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00:15 ♪♪ 00:35 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:37 Welcome once again to "Sabbath School Study Hour," 00:39 coming to you here from the Granite Bay Seventh-day 00:41 Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:44 We'd like to welcome those who are joining us online across the 00:47 country and around the world. 00:49 Also those who will be viewing this in the various television 00:51 networks, very warm welcome. 00:54 But also I'd like to welcome those who are here in person for 00:56 Sabbath School. 00:58 It's kind of nice to be able to gather together again, and sing 01:01 a few songs, and come and study the Word. 01:03 So we praise God for that. 01:05 As many of you know, we've been studying through 01:06 the Book of Isaiah. 01:08 This has been our lesson over the past 13 weeks--well, 01:10 12 weeks. 01:11 Today we'll be finishing our study in Isaiah, lesson number 01:15 13 which is entitled "Rebirth of the Planet--Rebirth 01:19 of the Planet Earth." 01:21 But next week--we want to tell you about the new lesson 01:24 quarterly that we'll start. 01:25 I'm looking so forward to this. 01:27 It's entitled "The Promise, God's Everlasting Covenant," 01:30 and this is going to be our study. 01:32 We'll start with lesson number one next week. 01:34 So make sure--for those of you who are here in person, be sure 01:37 to pick up the lesson quarterly and you'll study 01:39 that for next Sabbath. 01:42 We have a free offer that we'd like to tell you about. 01:44 It's a book entitled "Heaven, Is It for Real?" 01:48 And we'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 01:51 The number for that is 866-788-3966, and ask for offer 01:56 number 189 and we'll get that in the mail and send it to you 02:00 anywhere in North America. 02:03 If you're outside of North America or you just like 02:05 a digital copy of the book, all you have to do is text 02:09 the code SH033 to the number 40544. 02:16 Now, I mentioned if you'd like to get the digital copy and 02:18 you're outside of North America, it might be a challenge for you 02:21 to be able to text the code. 02:23 So you can go to the Amazing Facts' website and you can just 02:26 click on the free library, type in the title, "Heaven, Is It for 02:29 Real," and you'll be able to read the book 02:31 right there online. 02:33 Well, before we get to our study today we have a wonderful 02:35 special music, and we'll bring that at this point. 02:41 ♪♪ 03:48 ♪♪ 04:12 ♪ When I fear my faith will fail, ♪ 04:17 ♪ Christ will hold me fast. ♪ 04:21 ♪ When the tempter would prevail, ♪ 04:27 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 04:32 ♪ I could never keep my hold ♪ 04:37 ♪ through thy fearful path. ♪ 04:42 ♪ For my love is often cold, ♪ 04:47 ♪ He must hold me fast. ♪ 04:54 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 04:58 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 05:03 ♪ For my Savior loves me so, ♪ 05:09 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 05:23 ♪ Those He saves are His delight, ♪ 05:29 ♪ Christ will hold me fast. ♪ 05:33 ♪ Precious in His holy side, ♪ 05:39 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 05:43 ♪ He'll not let my soul be lost, ♪ 05:49 ♪ His promises shall last. ♪ 05:53 ♪ But by Him at such a cost, ♪ 05:58 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 06:06 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 06:11 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 06:14 ♪ For my Savior loves me so, ♪ 06:20 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 06:35 ♪ For my life he bled and died, ♪ 06:41 ♪ Christ will hold me fast. ♪ 06:45 ♪ Justice has been satisfied, ♪ 06:51 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 06:55 ♪ Raised with Him to endless life, ♪ 07:01 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 07:06 ♪ Till our faith is turned to sight when he comes at last, ♪ 07:20 ♪ He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast. ♪ 07:28 ♪ For my Savior loves me so, ♪ 07:34 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 07:41 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 07:46 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 07:50 ♪ For my Savior loves me so, ♪ 07:57 ♪ He will hold me fast. ♪ 08:23 Jean: Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. 08:25 Dear Father, we are indeed so grateful for this beautiful 08:27 Sabbath, blue skies outside, a wonderful place to gather 08:31 and to worship You and to study Your Word. 08:32 And, Lord, as we always do, we want to invite Your presence 08:35 to be with us. 08:36 We're going to be looking at the great hope of the Christian 08:39 today that earth made new, the fulfillment of the promise made 08:42 back--way back to Abraham and his descendants. 08:46 And, Lord, we ask for Your Spirit. 08:47 Come guide our minds, our hearts. 08:49 Be with Pastor Doug as he teaches today. 08:51 We ask this in Jesus's name. 08:52 Amen. 08:54 Our lesson today will be brought to us by our senior pastor, 08:56 Pastor Doug Batchelor. 09:00 Doug Batchelor: Well, we've come to the last lesson in 09:03 Isaiah, and the good news is that Jesus wins in the end. 09:09 The story has a happy ending, you might say. 09:12 And Isaiah does take us all the way through the--just the highs 09:16 and lows of Scripture. 09:18 Talks about God's people going through some really tough times 09:23 in captivity, and then it talks about them being triumphant in 09:27 the kingdom, talks about Jerusalem destroyed and 09:30 Jerusalem restored, and most of all, Isaiah talks about Jesus. 09:36 I want to welcome everybody, those who are here studying with 09:38 us at the Granite Bay hilltop church. 09:40 And we know we have a lot of friends and family, some of our 09:43 online members who are studying with us different parts 09:46 of the globe, different parts of North America. 09:49 As I mentioned, we're in our last lesson now, lesson number 09:51 13, and the title is the "Rebirth of Planet Earth." 09:57 I guess it rhymes a little bit. 09:59 And we have a memory verse. 10:01 The memory verse is from Isaiah 65:17, Isaiah 65:17, and this is 10:07 in the New King James Version. 10:09 You can say it with me. 10:11 "For behold I create a new heavens and a new earth, and the 10:15 former shall not be remembered or come into mind." 10:20 I think we're all looking forward to that new heavens 10:23 and that new earth. 10:25 Now our mission today, we're going to finish out 10:28 the Book of Isaiah. 10:30 We're going to take up Isaiah 65, verse 17 and read through 10:33 the end of the book, which is chapter 66. 10:36 I don't know if we'll get through it all, 10:38 but I'm going to do my best. 10:40 And it's sometimes tough to know how to--you know, if I speed 10:43 up--only thing worse than going long is running out of material 10:48 and then just being in a holding pattern. 10:49 You ever see a pastor who's in a holding pattern in a sermon, 10:52 keep saying the same thing over and over again? 