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00:13 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Doug Batchelor: Hello, friends, Pastor Doug Batchelor here. 00:39 Want to welcome you to our "Sabbath School Study Hour." 00:42 And I want to welcome friends who are watching right now on 00:45 AFTV, on Facebook, The Amazing Facts Facebook. 00:49 We're even streaming on the Granite Bay website, on YouTube. 00:53 We're doing all we can to get the message out. 00:56 And you can see we're in a little different location than 00:59 our regular church. 01:01 We've been broadcasting the last few months since the pandemic 01:03 hit from the Amazing Facts worship room. 01:07 And after I'm done with the lesson here, then we're driving 01:09 over to our church service, where we're meeting right now, 01:13 we'll be streaming there as well from the Granite Bay Bayside 01:16 Adventure Church. 01:19 And so, it's just been very interesting times we're 01:22 living in. 01:24 I'm so thankful we can come together, study God's Word, and 01:26 talk about witnessing. 01:29 And this is a very important subject, "Making Friends 01:31 For God." 01:33 Because right now, people are very open to spiritual things 01:35 with all the unrest and the turmoil in the world. 01:37 And it's a great time to study how do we share our faith. 01:41 But before we get delving into our lesson, let's go ahead and 01:44 begin with a word of prayer. 01:46 Loving Father, we are thankful for the good news, and the 01:50 gospel, and just the power of the truth to transform lives. 01:56 I pray that You be with us now as we study the science of 01:59 salvation, and talking about how to share our faith and to do 02:03 things in a winsome way to try to attract people to Christ. 02:08 And so, bless in Jesus' name, amen. 02:12 Now, first thing I'd like to mention is our lesson today is 02:16 going to be "Seeing People Through Jesus' Eyes." 02:20 We want to see people through the eyes of Christ, and it's 02:22 lesson number three. 02:24 We have an offer, we think it'll go well with that, and this is a 02:26 free book that I wrote. 02:29 I wrote this a few years ago as a sharing book, and they printed 02:32 extra copies because it was very popular. 02:34 It's really a book on faith, and it's called "Who Do You Think 02:36 You Are?" 02:38 And it's full of stories and illustrations on faith and how 02:42 you can reach people. 02:44 if you'd like to know more about this or you like a free copy, 02:45 just simply call the number, 866-788-3966. 02:52 That's 866-STUDY-MORE. 02:55 And if you call and ask for offer number 787, if you want, 02:59 you can also get this book, you can have it texted to you. 03:03 And simply text "SH143" to 40544. 03:11 And if we're mailing it, that's only for the US and 03:13 its territories. 03:16 All right, now into our lesson, the lesson is lesson number 03:18 three, and it's dealing with making friends for God. 03:22 We have a memory verse, and the memory verse is from Matthew 03:26 chapter 4, verse 19. 03:29 "And Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me and I will make you fishers 03:33 of men.'" 03:35 Now, He not only said this at one time to the four 03:38 fishing brothers, namely Peter and Andrew, James and John, and 03:42 they left their nets and they followed Him. 03:45 But later on, He said it more specifically, and this is Luke 03:47 chapter 5, to Peter. 03:50 Peter said, "Lord, depart from me, I am a sinful man." 03:53 Jesus said, "Don't fear, follow Me and I will make you a fisher 03:56 of men." 03:59 And this is just a wonderful truth because I don't know for 04:03 those listening out there how much you know about fishing, but 04:06 it's a very interesting industry. 04:09 I read an amazing fact not too long ago, it was January 5, 04:13 2019, the owner of a Tokyo-based sushi restaurant chain paid 04:22 $3.1 million for one fish, $3.1 million for one fish, a fish 04:31 they were going to carve up and eat. 04:34 It was a 612 pound blue fin tuna, and that comes to about 04:38 $5,000 per pound. 04:41 And I guess fish is pretty expensive over there at 04:44 certain seasons. 04:47 But how much more is a man worth than a goat, or a sheep, or a 04:51 dove, or a fish? 04:53 And Jesus said to Peter, James, John, and Andrew, "You're 04:56 excited about catching a net full of fish. 04:58 I will make you fishers of men." 05:00 Now, there are some things that we can learn from fishing that 05:03 tell us a little bit about evangelism. 05:06 For one thing, fishing is an addiction. 05:10 Do you know anybody that's a fishaholic? 05:12 I've got some friends that they just love fishing. 05:15 Maybe they did it with their dads growing up and they 05:17 just--they can't stop themselves. 05:19 And whenever they get a chance, they take their fishing boat and 05:24 they take their fishing gear, and they go out to the lake, and 05:28 they love spending the weekend fishing. 05:30 I heard about a barbershop that had a sign on the door, it said, 05:33 "Closed next Monday due to the weather." 05:37 And a friend said, "Well, how do you know what the weather's 05:39 going to be next Monday?" 05:41 He said, "Well, if it's raining, I'm going fishing. 05:42 If it's sunny, I'm going fishing. 05:44 It all depends on the weather." 05:47 In other words, he was going fishing no matter what. 05:49 I remember hearing a funny story about a game warden that was 05:53 running his patrol, patrolling the lakes and the mountains. 05:58 And it was not fishing season, and so he was very surprised 06:01 when he heard this loud explosion. 06:04 And he went towards the sound and he heard the 06:07 explosion again. 06:09 And pretty soon, it led him out towards a lake. 06:10 So, he hears this explosion again, and he goes off and he 06:12 looks on the edge of the lake and he sees a guy sitting out 06:17 there in a boat. 06:19 And he's lighting sticks of dynamite, and he's tossing the 06:22 sticks of dynamite off in the water. 06:25 And it goes boom, and these fish float up to the surface, he 06:28 scoops up the fish, and he puts them in his boat. 06:30 Well, the game warden is outraged. 06:32 Not only is it not fishing season, but that's totally 06:34 illegal, you can't fish like that. 06:36 So, he jumps in a little canoe that happened to be there on the 06:39 shore, he paddles out to the fellow, and he says, "Who do you 06:43 think you are? 06:45 You can't do that, this is illegal. 06:48 This is not fishing season." 06:50 And the man doesn't say anything, he very calmly lights 06:52 another stick of dynamite, and he tosses it in the boat of the 06:54 game warden. 06:56 He says, "Do you want to talk or do you want to fish?" 06:59 So, that kind of illustrates that when people are determined 07:04 to fish, you can't stop them. 07:07 If every Christian felt that strongly about soul winning, 07:10 that it's something--it's our greatest pleasure, it's our 07:12 pastime, our lives are built around it--I've got a friend 07:15 that he's a contractor. 07:18 But the only reason he's a building contractor is to 07:21 subsidize his fishing addiction. 07:24 That whenever he has a chance, he wants to go out fishing. 07:27 Now, you know, there's some things that you can learn about 07:30 soul winning from fishing. 07:32 And first of all, I'm just going to go through some high points. 07:36 If you're going to catch fish, you've got to go to where the 07:39 fish are. 07:41 Many times I've been out in the ocean, I've just marveled. 07:43 My dad used to have three boats in our backyard growing up. 07:46 And he liked to take us out fishing. 07:49 That was deep sea fishing, but we would also fish right off the 07:51 dock in the bay there in Miami, in Biscayne Bay. 07:55 And you can't catch a fish if you're on dry land, you've got 07:58 to go to where the fish are. 08:01 Now, that doesn't mean you get in the water with the fish. 08:03 You could be caught like Jonah. 