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00:10 ♪♪ 00:20 ♪♪ 00:29 CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 abercap.com 00:36 Doug Batchelor: Hello friends. 00:37 Welcome to "Sabbath School Study Hour." 00:39 We're glad that you could join us today for the study. 00:41 We're going to be going through a very important lesson. 00:43 We're continuing in our lesson dealing with the subject 00:46 of education, and in a moment, we'll get to our lesson today 00:50 talking about Jesus as the master teacher. 00:53 It's lesson number five, but before we do, we want 00:55 to tell you about a free offer we have today. 00:58 And it's a classic book written by Joe Crews. 01:01 If you've never read this one before, 01:03 you'll really be blessed by it. 01:05 It's called "Christ's Human Nature," and if you'd like 01:08 a free copy of this there's a few ways you can do it. 01:11 One, we can send you one if you call us, 01:13 if you're in North America, 866-788-3966. 01:18 That's 866-788-3966. 01:22 You might say 866-Study-More would be an acronym for that. 01:26 We can text the book to you. 01:28 If you'd like a text, just type in SH017, 01:34 SH017 to 40544. 01:39 And, of course, you can always go to the Amazing Facts website. 01:42 Under our free library you'll find this 01:44 in that bouquet of materials there. 01:47 "Christ's Human Nature." 01:48 You'll be blessed if you do. 01:50 And before we have our prayer, I just want to remind you 01:54 about something very exciting that's coming up. 01:56 Matter of fact, it's going to be engaged 01:58 by the time this broadcasts. 02:00 And we got--our broadcast here happens two different ways. 02:03 One, it's going out live a little in advance of when 02:07 the rest of the country studies it, 02:08 and then it's rebroadcast on the day of. 02:11 Well, there is an event that begins October 23. 02:15 For some of you that are watching the replay of this, 02:17 it's probably already started, and it's on "Revelation Now." 02:20 It's a special, global, evangelistic broadcast 02:24 where we're going to be talking about some of the most important 02:27 themes of prophecy during one of the most important times 02:29 to do public evangelism. 02:32 Right now, with all that's happening in the world 02:34 with the natural disasters and the pandemics 02:37 and the social and political unrest, people are wondering, 02:41 "What in the world is going on?" 02:42 Well, the Bible has those answers, 02:44 and you've got friends and neighbors that would 02:46 like to know more about this, and so simply encourage them 02:50 to go to the website, revelationnow.com. 02:54 That's easy, revelationnow.com. 02:57 It's a free program. 02:58 Everybody can participate in their home and in their church, 03:02 and you will be blessed. 03:03 You can be involved in leading other souls to Christ. 03:06 And, by the way, for those 03:07 that participate in the "Revelation Now" program, 03:11 if you register and join the groups, you will find people 03:15 in your area that are also participating. 03:19 And we can give you information on how you can follow up 03:22 interests that are connecting with the program, 03:24 that are in your ZIP code or in your district 03:27 so that they can ultimately be part of God's church. 03:31 And so, once again, go to revelationnow.com, 03:34 and you can watch online. 03:36 It will be here on "Amazing Facts TV" via Facebook, 03:39 be on 3ABN, and other opportunities, 03:43 and so we hope that you'll be blessed by that. 03:45 October 23 to November 14. 03:49 All right, with that I think it's time we pray 03:51 and get into today's study. 03:53 Loving Lord, we just thank You again for the gift You gave us 03:56 in Your Word and the gift You gave us in Jesus 04:00 who is the living Word. 04:02 And as we focus our attention on Him today and His example 04:05 to us as a teacher, I pray that we can all be edified 04:09 and learn and follow. 04:10 And we pray this in Jesus's name, amen. 04:14 All right, well, today we're dealing with the subject 04:16 in our lesson on education. 04:19 We're looking at Jesus as the great educator, 04:21 and we have a memory verse that comes to us from 2 Corinthians 04:24 4, verse 6, and it says, "For this is God who commanded light 04:29 to shine out of darkness, who has shone forth in our hearts 04:33 to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory 04:35 of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 04:40 The only way that you and I can behold the Father is really 04:43 as it is reflected in the life and teachings of Jesus. 04:46 Jesus came as a reflection of the Father, 04:49 and I should probably begin by just laying out some simple 04:54 but important truths. 04:55 Christ came principally for three reasons. 04:57 One, He came to show us what the Father is like, 05:01 and we'll get into those 05:02 Scriptures more in just a moment. 05:04 Two, He came as--to give us an example 05:07 that we should live as He lived. 05:09 He teaches us not only about what God is like. 05:12 He teaches us how we should live for and love each other. 05:17 And the third reason, He came as a sacrifice, 05:19 our substitute, to die in our place, 05:22 and each of us then must accept Him as our sacrifice, 05:26 and then we study Him as our example and our demonstration 05:31 of who the Father is. 05:32 So, with that in mind, let's talk a little bit about how 05:36 was Jesus a great teacher. 05:37 How did He teach? What was His method? 05:40 Well, for one thing--this is not in your lesson, 05:42 but I thought I wanted to start out with this. 05:46 Jesus astonished His students. 05:51 You know, I think it's so important 05:53 for teachers out there. 05:55 Keep your students engaged. Yeah, keep their attention. 06:00 That doesn't mean you need to resort to silly antics to do it, 06:04 unless there's a good lesson in it, 06:06 but I struggled through school, I've just got to tell you. 06:09 And one of the big problems I had when I was in school 06:12 is every now and then I had some boring teachers, 06:16 and, you know, I learned to hold my breath 06:19 for four minutes and ten seconds. 06:22 You can do it. 06:23 People who hold the records, I think it's like 16 minutes. 06:25 People can hold their breath much longer than that, 06:27 but most people, after a minute, they're ready to pass out. 06:30 But I can hold my breath for four minutes and ten seconds, 06:34 and one of the ways I learned doing 06:36 that is I was so bored in class. 06:38 There was this big Wes clock on the wall. 06:41 I'd wait for it to get to where it buzzed me on to the next 06:43 class so I could get through the school day I was enduring, 06:48 and I'd just see--I'd hyperventilate and see how long 06:51 I could hold my breath, just for something to do. 06:53 I'd count the ceiling tiles because sometimes 06:55 the teachers were so difficult to listen to. 06:58 You know, if you're going to be a teacher, be interesting. 07:00 The Bible says Jesus astonished His students, 07:05 and one way that you do that is when people hear the truth 07:08 for the first time it's amazing. 07:09 That's why I like the name "Amazing Facts." 07:12 Right away, people say, "I want to hear something amazing. 07:14 I want to be amazed." 07:15 And the word "astonished" here, it actually means 07:18 in the original--it means shocked, amazed, struck. 07:23 And when they heard Him teach--let me give you 07:26 a few verses that help illustrate this. 07:29 Luke 4:32, "And they were astonished at His teaching, 07:34 for His Word was with authority." 07:36 Jesus taught with conviction. 