:16. 30:36 He said, "Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for 30:40 they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and 30:43 righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see 30:46 it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 30:48 Therefore hear," that means understand, "the parable of 30:52 the sower." 30:53 And then Jesus goes on t explain all the different 30:55 symbols that were in there. 30:57 When anyone hears the Word of the kingdom, he doesn't 30:58 understand it, he's like that bird that comes and snatches 31:01 away what was sown in the heart. 31:03 He that receives a seed by the wayside, and he who receives a 31:07 seed in stony places, he hears the Word and immediately he 31:10 receives it with joy, but it's stony ground. 31:13 He's got no root in himself. 31:14 So, then he goes through and explains it. 31:16 The parable of the wheat and t tares. 31:18 He's a leader, gets by Himself, He explains it to them. 31:22 When you read in Revelation and like Revelation 17, John sees 31:26 this woman and it's the seven heads, and the seven mountains, 31:31 and the water, and he's going, "What does this mean?" 31:33 Well, later in the chapter, what happens? 31:35 Angel comes says, "Let me tell you what you saw and what 31:38 it means." 31:41 So, those are some easy examples that explain, if you want to 31:44 understand the Bible clearly, then keep reading and the 31:48 different parts of the Bible explain things that you may have 31:51 read earlier. 31:53 Jean: You know, we have a question that Ozzy's asking. 31:55 He says, "Why are there so many contradictions in the Bible?" 31:57 And in particular, one could cite maybe some of the accounts 32:01 that we find in the gospels, they're not always the same, the 32:04 wording is not exactly the same. 32:05 How do we explain these, what seems to be contradictions? 32:09 Doug: Well, I'm glad you qualify that because I used to say we 32:11 have these contradictions in the Bible, and the more I studied, I 32:14 realized that there are what you would call 32:16 apparent contradictions. 32:18 For example, above the head of Jesus, I mentioned last night in 32:22 our message on the thief on the cross, there was a sign and 32:26 Pilate had the sign and it said, "This is the king of the Jews." 32:30 Well, when you go to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, every one 32:32 of the gospels has the wording on the sign a little different. 32:37 One will say he said he was the king of the Jews, Jesus of 32:39 Nazareth is the King of the Jews, and they're all different. 32:42 Someone says, "So you can't really trust the Bible. 32:44 They can't even get the wording on the sign correctly." 32:47 They forget that the words on the sign, it says it was in 32:50 three languages. 32:52 So, they had it in Hebrew, they had it in Greek, they had it 32:54 in Latin. 32:56 And so, it just depends on which wording, and the disciples 32:58 probably all spoke a little bit of elementary Hebrew, Greek, 33:01 Latin, and Aramaic. 33:03 It just depend on what version they were translating there. 33:06 It was up there three times. 33:08 So, that's not a contradiction. 33:10 There are times in the Bible where it'll say, there was, 33:13 there were two blind men on the road by Jericho. 33:17 And one time it says there was a blind man named Bartimaeus, and 33:21 they said, "Well, was it two blind men or one blind man? 33:23 That's a contradiction." 33:25 Not really, it means that maybe one was more outspoken, and he 33:27 spoke up. 33:29 And so, one recorded this blind man, the one who spoke, there 33:32 were actually two there but only one spoke named Bartimaeus. 33:35 And so that, for me, actually affirms the Bible. 33:38 That tells you that the Bible writers did not make these 33:40 things up. 33:42 It's like, it's pretty common when a lot of people witness an 33:45 event, depending on the perspective of where they were 33:47 standing, they will relate the event based on what their 33:51 perspective was of how they heard it and saw it. 33:54 And so, you know, I think that and if you take what they call 33:58 apparent contradictions, you're talking about one-tenth of 1% of 34:04 the Bible, 99.9 tenths of the Bible, you're going to see 34:08 incredible unity. 