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00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:38 Welcome again to Sabbath School Study Hour, coming 00:39 to you here from the Amazing Facts offices in 00:41 Sacramento, California. 00:43 I'd like to welcome those who are joining us live 00:44 across the country and around the world, as well 00:47 as those who are viewing us on the various networks. 00:50 We'd like to remind you that we're in our Lesson 00:53 Quarterly dealing with the subject of education. 00:56 And it's not too late. 00:58 If you don't have a Lesson Quarterly, we would 01:00 encourage you to get one. 01:02 You can get one at an Adventist church nearby or 01:03 you can download today's lesson from the Amazing 01:06 Facts website. 01:08 Today, we're on lesson number 6. 01:10 It's entitled "More Lessons From the Master Teacher." 01:13 And I also want to remind you that this week our 01:16 lesson study, if you're watching live, it's 9 a.m. 01:20 Pacific Time but next week we're going to start 01:23 Sabbath School one hour later. 01:25 So it'll actually be 10 a.m. Pacific Time. 01:29 So those of you who are watching live, just take 01:31 note of that. 01:33 Well, before we get to our lesson, let's start with a 01:35 word of prayer. 01:37 Dear Father in heaven, we thank You that we're able 01:39 to open up Your Word and study together in such an 01:41 important lesson, looking at the example of Jesus 01:42 and learning from Him. 01:44 So we ask Your blessing upon our time together in 01:46 Jesus' name, amen. 01:48 Doug Batchelor: Amen. 01:50 Jean: Well, Pastor Doug, we have an important 01:52 lesson, talking about Jesus, the master teacher 01:54 and, maybe just before we get to our lesson, we'd 01:57 like to let folks know about our free offer that we have. 02:00 It's a book entitled "Down From His Glory," and this 02:03 is our free offer. 02:06 If you're in North America, we'll be happy to 02:08 send this to you. 02:10 The number to call for that is just simply 02:11 866-788-3966 or, if you'd like, you'll be able to 02:16 get a digital download of this book. 02:19 To do so, you'll want to text the code "SH139" to 02:23 the number "40544," and you'll be able to get a 02:27 digital copy of the book, "Down From His Glory." 02:31 Pastor Doug, this coming Friday evening, for those 02:34 who are watching this live, we've got something 02:36 very special that is going to begin at 7 p.m. 02:39 Pacific Time on Friday. 02:42 Doug: Yeah, I was excited when I just pulled into 02:44 the church parking lot that I saw on either side 02:46 of the entrance, it's got an advertisement, 02:48 "Revelation Now!" 02:50 And we're going to be presenting a global 02:53 evangelistic program. 02:55 It'll be global because it will be on both satellite 02:57 television and on the Internet, Facebook, 02:59 YouTube, every viable means we can think of, to 03:02 share this evangelistic series that's talking 03:06 about some of the major prophecies in Revelation 03:09 and how it relates to what's going on in the 03:13 world today and how people can be ready for that. 03:15 And you can participate, it's free, in your home, 03:19 in your church for those that have churches that 03:22 are meeting in the various stages, and simply go to 03:26 the website called revelationnow and you'll 03:29 see all the advertising materials, things you can 03:32 do to invite your neighbors. 03:34 Send the link on to your friends, encourage them to 03:36 tune in, because people are more interested in 03:39 prophecy now with everything happening with 03:41 the pandemic and the social unrest and the 03:45 political polarization and the fires and the floods 03:49 and the economy. 03:51 People are wondering what in the world is going on. 03:53 And so this is a great time to share the gospel. 03:56 We won't always have the freedom we have now. 03:58 Invite your friends to go to revelationnow. 04:00 It'll also be on 3ABN and AFTV as well as streaming 04:04 through the Internet. 04:06 Jean: Okay, so that's Friday, October 23, is 04:09 when that begins. 04:11 Well, Pastor Doug, should we take a look at our lesson? 04:13 It's an important one. 04:15 We do have a memory verse and the memory verse comes 04:17 from Mark chapter 10, verse 52, and the words of 04:20 Jesus: "Then Jesus said to him, 'Go your way; your 04:22 faith has made you well.' 04:24 And immediately he received his sight and he followed Jesus on 04:27 the road." 04:29 Doug: Now that story's going to come up a little 04:31 later in the lesson. 04:33 It's where Jesus heals Bartimaeus but, in the 04:35 first section here, and we're learning, of course, 04:37 lessons about the Master. 04:39 Now, we'll be going to Genesis because we believe 04:42 Jesus does not appear really for the first time 04:45 in the New Testament; you find Christ even in the 04:48 Old Testament. 04:50 These are called Christophanies where God, 04:52 the Son, was speaking to man in the Old Testament. 04:55 And, you know, all things that were made were made 04:58 by Him, being Jesus, and that would include Adam and Eve. 05:01 But you see right at the beginning when Adam and 05:05 Eve sinned, the response of what they did, or I 05:09 should say Jesus' response to sin was one of compassion. 05:13 Their response was shame and blame and they ran. 05:17 And you can see here in Genesis chapter 3 and I'll 05:20 read verses 8 through 10: "And they heard the sound 05:23 of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of 05:26 the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from 05:29 the presence of the Lord among the trees in the garden. 05:32 And then the Lord called to Adam and said, 'Where are you?' 05:36 And he said, 'Well, I heard your voice in the 05:40 garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I 05:42 hid myself.'" 05:43 Now, when God asks Adam, "Where are you?" it's not that God 05:46 really didn't know. 05:50 You can read, I think it's Psalm 137, you know, 05:52 "Where shall I flee from Your presence?" 05:55 We can't hide from God. 05:57 Reminds me of when I play hide-and-seek with the 05:59 kids in the house when they were little and, you 06:02 know, I'd say, "Here I come," and you'd go and 06:04 I'd see their feet sticking out from behind 06:06 the curtains and say, "Where are you?" 06:09 You know, I knew where they were. 06:11 But, you know, God sometimes asks these 06:14 rhetorical questions. 06:16 You've disobeyed, where has it brought you? 06:18 is really what He's asking. 06:20 And it's interesting that the first question that 06:23 God asks in the Bible is "Where are you?" 06:25 And--'cause man ran from God. 06:28 When you get to the New Testament the first 06:30 question that is asked in the Gospel is the wise men 06:33 looking for Jesus, they say, "Where is He?" 06:36 And the first question in the Bible is when the 06:39 devil questions God's Word: "Hath God said?" 06:43 And so when we doubt God's Word, it can lead to sin 06:46 and it separates us from God. 06:50 Jean: You know, Pastor Doug, just those three 06:52 little interesting facts that you brought up about 06:54 the first questions in the Bible, the Bible begins by 06:57 describing a problem but then we find a solution in 07:00 the New Testament, and the solution to the problem 07:02 is Jesus. 07:04 He's the solution to the problem. 07:06 Now, Isaiah chapter 59, verse 2, emphasizes why 07:09 sin is such a problem. 07:11 We read there, "But your iniquities have separated 07:14 you from your God, and your sins have hidden His 07:16 face from you so that He will not hear." 07:20 So part of the problem with sin is it separates 07:22 us from God. 07:24 God is a holy God, sin cannot dwell in the 07:26 presence of God and so we find Adam and Eve running, 07:29 hiding from God, and yet despite their sin, God 07:31 comes to look for them. 07:33 God is the one who initiates this reunion. 07:35 He's the one coming to look for them, and that's 07:38 the way it's been throughout human history. 