07:38 You know, sometimes you hear people teach, 07:40 and they go, "Well, you know, it could mean this, 07:43 and it could mean that. 07:44 Nobody really knows exactly what it means." 07:46 And that doesn't leave you with anything definitive to hang 07:49 your faith on, so there needs to be a teaching with conviction. 07:52 You read similar verse after He gives the Sermon 07:55 on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7. 07:57 Jesus says in verse 28, "And so it was, 08:00 when Jesus had ended these sayings, 08:03 the people were astonished at His teaching, 08:06 for He taught them as one having authority, 08:09 not as the scribes." 08:11 No, the scribes didn't teach with authority. 08:13 I think that if you're going to be a teacher, 08:15 a Bible teacher, if you're teaching on any kind of subject, 08:20 don't be wishy-washy about it. 08:22 Teach with authority. Teach with conviction. 08:24 Put yourself in what you're teaching so that people know 08:29 that you really believe what it is that you're actually saying. 08:33 So, He taught them, and they were astonished 08:36 because it was so unusual. 08:37 Another reason we know that Jesus was an interesting 08:40 teacher, how many times was it that Christ taught all day long? 08:45 And the Bible tells us that He said, 08:46 "Look, we need to send the people away to eat, 08:49 because they haven't eaten all day." 08:50 They'd sit and listen to Him for hours, 08:52 and yet most churches where I preach or teach, 08:56 I know if I go a little long I can see the body language 08:59 of the people out there listening. 09:01 And they start kind of looking around, 09:02 and they start--they try to--you know, 09:04 and I've done it before myself. 09:06 They try to find graceful ways to look at their watch 09:07 without looking like they're looking at their watch, 09:10 and so they kind of take their hand and slip it 09:12 upon their sleeve, and look down, wondering, 09:15 "How long is this going to be? 09:16 Well, he's going long. 09:18 Dinner is going to be cold when we get home." 09:24 But Jesus's teaching was so engaging, 09:26 people lost track of time. 09:29 You've probably heard some good storytellers before. 09:33 That they can just keep you on the edge of your seat 09:35 indefinitely, or you maybe heard a good sermon or something 09:40 where you just can't wait to hear more in a series. 09:44 Well, when we teach we want to follow the pattern of Jesus 09:47 and be an interesting teacher. 09:50 That means you may need to look around for some sermon 09:53 illustrations that provide windows into the subject, 09:56 help people to see what you're saying. 09:59 If you quote--and I do this a lot, I know. 10:01 If you just quote one verse after another, 10:03 people's eyes can tend to glaze over. 10:05 But if you create pictures for them to see while 10:09 you're teaching, a lot of people think in pictures. 10:11 Help them to see what you're saying. 10:14 Seeing is a very important part of teaching the gospel. 10:18 The Bible tells us that Paul saw the Lord, 10:22 that Zacchaeus wanted to see the Lord. 10:25 That the thief crucified with Christ, 10:27 that was saved, he saw the Lord, and so we need to be able 10:30 to help people see the message. 10:33 You're looking in Matthew chapter 13, verse 54. 10:37 "When He had come into His own country, 10:39 He taught them in the synagogue," taught them 10:42 in their synagogue, "so they were astonished, 10:45 and they said, 'Where did this man get this wisdom 10:47 and these mighty works?'" 10:50 Astonished again. 10:52 Look in John chapter 7, verse 45. 10:55 "Then the officers came to the chief priests and the Pharisees, 10:58 who said to them, 'Why have you not brought Him?'" 11:00 See, the chief priests and Pharisees sent the temple guard, 11:03 and they said, "Go arrest Him." 11:05 They didn't want to do it themselves because 11:06 they were afraid of the mob, so they sent the temple guard. 11:09 Well, the temple guard stood on the outside of the crowd, 11:11 and they listened to Jesus teach. 11:13 They thought, "We'll arrest Him at the end of His sermon." 11:16 But as they were listening, 11:17 they just could not bring themselves to arrest Him. 11:19 Why? 11:20 They said, "Why haven't you arrested Him?" 11:22 They said, "No man ever spoke like this man," and so there 11:27 was definitely something powerful about the teachings 11:30 of Jesus, and, of course, 11:31 we have those teachings in the gospel. 11:34 I sure wish I could hear an audio tape and, 11:37 of course, I understood Aramaic, but I wish I could hear 11:40 an audiotape of Jesus and hear His voice, 11:44 hear the inflection, hear the melody, 11:47 hear the resonance of how He taught, 11:49 because, you know, a lot of what happens when you're teaching 11:53 is not just the words. 11:55 It's in the tone. 11:56 It's even the body language, what's happening visually 12:00 when a person's teaching that says a lot. 12:03 And I look forward in heaven to asking my angel to take me 12:05 to the video library so I can say, "I want to see the videos 12:10 of Jesus teaching and how He could keep thousands of people 12:13 spellbound all day long, hanging on every word." 12:17 Even the children were not distracted. 12:20 They were keyed in on what He was saying. 12:23 "Never a man spoke like this man." 12:26 All right, so one of the principal things that Jesus 12:28 did as a teacher is He came to reveal the Father, 12:31 and when we are teaching, of course, 12:36 we want to be revealing Christ, and in revealing Christ 12:39 we're revealing the Father. 12:41 In John chapter 1, verse 18, "No one has seen God at any time. 12:48 The only begotten Son, who's in the bosom of the Father, 12:52 He has declared Him." 12:53 Now, the reason this issue is so important 12:57 is because the world doesn't know God. 13:02 Eternal life comes from knowing God. 13:05 The Bible tells us, "This is life eternal," John chapter 17, 13:08 "that they might know thee, the only true God, 13:11 and Jesus Christ whom You've sent." 13:13 What will Jesus say to the lost? 13:15 "I don't know you." 13:17 And the world has a terrible misconception of God. 13:20 Now, there is--some people view God as a policeman up in the sky 13:27 with a billy club, and He's waiting for us to do something 13:30 wrong so He can thump us. 13:31 Or they view Him like an angry Greek god that is just watching 13:36 so that He can be entertained by zapping us with lightning, 13:39 or sending us through trial and tragedy so that it could 13:42 entertain Him and keep Him interested. 13:45 Or then there's the opposite extreme. 13:47 Some think that God is sort of a heavenly Santa Claus, 13:50 like a grandfather that you can do no wrong. 13:53 They don't see Him as a just King. 13:56 And even in the church, there's a lot of people out there 13:58 that have terrible misconceptions of God. 14:01 Not understanding who God is, yeah, 14:05 it can lead to not knowing Him and not being ready 14:08 for His coming. 14:09 We need to know who He is. 14:12 Jesus came to clear up the misconceptions about who God is, 14:18 to show us in word and in deed and in action what God is like. 14:25 You know, sometimes I'm frustrated because I meet 14:28 people, and they say, "You know, I like the God 14:31 of the New Testament, but I don't care much 14:32 for the God of the Old Testament." 14:34 And I'm always amazed by that because I say, 14:36 "They're the same God." 14:38 They say, "Oh, well, in the Old Testament you've got plagues 14:41 and blood and fire. 14:43 In the New Testament you got Jesus's love 14:45 and mercy and forgiveness." 