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00:10 ♪♪♪ 00:20 ♪♪♪ 00:30 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Jëan Ross: Good morning, friends, 00:36 we'd like to welcome you to "Sabbath School Study Hour," 00:39 here at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:41 in Sacramento, California. 00:43 You know, we like to mention where we are because we have 00:45 folks who are viewing this program, 00:47 and they might be living right in Sacramento, 00:49 and they don't even know that we're in Sacramento. 00:51 So I'd like to welcome all of those who are joining us online 00:54 across the country and around the world and also those who 00:57 are here in person-- 00:58 come a little earlier for our Sabbath school this morning. 01:01 We're going to be continuing our study in the book of Isaiah 01:05 today, and we have such an important study. 01:07 It's lesson number 11. 01:09 If you're following along with your lesson quarterly, 01:11 it's entitled "Waging Love," and we're going to be looking at a 01:15 number of very important passages in Isaiah, 01:17 Isaiah 58, in particular, 01:19 so we're looking forward to that study. 01:21 Before we get there, we'd like to let our friends know about 01:23 our free offer for today. 01:25 This is one of the Amazing Facts study guides. 01:27 It is entitled "A Love that Transforms," and we'll be happy 01:31 to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 01:33 The number for that is 866-788-3966, 01:38 and you can ask for offer number 710, 01:41 and we'll get that in the mail. 01:42 We'll send it to you. 01:44 If you're outside of North America, 01:45 we can also provide you 01:46 with a digital download of the study guide. 01:49 Just text the code "SH003," to the number 40544. 01:55 Now, I guess you need to be in North America in order to text 01:57 that code, and we'll give you a digital download. 02:00 If you're outside of North America, 02:02 you can read this for free by simply going to the Amazing 02:05 Facts website. 02:07 So we want to let you know about that as well. 02:09 Well, before we get to our lesson this morning, 02:10 we want to begin by lifting our voices in song. 02:13 Our Sabbath school hymn is "More About Jesus." 02:16 It's hymn number 245. 02:19 ♪♪♪ 02:29 ♪♪♪ 02:33 ♪ More about Jesus I would know, ♪ 02:38 ♪ more of His grace to others show, ♪ 02:41 ♪ more of His saving fullness see, ♪ 02:45 ♪ more of His love who died for me. ♪ 02:50 ♪ More, more about Jesus, more, more about Jesus, ♪ 02:58 ♪ more of His saving fullness see, ♪ 03:03 ♪ more of His love who died for me. ♪ 03:09 ♪ More about Jesus, in His Word, ♪ 03:12 ♪ holding Communion with my Lord. ♪ 03:17 ♪ Hearing His voice in every line, ♪ 03:21 ♪ making each faithful saying mine. ♪ 03:25 ♪ More, more about Jesus, more, more about Jesus, ♪ 03:34 ♪ more of His saving fullness see, ♪ 03:38 ♪ more of His love who died for me. ♪ 03:45 ♪ More about Jesus, on His throne, ♪ 03:48 ♪ riches in glory all His own, ♪ 03:52 ♪ more of His Kingdom's sure increase, ♪ 03:57 ♪ more of His coming, Prince of Peace. ♪ 04:02 ♪ More, more about Jesus, more, more about Jesus, ♪ 04:10 ♪ more of His saving fullness see, ♪ 04:15 ♪ more of His love who died for me. ♪♪ 04:23 male: Amen. 04:25 Jëan: Let us bow our heads for prayer. 04:26 Dear Father in heaven, how grateful we are to be able 04:29 to gather together to open up Your Word and study such an 04:31 important passage written so many years ago but so relevant 04:35 for us and for the time in which we are living. 04:37 Lord, we want to invite Your presence, 04:39 Your Spirit, in a special way to be with us as we study together. 04:42 Be with Pastor Brummund as he leads out in our 04:44 lesson this morning. 04:46 And be with those who are watching and listening around 04:48 the country and around the world, 04:50 and we commit this time in Your keeping, 04:52 in Jesus's name, amen. 04:54 Our lesson today is going to be brought to us by our Family Life 04:57 pastor here at Granite Bay: Pastor Shawn Brummund. 05:01 Shawn Brummund: Jesus once said, 05:02 "The thief does not come but except to kill, 05:05 and to steal, and destroy, but I have come that they might 05:09 have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." 05:12 And friends, I stand here before you today again to be able to 05:15 testify that life with Jesus is 100 times better 05:19 than life without Jesus. 05:22 Can I hear a number of "amens" out there? 05:23 Because you have experienced that difference as well. 05:26 And I speak from personal experience. 05:29 When I was brought up, my parents, 05:31 in the very early age of my life, 05:34 when I was two or three, four at the most, 05:36 my parents had decided to leave whatever limited, 05:39 religious experience in church that they had been brought up 05:42 with, and they had decided to raise their family and live 05:45 their life in a secular basis. 05:48 And so my experience up until the summer that I turned 21, 05:52 as far as my memory goes back, is nothing but secular, 05:55 and so I had no knowledge of God. 05:58 I had no knowledge of the Bible. 05:59 I had no knowledge of the person of Jesus. 06:02 I had no knowledge of church and how it works and the benefit and 06:06 the blessings that can come with it. 06:09 And so, that summer, when I turned 21, 06:11 and I started to be able to open up the door to my heart, 06:14 as it says in Revelation 3, in verse 20, 06:16 "Behold, I stand at the door, and I knock, 06:19 and if anyone opens that door, I will come in and dine with him, 06:22 and he with Me," and that was my experience that summer because 06:26 when I began to go to church on my own, 06:28 when I began to discover God and pray for the very first time, 06:31 when I began to open the Bible and look at the gospel records 06:34 and learn about this person named Jesus, 06:38 when I began to discover this greatest man that ever lived, 06:42 the Son of God Himself that not only lived and taught 06:46 the greatest, most powerful sermons and lessons of truth 06:49 but also died on the cross for me-- 06:52 and what I learned all these things, God did indeed come 06:56 into my heart, and He began to dine with me, and I with Him, 06:59 and He began to change me. 07:01 He began to transform me from the inside out, 07:04 and I've never looked back since because I know that life with 07:08 Jesus is a hundred times better than life without Jesus. 07:12 And when we look at this particular lesson here, 07:14 today, we're looking at two very powerful chapters 07:17 in the book of Isaiah. 07:18 We're looking at chapter 55, and we're looking at chapter 58. 07:23 And we're going to start in chapter 55, 07:24 as the lesson study does, and when we come to this chapter, 07:27 it's a very powerful chapter. 07:29 In fact, I would say it is perhaps the most powerful, 07:32 if not at least in the top three most powerful chapters that we 07:36 can find in the entire book. 07:38 The entire chapter is a powerful, 07:41 extensive invitation to the person of Jesus Christ, 07:46 to the person of the maker of the heavens and the earth. 