08:05 But Christians need to--like Jesus, we need to go and reach 08:09 out to sinners and try to reach them. 08:12 You can't wait for them all to come to the church. 08:14 Something else about fishing, you have to be patient. 08:17 Fishermen do not give up easy. 08:20 They cast out their line, and if only once out of every ten times 08:23 of going out and trolling, and casting out their bait, and 08:27 hooking their line, if they only catch a fish once out of every 08:30 ten times, they consider themselves successful fishermen. 08:35 And so, we give up so easy. 08:38 We knock on a door, we get turned away, knock on a door, 08:41 get turned away. 08:43 Fishermen don't get discouraged. 08:46 Someone said, "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at 08:49 the office." 08:51 And when you love it, you're excited to be doing it, even if 08:54 you don't catch something every time. 08:57 So, you have to be patient. 08:58 You need to be patient in working with people. 09:01 If a fisherman catches a fish, he tries to pull it in too 09:03 quick, you pull the hook out or you break the line. 09:05 You got to reel them in slowly. 09:07 And when you're working with souls, it takes patience. 09:10 Maybe this is why Jesus said it's like--fishing is 09:12 soul winning. 09:15 Fish are attracted to light. 09:17 I remember going fishing with a friend--now, I'm a vegetarian, 09:19 but I like to go fishing. 09:21 I just don't eat the fish. 09:22 But I remember going fishing with a friend in Hawaii, and we 09:25 went fishing all night. 09:27 And that was some of the best fishing 'cause he docked his 09:30 boat off the south point of the big island of Hawaii, it's all 09:33 black on the water, and it's black out in the hills. 09:36 And we're there floating in the ocean, you can see the land not 09:40 far away. 09:42 And he dropped a waterproof 12-volt bulb off the back of the 09:48 boat into the water, and he actually lowered it down about 09:50 15 feet or so. 09:54 And first we saw nothing, but gradually we saw 1, and then 2, 09:58 and then 10, and then 50, and pretty soon there were thousands 10:01 of fish that were swarming around our light. 10:05 And we had to lower our lines. 10:07 We had these fishing lines that had three or four hooks on 10:09 one line. 10:11 And we would drop them in and we'd reel them in, we'd catch 10:13 two or three fish every time we dropped the line in because they 10:17 are attracted to light. 10:19 In our excitement, we kicked the jumper cables that hooked the 10:22 lightbulb to the battery, the light went off. 10:24 In just a matter of a few seconds, all the fish were gone. 10:29 The Bible says, "Let your light shine." 10:31 Something else about fish, fish like good food. 10:35 Fish like fresh bait. 10:37 You don't give them old stale bait, you don't give them 10:39 dead bait. 10:41 If you have a live worm or cricket you can put it on the 10:43 hook, and it kicks and wiggles, a lot more chance you're going 10:45 to catch the fish. 10:47 You know one of the best ways to catch a fish is with a 10:49 live fish. 10:51 I remember one time, I was out in the ocean with my friend 10:53 Steve and on his fishing boat, and I just caught a tuna about 10:56 that big. 10:58 It put up quite a fight. 11:00 Now, it's not that big for ocean fish. 11:01 If you're catching bass, that's big. 11:03 And he took my fish, and he very dexterously hooked a hook on the 11:11 back of my fish and wrapped it with some wire so my fish was 11:15 still alive and kicking, but it had a hook attached to its back, 11:18 he threw my fish back out again, and we began to troll. 11:21 And we were dragging him slowly. 11:25 And soon, splash, 300-pound marlin that went after our fish. 11:31 Sometimes, it takes a live fish to catch a fish. 11:35 You know who the best soul winners are? 11:37 New Christians, people that have been recently caught, they are 11:41 so excited about their faith, they've got enthusiasm. 11:45 And they're telling all of their friends, and they end up 11:48 becoming some of the best evangelists, people who still 11:51 have that first love. 11:53 Something else is that when you catch fish, predators come in. 11:59 I've seen it happen more than once, we're reeling in trophy 12:01 fish, and sharks because you're fighting a while, there's some 12:06 blood in the water, the sharks smell it, they come, they try to 12:09 eat your fish before you get it to the boat. 12:12 Many people remember the famous book by Ernest Hemmingway called 12:15 "The Old Man and the Sea." 12:17 He caught the biggest fish in his life, but while he was 12:20 catching that fish, the sharks came and basically took it all 12:24 apart before he could get it in the boat. 12:27 The devil's going to try and stop you if you're catching 12:30 fish, and so you can't be discouraged. 12:32 Another thing, you catch more fish when you work together. 12:36 I remember reading--by the way, we'll try and post these notes 12:40 online if you're not getting it all 'cause some of this is not 12:43 in the lesson. 12:45 I remember once, we were reeling in a big marlin in the Pacific 12:49 Ocean, and it just took more than one of us. 12:54 One is steering the boat, another other one is getting the 12:56 gaff ready to get him, another one's taking pictures, and 12:58 another one is reeling. 13:01 And sometimes, their arm got so tired, this is not a 13:03 championship, we would switch people. 13:05 Championships, you can't do that. 13:08 And when the disciples had their nets filled, it says they 13:11 beckoned to their friends. 13:14 And James and John came over to help Peter and Andrew, and they 13:17 all worked together to bring the net to shore. 13:20 You know, the best way to do evangelism is when all the 13:22 people in the church use their gifts together, and that's when 13:25 you see great success. 13:28 So, I just thought I'd throw that in for free, just some of 13:30 the things. 13:31 Jesus talks about fishing for men, and you might wonder why 13:34 did He say that. 13:35 All right, in our lesson under the first section, it says the 13:37 second touch. 13:39 It's talking about making friends for God. 13:41 And I'll read this to you, Mark chapter 8, verse 22. 13:44 And I'll just read through verse 25, "Then He came to Bethsaida, 13:49 and they brought Him a blind man and begged Him to touch him. 13:54 So, He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of town." 13:57 There are just maybe too many people. 13:59 "And when He had spat on his eyes, He put His hands on him 14:02 and He asked him if he saw anything. 14:05 And he looked up, he said, 'I see men like trees walking.' 14:10 And then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up, 14:14 and he was restored, and he saw everyone clearly." 14:18 Now, this is an interesting story because it's only one of 14:21 the few cases in the Bible where it seems like a healing happened 14:24 in degrees. 14:27 And when it says he saw men like trees walking, I don't know that 14:33 that is a symbolic statement. 14:35 I think that simply means that when you see things, but they're 14:38 fuzzy, you know, a tree from a distance, it's got all these 14:40 leaves, said they looked like trees walking. 14:43 He said, "Oh, things are looking blurry." 14:46 And so Jesus, now why did Jesus do that? 14:48 He could've healed him all at once. 14:50 I think maybe He was illustrating to us that 14:53 sometimes people's spiritual eyes do not open all at once, 14:56 that it happens in degrees. 14:58 Even Jesus told the apostles, "There's many things I have to 15:01 say to you, but you're not able to bear it right now." 15:05 And so, He sometimes taught them things in degrees. 