34:10 Jean: You know, another point to add to that which seemed to help 34:12 me when I'm reading the different gospel accounts, when 34:16 you're reading what Jesus says, he might give a parable a 34:19 certain way in one of the gospels, but then it's different 34:21 in another gospel. 34:23 What we need to recognize is that Jesus traveled to a number 34:26 of towns and villages and, of course, his disciples with him. 34:28 And Jesus probably told some of the same parables to new 34:32 audiences, of course, the disciples heard that. 34:34 Pastor Doug, you often, myself as well, will preach the same 34:38 sermon in different situations, rarely do we use the exact same 34:42 words, even though we're telling the same story or making the 34:46 same point. 34:47 So, I think some of the disciples might have been 34:49 impressed by a particular way Jesus said something, and they 34:54 remembered that way at one place, but maybe Jesus said it a 34:57 little differently when he's in a different town or village and 34:59 they recorded it that way. 35:01 So, these slight variations in what Jesus said doesn't mean the 35:05 Bible is contradicting itself, rather that Jesus told the same 35:08 thing in different locations. 35:10 Doug: Absolutely, I always feel sorry for Mrs. Batchelor and you 35:13 because we've traveled a lot and done a lot of meetings, you 35:16 probably heard me preach the same sermon so many times. 35:19 But it's always a little different because of what the 35:21 circumstances are. 35:23 I look out in the audience and you see people, you say, they 35:24 may need to hear this or that, and so it's modified. 35:28 I'm sure Jesus went from town to town, he looked in people's 35:30 hearts, and he shared things differently. 35:33 And Luke is unique because Luke interviewed people other than 35:36 the apostles that heard the teachings of Jesus. 35:38 And so, he's got a couple o stories like, you know, 35:42 Zacchaeus, and the prodigal son, and things you won't find in any 35:46 other gospel. 35:48 Jean: Now, of course, if somebody's looking at the Bible 35:49 and they're critical of the Bible, there is an aspect of 35:51 truth that the Bible brings to light in 1 Corinthians chapter 35:55 2, verse 14, and we believe Paul wrote this. 35:58 He says, "But the natural man does not receive the things of 36:01 the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he 36:04 know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 36:07 So, it's important that if we want to find truth in the Bible, 36:10 we need to come with the right attitude. 36:12 We need to come with a willing heart. 36:13 Jesus said, "If you're willing to do the doctrine, then you'll 36:17 know whether or not it is of God." 36:19 So, there needs to be a willingness to do what God 36:21 is asking. 36:23 Doug: Absolutely, you know, in the Old Testament, there's this 36:25 several references to the stone which the builders rejected. 36:29 It's in Psalms and then Jesus says in Matthew 21:42, 36:33 "Have you never read?" 36:35 You know how many times Jesus says, "Have you read, have you 36:37 read, have you read?" 36:38 Jesus is always saying you need to read. 36:40 "Have you never read in t Scriptures: 'The stone which the 36:42 builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 36:45 This was the Lord's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'?" 36:48 By the way, Jesus is making a very good quote there of Psalms, 36:50 the same way David wrote it. 36:52 Then Peter later explains in 1 Peter 2, verse 4, "Coming to 36:56 Him, Jesus, as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, 37:00 but chosen by God and precious." 37:02 He says, "Oh, Jesus is the stone, the foundation stone that 37:06 was rejected." 37:08 And so, these passages you read in the Old Testament, you 37:11 sometimes need to read the Bible for a while and then you'll say, 37:14 "Ah, A, B, C, now it makes sense." 37:17 So, I just looked at three Scriptures, one in the Old 37:20 Testament, one where Jesus references, and then where Peter 37:22 references that Jesus is the fulfillment of it, and then it 37:26 all becomes clear. 37:27 So, when it talks about the clarity of the Scriptures, 37:29 sometimes it takes a little time to bring that all together. 37:32 Jean: Somebody is asking a question, Christine is asking, 37:35 "Can you help me understand why the seven plagues will fall on 37:38 people after probation closes?" 37:41 She says, "It's hard to understand, knowing that God 37:43 hates to see suffering, why the plagues would come after people 37:47 can't change their hearts?" 