07:48 It is a personal invitation to enter into a personal, 07:52 saving, power-filled relationship with God, 07:56 and so that's what makes it so powerful. 07:58 We find the gospel that is found there, 08:02 and it is the unpacking of that verse that quickly became the 08:06 signature verse for my experience because it 08:09 was the first verse that metaphorically, I would say, 08:12 jumped off the pages of the Bible and just explained this 08:15 new experience that I had in God because 08:17 again, when I first came to experience God and put my 08:20 faith in God and discovered that there was a God, 08:24 I was at ground zero. 08:25 And so my knowledge of the Bible and of the Bible message, 08:28 and so on, was pretty close to zero at that point, 08:32 but, when I came to John chapter 10, 08:34 verse 10, and Jesus says, "I have come to give them life 08:37 and to give it to them more abundantly," I said, 08:39 "That's me. 08:40 That's my experience," John chapter 10, and verse 10. 08:48 In Matthew chapter 11, in verses 28 through 29, 08:51 Jesus offers that great invitation of which many 08:54 of us have responded to, that great invitation in which Jesus 08:58 cried out to the crowds that are around Him 09:00 one day in His frustration and desperation as He looked around 09:04 of all the different religious man-made traditions and false 09:08 theologies and hypocrisy that was existing in this nation. 09:13 And in the midst of all that, he cries out to the crowd around 09:15 Him; He says, "Come unto Me, all ye who labor and are heavy 09:20 laden, and I will give you rest. 09:24 Take My yoke upon Me and learn from Me." 09:27 "Learn from--" who? "Learn from Me." 09:30 You notice how Christ is at the center of that invitation? 09:34 It says, "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, 09:39 and I will give you rest." 09:42 You see, friends, the devil comes up with-- 09:43 and mankind has invented a hundred different ways to be 09:47 able to try to find peace, try to find fulfillment, try to find 09:50 satisfaction with life and purpose in life outside of 09:54 the person of Christ, but Jesus says, "Yes, I give you the Bible 09:58 message, and this is a valuable truth. 10:00 This is what you must base your life upon and trust implicitly," 10:04 but, friends, this book is not worth anything if we do not know 10:07 the person of that book, and that's the difference between 10:11 all the other pathways and all the other philosophies, 10:14 all the other self-help courses and theories and pathways that 10:19 have been invented by mankind. 10:21 They all are relying upon ourselves or upon 10:24 some philosophy or some kind of theory, 10:27 but when we come to the Bible, when we come to the message in 10:30 the Christian experience, it's all about the person. 10:34 It's centered on the person. 10:36 It's centered on the God who made the universe, 10:40 and that's why Jesus says, "Come unto Me." 10:42 Now, He could've said, "Come unto the Word." 10:44 He sort of could've said, "Come unto your local rabbi or your 10:47 local pastor or some local therapist." 10:50 No, friends, it says, "Come unto Me," Jesus says, 10:55 "and I will give you rest. 10:59 Learn from Me, for I am lowly and gentle in heart, 11:03 and you shall find rest for your souls, 11:07 for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." 11:12 And when we come to Isaiah chapter 55, 11:15 we find here that Jesus and His Father are doing the exact same 11:18 thing in this chapter, way back in 700, 11:22 approximately 700 B.C., during the generation of Isaiah. 11:26 And so, when Jesus made that invitation that day, 11:28 as recorded in Matthew, this was not the first time that 11:31 He made that invitation. 11:34 He had already made it some 700 years before and, 11:36 of course, through other prophets before that as well. 11:39 And so we come to verse 1 of Isaiah chapter 55, 11:42 where it says, "Ho, every one who thirsts, 11:44 come to the waters, and you who have no money, 11:49 come, buy, and eat. 11:52 Yes, come buy milk and wine without money 11:56 and without price." 12:02 Now, I just want you to stop and imagine with me just for 12:04 a moment if we saw in the newspaper or online or the 12:09 local television station, and it was advertising a sale at your 12:12 local Costco, and the sale was this: 12:16 Everything in the entire store for a day, a week, 12:18 whatever the duration of the sale is, there's going to be 12:21 a 100% discount on all the merchandise. 12:27 Now, how popular do you think that sale would be? 12:31 All right, we all know the answer to that, don't we? 12:34 In fact, we would be thought of as crazy if we didn't take up on 12:37 that offer. 12:39 If we said, "You know what? I'm going to be busy that day. 12:41 I don't have time to go to Costco, sorry." 12:44 We would be viewed as crazy, 12:47 and yet, when we come to the beginning of chapter 55, 12:50 it is introducing the ultimate sale. 12:53 It is a 100% discount that God is offering to mankind and to 12:57 Israel during the generation of Isaiah, 12:59 but not only to Isaiah's generation but to you and me, 13:03 to the world today. 13:04 It is an ongoing sale. It is not one day. 13:07 It is not one week, but it's been going on for 6,000 years 13:10 now, and it will continue on until the close of probation, 13:15 until Jesus says, "I cannot let evil and sin go any further 13:20 into time. 13:23 Something is being offered for free. 13:27 There is no money, there is no labor to be able to accept this 13:31 gift that God is offering. 13:33 Once again, in this powerful chapter, 13:35 Ephesians chapter 2, in verses 8 and 9, 13:37 we find the synopsis of Isaiah, and what he's presenting here is 13:41 God is giving it to him and through Isaiah in his day, 13:45 but Paul later penned it some-700 years later when 13:47 he says, "By grace you have been saved through faith. 13:53 It is not of yourselves. It is a--it's a gift. 13:57 It's a gift of God. 13:58 It's not of work, lest anyone should boast." 14:04 And so we find here that the very basis, 14:07 the foundation of the Old Covenant that God 14:09 was selling back to Israel, appealing to them to come 14:14 back to that covenant that He originally had made with them 14:17 so long ago through His servant Moses is the exact 14:22 same covenant, or basis of the covenant, that is offered in the 14:26 New Testament era as well. 14:29 The Old Covenant that points to Christ on the cross that 14:32 was pointing forward is exactly the same basis and gift and 14:36 salvation and offer from God that is found as we look back 14:40 at the cross in the New Testament era. 14:43 This is pointed out-- 14:44 I forget what page it was in our lesson study, and its 'course-- 14:51 it's entitled "Waging Love," which is lesson number 11. 14:56 "Waging Love," lesson number 11. 14:58 It's on page 85, which is Sunday's lesson. 15:00 I'll just go ahead and read that. 15:02 It's the last paragraph, and it says, 15:04 "Isaiah encapsulated the gospel in the Old Testament, 15:07 and it is the same as the gospel in the New Testament." 