10:54 It's really pathetic. 10:55 So I'm going to--I bit off more than I can chew to make sure 10:58 that doesn't happen. 11:00 But turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 65, verse 17, 11:04 and we will start here. 11:08 And it begins with these beautiful words: "For behold I 11:12 create a new heavens and a new earth, and the former 11:16 will not be remembered nor come into mind." 11:20 All right, you got to stop right there. 11:22 We got a lot to talk about. A new heavens and a new earth. 11:24 First of all, why does he say a new heaven? 11:28 I mean, we all can understand why God would make a new earth, 11:31 but we thought that, you know, heaven is a dwelling place of 11:33 God and everything there would be perfect. 11:36 And why would He need a new heaven? 11:38 It doesn't mean a new heaven where God dwells, 11:41 it means a new atmosphere. 11:43 The Jews had three words or three terms 11:47 or three levels for heaven. 11:49 You had the first heaven, second heaven, third heaven. 11:52 You can read where Paul says, "I knew a man who was caught up 11:55 to the third heaven." 11:58 And he's talking about--in vision when he was taken up into 12:01 paradise and he saw the dwelling place of God and heard things 12:05 that cannot be repeated. 12:07 It's why he kind of tells the story in the second hand. 12:10 How many of you have read the verse talks 12:12 about the seventh heaven? 12:14 There is no seventh heaven in the Bible. 12:16 Doesn't say that anywhere. 12:18 A lot of sevens in Revelation, but it doesn't say 12:19 seventh heaven. 12:21 But, you know, some girl will kiss Mr. Tall, dark, and 12:23 handsome and she'll say, "I was in seventh heaven." 12:26 But that's not in the Bible. 12:28 But just talk about the third heaven. 12:30 God does not have heaven divided in levels where you've got 12:34 heaven for, you know, the really good people and then you get 12:38 sort of some different levels below that. 12:41 And when it says third heaven, it's talking about 12:44 the dwelling place of God. 12:46 First heaven was the atmosphere around the world. 12:50 You know, in the beginning when it says God separated the waters 12:53 above from the waters below the heaven, it's talking about the 12:56 atmosphere; the clouds above the atmosphere and then you have 12:59 the waters below, and it meant the place where the clouds float 13:04 and the birds fly. 13:06 Is our atmosphere today in the world polluted? 13:10 It is. 13:11 So when He says He's making it--and what happens to the 13:13 atmosphere when Jesus comes? 13:15 The heavens will dissolve with a great noise, and the elements 13:17 will melt with fervent heat. 13:19 It's all going to burn. 13:21 The heavens, the atmosphere, and the earth are going to burn. 13:23 So they naturally are promising a new heavens and a new earth. 13:27 And then it tells us that--well, first of all, let me read you 13:30 a few verses. 13:31 This is not the only place you find that in the Bible. 13:33 If you look in Revelation 21, verse 1, "Now I saw a new heaven 13:39 and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth 13:42 had passed away." 13:44 Oh, I never did tell you what is the second heaven. 13:45 That's the place in space where the stars and the planets are. 13:53 That's called the second heavens. 13:55 The third heaven is the one you cannot see, the dwelling place 13:57 of God, paradise. 13:59 So you got first heaven, atmosphere; second heaven, 14:02 sun, moon, stars; third heaven, dwelling place of God 14:05 or paradise. 14:08 "So I create a new heavens and a new earth. 14:10 The former will not be remembered." 14:11 Now, does that mean we're not going to remember that Jesus 14:13 died for our sins here? 14:17 How do we know we will always remember Jesus died 14:19 for our sins? 14:21 Yeah. 14:23 Didn't Jesus have scars in his hands and in his feet 14:25 after the resurrection? 14:27 We'll always know that. 14:28 So it doesn't mean that we're going to get a little amnesia 14:31 or dementia in heaven so we just don't remember 14:33 what happened here. 14:35 No. 14:36 I think it's telling us really that the painful memories 14:39 of this life will be so overshadowed and eclipsed 14:43 by the glory of the new world and eternity 14:45 stretched out before us 14:48 that we will not even be looking back, even in this life. 14:52 The Bible admonishes us forgetting those things 14:54 that are behind. 14:56 That doesn't mean don't forget important lessons you've 14:58 learned, it means forgetting the painful memories, 15:00 forgetting your mistakes. 15:02 I don't know about you, but sometimes I think about things 15:04 I've said and done in my life and I groan. 15:06 Even though I've asked God to forgive me, I think 15:08 and I go, "Oh." 15:11 You won't have that in heaven. 15:12 You won't look back to earth. 15:14 You'll be looking forward. 15:16 You'll know and believe you're forgiven. 15:17 All those painful memories are forgotten. 15:20 They will not be remembered or come into mind. 15:22 "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create." 15:28 All right, let's talk about forever. 15:31 You just think about it, and Bible is promising us eternity. 15:35 How long is eternity? 15:39 You can read in Titus 1, verse 2. 15:43 "In hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, 15:48 promised before time began." 15:51 So time--when was that before time began? 15:53 God's--from everlasting to everlasting. 15:58 I think Ellen White says a few different places that we will 16:01 have a life that measures with the life of God because we will 16:06 have eternal life, and we will go on into eternity with God. 16:12 You can't--do you realize eternity never gets off 16:15 the starting line? 16:17 After a billion years go by, you haven't even started. 16:21 Because compared with what's in front of you, you never can even 16:25 get a fraction of the beginning. 16:27 I remember hearing this pastor trying to tell a room full of 16:30 youth what eternity was, and he said, "Picture, if you will, 16:34 a little bird that goes to Yosemite and it lands on 16:38 the granite rock Half Dome." 16:39 Now, we're in California here. 16:41 How many of you here know what Half Dome is? 16:42 You know, it looks like a big massive rock. 16:45 And those watching, you can get a picture online. 16:48 Big massive granite rock that rises up thousands of feet 16:51 out of the ground. 16:53 "And a little sparrow sharpens his beak and then flies away. 16:58 A thousand years later, another sparrow lands on Half Dome 17:02 and sharpens his beak." 17:04 And the pastor went on repeating that several times until it got 17:08 boring, and then he said, "After the sparrows have worn away 17:15 Half Dome, eternity will have begun." 17:20 So there's a lot of creative ways evangelists try to help 17:23 people visualize eternity, but you never can really capture it, 17:27 that God is going to give us a life like that. 17:29 Now, how many of you have had days that felt like eternity and 17:32 you couldn't wait for it to end? 17:34 But the eternity God's promising us is not going to be 17:36 a bad eternity. 