14:47 And I say, "Wait a second now. 14:48 In the Old Testament you've got God's love." 14:51 He says, "My mercies are new every day. 14:54 I love you with an everlasting love." 14:56 And in the New Testament, go to Revelation, 14:58 you got blood and fire and plagues, 15:00 and so it is the same God. 15:03 That's why Jesus said--well, let me read it to you here. 15:07 Revealing the Father. 15:08 John 14, verse 6, and I'll be reading through verse 11. 15:12 "I am the way, the truth, and the life. 15:15 No one comes to the Father except through Me. 15:18 If you had known Me--" 15:20 Notice the emphasis on "knowing Me." 15:22 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father," 15:25 so that's the key right now. 15:26 If we know Jesus, you will know the Father, 15:28 'cause They're the same. 15:29 Christ is a mirror image. They are one of the Father. 15:33 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; 15:36 and from now on you know Him because you've seen Him." 15:40 And they don't know what He's saying. 15:42 Christ is saying, "If you've seen Me, 15:43 you've seen the Father." 15:45 "Philip said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father, 15:47 and it's sufficient for us.'" 15:49 Now, there's nothing wrong really with what Philip's 15:52 saying, because after all, what did Moses say? 15:55 What was that audacious prayer of Moses? 15:59 He said, "Lord, let me see Your glory." 16:01 And God said, "Well, no man can see My face and live." 16:05 And so, for those in the Bible where it says they saw the Lord, 16:08 they probably did not look into the unveiled, 16:11 undiminished glory of God the Father, 16:14 because people have seen the glory of the Son, 16:17 but no man has seen the unveiled glory of the Father. 16:19 There are times when Michael, Christ in His pre-incarnate 16:26 position, he appeared, when Joshua knelt down before 16:31 the commander of the Lord, and when Jacob wrestled, 16:34 and when Manoah and his wife, the parents of Samson, 16:38 they said, "We've seen God. 16:39 We're going to die." 16:41 Well, they probably saw God the Son, 16:42 who veiled His glory in some way, 16:45 but no man has seen the Father at any time. 16:48 The best we can do is to look at the Father through Christ. 16:53 I remember several times-- you ever seen an eclipse? 16:56 Well, you can't stare into the sun in an eclipse. 16:59 It's very bad for your eyes. 17:01 You can injure your eyes. 17:02 But I remember even as a kid in New York City, 17:05 we had a comparatively clear day, 17:07 and there was an eclipse, and we went to Central Park. 17:09 And our teacher told us how to make a pinhole in a piece 17:15 of cardboard, and then we had a piece of paper, 17:20 and we let the light of the sun shine through that pinhole 17:23 on the piece of paper. 17:25 Held it at a certain distance, and you could see the moon 17:28 moving across the sun through that little pinhole. 17:33 We couldn't look directly into the undiminished glory 17:35 of the sun, or we couldn't handle it. 17:37 You'd be injured. 17:39 But we can look through the reflection, 17:41 and this is sort of what Jesus did. 17:43 He came kind of like--when I used to weld--I used to do a lot 17:48 of welding, and when you use an arc welder it's a very bright 17:52 light, and it will hurt your eyes. 17:53 And so, they got a special lens you wear on your helmet. 17:56 The helmet is partly to keep the sparks 17:57 from burning off your hair. 17:59 No, that's not what happened to mine, 18:00 but you've got the sparks, keeps you from burning you. 18:03 But then, there's that little tinted--it's like hyper-powered 18:06 sunglass that shields your eyes. 18:09 You can look at it, but you have to look at it through 18:11 this special filter, or it will just burn your eyes. 18:14 Christ came to basically filter down the glory of God 18:19 so we could see God. 18:20 We could handle it. 18:21 That's why Paul says when it gets--you finally do get 18:24 to heaven in your glorified body and your glorified eyes, 18:27 says then we will see His face. 18:30 And that's why Paul says the eye has not seen, 18:33 the ear has not heard the things that God has prepared for those 18:36 that love Him, because in our earthly condition 18:38 we couldn't handle the glory. 18:39 So, "God so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son, 18:44 that whoever believes in Him might not perish, 18:47 but have everlasting life." 18:48 We can see what God is like through Jesus, 18:52 so Philip says, "Lord, show us the Father." 18:55 Like Moses, "I want to see Your glory." 18:58 And Jesus said, "Have I been with you this long 19:01 and you've not known Me, Philip?" 19:03 He calls him by name. There's tenderness there. 19:06 "He who has seen Me has seen the Father; 19:09 so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 19:12 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, 19:15 and the Father is in Me? 19:16 The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own 19:19 authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 19:24 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, 19:28 or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." 19:32 When we are moved by the Spirit, when we look at the Son, 19:36 we are seeing the Father, because the Father, 19:38 the Son, and the Spirit, hear, O Israel, 19:41 the Lord our God is one. 19:42 They are perfectly united. 19:44 They're interconnected, and so their characters-- 19:47 there's no conflict in their characters. 19:49 And so, when the Spirit speaks to us, 19:51 when Jesus speaks to us, when we behold Them, 19:53 we see the Father. 19:55 And then, He says, "Believe that I'm in the Father, 19:57 the Father in Me, or believe Me for the sakes 20:00 of the works themselves." 20:03 Look in 2 Corinthians 4:6, and this is, of course, 20:07 our memory verse. 20:08 "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, 20:12 who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge 20:17 of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 20:21 There's a light of God that shines 20:24 in our hearts through Christ. 20:25 We can actually experience the Father in our hearts. 20:29 And if you look in Colossians 1:15, 20:32 "He is the image of the invisible God, 20:35 the firstborn over all creation," still talking about 20:41 the image of the invisible God. 20:42 The firstborn over all creation. Jesus is the image of God. 20:46 Now, we're not supporting idolatry or making images, 20:50 but Christ is the reflection of what God is like. 20:54 And if you look at it in Hebrews chapter 1, 20:57 verse 2 and 3, it says, "God has in these last days spoken 21:02 to us by His Son, whom He's appointed heir of all things, 21:07 through whom also He made the worlds." 21:09 That's an interesting verse, 21:11 'cause it says He not only made all things, 21:13 He made other worlds, it's plural there. 21:16 "Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image 21:21 of His person--" 21:24 And so Jesus is the express image 21:26 of the person of God. 21:28 So, when you talk about the Holy Spirit, 21:30 He's a little difficult to describe. 21:32 Holy Spirit's got--you know, He's sometimes portrayed 21:37 as fire, wind, dove, water, these ethereal forces. 21:43 And so, when I say picture Jesus, 21:46 you get a picture in your mind, and depending on the paintings 21:49 that you saw when you were growing up, 21:50 probably one of those will drop into your mental picture. 21:54 When I say picture the Father, typically people picture 21:57 the Father with a body with arms and legs and a head 22:01 and eyes and a mouth, often a beard. 