15:11 Now, this is a great preview for our next quarterly study because 15:14 our next quarterly study is going to be on the covenants 15:16 of the Bible. 15:19 "There is no old covenant salvation by works, to be 15:23 superseded by new covenant salvation by grace." 15:26 You see, friends, "Ever since God's promise of a Deliverer 15:29 to Adam and Eve, there has only been one way to salvation: 15:32 By grace through faith, 'the free gift of offer is eternal 15:35 life through Christ Jesus, our Lord.'" 15:37 And so this is one of the big reasons why Isaiah has been 15:41 referred to by Christians through the ages as the 15:43 great Old Testament gospel preacher. 15:46 It is the Romans of the Old Testament. 15:50 When we come to the book of Isaiah and we come to chapter 15:53 55, God makes it clear perhaps than anywhere else before-- 15:56 anywhere else, even as Ephesians tells us, 15:58 "It is by grace that you have been saved by faith. 16:01 It is not of yourselves. 16:02 It is a--it is a gift of God." 16:07 And what is that gift that God offers to us, 16:09 free of charge, a 100% discount to you and me? 16:12 It is total forgiveness of our guilt and sins. 16:18 God offers to clean your slate completely, 16:20 no matter how evil, no matter how shameful, 16:22 no matter how horrible. 16:25 No matter how destructive those sins have been, 16:27 God offers to be able to clean your slate completely, 16:33 complete and utter forgiveness of all your guilt and your sins, 16:36 and not only that but it's a package deal. 16:39 It's not only complete forgiveness 16:41 but it's life for eternity. 16:45 God is offering you the gift in which you can actually 16:48 live for eternity. 16:50 Your heart will beat without ever stopping for all time, 16:55 and not only that but He says, "In that free package also comes 16:59 a way better quality of life in the here and now. 17:03 The quality of your life will be paramount, 17:07 will be light years better than it is without this gift in your 17:11 heart, without this gift in your life." 17:15 That's why Jesus so confidently say 17:17 "The thief," representing the devil, 17:19 "does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy." 17:21 He's only out to be able to drag you down with him into hell, 17:27 but God says through Jesus is "I have come that you might 17:29 have life and have it more abundantly." 17:31 He's talking about the here and now, amen? 17:34 He's talking about the life that you and I live, 17:36 from day to day, right now. 17:39 And so the quality of our life goes up dramatically when we 17:42 have Christ, when we accept this gift into our life, 17:45 and so the million-dollar question that so many people 17:47 that have come to accept Christ in their life, 17:50 accept this free gift and live under the liberated experience 17:54 of having God's grace as we give our faith to Him from day to 17:57 day--and it is so exciting-- 17:59 the quality of life is so much better. 18:01 We ask ourselves, "How in the world are so many around 18:05 me not interested, in fact, are aggressively pushing back 18:09 against that gift? 18:12 Why is it that only a few, as Jesus says, 18:17 accept that gift and walk into eternal life? 18:23 Well, the Bible gives us a number of different answers. 18:25 I just want to look at three, three here this morning. 18:31 Now, the reason that this particular gift that God 18:33 offers to us is so unpopular is for three key reasons: 18:38 Number one, the devil uses the world to deceive us the same way 18:42 that he succeeded with Eve at the tree of the knowledge of 18:44 garden of Eden so long ago, 18:47 the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 18:52 It is there that not only did he say, 18:54 "You shall not surely die," the very first lie that he brought 18:57 to mankind, but he followed up with that lie and said, 18:59 "The only reason that God said that you shall surely die if 19:02 you at from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil 19:04 is because He's trying to threaten you. 19:06 He's trying to hold you back from having a much more rounded 19:10 experience in your life. 19:14 The only reason that He's telling you not to eat of 19:15 the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not because 19:17 you'll die. 19:18 You're not going to die. 19:20 No, the fact of the matter is God knows that you will become 19:21 just like Him, that your life will be well rounded, 19:25 even as mine and His is, that you also can have the knowledge 19:28 of the good and the evil as well." 19:31 In other words, the devil was saying, 19:33 "Listen, there's not a whole lot wrong with some of the good that 19:36 you have in your experience right now, 19:38 but life is going to be a whole lot more fuller if you also have 19:40 some evil there to enjoy as well." 19:45 And that is still the same today, is it not? 19:47 Many people will not come to Christ because they look at 19:50 Jesus, they look at the Bible, they look at religion and 19:52 Christianity as nothing but a giant party pooper, 19:58 isn't that true? 20:00 "I don't want to come to Christ. 20:01 He's going to take this away, He's going to take this away, 20:03 He's going to take this away, and He's going to take this 20:04 away," and I believe-- 20:06 and I believe the lie that my life is much fuller. 20:09 "It's much more well rounded, not only with some good things-- 20:13 oh, I have nothing against doing good and having 20:15 good and love and peace and all these other things, 20:17 but it's also good to have sin in my life." 20:20 And so the devil uses the same deception that works 20:23 so successfully in the garden, in the garden of Eden at the 20:25 tree, even today with mankind. 20:28 Number two, unlike shopping at Costco, 20:34 the gift that God offers to us at 100% discount involves 20:37 a commitment, involves a relationship to a Person 20:41 with a capital P. 20:43 It involves a relationship and a commitment to a Person that made 20:46 the heavens and the earth. 20:48 God is saying, "Listen, when it comes to accepting this 20:50 particular gift, this gift is something that also involves a 20:54 relationship with Me. 20:55 I'm offering you Myself," God says. 21:01 And so God tells us that involves a very real commitment. 21:08 Many of us are not that excited about committing. 21:12 And the third reason, as Jesus says, "We love sin." 21:18 There's something about the human heart that loves sin. 21:20 Our fallen nature, we default to a love for sin, and we have-- 21:25 we love to have the freedom to pick the sins of our 21:28 choice without judgment from a God we need to commit to that 21:32 might get in the way. 21:33 And so because of these three key reasons, 21:36 that observation of mankind, as well as we can also find in the 21:39 Scriptures, God reveals to us, indeed, 21:42 some of the key reasons why so many around us refuse this gift 21:48 in which God has given to us at such a great cost. 21:53 And so I invite you to open your Bibles to Isaiah 55, 21:56 if you haven't already. 21:57 I'd just like to look at some verses here as we just kind of 22:00 spend and keep our nose in the Bible itself. 