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00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:21 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Jean Ross: Good morning, everyone. 00:36 We'd like to welcome you all to "Sabbath School Study Hour" 00:39 coming to you here from the Granite Bay Seventh-day 00:41 Adventist Church in Granite Bay, California. 00:43 We'd like to welcome all of our online members and those who are 00:46 joining us across the country and around the world, part of 00:49 our extended Sabbath school class. 00:52 Now, we've been sending through our lesson dealing with the 00:55 subject of true education, and we're nearing the end of 00:58 this quarter. 01:00 And so today our lesson is lesson number 12. 01:03 It's entitled "Sabbath: Experience and Living the 01:06 Character of God." 01:08 So if you have your lesson quarterly, we encourage you to 01:10 pull it out, open up to lesson number 12, and you can read 01:13 along with us a number of Bible verses that we highlight there 01:16 in the lesson. 01:18 We'd also like to let you know about our free offer. 01:20 And so for those of you joining us, if you'd like to receive the 01:22 free offer, we'll be happy to send that to you. 01:26 The free offer, "Is Sunday Really Sacred?" 01:29 That is the free offer that we have. 01:30 And if you'd like to receive that, all you'll have to do is 01:33 call the number 866-788-3966 and you can ask for offer number 150 01:41 and we will be happy to send that to you. 01:43 Again, the number to call is 866-788-3966, ask for offer 01:48 number 150, and we'll send that right to you. 01:52 Or if you like, you can text the code SH042 to the number 40544 02:00 and you'll be able to get a digital download of the book, 02:03 "Is Sunday Really Sacred?" 02:05 And I'm sure that'll be a great blessing to you if you do that. 02:08 Well, before we get to our study, we always like to begin 02:10 with prayer. 02:12 We know the Bible is God's book, so we need the Holy Spirit to 02:14 guide us. 02:16 So let's bow our heads for prayer. 02:17 Dear Father, we thank You that we're able to gather together 02:19 and open up Your Word and study a very important subject talking 02:22 about the Sabbath and how we as Christians can live in harmony 02:25 with the principles found in Your Word, especially the 02:28 Sabbath-rest principle. 02:30 So we'd like to ask Your blessing. 02:32 We know that we are separated by space, but yet we can still be 02:35 united in Your Spirit. 02:37 So be with those who are joining us online across the country and 02:40 all around the world, and we ask this in Jesus' name. 02:43 Amen. 02:45 Today, our Sabbath school lesson is going to be brought to us by 02:47 Pastor Doug. 02:52 Jolene Haftiz: I'm not Pastor Doug, but I can sing. 02:55 And well, I'm going to lead you in one of our first Christmas 02:58 hymns, "Angels from the Realm of Glory," hymn number 119. 03:03 And I invite you at home to pull out your hymnals and sing along. 03:08 Stand if you want, and we will sing together all four verses. 03:13 ♪♪♪ 05:28 Doug Batchelor: Thank you, Jolene Haftiz. 05:30 And I'm going to let them get our microphone adjusted. 05:33 We're in a new facility, we're using a new studio, and we're 05:36 still working out a few bugs. 05:38 And I want to welcome everybody who is watching right now and 05:40 joining us for our Sabbath school time, and we're very glad 05:44 that we could get together with you. 05:45 We know that we have people who are joining us from all 05:49 different parts of the planet, and specially this time of year. 05:53 Now, at the time of this broadcast we have just--for the 05:57 live recording--we've just finished Thanksgiving; but by 06:01 the time it's going to be broadcast, it will be just 06:04 before Christmas. 06:06 And so wherever we are in the continuum of time, we want to 06:09 wish you a happy Sabbath, and we're glad that you can study 06:12 with us. 06:14 And we're--as Pastor Ross mentioned, we're 06:16 continuing--we're on the second to the last lesson in the study 06:18 on education, and the study today is more specifically 06:22 dealing with "Sabbath: Experiencing and Living the 06:26 Character of God." 06:28 And, you know, if you haven't heard yet, the study for next 06:32 quarter is on the Book of Isaiah, and all the pastoral 06:35 staff are kind of drooling for the opportunity to teach some of 06:38 those lessons 'cause Isaiah is just a wonderful book that 06:41 covers the whole spectrum of the gospel. 06:44 Anyway--but we have a memory verse for today, and the memory 06:48 verse is from Mark chapter 2, verses 27 and 28. 06:52 And there's a few of the saints gathered here. 06:55 If you want to say that with us, Mark chapter 2, verse 27 and 28, 06:59 "And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and 07:05 not man for the Sabbath. 07:08 Therefore the son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath.'" 07:12 You know, an important point to remember in this verse--some 07:15 people use this verse, they say man wasn't made for the Sabbath 07:17 so you don't need to worry about the Sabbath anymore. 07:20 It's not at all what Jesus is saying. 07:22 Jesus is saying that first God made man on the sixth day, then 07:27 He made the Sabbath on the seventh day for man. 07:31 And you notice the way you spell man there is M-A-N. 07:35 It's not spelt J-E-W. 07:37 Some people say the Sabbath was made for the Jews. 07:40 The word there is actually the word anthropos, where we 07:43 get anthropology. 07:45 It means man, mankind in a general sense, humanity. 07:48 So the Sabbath wasn't made just for the Israelites or just for 07:51 the Jews. 07:53 Jesus said the Sabbath was made for mankind, and he's referring 07:56 back in the Garden of Eden. 07:58 So--'cause I run into people all the time. 08:00 They say, "Well, the Sabbath--they didn't really keep 08:03 the Sabbath until Mount Sinai. 08:05 It's just something for the Jewish nation." 08:07 Jesus sort of explodes that idea by saying, "No, it's made for 08:08 mankind, and it's back in the beginning." 08:11 Man was made the sixth day. 08:13 Sabbath made the seventh day to be a blessing for man. 08:17 And so he was--basically Christ was saying God did not create 08:21 man to serve the Sabbath; He created the Sabbath to be a 08:24 blessing for man. 08:27 Because in this particular dispute that you're reading 08:29 about in Mark chapter 2, they were giving the disciples a hard 08:32 time for, you know, rubbing some grain and putting it in their 08:35 mouths in the Sabbath day. 08:38 And Jesus said, "You've got it all backwards. 08:40 God did not make man to exist for the purpose of the Sabbath; 08:44 He made the Sabbath to be a blessing to man." 08:47 All right, so that's our memory verse. 08:50 And we're going to be talking about to some of the things we 08:52 learn from the Sabbath truth in our study today. 08:55 First and foremost, it tells us that--in the first section, the 09:00 Sabbath is a time to be astonished. 09:03 I don't know if you ever thought about it that way. 09:07 "I can't wait for the sun to go down Friday so I can 09:10 be astonished." 09:13 What do they mean by that? 09:15 Think about the first Sabbath that was in the garden. 09:17 It was just--you know, man has just come into existence. 