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00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends, welcome to "Sabbath 00:38 School Study Hour" coming to you here from the Amazing Facts 00:41 offices in Granite Bay, California. 00:43 I'd like to welcome those joining us. 00:45 I know we have friends across the country and even in other 00:47 countries that are tuning in for our lesson study time. 00:50 Some of the churches are still unable to gather together and 00:55 study the lesson as they normally would, and we are glad 00:58 that you're able to join us and at least share this very 01:01 important lesson, very important subject today. 01:04 We've been going through our lesson quarterly entitled 01:06 "Making Friends For God." 01:08 Today, we're going to be looking at lesson number five, which is 01:12 entitled "Spirit-Empowered Witnessing." 01:14 But before we get to our lesson, we'd like to tell you about our 01:17 free offer that we have. 01:20 It's a book dealing with the Holy Spirit, it's entitled, 01:22 "Holy Spirit: The Need." 01:25 And we'll be happy to send this out to anyone who calls 01:26 and asks. 01:28 The number is 866-788-3966. 01:31 And all you have to do is ask for offer number 723. 01:35 Again, that number is 866-788-3966. 01:39 Ask for offer number 723 and we'll be happy to get this in 01:43 the mail. 01:45 You can also request a digital copy of the book, "The Holy 01:48 Spirit: The Need." 01:51 Just text the code SH099 to the number 40544. 01:55 Again, the code is SH099 and you want to text that to the 02:00 number 40544. 02:04 You'll be able to receive a digital download of the book and 02:06 you'll be able to read it wherever you are, even if you're 02:07 outside of North America. 02:10 So, we want to encourage you to take advantage of that. 02:12 Well, before we get to our lesson, we always want to start 02:14 with a word of prayer And so, wherever you are, just ask if 02:17 you'll bow your heads as we pray. 02:19 Dear Father, we thank You that we have this opportunity to meet 02:22 and study together a very important subject. 02:25 We know that the great commission has been given to 02:27 each of us individually, as well as the church, in taking the 02:29 gospel to the world. 02:32 That would include those living close to us, our neighbors, our 02:34 friends, even family members. 02:37 And so, we pray that You'd bless our study today. 02:39 We're going to look at the importance of the Holy Spirit in 02:41 witnessing and how we ought to seek the Holy Spirit to 02:44 guide us. 02:46 And also bless those who hear the Word that we share. 02:48 So, bless our time today, for we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. 02:52 Our lesson today is going to be brought to us by Pastor Doug. 02:58 Doug Batchelor: Thank you, Pastor Ross, and good 03:01 morning, friends. 03:03 It's morning here. 03:05 We're doing different Zoom Bible studies and meetings for people 03:07 around the world, and so sometimes I have to think about 03:10 where I am because I'm actually teaching in another time zone. 03:14 Last night, I was doing the worship service for a church in 03:18 Beijing, China, and it was 8, 9 o'clock for me, and it was 03:23 morning for them. 03:25 And the day before, I was studying with a group in Norway, 03:27 and again it was the opposite side of the globe. 03:30 But we're coming to you live right now from 03:32 Northern California. 03:35 And you know, for a little longer, you're probably going to 03:37 see us in this background. 03:40 We've actually set up a mini studio in what is normally our 03:42 AFGO staff worship room. 03:46 We are not having group worships as we normally did because of 03:49 the pandemic. 03:52 People are sort of having it a more spread out in their 03:54 departments, but we're finishing off a nice studio downstairs. 03:58 And I think soon, you're going to see a different background 04:00 here for the "Sabbath School Study Hour." 04:03 But we're glad that we can get together and study the Word of 04:06 God, especially during these extraordinary times right now, 04:10 where the whole world seems has been turned topsy turvy in a 04:14 number of different ways. 04:16 But the Word of God never changes, and we're so thankful 04:19 for its dependability. 04:20 As Pastor Ross mentioned, we're continuing in our lesson "Making 04:23 Friends For God," talking about how Christians can share 04:25 their witness. 04:27 And today again, we're dealing with lesson number five, which 04:30 is "Spirit-Empowered Witnessing." 04:32 This is probably one of the most important things that we could 04:35 be talking about, how to be witnessing in the power of the 04:39 Spirit, and this is the purpose that God gives us the 04:41 Holy Spirit. 04:44 And we have a memory verse, and the memory verse comes to us 04:46 from Acts chapter 4, verse 31, I'll say this, some of you have 04:50 it in your lesson. 04:53 It may also appear here on the screen. 04:55 And it says, "And when they had prayed, the place where they 04:59 were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled 05:02 with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God 05:05 with boldness." 05:08 When they were filled with the Spirit, they spoke the Word of 05:11 God, which is the principle reason that God gives us the 05:13 Holy Spirit. 05:16 So, in our study, I want to just tell you in advance what some of 05:18 the categories are that we're going to be talking about in 05:21 connection with Spirit powered witnessing. 05:24 We've got Jesus and the promise of the Holy Spirit in one 05:27 section, an empowered church, the Holy Spirit in witnessing, 05:32 the Holy Spirit the Word in witnessing, and then in the last 05:37 section is the life transforming power of the Holy Spirit. 05:41 So, first thing we're going to talk about is Jesus and the 05:45 promise of the Holy Spirit. 05:48 Now, I probably should explain that the Spirit coming did not 05:53 happen only in the time of the apostles in Acts of 05:58 the apostles. 06:01 The Holy Spirit has been available to God's people all 06:05 through Bible history, but never quite in the proportions that 06:09 you see happening in the book of Acts at Pentecost. 06:12 You can look where you read the story of Samson and the Spirit 06:15 of the Lord came upon him. 06:18 Tells us that when David was anointed, the Spirit of the Lord 06:21 came upon him. 06:23 David prays, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me." 06:27 You can read where in the experience in the wilderness, 06:31 God told Moses to bring the 70 elders before the tabernacle. 06:35 And God said, "I will take of the Spirit that is on you and 06:39 put it upon them." 06:41 And they were filled with the Spirit. 06:44 And you can read where that king Saul ran into the prophets and 06:47 the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. 06:50 So many, many, many times in the Old Testament, you can see that 06:52 God's Spirit was working. 06:56 But the special baptizing of the Spirit on the church never 07:01 really happened in the degree and the proportion, the power 07:04 with the signs and the wonders that you see until you have the 07:08 New Testament age and what happened at Pentecost. 07:12 And so, Jesus promised that this would come. 07:16 And you can read for--got a few verses here. 07:18 You can read in John chapter 14, verse 15 and 16, Jesus said, "If 07:25 you love Me, keep My commandments. 07:28 And I will pray the Father and He will give you another helper, 07:31 that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit 07:35 of truth." 