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Series Code: SSH
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00:12 ♪♪♪ 00:22 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Luccas Rodor: Hi, friends. 00:36 Welcome to our "Sabbath School Study Hour," where we will be 00:38 studying the Sabbath School lesson. 00:41 I'm so excited. 00:43 For our study today, we have a really good, 00:45 a really deep biblical study. 00:47 And I'd like to welcome all of you watching here 00:49 from our local community. 00:50 I'd like to welcome everyone that's watching online. 00:53 I know that maybe some of you are in different time zones, 00:57 and so we truly appreciate you investing this time 00:59 in studying God's Word. 01:01 This week, we will be studying from our quarterly, our new 01:04 Sabbath School quarterly, which is "Rest In Christ." 01:07 It is so important for us to learn how to rest in Jesus and 01:11 to find the true rest that he provides. 01:13 This week's lesson will be--the title of this week's lesson is 01:17 "The Roots of Restlessness," and I will be leading out today, 01:21 so I'm excited about that. 01:22 But before we actually get into the lesson, I'd like to invite 01:25 you to take advantage of our free offer. 01:28 This week's offer is called "The Surrender Of Self." 01:31 And so, if you're within the continental North America and 01:34 you'd like a physical copy of this free offer, then you can 01:38 call 866-788-3966 and you could ask for offer number 1-5-3. 01:46 However, if you'd like a digital download, then you could go to 01:50 study.aftv.org/SH0877, or again, if you're in the U.S., you could 01:56 text S-H-0-8-7 to the number 4-0-5-4-4, and we'd be more than 02:02 happy to send you a digital download of this free offer. 02:08 Luccas: Let's say a Word of prayer before we begin. 02:11 "Dear Lord, thank you so much for this beautiful day. 02:14 Thank you for your love, your kindness. 02:17 Thank you for your mercy. 02:19 And thank you for helping us uproot the roots of restlessness 02:22 in our lives. 02:24 Lord, there's so much for us to learn with our study today. 02:27 I ask you to just speak through the speaker. 02:32 I ask the words that come out to be the words from heaven. 02:35 And I ask you to allow us to learn from you, Lord, how to do 02:40 this uprooting that sometimes is so difficult for us even to 02:43 perceive in our lives. 02:46 Bless everyone here, everyone that's watching online, and 02:48 everyone that will watch this later on, Father. 02:51 Allow it to be a blessing. 02:53 I ask this in Jesus's name. 02:54 Amen." 02:57 Well, studying this week's lesson was truly a blessing 03:01 because the topics that are mentioned, the topics that are 03:05 included, are topics that are so obvious. 03:11 But what I've come to understand and what I've have come to 03:13 learn, is that usually things that seem to be obvious, we kind 03:18 of forget them, right, we kind of cast them aside because it's 03:21 so obvious, it's so easy, and so we just kind of 03:24 cast it aside sometimes. 03:25 We don't really consider it. 03:27 But in the end, these things are the things that we'll come 03:30 to think that, "Wow. 03:32 Maybe, I should have paid more attention to that." 03:34 So I'm really excited and interested about 03:37 the topics this week. 03:38 There are several smaller topics. 03:41 The memory verse comes from James 3:16, that says, 03:44 "For where envy and self-seeking exists, confusion and every 03:48 evil thing are there." 03:51 Now, even on a superficial observation of this quarter's 03:57 lesson title, and not to mention, you know, the really 04:00 diving deep into each individual lesson, each of the individual 04:04 13 themes that cover the development of the lesson this 04:07 quarter, allows us to perceive that this quarter's lesson, this 04:13 quarter's lesson is about one of the most central, important, 04:20 vital aspects of what we learn in the Bible, 04:24 which is rest in Christ, right? 04:25 Rest in Jesus. 04:27 That is one of the most important things that any 04:28 Christian needs to learn about and needs 04:30 to implement in their life, how to rest in Jesus. 04:34 How do we do that? 04:36 In this modern era of unending hurry, tight schedules, 04:41 generalized activism, people are running to and fro, people have 04:45 schedules that go on and on. 04:47 I was showing, I don't know how this happened, but I was 04:50 scheduling some kind of meeting the other day with someone here 04:52 from church, one of the young adults. 04:54 And I pulled out my phone to check my schedule and I didn't 04:57 even think twice of it. 04:59 I, you know, just opened it on my calendar, and they let out 05:01 this long whistle. 05:03 Because the thing is, that in my calendar, I don't only have my 05:05 schedule, but I also have the church schedule. 05:09 Right? 05:10 We have a whole church calendar. 