17:39 It is just going to get better to--and better and better, and 17:43 just continually new and fresh waves of glory it's hard 17:46 for us to comprehend. 17:49 Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God 17:53 is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." 17:57 1 John 2:25, "And this is the promise that He's promised us: 18:01 eternal life." 18:04 Mark 10:29, "Assuredly I say to you," Jesus is speaking, "There 18:08 is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, 18:12 or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake and the 18:14 gospels who will not receive a hundredfold more now in this 18:18 time houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, 18:21 and children, and lands with persecution and in the age 18:25 to come eternal life." 18:28 And of course John 3:16, "For God so loved the world He gave 18:34 His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him 18:37 should not perish--" That means forever. 18:41 "Should not perish, but have eternal life." 18:43 This is what God is promising us. 18:45 So moving on in Isaiah chapter 65, "But they will glad and 18:51 rejoice forever in what I create; for behold I create 18:56 Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy, and I will rejoice 19:02 in Jerusalem and joy in My people." 19:06 In Zephaniah you find one of the only places in the Bible where 19:09 it talks about God singing, other than where it says that 19:13 Jesus sang at the Last Supper when they went out. 19:19 And it says, "I will rejoice over her with singing, 19:22 and Jerusalem a joy." 19:24 Now, this is especially precious when Isaiah wrote it because, 19:26 you know, Jerusalem--once they had been conquered by the 19:33 Egyptians following the time of Solomon, Rehoboam was conquered 19:38 by the Egyptians, they just had continually gone back and forth 19:41 from independence to conquest, independence to conquest. 19:45 Even during the time of Judges, they were oppressed by the 19:47 Edomites and they were oppressed by the Assyrians, 19:49 and there's just constant oppression. 19:52 To finally know that Jerusalem would have unending peace 19:56 and joy was a great promise. 19:59 Look in Revelation 21, verse 2. 20:02 "Then I, John, saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem coming 20:07 down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned 20:10 for her husband." 20:12 Now, when it talks about a bride adorned for her husband, 20:15 is Jerusalem talking about a city or who lives in this city? 20:21 What's important to God? 20:23 Is He a city builder, or is He a people builder? 20:26 Yeah, it says He's prepared for them a city. 20:28 But when it talks about them being like the bride, 20:31 that's really speaking of her being--the people in the city, 20:35 the church, and it's talking about being invited 20:38 to the wedding supper of the lamb. 20:41 And it says, you can read on here, "And I will wipe away 20:46 every tear from their eyes." 20:47 This is Revelation 21:4. 20:49 "There'll be no more death nor sorrow nor crying, neither 20:53 will be--there'll be any more pain, for the former things 20:56 have passed away." 20:58 And we can read here in Isaiah chapter 65, "And the former 21:02 shall not be remembered." 21:04 And it says in verse 19, "And I will rejoice in Jerusalem 21:09 and joy in My people. 21:10 The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her." 21:15 Can you say, "Amen?" 21:17 "Nor the voice of crying." 21:19 Now, here are some difficult verses. 21:21 If you've got your Bibles--I hope your Bibles are open 'cause 21:23 we're just going to try and read on through this last chapter 21:26 and a half of Isaiah. 21:28 It says, "No more shall an infant from there live 21:31 but a few days." 21:33 You know, one of the most dangerous times in your life 21:38 statistically is a child in the first 3 months, as a lot of 21:43 children die from diseases or birth defects or infections, 21:47 you know, in their infancy. 21:49 Sudden Death Syndrome, and that was especially prevalent, 21:53 you know, before they had some of the modern medicine. 21:56 A lot of people would bring forth children. 21:58 Karen and I, we're just finishing a book 22:00 on Adoniram Judson 22:03 and it was heartbreaking how many of these missionary wives 22:05 had stillborn children because their lives were so difficult. 22:10 And you--to carry a child for, you know, 8 or 9 months and then 22:14 you got all this hope and then realize that the child is gone, 22:18 and that used to happen a lot in Bible times. 22:22 And it says that will not happen again. 22:24 "Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days." 22:28 You know, sometimes people died prematurely and their days were 22:32 not fulfilled, and that's tragic. 22:36 Now, this is the part that people struggle with. 22:40 "For the child will die 100 years old--" 22:44 Okay, wait a second. 22:45 Aren't we in the new heaven now, and don't we have 22:48 eternal life now? 22:50 Why will the child die 100 years old? 22:54 Now, first of all, that doesn't mean children will die. 22:57 How do we know that? 22:58 Didn't we just read there's no more weeping? 23:01 So you read the prior verses and you say, "No, that just 23:03 can't be possible." 23:05 So this is a verse that's often been difficult. 23:08 It's basically saying that child will not die from being a child. 23:12 You can use the word cease from being a child until it is 100. 23:18 Notice, if you look in your Bible--something here. 23:20 I don't know if you caught this before, but you go to 23:22 Genesis chapter 5, verse 6. 23:26 "And Seth lived 105 years and he begot Enosh." 23:33 Now, how many of you when you plan on starting your families 23:36 are going to try and start at 105? 23:39 How many of you with young adult children are going to wait--hope 23:43 they wait until they're 105 before they get married? 23:46 Look at the ages of the patriarchs from the time 23:49 of Seth and those after. 23:53 They're not even getting married until they're 80 and 90, 23:55 some 60 years of age. 23:57 Do you know how old--Jacob was, I think, 65 or 70 24:03 when he finally got married. 24:06 Isaac was 40 when he got married, and I don't think that 24:08 Rebecca had children for 20 years. 24:10 That's why he was praying about her barrenness. 24:12 They lived longer, and it's saying that in eternity--will 24:16 there be children in heaven? 24:19 Yeah. 24:20 Talked about the child playing on the hole of the venomous 24:22 serpent, child leading the wolf and the lamb in the woods. 24:24 Yes, there's definitely children in heaven. 24:26 It says they shall go forth and grow up as calves 24:29 of the stall in Malachi. 24:32 And so there are children in heaven, at least to begin with, 24:36 but they'll grow up. 24:37 But will they grow as quickly or will they grow more like they 24:40 grew in the Garden of Eden? 24:42 It's going to be a lot slower. 