22:04 I've never heard anybody say, "I pictured God the Father, 22:07 and He didn't have a beard." 22:08 It's just hard to picture God the Father shaving, you know? 22:11 So, He's got a beard, and He's often sitting on His throne, 22:16 not so much walking around, but He's got a body. 22:19 And so, Christ is the express image of the Father. 22:22 We do believe that we were made in the image of God, 22:24 and we were made with bodies, and there's probably 22:27 a lot of similarity between our body and that of Adam 22:30 and that of God, and so Christ is a reflection of that. 22:35 "Express image of His person, and upholding--" 22:37 Still in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 2 and 3, and it says, 22:43 "Upholding all things by the word of His power, 22:46 when He had by Himself purged our sins. 22:49 He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." 22:53 And then, if you look in John 12, verse 44. 22:56 "Then Jesus cried out and said, 'He who believes in Me is not 23:01 in Me but in Him who sent Me. 23:03 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me." 23:07 How could that be more clear? 23:09 That if you see Jesus, you're seeing the Father. 23:12 Sometimes people have a misconception, 23:14 talking about the misconceptions about God, 23:17 that God is the angry judge. 23:19 He's up in heaven, He's sitting at His judicial bar, 23:21 and He's got a great big wooden mallet in His hand, 23:25 and He's just waiting to slam the mallet down and say, 23:27 "Guilty, guilty, execute him." 23:30 And Jesus is the loving God. 23:31 He's up there, and He spreads out His nail-pierced hands. 23:33 He's pleading with the Father, "Father, please don't be angry. 23:36 Forgive them for My sake." 23:38 "Oh, all right, if you insist." 23:39 And so, it's almost got the picture of God the Father 23:42 is the angry one, and God the Son is the one who's 23:46 the merciful one pleading for us, 23:48 but that's the wrong picture. 23:50 Jesus said God so loved the world He sent His son, 23:54 and Jesus said the Father Himself loves you, 23:58 so Jesus is a reflection of the love of God for us. 24:01 And not only is God a good judge. 24:04 He is a just King and a Judge. 24:06 Jesus is also going to be a judge, 24:09 and the Bible talks about the wrath of the Lamb. 24:12 So, people often focus on just the mercy of Jesus 24:16 and the justice of the Father, but you've got the justice 24:18 of Jesus and the mercy of the Father. 24:20 You've got both of Them because They're the same. 24:23 They both have all those characteristics of being loving, 24:26 longsuffering, meek, merciful, just. 24:31 There is judgment, there is wrath, 24:34 and there's ultimate punishment. 24:37 They both have all those characteristics that you see, 24:40 and Jesus came to reflect that. 24:43 And you read, of course, in John, 24:45 the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 14, 24:48 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 24:51 and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten 24:55 of the Father, full of grace and truth." 24:59 And so, we see that God the Father is full of grace 25:01 and truth, and that's reflected in Jesus, God the Son. 25:06 You know, there's a good quote in the book "Education" 25:10 by E.G. White on the subject. 25:12 It says, "Everything Jesus did in His life 25:15 on Earth had a single purpose: 25:18 the revelation of God for the uplifting of humanity." 25:23 In a little bit we're going to be doing that "Revelation Now" 25:25 program, and the first words in the book of Revelation are 25:29 "the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him." 25:33 And so, the whole book begins by saying, 25:35 "This is a revelation of Christ, and Christ is a revelation 25:38 of the Father," and so says that there in that quote. 25:44 You know, there's a touching story 25:48 that's given in the lesson. 25:50 When Billy Graham was going through a hospital, 25:52 it was a field hospital during one of the overseas wars, 25:56 and came to visit the troops, 25:58 and he's getting a tour with a general. 26:01 And they pass by one particular soldier who is in very grave 26:06 condition, and he must stay on his stomach, 26:09 and he's in a metal contraption. 26:11 And he's been severely injured, and he's kind of in traction, 26:14 and he can only look down below the canvas that's holding him. 26:21 And when he hears that the general is walking by, 26:24 he said, "General, I'd like to see your face." 26:26 He said, "I'd like to see who it is I've been fighting for." 26:29 Well, the only way the general could talk to him was he had 26:31 to get on his hands and knees and scooted underneath 26:34 the soldier's contraption that was holding him 26:38 and looked up into his face. 26:39 And Billy Graham said he saw a tear fall from the soldier's 26:43 eyes on the face of the general. 26:45 He stayed under there, and he talked to the soldier. 26:48 And Jesus did that. 26:50 He showed compassion on us, and He got down 26:53 so that we could see His face. 26:55 You know, someday we'll be in heaven. 26:57 We'll see the face of the Father. 26:58 God Himself will be with us. 27:00 We've been separated from God by sin, 27:02 but that's the purpose of the plan of salvation. 27:05 When you read about Michael in the Bible, 27:07 the archangel, people wonder, "Who is he? 27:10 Is he the same as Gabriel, just a different angel?" 27:14 People often get confused about this and, 27:16 you know, in the church, some of the churches, 27:18 they say you got a angel called Michael, 27:19 and you got an angel called Gabriel. 27:21 Then, you got an angel called Raphael. 27:22 Raphael is not mentioned in the Bible, 27:24 but in the Catholic Church they've got Raphael thrown 27:26 in there somehow. 27:27 But Michael in the Bible is called the archangel. 27:31 Most of the Protestant theologians believe 27:33 this is really--this is the captain of the Lord's army. 27:37 It is a pre-incarnation name for Christ. 27:41 No, Jesus is not an angel. We don't believe that. 27:43 We believe Jesus is the perfect Son of God. 27:47 He is equal with the Son of God, but the word "angel" 27:50 simply means "messenger," and the primary messenger 27:54 to our Earth is Christ that God sent. 27:58 And now, let me give you some proof for that. 28:00 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, "The Lord Himself will descend 28:04 from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel," 28:07 the Lord with the voice of the archangel. 28:10 The Bible tells us in Daniel chapter 12, 28:12 "At that time Michael will stand up, 28:15 the great prince that stands for the children of thy people." 28:17 Who is our great Prince of princes that stands 28:20 on our behalf? 28:21 That's Christ. 28:22 You read in the book of Jude, verse 9. 28:24 It says then Michael, when disputing with the devil over 28:27 the body of Jesus, he comes to resurrect Moses-- 28:31 not the body of Jesus, the body of Moses. 28:34 He comes to resurrect Moses. 28:36 And he says, "The Lord rebuke thee." 28:37 Same words that Jesus spoke to the devil in the wilderness, 28:41 and so he comes to resurrect. 28:42 Jesus is the resurrection. 28:44 So, when you look at the characteristics of Michael 28:48 in the Bible, the few times he appears, 28:49 he is usually--it's a term that describes 28:52 the pre-incarnate Christ, the great messenger of God. 28:56 And then you go to Revelation, 28:58 and you got the head of all evil. 29:00 It says the dragon. 29:01 Now, the dragon is a symbolic name for the devil. 