05:12 And so it's littered with different events and different 05:13 things going on. 05:15 Not that all of them are unnecessarily mine but it just 05:16 looks so--like so much stuff. 05:18 And they're like, "That's what you got to do?" 05:20 And you know, and so I said, "Yeah, that's what I got to do." 05:22 And they're like, "Wow, man. You're busy." 05:24 And then I told them, "Well, not all of this is mine, you know. 05:26 But it just seems as though more and more, we have less 05:29 and less time. 05:31 The reality is that we have the same time. 05:32 Everyone has the same amount of time allotted to them, but for 05:35 some people it just seems as though 24 hours in a day 05:37 is not enough. 05:39 Have you ever felt like that? 05:40 Like the 24 hours that you have is not enough. 05:43 Right? Every day. 05:44 And so, in this era that we're living in, in which these 24 05:47 hours don't seem enough, the feverish commitment to 05:51 apparently unpostponable duties, that has a devastating effect 05:56 that suffocates us, that dismembers families and 05:59 relationships, skews our understanding of what is truly 06:03 important and the primordial in life. 06:06 Now friends, all of this defines the fact that we need rest. 06:10 Wouldn't you agree with me? 06:12 Don't we need rest? 06:14 And isn't the fact that we all agree with this, so 06:16 emphatically, isn't that at least worrisome? 06:19 We need rest. 06:21 We need rest. 06:22 But here's the thing, here's the caveat, the rest that we need is 06:27 a qualified rest. 06:29 It's not any kind of rest. 06:32 And this is one of those things that a lot of people get wrong 06:34 about the Sabbath. 06:35 Today isn't about the Sabbath per say. 06:39 And last quarter, we had a lesson just about the Sabbath, 06:43 and I think that I was the one that led out on that one. 06:45 But a lot of people misunderstand the concept of the 06:48 Sabbath when they think that the Sabbath is for them to sleep. 06:52 Well, I'm supposed to be resting, right? 06:53 So I'm just gonna spend the whole day sleeping. 06:55 That used to be my understanding when I was a teenager. 06:58 I just, you know, get home from church. 06:59 After lunch, I'd go straight to bed. 07:02 I'd sleep from like 2:00 until 8:00, until whatever sundown 07:05 was, and then I'll go to the gym, play basketball 07:07 with my friends. 07:08 And to me, I kept the Sabbath just fine. 07:10 I slept all day. I rested, right? 07:12 But friends, what we learned is that rest, the rest that 07:14 we need, the rest that is essential, 07:16 it's a qualified rest. 07:18 It's a specific kind of rest. 07:20 It's rest in Jesus. 07:22 Rest in Christ. 07:24 You know, business organizations, industries, they 07:27 recognize that their employees need rest. 07:29 That is something that is already recognized in the whole 07:32 psychology dynamic of a business. 07:34 Even work legislations around the world, force their 07:40 businesses and industries to allow their employees to rest. 07:44 People need rest. People need to stop. 07:46 People need vacation. 07:48 And sure enough, who hasn't taken a much needed vacation? 07:53 Who here hasn't? 07:55 Now, don't answer that because a few of you might even say, 07:57 "Well, I haven't taken vacation in ten years." 07:59 Oh well, then I don't know what you're doing with your time, 08:01 friend, or with your money, with the work that you're doing. 08:04 But, you know, a lot of us take this much needed rest. 08:07 And we go to, you know some tropical resorts, or some 08:09 peaceful mountains, or a lake, or a cottage or a cabin 08:13 somewhere. 08:15 Perhaps vacation in the Bahamas, or Florida, or parks or resorts. 08:18 A lot of people come to our beautiful state of California. 08:21 We have some very beautiful places here. 08:24 One of the things I love the most about moving here is that, 08:27 you know, 20, 30 minutes away, we have mountains, we have lakes 08:31 and hiking trails. 08:33 And right beside our house, we have a little trail. 08:34 And so, it's so beautiful to take part of that kind of rest. 08:40 However, a strange phenomenon occurs frequently where many 08:48 people end up, and see if you can relate to this, many people 08:51 end up needing vacation from their vacation. 08:54 Have you ever felt that? 08:56 People need vacation from vacation itself. 08:59 No, friends. 09:01 The rest that we truly need, the rest that we really need is 09:03 found in the freedom that we find only Jesus. 09:07 Only in Jesus, he who invites us to rest at his feet and to learn 09:11 from him. 09:13 If you read Matthew chapter 11, verse 28 through 30, we learn 09:17 from him how to reorganize our schedules, our priorities. 09:20 Our basic sick need really isn't of physical rest 09:24 or even mental rest. 09:26 And while those things are important, we know through the 09:29 Bible that our real need, our real necessity is deeper. 09:38 Our real need is that of spiritual rest. 09:41 Rest in God. 09:43 Seeking rest, and sophisticated and expensive resorts and 09:46 paradises, is many times frustrating, a frustrating 09:49 attempt equivalent to trying to cure stage IV cancer 09:52 with sedatives. 