37:49 They pass, you know, probation is closed. 37:51 Doug: I know you have a special love for Revelation. 37:53 Jean: Well, I'm glad you asked. 37:55 I saw that question, I thought oh, wait, that's a good one. 37:57 You know, one of the things about after probation closes and 38:00 people can change sides, Revelation chapter 14 talks 38:03 about the harvest of the earth being full. 38:06 And when it comes to the second coming of Christ, there are two 38:08 groups of people on the earth that are fully ripe. 38:12 On the one hand you have the righteous, on the other hand you 38:14 have the wicked. 38:16 After probation closes and the seven last place come upon the 38:18 earth, it'll reveal the true heart or the true nature of the 38:23 wicked, as well as the righteous. 38:25 When the plagues come, what do the righteous do? 38:27 They pray more fervently, they trust more sincerely in God. 38:30 What do the wicked do? 38:32 Well, it says that they end up cursing God. 38:34 So, the purpose of the plague is to really reveal who's on God's 38:37 side, and who's opposed to God. 38:40 And it also shows us that even though these plagues are coming, 38:43 people have so hardened their hearts, that they end up cursing 38:46 God instead of turning with repentance. 38:49 It reveals the true nature of every person. 38:51 Doug: Yeah, they blaspheme God. 38:53 They're not softened by it, a it's showing before the final 38:55 judgment, God has no choice but to cast them into the lake of 39:02 fire because there's no redemptive qualities left. 39:06 Jean: We see a similarity between the plagues that came up 39:07 on Egypt, how that it hardened Pharaoh's heart instead of him 39:11 coming to the point of repentance. 39:12 He kept hardening his heart. 39:14 The plagues do the same thing at the end of time. 39:16 Doug: So yeah, when that final plague comes to even the 39:18 household of Pharaoh, you know, God, He saves the worst for last 39:22 to show he had no alternative. 39:24 You know, there's a section, and we've kind of touched on this, 39:27 Scripture interprets Scripture. 39:29 And I can read John 1:45. 39:31 It tells us that Philip finds Nathaniel after hearing about 39:35 Jesus, he said, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law, 39:39 and the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 39:43 And so, even the apostles, they recognize the Scripture was the 39:46 authority to determine who is the Messiah. 39:49 They say, "What does the Scripture say? 39:50 Is this the one?" 39:52 He would be measured by the Scriptures. 39:54 Jesus used that and Luke 24, and this is verse 27, "Beginning at 39:59 Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded unto them in all the 40:02 Scriptures the things concerning Himself." 40:05 You know, Pastor Ross, I want to jump to the last section. 40:08 It's so important. 40:10 Now, we're Seventh Day Adventist Christians, this is our Sabbath 40:12 School study, we keep the Sabbath. 40:14 There's a myth out there that Seventh Day Adventists, they 40:17 don't go by the Bible, they go by the writings of Ellen White 40:19 and that is categorically not true. 40:22 It's not true because in our doctrinal statement, it says 40:25 something otherwise. 40:27 Let me read to you what it says in the baptismal vows. 40:29 We go over the baptismal vows with people all the time when we 40:32 do evangelism. 40:33 Point number five, "I believe that the Bible is God's inspired 40:37 Word, and that it constitutes the only rule of faith and 40:42 practice for the Christian." 40:44 The Bible, we believe Sola Scriptura. 40:46 Do we believe that God can speak through people other 40:49 than Scripture? 40:51 Well, I hope so because I hope he's talking through us when we 40:53 preach and when we teach. 40:55 If it's not the Lord, well, then that's just our own mumblings, 40:59 you may as well change channels. 41:01 So, we believe that God spoke through Ellen White and she was 41:04 inspired, but even Ellen White said the Scriptures are the 41:06 final statement. 41:08 Let me just read this here, and this is from the book "Great 41:10 Controversy," page 595. 41:12 This is something Ellen White wrote about what the final 41:14 authority is. 41:16 She didn't say, "My writings," she said it's the Bible. 