15:09 They didn't fully understand His mission until after 15:12 His resurrection. 15:14 Even then, they did not completely understand 15:16 His mission. 15:18 Finally, He sent them to the Gentiles, and that was another 15:20 new revelation. 15:22 And so, sometimes God opens our eyes little by little as we can 15:24 handle it. 15:25 Another thing is if a person's been in dark for a long time, 15:28 you turn the lights up full power, and it just turn--they'll 15:31 turn away and they can't handle it. 15:33 So, sometimes Jesus heals us in degrees so that we can 15:37 handle that. 15:39 Now, I said that's one of a couple examples in the Bible. 15:42 You look in 2 Kings chapter 4, verse 32, "And when Elisha came 15:47 into the house, there was the child lying dead on his bed." 15:51 You remember the boy of the Shunammite woman died. 15:56 And the woman laid him on the bed of Elisha in his upper 15:59 room there. 16:01 And he comes in and the boy's dead. 16:03 "He went therefore and he shut the door behind the two of them. 16:06 He prayed to the Lord, he went up and he lay on the child, and 16:09 he put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and 16:12 his hands on his hands, and he stretched them out on the child. 16:16 And the flesh of the child became warm." 16:19 He was dead and cold. 16:21 And so, Elisha's basically using his own body to warm the child, 16:23 but still there was no sign of life other than the body 16:27 growing warm. 16:30 He returned, he walked back and forth in the house, and again he 16:33 went up and he stretched himself on him. 16:36 And the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened 16:41 his eyes." 16:43 And so, he sneezed seven times, and that means he was completely 16:45 healed, and he opened his eyes. 16:49 So, here you've got another healing that happens in degrees. 16:52 You know, the Lord can heal a person instantly. 16:54 The Lord can heal a person through medical means. 16:58 When Isaiah told Hezekiah or the physicians of Hezekiah to put a 17:02 lump of figs on the boil, and he was using medical means. 17:07 The Lord can heal a person, it might take the healing process. 17:12 You know, sometimes we pray God heals us, and God says, "Okay, 17:14 I'm going to heal you, and it's going to take three days." 17:16 And so, I think the Lord is reminding us that God has a lot 17:20 of different ways, and sometimes a person doesn't get healed 17:23 until the resurrection morning. 17:26 And so, here these healings were happening in degrees. 17:30 Now, something interesting about this blind man is that he was 17:33 brought to Jesus. 17:35 And in your lesson, you'll notice it says, "Approximately, 17:38 there are 25 distinct healing miracles in the New Testament 17:42 performed by Jesus. 17:45 In more than half of these, a relative or a friend brings the 17:49 individual to Jesus for healing. 17:51 Many people will never come to Jesus unless someone else of 17:55 faith brings them." 17:58 You know, that's one of our missions is to bring people 18:01 to Christ. 18:03 And if you have a friend that's sick, and you know, this is 18:05 often a great opportunity to introduce spiritual things. 18:08 I've had friends and neighbors that didn't really have any 18:10 religion or any spiritual inclination, but I went to see 18:13 them in the hospital. 18:16 And after visiting with them, I say, "Do you mind if I pray for 18:19 you before I leave?" 18:21 I've only had one tell me no, and hundreds have said yes, they 18:25 appreciate it. 18:27 And some have been very moved, and some have thanked me 18:29 afterwards, said, "Thank you so much, Pastor." 18:31 And so, you're actually through the sickness, the sickness is an 18:34 opportunity to witness to them about Jesus. 18:38 So, you're bringing them to Christ through the sickness. 18:43 Now, you can look for instance in 9--Mark 9:17. 18:46 Says, "One in the crowd answered and said, 'Teacher, I brought 18:50 You my son, who has a mute spirit.'" 18:55 And so, here's a parent bringing a child. 18:57 You can read in Mark 2, verse 3, "Then they came to Him, bringing 19:02 a paralytic who was carried by four men." 19:06 Now, here you've got one person, this is the paralytic, he's 19:09 brought to Jesus, they finally let him down through the roof, 19:12 and Jesus heals him, but here's four people bringing him. 19:16 Then you can read in Mark 10, verse 13 through 16, "Then they 19:20 brought little children to Him, that He might touch them and 19:23 bless them." 19:25 This is not even really a healing, it's just parents 19:27 bringing their children to Jesus. 19:29 You know, we all need to bring our children to Christ that He 19:31 might work in their lives to heal and to save them. 19:34 And so, a lot of people never come to Jesus unless someone 19:36 else brings them. 19:39 Now, sometimes it's more than one person. 19:43 And I've often seen that a person's salvation may be the 19:47 result of several, several different individuals having a 19:51 role in bringing them to Christ. 19:54 It's like these four men who carried their one friend to 19:58 Jesus, he was paralyzed. 20:00 And I often thought those four stretcher bearers were like the 20:04 four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and it's in the 20:08 gospel message. 20:10 Four represents something universal. 20:12 And so, we're talking about the universal, everlasting gospel 20:14 that is brought--brings people to Christ. 20:17 Think about the story of Naaman in the Bible. 20:20 I was studying that, and if you know the story about Naaman the 20:23 leper, who was healed by Elisha, well, first there's a message 20:26 from a little girl in his house. 20:29 Then Elisha gives him a message from his servant. 20:32 Then Naaman's own servants come to him and say, "Why not wash 20:36 and be clean?" 20:38 Finally, he surrenders, he washes, he's cleansed from 20:41 his leprosy. 20:43 But you notice it's a series of messages. 20:45 So, when you talk to someone about Jesus and you witness for 20:47 Christ, your message may be one of many messages that it takes 20:51 to reach that person. 20:53 Often when I'm praying for other people or loved ones I want to 20:56 see saved, I say, "Lord, bring into their lives the people that 21:00 they need to hear." 21:02 It's not always just one person. 21:04 Bring the experiences, bring the people that have messages for 21:06 them that are going to reach them and help bring them 21:10 to Christ. 21:12 And so, we need to be praying and bringing others to Jesus 21:16 through our prayers. 21:18 Bring them before the throne. 21:20 So, next section is under lessons in acceptance. 21:25 And this is very relevant today because it tells a story about 21:28 the Samaritan woman. 21:30 Now, just to understand a little bit about history of the 21:33 Samaritans, and this will help you when you read the parable of 21:36 the good Samaritan and some other issues in the Bible, when 21:39 the tribes in the northern kingdom, the ten tribes in the 21:43 north, the biggest tribe was Ephraim, because of their 21:46 unfaithfulness, they began to sacrifice and worship idols at 21:49 Bethel and Dan. 21:52 And as a result of that, finally God sent the Assyrians that came 21:56 in and they took them away captive. 22:01 And they were carried off to Assyria. 22:03 And then it tells us that the king of the Assyrians, he then 22:07 sent some of the Assyrians down from Babylon and other places in 22:11 his territory to inhabit Samaria. 22:15 Now, one reason the kings did this, when he carried off all 22:17 the Jews as his servants, they vacated their farms, their 22:21 vineyards, their houses, and the king said, "Look, all that 22:23 produce, and all that income, and all that grain that could be 22:28 coming to me, there's nobody there now farming it, and I 22:30 don't want that land to go to waste." 