09:55 Our true need is of liberation, freedom from the burdens that 09:59 oppress, that asphyxiate, that suffocate and consumes us. 10:04 That's what we need. 10:05 Something or rather someone that is infinitely larger and that 10:12 infinitely surpasses the limits of whatever we can expect. 10:16 What are your expectations about your rest? 10:19 What do you imagine is ideal? 10:22 Trust me, Jesus can go beyond that. 10:26 Jesus does better. 10:28 He covers the costs. 10:31 The acceptance of rest that he offers us is the catalyst to 10:36 solving some of our major problems. 10:38 What are your problems? 10:40 What do you struggle with? 10:42 Stress. 10:44 We live in the era of stress, anxiety. 10:47 And I tell you this from personal experience, I'm a very 10:48 anxious person. 10:50 I'm one of those people that suffers beforehand by anxiety. 10:54 You know those people, that the thing is like a month away and 10:56 they're already worrying about it, they can't sleep about it, 10:59 they're rolling around in bed? 11:00 That's me. 11:01 And so, I'm preaching to the choir here when I say these 11:03 things because I need, I need that rest also. 11:07 But the thing is, is that sometimes we'll leave that only 11:09 for the end. 11:11 We'll try everything else. 11:12 We'll try vitamins, we'll try hormones, we'll try medicine, 11:15 we'll try sleep techniques, we'll go to sleep doctors, when 11:19 what you truly need is to learn how to rest in Christ, to lay at 11:23 his feet our problems, our anxieties, our worries. 11:27 And again, I'm preaching to the choir. 11:30 This isn't something that I've learned the secrets to just yet. 11:35 But that's also what the road of sanctification is. 11:38 It's where you learn gradually, slowly. 11:41 Some of us learn quicker. 11:43 Some of us take more time. 11:47 This week's lesson is all about the roots of our maladies, our 11:51 evils, which are the true obstacles and enemies of our 11:54 peace and of our rest in the first place. 11:56 And just like it is with any other problem in life, 12:01 recognizing it is part of the solution. 12:03 You need to recognize the problem, am I right? 12:06 For you to come to the solution for you, to find the answer to 12:09 your problems, you need to know that there is a problem. 12:12 And here, those who are truly understand their problem are 12:15 already partially cured. 12:18 So, you know--and here we go, and we dive into what this week 12:22 is actually talking about. 12:24 Not long ago, a popular TV religious commentator or speaker 12:28 trying to justify his new interpretation of the four 12:31 horsemen or the horses of Revelation, trying to 12:36 justify--here you're going to find a whole bunch of different 12:38 interpretations out there that aren't especially biblical or 12:42 sound theology. 12:44 But here trying to justify his opinion, that was that Jesus 12:47 never brings divisions or persecutions. 12:50 That was his final interpretation. 12:52 So those horses, whatever they mean, they don't mean 12:55 persecutions, or divisions or problems. 12:57 And when I heard that, immediately the thought is, 13:03 "Oh, has he read the gospels? 13:06 Has he read the New Testament? 13:08 Has he studied the history of that first church?" 13:13 Because certainly, and here I admit this: conflicts, problems, 13:17 persecutions, lack of harmony, that's not the intention or the 13:22 desire of Jesus for our planet or of acceptance of him. 13:27 It's certainly not what he wants, but these frequently end 13:30 up being the results of following Jesus. 13:35 And that's kind of a mystery until we actually dig into it. 13:40 Since there can't be no harmony between light and darkness, 13:44 between Jesus, between Christ and Belial, the division of 13:48 those who accept him and those who reject him, 13:51 that's inevitable. 13:53 There's no way around it. 13:54 That's the reality of the matter. 13:56 There will always be a disharmony between those that 13:59 are born the one time and those that are born again 14:03 the second time. 14:06 You have to accept that the acceptance 14:11 of Jesus is totalitarian. 14:14 There's no other way around this. 14:16 We are talking about a radical change in life 14:18 when we accept Jesus. 14:20 I what I mean about--what I mean here is that when you accept 14:24 Jesus, that involves and that affects the entirety 14:29 of your life. 14:30 It has to affect everything. 14:32 It affects every single aspect of your waking 14:34 and sleeping life. 14:37 Philosophy, dress code, diet, our general outlook on life, the 14:41 view of this planet in the midst of a great controversy, our 14:45 entertainments, our interests, our priorities. 14:48 We cannot escape the tension with those that continue in 14:52 their unaltered walk. 14:53 And make no mistake, that is also totalitarian commitment. 