09:20 Now, when God made man and woman--and you realize that 09:25 there are kind of two accounts of creation that you find 09:28 in Genesis. 09:30 You got the account of what God did for the first 6 days and the 09:33 seventh day. 09:34 Chapter 2 includes that. 09:36 Then he backs up, Moses, and he gives more detail about the 09:39 sixth day. 09:41 Again, how woman was specifically created and more 09:44 details about the garden. 09:46 But unlike a baby that is born having to learn--a baby has to 09:49 learn to talk. 09:51 A baby has to learn to walk, to eat, and many other things. 09:54 A baby has to learn what the philosophy of life is and what 09:58 different words mean, and it's incredible how much a baby takes 10:01 in and learns in just a few years. 10:04 Adam came something like a computer from the factory with 10:08 certain software pre-installed. 10:11 You know what plug and play means. 10:13 Adam from the time that God breathed into him and he woke 10:16 up, God downloaded into him his own image. 10:20 And Adam knew how to talk. 10:23 Adam knew how to walk. 10:25 I think there were certain things that Adam knew right out 10:28 of the box, as you would say. 10:31 But as he looked around at the environment that he was in and 10:35 he could behold just the beauties of creation, Adam was 10:38 just overwhelmed with a sense of joy. 10:42 God took him and put them in this garden, of a sense of awe. 10:46 And you think about how beautiful the garden must 10:49 have been. 10:52 You know, they say there are several components to a 10:54 beautiful Japanese garden. 10:56 Some of the most beautiful gardens in the world are 10:58 in Japan. 11:00 I don't know if any of you have been in Japan, but they 11:02 just--they have some of the most beautiful gardens, and they take 11:04 it very seriously. 11:06 They're the ones, of course, who are famous for developing those 11:08 little bonsai trees, and they just clip every little leaf and 11:11 they train them and they just--they look like these 11:14 little miniature, you know, elfy trees. 11:19 And so they take their gardening very seriously. 11:21 And they say that some of the things that make a garden 11:23 beautiful, you need water, plants, stones, fish in the 11:30 water, if you could--clear water. 11:32 You know, they have their little koi ponds; a bridge, and lights 11:36 or lanterns, and those are some of the components. 11:39 You know, you find all of those things really in the Garden 11:42 of Eden. 11:44 I don't know about the bridge. 11:46 It does say there were four rivers. 11:48 There may have been a way to get across, but--anyway, can you 11:50 imagine what that must have been like? 11:52 And this is not a Japanese garden, this is a garden that is 11:54 planted by God. 11:56 So when they looked down, they were filled with awe. 12:00 And what did they see when they looked up? 12:02 They saw the heavens in all of their glory. 12:08 And--you know, I can't prove this, but I think it's not 12:12 unreasonable to wonder, could Adam see better than we can? 12:21 You know, not too far away from us, there is an aviation legend 12:25 who lives up in the hill in Grass Valley. 12:28 One of our members is his doctor. 12:31 His name is Colonel Chuck Yeager. 12:33 Last I heard, he's still alive, 90 something years old. 12:36 Was flying into his 90s. 12:38 He broke several records, and one of the things you can read 12:41 about General Yeager in his biography is he had, like, 12:46 20/10 vision. 12:49 And so when they--he was flying, he could see enemy aircraft 12:52 before anybody else could see him. 12:54 He had like eagle eyes and--well, if he could have 12:58 that, what did Adam have? 13:01 I think not only that. 13:03 But, you know, when I was a kid, I could put my hand this close 13:05 to my eye and I could see my fingerprints. 13:08 My vision was really good. 13:10 I can't do that now. 13:12 I got to get it way out here, and then they're fuzzy. 13:14 I think Adam's vision was almost like microscope and telescope. 13:20 And so he saw everything so much clearer, and I think there was a 13:24 sense of awe and wonder. 13:27 So his first day of existence--he's made on the 13:30 sixth day. 13:32 What is his first day? 13:34 His first full day is Sabbath. 13:36 And so God designed, after He made man, another day of time. 13:40 What happened? 13:43 Do you think that God left Adam that day like the deist thing? 13:47 God kind of created things and walked away, or do you think 13:49 that God created Adam and then He walked and talked with him in 13:52 the garden, as the song says? 13:54 I think God was with Adam and Eve, and He was communing with 13:57 them and there was this sense of awe and wonder and joy. 14:01 The Sabbath should be a memorial of the creation and that kind of 14:05 awe and wonder and joy. 14:08 You know, you look at the things that are mentioned in the second 14:11 chapter of Genesis and it tells about, of course the first 14:16 chapter, you know, the days that God made things and He made man 14:18 in His image. 14:20 Second chapter more specifically mentions a paradise garden, 14:24 beautiful rivers that irrigate the planet. 14:27 There was no salt sea back then. 14:29 It was probably clear lakes. 14:32 Precious stones and gold and minerals, exotic animals and 14:35 birds, fruit-laden trees. 14:40 And then after it mentions all these things, it says rest, 14:43 which basically is time for you to enjoy all the wonders 14:46 of creation. 14:49 So one of the important things you can do on 14:51 Sabbath--weather-permitting. 14:54 I've got some friends that called me this week from Alaska, 14:57 and it's starting to get cold up there. 15:01 And he said, "Yeah, I went for a hike with snowshoes." 15:04 So even on the Sabbath you can go for a hike. 15:09 Of course he ran into a moose and had to run for his life, 15:12 but--that was the reason he called. 15:16 But yeah, you know, it's good to get out in nature on the Sabbath 15:20 day as much as you can. 15:22 Look at the things. 15:24 Even though our world is groaning under the curse of 15:28 sin--the whole creation groans and travails together. 15:32 Even though the world is not as beautiful as it was when it came 15:36 from God's hands, there are still a lot of beautiful things 15:39 that can be seen in the world at eye level. 15:42 If you look below, if you look above, there are 15:44 wonders everywhere. 15:47 So the Sabbath is a time to be astonished. 15:51 And, you know, God made these things so that we would think 15:56 about Him. 15:58 Isaiah 55:9, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so 16:01 are my ways than your ways." 16:03 Everything that they looked at, it was to make them think 16:05 of God. 16:08 Think of the immensity of space. 16:11 One man looked up and he realized that our world--do you 16:14 think Adam knew the world was round? 16:17 Or did Galileo discover that, or Copernicus? 16:19 I think he knew all that. 16:21 That was some knowledge was lost. 16:23 Did he know something about the cosmos? 16:25 Probably. 16:27 You can read in the book "Patriarchs and Prophets" that 16:29 he was studying the tiniest mote. 16:34 Now mote is, you know, but the smallest thing you can see 16:36 floating in the sun beam. 16:39 And so Adam's interest in God's creation went from the tiniest 16:42 mote to these massive worlds. 