41:18 "But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, 41:21 and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and 41:26 the basis of all reforms. 41:28 The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the 41:32 creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as 41:34 numerous and discordant as are the churches which they 41:38 represent, the voice of the majority, not one nor all of 41:42 these should be regarded as evidence for or against any 41:45 point of religious faith. 41:47 Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a 41:51 plain 'Thus saith the Lord.'" 41:54 So, you're going to meet people in almost any church that are 41:57 going to teach and do goofy things. 41:59 And you got to be careful not to judge a church by one person 42:02 that says, "I'm a member," and then they say outrageous things. 42:05 I've always thought it's amazing whenever a tornado goes through 42:07 a town, it seems like the reporter will find the strangest 42:12 people in the world to interview. 42:15 And the people in the community are going, "Why did they 42:18 ask Bubba?" 42:21 You know, and so if you want to know what a church believes, 42:24 Seventh Day Adventists believe the Bible. 42:26 Sola Scriptura is the foundation for our doctrines. 42:29 That's why I joined the church because it's based on 42:31 the Scripture. 42:34 Jean: You know, during the time of the reformation, that part of 42:36 the title of the lesson is Sola Scriptura, during the time of 42:38 the reformation, the reformers believed that the Bible needed 42:41 to be the final authority for finding truth. 42:44 The church said, "Yes, you can, you can look at the Bible, but 42:47 you also need to look at church councils and tradition." 42:50 And so, they would say, you know, tradition stands on par 42:53 with the Bible. 42:54 Then they went a little further and said, the church explains 42:58 the Bible. 42:59 The reformers said, "No, the Bible needs to explain doctrine 43:02 and teaching. 43:04 The Bible is the final authority." 43:06 And that's true today. 43:07 Now, maybe there's some Protestants who feel like, 43:09 "Yeah, we understand that tradition needs to be under the 43:12 Bible as far as authority goes," but there is another danger that 43:17 we see today, especially in Protestant churches, and that is 43:21 where we put a personal experience or a feeling, or as 43:24 so-called moving of the Holy Spirit, above the authority of 43:27 the Bible. 43:29 I've been doing Bible studies with people and we make a very 43:31 clear point from Scripture where it's talking about the 43:33 commandments, and one of the commandments needs to be kept. 43:36 And they say, "Well, I see that's what the Bible says, but 43:38 I feel as though I don't have to keep God's law." 43:42 Maybe they have some manifestation of what they 43:46 believe is the Holy Spirit and they say, "Well, the Spirit 43:48 tells me that, that part of the Bible is not binding 43:50 any longer." 43:52 So, we have our own experience, trying to take the place of 43:55 the Bible. 43:57 It's a dangerous thing. 43:58 Doug: Yeah, absolutely, and yeah, I run into folks the very 44:00 same thing is, you know, when the Bible talks about the Spirit 44:02 and the letter. 44:03 You get the Spirit of the law and the letter of the law. 44:05 And I'll show someone what t Bible says and they'll say, 44:07 "Yeah, I realize that's in the Bible, but this is the letter 44:10 but I need the Spirit to help me understand the letter, and the 44:14 Spirit is telling me that we no longer need to pay attention to 44:17 the letter here." 44:19 That's not what Paul's talking about when he talks about the 44:21 Spirit and the letter. 44:22 He's not saying that your feelings are to somehow overrule 44:25 or trump what happens--well, you can't use that word "trump" like 44:29 you used to anymore. can you? 44:31 But your feelings are not supposed to overrule or preempt 44:35 what the Word of God says. 44:37 The Word of God, as a matter of fact, what is the Holy 44:39 Spirit do? 44:42 Jesus said, "I will send you the Spirit, he will bring to your 44:44 remembrance whatsoever I have said." 44:47 So, when you really do have the Holy Spirit, it's never going to 44:49 go beyond what the Word of God actually teaches us. 44:53 Jean: You know, Pastor Doug, I think we have time to take one 44:55 more question so here it is, "How can you tell the difference 44:58 between a parable and a non parable in the Bible?" 