29:04 It's a symbolic name in Revelation. 29:06 He fights Michael, and his angels fight. 29:09 Well, if the word "dragon" is a symbolic name, 29:11 we shouldn't be surprised if the word "Michael" is a symbolic 29:14 name for the greatest power of good, which is Christ. 29:19 So, yes, many of the Protestant scholars believe that--people 29:23 like Adam Clarke and Matthew Henry and others-- 29:26 they believe Michael is just really a name 29:28 for the pre-incarnate Jesus. 29:31 In Matthew 11, verse 27, "All things have been delivered to Me 29:36 by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father," 29:40 meaning no one on Earth really knows the Son, 29:42 except the Father. 29:44 "Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, 29:47 and the one to whom the Son will reveal Him." 29:51 And so, Jesus came to reveal the Father to us. 29:55 How do we get that revelation? 29:58 Through constant association with Him. 30:00 We'll be talking about this later in our sermon today 30:03 when we talk about abiding in Christ. 30:05 John 5:37, "And the Father Himself, 30:10 who sent Me, has testified of Me. 30:13 And you have neither heard His voice at any time, 30:16 nor seen His form." 30:17 Now, there again you've got those verses that remind us 30:20 no man has seen God the Father, but Jesus, 30:24 who is the Son, He came to reveal Him. 30:27 And Christ is the revelation, of course, of God. 30:31 John 17, verse 20, "I do not pray for these alone, 30:36 but also for those who will believe in Me 30:38 through their word; that they may be one, 30:41 as You, Father, are in Me--" 30:43 Now, there is an important truth, 30:45 that God the Father was in Christ, 30:48 reconciling the world to Himself. 30:50 "You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; 30:53 that they also may be one in Us, that the world might believe 30:57 that You sent Me." 30:58 Now, how important is it for us to understand who the Father is? 31:01 Says that "the world might believe that You sent Me." 31:05 It's through seeing the Father in the Son, knowing who God is. 31:10 "And the glory that You gave Me I have given them, 31:13 that they may be one just as We are one." 31:16 That's a pretty tall order. 31:18 The oneness that the Father and the Son experience, 31:21 through the Holy Spirit in us we can experience with God 31:24 the Father and the Son. 31:25 Wow, don't you want that experience? 31:28 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, 31:34 and that the world may know that You have sent Me, 31:38 and that You've loved them and You've loved Me." 31:40 So just picture for a second here. 31:41 You've got this raspberry juice, 31:45 and you've got this blueberry juice. 31:48 And you pour the raspberry juice into the blueberry juice, 31:51 and now you've got a new berry cocktail when you have those 31:54 two things, the Father and the Son in one. 31:56 But then, you take the water, that's us, 31:59 and you pour it in, and all of a sudden it takes on 32:02 all the characteristics of the raspberries and the blueberries. 32:06 And so, you've got God in Christ, 32:08 and then They are together. 32:10 They are one, but when we are 32:11 in Christ we are also in the Father. 32:14 We get in the mixture. 32:15 We get all the sweetness and the nutrients of that relationship. 32:20 So, there's another great quote from the book "Education," page 32:24 74 through 76, and it said, 32:27 "Christ came to restore this knowledge. 32:30 He came to set aside the false teachings by which those 32:34 who claim to know God had misrepresented Him. 32:37 And He came to manifest the nature of His law and to reveal 32:41 His own character-- in His own character 32:43 the beauty of holiness." 32:46 Christ came to tell something about the beauty 32:48 and the holiness of God and His character. 32:51 All right, moving on. 32:54 We're going to talk now about reading the Master's-Teacher's 32:58 mind, reading into the mind of the Master Teacher. 33:02 If you look in Philippians chapter 2, verse 5, 33:05 "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ 33:08 Jesus, who, being in the form of God, 33:12 did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 33:15 but made Himself of no reputation." 33:18 So, He said, you know, He was fully equal with God. 33:21 He's in the form of God. 33:23 Wasn't robbery for him to compare himself with God. 33:25 He said, "Before Abraham was, I am." 33:28 He said that He is like the self-existent One. 33:32 But, "He made Himself of no reputation, 33:36 taking the form of a bondservant, 33:38 and coming in the likeness of men." 33:40 So, having the Teacher's mind. 33:42 When we have Christ in us, while we might have an experience 33:46 of God, we're not to act like God in being domineering, 33:50 but we're to have a spirit of meekness as Jesus did. 33:54 Jesus came. He said, 33:55 "Look, I'm your teacher. 33:56 I'm your Lord and Master, yet I'm kneeling down. 33:58 I'm washing your feet, so if I, your Lord and Master, 34:01 have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet." 34:05 Said, "I did not come to rule." 34:07 Jesus did not come to domineer. 34:09 He didn't come to boss us around. 34:11 He said, "I've come as one to serve," and so we should 34:14 be servants as Jesus was. 34:16 And then something else that we learn about Jesus 34:19 is the style of His teaching. 34:21 Jesus was what you would call-- 34:24 He used the Socratic method of teaching. 34:27 Now, that phrase most of you know. 34:29 The Socratic method of teaching is based on that ancient Greek 34:33 philosopher Socrates, who was famous 34:36 for teaching his students by asking questions. 34:40 And from all we read about Socrates, 34:42 he was a good man. 34:44 He basically died for not accepting the pantheon of Greek 34:47 gods, and he said we should spend our time 34:51 in seeking after God, our lives. 34:54 And, you know, they made him drink hemlock, 34:56 but he was famous for teaching his students by asking the right 35:01 questions to draw out answers and teaching them to think 35:04 for themselves and how to arrive at the right conclusions. 35:08 Now, it's not that Jesus learned this from Socrates, 35:11 but I think probably the Spirit of God, 35:13 of Christ taught this to Socrates, 35:16 because all knowledge comes from God, really. 35:19 But Jesus used this method of asking questions to teach 35:23 and let me give you an example. 35:26 And he started young in doing this. 35:28 Luke chapter 2, verse 45, "So when they didn't find Him--" 35:32 They're coming--this is after--Jesus was 12 years old. 35:36 He went to the Passover with His family, 35:38 and when the Passover was over all the family 35:41 got in the procession, started heading back north, 35:43 up towards Nazareth. 35:45 And in the process, after a couple of days, 35:46 they noticed, "We haven't seen Jesus." 35:48 Oh, He was 12, you know, and He's pretty responsible, 35:51 and they weren't worried about Him, 35:52 but after two days they didn't see Him, 35:53 then they really started to fret. 35:55 They turned around, they backtracked, 35:57 and they couldn't find Him anywhere. 35:58 And they asked everybody and finally they all went back 36:00 to the place where they last saw Him in the temple. 36:04 And there He was, and it says, "Now when after three days they 36:10 found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, 36:14 both listening to them and," here's this precocious 36:19 12-year-old genius, "asking them questions." 