22:33 And so, before it all goes to thorns and thistles, he sent 22:35 some of his people down, he says, "Look, I'm giving you a 22:38 land grant. 22:40 You can have all the territory that belonged to the Israelites. 22:43 You just pay taxes on it and it's yours." 22:45 So, all these people came in that were Assyrians and they 22:47 took over this country. 22:49 But in the interval while the land was vacated, lions had 22:53 been multiplying. 22:55 And the Bible says that there were some lions that were 22:58 killing the people, they had a raft of lion attacks. 23:02 They figured the gods were mad. 23:04 And they said in their minds, "Well, it must be because the 23:07 people here don't know the nature of the gods of the land. 23:11 And so, the gods are mad and they're sending lions to 23:14 punish us." 23:17 And so, they send this message up to the king of Assyria, and 23:19 you can read about this in 2 Kings 17, verse 28. 23:22 2 Kings 17:28 says, "Then one of the priests whom they carried 23:27 away from Samaria came and he dwelled in Bethel, and taught 23:30 them how they should fear the Lord." 23:33 So, the king said, "Well, maybe I should send one of these 23:35 priests from Bethel." 23:37 Now, these are not the sons of Aaron. 23:40 These are the priests that had been appointed by King Jeroboam 23:42 that had been kind of comingling the worship of Jehovah with a 23:45 certain amount of Baal worship and paganism and idolatry. 23:48 And he began to teach the Samaritans. 23:52 And some of them intermarried with these priests, and so they 23:56 had a little bit of Jewish blood, but they were 23:58 mostly Assyrian. 24:00 They were a Semitic people. 24:02 And by the way, you might wonder when you say anti-Semitic, what 24:05 does that mean? 24:07 That doesn't just mean anti-Jewish, it means you're 24:09 against the Semitic people. 24:11 That would be the Arabs, the Jews, the people who descended 24:13 from Shem, who was an ancestor of Abraham. 24:17 And to be anti-Shemetic is being anti-Semitic. 24:23 So, these were all people who were descendants of Shem, but 24:28 they were comingling the religion of Jehovah with 24:32 idolatry and Baal worship, and the worship of the idols at Dan 24:35 and Bethel. 24:38 And so, the Jews, they didn't care much for the Samaritans. 24:40 And things got really bad when the Jews--the people of Judah 24:44 came back from Babylon. 24:46 See, the Assyrians never sent the 12 tribes back or the 10 24:50 tribes back, but Cyrus the Persian did send back the people 24:55 of Judah, Benjamin and Levi, to the land of Judah to rebuild 24:58 the temple. 25:00 The Samaritans said, "Oh, we worship your God. 25:03 Let us help you build the temple." 25:06 And Nehemiah and Ezra said, "No, we know what--you've 25:08 compromised, you've comingled the worship of idolatry with the 25:11 true worship of Jehovah. 25:13 We don't want any help, thank you." 25:15 Well, that so offended the Samaritans that from that day 25:18 all the way down through the time of Christ, the Jews and the 25:21 Samaritans became adversaries. 25:24 And there was a lot of racial tension between those peoples. 25:29 And you can read about that in the parable of the good 25:31 Samaritan, as well as this story of the woman at the well. 25:34 So, if you read in John chapter 4, verse 6, "Now Jacob's well 25:38 was there. 25:40 Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, He sat thus by 25:44 the well. 25:46 It was about the sixth hour." 25:48 Hopefully, there was a shade tree nearby. 25:50 "And a woman of Samaria came to draw water." 25:53 Now, this woman may have been something of an outcast 'cause 25:55 typically the women came together and they came early in 25:57 the morning, not during the heat of the day. 26:00 And so, this woman, she comes by herself to draw water. 26:04 And Jesus says, "Give me a drink." 26:07 And you know, that was supposed to be one of the most important 26:09 sacred duties is to give a person a drink of water, you 26:12 would always say yes. 26:14 And that would also mean that there was some bond or 26:16 friendship if you gave a person a drink of water. 26:19 "For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food." 26:21 The reason they let Jesus stay there and rest, they did not 26:24 want to have Jesus risk contamination from 26:27 the Samaritans. 26:29 Now, you just got to know, friends, in the time of Christ, 26:32 the Pharisees taught that the Samaritans were so unclean that 26:34 if the shadow of a Samaritan fell upon you, you could 26:38 be contaminated. 26:40 And so, they didn't want Jesus to risk contamination. 26:43 They said, "You stay here and rest. 26:45 We'll go, we'll buy some food from the Samaritans, and we'll 26:47 try to avoid their shadows." 26:50 And here Jesus is talking to a woman from the well, and she's 26:55 even surprised. 26:57 She says, "How is it that You, being a Jew, are asking a drink 26:59 from me, a Samaritan woman no less? 27:02 For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." 27:07 She said, "Haven't you heard? 27:09 We're supposed to hate each other." 27:11 So, this is a very important lesson from Jesus. 27:14 "'For the Jews have no dealing with the Samaritans.' 27:16 And Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of 27:18 God and who it is that say unto you, 'Give Me a drink,' you 27:21 would have asked Him and He would've given you the 27:23 living water.'" 27:24 Now, one thing the Samaritans did believe, they believed the 27:27 five books of Moses, and they did believe that the Messiah was 27:31 going to come. 27:33 And here Jesus is the Messiah, and He's talking to her. 27:36 And so, here's a lesson in acceptance. 27:39 You know, Jesus, He loved everybody, and He was willing to 27:43 reach out to this woman. 27:45 Finally, she starts to talk to him about, you know, what 27:49 mountain should we worship on. 27:51 And she's trying to enter into a senseless dispute over whether 27:54 you should worship on Mount Gerizim or Mount Zion. 27:57 Jesus settles the matter, He's like, "Look, salvation is of 28:00 the Jew. 28:01 They're the ones God called. 28:03 He did not call the Samaritans. 28:05 God committed to the Jews the sacred oracles. 28:07 But salvation is for everyone. 28:09 It's from the Jews, but it's for everyone." 28:12 And then He says, "Go call your husband." 28:15 And she thought, "Oh, how come the conversation went there?" 28:19 Well, that was a sore spot in her life because she had had 28:21 five husbands, and she was living with a boyfriend she 28:23 wasn't married to. 28:26 And she said, "Sir, I perceive You're a prophet." 28:30 And He finally--she said, "I know that when Messiah comes, 28:34 He'll show us all things." 28:36 And Jesus said something to her He did not even say to the 28:38 scribes and Pharisees and the lawyers. 28:40 He said, "I who speak to you am He." 28:44 And she was so astounded, the Holy Spirit swept over her, she 28:46 realized that He was the Messiah, that He was offering 28:49 her that living water. 28:51 She left her water pot, never said she gave Him a drink, so 28:53 maybe she left it so He could get His own water. 28:56 She left her water pot and she went into town 'cause she now 28:59 had living water. 29:01 And she said, "Come see a man who's shown me all things ever 29:03 I did." 29:05 And Jesus ended up ministering to that whole town of Samarians. 29:09 I think He stayed there a few days, talking to them about the 29:12 kingdom of God, and here the disciples were trying to get 29:15 Jesus to avoid contact with the Samaritans so He would not 29:17 be contaminated. 