45:01 Doug: That's a good question. 45:04 Well, you know, some things are history, God is just telling 45:06 a story. 45:08 A person might be looking, for example, the parable of the rich 45:10 man and Lazarus. 45:12 They're thinking, "Well, how do we know it's a parable?" 45:15 Well, if there are symbols in the story that you really can't 45:18 take literally, then, you know, it would be a parable. 45:22 Like in that parable that you find in Luke chapter 16. 45:26 That man, well, first of all, everybody that dies does not go 45:29 to Abraham's bosom. 45:32 The people in heaven and hell will not be able to communicate 45:34 through eternity, I mean, heaven forbid. 45:36 One drop of water would not really cool a person's tongue if 45:40 they were in hell. 45:41 So, when Jesus is talking about the sower goes and he sows seed, 45:44 bird grabs some of the seed and he got four different kinds 45:48 of soil. 45:50 You look at the context, you can see this as an illustration, 45:52 it's a parable. 45:54 And so yeah, I think that you just see when it's not, can't be 45:57 literal, that must be parable. 45:59 Jean: You gotta look at the context of that. 46:01 Well friends, we want to remind you about our free offer that we 46:03 have for you today. 46:05 It is a book entitled, "Satan's Confusing Counterfeits," and 46:07 we'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 46:10 The number is 866-788-3966 and ask for Offer Number 191. 46:16 Or you can text the code SH058 to the number 40544, and we'll 46:24 be able to send you a digital download of the book, "Satan's 46:27 Confusing Counterfeits." 46:31 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 46:33 free resource. 46:35 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 46:37 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 46:39 mobile device. 46:41 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 46:44 the keyword on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address 46:49 shown on your screen and be sure to select that digital download 46:53 option on the request page. 46:54 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 46:57 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most 47:01 important, to share it with others. 47:08 announcer: Amazing Facts, Changed Lives. 47:15 female: I was born into a family of criminals. 47:19 When I got older and I started breaking the rules, no one ever 47:22 taught me about "Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not lie, Thou 47:25 shalt not commit adultery," anything like that. 47:27 When I became a runaway at 14, I was just a wild and lost child. 47:35 I had somebody tell me, "Hey, you want to earn some money 47:37 cleaning this guy's kitchen?" 47:40 So, I went to this house on a different side of town than I 47:42 was used to. 47:44 Someone kept giving me alcoholic drinks, and being 115 pounds and 47:48 14 years old, it really didn't take much time before I was so 47:51 inebriated that I had no control over what was going on 47:55 around me. 47:57 He took me to another location, another town and I was put 48:01 in isolation. 48:03 I would come out to be abused between three and eight times 48:05 a day. 48:06 I was degraded, I was humiliated, and I had no value 48:09 as a human being. 48:11 And I learned very quickly that what I felt and what I thought, 48:14 and how this made me feel, did not matter to him at all. 48:18 If I even thought about not doing what he wanted me to do, I 48:24 would have a gun to my head and knife to my throat. 48:29 There was one time in particular where he had been tormenting 48:34 me psychologically. 48:37 And one day he said, "Oh, you'll never kill yourself. 48:40 You'll never do it." 48:42 And almost defiantly I was like, "Yes, I will." 48:44 And he handed me a big ol' hand full of pills, and I took them. 48:48 While I was overdosing and I had been overdosing all night, I 48:52 cried out to a God that I didn't even believe in and at that very 48:55 moment in the most powerful way, God shone his light on me. 49:00 And He gave me peace of mind like I never had. 49:04 And He let me know right then and there while I was on that 49:07 bathroom floor that He was real, and He was love. 49:11 And that I did not know how at that time, but He was going to 49:14 help me. 49:15 A little less than a year later, I became pregnant at 15. 