36:24 And He was probably asking questions that would evoke 36:27 answers, and He was teaching somewhat through these 36:30 questions, because as a 12-year-old you wouldn't 36:32 want to dare say, "Listen up, sit up, pay attention, 36:34 I'm going to teach you, you Pharisees, something," 36:36 so He did it meekly in the form of a question. 36:40 "And all who heard Him were astonished." 36:42 There you've got His astonished teaching again. 36:44 "All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding 36:47 and His answers." 36:48 So, He's not only asking, he's answering. 36:51 "And when they saw Him, his parents were amazed, 36:53 said, 'Son, why have You done this to us? 36:55 Look, Your father and I have sought You 36:57 sorrowing, anxiously.' 36:59 He said to them, 'Why did you seek Me? 37:01 Did you not know I must be about My Father's business?'" 37:04 There He is again, here reflecting the teaching 37:06 and the business of the Father. 37:09 "But they did not understand the statement 37:11 which He made to them." 37:13 Jesus taught with questions. 37:16 This is part of a good education. 37:17 Matthew 16, verse 13 through 16. 37:21 You know, when I teach-- I do evangelism, 37:24 and I'm probably more of a teacher than a preacher. 37:27 And, of course, depends on what your concept is. 37:29 I know there are some pastors that--they 37:32 kind of romp around the stage and yell and scream 37:36 and wave their arms, and they call that preaching, 37:41 but I think I like to use questions. 37:44 And if you've ever been to one of our evangelistic programs, 37:47 I started using lessons with a question-and-answer format right 37:51 when I entered into evangelism, because if you just sit 37:54 there and drone on you lose people's attention. 37:56 But every time you ask someone a question, 37:59 you grab their attention. 38:00 We're kind of trained by our social lives that when someone 38:03 asks us a question, you've got to redirect your attention 38:06 and tune back in, and so Jesus often did this. 38:09 He asked questions. 38:11 And Matthew chapter 16, verse 13, 38:14 "When they came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, 38:17 He said to His disciples, 'Who do men say that I, 38:20 the Son of Man, am?' 38:22 They said, 'Well, some say John the Baptist, 38:24 some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah 38:26 or one of the prophets.' 38:27 He said, 'But who do you say that I am?'" 38:29 Again, another question. 38:31 "Simon Peter answered and said, 'You're the Christ, 38:33 the Son of the living God.'" 38:35 Was Jesus asking because He didn't know? 38:37 He knows all things. He knew the answer. 38:38 He was asking to draw out their thinking. 38:41 Did they really know who He was? 38:44 And sometimes you need to articulate it. 38:46 He got them to say it. 38:48 In Luke 20, verse 24, Jesus said, "'Show Me a denarius. 38:54 Whose image and inscription does it have?' 38:56 They said, 'Caesar's.'" 38:58 Again, He's going to teach them by asking questions. 39:01 Luke 10:36. 39:02 And I could use a lot of examples of this. 39:04 He said, "So which of these three do you think was neighbor 39:08 to him that fell among thieves?" 39:09 He tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. 39:12 He closes with a question to get them to think. 39:16 They had a hard time admitting that it was the Samaritan 39:18 that was the neighbor. 39:21 Luke 7:42, "And when they had nothing with which to repay, 39:25 he freely forgave them both. 39:27 Tell Me, which of them will love them more?" 39:30 And He poses this question to Simon. 39:32 He's teaching with questions, that's Socratic method. 39:36 Now, let's talk a little bit about--well, wait. 39:39 I want to tell you a story talking about Jesus 39:42 as the Master Teacher. 39:44 I remember hearing this story-- I believe it's true-- 39:47 about years ago, there was a missionary that was going 39:53 to some islands in the Hebrides, and the boat he was on, 40:01 it was caught in a storm, and it was turned over, capsized. 40:08 Well, he was separated from the other three missionaries 40:11 that he was traveling with, 40:13 and they somehow made it into the lifeboat. 40:16 He got a piece of driftwood. 40:18 He ends up floating for a day and a half, 40:20 nearly dying of thirst. 40:22 He's washed up on this island. 40:23 In the process of being washed up on this atoll island, 40:27 he's beaten on the coral by the waves as he comes in. 40:30 He tries with his hands and his feet to walk on the coral 40:33 without cutting himself up too badly, 40:35 and he terribly scars his hands and his feet 40:37 and his side and his head. 40:40 He gets to the island, and he collapses. 40:43 The natives see him, and they're not threatened because 40:45 he's obviously very weak, and they kind of give him 40:47 some coconut water and nurse him back to health, 40:50 and he ends up living with them. 40:54 Takes a while. He learns the language. 40:56 He doesn't have his missionary materials, 40:58 he doesn't have his Bible, but he does his best to show them 41:01 what Jesus was like. 41:03 And so, he has some knowledge of medicine. 41:06 He healed some of their sicknesses. 41:08 He prays for them and many of them are made well. 41:11 As much as he learns their language, 41:12 he tries to demonstrate what the gospel is. 41:16 Well, he lives with them for several years, 41:18 and he goes and he visits the different villages 41:20 that are on this island. 41:23 So, ten years later a boat with three missionaries paddles up 41:27 to this island. 41:29 Lo and behold, it's his companions that had launched 41:31 on this original mission trip with him, 41:34 that were separated in the shipwreck. 41:36 They had ended up landing on another island and after some 41:39 successful work there now 41:40 they're going to outlying islands. 41:42 They come to this island, 41:44 and they've got a translator with them. 41:46 And they assemble the villagers, and the villagers all eagerly 41:48 come down to the shore, and they say, 41:50 "We're going to teach you about the true God." 41:53 And they've got these picture scrolls. 41:55 They've got two or three pictures that they use to try 41:59 to teach about Jesus and the plan of salvation 42:01 with the translator. 42:03 Well, it so happens their friend, 42:04 he's in another village on the other side of the island. 42:07 They don't know that he's there. 42:09 He doesn't know that they're on the same island. 42:12 Well, as they begin to teach about Jesus, 42:15 they finally come to the picture that shows the cross. 42:18 And they're all listening. 42:19 They're going, "Yes, yes, yes," in their native tongue, 42:22 and they seem very interested as they sit with their legs crossed 42:25 on the shore, and they're looking entranced. 42:28 And then, they say, "And Jesus died." 42:34 And these men become very disturbed. 42:36 "And they put Him in a grave." 42:38 And they got really upset, and they began to jabber and chant. 42:42 And the translator says, "They seem very upset. 42:45 They say you're liars." 42:46 And they say, "Well, why do they say that we're liars?" 42:47 They say, "He's not dead. 42:49 He's on the other side of the island." 42:52 Their friend had been living so much like Jesus among them, 42:55 that when the other missionaries came and began to talk to them 42:58 about Jesus, they immediately said, 42:59 "Oh, we know who that is. 43:01 This is our friend, this missionary that has been living 43:05 among us, who's been healing and teaching and loving us." 43:09 He had lived like Christ so much 43:11 that they mistook him for Christ. 