16:45 Let me just talk to you for a moment about the--some simple 16:48 facts about the immensity of space. 16:52 Our sun--you can put approximately 1 million planet 16:55 earths inside the scope of our sun. 16:59 Our sun is a comparatively small star, but astronomers estimate 17:03 that our sun is one of 200 billion stars--not solar systems 17:11 or planets, 200 billion stars in just our one galaxy that we call 17:17 home called the Milky Way galaxy. 17:19 So we live in the middle of a fiery pinwheel of 200 billion 17:24 other suns, and many of them could have planets around them. 17:28 When you look up at night--they focused the Hubble on one little 17:33 place in space. 17:35 Now, if you want to rent the spaceship Hubble, different 17:38 universities can do it, you have to pay a lot of money. 17:40 And some of the universities got together and they said, "We want 17:45 to aim this Hubble at nothing. 17:47 Find a place in the sky where you think there's nothing. 17:50 We want to aim it there." 17:52 And because--you know, the size of your lens aperture if it's 17:55 dark, you leave it open, slower shutter speed--you leave it open 17:59 longer to capture more light. 18:02 They aimed it at a piece of the night sky where they thought 18:05 they saw nothing, and it's--when you hold a grain of rice up 18:10 against the sky--the piece of sky they focused on was smaller 18:14 than a grain of rice at arm's length. 18:17 They focused there for 10 days. 18:19 It was very expensive. 18:21 They took what they call the Ultra-Deep Field space 18:23 photograph, and after 10 days they then looked at what they 18:27 had and it showed a blizzard of multi-colored galaxies 18:35 billions and zillions of light years from earth 18:39 in that little piece of sky. 18:44 And they thought, "Wow, I wonder if we zoomed in and did it again 18:47 even longer." 18:49 They found another place. 18:51 And then they took the ultra, ultra deep space picture. 18:54 It was filled with even more, and they started realizing 18:57 that--if you ask an astronomer how many stars are out there, 19:01 they'll say there are approximately as many stars out 19:05 in the universe as there are grains of sand in all the 19:08 beaches of the world. 19:11 So you think about--and how much life there must be out there 19:15 besides humanity. 19:18 In the Bible when they tried to describe it, they say 10,000 19:21 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. 19:23 By the way, that was the highest number in Greek that they had. 19:27 So space is immense. 19:29 So as Adam looked above and he looked below, he started 19:33 thinking about atoms and quarks and the God particle and all the 19:38 microscopic things. 19:42 The world is what you would call wonderful. 19:45 And then it gives you a little more detail about that sixth day 19:49 of creation that'll help us learn some things about 19:52 the Sabbath. 19:55 Genesis 2:24 says God made all the animals pass before Adam. 19:58 You might think--I've heard scoffers that say, "How could 20:00 God do that?" 20:02 There are so many different kinds of animals in the world 20:05 today that he could never name them all in one day. 20:07 I don't think he named every subspecies, and a lot of the 20:10 subspecies didn't exist and they have come through breeding. 20:14 It's like, for instance, right now you know how many kinds of 20:16 dogs there are? 20:19 You couldn't name all the different varieties of dogs 20:21 there are. 20:23 There are hundreds of different breeds of dogs. 20:26 But when Adam was naming them, there were two dog-like animals 20:28 and he said dog, or whatever he said. 20:30 So he didn't mean to say Beagle, Lhasa Apso. 20:33 I can't even think of all the names of--you know, 20:37 Greyhound, wolfhound. 20:39 All that. 20:42 He just said dogs. 20:44 And then when it came to the pachyderms, he said pachyderms. 20:46 The elephants, he didn't say woolly mammoth and mastodon 20:48 and--you see what I'm saying? 20:50 And so I think he just named the main categories of creatures 20:52 that day, but he noticed that the bull had a cow and the 20:56 rooster had a hen, and he started feeling a little lonely. 21:00 And God wanted him to feel that yearning for companionship after 21:04 his own kind and said, "Okay, Adam, I got a surprise for you; 21:09 but first, you're going to go to sleep and you're going to wake 21:13 up married." 21:15 That happens in Vegas all the time. 21:18 But--and God performed the first surgery, and he took a rib. 21:22 And, you know, it came from his side to show that woman was not 21:26 to be trampled. 21:28 It wasn't from the foot. 21:30 She was not to hen peck. 21:32 It was not from the skull. 21:33 It was from the side, under his arm for protection by his heart. 21:35 And He took that bone and He made wife. 21:40 When He woke up, God performed the first wedding. 21:43 Isn't that pretty when you think about it? 21:46 One of the first miracles that God did after creation was to 21:48 perform a wedding; one of the first miracles Jesus did was for 21:50 a wedding. 21:54 And I don't want to go too far with this; but, you know, we 21:58 often get a question and people kind of dance around wanting to 22:01 know on the Sabbath day is marital relations appropriate. 22:08 Well, my idea of it is God created man with certain 22:13 perfectly holy healthy desires like eating is a desire. 22:18 It's God's plan. 22:21 He made all these luscious things and He says, "Eat freely 22:23 from the things except this one thing." 22:26 And so God expected people to enjoy the pleasures of food. 22:32 Oh, well, when it comes to the Sabbath, it's hard for me to 22:34 imagine the last thing you hear God saying on the sixth day to 22:37 Adam and Eve is, "I pronounce you man and wife. 22:40 Be fruitful and multiply, but you got to wait 24 hours for 22:42 your honeymoon." 22:45 So you can probably tell what my understanding of that is, 22:48 but--and it's a time for rediscovery. 22:52 This is our next section. 22:54 Genesis 26, verse 5, "Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept 23:00 My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws--" 23:05 Now, did the Sabbath originate at Mount Sinai? 23:10 A lot of people say, "Yeah, that's when God first did it." 23:13 And there is a verse that tells us. 23:16 When you see the Ten Commandments in Exodus, it's 23:18 more general. 23:20 When you read the repetition of the Ten Commandments in 23:22 Deuteronomy chapter 5, God says, "For you were slaves in the land 23:26 of Egypt, therefore the Lord commands you to keep the 23:29 Sabbath day." 23:31 And He says remember to let your servant rest. 23:33 So He emphasize make sure and let your servant rest. 23:35 Some people say, "Well, that proves that it was just given to 23:37 the Jewish nation." 23:39 Sabbath was not just for the Jewish nation; it was for all 23:41 people all time. 23:43 Notice--did Abraham live before Moses or after Moses? 23:46 Abraham is after--or before Moses, and God says, "Abraham 23:51 obeyed My voice. 23:53 He kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and 23:57 My laws." 23:59 So did God have law before Moses? 24:02 Yes, He did. 24:04 And you can read in Exodus chapter 4. 