07:37 And He said, "And He will be in you." 07:39 And so, He'll not only be with you, He will be in you. 07:42 Notice Jesus says, "Keep My commandments and I will pray the 07:45 Father, that He will give you another comforter." 07:48 He said, "If you love Me, keep my commandments and He will 07:51 abide with you forever." 07:53 Now, that's a wonderful promise that He will abide with you, but 07:56 I'm going to read this verse a little later in our lesson as 07:59 well in another context. 08:02 I want you to kind of get another perspective or facet of 08:04 that important promise. 08:06 You can also read in Matthew chapter 28 in the great 08:09 commission, Jesus said, "Go therefore and teach all nations, 08:13 baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the 08:17 Holy Spirit." 08:20 Now, even during the ministry of Christ, before Pentecost, when 08:25 Jesus sent the disciples out preaching, you know, they went 08:30 out teaching, preaching, casting out devils, healing. 08:32 Do you think they did that without the power of the 08:36 Holy Spirit? 08:38 No, they had the Spirit. 08:40 And even in the upper room, Jesus did something a 08:43 little unusual. 08:45 It says He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." 08:48 Now, this is before He's even died. 08:52 So, He gave them His Holy Spirit many times. 08:54 You'll notice the Spirit of God kind of comes in waves in 08:57 the Bible. 09:00 And so, but again, there's a special filling, a baptism, a 09:04 saturation of the Holy Spirit that God was promising would 09:07 come upon His people in a special way. 09:11 Did Jesus have the Holy Spirit before His baptism? 09:14 Now, yeah, I know you can't nod the camera, but I see Karen 09:17 nodding out there. 09:19 Obviously, Jesus had the Holy Spirit, but did a special 09:23 filling of the Holy Spirit come upon Christ when He 09:26 was baptized? 09:28 Yes, that's when the Spirit came down like a dove and the very 09:31 name Christ is the Greek way of saying Christos, it means the 09:35 anointed, and the Messiah is the Hebrew equivalent for that, 09:40 the anointed. 09:42 Anointed with what? 09:45 It's talking about that God's Messiah, the Savior, would be 09:47 anointed with the Holy Spirit. 09:50 When Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit at His baptism, then 09:52 He started doing miracles He had never done before in His life. 09:55 He began a life of teaching and ministry. 09:58 So, right here you understand something about the purpose for 10:00 the Holy Spirit. 10:02 It's to empower us to live the Christian life and to do the 10:05 Christian work. 10:08 It's in the example of Christ Himself. 10:10 And He said, "You are to go and teach and baptize in the name of 10:13 the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit." 10:16 Obviously, the Holy Spirit was going to be part of the new 10:18 baptized life. 10:21 John 3, verse 5, what is the priority? 10:23 How important is it to be baptized in the Holy Spirit? 10:27 It says here Jesus answered, and He's talking here to Nicodemus, 10:30 "I say unless one is born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot 10:35 enter the kingdom of God." 10:39 Now, in a lot of Protestant churches, I know in our church, 10:42 the Seventh-day Church, we put a big emphasis 10:46 on baptism. 10:50 Baptism is very important. 10:52 It's as important to a Christian as a wedding is to a marriage. 10:57 It's the ceremony by which we publicly commit ourselves to the 11:00 Lord and say that we want His Spirit. 11:03 And there are new rights and privileges that come after 11:06 marriage and that come after baptism. 11:08 And God promises these special blessings and a 11:11 deeper relationship. 11:13 But He says it's essential. 11:16 Now, not only is it important that we're baptized in water. 11:20 Unless you're born of the water and the Spirit, you cannot enter 11:25 the kingdom of heaven. 11:27 I think sometimes churches make a mistake of thinking, "Well, as 11:29 long as we get them baptized in the water, we don't have to 11:33 worry and pray and be concerned about whether they're baptized 11:36 in the Spirit." 11:38 But both are equally important. 11:41 In fact, if you were to say one is more important than the 11:43 other, I think that Spirit baptism is more important than 11:46 water baptism. 11:49 I know that may shock some people, but you know, there 11:52 might be people like the thief on the cross who could not come 11:55 down and get water baptism. 11:57 But to live in heaven with God, God is a Spirit, we need the 12:01 Spirit baptism. 12:04 Now, I don't know that that means necessarily that you're 12:07 going to go out and heal the sick and raise the dead and cast 12:10 out devils, but being Spirit filled is a privilege of 12:14 every believer. 12:16 We're going to talk more about that in some other verses. 12:19 So, when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, God brought 12:22 them then through the Red Sea, this is water baptism. 12:26 And you remember when the Egyptians came after them, it 12:28 says God then appeared in a pillar of fire. 12:32 And the whole time they went through the wilderness, God was 12:35 daily giving them water, and He was guiding them with this 12:39 pillar, pillar of cloud during the day, pillar of fire that 12:41 illuminated the camp at night. 12:44 One represents water baptism. 12:46 And you can look in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, and 12:49 there Paul tells us that going through the Red Sea is a symbol 12:53 of water baptism, and then they were also baptized in 12:56 the Spirit. 12:58 And that pillar of fire represents Spirit baptism. 13:01 We must be born of the water and born of the Spirit. 13:04 You know, when you are going into the sanctuary, the children 13:07 of Israel, when you went into the temple, tabernacle or even 13:10 Solomon's temple, before you ever got to the holy place, you 13:13 had to go by the altar of sacrifice. 13:17 There you've got the fire baptism. 13:20 You had to go by the laver of water, there you've got the 13:22 water baptism. 13:24 Then you went into the holy place. 13:26 And you needed both baptisms. 13:29 Our world in the days of Noah was washed with water. 13:32 Peter tells us, 2 Peter chapter 3, when Jesus comes that the 13:35 elements will melt with fervent heat, the earth and the things 13:38 in it will be burned up. 13:40 There's going to be fire baptism. 13:43 And then God's going to make a new heaven and a new earth. 13:45 So, after the water baptism and after the fire baptism, the 13:47 planet even gets made new. 13:50 We, like the planet, like the children of Israel, we need to 13:53 be washed in the water, purged by the fire, and then we become 13:57 fit vessels for God to use. 14:00 Both are important. 14:02 John 16, verse 7, Jesus again is speaking. 14:05 It says, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it's expedient 14:08 for you that I go away. 14:11 For I, if I go not away, the Comforter will not come 14:14 unto you. 14:16 But if I depart, I will send Him unto you." 14:19 Now, why was it important for Jesus to go away in order for 14:21 the Holy Spirit to come in special power? 14:25 Well, I think that is somewhat of a mysterious statement, but I 14:30 believe that the Lord is telling us that when He died on the 14:33 cross and He ascended to heaven, He told Mary, "Do not cling to 14:36 me, but I go to My Father." 14:38 I think there Jesus went into this heavenly temple, He spread 14:43 out His hands, all of heaven had been watching His life, His 14:47 perfect life and His sacrifice. 14:50 And He was declared victorious. 14:52 So He really, by ascending to the Father, purchased the right 14:54 then to send the Spirit in special power upon His church 14:58 unlike any other time in history because of His sacrifice. 