43:14 That's what we're supposed to do, 43:15 is as Jesus came to reflect the Father-- 43:17 He says, "As the Father sent Me, so send I you." 43:21 We are to go, then, and we are to reflect God. 43:24 Doug: Yeah, right, here's a question from social media. 43:26 They're asking, "Can we have the same relationship 43:29 with the Father that Jesus had?" 43:32 Well, to say it would be identical would be probably 43:34 presumptuous, but through the Spirit, 43:38 in the same way that we're connected with Christ or Christ 43:41 is connected with the Father, we can be connected with Jesus. 43:44 And Jesus actually says there in John 17, 43:47 "As I am in the Father and the Father is in Me," 43:49 so we are to be in Christ. 43:52 He wants us to have that Spirit-filled experience. 43:56 And isn't that your longing? 43:57 I mean, the greatest longing of my life is to have Christ in me, 44:01 the hope of glory, amen? 44:03 That's what we're all yearning for and longing for. 44:06 Well, I've got a little left and a little time. 44:08 It says, "Jesus is the master teacher and reconciliation." 44:13 Colossians 1:19 through verse 22, 44:16 "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should 44:21 dwell, and that by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, 44:27 by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, 44:29 having made peace through the blood of His cross. 44:33 And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind 44:36 by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled--" 44:39 in spite of how wicked we might have been, He can reconcile us-- 44:42 "in the body of His flesh through His death, 44:45 to present you holy, and blameless, 44:48 and above reproach in His sight." 44:51 Yeah, He can make us one with Him in reconciliation. 44:55 And then, if you look in 2 Corinthians 5:16, 44:57 "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one 45:00 according to the flesh. 45:01 Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, 45:04 and yet now we know Him thus no longer. 45:08 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 45:10 he's a new creation; old things have passed away; 45:13 behold, all things have become new. 45:15 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself 45:19 through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of 45:22 reconciliation, that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world 45:27 to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, 45:30 and He's committed to us a word of reconciliation." 45:33 So, reconciling means, you know, if people are separated. 45:37 A pastor, if he's doing marriage counseling, 45:39 tries to bring reconciliation. 45:41 We were separated from God by our sin. 45:43 Christ came to reconcile us to the Father. 45:46 We, as priests of God, are to be reconciling the world to Christ. 45:51 We do similar work. 45:53 Doug: Question from social media. 45:55 "Is Jesus still teaching us now through the Holy Spirit?" 45:59 Yeah, Christ said, "It's expedient for you that I go 46:01 away, that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, 46:04 might come, and He will lead you into all truth," 46:08 so it is--the Holy Spirit, of course, is glorifying Christ. 46:12 It says, "He, the Spirit, will bring to your remembrance all 46:15 things that I've said." 46:17 And, of course, some of the last words of Jesus is, 46:19 "I will be with you always, even unto the end." 46:23 Well, then, we go to the last section. 46:24 It talks about the Master's-Teacher's first pupils, 46:28 and then here we read about 46:30 the wonderful story of the shepherds who came. 46:33 Now, Christ is--you know, you kind of have to push the idea 46:37 that He personally is teaching, but when He first came into 46:40 the world during the incarnation, people were taught 46:43 by what they saw of Jesus, 46:46 not so much the words He spoke, because he's a child, 46:48 but when He entered the world in that humble state, 46:52 and the angel said to the shepherd, 46:53 "You'll find the babe. 46:55 This is the sign to you: He'll be in a manger." 46:57 Oh, it's a trough for feeding animals. 47:00 It could be wood or it could be stone, 47:02 but I always thought it was interesting that Jesus, 47:04 who is the bread of life, was born in Bethlehem, 47:09 which is the House of Bread, and He came to give us that bread. 47:14 And He's put in a trough that's made for providing bread 47:17 for animals, so it says bread, bread, bread. 47:20 Jesus is the bread of life. 47:22 And then, of course, it's also when He comes to the temple. 47:27 His humility speaks when He was dedicated as a baby, 47:30 the simple, humble way that He came into our world. 47:33 And the wise men came, and they bowed down, 47:36 and they worshiped Him. 47:37 They just worshiped this child king, 47:39 and so He was even teaching by his example when He first 47:42 entered the world as this innocent little infant, 47:47 and He says we must receive the gospel the same way. 47:50 Well, friends, I'm looking at the clock. 47:51 You don't see it, but I see it. 47:53 It says I'm just about out of time. 47:54 If you joined late, I want to remind you about the book, 47:57 free offer, it's called "Christ's Human Nature." 48:00 It really is a classic and a powerful book by Joe Crews. 48:03 You'll be blessed by it. 48:04 You can receive it by calling, in North America, 866-788-3966. 48:10 That's 866-Study-More, or you can text SH017 to 40544. 48:20 God bless, be blessed, and we will look forward to studying 48:22 His Word with you again next week. 48:27 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 48:28 life-changing free resource, 48:31 not only can you receive this free gift in the mail 48:33 you can download a digital copy straight 48:35 to your computer or mobile device. 48:37 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 48:39 simply text the key word on your screen to 40544, 48:43 or visit the web address shown on your screen. 48:46 And be sure to select a digital download option 48:49 on the request page. 48:50 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word 48:53 with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want 48:56 and, most important, to share it with others. 49:02 announcer: Multimillions have been infected 49:04 and thousands have died. 49:05 Race riots are rampant. 49:07 Is this what the end of the world looks like? 49:10 Doug: Hi, friends. 49:11 This is Pastor Doug Batchelor. 49:13 You know, the Bible talks about a global crisis at the end of 49:16 time, and the book of Revelation clearly describes what's ahead. 49:20 I'd like to invite you to watch "Revelation Now," where I'll be 49:23 explaining the relevance of Bible prophecy for today. 49:27 announcer: Beginning October 23. 49:29 Visit revelationnow.com. 49:35 announcer: Amazing facts. 49:37 Changed lives. 49:43 Charlie Green: My life was in turmoil. 49:45 My wife and I were fighting all the time. 49:48 I got away from everything and everybody. 49:50 I don't know. 49:52 I just always had this emptiness in my heart I wanted filled. 49:55 I just felt like I went my whole life, 49:57 you know, just searching for something. 49:59 And when my father died and that ruined me a lot. 50:03 My father didn't believe in suicide, 50:05 and I didn't want to live, but rather than disrespect him 50:09 I decided I would just become so mean and someone else would do 50:12 it to me and I wouldn't have to, so I joined the army thinking, 50:15 "What better place to get killed than in the army?" 50:17 And while I was in the army, my daughter got injured. 50:20 She was in an accident, and she was blind and paraplegic, 50:26 and it's just like I felt the whole world 50:29 was coming down on me. 50:30 And one morning, I just really got mad, 50:33 and I gave God a cussing like you wouldn't believe. 