24:08 Exodus 4, of course, is before Exodus 20. 24:10 When God tells Moses, "I want you to go find your brother 24:12 Aaron, and I want you to go to Pharaoh." 24:15 Before he goes to Pharaoh, first he goes and he gathers together 24:18 the elders of Israel. 24:20 And you go to Exodus 4:29, "Moses and Aaron went and 24:23 gathered together all the elders of Israel, and Aaron spoke all 24:26 the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses." 24:30 "I've seen your tears. 24:31 I'm going to bring you out of Egypt and--" 24:33 And it says they bowed their heads and they worshiped. 24:37 Now, probably in what was shared, they said, "We need to 24:40 return to the Lord. 24:42 You're acting like the Egyptians, and you're following 24:44 Egyptian gods." 24:45 You know, the golden calf, you understand. 24:47 They'd gotten mixed up in Egyptian worship. 24:49 Notice what the Pharaoh says when Moses says, "Let my 24:51 people go." 24:53 Now you're in Exodus 5, verse 5. 24:55 "And the Pharaoh said, 'Look, the people of the land are many 24:57 now, and you make them rest.'" 25:00 You know what that word rest is there? 25:03 Shabbat, it's the exact same word for Sabbath. 25:07 So evidently when Moses and Aaron had met with the people 25:09 and said, "You need to start obeying the Lord. 25:11 He's going to deliver you. 25:13 You need to return to the truth of the Scriptures and 25:15 worship Jehovah." 25:17 It says they bowed their heads and they worshiped. 25:18 They believed in worshiping Him again. 25:20 Now they're keeping the Sabbath, but the Pharaoh doesn't like 25:24 that, says, "You're making them Shabbat." 25:27 And so he doubles their labor load and doesn't give them 25:29 any straw. 25:31 So I think the Sabbath is before the Ten Commandments. 25:34 Now, if those verses don't convince you, this I hope will 25:37 convince you. 25:38 And I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but we've got a lot 25:40 of friends watching that I also want to understand. 25:43 Exodus 16. 25:46 Ten Commandments are given in what chapter? 25:49 Exodus 20. 25:51 So this is before Exodus 20. 25:53 Exodus 16. 25:55 God said, "Look, I know you're hungry." 25:57 I'm paraphrasing. 25:59 "Six days a week I'm going to rain down this substance," they 26:01 named manna. 26:03 "You're to gather it. 26:05 Just gather enough one day at a time until you get to Friday, 26:07 the sixth day, then you can gather twice as much 'cause I 26:10 won't rain any down on the seventh day." 26:13 Here's what it says. 26:15 "And so it was on the sixth day they gathered twice as much 26:17 bread, two omers for each one. 26:20 All the rulers in the congregation came and 26:22 told Moses. 26:24 And he said to them, 'This is what the Lord has said: 26:26 'Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. 26:29 Bake what you're going to bake today. 26:32 Boil what you will boil. 26:34 Lay up for yourself all that remains to be kept 26:36 until morning.''" 26:38 Cook it in advance to be ready to eat tomorrow. 26:40 "So they laid it up until morning as Moses commanded, and 26:42 it did not stink and there weren't any worms." 26:46 Now why does he say that? 26:48 'Cause you read earlier when God gave them manna, some of them 26:50 tried to keep it over and the next morning it had a terrible 26:54 smell and it was wormy. 26:59 Why do you think God allowed that to happen? 27:02 Why did He want them to gather manna 6 days a week? 27:05 Why couldn't they gather a week's worth once a week? 27:09 What does that manna represent? 27:11 "Man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word." 27:16 Jesus said, "I am the bread that comes down from heaven." 27:18 How often should we be gathering that manna? 27:22 "Give us this day our daily bread." 27:26 So we should be gathering it every morning, and it's assumed 27:29 that on Sabbath you gather together to feast on the Word 27:33 and sometimes there's a potluck. 27:35 But--so I think God is--and when did they go gather the manna? 27:38 What time of day? 27:41 Morning. 27:42 What happened if they waited too late? 27:45 It melted, it evaporated. 27:47 Kind of like, you know, whipped cream on a hot pie just start to 27:50 dissipate after a while. 27:52 It is soaked on in to the ground, and it was gone. 27:55 And so the idea--what is the lesson there about the manna? 27:58 You don't want to wait too late in the day before you have 28:02 your worship. 28:04 You know what the best time is for morning worship? 28:07 Morning, early in the morning. 28:12 Look at how--I did a whole sermon once years ago. 28:14 I doubt anyone remembers, but I do. 28:17 It was called "Early in the Morning." 28:18 I went through the Bible and talked about all the things that 28:20 happened early in the morning, everything from the resurrection 28:22 to when Mary came to the tomb and other passages. 28:24 They had to gather the manna in the morning. 28:27 You need to come to the Lord first thing before the cares of 28:29 life start to crowd in upon you and distract you and dampen 28:34 your faith. 28:36 And then--so He said gather what you've gathered Friday so the 28:40 Sabbath day you will have more time to rest. 28:44 Did He want them to eat on the Sabbath? 28:47 Yeah, that's why they gathered twice as much. 28:49 Said, "You can bake it. 28:51 You can bake the manna. 28:53 You could, you know, do fondue with it. 28:54 You can do whatever you want with it, but just do it the 28:56 day before." 28:58 And then he says, "You shall kindle no fire through 29:00 your dwellings." 29:02 Now, I just want to pause and talk about that a little bit 29:04 because that's been misunderstood. 29:05 I heard a--kind of a sarcastic sermon by Jimmy Swaggart years 29:11 ago when he said, "Yeah, these Adventists, they don't keep 29:15 the Sabbath. 29:16 It's impossible to keep the Sabbath. 29:18 Every time they drive to church, the spark plugs in their cars 29:20 are firing. 29:22 And if you build a fire on the Sabbath, you're breaking the 29:23 Sabbath, and they're breaking the Sabbath all the way 29:25 to church." 29:27 'Cause it says you're not supposed to kindle a fire. 29:29 I thought, "Where did you--really you're 29:31 ridiculing God. 29:33 God's the one who said that." 29:34 Is that what it's talking about? 29:36 No. 29:38 What did you have to do to kindle a fire? 29:40 Kindle, by the way, is a verb. 29:41 It means to build in a fire. 29:43 What does it mean to kindle a fire? 29:45 Men, they had to go out and gather wood. 29:47 Did they have matches back then? 29:49 You've seen people, you know, making fires and--he said, 29:51 "Look, if you can have a fire--" 29:53 If someone was cold, they could have a fire in the desert. 29:56 Just don't start a fire. 29:58 That was very work intensive. 29:59 Get your wood--He said, "Do not go out of the camp." 30:01 Why did He say don't go out of the camp? 30:03 Don't go out gathering wood. 30:05 Remember man was stoned for gathering wood on the 30:06 Sabbath day. 30:08 Get your wood gathered before, and have your manna gathered 30:11 before, and get the fire started before the Sabbath. 30:16 Now it's gotten cold here in Northern California. 30:18 We have a little wood stove in our house. 