15:03 And so, it was important for that to happen. 15:05 Something else to think about, God is the person of the Father, 15:10 the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 15:12 God the Son was here on earth for 33 and a half years. 15:15 I don't know that God wanted to vacate heaven. 15:18 And the Spirit is--you know, all of God is omnipresent, but 15:22 Jesus, when He became a man, He sacrificed it seems a dimension 15:26 of His divinity in that He really lived in time and space 15:31 in a body. 15:33 And He said, "Look, I'm going away. 15:35 I'm going to send the Spirit because I can only be with you 15:37 physically in one place at a time." 15:40 You realize after the incarnation, Jesus never appears 15:43 at more than one place at a time. 15:46 Which means like us, He--you know, unless you've got a split 15:51 personality, you know, we're always at one place at a time. 15:54 But the Holy Spirit, He said He can be in you. 15:58 And so, He said, "It's expedient that I go 'cause He's 16:01 omnipresent, He will be with you everywhere." 16:04 All right, under our next section, we're going to talk a 16:07 little bit about an empowered church. 16:10 You know, friends, this is probably one of the most 16:14 important things I can talk about, and it's also at the same 16:17 time a little frustrating. 16:21 Because we, myself included, sometimes try to substitute 16:24 methods and machines and programs and products in place 16:32 for the Holy Spirit to grow the church. 16:38 And we think if we could just send people to one more seminar, 16:41 that so often it happens that people go to a seminar, they're 16:44 inspired, they come back from a seminar, they've read a new 16:46 workbook, and they'll spend a day or two trying to put it 16:50 into practice. 16:52 But it often evaporates, and you then need to try to inspire 16:54 people with another seminar, and another new program, and another 16:57 new book, and new machinery, and equipment. 17:01 And you know, the single most important thing the church needs 17:04 for the revival of the members and to do successful public 17:09 evangelism is the Holy Spirit. 17:12 I marvel when I look in the book of Acts that Paul says in more 17:17 than one place that the gospel had been preached to every 17:20 creature, the gospel had gone into all the earth, all the 17:24 known corners of inhabited civilization, the apostles and 17:29 the converts and the disciples had taken the message. 17:33 They did not have the Internet. 17:37 They did not have a printing press. 17:39 They did not have satellites and televisions. 17:42 They did not have so many of the modern methods of communication, 17:46 telephone, that we have today. 17:49 How is it they were able to take the message so far, so fast, 17:52 with so little of the technological advantages that we 17:59 have today? 18:01 It's a simple answer, they had the power of the Holy Spirit. 18:04 They were driven, they were inspired. 18:07 They believed that Jesus was coming soon. 18:10 They believed that He was with them. 18:12 They believed that He had risen from the dead. 18:15 And they were so inspired, and I guess the word is passionate 18:19 about it, that you couldn't stop them. 18:22 You could torture them, and threaten them, and take away 18:25 their possessions, and divide their families, and put them in 18:29 prison, and you could not shut them up. 18:32 They were so excited about the gospel. 18:34 You know, if we had that today, we'd see the same results. 18:39 But I think sometimes we depend too much on the artificial, and 18:43 we depend too much on--I'm thankful for this technology 18:46 right now. 18:50 But you know, without the Spirit, it doesn't matter. 18:52 It's really got to be the Holy Spirit that's going to take 18:55 charge of people's hearts. 18:57 People are going to have to really believe and have faith in 19:00 the truth of the gospel and be mobilized by it. 19:03 So, we need an empowered church. 19:06 Amazing Facts has a program where we send some of our 19:09 evangelists, and Pastor Ross might go from church to church, 19:13 and it's called the Empowered Church Program. 19:15 And it talks about how churches can get involved in a cycle of 19:19 evangelism, and it's really a very good program, it's got a 19:22 workbook, and it's proven to be successful if it's combined with 19:26 prayer, and those prayers are especially dependent on the 19:31 Holy Spirit. 19:34 So, programs are okay. 19:36 Machinery, technology, you know, cameras and radio, all of that 19:39 is great, but you can't do it without the Holy Spirit. 19:43 And that's the single most important thing. 19:46 All the lights and the glitter and the technology is not going 19:49 to help if you don't have the unction of the Spirit in it. 19:54 Notice it says in Matthew 3, verse 11, "Jesus declared, 'I 19:58 baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming 20:02 after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I'm not worthy to 20:07 carry,'" this is actually not Jesus, it's John the 20:09 Baptist speaking. 20:11 "'Whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry. 20:14 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.'" 20:17 Now, those things both happened at Pentecost. 20:19 They got tongues of fire. 20:22 And talking about that fire of the Spirit, it's also just that 20:24 passionate cleansing, that purging of the Spirit. 20:27 You know what makes a car go? 20:29 Fire. 20:32 That's right, your car going down the road is a series of 20:35 very rapid explosions, and you got a sparkplug that is 20:37 sparking, it's creating fire. 20:40 If your plug's not firing, your car don't go nowhere. 20:43 And it is a fire that is making that go. 20:46 And church needs the fire of God's Spirit. 20:48 John the Baptist knew this would be a special work of the Messiah 20:51 not only to be anointed, but to anoint his people with the 20:56 Holy Spirit. 20:59 I remember the story when God told Moses, "I'm going to take 21:03 your spirit and I'm going to put it on the 70 elders." 21:06 And He summoned all the 70 elders to come to 21:10 the tabernacle. 21:12 Two of them, I can remember their names 'cause they sound 21:14 familiar, Eldad and Medad. 21:17 Eldad and Medad, they were 2 of the 70 elders, they did 21:21 not come. 21:23 And I believe they did not come because maybe they did not 21:24 feel worthy. 21:27 And the Bible doesn't really say, but when God took His 21:29 Spirit and He put it on the 68 elders that showed up, as they 21:33 were filled with the Holy Spirit and they did prophesy. 21:36 They began to preach, and Joshua saw them preaching and 21:41 prophesying and doing some of the things that Moses had done, 21:44 and he said, "Master, look, they're prophesying. 21:47 You're the--you're the national prophet, but they're 21:50 prophesying," and Eldad and Medad, they didn't even come, 21:53 they got the Spirit and they're prophesying. 21:56 Moses says, "Joshua, are you jealous for me?" 21:59 And he said, "Would God that all of His people were prophets." 22:05 You know, that was part of God's plan, that it said, "I want you 22:09 to be a nation of kings and priests." 22:12 It's not just the pastors and the evangelists and the elders 22:15 that should be Spirit filled, every member. 22:19 "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. 22:21 Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will 22:25 dream dreams, your young men will see visions." 22:28 He wants His whole church to be Spirit filled. 22:31 He'd like for His whole church to have the gift of prophecy. 22:34 And it's God's desire that He can empower with the 22:38 Spirit everybody. 