24:44 The child will not even cease being a child until it is 100. 24:49 But even after 100 years, the sinner will be accursed. 24:54 There's not going to be sinners there. 24:56 It's basically saying the name of the sinner is accursed. 24:59 If you look in Daniel chapter 12 when it talks about Michael 25:03 standing up and there'll be a time of trouble such as there 25:06 never was, ever since there was a nation even at that same 25:08 time--and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 25:11 will awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and 25:16 everlasting contempt. 25:18 What is everlasting contempt? 25:20 That means their names, the sinners is covered with contempt 25:24 forever. 25:26 And so it's not saying that there's going to be sinners or 25:29 there's going to be death, it's just making--and Isaiah speaks 25:31 in poetic terms. 25:33 You've probably pick that up in the last quarter, that sometimes 25:36 he uses some hyperbole to emphasize points. 25:39 Child would not even stop being a child until it's 100 years of 25:41 age, but the sinner at 100 years of age will be accursed even 25:46 after 100 years. 25:50 And remember we read the verses above. 25:51 There is no more weeping, no more crying, no more death. 25:56 And so no, children are not dying, children will cease to be 26:00 children, and--but the sinners are accursed. 26:05 If you look--another example for that is Ecclesiastes 8, 26:08 verse 12. 26:09 "Though a sinner do evil 100 times and his days be prolonged, 26:13 yet I know that it will be well with them that fear God with 26:17 fear before Him, but it will not be well with the wicked, the 26:20 sinner; neither shall He prolong his days, which are but a shadow 26:24 because he fears not God." 26:27 And even 100 years is but a shadow. 26:30 And so Isaiah is just basically talking about, you know, God's 26:34 children are going to be blessed, no more sorrow, 26:36 Jerusalem's rejoicing; the sinner will forever be accursed, 26:41 meaning there are no sinners in the city. 26:43 All right, going back to our verse here. 26:48 And it says, "They will build houses--" 26:50 I'm in verse 21, Isaiah 65. 26:52 "They will build houses and inhabit them. 26:55 They will plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. 26:58 They will not build and another inhabit. 27:01 They will not plant and another eat." 27:03 All right, let's pause there. What is that talking about? 27:06 Look in Amos chapter 9, verse 14. 27:09 "'I will bring back the captives of My people, Israel. 27:12 They will build the waste cities and inhabit them. 27:15 They will plant vineyards and drink wine from them. 27:17 They will also make gardens and eat fruit from them. 27:20 I will plant them in the land. 27:22 No longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given 27:25 them,' says the Lord." 27:26 You look at the history of Israel--you read the Book of 27:29 Gideon, for instance--it's not the book of Gideon, the Book of 27:31 Judges, the story of Gideon, and it says that as soon as the 27:35 children of Israel planted, that the Midianites came like locusts 27:40 and they ate everything they planted. 27:42 Well, the children of Israel had planted and they were carried 27:45 away captive, and other people ate the things they planted. 27:50 And I've had that experience a few times. 27:52 Karen and I have had a home 40 years up in the hills. 27:54 And sometimes we try to put in a garden and we have to go off and 27:57 do an evangelistic meeting or a mission trip, and our neighbors 27:59 take care of the garden. 28:00 They eat the fruit. We don't even get to eat it. 28:03 And it'll be really nice in heaven to be able to plant 28:06 and eat. 28:07 You're not carried away by another enemy in power. 28:10 You're not having another enemy alien army come 28:13 and eat your produce. 28:14 See what He's talking about here? 28:16 My elect will long enjoy the good of the hand--the land. 28:20 And then you read in verse--I mean, verse 22 of Isaiah 66, you 28:26 read in the second half of that verse, "For as the days of a 28:29 tree, so shall be the days of My people." 28:33 Now, this is an example of Isaiah hyperbole. 28:36 Does he mean we will be trees? 28:39 Does a tree eventually grow old and die? 28:41 Yeah, in this world. 28:44 In heaven they won't, but--so don't start taking the tree, 28:48 thinks, "What kind of tree?" 28:50 Some trees don't live very long. 28:52 Longest living tree we know of is the Methuselah pines that 28:56 they've got--not Methuselah. 28:58 Sorry. 28:59 The Bristlecone pines, they got one called Methuselah, that's in 29:02 the White Mountains of California. 29:04 You know, the tallest trees and the oldest trees are both in 29:06 California, the redwoods. 29:09 And they go thousands of years, but, you know, they eventually 29:12 get old and die. 29:15 The oldest fruit tree that was planted in the United States is 29:20 the Endicott pear tree that was planted by a governor in--near 29:28 Massachusetts, and it's over 300 years old and it is still 29:31 bearing pears. 29:33 Can you imagine that? 29:34 It's amazing to arborists because even trees die, and 29:37 that's very long for a pear tree. 29:41 Karen and I have some pear trees in our front yard in Covelo that 29:44 were planted by a family that owned the land before us over 29:46 100 years ago. 29:48 And there are still apples and pears, and they're still bearing 29:51 fruit even after the bears have ravaged them every year 29:55 for 100 years. 29:56 It's amazing. 29:58 They're all gnarly and ugly, but they're still alive. 30:00 So he says as the days of a tree. 30:02 You don't have a birthday party for trees. 30:05 You just figure they're going to keep on living. 30:06 Have you noticed that in the Bible that sometimes, especially 30:10 during the time of Abraham through King Saul, it will say 30:13 that Abraham was dwelling by the oak tree in Bashan, and you 30:17 think, "That was his address, the oak tree in Bashan?" 30:19 Well, they must have had some pretty substantial trees so that 30:22 it became a landmark, and it was historical. 30:25 They figured it'd be there for generations. 30:27 And Saul, he was sitting under a tree and the tree kind of became 30:32 a legend and it was a landmark. 30:34 And so it's saying, "As the days of a tree, so are the days 30:38 of My people." 30:40 We just go on and on, is what He's promising. 30:43 "They will not bring forth--" 30:45 Verse 23, "They'll not labor in vain 30:48 or bring forth children for trouble, for they shall be 30:51 the descendants of the blessed of the Lord and their 30:54 offspring with them. 30:57 It will come to pass that before they call I will answer." 31:00 Isn't this a wonderful promise? 31:02 "And while they're still speaking, I will hear." 31:04 God is so close. 