30:21 We gathered wood up in Covelo, brought it home. 30:24 Yesterday I said, "Nathan, could you please stack some wood there 30:26 by the back door?" 30:28 Last night before Sabbath, I started the fire. 30:31 It's still going now. 30:33 I haven't had to kindle a fire. 30:35 See the difference? 30:37 And that's what He's talking--He didn't expect everybody to 30:39 shiver in their tents every Sabbath, especially in Jerusalem 30:41 when it's higher and it snows there in the 30:46 wintertime sometimes. 30:48 So I've heard people take that and they just totally abuse what 30:50 the intention of the verse was. 30:52 All right, did we learn something? 30:54 Let's keep going. 30:56 What else do we learn about the Sabbath, talking about the 30:59 Sabbath and education? 31:01 It's a time for learning priorities. 31:04 Now in the lesson here, it turns us to Jeremiah 17, verse 20, and 31:09 I'm going to read through verse 27. 31:13 "And he said to them, 'Hear the Word of the Lord, you kings of 31:16 Judah, and all Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem who 31:20 enter by these gates.'" 31:23 Jeremiah is prophesying by the gates. 31:25 "Thus says the Lord, 'Take heed to yourselves and bear no burden 31:28 on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem, 31:32 nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor 31:36 do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day as I commanded 31:40 your fathers.' 31:42 But they did not obey or incline their ear, but they made their 31:45 neck stiff, that they might not hear or receive instruction. 31:50 'And it shall be if you heed Me carefully,' says the Lord--" 31:54 He gives a promise first. 31:56 He's being positive. 31:59 "'If you heed Me carefully,' says the Lord, 'to bring no 32:01 burden through the gates of the city on the Sabbath day but 32:04 hallow the Sabbath day and do no work in it, then shall enter the 32:08 gates of the city kings and princes sitting on the throne 32:11 of David.'" 32:14 A wonderful promise that once again they'd have the heirs of 32:16 David sitting on the throne, meaning they'd be reigning in 32:18 prosperity, they'd have their independence again. 32:21 "Riding in chariots and on horses and their princes, 32:25 accompanied them by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of 32:29 Jerusalem, and the city shall remain forever." 32:32 What a wonderful promise if they had been faithful. 32:36 God said the city would remain forever. 32:38 Now when He's telling them this, keep in mind the Babylonians are 32:42 camped outside Jerusalem and it looks like judgment is looming. 32:48 But if they had obeyed God--and what was one of the things He 32:50 said that would make the difference on whether or not 32:53 they survived? 32:55 Keeping the Sabbath. 32:58 How do you think--does this matter to God? 33:00 He said, "Look, I've got the enemies at the gates, but I 33:03 promise to send them away. 33:05 I will protect you, I will preserve the city, but you can't 33:08 be ignoring My commandments." 33:10 Says, "Honor me." 33:13 Now, why did He say that? 33:15 He said, "Look, I just--I'm making your life difficult. 33:17 I don't want you to work." 33:19 Or was God saying, "You will not know Me if you don't spend time 33:21 with Me. 33:24 You will not love Me if you do not spend time with Me. 33:26 If you keep neglecting the Sabbath and doing your own 33:28 thing, your love for Me will diminish. 33:32 You will not be able to obey Me, you will not know Me, you'll not 33:34 serve Me, and judgment will come." 33:37 And so one of the keys in loving the Lord is knowing the Lord. 33:40 One of the keys in knowing the Lord is time with the Lord. 33:44 That's why the Sabbath is so important. 33:46 That's why He commands it. 33:48 And let me continue on here. 33:50 I'm still in Jeremiah chapter 17, reading in verse 26. 33:55 He says, "The city will remain forever, and then shall come 33:58 from the cities of Judah and from its places around Jerusalem 34:02 and from the land of Benjamin and from the lowland and the 34:05 mountains and from the south." 34:07 They'll come bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices and 34:09 grain offerings and incense, bringing sacrifices of praise to 34:12 the house of God. 34:15 Look at all that Saul promise. 34:17 "But," verse 27, "if you will not heed Me to hallow the 34:21 Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering 34:26 the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, I will kindle a 34:29 fire in its gate and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem, 34:33 and it will not be quenched." 34:36 By the way, sometimes people talk about unquenchable fire. 34:40 What is unquenchable fire? 34:42 Just means fire that is not extinguished. 34:45 When they didn't obey God, it turns out that they did not 34:49 humble themselves, they did not keep the Sabbath, the gates of 34:51 Jerusalem were burned. 34:54 No firemen came to quench the fire. 34:56 It completely burnt up the gates. 34:59 Later, Nehemiah talking to the king, he says the gates of 35:03 Jerusalem are burned. 35:06 And so the very thing that Jeremiah said was going to 35:08 happen if they ignored the Sabbath is what happened. 35:11 The palaces were burned. 35:13 They were carried away. 35:15 They did not get to abide in the city, and the son of David was 35:17 put in prison--the king, who is a son of David was put 35:20 in prison. 35:22 Jehoiachin in Babylon. 35:24 And so we learn here about priorities. 35:27 Is the Sabbath something that is optional for the Christian, or 35:31 is it a commandment? 35:34 Yeah. 35:36 God says, "And I'm commanding it to make our lives difficult or 35:39 for our blessing." 35:41 Of course, it's always going to be 'cause he wants to bless us. 35:44 Isaiah 56, still talking about that same principle of 35:47 priorities, verse 2, "Blessed is the man who does this, and the 35:52 son of man who lays hold on it, who keeps from defiling the 35:57 Sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil." 36:01 Isn't that interesting? 36:02 If He said, "Blessed is the man that keeps his hand from doing 36:04 evil," you'd say okay. 36:06 But He also says, "Blessed is the man who keeps from defiling 36:08 the Sabbath." 36:10 Why is that so important? 36:13 You know, it's easier sometimes for people to give God their 36:15 money than their time. 36:18 God said, "If there's a people that will give Me their time, 36:20 they will probably keep the other commandments." 36:24 Every now and then I'll meet someone, they'll learn the 36:27 Sabbath truth and they'll say, "Oh, Pastor Doug, my job 36:29 requires me to work on Sabbath. 36:31 If I tell my boss that I can't work Saturdays anymore, I'm 36:34 probably going to lose my job." 36:36 And I've often said, you know, try it. 36:38 You might be surprised. 36:41 Because there are so many employers I know that if they've 36:46 got an employee--everyone wants honest employees. 36:50 You want--don't you want employees with integrity? 36:52 You know, that they--you don't have to watch them all the time 36:55 because they watch themselves 'cause they've got--that's what 36:57 integrity is. 36:59 You're the same person when no one's watching as you are when 37:01 they are watching. 37:03 That means you're honest. 37:04 You don't have to worry. 