22:40 And everybody, with whatever their gifts are, to be using 22:42 their gifts of the Spirit in the church. 22:45 Zechariah 4:6, "So he answered and he said to me," you know 22:49 this verse, "'This is the Word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not 22:53 by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord 22:58 of hosts." 23:00 It is not by the Internet, it is not by the satellite, it is not 23:04 by fiber optics, it's not by digital CDs or by 23:10 telephone lines. 23:12 It's the thing that's going to change hearts, it's going to be 23:15 the Spirit of God. 23:17 Now, the Holy Spirit might use technology, the Holy Spirit 23:19 might use a printing press, it might use a laptop computer. 23:22 The Holy Spirit can work through these things, but it's still--it 23:26 all boils down to the Spirit of God. 23:28 And then you look in Luke 24, Jesus said that this 23:31 would happen. 23:34 "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you. 23:36 But tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endowed 23:41 with the power from on high." 23:43 He said, "Don't go out preaching a message until you have the 23:46 power to live the life." 23:48 The Holy Spirit that gives us that power will empower us to 23:52 preach the message. 23:54 Now, don't misunderstand this. 23:57 I think the Holy Spirit is reminding me to say something 24:00 while I was up here. 24:02 And you know, sometimes things come to me while I'm teaching. 24:05 I sometimes meet people that they say, "You know, I just 24:08 don't feel like I have enough of the Holy Spirit to go out there 24:10 and to do the work." 24:12 If you've committed your life to the Lord, if you've prayed for 24:14 the Holy Spirit, you may find that sometimes in the process of 24:18 your sharing with others, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. 24:22 I've seen that happen many times. 24:25 Even in the Bible, while Peter was preaching to Cornelius, the 24:29 Holy Spirit fell upon them. 24:31 While Paul was preaching to these 12 Ephesian believers in 24:35 Acts chapter 19, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. 24:38 In the process of prayer, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. 24:43 And so, sometimes as you step out to do what God has called 24:46 you to do, He will then empower you to do it. 24:49 You'll notice that after Jesus baptized, He was then empowered 24:53 with the Spirit to preach, and to teach, and to do 24:56 the miracles. 24:59 And so, God gives the Spirit when you need it. 25:01 Don't wait for the moving of the Spirit before you need it. 25:04 Pentecost did not happen to the apostles until there was a crowd 25:07 outside their window and they needed it. 25:10 So, when you're ready to be used of God, you take a step of 25:14 faith, he will give you the Holy Spirit. 25:17 You know, in the--the Spirit is compared to fire by John the 25:21 Baptist in the verse we just read. 25:24 In the temple, they had a light that was burning. 25:29 And that light was kept burning not by the lamp, but by the oil 25:33 in the lamp. 25:35 And what does that oil represent? 25:37 It's the Holy Spirit. 25:39 And the thing that's going to keep the fire of God's grace and 25:42 His truth alive in the church, it's going to be the 25:45 Holy Spirit. 25:46 When we read the Bible, there's bread in the sanctuary, but you 25:48 couldn't find the bread without the lamp. 25:51 When you read the Bible, we need the light of the Spirit to 25:54 illuminate the Word. 25:57 And it's that Spirit that gives us power. 25:59 You know, Corrie ten Boom used to use an illustration. 26:02 Corrie ten Boom, of course, was that--the author or at least the 26:06 co-author of the book called "The Hiding Place." 26:09 And she was instrumental in rescuing Jews during the Nazi 26:13 occupation of Amsterdam. 26:16 Spent time in the Robins Brook prisoner of war camp. 26:21 And it wasn't really a POW camp, it was an extermination camp. 26:24 And she survived the war. 26:28 She was a great Christian, went around lecturing on faith 26:31 and Christianity. 26:34 And she said, "I've got a glove." 26:36 She puts her hand in the glove and she says, "The glove doesn't 26:39 do anything unless my hand is in it. 26:41 The glove is just an instrument." 26:43 He said--she said, "We are just instruments. 26:45 It's as the Holy Spirit then fills us, then we do what the 26:48 mind of the body says, but we're just like the glove." 26:53 So, we must have the power of God filling us and then guiding 26:56 us in what to do. 26:59 Without the Holy Spirit, the church--you know, I like 27:05 flying kites. 27:08 And I've had several in my life. 27:10 Growing up in New York City, we were fortunate enough just to 27:13 live right across the street from Central Park. 27:16 And there was some big meadows in Central Park, where a lot of 27:18 people would gather on weekends and they would fly kites. 27:22 And there was some master kite flyers out there. 27:25 I got several kites and I crashed several kites and 27:28 wrecked several kites, but I would want to go fly my kite 27:32 even on the days when there was no wind, but it was never much 27:34 fun because to get the kite in the air, I'd have to run. 27:37 Because there's no wind, running I'd create artificial wind. 27:41 And I'd run and I'd run. 27:43 I'd get it up in the air, but as soon as I stop running, it 27:45 would drop. 27:47 And then I'd run some more and I'd run. 27:49 And you know, after about ten minutes of trying to fly my kite 27:51 by constantly running, as soon as I turned around to look at 27:53 it, it would plummet out of the sky. 27:55 I had to just keep on running. 27:57 How much better when you have a windy day? 28:00 And that's the difference between what the church is doing 28:02 and what we sometimes do. 28:05 We're trying to keep the kite in the air by running, by 28:07 human effort. 28:09 And what we need to do is pray for a wind. 28:11 It's like do you want the sailboat to go 'cause you're 28:13 rowing or because the wind is blowing? 28:15 It's a whole lot easier if God fills the sails with His wind. 28:19 And that's what we need. 28:20 So, just I read a couple of quotes to you that deal with the 28:24 importance of the power of the Spirit in the last days. 28:27 And this is from Acts--well, it's actually a reference from 28:33 the book "Great Controversy" page 612. 28:36 And it says, "The great work of the gospel is not to close with 28:40 less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. 28:45 The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of 28:48 the former rain and at the opening of the gospel are again 28:51 to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. 28:55 Here are the times of refreshing, to which the apostle 28:59 Peter looked forward to when he said, 'Repent therefore and be 29:03 converted, that your sins might be blotted out, when the times 29:06 of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and He 29:09 will send Jesus.'" 29:12 Notice, just before He sends Jesus, he said a time 29:14 of refreshing. 29:17 What is that refreshing? 29:19 It's the baptism of the Holy Spirit that would come upon 29:21 God's people. 29:23 And then I'm reading on still in "Great Controversy," page 612, 29:25 "Servants of God with their faces lighted up and shining 29:29 with holy consecration will hasten from place to place to 29:34 proclaim the message of heaven by thousands of voices all over 29:38 the earth. 29:40 The warning will be given, miracles will be wrought, the 29:44 sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the 29:47 believers," maybe even resurrections again. 