29:20 They ended up staying with them and witnessing to them, and 29:22 there was a great revival, and many of them accepted Jesus as 29:25 the Messiah. 29:27 And so, that tells us something about sharing the gospel 29:30 with everybody. 29:33 You've got to begin where you are. 29:36 Now, this is another very important principle in making 29:38 friends for God. 29:40 I remember hearing a story where a man was on a train, and he 29:46 recognized the famous evangelist Billy Graham on the same train. 29:50 He was going to another town to do a series, he was with 29:51 his team. 29:54 And he asked if he could have a word with him, and he 29:56 said, "Absolutely." 29:58 He said, "I'm so glad to talk to you." 30:00 He says, "You have any tips for me?" 30:02 He says, "I am on my way to this city, where I'm going to catch 30:04 an airplane, and I'm flying overseas, and I'm going to 30:06 become a missionary, and I'm going to bring souls to Jesus." 30:08 And Billy Graham said, "That's wonderful." 30:10 He said, "Well, first thing I'll ask is, how many people did you 30:14 reach in your hometown?" 30:17 Well, said, "What do you mean?" 30:18 He said, "Well, how many have you led to Christ in your 30:20 family, or from your friends, or the people you go to school 30:23 with, or your neighbors?" 30:27 He said, "Well, none yet, but I'm going to go work--I'm going 30:29 to go do mission work now among these primitive 30:32 people overseas." 30:35 And Billy Graham says, "You probably ought to cancel 30:36 your ticket." 30:38 He says, "If you're not reaching anybody in your hometown, then 30:41 you don't have assurance that God is calling you to lead 30:44 people in a foreign country with a foreign language and different 30:47 customs, it's going to be even harder. 30:49 You've got to start where you are." 30:51 And you know, this is really what Jesus says. 30:53 You can read in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, "But you will receive 30:57 power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be 30:59 My witnesses," notice the sequence here, "in Jerusalem and 31:06 in all Judea, in Samaria, and the ends of the earth." 31:10 Now, He starts in Jerusalem. 31:12 Where was the Holy Spirit poured out? 31:14 In Jerusalem. 31:16 And then He said, "And Judea." 31:19 After you leave Jerusalem, you're automatically in Judea, 31:21 that would mean the neighborhood. 31:24 You start in your family, then you go to the neighborhood and 31:27 your extended family. 31:30 And then He said, "Then Samaria." 31:32 Well, they sometimes had to work with the Samaritans. 31:34 They could understand the language, but they considered 31:37 them pagans. 31:38 That'd maybe be the workplace for you. 31:41 And then it says the uttermost parts of the earth. 31:43 Now, it's interesting, that creates sort of a sequence 31:45 for us. 31:47 You know, once you accept the gospel, you would want to share 31:49 it with your spouse, your children, your parents, your 31:52 sisters and brothers, your family. 31:53 And I've seen a lot of people that after they accepted Jesus, 31:55 they began to share it with their family. 31:58 Sometimes, they're receptive, and I've seen whole families 32:00 come in. 32:02 And then their neighbors, and they go to their workplace, and 32:04 they might be sharing it with a church of another denomination. 32:07 And then they'll say, "You know, I'm feeling called to the 32:10 mission field." 32:12 At that point, then they may go to the uttermost parts of 32:14 the earth. 32:16 You know, this is exactly what happens in the book of Acts. 32:18 They start with the Holy Spirit is poured out there in 32:20 Jerusalem, and then they begin to preach in Judea, and then 32:24 they call the disciples to help them 'cause the Holy Spirit was 32:27 poured out in Samaria. 32:29 And then it says the disciples were scattered everywhere 32:31 preaching the Word, and that's in Acts chapter 8. 32:34 And so, we want that same sequence. 32:38 Jesus said Mark 5:19, after Jesus saved the demoniac, he 32:41 said, "I want to come with You in Your boat, You and 32:43 Your disciples." 32:45 And Jesus would not permit it, but He said, "Go home to 32:48 your friends. 32:50 Tell them the great things the Lord has done for you and how He 32:53 has had compassion for you." 32:55 Now, it's interesting here in Mark 5, He says, "Go tell 32:58 your friends." 33:00 You read the same story in Luke chapter 8, verse 39, He tells 33:03 the demoniac, "Go to your own house and tell what great things 33:08 God has done for you." 33:10 So, you start in your home, then you go and talk to your friends. 33:12 Start with those who are near. 33:14 Best place to use your gifts in witnessing is do the work that 33:17 lies closest at hand. 33:19 Every day, we come in contact with people that are in our 33:23 family, be witnesses for them, our close friends. 33:27 Like I said, it might be a son, a daughter, a spouse, parent, 33:30 grandparent, cousin. 33:34 And start in that circle. 33:36 Sometimes, they're the hardest to reach, that's why it's a 33:37 great training ground. 33:39 Jesus said, "No prophet is without honor except in his 33:41 own house." 33:43 And Jesus even had trouble reaching His own brothers to 33:46 start with, but ultimately they became believers. 33:51 So, begin where you are. 33:53 You can read in John 1, verse 40, "And one of the two who 33:58 heard John speak, followed him, was Andrew, Simon 34:01 Peter's brother. 34:03 He first found his own brother." 34:05 That's the way to do it. 34:07 Simon said, "We've found the Messiah," which is translated to 34:09 Christ, and he brought him to Jesus. 34:12 Andrew's a great evangelist, he begins by bringing his own 34:14 family to Christ. 34:17 You can see also this continues, this expanding pool. 34:19 In John 6, verse 8, "Then one of His disciples, Andrew, Simon's 34:25 brother, said to Him, 'There's a lad here who has five barley 34:28 loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?'" 34:34 Again, you got Andrew, he's bringing people to Jesus. 34:38 How did Andrew know there was a lad that only had five loaves 34:40 and two fish? 34:42 He was talking to people big and small. 34:44 He was always making friends. 34:46 You know, you never see Andrew standing on top of the roof 34:48 preaching like Peter, but you always see Andrew kind of 34:52 networking, he's doing more of the friendship sort 34:56 of evangelism. 34:58 And then you can read again in John 12, verse 20, "Now there 35:03 were certain Greeks among those who came to worship at 35:06 the feast. 35:08 And they came to Phillip, who was from Bethsaida and Galilee, 35:11 and asked them saying, 'Sir, we would see Jesus.'" 35:14 Now, these are Greeks, these are Greek believers in Jehovah, but 35:16 they'd like to know about Jesus. 35:18 And Phillip's not exactly sure how to handle this, and so it 35:22 says, "Phillip came and told Andrew. 35:25 He said, 'Andrew, you know what to do about this one 35:27 on one evangelism.' 35:29 He told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Phillip told Jesus." 35:33 And they brought these Greeks to Jesus. 35:36 Now, onto the next section, and this is an interesting section, 35:41 I'm glad it's in the lesson, it says dealing with 35:45 difficult people. 35:48 When you're sharing your faith and you're making friends for 35:52 Jesus, and you're dealing with different people in unique 35:56 situations, remember title of our lesson is talking about 35:59 seeing Jesus--seeing people through Jesus' eyes. 36:03 Sometimes, you're going to run through people that you might 36:07 think they're not worth it. 36:10 I'm especially sensitive to that because the first few times I 36:14 came to visit an Adventist church, I had long hair and a 36:20 beard, and I was really rough looking. 