37:06 As soon as the boss leaves, they stop working. 37:08 That's a loss of integrity. 37:09 Or if the boss isn't looking, they start pilfering things. 37:11 That's a lack of integrity. 37:13 If you've got employees with a conscience, they are the most 37:15 valuable employees you can have. 37:17 And so if I'm a boss and someone says, you know, "Because of my 37:19 religious beliefs, I'm willing to lose my job rather than break 37:22 the Sabbath day. 37:24 I'll work for you Sunday, I'll work long hours the other days, 37:26 but I cannot work during God's holy time." 37:29 If I'm an employer, I'm going to say, "I don't want to lose 37:33 that employee." 37:34 I'd rather have an honest employee 5 days a week or 4 days 37:37 a week than have a dishonest one 7 days a week. 37:41 Right? 37:44 And so I say try it, write a nice letter. 37:46 Be sweet about it. 37:47 Talk to your boss, tell him, "I'm willing to work. 37:49 I'll work hard, I'll--" 37:51 Say, "But I believe in the Ten Commandments and I can't break 37:54 this commandment." 37:56 And yeah, from time to time the boss says, "Well, we can't use 37:58 you then" But I think more times than not--I've even seen the 38:02 boss threaten them and say, "Okay, we're going to fire you." 38:06 And they put them to the test. 38:07 And they say, "Okay. well, I sure enjoyed working here. 38:09 Thank you. 38:11 Sorry, I got to go." 38:13 Boss calls them the next day and says, "I think we want to keep 38:15 you," and brings them back in. 38:17 I've seen that happen so often because it shows that 38:20 they're honest. 38:23 Isaiah 58, verse 13, "If you turn away your foot from the 38:27 Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day and call 38:30 the Sabbath a delight--" 38:32 Notice the words blessing. 38:34 Blessed is the man--delight. 38:36 "Call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable 38:40 and you'll honor Him not doing your own ways or finding your 38:44 own pleasure or speaking your own words--" 38:46 You know, sometimes we even need to watch our words. 38:48 It's so easy to think about the week and the work and 38:51 everything else. 38:53 This morning I was getting dressed and I took my shirt--I 38:56 get my--I actually hang up what I'm going to wear the next day. 38:59 I say, "Oh, this is my last white shirt." 39:02 So I called out to Karen. 39:03 I said, "When you think about ironing again, I'm out of 39:05 white shirts." 39:06 And then as soon as I said that, I thought, "Oh, it's Sabbath. 39:08 I shouldn't even be telling her something like that." 39:09 And--you know, but that's part of Sabbath-keeping, speaking the 39:13 right words, yeah. 39:16 So often--come on, fess up. 39:18 People are out in the foyer of the church, and here it 39:21 is Sabbath. 39:22 We just got out of church and you heard a spiritual sermon, 39:24 and we're talking about our new garage addition and all the work 39:27 we're doing and you think, "Is that holy conversation?" 39:30 I think sometimes we need to say, "Let's direct our words on 39:34 the Sabbath day so that it's special." 39:40 You know, spirit of prophecy says the meal you eat on Sabbath 39:42 should be even special, something that you don't have 39:44 every other day. 39:47 We try to put on clothes that are special for the presence of 39:49 God, and our words should be special, the way we spend our 39:53 time is special, and God says it is a blessing when you do that. 39:57 Now you notice he says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, calling 40:01 the Sabbath honorable." 40:03 The Sabbath is a delight, and it is an honor, amen. 40:07 And it's a time for finding balance. 40:11 Matthew chapter 5, verse 17, Jesus said, "Do not think that I 40:15 came to destroy the law or the prophets. 40:17 I did not come to destroy, but to," fill full or, "fulfill. 40:22 For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one 40:25 jot or one tittle while by no means pass from the law till all 40:29 is fulfilled." 40:31 And Matthew 12, verse 1 through 13, "At that time Jesus went 40:35 through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his disciples 40:38 were hungry--" 40:40 This is where we get our memory verse. 40:42 "And they begin to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 40:44 And when the Pharisees saw that, they said, 'Look, your disciples 40:47 are doing that which is unlawful to do on the Sabbath.' 40:51 But Jesus said, 'Have you not read what David did when he was 40:54 hungry, and those who were with him; how he entered the house of 40:57 God and he ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to 40:59 eat or for those who are with him, but only the priests? 41:03 Or have you not read in the law that the Sabbath day--on the 41:05 Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and 41:09 they're blameless?'" 41:10 They used to--you know, they used to keep the fire going on 41:13 Sabbath, they used to offer sacrifices, which 41:15 was labor-intensive. 41:17 "Yet I say to you that in this place is one greater than 41:19 the temple. 41:21 But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not 41:23 sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless." 41:26 So Jesus is saying the disciples were guiltless for picking. 41:30 If you're walking around on the Sabbath day and you glean a 41:33 piece of corn from the field or an apple from a tree, that is 41:36 not harvesting. 41:39 I mean, you know, that's an exaggeration. 41:41 By the time of Christ--keep in mind, before the Babylonian 41:43 captivity, the Jews were very sloppy about the Sabbath, and 41:47 that's one reason they were judged. 41:49 When they came back from Babylon and they went to the other 41:51 extreme, the Pharisees developed a sect that were so careful 41:54 about Sabbath keeping. 41:56 They went to the other extreme and they became legalistic. 41:59 They actually said, you know, you're not supposed to 42:02 bury--bear a burden on the Sabbath day. 42:05 If you are carrying a handkerchief in your hand, it is 42:07 a burden. 42:09 That's what they said, but they said--there's a loophole. 42:12 If you sew it to your collar, you still have it accessible. 42:15 You can blow your nose, and it's part of your garment. 42:18 So they had all these crazy laws that they had made. 42:22 They were obviously extremes. 42:24 Some people say, you know, Jesus had all these disputes with the 42:27 religious leaders because he didn't think the 42:29 Sabbath mattered. 42:31 That is biblically dishonest. 42:33 Every single dispute that Jesus had regarding the Sabbath, it 42:36 was never about, do you keep the Sabbath day? 42:39 It was always about, how do you keep the Sabbath day? 42:43 So all of the disputes, Jesus was endorsing the importance of 42:46 the Sabbath. 42:49 He said it is better to do good on the Sabbath day. 42:52 He didn't say it's better to not keep the Sabbath day. 42:55 He was always talking about how to keep it, not whether or not 42:57 that it should be kept, amen? 43:00 So there were several disputes about that on the Sabbath day. 43:04 Then there's another situation here, and you can read in 43:08 Matthew chapter 12 if you jump down to verse 10--or verse 9. 43:14 "Now when he departed from there, he went into 43:17 the synagogue. 