22:02 In verse 1, again, we read, "Ho, everyone who thirsts, 22:05 come to the waters," God says. 22:08 Doesn't that bring back to your memory when Jesus was at the 22:11 water well, Jacob's well, when He was a human walking upon 22:15 this planet, and He stopped, and His disciples were grocery 22:18 shopping in the local city of Sychar, and He's having this 22:22 conversation with the Samaritan woman, and He was selling her on 22:26 the very same thing that Isaiah is selling us on in Isaiah 55, 22:31 and Jesus finally says to her, "He who drinks of this water, 22:33 which I offer, will become like a fountain springing up into 22:37 everlasting life." 22:41 Ho, everyone who thirsts," Jesus says, 22:43 God says, "Come to the waters, and you who have no money, 22:47 come and buy and eat. 22:50 Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money 22:53 and without price." 22:56 Verse 2, God continues to go on and says, 22:58 "Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, 23:02 and your wages for that which does not satisfy?" 23:05 God says, "Listen, you're investing your time, 23:07 your money, your resources into all the wrong places. 23:12 Jesus stood up there in his lifetime, 23:13 and He says, "I am the Bread of Life." 23:16 Do you remember that? 23:18 "I am the Bread of Life." 23:23 Jesus tells us in John chapter 6, 23:26 in verse 33, "For the bread of God is He." 23:29 That's with a capital H. 23:30 "For the bread of God is He, that is Christ, 23:33 who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. 23:37 I am the Bread of Life," Jesus says. 23:42 That's why He says, "You must eat of Me." 23:44 You must invest your resources and your life and your energies 23:49 in the person of Christ, "In Me," Jesus says, 23:52 "and then you will find life. 23:55 Then you will find satisfaction. 23:57 Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread, 23:59 and your wages for that which does not satisfy? 24:02 Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, 24:06 and let your soul delight itself in abundance." 24:10 There's that key word, "abundance." 24:12 Jesus says, "I have come that you might have life 24:14 more abundantly." 24:17 This is the same thing. 24:19 You see, almost everything that Jesus taught during His earthly 24:22 lifetime was simply reiterating, bring back to life what He had 24:25 already been speaking to through Isaiah and 24:27 the prophets of the Old. 24:31 In verse 3, it says, "Incline your ear, 24:33 and come to--come to Me," Jesus says. 24:38 Again, it's the Person, isn't it? 24:40 He's not just saying, "Come to the truth," which is one with 24:43 Jesus, and it's paramount in importance to Jesus, 24:47 but it is secondary to the person of Christ and which 24:50 that word comes from. 24:54 "Incline your ear and come to Me," Jesus says. 24:57 God says, "Hear, and your soul shall live, 25:00 and I will make an everlasting covenant with you-- 25:04 the sure mercies of David." 25:07 God says, "Listen, I will offer you the mercies of David." 25:09 Jesus understood that. 25:11 When He came into this world, He was the ultimate Son of David, 25:14 was He not? 25:15 That's why they cried out when He came into the holy capital 25:18 of Jerusalem, just before He was crucified. 25:21 On that donkey, the great triumphal entry into Jerusalem 25:24 as the King of kings and Lord of lords, 25:26 and they cried out "Hosanna, hosanna, the Son of--" 25:30 the Son of David. 25:31 They understood that the ultimate Messiah, 25:33 the Promised One, the Prophet with a capital P, the Great 25:36 Redeemer and Deliverer of the world would be a descendant of 25:40 David, would be the ultimate and final David that would sit on 25:44 the throne for all of eternity. 25:48 And God offers the sure mercies of David, 25:51 the sure mercies of Jesus to the generation that existed then. 25:59 I'd like to drop down to verse 6, 26:01 as we pick up on that same vein. 26:03 In verse 6, it says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found. 26:06 Call upon Him while He may be near-- 26:08 while He is near." 26:10 Jesus, God is always near, is He not? 26:13 In fact, He's so near, as we just talked about a little 26:15 bit earlier. 26:17 In Revelation chapter 3, verse 20, 26:18 Jesus says, "I'm so near that I'm always there, 26:20 and I'm knocking on the door of your heart that 26:26 if you open the door, I will come in and dine with you, 26:28 and you with Me." 26:29 We will enter into a lifesaving relationship. 26:34 Verse 7, it says, "Let the wicked forsake his way." 26:37 God calls us to repentance when we come to Him because He is a 26:40 holy God, is He not? 26:42 And so, when we invite Him into our heart, 26:44 we're inviting holiness into our life. 26:48 That's why Paul says that the Christian, 26:51 a true believer, that opens the heart, 26:54 opens the door to their heart, they become instantly a holy 26:57 temple of God because now the Holy God of the universe is 27:00 residing in your heart. 27:03 And of course, the heart represents this part of 27:04 our biology, is it not? 27:07 It's the brain. 27:08 It's the mind. 27:12 "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man 27:14 his thoughts. 27:15 Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, 27:19 and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." 27:23 And then, when we come to verses 12 and 13, 27:26 God then paints before us, before you and me, 27:28 before that generation, the great fruits, 27:30 the outcropping, the abundant life, 27:33 the higher quality of life that God will inevitably bring into 27:36 your life when you accept Jesus and respond to this invitation. 27:40 In verse 12, He says, "For you shall go out with joy, 27:45 and be led out with peace." 27:48 Paul tells us in Galatians chapter 5 and around verse 20, 27:51 21, 22, he says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace." 28:01 Now, again, friends, Paul wasn't being original when 28:03 he penned that. 28:05 They're just simply reiterating what God had been speaking for 28:08 centuries already. 28:10 "For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. 28:15 The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing 28:18 before you, and all the trees of the field shall 28:20 clap their hands. 28:22 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, 28:24 and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree, 28:27 and it shall be to the Lord for a name, 28:29 for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." 28:33 This is the abundant life that God is selling 28:35 that generation on. 28:36 This is the abundant life that God is selling on to 28:39 us here today. 