07:39 God has been reaching out, calling us to come back to Him. 07:43 Doug: Yeah, and sin actually separates not 07:45 just us from God. 07:47 Sin separates from each other. 07:49 I know you've done some marriage counseling. 07:51 In almost every case the friction is caused by sin 07:55 and selfishness, typically pride, which is the sort 07:58 of the mother of all sins, and sin not only separates 08:02 us from God, sin separates us from each other. 08:05 Sin separates us from us. 08:08 You know, a lot of people have shame and guilt. 08:10 They, you know, try to run away from themselves 08:13 because they don't want to live with themselves. 08:15 And--but Jesus, His love is reconciling. 08:20 It does the opposite of sin. 08:22 It reconnects us with God which is the beginning to 08:25 reconnecting with each other and even finally 08:28 feeling joy and peace that we are forgiven, we're 08:30 new creatures. 08:32 We're united with ourselves, you might say. 08:34 Jean: So the Bible gives us this hope. 08:37 It talks about the first Adam which, of course, is 08:39 the father of all and through his disobedience, 08:41 through his sin, death comes because all have 08:46 sinned and then we get to the New Testament. 08:48 We read about a second Adam and Paul, in 08:51 particular, illustrates this for us, how that 08:53 through the second Adam, Christ, we 08:55 find forgiveness. 08:57 So the first Adam brings death, but the second Adam 08:59 brings life and peace. 09:01 Doug: Why don't you look up--I didn't have it in 09:03 my notes. 09:05 You know, the first prophecy in the Bible, it 09:07 talks about that reconciliation. 09:08 Genesis 3:15, I believe it's Genesis 3:15, where 09:11 He talks about, you know, the curse and the enmity. 09:15 Jean: And it's God talking to the devil in the form 09:18 of the serpent. 09:20 He says, "I'll put enmity between you and the 09:22 woman," the woman being the church, "and between 09:24 your seed and her seed. 09:27 He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel." 09:31 Doug: So here you've got the first prophecy that 09:32 the seed of the woman, this promised seed, that 09:35 woman that brings forth the man-child there in 09:37 Revelation, He is going to be the solution for the 09:40 problem began by the first Adam. 09:44 Christ is going to be the second Adam, you know, in 09:47 the same way that children often come in the image of 09:49 their parents, Jesus, in a sense, was a type of Adam 09:52 but He's the second Adam. 09:56 And maybe I'll read Romans 5 and this is a lengthy 10:00 passage but it's very important, a lot of good 10:02 theology in here. 10:04 Romans chapter 5, verse 12 to 19, Paul is writing 10:07 here: "Therefore just as through one man," Adam, 10:10 "sin entered the world, and death came through 10:13 sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all 10:16 sinned--(For until the law sin was in the world, but 10:20 sin is not imputed where there's no law.)" 10:23 In other words, the law had to exist if sin existed, so, 10:26 all the way back at the beginning when God said to 10:28 Cain, you know, "Sin lies at your door," must have 10:32 been a sin to murder way back there in the beginning. 10:35 "(Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to 10:38 Moses, even over those who had not sinned according 10:41 to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who 10:43 is a type,)" here Paul says Adam is a type, "(of 10:47 Him who was to come,)" meaning Christ. 10:49 It's interesting that Adam fell in the Garden, Jesus 10:55 overcame in the desert. 10:58 Just, I mean, Adam fell into sin surrounded by 11:01 every good thing to eat. 11:03 He didn't need to eat the forbidden fruit. 11:05 Jesus resisted when He was surrounded by rocks and 11:08 dirt and the hunger and the thirst and fasting. 11:13 "(But the free gift is not like the offense. 11:17 For if by one man's offense many died,)" the 11:21 sin of Adam, "(much more the grace of God and the 11:24 gift of God--and the gift by grace of the one Man, 11:27 Jesus Christ, abounded to many.)" 11:30 And, you know, I just love this truth that if anybody out there 11:32 knows that because of the sin of Adam we've got problems, 11:35 as real as that is, it is just as real because of 11:39 the holiness of Jesus we can have victory. 11:42 And so he's saying, "Look, if you believe that 11:44 because of Adam's sin, it's caused a problem, 11:47 then don't disbelieve that because of Jesus' victory, 11:50 we can have victory." 11:53 In the same way, "(Christ abounded to many. 11:57 And the gift is not like that which came through 11:59 the one who sinned. 12:01 For the judgment which came from one offense 12:03 resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which 12:06 came from many offenses resulted in justification. 12:09 For if by one man's offense,)" that of Adam, 12:13 "(death reigned through the one, much more those 12:17 who receive abundance of grace and the gift of 12:20 righteousness will reign in life through the One, 12:23 Jesus Christ.) 12:25 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all 12:27 men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's 12:32 righteousness--through his righteous act the free 12:35 gift came to all, resulting in justification in life. 12:39 For as by one man's disobedience many were 12:41 made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many 12:45 may be made righteous." 12:47 And I love that verse because I think--I have no 12:51 doubt, I fully believe, because of Adam's sin I've 12:53 got a problem. 12:55 I ought to have the same faith because of Jesus' 12:57 righteousness I can have the victory. 12:59 Jean: You know, Pastor Doug, it's interesting, 13:01 the defeat begins in a garden, when Adam and Eve sinned. 13:03 The victory begins in a garden when Jesus prayed, 13:06 "Not my will; thy will be done." 13:08 And of course, the cross, the eternal home of the 13:11 redeemed, puts us back in a garden but a garden 13:14 restored in the New Jerusalem. 13:16 Doug: Yeah, and it was on the sixth day that Adam 13:19 goes to sleep, his side is opened up and God takes 13:22 out a rib and, as a result of that, then the 13:27 church--His bride is born, I should say. 13:31 And then Christ on the sixth day of the week, His 13:33 side is opened up. 13:35 A flow of blood and water come out, and the church 13:37 is born, His bride. 13:39 And so there's a lot of interesting parallels 13:41 between the first and the second Adam that you can 13:43 find in the Bible. 13:45 Jean: Now, Pastor Doug, you mentioned a little 13:47 earlier how that Jesus gained the victory when He 13:48 was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. 13:50 And there are some parallels between that and 13:53 how Adam fell and how Christ overcame in the 13:57 three areas of temptation. 13:59 Doug: Yeah, and you know, there's that verse in 14:02 1 John chapter 2, verse 16, starting with verse 15: 14:06 "Love not the world, neither the things that 14:08 are in the world. 14:09 If any man loves the world, the love of the 14:11 Father's not in him. 14:13 For all that's in the world," here's verse 16, 14:15 "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and 14:17 the pride of life, is of the world. 14:20 And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but 14:22 he that does the word of God abides for ever." 14:23 So those three things, sin is divided in three 14:26 principal categories here: lust of the flesh, the 14:29 lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, those are 14:31 the same--those are the areas where Adam fell, it 14:34 says--and Eve: "The tree was good for food," you 14:38 get the lust of the flesh, "pleasant to the eyes," 14:40 you get the lust of the eyes, "it'll be desirable 14:43 to make you wise. 14:44 You'll be like God," the pride of life. 14:47 It's, you know, worship, you'll be like God. 14:49 Then Jesus in the desert, He overcomes in those same 14:53 areas and you can read this, of course, in Luke 4 14:56 and in Matthew chapter 3. 14:58 It says: "Command these stones to become bread," 15:00 and there's the lust of the flesh, and He had victory. 