36:24 I think I was wearing overalls with no shirt on. 36:27 This was Palm Springs, it was pretty hot there. 36:30 And I had hiking boots on, and I was pretty scruffy looking. 36:34 I literally had come out of the hills, and I went into one of 36:38 the nicer churches in a very expensive city, Palm Springs, 36:42 where the movie stars hung out. 36:45 And I could tell I made a few people uncomfortable. 36:47 And I'll bet there's some people there that thought, "Don't waste 36:50 your time, this fellow's on drugs," or who knows what they 36:52 were thinking. 36:54 But I could just tell that some people were a little 36:56 intimidated, or they stood off. 37:00 And they never would've guessed, yes, the Lord can reach even him 37:03 and that he would become a preacher someday. 37:07 And so, but I've caught myself judging people. 37:12 And you've got to be very careful not to do that. 37:14 I'll tell you a little story, it actually condemns me. 37:17 Before the radio program, sometimes I would stop, do a 37:22 live program, I used to--now, we broadcast here in the building, 37:26 but used to broadcast from a studio we rented in 37:29 downtown Sacramento. 37:31 And I had a regimen where every Sunday night, I'd go eat lunch 37:33 with one of the men in the church, give me a chance to just 37:37 bond with one of the men in the church. 37:39 And this one evening there--for whatever reason, I couldn't find 37:44 anybody, but I still thought, "Well, I'm going to go to 37:46 Chipotle and eat a burrito, and just meditate on the amazing 37:50 fact for that night's program." 37:54 And just before I walked into the restaurant, I parked my car, 37:57 somebody walked up to me and they panhandled me. 38:02 Now, I used to panhandle all the time. 38:03 You ask people for spare change. 38:05 And sometimes I help people, and sometimes I don't. 38:08 And this person came up and they said, "Hey, could I have some 38:10 spare change? 38:11 I'm hungry, I'd like some food." 38:14 And I sized him up and I thought, "I think he's 38:16 using drugs." 38:18 And I said, "No thanks, not tonight." 38:21 And I went across the street, and I sat down, I got 38:23 my burrito. 38:25 And I watched then from across the street, he was in front of 38:27 a drugstore. 38:29 And he panhandled, and somebody gave him some money. 38:32 And then I saw him walk to another corner, and he bought 38:36 food, and he walked away. 38:38 He really was hungry, and I judged him by his appearance and 38:41 thought, "No, he's going to go buy beer. 38:44 He's going to buy drugs." 38:46 And I totally misjudged him. 38:48 And I felt so ashamed. 38:50 And I wonder how often we sometimes misjudge people 38:52 because we're looking on the outside and God looks in 38:55 the heart. 38:57 You know, there's an interesting quote in the book "Desire of 38:59 Ages" page 258. 39:02 "None have fallen so low, none are so vile but they can find 39:05 deliverance in Christ." 39:07 You know, Solomon tells us, "Where there is life, there 39:10 is hope." 39:12 If you're going to err, err on the side of showing 39:15 people mercy. 39:17 Believe that they're worthwhile. 39:19 So, how do you deal with difficult people? 39:21 And you see, the lesson does admit that some people are 39:23 difficult to deal with. 39:25 In 2 John verse 10 and 11, "If anyone comes to you and does not 39:30 bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor 39:34 greet him, for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds." 39:38 How do you do--how do you deal with a verse like this if 39:41 someone doesn't bring this doctrine? 39:44 Does that mean if a Buddhist comes to your house and he 39:45 doesn't believe this doctrine, don't receive him? 39:49 No, John is talking about people who had been Christians that had 39:52 turned away and they were now spreading heresy. 39:55 And they weren't going to give up their faith. 39:57 He said, "Don't encourage them." 40:00 You know, Jesus makes another statement, He talks about when 40:04 He sent the disciples out preaching. 40:06 Look in Luke chapter 9, verse 5, "And whoever will not receive 40:10 you when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust 40:13 from your feet as a testimony against them." 40:16 I've not seen that very often. 40:18 You know, the Jehovah Witnesses actually do that. 40:21 If they go to a home and maybe they go up a street, and if 40:25 everybody on that street slams the door and says, "We're just 40:27 not interested," they will actually go through a ritual 40:30 where they will shake the dust off their feet as they go off to 40:34 the next street, and taking these words of Jesus literally. 40:37 When Christ said that, He's talking about when you're going 40:42 to people who are believers in Jehovah, these are people who 40:44 know, and you're sharing that I'm the Messiah. 40:47 And if you're sharing the truth and you're sharing the best, if 40:50 they say, "We reject it," it doesn't mean they can't be 40:55 saved, it means don't wear yourself out. 40:58 You know, the Bible says, "Do not cast your pearls 41:00 before swine." 41:02 What are those pearls? 41:04 He says, "Don't give that which is holy to the dogs." 41:06 The dogs return to their own vomit, or they'll turn and 41:08 rend you. 41:10 And the dogs--the pigs will return to wallowing in the mire. 41:13 He said don't waste your time with people who are not open. 41:17 And that's why He's saying, "Shake the dust off your feet. 41:20 Don't go back to that town. 41:22 Go somewhere where it's productive." 41:24 See, Jesus said this when He said, "If they persecute you in 41:27 one city, flee unto another." 41:29 Said, "Don't just stay there and get persecuted, go somewhere 41:32 where they're open." 41:33 I know a successful businessman and when he does evangelism, he 41:37 goes places where they're baptizing thousands. 41:40 And someone said to him, "Well, why don't you go to the places 41:43 where nobody's going? 41:45 Why don't you go to, you know, places where the gospel's hard?" 41:47 And he says, "Look, I like to go where the customers are buying." 41:50 That's a good practice. 41:51 He says, 'If you're going and you're reaching nobody, well, go 41:55 somewhere where you can reach somebody." 41:57 Now, having said that, I am glad for missionaries who have the 42:01 long-term vision that go to towns and villages where it's 42:05 very hard, and they've got the long plan, and they settle down, 42:08 and they make friends, and they start to plant churches. 42:11 And they realize they're working in a difficult area. 42:14 But for evangelists, it's often, you know, if you're going to 42:17 preach and you're going to try to reach as many as you can, 42:19 then those people end up going out, and you can multiply and 42:22 grow things exponentially. 42:24 Another thing about difficult people, don't waste your time 42:29 with people that want to just argue theology with you. 42:32 They're never getting anywhere, never learning, never able to 42:34 come to a knowledge of the truth. 42:36 2 Timothy 2, verse 23, "But avoid foolish and ignorant 42:40 disputes, knowing they generate strife." 42:44 You know, I know churches that have gotten--argued about so 42:48 many things, and I've seen churches get divided. 42:50 I remember hearing a story by the Baptist preacher Adrian 42:55 Rodgers, he was talking about a church that he knew one time 42:58 that became divided over the American flag. 43:02 They had an American flag in the church, and someone said, "That 43:05 looks like you're putting the country ahead of God." 43:09 Someone said, "Well, let's put a Christian flag on the other side 43:11 of the stage." 