43:19 And behold, there was a man who had a withered--" 43:21 I guess a man's hand was all twisted up and maybe atrophied 43:23 or arthritic. 43:25 "A withered hand. 43:27 And they asked him, saying, 'Is it lawful for you to heal on the 43:29 Sabbath day?' 43:31 That they might accuse him." 43:33 They're trying to set him up. 43:35 "And he said, 'What man is there among you who has one sheep, and 43:37 if it falls into a pit--it's your only sheep on the 43:39 Sabbath day. 43:40 Will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? 43:42 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep? 43:45 If therefore it is good,'" He says, "Therefore, it is good to 43:47 do--it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day. 43:52 And he said to the man," it really incensed them, "Stretch 43:55 out your hand." 43:56 And he was probably happy to do it. 43:58 "He stretched out his hand and it was restored whole as 44:00 the other." 44:01 He said, "And I'm going to show you how this is done." 44:03 And he healed on the Sabbath day. 44:05 And there was another woman in the sanctuary. 44:09 She had been bent over. 44:11 Terrible osteoporosis or something, but she was all 44:13 hunched over and had gone on for 18 years. 44:17 He said, "Woman, you are loosed of your infirmity." 44:21 He healed her, and he laid his hands on her. 44:24 Immediately she was made straight. 44:27 How nice that must have felt to suddenly stand up straight after 44:29 being hunched over. 44:32 And she glorified God. 44:34 But the ruler of the synagogue instead of saying praising God, 44:36 he was mad that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day. 44:40 "And he said to the crowd, 'There are six days--'" 44:42 He said, "Don't anyone else come for healing. 44:44 This is terrible." 44:46 "'There are six days in which men ought to work. 44:48 Therefore, come and be healed on them and not on the 44:50 Sabbath day.' 44:52 And Jesus answered him and said, 'Hypocrite, does not each one of 44:54 you on the Sabbath day loose his ox or his donkey from the stall 44:57 and lead it away to water it? 45:00 Ought not this water--this woman being a daughter of Abraham whom 45:02 Satan is bound, think of it for 18 years, be loosed from this 45:07 bond on the Sabbath?' 45:10 And when he said these things, his adversaries were put to 45:12 shame by his logic. 45:14 And all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that 45:21 were done by him." 45:23 So the disputes that Jesus had connected with the Sabbath 45:25 day--we learn a lot on the Sabbath day about how to keep 45:29 it, and they were to keep it holy, keep it practically. 45:34 He doesn't want us to fall off into legalism. 45:36 But, you know, there's that other extreme where people say, 45:39 "Well, since it's better to do good on the Sabbath day and my 45:44 neighbor's windows are dirty, I'm going to show off my 45:46 neighbor and wash his windows." 45:49 Now, I've heard of a couple of cases where people that are 45:51 professed Sabbath keepers say, "We're going to go do acts of 45:53 mercy for our neighbors on Sabbath." 45:56 And they take the youth out and they rake their lawns and they 45:58 wash their windows and they say, "This is the ox in the ditch." 46:01 No, that's going--that's not what Jesus is talking about. 46:04 Don't go out looking for work. 46:07 If you run into somebody who's broke down on the side of the 46:10 road and their battery needs a jump, by all means jump 46:13 their car. 46:15 But he's not saying we ought to be--then start violating the 46:18 Sabbath by doing things that could easily be done another day 46:20 of the week. 46:22 Can I get a little amen on that? 46:25 Okay, thank you. 46:27 All right. 46:29 And then Sabbath, I've just got a couple of minutes left, is a 46:31 time for community. 46:33 Acts 13, verse 14, "But when they departed from Perga, they 46:36 came to Antioch in Pisidia, and they went into the synagogue on 46:39 the Sabbath day and they sat down. 46:42 And after reading the law and the prophets, the rulers of the 46:45 synagogue sent to them, saying, 'Men and brethren, have you any 46:49 word of exhortation for the people? 46:52 Please say on.'" 46:55 I was visiting a Methodist Church one day, and just so 46:58 happened that they were studying the sanctuary. 47:02 This is years ago. 47:04 I was going to church 2 days a week back then, Saturday 47:06 and Sunday. 47:09 And I made a couple of comments on the sanctuary, and the 47:12 Sabbath School teacher--Sunday school teacher said, "Brother, 47:16 you got anything else you can share with us?" 47:18 He says, "We don't understand this lesson at all." 47:21 I said, "Well, I am so glad you asked." 47:25 I ended up teaching that class for several weeks until the 47:29 pastor found out I was an Adventist. 47:32 So they said, "Do you have any Word for us?" 47:35 And he preached to them about Christ. 47:37 So they would gather together on the Sabbath. 47:39 Acts 16:13 it says, "On the Sabbath we went out of the city 47:42 to the river where prayer was customarily made and we sat down 47:46 and spoke to the women who met there." 47:49 So they not only gathered in the church, but they 47:52 gathered outside. 47:54 And is the Sabbath just to play--a day for us to rest, or 47:58 is it a day for us to come together? 48:00 Doesn't it say, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves 48:03 together as the manner of some is?" 48:06 I know that's a real struggle during the pandemic for a lot of 48:08 people, but I think God still wants His people to come 48:11 together safely and to worship Him. 48:14 Also, the Sabbath in Leviticus 23 is called a holy convocation. 48:19 That means an assembly. 48:22 And in heaven--Isaiah 66, "All flesh shall come together to 48:26 worship before Me." 48:29 Something happens when two or three gather together in His 48:32 name, amen. 48:35 So let's see what else I can read here for you. 48:39 Yeah, Acts 18, verse 4, "And he reasoned in the synagogue every 48:43 Sabbath and persuaded--" 48:45 Not just Jews, but Jews and Greeks. 48:48 And again, I'll close with this verse in Hebrews 10, verse 24. 48:51 "Let us consider one another to stir up love and good works not 48:55 forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner 48:59 of some is, but exhorting one another and all the more as we 49:03 see the day approaching." 49:05 Well, friends, we are out of time. 49:07 I want to thank those who've been joining us online, remind 49:09 you that we have a special offer that's dealing with is 49:12 Sunday holy. 49:15 And if you'd like that study guide, "Is Sunday Really 49:17 Sacred?" we'll be happy to send that to you. 49:19 Ask for offer number 150, and we'll send it to you. 49:24 God bless until we study together again next week. 49:30 announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 49:32 free resource. 49:33 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 49:36 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 49:38 mobile device. 49:39 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 49:43 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 49:48 shown on your screen, and be sure to select the digital 49:51 download option on the request page. 49:53 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 49:56 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want and, most 50:00 important, to share it with others. 