31:06 "And the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will 31:10 eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food, and 31:16 they will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain," 31:19 meaning--it says--remember, in Daniel tells us that stone that 31:22 struck the image grew into a great mountain and filled the 31:24 whole earth. 31:25 So when it talks about the holy mountain, it's talking about the 31:28 kingdom of God that now fills the world is that 31:30 new holy mountain. 31:32 There is no death. There's no dying. 31:34 Did the animals kill? 31:36 Every animal is a vegetarian. 31:38 Mosquitoes are going to eat fruit. 31:39 I don't know what they're going to eat. 31:41 Maybe they won't be there. I won't mind. 31:43 But everything's a vegetarian. 31:47 How many of you--I think most of you here probably know the story 31:50 of Little Tyke, but there's maybe some watching or 31:55 listening--this is true story. 31:58 Little Tyke is a female African lion born and raised in America. 32:02 Lived her entire lifetime without ever eating meat. 32:06 In fact, the owners, George and Margaret Westbeaus, alarmed at 32:11 the lion's dislike of meat went to great lengths to try and coax 32:14 her to eat meat. 32:15 And they ended up adopting this baby lion. 32:17 They had a bunch of exotic animals at their farm in 32:20 Washington, and there was this one cub the mother had 32:25 killed--she had two cubs. 32:27 She killed the first one, and the keepers of the zoo took the 32:30 other one out thinking that she was going to kill the other one. 32:32 And they said poor Little Tyke, that's how it got its name, it 32:36 had already been injured by the mother. 32:39 But they nursed it back to health. 32:40 But they tried to get it to eat meat and it would not eat meat. 32:44 Had no taste for it. 32:45 They even advertised a cash reward for anybody who could 32:48 devise a formula containing a meat formula that the lioness 32:53 would like. 32:54 Nobody was able to claim the prize. 32:56 The curator of the New York Zoo advised the Westbeaus that 32:59 putting a few drops of blood in the lion's milk would help the 33:02 lioness, but she refused to drink the milk. 33:04 Even with one drop of blood had been added to the milk, she 33:07 would not eat it. 33:09 Meanwhile, Little Tyke continued to do extremely well on a daily 33:13 diet of cooked grain, raw eggs, and milk. 33:17 By 4 years of age, she was a fully-grown, weighed 352 pounds. 33:23 To condition her teeth and gums, 33:26 she wouldn't gnaw on bones. 33:28 So they gave her rubber boots, and she went through 33:30 a boot a week. 33:32 The lioness not only survived on a vegetarian diet, she thrived, 33:37 and one of America's most amiable zoo curators said that 33:40 the lioness was the best of her species he had ever seen. 33:44 Never ate meat. 33:45 That was not God's original plan. 33:47 And some people say, "Well, they were designed to eat meat 'cause 33:49 they get these teeth for ripping and tearing." 33:51 Well, you know, hippos and elephants and gorillas have very 33:54 big teeth and they're all vegetarians. 33:56 And so in heaven the animals will all be peaceful. 34:00 Wouldn't that be wonderful? 34:02 They will not hurt or destroy. 34:03 I think I had another verse in here I was going to share. 34:05 Yeah, Isaiah 11. 34:07 He said something similar here. 34:08 Isaiah 11, verse 6, "The wolf will dwell with the lamb. 34:13 The leopard will lie down with a young goat." 34:15 He adds leopards and goats. 34:17 "The calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a 34:20 little child will lead them." 34:22 Can you imagine that in heaven you'll tell your kids, "Can you 34:24 go out and play with the lions and the leopards, lions and 34:27 tigers and bears?" 34:29 And they won't hurt. 34:34 All right, chapter 66 Isaiah. 34:38 "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. 34:42 Where is the house that you will build for Me, and where is the 34:44 place of My rest?" 34:46 Where does God ultimately move His capital? 34:50 To earth. 34:52 "God Himself will be with them and be their God, and we will 34:54 see His face." 34:56 Isn't that amazing when you think about it? 34:58 Here, Isaiah is quoting from Solomon's dedication prayer. 35:02 When Solomon dedicates the temple, he said, you know, "This 35:05 house we built--no house can contain You. 35:08 The heavens of heavens cannot contain You." 35:12 "'For all those things My hand has made, and all those things 35:16 exists,' says the Lord. 35:17 But on this one I will look, on him who is of a poor and a 35:22 contrite spirit." 35:24 This is who God is going to be--who's going to be 35:26 in the kingdom. 35:28 "One who is of a contrite spirit, who trembles 35:31 at My Word." 35:32 You remember reading in Psalm 51 where he says, "A contrite heart 35:35 You will not despise, oh God." 35:38 What does contrite mean? 35:40 You feel remorse over sin, meek, humble. 35:48 And he says--yeah, in verse 3--a contrite spirit. 35:53 "He who trembles at My Word." 35:56 And some of you might be thinking, "Well, tremble must 35:58 not mean tremble there." 36:00 No, tremble means tremble. 36:02 It means that you--when God speaks, 36:05 you take it very seriously. 36:07 You don't say, "Oh, well, you know, that's what they said. 36:09 We don't know if it really meant that." 36:11 The Bible says work out your salvation with 36:14 fear and trembling. 36:16 "Oh, it must not mean tremble." 36:17 Oh, it means tremble. 36:19 It means we ought to take our eternal life very seriously, and 36:22 we should fear to sin against God. 36:26 And I remember this man, one of the best Christians I knew. 36:30 And when he prayed, his voice would quiver just the idea he 36:34 was talking to God. 36:35 He just knew that he knew God, and there was always this 36:37 reverence in his voice. 36:40 And I don't think he was pretending, he just really 36:42 revered the Lord. 36:44 And then here's an interesting passage. 36:46 Verse 3--Isaiah 66, verse 3, "He who kills a bull as if he slays 36:51 a man, and he who sacrifices a lamb as if he breaks a dog's 36:55 neck, and he who offers a grain offering as if he offers swine's 37:00 blood, he who burns incense as if he blesses an idol; just as 37:05 they have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their 37:09 abominations." 37:10 So he's saying there are people that were going through 37:12 religious services and they're sacrificing bulls or offering 37:16 lambs, but he said it's like you're committing murder because 37:19 your heart is not right. 37:21 It's like breaking a dog's neck, an unclean animal. 37:24 Like, he who offers a grain offering, he's offering 37:27 pig's blood. 37:29 God says if we're living lives of sin and we're going through a 37:32 religious facade, Jesus says you're like whited sepulchers. 37:37 The strongest denunciations that Christ had was against 37:40 self-deluded hypocrisy, that we could go through the form of 37:43 religion and not have the power of God's Spirit. 37:46 And God said, "It's unclean to Me." 37:48 It's like offering swine's blood, and nothing was more 37:50 unclean than that. 37:53 "He who burns incense as if he blesses an idol--" 37:55 Idolatry was forbidden. 