43:13 And so, they put a Christian flag, they said, "Well, nowhere 43:15 in the Bible does it say you should have a Christian flag. 43:17 And if you're going to have the Christian flag, you should not 43:20 have the American flag and the Christian flag on the same level 43:22 because that looks like we're putting them on the even part." 43:25 So, they put the Christian flag up a little higher. 43:27 Then that made some people mad and they said, "You know, 43:29 according to the United States, no flag is to rise higher in the 43:32 United States than the American flag." 43:35 And so they said, "Well, let's put them on the same level and 43:37 just put a piece of paper underneath the Christian flag so 43:41 you'll know that it's a little higher." 43:44 And he said they went round and round, and several people 43:47 actually left the church over arguing about the flags. 43:50 And they were totally missing the point of the truth. 43:53 And so, you know, the Bible tells us to avoid the 43:57 vain disputes. 43:59 Sometimes, we major in minors. 44:01 Someone once said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing 44:03 the main thing in dealing with difficult people." 44:06 You know, and sometimes people are difficult. 44:09 They don't mean to be, they're just challenging. 44:12 I was pastoring at this one church where, you know, I'm 44:16 trying to do evangelism, we've got a lot of people coming 44:18 every week. 44:20 I want to be at the door shaking hands, meeting the visitors, 44:22 talking with them, trying to get them into Bible studies. 44:24 And I had this one member, I'm not even sure he was a member. 44:28 I don't think he was, actually, but he came for years. 44:30 He would always be the first one to the door, and then he would 44:32 monopolize my time with silly questions. 44:36 And sometimes, he'd ask the same question week after week. 44:39 And I knew the Lord loves him, he loves everybody, but this 44:42 fellow was just taking away my time. 44:45 And I used to have to pray about, "Lord, what would you do 44:47 about this?" 44:49 Would Jesus be rude and say, "Look, don't talk to Me now"? 44:51 And finally, I developed an understanding with him. 44:53 I said, "Look, I want to talk to you, but I need to talk to the 44:55 visitors first. 44:57 And so, can you do me a favor? 44:59 If you could wait there and when I'm doing talking to the 45:01 visitors, I'll nod to you, you can come over and you can ask 45:03 your weekly question." 45:05 I finally told him, "You get one question a week." 45:09 And that was--that seemed to work. 45:12 So, you know, you just need to pray for wisdom so you can show 45:14 people love, and yet you don't want the wrong people to 45:18 distract you with disputes or monopolize your time so that you 45:22 can't be giving Bible studies to people that will make progress. 45:25 If you've gone through the 27 Bible studies with somebody and 45:29 they still haven't made this decision, maybe go through 45:31 another series of lessons. 45:34 But I know some Bible workers that have been studying the 45:36 Bible with people for five years, and you may want to move 45:38 on to more fruitful territory after a while. 45:42 So, then finally, sensing the providential openings. 45:48 You know, God will providentially give us openings. 45:51 In 2 Corinthians 2, verse 12 and 13, Paul says, "Furthermore, 45:57 when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel and a door was 46:01 opened to me by the Lord." 46:03 Paul sensed the door of opportunity. 46:05 "I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find Titus 46:07 my brother. 46:09 But taking my leave of them, I departed from Macedonia." 46:12 Paul might be referring to that vision where while he was in 46:15 Troas and he was praying about what to do next, then he saw a 46:18 man saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 46:23 And when he inquired, it looked like Macedonia was open. 46:26 The Holy Spirit prevented them from going other places. 46:28 So, look for those providential openings to do evangelism. 46:32 And you know, one reason that we've got this new church here 46:35 now in Granite Bay, as Sacramento Central began to grow 46:39 and we saw that we needed to plant a new church, it was just 46:43 growing where we just had no room left, and we could not 46:45 build on. 46:47 We prayed. 46:50 And we tried to open a church here and tried to open a church 46:51 there, and the doors just all seemed to close. 46:53 And finally, someone said, "Well, you know, there is no 46:55 Adventist Church in Granite Bay." 46:58 And we did a little research and we said, "You know, God is just 47:01 opening this door." 47:04 And now, here we are a few years later, and what started with a 47:06 group of 12 people has now grown into 700 members. 47:09 God clearly was providentially opening a door, and we had to 47:13 look for his opening. 47:16 Sometimes, you knock on doors that are closed, and then you 47:18 say, "Ah, the Lord is opening the door this way," and you need 47:21 to pray to recognize those openings as well. 47:24 Acts chapter 8, verse 26, "The angel of the Lord spoke to 47:29 Phillip, saying, 'Arise and go down towards the south along the 47:32 road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.'" 47:35 This is desert. 47:37 "So, he arose and he went. 47:39 And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under 47:42 Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who are charged of 47:45 her treasury, he had come to Jerusalem to worship." 47:48 And here's this man reading from the prophecy of Isaiah, and he's 47:51 reading out loud from the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 53, 47:55 where it's talking specifically about the Messiah. 47:59 And Phillip knows exactly what he's reading, he said, "Do you 48:03 understand what you're reading?" 48:05 "Well, how can I except some man explain it to me?" 48:08 Now, that's a providential opening. 48:10 Then he hops up in the chariot, leads him to Christ, and then 48:12 baptized him. 48:14 So, it was the Lord that led him down there to the desert of Gaza 48:17 and to give that Bible study. 48:20 Paul was going through the streets of Athens, and you can 48:24 read about this in Acts 17:16. 48:26 And he's there waiting, and while he's there, he notices 48:29 that they've got an idol to the unknown god. 48:31 And so, pretty soon the people hear about Paul's preaching 48:36 about the resurrection, they bring him into the big theatre 48:38 there in Athens. 48:40 And he's looking for an opportunity to talk to them 48:43 about Jesus, and he thinks, "Oh, how do I do this? 48:46 These guys are idolaters. 48:48 I did see that pedestal that was dedicated to the unknown god. 48:52 And since that's an unknown god, I don't know how I can offend 48:56 them by talking to them and saying, I'm going to introduce 48:58 you to that unknown god, that's Jesus." 49:00 So, Paul saw a providential opening to take their own 49:03 religion and talk to them about the Lord. 49:07 And he said, "Two--" 49:09 He said, "I found an altar to the unknown god, therefore the 49:11 one whom you worship without knowing, him I proclaim to you." 49:16 He was a master at recognizing these openings. 49:19 Paul would--they'd be trying to kill him, he'd preach from the 49:21 steps of the temple when the mob was trying to kill him. 49:24 Friends, we've run out of time for the lesson. 49:27 I want to mention again we have a free offer. 49:30 If you'd like this Bible study, simply call 866-788-3966, 49:36 wonderful book on faith called "Who Do You Think You Are?" 49:39 We'll send it to you for free if you ask. 49:41 God bless, we'll study His Word together again next week. 49:46 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 49:48 free resource. 