50:36 I said, "I'm not Moses. I'm not Abraham, you know? 50:39 I don't--but I put my sandals on just like they do, 50:42 and I'm a man. 50:44 I don't want to know why this is happening to me. 50:46 I just want to know it's happening for a reason. 50:48 If You tell me right now that this is all for a reason, 50:51 then You can stack it on me from here to the end of time, 50:55 and I will never complain again." 50:59 And that little TV came on. 51:01 It'd been sitting there just static all night long, 51:04 and there was this minister. 51:06 He pops up and says, "Today's lesson is from the book of Job. 51:09 God only lets those suffer that He loves the most." 51:12 And I said, "Well, that's all you got to say, Lord. 51:14 I appreciate it greatly" 51:15 From that day forward, I knew that He was there, 51:18 and He was in my life and that He would help me. 51:22 I went to prison just almost immediately after that. 51:26 I was in prison for aggravated assault. 51:28 I was in one of the worst prisons 51:30 in the state of Tennessee. 51:31 It was full of gang activity. I got my throat cut, 51:35 52 stitches in my neck. 51:38 I could take these fingers and stick them all 51:39 the way throughout my mouth. 51:41 I'd gone to the library that day because it was really about 51:44 the only thing to do, but I ran across this little book called 51:48 "The Richest Caveman." 51:49 This book is hilarious, but it is great. 51:53 I'm sitting here with this big beard. 51:54 I'm thinking, "Hey, I know what it's like 51:56 to look like a caveman, but." 51:58 [laughing] 51:59 I'm not an educated person, I guess you'd say, 52:01 but I'm a simple guy. 52:03 I'm just really a simple guy. 52:04 That's what I loved about Doug Batchelor, 52:06 because this guy is just straight out as you can get. 52:11 And my wife now, we've kept contact through all these years, 52:15 and so much has gone on, and I told her, 52:20 I said, "Listen now, this is the center of my world right now." 52:26 And I said, "I really want you to be involved in it with me. 52:29 I need it." 52:30 And I said, "And you will, too, 52:31 if you ever just take hold of it." 52:33 I told my wife, I said, "Listen, I've got this Amazing Facts 52:36 Bible study going here, and this is the best way for you 52:40 to get this information." 52:41 And I think I said, "Because it's broken down, 52:45 and they give you questions and--to make you look 52:51 for these things, you know? 52:52 So, it's not anyone telling you. 52:54 You find it on your own, and they teach you 52:57 to actually use the Bible." 52:58 She was there faithfully every Wednesday, 53:02 until we decided, you know, she wanted to be baptized also. 53:07 She saw it coming around. The choice was made. 53:11 On October 4, 2014, my wife and I were baptized in the water, 53:16 at the same time, and we started our walk together, 53:22 I guess you'd say. 53:23 I went through everything that a man could possibly go through, 53:26 I guess, from marital trouble, 53:31 loss of family members, death in my family. 53:34 My children were harmed, 53:35 and my daughter was handicapped for life. 53:39 I went to prison, but still I kept my word to God that He 53:44 could stack it on me as much as He wanted 53:47 and I'd never question Him again. 53:49 And I didn't, but I could say this much: He never put nothing 53:54 on me that I couldn't handle, 53:56 and He walked with me through it all. 53:59 And I'd like to say that-- to anyone who 54:01 is in prison not to give up. 54:05 Don't lose hope. 54:07 Put your faith in the Lord and study and seek Him, 54:11 and He will seek you. 54:13 And my name is Charlie Green, and I want you to know 54:15 that you and Amazing Facts have changed my life. 54:19 ♪♪ 54:28 ♪♪ 54:31 ♪♪ 54:36 ♪♪ 54:41 Doug: What can be more irresistible than a kitten? 54:44 These guys might look cute now, but some of their ancestors 54:47 have grown into man eaters. 54:49 [roaring] 54:53 We're here in a lion park in South Africa now where 54:55 we can view these creatures in relative safety, 54:58 but there's a reason they're known as the king of beasts. 55:02 So, what is it that people find 55:03 so enchanting and frightening about lions? 55:05 Is it their speed, their claws, their sharp teeth, 55:09 or all of the above? 55:10 Might also be some of the stories about man-eating lions. 55:13 Like in 1898, right here in Africa, 55:16 they were building a bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya, 55:20 and two brother lions terrorized 55:22 the construction process, eating 135 workers. 55:28 Did you know lions are mentioned in the Bible over 100 times, 55:31 and you can find them all the way 55:33 from Genesis to Revelation? 55:35 It's usually in reference to their ferocity 55:37 and how dangerous they are. 55:39 Of course, Samson killed a lion with his bare hands. 55:41 David killed a lion. 55:43 There are man-eating lions in the Bible. 55:45 The way that they punished criminals was by throwing 55:47 them in the lions' den, and early Christians were even 55:50 fed to lions, but, amazingly, as the Bible mentions, 55:54 not all lions are to be feared. 55:56 There have been a few friendly lions in history. 55:59 For example, in the 1950s, a couple, 56:03 George and Margaret Westbeau, who lived up at a ranch near 56:06 Seattle, Washington, adopted an abandoned lion cub. 56:10 They named it Little Tyke because they felt sorry for it, 56:13 but they discovered as they tried to feed her 56:16 she refused to eat any meat at all. 56:19 They were concerned, thinking there was no hope 56:21 for this little lioness to survive, and everybody told them 56:23 the same, because we know in the wild lions survive 56:27 on almost an entirely meat diet. 56:29 Then someone showed the Westbeaus that verse 56:31 in the Bible that talks about in heaven the animals 56:35 are vegetarians, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 56:39 That encouraged them, and so they began to feed 56:42 Little Tyke a purely vegetarian diet. 56:45 Not only did she survive, she thrived, 56:48 growing into a lion that was over 352 pounds 56:51 and over 10 feet long. 56:54 In fact, zoologists that examined Little Tyke when 56:56 she was full-grown said they have never seen such 56:58 a perfect specimen of a lioness in their life, 57:02 a pure vegetarian. 57:04 You know, when we hear incredible stories about that, 57:06 of Little Tyke, it reminds us that God's original plan 57:10 was to make a world of total peace. 57:12 He describes it here in the Bible 57:14 in Isaiah chapter 11, verse 6. 57:16 "The wolf also will dwell with the lamb, 57:19 the leopard will lie down with the young goat, 57:21 the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; 57:24 and a little child will lead them." 57:26 Nothing is going to hurt and destroy in the new heavens 57:29 and the new earth that God is going to create. 57:31 Wouldn't you like to live in a kingdom where there's perfect 57:33 peace, where there's no more death or killing or pain? 57:37 God says that He wants you in that kingdom. 57:40 The Lamb of God made it possible for you to have 57:43 an encounter with the Lion of the tribe of Judah. 57:46 Wouldn't you like to meet Him today? 57:48 ♪♪ 57:54 female announcer: Did you know Amazing Facts has a free 57:56 Bible school that you can do from the comfort 57:59 of your own home? 58:00 It includes 27 study lessons to aid in your study of God's Word. 58:05 Sign up today by calling 1-844-215-7000. 58:10 ♪♪ 58:20 ♪♪ |
Revised 2020-10-27