29:50 "Satan also works with lying wonders, even bringing fire down 29:54 from heaven that in the sight of men. 29:56 Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take 29:58 their stand." 30:01 We're going to have to know how to tell the difference between 30:03 the true signs and wonders and the counterfeit. 30:05 But God's church is going to be given power in the last days 30:08 when the latter rain falls, when these times of refreshing come 30:12 from the presence of the Lord. 30:14 How is it going to come? 30:17 You receive not because you ask not. 30:20 If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your 30:23 children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the 30:26 Holy Spirit to those that ask Him? 30:30 We should be asking, praying, pleading that God will give us 30:34 His Holy Spirit. 30:37 So, we need the Spirit of God for witnessing and to be using 30:41 it to its full purpose. 30:44 There is so much power that is available to the church today 30:47 that is never used. 30:52 You know, not too long ago, Karen and I have had four wheel 30:55 drive vehicles for 40 years because we have a home that is 31:00 really off-road. 31:03 You have to go at least 12 miles of dirt road one way. 31:07 A lot of that road is not maintained by anybody but us, 31:10 and it gets pretty rough in the winter. 31:12 And if there's snow, it gets ruts. 31:14 And there's some very steep hills. 31:17 And with the mud and the ice and the snow and the steep hills, 31:19 you just can't get up sometimes even with four wheel drive. 31:22 And I remember when I first moved to the hills and I didn't 31:25 know how important four wheel drive was, I got stuck a lot. 31:30 In fact, there were places in the road, I actually had a 31:32 Volkswagen Bug at one point, and I kept a come along. 31:36 You know what a come along is, a little hand winch. 31:38 I kept a come along in my car. 31:41 And there was one place in the road that whenever I got to it, 31:43 I would go as fast as I could, and so I could get into these 31:47 ruts and slide as far as I could. 31:49 And I'd rev the engine and it would go shaking as far as it 31:52 could, and pretty soon the wheels would be spinning, I'd 31:54 say, "Okay, time to get out." 31:56 I get out and I winch it the rest of the way out of that 31:58 wet spot. 32:00 I got home, every time I went home, I had to take a run at it 32:02 with my two-wheel drive. 32:04 Finally, I got enough money to get a four wheel drive. 32:06 And boy, it makes a big difference. 32:09 Well, not too long ago, our four wheel drive pickup truck was hit 32:13 in an accident. 32:16 It was just parked at a red light and someone ran into us. 32:18 So, because it wasn't our fault, nobody was hurt, the insurance 32:22 company said, "Here's the money, go buy yourself another truck." 32:25 Well, I'll tell you, friends, I had some fun because I got to go 32:28 out four wheel drive truck shopping. 32:31 And I ended up getting, this is not an advertisement, but I 32:35 ended up getting a four wheel drive truck, a Toyota truck that 32:37 not only had four wheel drive, but it had positraction . 32:41 Not only had positraction, it had the special crawl mode, it 32:43 is like the ultimate four wheel drive pickup truck. 32:47 And I saw they had rows of them in the dealership. 32:50 And in my neighborhood, I could look and see several of my 32:55 neighbors had these trucks that have these really sophisticated 32:58 off-road abilities, but they never take them off-road. 33:06 You can ask Karen, she's sitting out there. 33:07 This week, we probably drove 40 miles off road, dirt roads up in 33:11 the hills. 33:14 We really use the four wheel drive. 33:16 And I think sometimes the church, they're like these 33:18 people who say, "Yep, I've got a Hummer. 33:20 You know, it'll cross rivers six feet deep." 33:23 And they never get off the pavement. 33:26 I think it was Peter Marshall, a famous pastor for Congress years 33:32 ago, and he said, "The church today is like a deep sea scuba 33:38 diver that puts on all the equipment that you would need to 33:42 dive at 300 fathoms, and then they step into a bathtub." 33:47 This is what's happening today, is the church has no idea how 33:50 much power is available that we're just not using. 33:53 And God wants us to trust in him, pray big prayers, expect 33:57 big miracles, and you'll get big answers. 34:01 Now, when do we receive the Holy Spirit and why? 34:04 You read in Acts chapter 2, verse 38, Peter said, "Repent 34:09 and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus 34:14 Christ for the remission of sin, and you shall receive the gift 34:18 of the Holy Spirit for the promises unto you and your 34:21 children, and as many as the Lord God shall call." 34:24 Said, "Be baptized and you'll receive the gift of the 34:26 Holy Spirit." 34:29 Notice that water baptism, born of the water, that he connects 34:31 it with Spirit baptism. 34:34 After a person is baptized in the water, you know, we hand 34:36 them a certificate. 34:38 It'd be nice if we gave them a second certificate that said, 34:40 "And this is for your Spirit baptism." 34:42 That doesn't happen because I think we put a little too much 34:44 emphasis on the water baptism and we forget how important the 34:48 Spirit baptism is. 34:50 We have to be fasting and praying more for that. 34:52 So he said, "The purpose for this is that they could 34:55 be witnesses." 34:57 Look again, now I read this earlier, but I'm going to read 34:59 it again. 35:00 Luke chapter 24, verse 48, Jesus said, "You are witnesses of 35:03 these things. 35:06 And behold, I am sending you forth the promise of My Father 35:08 upon you. 35:10 But you're to stay in the city until you're clothed with power 35:13 on high." 35:15 Why were they going to be clothed with power? 35:17 He said, "You are witnesses. 35:19 I'm going to give you power. 35:21 You've seen the miracles, you saw the resurrection. 35:23 I'm going to give you power to witness of the things you saw." 35:26 And you know, even in Revelation, John makes a point 35:29 of saying, "Now we have seen these things." 35:33 In his gospel, he says, "We've seen with our eyes, our hands 35:35 have handled. 35:38 We are firsthand witnesses. 35:39 It was not a phantom, a spirit. 35:41 We touched Him. 35:42 We walked with Him. 35:44 We ate with Him." 35:46 And he says, "He's real. 35:47 We are witnesses of these things." 35:49 Do you have a real experience that you can witness to? 35:51 Hebrews chapter 2, verse 3 and 4, "How shall we escape if we 35:55 neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be 35:59 spoken of by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who 36:04 heard Him." 36:05 Notice the rest, the Word of God was spoken, "God also bearing 36:09 witness with signs and wonders and with various miracles and 36:15 gifts of the Holy Spirit." 36:18 Holy Spirit witnessing. 36:20 Through the power of the Spirit, we are to witness. 36:23 He gives us the Spirit to bear witness for the truth and based 36:27 on his own will. 36:29 And then, of course, that famous verse. 36:31 Acts chapter 1, verse 8, "But you will receive power when the 36:34 Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me 36:38 in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and unto the ends of 36:42 the earth." 36:44 Now, does God say, "Look, I'm going to give you the power of 36:46 the Spirit so you can speak in tongues"? 36:48 Is speaking in tongues the fruit of the Spirit, or is it one of 36:52 the gifts of the Spirit? 36:54 Jesus said, "You'll know them by their fruits." 36:57 And so, He doesn't give us the Holy Spirit just so we can speak 37:00 in tongues. 37:02 And I believe in the gifts of the Spirit, I believe in the 37:04 biblical technique or methods of the gifts of the Spirit. 