37:58 "Just as they've chosen their own ways and their soul delights 38:01 in abominations, so I will choose their delusions." 38:06 You know, the Bible says that if we receive not a love of the 38:08 truth, God will send strong delusion that we 38:11 should believe a lie. 38:13 And so because they did not love the truth and believe--"I will 38:17 choose their delusions and bring their fears on them because when 38:20 I called no one answered, when I spoke they did not hear, but 38:24 they did evil before My eyes and they chose that in which 38:27 I do not delight. 38:29 Hear the Word of the Lord, you who tremble at His Word." 38:32 There it is again. 38:33 "Your brethren who hated you, who cast you out for My name's 38:36 sake--let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy. 38:40 But they will be ashamed." 38:42 So what's he doing here? 38:44 Isaiah is contrasting. 38:45 He's speaking to God's people. 38:47 He's saying we've got the sincere who are going to be 38:50 separated from the hypocrites. 38:52 "We've got those who are going through the religious motions, 38:56 and I despise what they're doing. 38:58 And then we've got those who have contrite hearts that 38:59 tremble at My Word." 39:02 One is going to be ashamed, one will see joy. 39:05 Then he says in verse 6, "The sound of noise from the city, a 39:08 voice from the temple, a voice from the Lord." 39:12 You know, it tells us that when the Lord rises up and leaves His 39:15 temple, He's coming then. 39:17 Silence in heaven, He's coming then to redeem the--to save the 39:22 redeemed from earth. 39:26 "Who fully repays His enemies. 39:28 Before she was in labor, she gave birth. 39:30 Before her pain came, she delivered a male child. 39:33 Who has heard such a thing, and who has seen such a thing? 39:37 Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day, or shall a 39:41 nation be born at once? 39:43 For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth 39:44 to her children." 39:46 It's saying that God said, "Look, I brought you up 39:48 out of Egypt." 39:49 And they gave birth to a nation. 39:50 You did not grow up slowly, but you became a nation that day of 39:53 the exodus. 39:54 They had the whole calendar, religious ceremony. 39:58 "Shall I bring to the time of birth and not cause delivery?" 40:00 God's saying, "I will not raise you up as a nation and not 40:03 ultimately deliver You." 40:06 "'Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?' 40:08 says the Lord God. 40:10 Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her all you 40:12 who love her. 40:14 Rejoice for joy with her all you who mourn for her, that you may 40:18 feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom. 40:21 You may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of 40:24 her glory." 40:25 And he's got the picture here of a mother nursing its child. 40:27 God's saying, "I will not forget you." 40:29 "For thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will extend peace 40:32 to her like a river.'" 40:34 Do you know that song "I've got peace like 40:35 a river in my soul?" 40:38 "I will extend peace to her like a river." 40:40 It's not talking about the--you know, a river with rapids. 40:43 It's talking about a wide river. 40:45 It's shimmering. 40:47 "And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. 40:51 Then you will feed on her sides, and you will be carried, and 40:54 you'll be dandled on her knees." 40:55 You've seen mother and fathers kind of holding little children 40:58 on their knees and--as they're giggling. 41:01 "As one whom his mother comfort, so will I comfort you, and you 41:04 will be comforted in Jerusalem." 41:07 And he's going back and forth. 41:09 Go to verse 14. 41:11 "When you see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones 41:14 will flourish like the grass. 41:16 The hand of the Lord will be known to His servants, and His 41:19 indignation to His enemies." 41:21 God is going to separate the wheat from the chaff 41:23 when He comes. 41:25 "For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with His chariots 41:29 like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury and His rebuke 41:34 with flames of fire." 41:36 Does that sound like it's a secret rapture? 41:39 He's coming with fury when He comes. 41:43 He's rebuked with flames of fire. 41:44 It says the wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming. 41:48 A devouring fire will issue before Him. 41:53 "For by fire and by His sword the Lord will judge all flesh." 41:57 Now, that's still true today. 41:59 It's by His Word, and it's by the Spirit--power of the Spirit. 42:04 All flesh will be judged. 42:07 And it says, "The Lord--" I'm in verse 16. 42:09 "The Lord will judge all flesh, and the slain of the Lord 42:12 will be many." 42:14 Now, you can read where it tells us in Isaiah that the slain of 42:17 the Lord in that day cover the earth from one end to the other 42:19 with no one to lament or to mourn them, and no one 42:22 to bury them. 42:24 And it talks about that also in Jeremiah chapter 4, verse 23. 42:27 All the cities are broken down at the presence of the Lord 42:30 by His fierce anger. 42:31 So when the Lord comes and He catches up, you can use the word 42:36 rapture there, those who are alive and remain will be caught 42:38 up to meet Him in the air. 42:40 The righteous are resurrected. 42:42 It says they come forth from their graves at 42:44 the second coming. 42:45 They are taken back to the mansions that Christ 42:48 has prepared. 42:49 That day, the slain of the Lord will cover the earth from one 42:52 end to another. 42:54 And then he makes an interesting statement here. 42:58 "Those--" Verse 17, "Those who sanctify themselves," they're 43:01 not being sanctified by the Lord, "they purify themselves. 43:04 They go to the gardens." 43:06 That's where they have their idols. 43:07 "After an idol in the midst, eating swine's flesh 43:11 and the abomination--" 43:14 Anything wrong with eating swine's flesh? 43:17 The Bible says it's forbidden. 43:18 Now, is it just forbidden for Jews, or is it talking about 43:20 anyone who's doing that before the Lord comes? 43:23 And nobody--it's what he compares with. 43:25 "Eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse." 43:28 So if you're going to make a defense for eating swine, I want 43:30 you to also make the same defense for eating rats. 43:35 "'Eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse shall 43:38 be consumed together,' says the Lord." 43:42 They burn forever and ever, what happens? 43:45 They're consumed. 43:46 "For I know their works and their thoughts. 43:49 It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues, and 43:53 they will come and see My glory. 43:55 And I will set a sign among them; and among those who 43:57 escape, and I will send to the nations of Tarshish--" 44:01 That was my mother's maiden name. 44:03 Tarshish was Spain. 