49:18 I loved my son with my whole heart. 49:21 He also became something that my abuser could use against me in 49:24 order to pump more fear and coercion. 49:29 I had finally got away from my abuser, and I had finally built 49:34 up a support system to help me stay on the move and stay on 49:36 the run. 49:38 And I was at my grandmother's house and on my son's third 49:41 birthday, he took my son. 49:48 And when I called the police and said, "My son's just been 49:49 kidnapped," they said, "He's the father, we can't do anything 49:52 about it." 49:54 After my son was gone, I lost my mind. 49:57 I started doing drugs and within a month and a half, I robbed a 50:00 convenience store. 50:02 So, I was sentenced to 70 months, five years, ten months 50:05 in prison. 50:07 And it was the best thing that ever happened to me. 50:11 I started attending the church services in prison seven days 50:16 a week. 50:17 It blew my mind. 50:19 I was hooked. 50:22 And then we went through, it was millennium of prophecy and net 50:24 99 that just solidified my faith in such a powerful way. 50:30 And I knew God, that God was leading me. 50:33 Even the guards there commented on how much I had changed. 50:37 And since I started doing the studies on Amazing Facts, I was 50:42 so excited about what I was learning that I was coming back 50:44 from there and trying to convert my hardened criminal friends 50:49 with the Storacles of Prophecy. 50:51 Every question I ever had, eve worry, everything that I ever 50:55 wondered about, the Bible answered everything and it was 50:59 so clear and so easy to understand. 51:03 It's been 11 years since I've been out of prison. 51:06 I am married to an amazing, wonderful man, my first 51:09 non-abusive relationship in my whole entire life. 51:12 Before we got married, we watched the Millennium of 51:15 Prophecy series together, and it was just such a blessing to be 51:20 able to see him learn and see him grow. 51:24 And I feel like my life now is just a gift, that every single 51:28 thing that happened to me bad in the past is nothing compared to 51:31 the joy, and the happiness, and the stability that I 51:36 have now. 51:38 My name is Christine Vanorder and my life has been changed by 51:40 Jesus Christ and "Amazing Facts." 51:44 ♪♪♪ 52:00 Doug: We're here on the beautiful coast of the island of 52:03 Puerto Rico and if you were to travel east about 2,000 miles, 52:07 of course, you'd be out in the middle of the ocean but you'd 52:09 also be in the middle of a mystical sea called the 52:12 Sargasso Sea. 52:14 It gets its name because of this common brown seaweed that can be 52:18 found floating in vast mass. 52:21 The area of the Sargasso Sea is about 700 miles wide and 2,000 52:25 miles long. 52:27 Now, the seaweed itself is fascinating stuff. 52:30 It was first observed and called Gulf weed by 52:32 Christopher Columbus. 52:34 He gets the name Sargon from the Portuguese. 52:36 Some people use it as herbal remedies, but out in the middle 52:39 of the Sargasso Sea, the water is some of the bluest in 52:41 the world. 52:44 It's there you can see 200 feet deep in places. 52:46 It also has a great biodiversity and ecosystem that surrounds the 52:50 Sargasso Sea. 52:52 For years, scientists wondered where the American and the 52:54 Atlantic eels were breeding. 52:56 They knew the adult eels swam down the rivers out into the 52:59 Atlantic, but they never could find the place where 53:01 they reproduce. 53:03 Finally, they discovered it was out in the middle of the 53:04 Sargasso Sea. 53:06 So, it's a fascinating place, but if you are an ancient 53:09 sailor, you did not want to get stuck there. 53:15 Being caught in the doldrums was extremely difficult for the 53:18 ancient sailors. 53:19 Of course, their boats were driven by wind and sail, and 53:21 they'd be caught in the vast mass of the seaweed that would 53:25 wrap around their rudder, barnacles would begin to grow. 53:27 It's an area that is notorious for light and baffling winds. 53:31 And so, they'd make no progress. 53:33 They'd get stuck, the men would become extremely dispirited, 53:37 sometimes violence and even insanity would break out as 53:40 people were trapped in the doldrums. 53:43 Well, friends, perhaps sometimes you felt that you were trapped 53:46 in the doldrums. 53:47 You've gone through episodes of depression. 53:49 You feel like you're going in circles, life seems stifling. 