37:07 But some people say, "Oh, we're going to prove you have the Holy 37:09 Spirit because you can speak in tongues." 37:11 That's not the evidence of the Holy Spirit. 37:14 The evidence of the Holy Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit, 37:16 love, joy, peace, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, and 37:19 I probably left something out. 37:22 But that's the evidence for the Holy Spirit in the life. 37:26 He said, "You'll be receiving power of the Spirit so you can 37:29 be a witness." 37:31 If you're willing to be a witness, God's more likely to 37:33 give you the Holy Spirit. 37:36 Acts chapter 4, verse 31, "And when they prayed," this is our 37:40 memory verse we started with, "when they prayed, the place 37:43 where they were assembled together was shaken." 37:45 Now, why were they praying? 37:47 They prayed that they might receive boldness, so they would 37:50 not be intimidated. 37:52 The priests had said, "Don't preach in Jesus' name anymore." 37:54 And they prayed that they might have boldness so that they 37:56 could preach. 37:59 And when they prayed, the Bible says the place where they were 38:01 assembled was shaken, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and 38:04 they spoke the Word of God with boldness. 38:07 Well, there's a great formula, friends. 38:10 Pray for the Spirit, He gives you the Spirit to speak the 38:13 Word, that people might be saved. 38:16 We want to pray for the Spirit that we might live the life, 38:20 that we can be an example of Christ, that people might 38:23 be saved. 38:25 And so, the whole purpose for the baptism of the Spirit is 38:28 that we might make friends for Jesus and be His witnesses. 38:32 Psalm 51, verse 11, talking about the Holy Spirit 38:35 and witnessing. 38:37 "Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your 38:41 Holy Spirit from me. 38:43 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me by your 38:47 generous or your free spirit. 38:50 Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will 38:54 be converted." 38:56 When are sinners converted? 38:57 Not just when they receive the generous spirit, but notice the 39:00 joy of your salvation. 39:02 You know, if we're saved and we're joyful, if we believe the 39:04 gospel is good news and if we have--I'm not talking about the 39:08 kind of happy slappy behavior some people have in church, 39:12 where they carry on. 39:14 I'm talking about that peace that passes understanding. 39:17 If Christians have a real joy and a confidence, especially in 39:20 a world right now that's so afraid with everything going on, 39:24 if we can show that we've got confidence and peace and that 39:28 we're able to sleep like a baby, we don't worry, people are going 39:31 to want that. 39:33 Says, "Then I'll teach transgressors your ways. 39:35 Give me the Spirit and I will teach and sinners will 39:38 be converted." 39:40 And that's, of course, one of the most important purposes for 39:42 the Holy Spirit. 39:44 Now into the next section, the Holy Spirit, the Word, 39:47 and witnessing. 39:49 Look at John chapter 14, verse 26. 39:52 "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will 39:56 send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your 40:00 remembrance what I have said to you." 40:03 Every week, we have a Bible answer program. 40:06 And we never know in advance from week to week what questions 40:10 are going to get called in, it's always very interesting. 40:13 Sometimes, we get the same questions. 40:15 Sometimes almost every week, we get a question we've never 40:17 heard before. 40:19 And we usually average about 15, 16 questions per program. 40:23 We can only take three or four minutes to answer a question. 40:26 But sometimes, people put us on the spot, they've got really 40:30 good questions. 40:32 Sometimes, they'll ask a difficult question. 40:34 I know at one point, I knew the answer to that, but I haven't 40:36 looked at it in years. 40:39 We pray before the program, we say, "Lord, give us your Spirit 40:42 to bring back to our remembrance the things that we have studied 40:47 in the past." 40:50 And millions of times, maybe not millions, thousands of times, 40:53 I've had that experience where I didn't really know the answer, 40:57 but right when a person asks the question, I pray and boom, it 41:00 pops into my mind. 41:02 Now you know, as I'm going through the day, I'm trying to 41:04 remember people's names and I have trouble remembering 41:07 their names. 41:08 But it's amazing, God can help you remember the Scriptures 41:10 through the gift of the Spirit. 41:12 Let me just share you a quick story, and you ought to check 41:15 this out on your own. 41:17 There was a pastor evangelist in the Seventh-day Adventist Church 41:21 and his name was Byron Spears. 41:25 And they called him--he was converted, I think he was 41:28 Episcopalian, pretty sure. 41:31 Came from the Anglican Church. 41:34 He went through a dramatic conversion, struggled with 41:40 polio, so he always had problems walking. 41:42 And so, he walked with canes for the most of his life. 41:45 But he was a powerful evangelist, and he spent years 41:48 reading the Bible. 41:50 And they called him the walking Bible because he would preach, 41:53 and Karen and I went and saw him many, many times, and he was in 41:56 his 70s when we went to see him. 41:58 I was blessed to be invited by him to do his funeral, died 42:02 at 100. 42:04 And we'd go listen to him preach, he'd go 90 minutes, was 42:08 not uncommon. 42:10 He'd preach 90 minutes, walk back and forth with a cane, 42:12 never pick up a Bible, did not have his words on an overhead 42:15 projector, did not use a screen or multimedia. 42:18 He just preached from memory using between 50 and 100 42:22 different verses that he would quote. 42:25 He quote them all out verbatim, King James version, and he'd 42:28 tell people, "Check on me." 42:31 And he would read them, and people came back night after 42:33 night because we thought, "Has this guy memorized the Bible?" 42:36 And he told me, he said, "No, I haven't memorized the 42:37 Bible, but--" 42:39 And he said, "I can't remember names." 42:42 He said, "You know, sometimes I can't find my way home." 42:43 He says, "I have all kinds of problems with my memory." 42:45 But he said, "I claimed the promise of the Holy Spirit that 42:48 when I'm up there and I'm preaching, that God will help me 42:50 remember the verses." 42:52 He not only remembered the verses, he remembered the 42:53 chapter, the verse, every thee, thou, the, will, shalt, unto. 42:56 He remembered every word. 42:58 Now, if you doubt me, you can go to the Amazing Facts website or 43:02 just type in. 43:04 It's free, so I'm not selling anything, you can type in 43:07 "Trumpet of the Lord, Byron Spears." 43:10 All of his sermons are online. 43:13 They're audio, so you don't get to see him preach. 43:15 I think there's a couple of YouTubes. 43:17 Yeah, there's a couple of YouTubes of him preaching at the 43:19 Sacramento Central Church in his 90s, still preaching from 43:25 memory, 45-minute sermon, never pick up a Bible because the Holy 43:30 Spirit brought the words back to his mind. 43:33 He would always pray that prayer before he preached. 43:36 It's an amazing thing to behold. 43:38 Anyway, so God's promises, he said, "I'll bring these things 43:42 to your mind." 43:44 Now, talking again about witnessing and the Word, look at 43:48 Acts chapter 8, I like this story. 