44:06 It was like the farthest you could go in the Mediterranean 44:09 back then. 44:11 "And Pul--" They believe that was down in Africa. 44:14 And Lud--" They thought that was Lydia, talking about 44:16 the pagan nations. 44:18 "Who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan--" 44:20 That was up in Europe. "To the coastlands afar. 44:24 All who have not heard My name--all who have not heard My 44:27 fame or seen My glory, and they shall declare My glory 44:30 among the Gentiles." 44:32 Again, he's saying that the Jews were going to take the gospel to 44:34 the Gentiles, and they will be among those redeemed when the 44:37 Lord comes. 44:40 "'Then they'll bring all of your brethren for an offering to the 44:42 Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in 44:45 leaders, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain, to Jerusalem,' 44:49 says the Lord. 44:51 As the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel to 44:54 the house of the Lord and also take some of them," talking 44:57 about these pagans, "for priests and Levites." 45:00 It saying--doesn't it tell us in the Bible that we will be a 45:05 nation of kings and priests? 45:09 You can look in Isaiah--and by the way, this is for Wednesday. 45:13 I've been just running along here. 45:14 Exodus 19, verse 5, "Now therefore if you will indeed 45:19 obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you will be a 45:22 special treasure to Me above all people that are on the earth for 45:25 all the earth is Mine, and you will be to Me a nation, a 45:29 kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." 45:33 Peter says, "You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, 45:36 a holy nation, His own special people." 45:38 Is that just for Jews or is God going to be bringing some of the 45:41 Gentiles together and they will be part of that holy nation? 45:45 And then we're going to wrap it up. 45:48 We may get through verse 22. 45:51 "'For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make 45:55 shall remain before Me,' says the Lord, 'So shall your seed 45:58 and your name remain. 46:00 And it will come to pass that from one new moon to another, 46:04 and one Sabbath to another, all flesh will come 46:07 to worship before Me.'" 46:09 Now, says coming and worshiping before 46:12 the Lord on the Sabbath. 46:14 You know, it's been difficult during COVID to worship 46:17 alone at home. 46:20 It's really nice to come before the Lord. 46:23 And you notice there's something that says the Sabbath is 46:26 a holy convocation. 46:28 You know what that means? 46:29 An assembly, a coming together, a convention. 46:32 And I think God blesses in a special way when we collectively 46:35 come together. 46:37 When the Holy Spirit was poured out, they were all of one spirit 46:39 in one place. 46:41 There's something to be said for coming together to worship 46:44 the Lord. 46:45 And I think God said, "Where two or three are gathered together 46:47 in My name, I am there." 46:49 And He says the Sabbath in heaven, all Jews." 46:52 Is that what He said? 46:54 All flesh; Jew, Gentile. 46:57 Now, if God wants all flesh to come before Him and worship Him 46:59 in heaven on the Sabbath, would it make sense to you that He 47:04 would also want all flesh to worship before Him on the 47:06 Sabbath here on earth? 47:08 Is it still one of the Ten Commandments? 47:10 Amen. It is. 47:13 And it says, "From one new moon to another." 47:15 Now, that's this--you know, the moon is how we divide 47:17 the months. 47:18 The Sabbath is how we divide the weeks. 47:20 He's basically saying from month to month and week to week. 47:23 Now, I've got a theory I can't prove. 47:26 I think before the great flood, the axis of the earth was 47:30 altered in its rotation. 47:33 First of all, we didn't have summer and winter. 47:35 You know, something happened. 47:36 The earth teeters 20 something degrees on its axis 47:38 every year, and it throws off the seasons, and the poles are 47:40 cold, and the moon looks like it's been hit by a bomb. 47:45 And I think that there may have even been rocks that says 47:47 great--you know, rocks came down, and they came out, and 47:50 water exploded everywhere. 47:51 It was a cataclysmic event. 47:53 I think it altered the time clock of the planet 47:57 a little bit. 47:58 You know, the earth right now--how many days in a year? 48:02 And one-quarter. 48:04 365 one-quarter. 48:05 We've got to add a day every few years to compensate. 48:08 And how--what's the lunar cycle? Twenty-nine days. 48:13 Approximately 4 weeks and 1 day. 48:16 Just under--do you realize that if the lunar cycle was every 48:21 seventh--every 28 days, that means the new moon would always 48:26 fall on a Sabbath, and it would always just line up like 48:29 clockwork. 48:31 And so I think everything is going to realign then. 48:33 And so every new moon will also be a Sabbath. 48:35 Do you see what I'm saying? 48:37 Because--I can't prove that. 48:39 This is--that's the gospel according to Doug. 48:41 But anyway, I'll admit I'm wrong when we get to heaven if I'm 48:44 wrong, but then I'll expect extra stars if I'm right for 48:48 sharing that with you now. 48:52 And then it kind of ends abruptly with a difficult 48:55 passage here. 48:57 Speaking of redeem, "From one Sabbath to another, all flesh 48:59 will worship before Me, and they will go forth and look upon the 49:03 corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. 49:06 For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched, and 49:09 they are abhorrent to all flesh." 49:12 I don't think he means forever we're going to be looking at 49:13 people burning. 49:15 I think it means from the New Jerusalem we're going to see 49:16 those who have turned. 49:18 Notice a contrast. 49:20 Those that are saved, new heaven, new earth, 49:22 worshiping God. 49:23 They go forth from the New Jerusalem, they see the wicked 49:27 who will ultimately become dust under their feet. 49:29 It's what it says in Malachi. 49:31 There shall go forth, and the wicked will be dust 49:32 under their feet. 49:34 And God then creates a new heavens and a new earth on the 49:36 ashes of the purified planet. 49:39 Can you say, "Amen?" 49:41 And I time that just right 'cause we're out of time. 49:43 I want to remind you, though, in a few seconds I hope the studio 49:46 will give me "Heaven, Is It for Real?" 49:49 And we'll send this to anyone who asks and if you call. 49:52 Just call 866-788-3966. 49:56 And this is in North America, of course. 49:58 Or you can call 866-STUDY-MORE. 50:00 Ask for offer number 189. 50:03 And you can even download this by texting "SH033." 50:08 Text that to 40544, and you can download and read it right now. 50:13 Thank you, friends. 50:14 God bless. I enjoyed studying Isaiah. 50:16 Next week we begin a new study, a new quarter together, and hope 50:19 you can tune in and join us. 50:23 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 50:25 free resource. 