15:02 The devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world 15:04 in their glory, the beauty of it, lust of the eyes. 15:07 Jesus resisted, he had victory. 15:09 "Throw Yourself down from here," the pride of life, 15:12 "You'll be," you know, "demonstrating Your power." 15:15 He resisted that temptation. 15:16 He had victory. 15:18 So in all the categories where Adam and Eve fell, 15:20 Jesus overcame so that we could be overcomers. 15:23 Jean: Absolutely, for those of you who are 15:26 joining us live, I know there are folks who are 15:28 watching on Facebook and you might have a Bible 15:30 question, maybe related to the subject that we're 15:32 talking about. 15:34 If you would like to go ahead and just type in 15:36 your Bible question there on Facebook and we have 15:38 Santiago that'll be sending the questions to 15:40 me and we'll try and get some of these questions in 15:42 between our study. 15:43 And Pastor Doug, we have Jordan who is actually 15:46 asking, his question is: "Why are there so many 15:48 religions in the world?" 15:50 Doug: Well, good. 15:52 A good question. 15:55 You know, of all the different religions, you 15:57 get, you know, major religions are 15:59 Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, you've got, you 16:04 know, Sikhism and, oh, the religion in China, 16:10 Confucism* but I'm thinking of Anitism and-- 16:13 Jean: Buddhism. 16:15 Doug: Buddhism, Anatinia*. 16:18 No religion is more divided than Christianity. 16:21 And I think the reason is that you try to hide a 16:24 diamond in broken glass, and the devil has 16:27 surrounded the diamond of truth in Christianity with 16:31 a lot of broken glass to just camouflage it. 16:35 And people, how many times do we know of people that 16:37 will say, "Well, look at if--why would I be a Christian? 16:40 Look at what the Christians do? 16:42 You know, if you look at them evangelists on 16:44 television that are begging for everyone's 16:46 money and brandishing their, you know, golden 16:50 Rolexes and, you know, everything's gilded on 16:54 their set and they're wanting us to buy them a new jet." 16:57 And so there's so much hypocrisy in Christianity 17:01 and there's so much scandal in Christianity 17:04 and there are so many confusing bizarre 17:06 doctrines in Christianity, people look at all the 17:08 broken glass and they say, "Who wants to be a Christian?" 17:10 because they're not looking at the diamond, 17:12 they're not looking at the real thing. 17:14 And so I think that's one reason is the devil's 17:16 trying to create division. 17:18 I think another reason: Jesus said to the 17:21 disciples, "All men will know you're My disciples 17:23 by your love for one another." 17:25 So Christ said, "The world will know that you are 17:27 Mine by your love for one another." 17:29 The devil heard that and he thought, "Well, if 17:31 they're going to know that Christ is true by their 17:33 love for one another, I need to frustrate that 17:35 plan by having them all divided and fighting." 17:39 So instead of the church being united and people 17:41 seeing that, the devil sought to fragment 17:44 Christianity more than any religion to turn people 17:47 away from it. 17:49 Jean: Okay, we have another question that's 17:51 come from Shawnda and she writes: "Why is Jesus 17:53 called an angel in the Old Testament if He is God?" 17:58 Doug: Well, when we say the word "angel," some 18:02 people automatically think of one of these 18:04 seraphim-like, cherubim-like creatures 18:06 with wings and that are messengers and they're 18:09 ministering servants. 18:11 The word "angel" actually means messenger and Christ 18:14 is called the Archangel and that just means the 18:18 greatest messenger or the chief of the angels. 18:22 It doesn't mean He isn't God. 18:24 And so in the Old Testament, sometimes 18:26 Christ appeared as the Angel of God or the 18:30 messenger of God, and the reason you know He's God, 18:33 when He appears to Joshua, Joshua sees this 18:37 majestic-like warrior standing with His sword 18:41 drawn and he says, "Are You for our enemies or are 18:45 You for us?" 18:46 And He says, "But neither. 18:48 I'm coming as the General of God's Armies." 18:51 And He says, "Put your shoes off your feet for 18:53 the place you're standing is holy ground." 18:56 And Joshua gets down to worship and so you don't 19:00 worship anyone but God. 19:01 That's what the commandments say. 19:03 And so, this messenger who is sometimes called 19:05 Michael, the Archangel, He has the--He comes as a 19:09 messenger of God. 19:11 Jesus brought the greatest message to our world. 19:13 Jean: Okay, maybe one more question before we get 19:15 back to the lesson. 19:17 Vaughn is asking-- Devaughn: "Is the 19:20 time of probation now?" 19:22 Doug: Are we now living in the time of, well, yes, 19:25 when you say "probation," not close of probation. 19:28 Everybody in your life has a probationary period, 19:31 that's the time you're alive. 19:34 As long as your probation personally hasn't closed, 19:36 this is your time to know and accept Jesus. 19:40 Has the close if probation happened? 19:42 No, when that happens you're going to start 19:45 seeing the seven last plagues fall. 19:47 So, no, there is still time but you don't know 19:49 when your probation might close, you know. 19:52 There are people who lived a little while after their 19:54 probation closed, after Judas went out and Jesus 19:57 washed his feet, it says he went out and Satan 20:00 entered him. 20:02 His probation had closed at that point. 20:04 When Saul went to the witch and he grieved away 20:06 the spirit, his probation had closed. 20:08 And so, there's a time when you can even still be 20:12 alive, like the people outside the ark. 20:15 For seven days the sun kept shining, but the door 20:17 had shut, before the flood came. 20:20 Their probation had closed. 20:21 So, you know, I don't--you don't want to push God's mercy. 20:24 Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. 20:26 Jean: Okay, well then, moving on with our 20:30 quarterly, with our lesson for today, Monday's lesson 20:33 is entitled "On the Run," and we have the story of 20:35 Jacob who, after he deceived his father, how 20:38 that he had to flee because of the threats of 20:40 his brother, and he's wandering there in the 20:43 wilderness and it's nighttime and you can just 20:46 imagine how he must feel. 20:48 Here he has not only, you know, made his brother 20:51 mad, but he has deceived his father whom he 20:53 respected and now he's separated from his mother 20:56 whom he loved and he's all alone. 20:59 He's got nothing, and he realizes all of this is 21:02 because of my sin. 21:04 Now, probably, he had been repenting, you know, as he 21:07 was leaving home, asking for forgiveness, he had a 21:10 humble heart, but then God shows in a very special 21:12 way His grace and His forgiveness that night 21:16 when Jacob lies down and goes to sleep in a place 21:19 called Beersheba. 21:21 Doug: Yeah, Jacob, he deceived his father and he 21:26 stole his brother's birthright and then they 21:28 knew that Esau was saying to his friends, "As soon 21:32 as my father's dead, I'm going to kill him," and 21:35 they thought, "You know--" 21:37 Isaac actually thought he was going to die much 21:39 sooner than he did. 21:41 He blessed his sons. 21:43 He says, you know, "The day of my departure's 21:44 come," and he blessed his sons. 21:46 Well, he lived another 40 years. 21:48 He didn't--no, he outlived his wife, actually. 21:50 But--so Jacob's leaving home under pretense of, 21:52 you know, going to marry a girl and he actually was 21:54 going to find a girl who believed in Jehovah. 21:57 His parents were so grieved that Esau had 21:59 married the local Canaanite pagan girls that 22:02 going across the country to a relative sort of, 22:05 he's looking for refuge from his brother's wrath, 22:08 he feels isolated. 22:10 Now, we can read about it here in Genesis chapter 22:12 28, verse 10: "And Jacob went out from Beersheba, 22:16 and he went towards Haran." 