43:51 And start with verse 26, "Now an angel of the Lord," notice it's 43:55 an angel, "spoke to Phillip, saying, 'Arise and go towards 43:58 the south along the road that goes down from Jerusalem to 44:01 Gaza,'" this is desert, it's a desert area back down towards 44:05 the sea. 44:07 "So he arose and he went. 44:09 And behold, a man from Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority 44:12 under Candace, the queen of Ethiopians, who had charge of 44:15 all her treasury." 44:17 It's the principle CFO for Ethiopia, wealthy man. 44:22 "He'd come to Jerusalem to worship." 44:25 You know, they say that ever since the days of Solomon, when 44:27 the queen of Sheba went to the south, that the truth about 44:30 Jehovah went down and there were many worshippers of Jehovah in 44:33 that part of the world. 44:35 So, he had come, he knew the Scriptures. 44:38 And he's riding along in his chariot, and he's reading from 44:40 the book of Isaiah, but he doesn't completely understand 44:42 what he's reading. 44:44 And Phillip sees him sitting in his chariot, reading from 44:47 Isaiah, and says, "Then the Spirit said to Phillip, 'Go near 44:51 and overtake his chariot.' 44:54 So Phillip ran near and he said, 'Do you understand what 44:57 you're reading?'" 44:59 He was reading from the book of Isaiah, reading the prophecy 45:01 about Jesus. 45:03 So, notice first it says the angel of the Lord, then it says 45:05 the Spirit of the Lord. 45:07 Is it possible the Spirit of the Lord sometimes speaks 45:09 through angels? 45:11 I think so. 45:13 I think a lot of times when we say, "The Spirit told me," God's 45:14 really nudging us through an angel. 45:16 And sometimes when it says the Lord did this, or the Lord did 45:19 that, he's often working through angels. 45:21 And Phillip then catches him reading the Bible, he 45:25 doesn't understand. 45:27 He says, "How can I understand unless some man guide me?" 45:29 He invites Phillip up into the chariot, this is the first 45:31 hitchhiker in the Bible that we find. 45:33 And he gives him a Bible study. 45:36 The Holy Spirit guides Phillip to a place where someone is 45:39 reading the Word. 45:41 How often I've seen that happen, is I'll meet somebody and 45:44 spiritual things will come up, and the very thing we talk about 45:47 is what they read in the Bible that day. 45:50 Or maybe that's happened to you. 45:52 John 6:63, it says, "It's the Spirit that quickens, the flesh 45:57 profits nothing. 45:59 The words that I speak to you, they are Spirit and they 46:02 are life." 46:04 You know, whenever we read the Word, it's a good idea to pray 46:06 first that the Holy Spirit will give us guidance and 46:08 understanding so we can know what we read. 46:12 And if we really are getting the Holy Spirit, you can get two 46:16 different people in different parts of the world reading the 46:19 same difficult passage. 46:21 And if they're praying for the Holy Spirit, they can end up 46:22 coming to the same conclusion. 46:26 In John 16, verse 13, again Jesus speaking here, "However, 46:31 when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into 46:35 all truth." 46:37 That doesn't mean you become all knowing like God. 46:40 He means He'll guide you into all the truth you need to know 46:43 to do the work you need to do. 46:45 "He'll guide you into all truth, for He'll not speak on His 46:49 own authority. 46:51 But whatever He hears, He will speak and He will tell you of 46:53 things to come." 46:55 Now, this is another very important truth that just got 46:57 established here. 46:59 I've been in churches before where sometimes the pastor will 47:01 say, "Well, I know the Bible says this, but I've got fresh 47:03 information 'cause I'm not going by the letter of the law, I'm 47:06 going by the Spirit. 47:08 The letter kills, the Spirit gives life." 47:10 And they build this whole false doctrine that somehow the Spirit 47:14 of God is going to conflict with the Word of God. 47:17 That's heresy. 47:19 That's not at all true. 47:21 The Holy Spirit is never going to teach you something different 47:23 than the Word of God. 47:25 The Holy Spirit is going to bring to your remembrance what 47:27 the Word has said. 47:29 The Holy Spirit is going to help you understand what the Word 47:31 has said. 47:32 The Holy Spirit is never going to conflict or contradict what 47:34 the Word has said. 47:36 Revelation 2:7, "He that has an ear, let him hear what the 47:39 Spirit says to the church." 47:42 How does the Spirit speak to the church? 47:44 Through the Word of God. 47:47 So, next section, this is really the last section, the 47:50 life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit. 47:53 Someone put it this way once. 47:55 Well, let me read this verse first. 47:58 Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 27, "I'll put My Spirit within you 48:02 and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My 48:06 judgements and do them." 48:09 Someone once said that the Holy Spirit helps us to understand 48:13 the truth with our heads, believe it in our hearts, live 48:16 it with our hands, follow it with our feet. 48:20 Or you might say it gives you wisdom, worship, works, 48:24 and walk. 48:26 The Holy Spirit will affect all these areas of life. 48:30 It's not just for discussion, the Holy Spirit is for 48:32 transformation, you become a new creation. 48:35 Old things have passed away. 48:37 Here's one of my favorite quotes from the spirit of prophecy. 48:40 This is the "Desire of Ages" page 250, "There is no limit to 48:45 the usefulness of one who, putting self aside, makes room 48:50 for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and lives 48:53 a life wholly consecrated to God." 48:56 Someone once told Dwight Moody, "The world has yet to see what 49:01 God can do with a person that is wholly consecrated to him." 49:04 Moody said, "I want to be that person." 49:06 And so, there's no limit to what God can do with each one of us. 49:09 John 3, verse 5, "Most assuredly I say to you, unless you are 49:14 born of the water," I already read this, "born of the water 49:16 and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom." 49:19 We need both births. 49:20 Friends, I wanted to mention to you in closing, don't forget we 49:23 have our free offer. 49:25 I think Pastor Ross walked off with it, but it's talking about 49:27 life in the Spirit. 49:30 And you can receive that book simply by asking and call the 49:32 number that you see on your screen, it's going to say, 49:36 800--866 rather, 788-3966. 49:43 One more time the number, 866-788-3966. 49:48 Ask for offer number 723 and we'll send that to you for free. 49:53 You can also text the code SH099 to 40544 and receive your 50:01 free copy. 50:02 I hope you'll take advantage of that, friends. 50:06 And it's been a blessing studying with you. 50:08 We'll study His Word together again next week. 50:10 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 50:12 free resource. 50:15 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 50:17 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 50:18 mobile device. 50:21 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 50:23 the key word on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address 50:28 shown on your screen. 50:30 And be sure to select the digital download option on the 50:32 request page. 50:34 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 50:37 "Amazing Facts" wherever and whenever you want, and most 50:40 important to share it with others. 50:43 ♪♪♪ 50:52 Doug: We're here in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in an iguana park 50:54 surrounded by big lizards or small dinosaurs, depends on how 50:59 you look at it. 51:01 These magnificent creatures are found mostly in Mexico, Central 51:03 America, South America, and the Caribbean Islands. 