50:27 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 50:29 download a digital copy straight to your computer 50:31 or mobile device. 50:33 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 50:36 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 50:41 shown on your screen, and be sure to select the digital 50:44 download option on the request page. 50:46 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 50:49 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most 50:53 important, to share it with others. 50:59 announcer: Amazing Facts change lives. 51:07 male: I met my ex-wife and her family were real big in the 51:10 drugs, and it started out with them wanting me to go to the 51:14 doctor to help get them drugs. 51:16 And, you know, I'm noticing they're going to the doctor, 51:19 they're coming back with like 60 pills and they're selling these 51:21 pills for like 1,000 bucks, and I'm thinking, "Wow, this is a 51:25 lot of money I'm giving these people. 51:27 So I'm just going to start selling it myself." 51:30 The problem with that was we had all this money, but we was 51:33 absolutely miserable. 51:35 She would go out and sleep with other guys to get drugs, and 51:40 that ended my marriage. 51:41 But during this time, I have to get a job to build back up to 51:44 where I was at, to open my shop again. 51:47 So I get a job at Food City. 51:49 And when I get this job at Food City, there's my wife now, 51:52 Rebecca. 51:54 She's a cashier there. 51:55 And when I walk in, she's the most beautiful girl I've ever 51:58 seen in my life. 51:59 I was like, "Man, I could never have a girl like that. 52:03 Wow, she's so beautiful." 52:04 But as I'm working with her, she's actually kind of mean to 52:07 me and she's saying, "I don't want anything to do with you. 52:11 Get away from me." 52:12 Stuff like that. 52:13 But, you know, I just keep being nice to her and keep trying to 52:16 give her my phone number. 52:18 And it's around Christmas Eve. 52:20 We'd just been dating for a little while and moved in 52:22 together. 52:24 My ex-wife shows up with my three children that I had by her 52:27 and she's like, "Here's your kids. 52:29 Here's their birth certificates. 52:31 Here's their social security cards. 52:32 I'm done." 52:34 And we're starting a family. 52:35 We have already have three kids. 52:37 During this time, we spent the next year watching nothing but 52:41 Amazing Facts on YouTube. 52:43 I didn't even know they even had a website at this time. 52:45 I just knew that this little guy on YouTube was super smart, was 52:49 teaching Bible, and I wanted to follow him. 52:52 I wanted to be a Christian. 52:54 I gave my life to God now because of these truths that I'm 52:56 learning from Doug Batchelor. 52:58 Just because Doug taught it didn't make me real sure about 53:01 going to this church. 53:03 I really didn't want anything to do with it. 53:05 But I call the guy up and I'm telling him--and I'm not very 53:08 nice about it, actually. 53:09 I'm telling him, "Look, we was thinking about coming 53:12 to your church." 53:13 And he's really nice and he's like, "Well, you're more than 53:15 welcome to. 53:17 We'd love to have you come." And I'm like, "Well, hold on. 53:19 I'm going to lay down some ground rules. 53:21 I'm telling him, I said, "Look here. 53:22 I'm covered in tattoos, and I'm a tattoo artist." 53:25 And he don't say, "Well, you know, wow, I didn't know 53:27 all that. 53:29 Don't come to my church." 53:30 He says, "You're more than welcome. 53:32 We would love to have you. 53:33 Please come." 53:35 He asked me what I want to do, and I said, "Well, 53:37 I want to preach." 53:39 I said, "I have all these truths. 53:41 I have all this knowledge, stuff I'd never known before, stuff if 53:44 I had when I was younger that would have been life-changing 53:47 to me." 53:49 I said, "I got to share this with the world." 53:51 I said, "I want to preach. 53:53 I want to teach." 53:54 He gives me the books, say, "Study that." 53:56 Well, now that I'm a Bible worker, I'm able to go reach 53:58 people that most of the normal churches wouldn't even bother to 54:02 even speak to. 54:04 I'm able to go out and reach the people who have lived the life 54:07 that I've lived. 54:09 I'm able to let them know that, "I am like you. 54:11 I've been there. I've done that. 54:14 I want to show you what my life is like now. 54:17 I want to teach you this Bible. 54:19 I want to show you what Jesus can do for you. 54:21 It's not too late." 54:38 announcer: Amazing Facts change lives. 54:45 Dan: One particular evening we're searching through the 54:49 channels and happened to find a program called Amazing Facts 54:54 with Pastor Doug Batchelor. 54:57 Some of the things that he was talking about were very 55:00 interesting and intrigued me. 55:02 female: As Dan began to continue to watch Amazing Facts 55:06 from Doug Batchelor, this caveman that had an incredible 55:09 story, my world is beginning to change. 55:12 It's been turned upside down. I was resistant. 55:16 I think what hit me was really the testimony of Pastor Doug. 55:20 This was a real person with a real story that had had some 55:24 things in his lifetime that maybe I didn't experience, but 55:28 he was real, his journey was real. 55:30 He was honest about wanting to share and giving that light to 55:34 other people so they too could have more light. 55:38 That's when we got the cancer diagnosis, and nobody wants that 55:42 C word, cancer, and then to find out that it's aggressive. 55:46 And sometimes people get away with prostate cancer, but we 55:50 didn't have that opportunity. 55:52 He's in surgery and doctor comes out, and I knew something 55:56 was wrong. 55:57 Come to find out that my husband had a stroke. 56:03 So we go about midnight and have an MRI, and they confirm that it 56:08 truly was a stroke and he was going to be okay. 56:12 Dan: Within one year and a half, I had a major heart 56:16 attack, cancer--aggressive cancer, and a stroke. 56:20 I really was at the lowest point. 56:24 I didn't know what I was going to do. 56:27 We had rehabs scheduled after I was dismissed from the hospital. 56:35 female: And I watched him walk out of us a facility with a 56:39 cane that 2 weeks before he couldn't even walk into. 56:43 Dan: God knew ahead of time that I was going to be going 56:46 through all of this, and I truly believe that it was His hand 56:50 that brought the Amazing Facts and the additional light that I 56:55 was getting that it helped take my mind off of the circumstances 57:01 at the time in a way that I don't think anything else could. 57:06 female: It's so comforting to know that we have a Christ that 57:12 loves us so much and will always hold us. 57:17 Dan: I cannot thank the people enough who support 57:23 ministries like this. 57:27 Because of them, I am one of those lives that have been 57:33 changed, and I can only thank God for leading me through His 57:41 providence to that program. 57:47 My name is Dan. 57:48 Thank you for changing my life. 57:52 ♪♪ |
Revised 2021-03-22