22:18 That's on the other side of the Euphrates. 22:20 "And he came to a certain place, and he stayed there 22:22 all night," we later know this is Bethel, "because 22:25 the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of 22:27 that place, and put it at his head and he lay down 22:29 at that place to sleep. 22:32 And then he dreamed, and behold a ladder was set up 22:35 on earth, and its top reached to heaven: and 22:38 there the angels of God were ascending and 22:40 descending on it. 22:42 And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, 22:44 I am the Lord God of Abraham your father, and 22:46 the God of Isaac: the land on which you lie, I will 22:49 give to you and your descendants. 22:51 Also, your descendants will be as the dust of the 22:54 earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, 22:57 and to the east, and the north, and the south: and 22:59 in you and in your seed all the families of the 23:02 earth will be blessed." 23:04 Meaning, the Messiah would come through the line of Jacob. 23:06 "Behold, I am with you and I will keep you wherever 23:08 you go and I'll bring you back to this land," and he 23:11 did keep him and bring him back, "for I will not leave 23:14 you until I have done what I have spoken for you. 23:17 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely," 23:19 now this is a very vivid dream and he knows it's a 23:23 vision from God. 23:25 "Surely, the Lord is in this place and I did not know it. 23:27 And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place. 23:30 And it is none other than the house of God." 23:33 That's where we get the word "Bethel." 23:35 "And this is the gate of heaven." 23:37 And it's interesting that the word "Babylon" means 23:41 gate of heaven, which is the counterfeit of Bethel 23:45 being the gate of heaven. 23:47 But, of course, Babylon is, I think that's the 23:49 Chaldean or a different language for it. 23:52 So he thinks that God's abandoned him, and God 23:56 comes to him and says, "Because you've humbled 23:58 yourself and you've turned to Me and you've repented 24:00 of your sin, I'm not abandoning you but you 24:02 wanted the blessing. 24:04 You wanted the blessing of the firstborn. 24:06 I told your mother that you were going--the 24:07 youngest was going to get it. 24:09 You didn't need to deceive your brother to get it. 24:11 You should have trusted Me." 24:13 But He still forgives him and He says, "I'm going to 24:14 bless you. 24:16 The Messiah will come through your line." 24:19 Jean: And of course, if you look at that story, 24:20 like all the stories in the Bible, you get an 24:22 illustration of the gospel. 24:24 Here, you have Jacob sinning against his father 24:26 and yet his father still blesses him. 24:29 And he needed to repent in order to receive that blessing. 24:32 So we have sinned against our heavenly Father and 24:35 yet He still blesses us and, in order for us to 24:38 receive the inheritance that He wants to give us, 24:41 we have to repent, as Jacob did. 24:43 So, you know, there are so many stories in the Bible 24:46 that illustrate the grace of God and His love for 24:48 us, for people. 24:50 Doug: And even, you know, even when he did that 24:51 dastardly thing of stealing his brother's 24:53 blessing, there is a great analogy there of the gospel. 24:56 The way that he gets the blessing from the father, 24:58 he puts on the robes of the elder brother and he 25:01 covers himself with a sacrifice, it's a lamb, 25:06 and he's got the lamb on his hands and on his neck, 25:09 and his brother's clothes, and basically the father, 25:12 who is blind, gives him the brother's blessing 25:15 based on the brother's robe and the smell of the brother. 25:19 And, you know, we, because we put on Christ's robe of 25:22 righteousness and because of the sacrifice of the 25:24 Lamb, the Father closes His eyes to our sin and He 25:27 blesses us. 25:29 So, even though he shouldn't have done what 25:31 he did, there's still an analogy in there. 25:33 Jean: And we get the blessing of our older 25:35 brother, Christ. 25:37 Doug: Yeah, exactly, he's the elder brother that 25:39 gives us that blessing. 25:41 Jean: Great analogy. 25:43 Somebody sent in a question, Pastor Doug. 25:45 It's a good question. 25:47 Jeremy's asking: "Do you think that all religions 25:48 focus on the same God but just have different beliefs?" 25:51 Doug: No, you know, I believe that God is good 25:56 to many people in many religions. 25:58 I don't want anyone to think that, you know, God 26:00 does not hear the prayers of anybody but one 26:02 particular church, 'cause Jesus said, "The Lord 26:05 sends His sunshine in the rain on the just and the 26:08 unjust," and even one of the apostles, I forget the 26:13 verse that it tells us that people everywhere who 26:17 do what's right and they call unto Him, that He 26:20 hears them. 26:22 And so, you know, God is a loving God but there is 26:25 only one true God and a lot of religions in the 26:28 world have a very distorted picture of God. 26:30 You think about some of those terrible pagan 26:32 religions that would even offer their children in 26:35 the fire and so they had a very corrupted picture of 26:37 God and that's--they're not worshiping the same 26:40 God when they're worshiping a God like that. 26:43 Jean: And you probably wonder why the devil has 26:45 been trying to misrepresent God, so there 26:48 is something about worshiping a God that is 26:50 being misrepresented. 26:52 The devil's trying to misrepresent the character 26:54 and the qualities of God so there must be something 26:56 about knowing what the God is like. 26:59 The Bible tells us to know God is to love Him. 27:01 And you're not going to love a God that, you know, 27:05 hates you or tortures you. 27:07 And even in Christianity, there are many who believe 27:09 that God is going to torture the wicked 27:12 throughout endless ages and it creates a false 27:14 picture of what God's like. 27:16 Totally different than the God of the Bible. 27:18 Doug: Even in the time of Christ, when Jesus came, 27:20 He came to show them what the Father is like and He 27:23 said He came unto His own and His own received Him not. 27:25 They didn't know Him. 27:27 And so they didn't, even the Jews. 27:29 Jesus said, "Look, if you were God's children, then 27:33 you would believe Me 'cause I've been sent by God." 27:35 And He said, "You have a whole different picture of 27:37 God than the truth. 27:40 I came to show you what He's really like." 27:42 Jean: That reminds me of a statement that I think 27:44 both of us got in a email yesterday which 27:47 illustrates the love of God, and it's just a 27:51 beautiful statement that comes from "Testimonies," Volume 5. 27:54 Maybe I'll just read it, Pastor Doug, 'cause it is encouraging. 27:58 "Testimonies," Volume page--" 28:00 Testimonies," Volume 5, page 740. 28:03 It says: "All of the paternal love which has 28:05 come down from generation to generation through the 28:07 channel of human hearts, all of the springs of 28:10 tenderness, which have opened to the souls of 28:12 men, are but as a tiny rill to the boundless 28:15 ocean when compared to the infinite and exhaustless 28:19 love of God. 28:21 Tongue cannot utter it, pain cannot portray it. 28:24 You may meditate upon it every day of your life. 28:28 You may search the Scriptures diligently in 28:30 order to understand it. 28:32 You may summon every power and capability that God 28:33 has given you in the endeavor to comprehend the 28:36 love and the compassion of the heavenly Father. 28:40 And yet," it says, "there is an infinity beyond. 28:45 You may study that love for ages and you can never 28:48 be fully--you can never fully comprehend the 28:50 length and the breadth, the depth and the height 28:52 of the love of God in giving His Son to die for 28:55 the world. 28:57 Eternity itself can never fully reveal it, yet as we 29:00 study the Bible and meditate upon the life of 29:02 Christ and the plan of redemption, these great 29:05 themes will open to our understanding more and more." 29:07 Doug: We'll spend eternity trying to comprehend the 29:09 love of God and we'll never plumb the depths. 