28:41 And again, friends, the ultimate gift that God is offering to us 28:45 is the person of Himself, and how tragic it is that 28:51 when we read this passage among dozens of other 28:53 passages throughout the Scriptures--Old, New alike-- 28:56 that God has to work so hard at selling the greatest 28:59 offering gift to mankind, especially since He spent 29:04 so much, and it cost Him such an infinite amount to be able 29:08 to buy that salvation, free gift for us, 29:14 the eternal Son of God, suffering, 29:16 beaten beyond recognition, dying a horrible death on the cross of 29:20 Calvary, taking upon Himself the guilt of all the world, 29:24 not only of the saved but also of the unsaved, 29:27 not only those who go to their grave 29:29 looking for the resurrection of condemnation 29:32 but He also bore upon himself the guilt of those who would 29:34 reject Him until they went into the grave. 29:38 The great cost that it came to Jesus, 29:41 it is free to you and me, but that did not come with a cost, 29:44 even as Costco, if it had 100% discount out of all 29:47 its merchandise, it would be free to us, 29:49 but it would be a very expensive price for Costco, yes? 29:55 And it's the same thing with God. 29:57 It's the same thing with salvation. 29:59 It's free to you and me, but God paid a tremendous price, 30:02 and yet He has to work so hard to sell us on it, 30:08 and yet how amazing the grace and patience God has and willing 30:12 to go to such lengths to bring us into His eternal family. 30:16 How true is the Bible when it says, 30:18 "God is love"? 30:22 That He would actually endure our stubbornness, 30:27 our persistent resistance to God's voice, to the greatest 30:32 gift that has ever been boughten for mankind? 30:40 Well, there's another couple verses in there that I skipped 30:42 over, but I want to return to and the lesson study it 30:45 certainly looks at, and that's verses 8 and 9 and 10 and 11. 30:50 So let's back up to verses 8 and 9 and 10 and 11, 30:54 and just spend some time there as well because 30:57 again, 8 and 9 are two verses that many of us that have been 31:00 in the Christian faith for some time are very familiar with, 31:02 but let's go back and revisit it. 31:05 Verses 8 and 9, it says, "'For My thoughts are not 31:07 your thoughts, nor are your ways My way,' says the Lord. 31:12 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 31:15 so are My ways higher than your ways, 31:17 and My thoughts than your thoughts." 31:22 Now, friends, when we look at this-- 31:24 and most of the time, when we think of it, we talk about it, 31:25 we apply it. 31:27 We rightly do so, and we say, "Listen, 31:28 when it comes to trying to understand the world and all 31:30 the intricacies and the injustices that sometimes 31:34 prevail and all these different question marks that come upon 31:36 the world and upon our minds as we go through this life, 31:40 we remind ourselves that God's thoughts are much higher than 31:44 our thoughts, that His ways are much higher than our ways, 31:47 that who are we to question Him even as God had challenged Job 31:50 towards the end of his experience as recorded 31:52 in that book of the Old Testament? 31:56 But friends, I believe that if we read verses 10 and 11, 31:58 again, we look at the context here. 32:01 It helps us to understand what the immediate application is. 32:05 Why is it that God has told us that His thoughts are higher 32:08 than our thoughts, that His ways are much higher than our ways? 32:12 In verse 10, He goes on, and He says, 32:14 "For as the rain comes down, and the show from heaven, 32:17 and does not return there, but waters the earth and make it 32:23 bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread 32:27 to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth 32:33 from My mouth. 32:35 It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I 32:39 please and shall prosper in the thing in which it is sent." 32:44 And so, friends, when we look at the context at verses 10 and 11, 32:47 as God goes on and He expands on those two verses in the more 32:52 well-known verses, it tells us that 32:55 when God is talking about His thoughts being higher than our 32:58 thoughts, His ways higher than our ways, 33:00 He's talking about the fact that He's inviting the Israelites and 33:03 you and I to put our implicit trust in the Word of God that 33:06 comes from the mouth of the Maker of heaven and earth, 33:10 that God is saying, "Listen, even if your opinions do not 33:13 align with the opinions that are recorded in the Bible, 33:16 even if your opinions do not align with the opinions of God 33:20 Himself, put your opinion aside and lift up the opinion of God," 33:27 that God's ways are much higher. 33:29 Put your implicit trust in what God has told you. 33:33 Friends, I have been in the Christian faith for about-- 33:35 I don't know. 33:36 Denise, how long has it been? Thirty-three years or so. 33:41 And I've been in the pastoral ministry for 23 years, 33:46 and, friends, I have met so many--people that 33:50 so obviously have used their opinion to trump the opinions 33:55 that God has revealed in His Word: 33:59 churchgoers, Christians, non-Seventh-day Adventists, 34:04 Seventh-day Adventists. 34:08 Friends, God is telling us, "Listen, 34:09 when you are tempted to lift your opinion and your 34:13 perspective above the perspective and opinions 34:16 that are in the Word of God, remember that God's ways are 34:20 much higher than your ways, that His thoughts are light years 34:23 ahead of your thoughts, and even though your opinion seems so 34:26 right to you, 'There is a way that seems right to a man,' the 34:29 Bible says, 'but the way therein leads to death.'" 34:35 And so we need to lift up God's opinion above any opinion, 34:38 no matter how--you know, some of us are so opinionated that God 34:43 has to work double time to be able to overcome those opinions 34:46 to convince you that His opinion is actually the right one. 34:50 But that's what God is saying here. 34:51 That's why He starts out in verses 8 and 9, 34:54 because it's a precursor. 34:57 It's a precursor to the fruit that bears when we come to His 35:02 Word and His opinion. 35:04 Even as He brings rain and snow down upon the water to 35:07 precipitate and feed that which gives life to the plants that 35:11 then give life to you and me, so is God's word like a seed. 35:18 It goes forth from His mouth, and it shall not return to us 35:21 void," but it cannot only return to Him void when we actually 35:24 accept it, when we submit to God and we submit to His Word and 35:30 His ways and His thoughts. 35:34 "And then it shall accomplish what God pleases, 35:37 and it shall prosper in the thing in which I have sent." 35:41 And so the Word of God is the key source of sanctification. 35:45 That's why Jesus said in His last prayer before He 35:47 was arrested and crucified, He says, "Thy word is truth, 35:51 O Father. 35:52 Sanctify them by Your truth. 35:55 Your word is truth." 35:57 And so Jesus understood that one of the greatest sources 36:01 of sanctification is to submit all our perspectives and 36:05 opinions to the Word of God, and when we do that 36:09 that of course, with the Holy Spirit, 36:12 and choices concerning our environment, 36:15 those three sources can either make us or break us, 36:20 depending on how we handle them. 36:23 Sanctification of God is largely based upon the Word of God. 36:26 "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God," 36:29 it says in Romans, does it not? 36:33 And faith, of course, is part of the sanctification process. 