50:07 announcer: Amazing Facts, changed lives. 50:16 Jason: We were going to church every other week. 50:18 About 19 years old, things really start to make sense 50:21 for me. 50:22 I started to go to church for myself. 50:23 And the pastor wanted to study with me, but we came to the 50:28 study of baptism and I kind of just shrugged, looked at my head 50:32 down and said, "I'm not ready." 50:34 He looked me in the eye and said, "Jason, you'll never make 50:38 yourself ready. 50:41 This is something you have to do." 50:43 Put a lot of things behind me. 50:45 Drinking and smoking and all that stuff stopped. 50:47 All throughout the time we had been learning about God, it was 50:50 just me and God. 50:52 Comes around up to about August and I meet this girl. 50:57 About 2 years in the relationship, we're talking 50:59 about marriage and everything. 51:01 We didn't pray. 51:03 We didn't study together. 51:05 We were arguing a lot, but we were engaged. 51:10 I started drinking again. 51:11 That was a slow downward spiral in the different things, and my 51:14 devotional life started really weaseling away. 51:17 We broke up in 2008. 51:20 It was heavy for me 'cause, again, being with somebody for 51:22 that long, it's almost like a divorce. 51:28 I started to fall back away even more. 51:31 I remember looking in the mirror, just looking at myself 51:33 and say, "What are you doing? 51:35 How can you do this to God? 51:37 He brought you so far." 51:40 And, you know, God really heard my cry. 51:46 There was a testimony telling at my church, and there's a call 51:50 and kids start getting up. 51:51 Bunch of high school kids start getting up for calls of baptism. 51:55 I'm back doing the PA system at this time and I feel just, like, 51:57 this urge, just my heart just ripping out of my chest, and I 52:01 just had this feeling just to go up. 52:04 I get up to the front and I just meet the pastor in open arms. 52:09 I realized that there's so much more to life than just living 52:13 life for myself. 52:15 And, you know, falling away, it's not a necessity. 52:20 But God can work through anything in the bad to make it 52:23 the good. 52:25 It's a promise He makes. 52:36 announcer: Together, we have spread the gospel much farther 52:39 than ever before. 52:41 Thank you for your support. 52:48 ♪♪♪ 53:00 Doug: Have you ever worried that you don't have enough time in 53:02 your days, or you can add another day to your life? 53:04 Well, perhaps there is a way for you to add a whole 'nother day 53:07 to your existence. 53:08 Watch how easy it is. 53:11 I just stepped into yesterday. 53:14 No, I'm not talking about going back to the future or back 53:15 in history. 53:17 I happen to be standing here in Taveuni, Fiji, one of the only 53:20 places in the world where the international meridian dateline 53:24 runs through a piece of land. 53:26 People have not always been able to play with time this way. 53:29 Back in 1878, Sir Sandford Fleming, a Canadian, he 53:33 recommended to the science community of the world that the 53:36 globe be divided in 24 even segments, each separated by 15 53:40 degrees of longitude that would establish the international 53:44 time system. 53:47 In 1884, there was a prime meridian conference held in 53:49 Washington, D.C. to standardize time and select the point for 53:52 the prime meridian, which would be zero degrees on the globe. 53:57 It ended up being Greenwich, England, but that's not where 53:59 we are. 54:01 We are on the polar opposite side of the planet right now, 54:03 but we're going to step into the future. 54:05 You want to come? 54:08 And look at that. 54:09 The Lord is still with us even here. 54:11 He'll continue to take care of you, friends, wherever you go. 54:13 Friends, you sometimes worry about the future. 54:15 What will you eat? 54:16 Will you have a home? 54:18 Are you going to still have your job? 54:20 What will you wear? 54:21 Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 6, verse 25 through 34, 54:25 "Don't take thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow will take 54:28 thought for the things of itself." 54:30 He tells us that he feeds the birds and he clothes the 54:33 flowers, He'll take care of us. 54:35 We know that God will watch over us. 54:37 He forgives the past, He promises to be with us in the 54:40 present, and He will continue to lead us in the future, but 54:44 you've just got to give yourself to Him. 54:46 I invite you to do that right now. 54:57 announcer: Amazing Facts, changed lives. 55:06 male: I come from a Hindu background. 55:08 My mom is a preacher for Shiva; was a Hindu god. 55:11 My father is agnostic kind. 55:13 So me myself, I grew like--as an atheist. 55:16 In the year 2007, I had an experience of being in south 55:20 India. 55:21 That was the first time I experienced Christian people, 55:24 you know. 55:26 The majorities were Christians there. 55:28 There were some Adventist youth who invited me to be a part of 55:32 one of their mid-week service. 55:35 They were presenting a video of Pastor Doug Batchelor, "The 55:40 Richest Caveman." 55:42 I was moved, you know. 55:44 I do understand good and bad, and I pictured myself into the 55:46 bad category than the good one. 55:49 I started experiencing several dreams and--which started 55:53 troubling me. 55:55 You know, I kept the website in my mind. 55:57 I went to the Internet cafe and started browsing the website of 56:02 Amazing Facts, and then I saw the Bible study guide there. 56:07 Every day I started taking one of the lesson and--I was 56:10 baptized 2007. 56:13 After my conversion, I straightly came to Spica to do 56:16 my studies. 56:18 During the summer vacation, I decided to go back home and give 56:20 my mom and my father a visit. 56:22 By that time, they knew that I had converted to Christianity. 56:25 I was thrown out of the house. 56:28 We are not in good terms even today; but it's sad but for 56:31 them, not for me. 56:34 During 2015, I was diagnosed with leukemia. 56:39 I had only one professor and one friend who was coming along with 56:43 me to the hospital every day. 56:46 When I asked this assistant doctor, "What do you think is 56:50 the lifespan of a person like me?" 56:52 She said, "You will be losing weight and you will get sick 56:55 slowly, slowly if you don't go for a treatment. 56:57 So a year plus." 57:00 One night I decided--it was January 2015. 57:04 I said, "I am not going for any treatment anymore." 57:07 I said, "Lord, You gave me one year. 57:10 So what I'll do is I'll just do Your ministry, and that's okay." 57:15 And I never went for any treatment after that. 57:18 I just left everything right over there. 57:21 I didn't take even one tablet, one medicine. 57:24 I'm standing in front of you strong in 2018. 57:28 Nothing happened. 57:30 I don't know what happened. 57:31 I don't know if it's still there in my body or what. 57:33 I don't know. 57:35 I'm not dead yet. 57:37 I want to serve in India. 57:40 Amazing Facts team, especially Pastor Doug, has really played a 57:44 very important element in my life to give me an identity. 57:50 ♪♪♪ 58:01 ♪♪♪ 58:11 ♪♪♪ 58:16 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-12-09