53:52 You know, the Bible offers good news. 53:54 There is a way out. 53:56 The Bible talks about a famous character that was trapped in a 53:59 cycle of depression. 54:01 He was low as you could be. 54:03 A matter of fact, he even had seaweed wrapped around his head. 54:05 His name was Jonah, but God gave him a way of escape. 54:09 In Jonah chapter 2, verse 3 through 7 we read, "For You cast 54:14 me into the depths, Into the heart of the seas, And the 54:17 floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed 54:21 over me. 54:22 Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will 54:25 look again toward Your holy temple. 54:28 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed 54:31 around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. 54:35 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with 54:38 its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought my 54:42 life up from the pit, O Lord, my God. 54:45 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my 54:49 prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.'" 54:55 You know, friends, the way that Jonah got out of his 54:57 discouraging circumstances, he turned to God and he prayed. 54:59 And if God can hear Jonah's prayer, just think about it, he 55:01 was as far away from God as anybody could be. 55:04 He was in the belly of a sea monster in the bottom of the 55:06 ocean in the dark, yet he turned to God and God heard his prayer. 55:10 You know, these ancient sailors, when they were trapped on the 55:12 deck of a ship for weeks, stuck in the doldrums, discouraged, 55:16 sometimes they would have a prayer meeting and pray that God 55:19 would send a breeze that would set them free and get their 55:22 boats moving. 55:24 They turned to God in prayer, and often miracles would happen, 55:27 and the wind would flutter in the sails and bring them out of 55:29 their seaweed prison. 55:31 Friends, maybe you have been stuck in the doldrums. 55:34 Maybe you've been caught in a cycle of depression. 55:36 If God can do it for Jonah, if he can do it for the ancient 55:39 sailors, he can do it for you. 55:41 Turn to the Lord in prayer, trust his Spirit to blow through 55:44 your soul and to set you free. 55:48 ♪♪♪ 56:05 Doug: Hi friends, you know the modern flags that we 56:07 see flying from the top of Capitol buildings or out in 56:10 front of patriotic homes really stem back from the times of 56:13 battles being fought between warring nations. 56:17 These beautifully designed and intricately colored banners were 56:20 flown high above the battlefield so the warring forces were able 56:23 to identify amid the chaos, and the smoke, and the fog of war, 56:27 where their forces were rallied and where they were fighting 56:30 the battle. 56:31 And if you could capture your enemy's flag, it was considered 56:33 the highest honor. 56:35 I wonder if that's where we got the game, capture the flag. 56:38 With the changes in war, now these flags also represent a 56:42 little more of a demarcation and identification of 56:45 different nationalities. 56:47 Today, the flags that represent the different nations of the 56:49 world are very colorful and diverse, and all of the colors 56:52 and the shapes have a specific meaning. 56:54 They're easy to distinguish and recognize from one another. 56:57 Or perhaps one of the most interesting flags in the world 57:00 is the flag of the Philippines. 57:02 This is unique because it is flown differently in times of 57:06 peace than it is in times of war. 57:08 During times of peace, the Filipino flag that's composed of 57:11 red, white, blue, and yellow, is flown with the blue side up. 57:15 But in times of war, they flip it around, and the red side is 57:19 up because there they're willing to make sacrifices of their 57:22 blood to defend the freedom of the country. 57:26 In the same way that an embassy that is situated in a foreign 57:28 country flies their flag while still surrounded by another 57:32 nation, Christians are supposed to have the flag of God's love 57:36 flying in this fallen world. 57:38 You can read in the book Song of Solomon chapter 2, verse 4, "His 57:41 banner over me is love." 57:44 Love is the flag that identifies Christians as a unique kingdom, 57:47 even here in the world. 57:49 So friend, the big question is, how are you flying your flag? 57:54 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-04-22