36:36 Without faith, we cannot be truly sanctified and transformed 36:39 from the inside out. 36:48 Well, let's go to chapter 58 now. 36:51 We still have about 12 minutes, or so, 36:52 to be able to look at some important things there. 36:55 Chapter 58, of course, is just loaded as well. 36:57 I've just been so blessed to be able to be, 36:59 you know, to have the privilege of being able to teach today's 37:03 lesson because these are two powerful chapters. 37:06 Now, when we come to chapter 58, we're looking at here God 37:09 is unveiling a very real trap that can exist for us 37:15 as Christians, especially for us on the conservative Right, 37:18 in which I count myself a conservative. 37:20 And so we have to be very careful, 37:22 and God is helping us and warning us as we look at this 37:24 particular chapter. 37:26 Now, the irony is that when we look at verse 1, 37:29 verse 1 has been used as a directive to point to the open 37:32 sins, the worldliness, of the Christians and local churches 37:35 that can be found guilty of erring on the liberal Left. 37:44 But as we look at chapter 58, it reveals that even though 37:47 idolatry was very prevalent in Israel-- 37:50 and that is abundantly clear as we look at many long passages in 37:54 Isaiah where God goes to great extensive measures to compare 37:57 Himself to the false gods and idols in which Israel 38:00 was falling for. 38:01 And so idolatry was very prevalent in Israel, 38:06 and even though idolatry was very prevalent in Israel, 38:09 many still found themselves playing the part in the Jewish 38:12 religious ceremonies, the feasts, the fasts, 38:15 approaching the temple during the times of prayer. 38:17 They were walking the walk as far as the religious ceremonies 38:21 and rites goes, as God had directed through Moses, 38:23 as well as some others that perhaps had been developed 38:26 by the local rabbis, as we so often make the mistake of doing. 38:35 But coming back to verse 1, verse 1, 38:38 "Lift up the trumpet. Spare not. 38:40 Cry aloud." Have you heard that before? 38:43 I've heard that. 38:44 In fact, it was just-- I was just barely baptized. 38:46 Denise and I were baptized in 1992, 38:47 joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 38:49 and a dear saint, a elderly lady came to our door unexpectedly 38:52 and knocked on the door and says, 38:54 "You need to see these tapes." 38:56 So we looked at these tapes, and our eyes got about this big as 38:58 we watched it, and he was showing videos of these 39:01 liberal churches and the open rebellion and spirit that was 39:07 found in these, and we discovered later that 39:10 a lot of them weren't even in Seventh-day Adventist Churches. 39:12 They were filmed in non-Adventist churches, 39:15 but it was in independent ministry that was calling 39:18 people out of Babylon, calling people out of the Seventh-day 39:20 Adventist Church. 39:25 And the key verse that that particular person in ministry 39:28 was capitalizing on was "Cry aloud. 39:30 Spare not. Lift up the trumpet." 39:36 Many years ago, when I began to study this verse in the context 39:38 of the entire chapter, I was surprised to discover that it 39:40 was actually addressing Jews who were erring on 39:43 the religious, conservative Right, not on the Left. 39:49 And so, friends, God is speaking to us here. 39:51 It says there are plenty of Bible passages that addresses 39:54 the liberal, openly compromised churches. 39:58 You can find them all over the Bible. 40:00 So God does not stop in speaking to those who are liberally, 40:04 openly compromising their faith. 40:07 But this particular verse and chapter is actually revealing 40:10 that we could also fall into a trap on the Right ditch as well, 40:13 and so God is saying we also must be careful. 40:18 And so, friends, being on the conservative Right doesn't mean 40:20 that we're immune to the deceptions and traps of 40:23 the devil. 40:24 The devil just simply switches gears. 40:25 He works in a different way. 40:27 His methods are different, but the end is still the same. 40:30 It is severing a relationship with Jesus Christ. 40:35 Now, friends, we have a movement that has been growing here in 40:37 America called the religious Right, 40:39 outside of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 40:41 in evangelical Christianity, 40:43 and many of them are very sincere Christians. 40:46 This is not a judgment call on any of them. 40:47 God knows that there are many sincere, 40:50 saved followers of Christ in every church, amen? 40:54 So that's important for us to understand, 40:55 but, friends, there is a very real and live danger 40:59 that exists and a predicament which prophesy tells us will 41:02 lay the foundation for establishing a religious 41:06 system across this land and across the world before Jesus 41:09 comes that will be very much like the religious Right. 41:17 And if we are not aware of the devil's methods, 41:19 we can be deceived here as well. 41:21 He tempts believers to develop what we call a double life, 41:27 and this double life looks like this: 41:29 On the outside, we can appear and act like we are the most 41:32 zealous followers of God that there is. 41:36 We go to church, and we go to church for Seventh-day Adventist 41:40 even on the right day. 41:43 We faithfully go to prayer meeting. 41:44 We find ourselves involved in different worship services. 41:49 We like to go to Bible studies. 41:52 That's what's being described here in this verse that is so 41:54 famous: "Lift up the trumpet, spare not. 41:58 Lift up your voice." 41:59 Let's read it together in verse 1. 42:01 You read it silently. I'll read it out loud. 42:03 Verse 1, it says, "Cry aloud and spare not. 42:05 Lift up your voice like a trumpet. 42:06 Tell My people their transgression, 42:08 and the house of Jacob their sins." 42:11 Friends, these are not open, rebellious, liberal sins. 42:13 He's talking about hidden, conservative sins. 42:17 In verse 2, it makes it abundantly clear. 42:19 He says, "Yet they seek Me--" how often? 42:22 "They seek Me daily." 42:25 Now, this is almost inevitably referring to the different hours 42:28 of prayer that the religious Jews had developed in Israel. 42:32 There were certain times of the day in which the rabbis and the 42:35 different religious leaders offered times of prayer, 42:37 both of the temple and of the different synagogues, 42:40 and so they would seek God daily. 42:45 "And delight to know my ways." 42:46 These are people that are interested in Bible studies. 42:50 These are people that show up to Bible studies. 42:52 And so showing up to Bible studies, 42:53 going to church on a regular basis, 42:55 going to the hours of prayer and prayer meetings does not 42:58 guarantee that we have not fallen for the deception 43:01 that we are here being exposed to. 43:09 "They delight to know My ways." 43:10 They are into Bible study. 43:12 "As a nation that did righteousness." 