49:50 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 49:52 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 49:54 mobile device. 49:57 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 49:59 the key word on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address 50:04 shown on your screen. 50:06 And be sure to select the digital download option on the 50:08 request page. 50:09 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 50:12 "Amazing Facts" wherever and whenever you want, and most 50:15 important to share it with others. 50:25 announcer: Amazing Facts, changed lives. 50:34 male: I come from a Hindu background. 50:35 My mom is a preacher for Shiva, who is a Hindu god. 50:38 My father is agnostic kind, so me myself, I grew like as 50:41 an atheist. 50:44 In the year 2007, I had an experience of being in 50:47 South India. 50:50 That was the first time I experienced Christian people, 50:52 you know? 50:54 The majorities were Christians there. 50:56 There were some Adventist youth who invited me to be a part of 50:59 one of their midweek service. 51:02 They were presenting a video of Pastor Doug Batchelor, "The 51:08 Richest Caveman." 51:10 I was moved, you know? 51:12 I do understand good and bad, and I pictured myself into the 51:14 bad category than the good one. 51:17 I started experiencing several dreams and which started 51:21 troubling me. 51:23 And you know, I kept the website in my mind. 51:26 I went to the Internet cafe and started browsing the website of 51:29 Amazing Facts. 51:31 And then I saw the Bible study guide there. 51:34 Every day, I started taking one of the lesson, and I was 51:38 baptized 2007. 51:41 After my conversion, I straightly came to Spicer to do 51:44 my studies. 51:46 During the summer vacation, I decided to go back home and give 51:49 my mom and my father a visit. 51:51 By that time, they knew that I have converted to Christianity. 51:53 I was thrown out of the house. 51:55 We are not in good terms even today, but sad part for them, 51:58 not for me. 52:00 During 2015, I was diagnosed with leukemia. 52:07 I had only one professor and one friend who was coming along with 52:11 me to the hospital every day. 52:14 When I asked this assistant doctor what do you think is the 52:18 life span of a person like me, then she said, "You'll be losing 52:20 weight, and you'll get sick slowly, slowly if you don't go 52:24 for a treatment." 52:26 So, a year plus, one night I decided--it was January 2015. 52:30 I said, "I am not going for any treatment anymore." 52:35 I said, "Lord, you gave me one year, so what I'll do is I'll 52:39 just do your ministry, and that's okay." 52:43 And I never went for any treatment after that. 52:46 I just left everything right away there. 52:48 I didn't take even one tablet, one medicine. 52:51 I'm standing in front of you strong in 2018. 52:56 Nothing happened, I don't know what happened. 52:58 I don't know--I don't know if still there in my body or what, 53:01 I don't know. 53:03 I'm not dead yet. 53:06 I want to serve in India. 53:08 "Amazing Facts" team, especially Pastor Doug, has really played a 53:12 very important element in my life to give me an identity. 53:18 ♪♪♪ 53:29 ♪♪♪ 53:39 Doug: What can be more irresistible than a kitten? 53:41 These guys might look cute now, but some of their ancestors have 53:44 grown into man eaters. 53:51 We're here in a lion park in South Africa now, where we can 53:53 view these creatures in relative safety, but there's a reason 53:56 they're known as the king of beasts. 53:59 So, what is it that people find so enchanting and frightening 54:01 about lions? 54:03 Is it their speed, their claws, their sharp teeth, or all of 54:06 the above? 54:08 Might also be some of the stories about man eating lions, 54:11 like in 1898 right here in Africa, they were building a 54:14 bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya, and two brother lions 54:18 terrorized the construction process, eating 135 workers. 54:24 Did you know lions are mentioned in the Bible over 100 times? 54:29 And you can find them all the way from Genesis to Revelation. 54:32 It's usually in reference to their ferocity and how dangerous 54:35 they are. 54:37 Of course, Samson killed a lion with his bare hands. 54:39 David killed a lion. 54:42 There are man eating lions in the Bible. 54:43 The way that they punished criminals was by throwing them 54:45 in the lion's den. 54:47 And early Christians were even fed to lions. 54:49 But amazingly, as the Bible mentions, not all lions are to 54:52 be feared. 54:54 There have been a few friendly lions in history. 54:57 For example, in the 1950s, a couple, George and Margaret 55:00 Westbeau, who lived up at a ranch near Seattle, Washington, 55:04 adopted an abandoned lion cub. 55:08 They named it Little Tyke 'cause they felt sorry for it. 55:10 But they discovered as they tried to feed her, she refused 55:14 to eat any meat at all. 55:16 They were concerned, thinking there was no hope for this 55:18 little lioness to survive, and everybody told them the same 55:21 because we know in the wild, lions survive on almost an 55:25 entirely meat diet. 55:27 Then someone showed the Westbeau that verse in the Bible that 55:30 talks about in heaven, the animals are vegetarians, and the 55:33 lion will eat straw like the ox. 55:36 That encouraged them, and so they began to feed Little Tyke a 55:40 purely vegetarian diet. 55:42 Not only did she survive, she thrived, growing into a lion 55:46 that was over 352 pounds and over 10 feet long. 55:51 In fact, zoologists that examined Little Tyke when she 55:54 was full grown said they have never seen such a perfect 55:57 specimen of a lioness in their life, a pure vegetarian. 56:01 You know, when we hear incredible stories about that of 56:04 Little Tyke, it reminds us that God's original plan was to make 56:07 a world of total peace. 56:10 It describes it here in the Bible in Isaiah chapter 11, 56:13 verse 6, "The wolf also will dwell with the lamb, the leopard 56:17 will lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young 56:20 lion and the fatling together. 56:22 And a little child will lead them." 56:25 Nothing is going to hurt and destroy in the new heavens and 56:27 the new earth that God is going to create. 56:29 Wouldn't you like to live in a kingdom where there's perfect 56:31 peace, where there's no more death or killing or pain? 56:34 God says that He wants you in that kingdom. 56:37 The Lamb of God made it possible for you to have an encounter 56:41 with the Lion of the tribe of Judah. 56:43 Wouldn't you like to meet Him today? 56:45 ♪♪♪ 56:54 male announcer: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to 56:56 every creature. 56:59 Through radio, television, print, evangelistic events, and 57:01 the Internet, Amazing Facts International is heeding the 57:04 call of Jesus to go into all the world. 57:08 Millions of individuals in over 150 countries have been blessed 57:12 by the Word of God. 57:14 "Amazing Facts" has spawned new spheres of influence in India, 57:17 Africa, China, and Indonesia. 57:19 With each new country come hundreds of translated booklets, 57:23 study guides, and video presentations produced in each 57:25 region for the people of that region. 57:28 Armed with these precious truths, gospel workers are 57:31 empowered to spread bright rays of light on every path 57:34 they travel. 57:37 Please visit reachtheworld.amazingfacts.org 57:39 to learn more about Amazing Facts International and how you 57:42 can participate in this excited soul-winning ministry. 57:45 That website again is reachtheworld.amazingfacts.org. 57:50 Thank you for your support. 57:56 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-07-10