51:07 Here's a few amazing facts about iguanas. 51:09 Iguanas come in a great spectrum of colors. 51:12 They can be brown, green, blue, and their skin will often work 51:17 as camouflage, allowing them to hide in the jungle. 51:20 They're social creatures who like to eat together. 51:23 And what's really interesting, even though they look fierce, 51:27 iguanas are vegan vegetarians. 51:29 They're regarded as popular pets, though if they're not 51:31 cared for, they can actually just stop eating and will 51:34 themselves to die. 51:36 Typically, iguanas just lay eggs and they abandon their 51:38 offspring, so those little iguanas have to fend for 51:40 themselves from the time they're born. 51:44 If they're attacked, they'll fight with their tail, either 51:47 punching or whipping their opponent. 51:49 It's interesting to see a dog running for mercy after being 51:52 whipped by an iguana. 51:54 Also, to ensure a fast escape, they can detach their tail and 51:59 later grow another one. 52:01 Iguanas generally like to live around water. 52:04 And they can swim away, escaping from predators. 52:06 Green iguanas in particular are excellent swimmers. 52:10 They have the ability to inflate themselves and swim 52:12 incredible distances. 52:15 This is one way they've been able to populate the different 52:17 islands of the Caribbean. 52:19 What's incredible is these creatures have lungs where 52:22 they're able to hold their breath for up to 28 minutes, 52:26 putting even a crocodile to shame. 52:28 They also know how to compensate for when things get hot or cold. 52:32 They can regulate their body temperature using the loose 52:35 flaps of skin they have under their throats and under 52:38 their legs. 52:40 You might even say an iguana has ESP because God made them with 52:43 sort of a third eye on top of their head. 52:46 They can't really see with it, but it's a photoreceptor that 52:49 helps them to regulate their body's circadian rhythms. 52:53 You know, in the same way that God made iguanas where they're 52:56 some of the toughest creatures in God's natural kingdom, 52:59 Christians need to learn to be resilient in the 53:01 spiritual realm. 53:03 Through God's grace, we can learn to be great survivors. 53:05 Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 8 and 9, "We are hard 53:09 pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but 53:13 not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but 53:17 not destroyed." 53:20 I think, friends, we all know sometimes life can be tough. 53:23 We feel like we're being beaten, pressed on every side. 53:26 Sometimes, it's health problems, relationship problems, 53:30 financial reverses. 53:32 But in the same way God made the iguana resilient, God can help 53:34 you to bounce back. 53:37 Jesus said that through His help, we can be overcomers and 53:40 we are able to endure. 53:42 If you turn to Him and ask Him for His help and His Spirit, He 53:45 will recreate you and make you even tougher than an iguana. 53:48 Wouldn't you like to ask Him now? 53:52 ♪♪♪ 53:58 male announcer: Amazing Facts, Changed Lives. 54:07 male: I met my ex-wife, and her family were real big into drugs. 54:10 And it started out with them wanting me to go to the doctor 54:14 to help get them drugs. 54:16 And you know, I'm noticing they're going to the doctor, 54:18 they're coming back with like 60 pills, and they're selling these 54:21 pills for like $1,000. 54:23 And I'm thinking, "Wow, this is a lot of money I'm giving these 54:26 people, so I'm just going to start selling it myself." 54:29 My problem with that was that we had all this money, but we was 54:33 absolutely miserable. 54:35 She would go out and sleep with other guys to get drugs, and 54:39 that ended my marriage. 54:41 But during this time, I have to get a job to build back up to 54:44 where I was at to open my shop again. 54:46 So, I get a job at Food City. 54:49 And when I get this job at Food City, there's my wife now, 54:52 Rebecca, she's a cashier there. 54:54 And when I walk in, she's the most beautiful girl I've ever 54:57 seen in my life. 54:59 I was like, "Man, I could never have a girl like that. 55:02 Wow, she's so beautiful." 55:04 But as I'm working with her, she's actually kind of mean to 55:07 me, and she's saying, "I don't want anything to do with you. 55:10 Get away from me," stuff like that. 55:13 But you know, I just keep being nice to her and keep trying to 55:16 give her my phone number. 55:18 And it's around Christmas Eve, we'd just been dating for a 55:21 little while and moved in together. 55:23 My ex-wife shows up with my three children that I had 55:26 by her. 55:28 And she's like, "Here's your kids. 55:30 Here's their birth certificates. 55:32 Here's their Social Security cards. 55:34 I'm done." 55:35 And we're starting a family, we already have three kids. 55:38 During this time, we spent the next year watching nothing but 55:40 "Amazing Facts" on YouTube. 55:43 I didn't even know they even had a website at this time, I just 55:45 knew that this little guy on YouTube was super smart, was 55:48 teaching Bible, and I wanted to follow him, I wanted to be 55:52 a Christian. 55:54 I gave my life to God now because of these truths that I'm 55:56 learning from Doug Batchelor. 55:58 Just because Doug taught it didn't make me real sure about 56:01 going to this church. 56:03 I really didn't want anything to do with it, but I called the guy 56:05 up and I'm telling him, and I'm not very nice about it actually. 56:09 I'm telling him, "Look, we was thinking about coming to 56:11 your church." 56:13 And he's really nice and he's like, "Well, you're more than 56:15 welcome to. 56:17 We'd like to have you come." 56:19 And I'm like, "Well, hold on, I'm going to lay down some 56:21 ground rules." 56:23 I'm telling him, I said, "Look here, I'm covered in tattoos and 56:25 I'm a tattoo artist." 56:27 And he don't say, "Well, you know, wow, I didn't know 56:29 all that. 56:31 Don't come to my church." 56:33 He says, "You're more than welcome. 56:35 We would love to have you. 56:36 Please come." 56:39 He asked me what I want to do and I said, "Well, I want 56:40 to preach." 56:42 I said, "I have all these truths. 56:44 I have all this knowledge, stuff I've never known before, stuff 56:46 if I'd have had when I was younger that would've been life 56:48 changing to me." 56:50 I said, "I got to share this with the world." 56:52 I said, "I want to preach, I want to teach." 56:54 He gives me the book, says, "Study that." 56:56 Well, now that I'm a Bible worker, I'm able to go reach 56:58 people that most of the normal churches wouldn't even bother to 57:02 even speak to. 57:04 I'm able to go out and reach the people who have lived the life 57:07 that I've lived. 57:08 I'm able to let them know that I am like you. 57:11 I've been there, I've done that. 57:14 I want to show you what my life is like now. 57:16 I want to teach you this Bible. 57:18 I want to show you what Jesus can do for you. 57:21 It's not too late. 57:23 ♪♪♪ 57:29 female announcer: Have you ever skipped a meal? 57:31 Not a bad idea if you need to watch your waistline. 57:33 But there's a heavenly food you should never skip, God's Word. 57:36 Yet how can you dive in daily when you're so busy? 57:39 Amazing Facts has you covered, and it's as easy as signing up 57:43 for our daily devotional and verse of the day, both sent 57:46 directly to your inbox, ready to bless, inspire, and inform you. 57:50 To start receiving the Amazing Facts daily devotional and verse 57:53 of the day, visit amazingfacts.org and click on 57:56 Bible study in the main menu. 57:59 You'll be glad you did. 58:02 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-07-30