43:15 In other words, they're saying, "Listen, they 43:16 do all the right things on the outside, 43:18 as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not 43:21 forsake the ordinances of their God. 43:23 They ask of Me the ordinances of justice. 43:26 They take delight in approaching God." 43:31 They're even approaching church with a smile on. 43:33 And so we could come to a church with a smile on, 43:35 delight to approach God, delight to come to church, 43:38 delight in Bible studies, and still not have a saving 43:40 relationship with Jesus Christ. 43:49 There seems to be a predicament in conservative Christianity 43:52 today in America, and that predicament looks something 43:56 like this: As long as you are openly opposed to abortion and 44:02 a couple of other socially moral issues-- 44:06 and certainly, the Bible does speak very clearly 44:08 against abortion. 44:09 Don't get me wrong. 44:11 But as long as you sign up on one or two of these trendy kind 44:15 of moral issues in evangelical Christian-- 44:18 in conservative Christianity today, 44:21 that's all that's necessary, 44:25 and we have them all around us, friends. 44:27 Very vocal about abortion, very vocal about a couple of other 44:32 issues, and my mind is not able to recall what they are, 44:35 but there's only two or three in total, 44:37 including abortion. 44:38 As long as you're openly vocally opposed to those three, 44:41 two or three issues, then you're in good stead, 44:44 but, friends, the Bible doesn't tell us that. 44:45 It says you need to be opposed to those three immoral issues 44:48 and every other immoral issue that God reveals in His Word, 44:52 including the Sabbath, including being honest, 44:58 including not coveting, including not using God's 45:04 name in vain. 45:06 All of them. 45:08 You see, friends, there was a trap. 45:10 There was a predicament that I believe that is very real and 45:13 alive today, and God is revealing it in a very real way, 45:16 even in these two powerful verses that we're looking 45:18 at here today. 45:21 And so it's important for us to be able to see that, 45:23 that we might know the methods of the devil, 45:25 both on the Left as well as on the Right, 45:29 that we might not find ourselves falling into, 45:32 and it doesn't happen overnight, 45:33 but we can fall into a double life. 45:39 On the outside, we can appear like we're the most zealous 45:41 followers of God, but at the same time, 45:43 we are not following. 45:44 We're not truly connecting with God at all. 45:53 Now, as we read the following verses, 45:54 verses 3, onward, it says, when God doesn't respond in 45:57 a positive way, they then complain to Him for not 45:59 acknowledging their religious zeal, their faithfulness. 46:02 They're saying, "Why are You not blessing us? 46:03 Why are You not acknowledging our great piety and this great 46:07 show that we are bringing?" 46:08 Because God knows that it has simply-- 46:10 has been reduced to an act. 46:13 There is no serious, genuine, heart-pouring prayer life in a 46:17 life of these Israelites. 46:20 They are not on their knees on a regular basis, 46:22 saying, "Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner. 46:26 Give me Your Holy Spirit that You might be able to give me 46:28 that abundant, high quality of life again today, 46:32 that I might be able to resist temptation, 46:34 that I might be able to live the life that You 46:36 have designed for me. 46:37 Help me to be able to follow in all of Your ways and not just 46:39 the popular ones." 46:52 And so verse 3, it says, "'Why have we fasted,' and they say, 46:54 'You have not seen?' 46:56 'Why have we afflicted our souls, 46:58 and You take no notice?'" 46:59 God responds very quickly. 47:00 He says, "In fact, in other words, 47:02 the fact of the matter is that in the day of your fast, 47:04 you find pleasure and exploit all your laborers. 47:07 Indeed you fast for strife and for debate, 47:10 and to strike with the fist of wickedness." 47:12 He's saying, "Look at the fruits of your fast 47:13 in religious experience." 47:15 It's empty. 47:16 It's conservative, but it's empty. 47:22 And so God is speaking to me, as I count myself a conservative 47:26 Christian, and He says, "Listen, when you decide to fast," 47:31 whatever the fast is, and I know the quarterly is proposing that 47:34 it's the Day of Atonement fast, and it very well could be, 47:36 but I don't think it's a airtight argument. 47:38 In fact, I would think that there's evidence 47:40 that say the opposite. 47:41 I think that it is a man-made fast as the Pharisees stood up 47:44 in the temple that Jesus taught, and he said, 47:46 "I fast twice a week, and I tithe of all my income," 47:52 and so we have most likely here a man-made fast. 47:57 In the religious zeal, they're putting on a show for extra show 48:01 to be able to extra-convince themselves and, hopefully, 48:03 God that they are leading a literal double life 48:07 that they don't want nobody to know about or find out, 48:09 but it actually says, "In fact, in the day of your 48:11 fast you find pleasure." 48:13 He says, "Listen, while you're fasting, 48:15 you're also looking for pleasure." 48:18 And so they made the mistake of believing that fasting was 48:20 simply a show, it was holiness of itself. 48:24 You see, fasting itself is not holiness. 48:26 Fasting is a way and a means to find holiness. 48:31 Prayer in itself is not holiness. 48:33 Prayer is your connection to the God who is holy, 48:36 that you can find holiness. 48:39 The devil has convinced too many of us through the centuries, 48:41 the aesthetic movement, the monasteries, 48:43 the convents, and so on, that the movement of the nuns 48:46 and the monks and the-- 48:50 I'm forgetting the other fellows that used to run around during 48:53 the Middle Ages and-- 48:56 but, you know, and they started to believe that the prayer 48:59 itself and the fasting itself was holiness. 49:01 And so, if I pray all day long, then I'll even be holier because 49:05 I'm practicing holiness all day long, 49:07 but in spite of that, they still led a very unholy life. 49:12 And the same with fasting. 49:13 Fasting itself is a means to holiness. 49:15 And so fasting is a practical means to put aside your cooking, 49:18 your cleaning, your eating, and the digestive energies that are 49:22 there so that you can focus all-- 49:24 so much more energy on God, the source of your holiness. 49:30 But they understood that it was simply an act. 49:33 It was something that you just went through, 49:34 and so at the same time, to distract you from the 49:37 displeasure of having your stomach a little bit more 49:40 hungry than normal, why you would find other pleasures. 49:43 And so you'd go out and you'd watch a show or you'd go to a 49:46 party or you would find yourself, 49:49 you know, with your friends, or whatever it was 49:52 or skiing or whatever it was, 49:55 and God says, "No, the fasting in itself is not-- 49:58 it's a means." 49:59 And so He's saying, "You missed the whole point. 