29:11 Jean: It reminds me of that song where it says: 29:13 "If every person was an author, and all of the--" 29:17 Doug: The love of God, yeah. 29:19 Jean: The love of God, yeah. 29:21 "All of the reeds in the world were a pen, and the 29:23 sky was your parchment." 29:24 Doug: "If we with ink the ocean--" 29:27 Jean: "Drain." 29:28 Doug: "--drain and were every stalk on earth a 29:30 quill, and were the heavens a scroll, man 29:33 would still not be able to write the love of God." 29:36 I also forgot the words too. 29:38 Jean: Yeah, it's a beautiful, beautiful hymn. 29:40 All right, well, moving right along, we've got 29:42 quite a bit to cover here. 29:44 Tuesday's lesson is entitled: "Rabbi Jesus," 29:47 and we have a parallel between Genesis chapter 1 29:49 where it says: "In the beginning God created the 29:52 heavens and the earth," and of course, John 29:54 chapter 1 that says: "In the beginning was the Word 29:57 and the Word was with God and the Word was God. 29:59 He was in the beginning with God. 30:01 All things were made through Him and without 30:03 Him was not anything made that was made." 30:05 And then verse 4 is interesting. 30:07 It says: "In Him was life and the life was the light of men." 30:10 Well, the first thing that God created was light. 30:12 Here we have that parallel in John where Jesus is 30:15 described as the light and all life is dependent upon 30:19 light, the light of the sun. 30:21 All spiritual life is dependent upon Jesus. 30:24 Doug: Yeah, and if you go on and you jump to verse 9 30:27 in that same passage, it says: "And that was the 30:30 true light that gives light to every man that 30:32 comes into the world." 30:34 Then go to verse 14: "And the Word became flesh and 30:37 dwelt among us and we beheld the glory as of the 30:40 only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." 30:43 I went through the Gospel of John. 30:45 John is definitely the most visual of the apostles. 30:48 And just in the first chapter of John, there 30:50 are, like, 32 references to light and sight. 30:53 I mean, words like behold, light, see. 30:56 "We saw Him, come and see." 30:59 I mean, he's a very, very visual disciple and so 31:02 when Jesus said, "I am the light of the world," and 31:04 we come to Christ and we see. 31:07 Now, the reason Jesus is qualified to be Rabbi 31:10 Jesus is because he came from the presence of God. 31:15 He is the fountainhead of all knowledge and wisdom 31:18 and so who in the universe could be more qualified to 31:23 teach us than Jesus who knows everything? 31:27 Jean: The disciples said to Jesus, "Lord, show us 31:28 the Father, and it suffices us," and Jesus 31:31 said, "Have I been so long time with you, Philip, he 31:33 who has seen Me has seen the Father." 31:35 That is a--you know, when you stop and think about 31:37 that for a minute, the kindness and the love and 31:40 the healing and the blessings that were 31:42 illustrated and displayed in the life of Jesus, 31:45 that's not somehow standing in opposition to 31:48 what God is like. 31:50 That is what God the Father is like. 31:52 He is a God of love and compassion, forgiveness. 31:54 Not to say that there isn't a God of justice 31:57 because we do see in the life of Christ moments 32:00 where justice is displayed, in particular, 32:02 the cleansing of the sanctuary, that even 32:04 astounded the disciples when Jesus cleansed the sanctuary. 32:07 So, yup, we see this beautiful blend of love 32:09 and compassion, mercy and justice in the life of Christ. 32:12 Doug: Yeah, and so, you know, He is, of course, 32:16 knowledge incarnate. 32:18 He is wisdom incarnate. 32:21 Matter of fact, I think we have a couple of verses. 32:23 If you want, you can read 1 Corinthians 1:24, then 32:25 I'll read Colossians 2, verses 2 and 3. 32:28 Jean: It says: "But to those who are called, both 32:30 Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the 32:33 wisdom of God," that's 1 Corinthians 1:24. 32:36 Doug: Yeah, so Christ is the wisdom of God, is--He 32:39 wanted to show His wisdom in everything He said. 32:42 They came back--they were supposed to rest and when 32:45 the guards came back and said, "Never a man spake 32:47 like this man." 32:49 And, boy, I wish I could have been on earth back 32:51 then and seen that. 32:54 Colossians 2, verses 2 and 3: "That their hearts 32:56 might be encouraged, being knit together in love, and 32:58 attaining to all riches of the full assurance of 33:01 understanding," and notice here, "to the knowledge of 33:05 the mystery of God, both the Father, and of Christ; 33:08 in whom are hidden," now, he says, God the Father, 33:11 and Christ are God. 33:14 "In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom 33:18 and knowledge." 33:20 And so Jesus had in Him--I mean, you know, it's fun 33:22 sometimes now when you just go to Google. 33:25 I don't know how we ever lived without it. 33:28 You go to Google and you type in anything and all 33:30 of the wisdom of the world is at your fingertips in 33:34 the flash of a, you know, of a moment, and I'm 33:38 getting spoiled now. 33:40 Where I used to search my Bible software, I'm 33:42 finding Google, the search engine for the Bible in 33:44 Google, is actually pretty good and it gives you a 33:46 lot of options. 33:49 But, you know, everything you might know that can be 33:51 known, Christ had all of that in Him, all that wisdom. 33:55 And so, He is, of course, the most qualified rabbi 33:57 and teacher. 33:59 Jean: Pastor Doug, we have a question that's coming 34:01 in from Jessimi. 34:04 She asks, "What is true repentance?" 34:06 Doug: You know, true repentance is a sorrow for 34:09 sin, not just sorry that you're in trouble because 34:13 the Pharaoh repented and then he went right back to it. 34:17 He just was sorry about the judgment. 34:19 Judas repented; he went and hung himself. 34:21 That's not the right kind of repentance. 34:23 But it's a sorrow for sin, sorry that we've hurt God, 34:25 and a willingness to turn away from it. 34:27 And so someone said, "You--repentance is when 34:29 you perform a U-turn on the road of life and it 34:32 means you turn." 34:35 And so whenever the Bible says: "Repent for the 34:37 kingdom of heaven is at hand," it's talking about, 34:39 you know, humbling ourselves before God, 34:42 confessing our sins, and then asking for his power 34:44 to turn from those sins, and walking in newness of life. 34:48 Jean: The Bible says that it's God that gives us 34:51 repentance so as we turn to Him and we grow closer 34:54 to Him, our repentance will grow. 34:57 It'll be deeper and fuller. 34:59 Here's another question that Jasmine has. 35:02 It's a great question. 35:03 I don't think I've seen this one before. 35:06 It says: "Is there a correlation between the 35:08 dove Noah sent out, and the Holy Spirit descending 35:11 upon Jesus like a dove?" 35:14 Doug: Yeah, a great question. 35:16 You know, historically, the dove has been a symbol of peace. 35:19 Not too many people are attacked by doves. 35:22 They're sort of gentle birds. 35:24 They coo and they're a bird that is a bird of 35:26 sacrifice, kind of like, you know, in the mammals 35:29 you've got the lamb was a sacrifice. 35:31 For the poor people, the dove was a sacrifice. 35:34 And Joseph and Mary had no money so they brought 35:36 turtledoves as a sacrifice. 35:39 And so, the dove, when Noah sent it out and it 35:42 came back with an olive leaf in its mouth, around 35:45 the world that's sort of been--I think even the 35:48 United Nations uses that as an emblem of peace. 35:51 And that God, you know, that the judgment is over now. 35:54 Man is at peace with God. 35:56 You get the rainbow in the heavens. 35:58 And so, when the Holy Spirit came into Christ's 36:00 life, I believe God sends peace into the person's 36:02 life when they're baptized and there's--it's a symbol 36:06 of reconciliation as well. 36:08 Jean: Maybe one of the signs of the Holy Spirit 36:10 dwelling within the heart of a person is a peace. 