50:01 This is just a show. You exploit your laborers--" 50:05 and I'm out of time. 50:07 And of course, verse 6, then God goes on. 50:09 It says, "Is this not the fast that I have chosen, 50:12 to loose the bonds of wickedness and to undo the heavy burdens, 50:15 to let the oppressed go free?" 50:16 It's the opposite, friends. 50:18 God then paints this beautiful picture of the fruits of the 50:20 true, abundant life that is found in Jesus. 50:23 Well, friends, it was good to be able to study with you here 50:25 again this week, and don't forget to take advantage 50:28 of the free offer that we talked about at the beginning, 50:32 and I don't have it on the pulpit with me here today, 50:34 but be sure go to AmazingFacts.org, 50:38 and you can find that and the information, 50:40 of course, is also on the screen as we speak. 50:42 And so please take advantage of that. 50:44 Until we come together next week, 50:45 may God bless you. 50:49 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 50:51 life-changing, free resource. 50:53 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 50:55 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or 50:58 mobile device. 50:59 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 51:02 simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544, 51:06 or visit the web address shown on your screen, 51:09 and be sure to select the digital download option 51:11 on the request page. 51:12 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 51:16 Amazing Facts, wherever and whenever you want, 51:19 and most important, to share it with others. 51:23 ♪♪♪ 51:27 Casey: I would go out and go drinking, and I would-- 51:30 just wanted to have fun. 51:31 I was working a lot at the time, going to school and just wasn't 51:36 really interested in really following God. 51:39 I would have people tell me, "Why don't you just have faith?" 51:41 if I was going through some type of trial during my life. 51:45 I didn't understand what that meant. 51:47 I would pray, but I didn't feel any less stressed about 51:53 or worried about a situation. 51:54 I didn't understand God's Word. 51:57 It seemed like it contradicted itself, 52:00 and so I struggled with that a lot. 52:03 My ex-husband and I, we had--began dating, 52:06 and within seven months we got married, 52:10 which was really fast. 52:11 After we got married, he was very disrespectful, 52:15 and he was cheating a lot. 52:20 I found out he was cheating when I was pregnant 52:22 with my first son. 52:24 I tried to get him help, and he checked himself out of rehab a 52:27 week later, living homeless in our hometown. 52:31 He was saying and doing things that he shouldn't be doing. 52:35 He was committing crimes. 52:37 It always started with alcohol, and then pot, or marijuana, 52:41 and then he would go to the meth. 52:43 So it's just a really ugly chain of things, 52:47 and that's when I moved in with my sister. 52:50 We were staying with her and her husband, 52:54 and I started doing studies with my sister. 52:59 She was studying with some people, 53:00 and I joined the studies, and I learned a lot of different 53:05 things that I had never known about the Bible, 53:07 and it started opening up to me and making sense. 53:11 So my sister had installed the satellite, 53:15 and I found "Amazing Facts." 53:18 The one thing I love about Doug Batchelor is he uses his own 53:22 life situations, and he uses really good stories to connect 53:28 stories from the Bible or teachings. 53:32 I didn't understand why he was always bringing up the Sabbath 53:34 and why it was so important, and I was asking my sister, 53:37 "Why does he keep talking about the Sabbath?" 53:40 And later on I found out through studying more and listening to 53:46 his teachings about it, the truth about the Sabbath. 53:50 I know that I started changing as a person. 53:52 I wanted to follow the truth. 53:54 I wanted to have a closer relationship with Christ 53:58 and be closer to God. 54:00 So after doing the studies and learning the truths that I had 54:03 been learning, I decided to take that next step and give my life 54:08 to Christ through baptism. 54:10 Besides learning these messages, these truths about the Bible 54:15 through Amazing Facts, all of these wonderful people from 54:19 Amazing Facts, the way they've reached out to me, 54:22 they really show me that they have caring hearts, 54:26 that they're Christlike, 'cause that's what a Christian is. 54:30 My name is Casey. Thank you for changing my life. 54:33 ♪♪♪ 54:44 male announcer: Amazing Facts, changed lives. 54:51 Dan: One particular evening, we're searching through the 54:55 channels and happened to find a program called "Amazing Facts 55:00 with Pastor Doug Batchelor." 55:03 Some of the things that he was talking about were very 55:06 interesting and intrigued me. 55:08 female: As Dan began to continue to watch 55:10 "Amazing Facts" with this Doug Batchelor, this caveman that had 55:15 an incredible story, my world is beginning to change. 55:19 It's been turned upside down. 55:21 I was resistant. 55:23 I think hit me was really the testimony of Pastor Doug. 55:26 This was a real person with a real story that had had some 55:30 things in his lifetime that maybe I didn't experience, 55:34 but he was real. 55:35 His journey was real. 55:37 He was honest about wanting to share and giving that light to 55:40 other people so they, too, could have more light. 55:44 That's when we got the cancer diagnosis, 55:46 and nobody wants that C word, "cancer," and then to find out 55:51 that it's aggressive, and sometimes people get to 55:54 wait with prostate cancer, but we didn't have that opportunity. 55:58 He's in surgery, and doctor comes out, 56:01 and I knew something was wrong. 56:03 Come find out that my husband has had a stroke. 56:09 So we go about midnight and have an MRI, 56:13 and they confirmed that it truly was a stroke, 56:15 and he was going to be okay. 56:18 Dan: Within one year and a half, 56:20 I had a major heart attack, cancer-- 56:24 aggressive cancer-- now stroke. 56:26 I really was at the lowest point. 56:30 I didn't know what I was going to do. 56:33 We had rehabs scheduled after I was dismissed from the hospital. 56:41 female: And I watched him walk out of a facility with 56:45 a cane that two weeks before, he couldn't even walk into. 56:49 Dan: God knew ahead of time that I was going to be going 56:52 through all of this, and I truly believe that it was His hand 56:56 that brought the Amazing Facts and the additional light that 57:01 I was getting, that it helped take my mind off 57:06 of the circumstances at the time and in a way that I don't think 57:10 anything else could. 57:12 female: It's so comforting to know that we have a Christ 57:18 that loves us so much and will always hold us. 57:23 Dan: I cannot thank the people enough who support 57:29 ministries like this. 57:33 Because of them, I am one of those lives that 57:39 have been changed. 57:40 ♪♪♪ 57:44 Dan: And I can only thank God for leading me through 57:47 His providence to that program. 57:53 My name is Dan. 57:54 Thank you for changing my life. 57:56 ♪♪♪ 58:06 ♪♪♪ 58:16 ♪♪♪ 58:20 CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 abercap.com |
Revised 2021-03-03