36:13 The Bible speaks of a peace that passes all 36:15 understanding, and there's a joy, especially at 36:17 baptism, when somebody was baptized and they give 36:20 their life to Christ, the Holy Spirit gives them 36:22 peace and joy, and, of course, we see that 36:25 symbolized in the dove. 36:27 Symbolized by the Holy Spirit. 36:30 Our next part of our lesson then goes to 36:31 Wednesday where we're talking about--it's got an 36:34 interesting title. 36:35 It says: "A Woman Talks Back." 36:37 And we have the story here of Matthew chapter 36:39 15:21-28 and maybe I'll just read this and, Pastor 36:42 Doug, you just interrupt as you want to add. 36:44 It says: "Then Jesus went out from there and 36:46 departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 36:48 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that 36:50 region and cried out to Him, saying, 'Have mercy 36:53 upon me, O Lord, Son of David! 36:55 My daughter is severely demon-possessed.' 36:57 But He answered her not a word. 37:00 And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, 'Send 37:02 her away, for she cries out after us.' 37:04 But Jesus answered and said, and He said, 'I am not sent 37:07 except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' 37:11 Then she came and she worshiped Him, saying, 37:13 'Lord, help me!' 37:16 But He answered again and said, 'It is not good to 37:18 take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.' 37:20 She said, 'Yes, Lord, yet even the little 37:22 dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table.' 37:24 Then Jesus answered her and said, 37:28 'O woman, great is your faith! 37:29 Let it be to you as you desire.' 37:32 And her daughter was healed from that very hour." 37:35 Doug: Yeah, this is a--it's a very interesting 37:37 story because people are shocked to hear Jesus say 37:41 to someone who's praying for healing for their 37:44 child--refer to them as a dog. 37:49 And that it's not right to take the children's food 37:52 and I'm only sent to the lost house of the children 37:54 of Israel, and they think, "Wow, everybody else in 37:57 the Bible that comes to Jesus and prays, He 38:00 answers their prayer." 38:02 But in our lesson today we've got a couple of 38:04 examples where God--one doesn't answer at first. 38:08 He says no at first but then He says yes, and with 38:10 Bartimaeus He doesn't answer right away. 38:12 He has to continue crying but then the answer comes. 38:15 And we'll get to that in a moment. 38:17 But first, I think, it's interesting to note Christ 38:20 is like--He comes with a ministry like Elijah's to 38:25 bring revival. 38:27 And Elijah went and stayed with a woman of Sidon and 38:30 performed a miracle, and raised her son. 38:36 Here, Jesus, this is the only time that it records 38:38 that Jesus leaves the territory of Israel. 38:41 And this woman comes and she says, you know, "Have 38:44 mercy on me, have mercy on me," and she's speaking to 38:47 Him and the disciples say, "Oh, it's a Gentile. 38:49 Send her away." 38:51 Jesus answers her the way the typical rabbi would 38:54 have done back then. 38:56 But He knows as soon as He knows the woman's there, 38:58 matter of fact, the only miracle He does up north 39:00 is to heal that woman's daughter 'cause He went to do it. 39:02 It's like when He crosses the sea and He heals the 39:04 demoniac, the only thing He did across that sea was 39:06 heal the demoniac. 39:08 He went to do that job. 39:09 He went to heal her daughter, but He tests her faith. 39:11 He answers her, though, kind of a harsh answer, 39:14 the way that the Jews would normally look upon 39:16 the Gentiles as dogs. 39:18 But she says, "Even the little dogs get the crumbs." 39:21 Now, keep in mind, Jesus later tells a parable 39:25 about the rich man and Lazarus where He said, 39:28 poor Lazarus who's the type of the Gentile, only 39:31 comfort he gets is the dogs lick his sores and 39:34 he's wanting the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table. 39:38 And the Bible tells us that Lazarus ends up in 39:41 Abraham's bosom, and the rich man, a symbol of the 39:44 Jewish nation, is outside. 39:47 Meaning, just because you're born in a 39:49 particular faith doesn't save you, and so Jesus was 39:53 using this and He's hoping the disciples will put 39:55 these things together. 39:57 Of course, He heals her and He says, "Woman--" 39:59 He answers her with the respect--and by the way, 40:02 the word "woman" there is, you know, He said to His 40:05 mother, "Woman." 40:07 The word "woman" there is madam. 40:09 It's a term of respect, believe it or not. 40:11 And "'Great is your faith. 40:14 Let it be to you as you desire,' and her daughter 40:16 was healed that very hour." 40:18 So He answers her prayer. 40:20 But He tries to illustrate this is the first miracle 40:22 He really does for a Gentile like this. 40:24 I think He also heals the Centurion's servant but it 40:26 stands out. 40:29 Jean: You know, what impresses me about the 40:31 verses, Jesus says to her, "I was sent except--I was 40:34 not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of 40:36 Israel," and then it says, "She came and she 40:38 worshiped Him." 40:40 So here is a Gentile recognizing the divinity 40:42 of Christ. 40:44 She's worshiping Jesus, even though she has not 40:46 yet received what she was asking for. 40:48 Doug: When He stops and talks to her, she sees an opening. 40:50 I just read through this in "The Desire of Ages" 40:52 and she saw that--you know, sometimes you read 40:54 the words, you go, "Well that was a harsh thing to say." 40:57 You have to see His face, you have to see His body language. 41:00 She understood there was mercy and an opening in 41:03 the way He said that. 41:05 He basically said, "Well, you know how the Jews are. 41:07 We're not supposed to take the children's food and 41:09 give it to the dogs," but He's smiling at her and 41:11 she felt welcome enough to come. 41:14 Jean: And you know, partly why this happened this way 41:17 is, I think, Jesus was giving His disciples an opportunity. 41:20 It was sort of a test. 41:22 Were they listening? 41:23 Were they looking at the life of Christ? 41:25 And unfortunately, in this case, they seemed to fail 41:27 the test because they say, "Send her away. 41:30 She cries after us." 41:31 Doug: Yeah, she's making a spectacle. 41:33 Jean: Yeah, so, of course, eventually the disciples 41:35 had to learn that Jesus was for everyone, not just 41:38 for the Jews. 41:40 Doug: Yeah. 41:42 Jean: That brings us to Thursday's lesson and this 41:44 is a great story too. 41:46 It talks about a student who gets it and Mark 41:49 chapter 8, verse 31, 33, we have Jesus actually 41:53 telling His disciples that He would die and yet Peter 41:58 says, "Lord, far be it from You. 42:00 This will not happen to You." 42:02 And Jesus has to say, "Get thee behind Me, Satan." 42:05 It's rather remarkable that here, the devil uses 42:08 Peter who just a little while earlier had said, 42:11 "You are the Christ," to try and tempt Jesus to not 42:14 follow through with what He knew was God's will. 42:17 Doug: Yeah, I think there's about eight times 42:19 in the Bible, seven or eight in the Gospels, 42:21 where Jesus said what His mission was, to go and to 42:23 die, and it tells us in Luke: "They understood," 42:26 this is Luke 18:34: "They understood none of those 42:29 things but this saying was hidden from them, and they 42:32 did not know the things that were spoken." 42:34 So here, He's got His apostles. 42:36 They're students and they're just not getting it. 42:39 But Mary Magdalene got it when she brought her gift. 42:43 He said, "She's anointed Me for My burial." 42:45 He understood He's going to die for my sin. 42:48 And He said, "She anointed Me in advance." 42:51 And Bartimaeus called Him the Son of David. 42:54 He understood who He was and I think maybe you want 42:56 to read that, Mark 10, verse 46. 42:59 Jean: It says: "Now when they came to Jericho, as 43:01 He went out of Jericho with His disciples, a 43:03 great multitude--with a great multitude, blind 43:05 Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 43:09 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he 43:13 began to cry out and say, 'Jesus, Son of David, have 43:15 mercy on me!' 43:17 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out 43:19 all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!' 43:22 So Jesus stood still," kind of like what Jesus 43:24 did with that woman that had the demon-possessed daughter. 43:27 "So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. 43:30 Then they called the blind man, saying to him, 'Be of 43:33 good cheer. 43:35 Rise, He's calling you.' And throwing aside his 43:37 garment, he rose and he came to Jesus. 43:39 So Jesus asked him, said, 'What do you want Me to do 43:42 for you?' 43:43 The blind man said to Him, 'Rabboni, that I might 43:45 receive my sight.' 43:47 Then Jesus said to him, 'Go. 43:49 Go your way; your faith has made you well.' 43:51 And immediately he received his sight and followed 43:54 Jesus on the road." 43:56 Doug: It's interesting, He told the rich young ruler, 43:58 "Follow Me and you'll have treasure in heaven," and 44:03 he walks away. 44:05 He tells the blind man, "Go," and he follows Him. 44:07 And so the blind man has nothing but rags and he 44:10 throws aside his garment when he comes to Christ 44:13 which is a symbol of us, you know, a blind man's 44:15 garments probably aren't very pretty. 44:18 And he throws his garments aside and we cast aside 44:20 our righteousness, our self-righteousness when we 44:23 come to Christ. 44:25 And--but the rich man, he walks away with his royal robes. 44:28 He doesn't follow Him. 44:30 And it's just--it's such an incredible contrast and 44:32 you have both stories that aren't very far from each 44:34 other in the gospel. 44:36 And it's also similar to that lady where it says 44:39 they told Him he was crying out, "Be quiet." 44:41 He's saying, "Son of David, have mercy on me. 44:43 Son of David." 44:45 He calls all the louder. 44:47 Now, I think in one of the Gospels it actually says 44:49 that there's two blind men and outside of Jericho and 44:51 it's probably the same story, just that one was 44:54 more--Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was more 44:58 outspoken, and he follows Jesus down the road. 45:02 He's got nothing but his vision but he's happy. 45:05 And you know, they say that you can give a man a 45:09 fish, and you feed him for a day. 45:12 You can teach him to fish, and you can feed him for a lifetime. 45:16 And Jesus said, "Look, I could give you a donation 45:19 'cause you're a beggar on the roadside or I can give 45:22 you your sight and then you can work." 45:25 And so, you know, He gave him what he really needed, 45:27 so he's rejoicing. 45:29 Said, "I'm not worried about a donation. 45:31 I'm interested in now I've got my sight." 45:33 Jean: Yeah, I think it also teaches us that 45:35 sometimes in order for us to realize the gift that 45:37 Christ wants to give us, we have to sort of reach 45:39 rock bottom. 45:41 You have the rich man who walked away sorrowful. 45:43 He didn't follow Jesus. 45:45 He had all these riches, whereas Bartimaeus had 45:47 nothing and the little bit that he did have, he was 45:50 willing to cast aside for Jesus. 45:53 Doug: Another important point in this story is 45:55 when he was calling out, "Son of David, have mercy 45:58 on me," the crowd told him to be quiet but it said 46:00 "Many" told him to be quiet. 46:03 They said, "You're making a spectacle," just like 46:05 the disciples said about that woman, "She's crying 46:07 after us." 46:08 So one of the things we learn about Jesus is that 46:11 Jesus is patient with people and something else 46:13 is He doesn't always answer the first time we ask. 46:16 With Bartimaeus and with that woman, they kept 46:19 crying after Him. 46:21 Sometimes people--I know our friends who are 46:23 listening may be praying about an issue, praying 46:25 for victory, praying your eyes are opened, praying 46:28 for someone else you love, and you may have to pray 46:30 for a while. 46:32 Because God doesn't answer right away does not mean 46:34 He's not going to answer and it doesn't mean He 46:36 doesn't love you. 46:38 God honors persistence, is a very important lesson here. 46:40 Jean: So when we look at Jesus the Master Teacher, 46:43 we can see different qualities and 46:45 characteristics and these qualities are the 46:47 qualities of God the Father 'cause Jesus came 46:50 to reveal what God is like, and just as Jesus 46:53 came to reveal the truth about God, so Jesus wants 46:56 His followers to reveal the truth. 46:59 And in Hebrews we find Paul speaking to the 47:02 church and he says, "You ought to be teachers by 47:06 now, but you need somebody to teach you again the 47:08 first principles of the oracles of God." 47:10 This is Hebrews chapter 5, verse 12. 47:12 So the real goal of the Christian is not just to 47:14 stay on the milk which is being unskilled in the 47:17 Word, but as Paul says, he wants us to have solid 47:20 food and grow up into the full stature of what 47:24 Christ wants us to be. 47:26 Doug: Yeah, absolutely. 47:28 And so--and not only does Paul say this here, I 47:30 think Peter also said, you know, we should desire the 47:33 sincere milk of the Word, but we shouldn't be just 47:36 eating baby pabulum all the time. 47:39 Now, there's a time for that and, you know, the 47:41 challenge for a pastor is if you've got, you know, 47:44 several people in your congregation, you're going 47:47 to have some people that are children, babies, in 47:49 their faith, they've just come to Christ, and then 47:51 you're going to have some that may be all their 47:53 lives and they want the meat, and you've got to 47:56 kind of mix up a little bit of something for 47:57 everybody when you're preaching. 48:00 But--and Jesus did that. 48:02 He would do parables that had incredible depth and 48:04 yet the kids would sit there and go, "I get it," 48:06 you know? 48:08 There was something real simple in it that they 48:12 something much deeper that had meat in, in the 48:14 parable as well. 48:16 And He modeled that teaching for us that we 48:17 should follow. 48:20 Jean: We'd like to remind those who are joining us 48:22 about our free offer. 48:23 It is a book entitled, "Down From His Glory," and 48:25 we'll be happy to send this to anyone in North America. 48:27 Just call the number 866-788-3966 and you can 48:32 ask for free offer number 154. 48:35 You can also get a digital download of this book. 48:38 If you text the code "SH139" to the number 48:42 "40544," we'll send you an email with a link and 48:46 you'll be able to download the book. 48:48 It's called "Down From His Glory." 48:50 And Pastor Doug, as we mentioned at the beginning 48:52 of the program, we're very excited about our upcoming 48:54 online Bible prophecy seminar. 48:57 It's called "Revelation Now!" 48:59 The tag line is "Everything is About to Change." 49:02 And this is something that anyone can participate in. 49:05 Just simply go to the website, 49:07 revelationnow.com. 49:09 It begins at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 23. 49:12 Doug: And it goes on through November 14 49:14 because of the time--see, some people watch this 49:16 program live but then it's rebroadcast three weeks later. 49:20 After all the subtitles and so forth are attached, 49:23 it's sent off to the satellite networks and so, 49:26 programs should still be in progress even when this 49:28 airs and it won't be too late to at least take in 49:31 some of the final broadcasts so you can just 49:34 go to the "Revelation Now!" website. 49:36 You'll see the schedule there. 49:39 And it's a great way for you to bring others to 49:41 Christ and, with everything happening in 49:44 the world right now, I can't imagine a better 49:46 opportunity when people are going to be more open 49:49 to the things of the gospel. 49:51 Jean: You know, Pastor Doug, we're looking 49:53 forward to this so we just want to encourage those of 49:55 you, be a part of this "Revelation Now!" seminar. 50:01 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 50:03 life-changing free resource. 50:05 Not only can you receive this free gift in the 50:06 mail, you can download a digital copy straight to 50:08 your computer or mobile device. 50:10 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 50:12 simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544 or 50:15 visit the web address shown on your screen and 50:19 be sure to select the digital download option on 50:22 the request page. 50:24 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's 50:26 Word with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want. 50:30 And most important, to share it with others. 50:35 announcer: The statistics are grim. 50:36 Millions have been infected by coronavirus, 50:39 thousands have died. 50:41 Race riots have broken out on streets, political 50:43 tensions are at an all-time high. 50:46 Does the Bible have anything to say about the 50:48 times in which we are living? 50:50 Doug Batchelor: Hi, friends. 50:52 This is Pastor Doug Batchelor. 50:55 Many people are wondering if the world's about to implode. 50:57 Some are fearful that global events point to a 50:59 coming crisis unlike anything we've ever witnessed. 51:03 Did you know the Bible book of Revelation 51:05 actually speaks about the days in which we're living now? 51:08 And it contains a message of hope, if we would only listen. 51:12 That's why I'd like to invite you to "Revelation Now! 51:16 Decoding the Bible's Greatest Prophecies." 51:19 In this multi-part series, I'll be sharing relevant 51:22 truths for our time from the last book in the Bible. 51:25 announcer: Coming October 23. 51:27 To learn more, visit revelationnow.com. 51:31 ♪♪♪ 51:36 male: I grew up in a church-going family. 51:39 I mean, we were at every meeting. 51:41 I sang in four of the choirs there, I directed three. 51:45 Very involved, very active. 51:48 It almost seemed like busy work sometimes, you know? 51:51 I went to Sunday school, I knew about God, I knew 51:55 about Jesus. 51:57 But I didn't have a personal relationship with 51:59 Jesus Christ. 52:02 My senior year in high school I got the news that 52:07 my father had been murdered. 52:10 Now, I played it off well. 52:12 No one really saw that I was struggling with it. 52:18 It just really felt like there was a hole that 52:21 needed to be filled and I tried to fill it with 52:23 drugs, with alcohol, with partying. 52:27 After college, I just stopped going to church altogether. 52:32 One day, on a Sunday, 'cause I didn't feel like 52:36 going to church with my mom, I thought, you know, 52:40 "I should get a little bit of Word." 52:43 She had the satellite system hooked up and I'm 52:45 flipping through channels. 52:48 And then the logo pops across, "Amazing Facts Presents." 52:50 I've listened to a lot of different ministers but 52:54 this was the first time that he's actually saying 52:57 something where I had to grab my Bible and actually 52:59 pick it up and I've never heard this before. 53:02 Let me look through and find this. 53:04 I went through all the historicals, I went 53:06 through all the study guides and I just couldn't 53:09 get enough. 53:10 And then the Sabbath came up and he's going through 53:13 the appeal and I'm just going, "Lord, I hear You. 53:16 I have to go to church." 53:18 So I show up. 53:20 It was funny, I didn't feel like I was going to 53:22 be judged, anything judgmental, anything. 53:25 And I walked in the door, and I just felt at home. 53:27 But there's still a problem. 53:30 I'm still partying. 53:33 I was still going out to the bars. 53:35 At this time, I was selling cocaine to pay my rent. 53:39 Sixteen days later, I find myself in a life or 53:43 death situation. 53:45 I had just came back from a liquor store and I 53:47 grabbed a bottle of vodka. 53:50 And there I am, high off cocaine, with my Bible in 53:54 hand, trying to do a Bible study. 53:57 And I heard an audible voice, "Just look at yourself." 54:04 And I did, and I was, like, "What am I doing?" 54:10 And I got on my knees and I said, "Lord, if You do 54:13 not take this away from me now, I'm going to kill myself." 54:19 I was going to continue this lifestyle and I was 54:21 going to end up overdosing, having a heart 54:24 attack, whatever it was. 54:27 "You have to take this away, all of it." 54:31 And that day, He lift it all up and away from me. 54:37 It was all gone. 54:40 When God does something in your life, He does it complete. 54:45 ♪♪♪ 55:15 Doug: Every now and then, in the panorama of history 55:17 we hear about individuals that go from the lowest 55:20 depths to the highest pinnacles. 55:22 They emerge from the shackles of prison to lead 55:25 and inspire a nation. 55:28 Take Joseph, for instance. 55:30 He's sold by his brothers as a slave, then falsely 55:32 accused and thrust into prison. 55:34 Yet, through a series of divine circumstances, he 55:37 miraculously goes from the prison to the palace, 55:40 ruling the ones who once imprisoned him. 55:42 Sound far-fetched? 55:44 It's happened in history more than you think. 55:46 South Africa is the home of just such a leader. 55:49 Nelson Mandela worked tirelessly to establish 55:52 peace and freedom in his country and his influence 55:55 was felt around the world. 55:58 Before freedom, there must be forgiveness. 56:01 Like Joseph, who was unjustly accused for a 56:03 crime he did not commit, Nelson Mandela was accused 56:06 of terrorism and sentenced to life in prison on 56:08 Robben Island. 56:10 He was often exposed to cruel punishment and 56:12 abuse, but even in the midst of apparent failure 56:15 and discouragement, he never lost heart, he never 56:17 gave up. 56:19 After years in prison, a growing number of 56:22 supporters rallied for his release and, eventually, 56:24 it took place. 56:26 And God used him so that he was instrumental in 56:28 helping to abolish racial segregation in the country 56:30 of South Africa. 56:32 Incredibly, he now was virtually the absolute 56:34 leader in the country that had imprisoned him. 56:37 He had all of the tools and the power at his 56:39 disposal to get even with the prison guards and 56:41 others that had mistreated him. 56:43 Instead, Mandela chose forgiveness. 56:46 It reminds me of that verse in the Bible in 56:48 Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32: "Let all bitterness, 56:52 and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing be put 56:54 away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one 56:57 to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even 57:01 as God also in Christ forgave you." 57:04 I'm so thankful that Nelson Mandela, like 57:07 Joseph, chose to forgive those who were once his 57:10 enemies and to serve his nation with love and courage. 57:13 You can find a number of examples of this happening 57:15 in the Bible. 57:17 You have Daniel who was a captive from the land of 57:19 Judah and yet God arranged things where he becomes 57:22 the prime minister in the kingdom of Babylon. 57:24 You have Esther who was a poor orphan girl in Persia. 57:27 And yet, God worked things out where she becomes the 57:29 queen of that country. 57:31 The book of Jeremiah ends with an incredible story 57:33 of a young king named Jehoiakim who is in the 57:36 Babylonian dungeon for 37 years and then King 57:39 Evil-Merodach has mercy on him and he has a new 57:42 status, going from the prison to the palace. 57:44 This is what the Lord wants to do for you and me, friends. 57:47 He gives you the bread of life, He gives you the 57:49 robe of Jesus' righteousness. 57:50 He gives you a seat at His table. 57:52 If you accept His forgiveness and you're 57:54 willing to pass it on, you and I can live and reign 57:57 with Christ. 57:58 Wouldn't you like that experience? 58:00 ♪♪♪ 58:10 ♪♪♪ 58:20 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-10-29