14:58 There is no halfhearted commitment in this life. 15:03 There is no halfway choice. 15:06 Choosing Jesus is a radical totalitarian decision, right? 15:12 But not choosing Jesus also is. 15:15 There's no escape. 15:18 You see, friends, Jesus, he's not just another influence 15:23 among many others. 15:25 But he is the dominating and governing influence 15:29 above all others. 15:30 And unless you understand this, unless not only you understand 15:34 but you accept, and internalize and you put into practice this 15:37 reality, you're going to be half living the Christian which means 15:41 the same as not a Christian at all, not a true disciple. 15:45 You might be a fan, you might be, you know, 15:48 a far-off follower, but not a disciple. 15:53 And it hurts to say this, because again, 15:54 this is all of us. 15:57 I'm not up here on this stage just preaching down to you 16:00 saying that this is something that only affects others, 16:02 not myself. 16:03 No, this is a difficulty that all of us on the road to heaven 16:06 have to go through because this decision involves everything. 16:13 Jesus himself said that in some circumstances our greatest 16:16 enemies would come from within our own families, our own 16:21 household, among those who we love the most and those that 16:23 love us the most, among those who accept him 16:27 and those who reject him. 16:28 And what that means is husbands against wives, 16:31 wives against husbands, children against their parents, 16:34 and parents against the children. 16:39 In the environment of school, of work, 16:43 we're also met by turbulence. 16:45 Sometimes, even persecutions. 16:47 I know many people who have had a hard time in their jobs or 16:50 even at school because of decisions that had to be made 16:55 because of their commitment to Christ. 16:57 In Brazil, not long ago, we--so in Brazil, we have this test for 17:03 you to get into high school--sorry, for you to get 17:06 into college, you have to go through this test. 17:08 I think it would be the equivalent or something around, 17:11 you know, the SATs or something like that. 17:13 And these tests nationwide used to be on the Sabbath, and it was 17:18 very difficult for Adventists or Sabbath keepers. 17:21 I remember that when I did it, I was one of the first batches of 17:25 them allowing--actually, I was in one of the first batches of 17:29 this test in general. 17:32 And those first few years, it was on Sunday and then they 17:34 switched it to Sabbath. 17:35 And by the time I was a youth pastor, I was already 17:38 ministering and teaching, chapelling to kids going 17:41 through, you know, that experience. 17:44 And I remember going with them to the school. 17:47 So they had these special schools where the kids will be 17:49 locked in all day from noon all the way up to sunset. 17:54 And this happens in the end of the year in South America where 17:58 that's summer. 18:00 End of the year in South American, southern hemisphere is 18:02 summer, and so the days are long. 18:04 And so I remember staying with them from, you know, noon, all 18:06 the way to 8:30 at nights where they could only sit on their 18:10 chair, on the desk. 18:11 They couldn't speak anything. 18:13 Some of these schools were more strict than others, and some 18:15 they could, you know, they could kind of socialize and all that. 18:17 But some of the schools didn't allow them to get up, 18:19 to talk to each other. 18:21 Either they had to sleep; they can even take a book to read. 18:25 A few years ago, we had a law in our national legislation where 18:29 they allowed this test to be switched over to Sunday, and 18:32 that was a great victory for the Sabbath keepers. 18:34 And they switched it because of religious freedom, 18:36 religious liberty. 18:38 And so, that was a great victory. 18:41 But there are many people who go through this experience 18:44 without that kind of victory. 18:49 So how do we understand these words coming from Jesus in 18:52 Matthew 10:34 through 39, where the Prince of peace, the Prince 18:57 of peace indicates that he came to bring the sword and fire to 19:01 the earth. 19:02 This text is certainly among the hard sayings of Jesus. 19:07 Read with me Matthew 10:34 through 39 says, "Do not think 19:10 that I came to bring peace on earth. 19:12 I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 19:15 For I have come to 'set a man against his father, and a 19:17 daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against 19:19 her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be those 19:21 of his own household. 19:23 He who loves father or mother more than me 19:25 is not worthy of me. 19:27 And he who loves son or daughter more than me 19:29 is not worthy of me. 19:31 And he who does not take his cross and follow after me 19:35 is not worthy of me. 19:36 And he who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his 19:40 life for my sake will find it." 19:45 When Jesus was born, didn't angels come to sing, 19:48 saying, "Peace. 19:50 Goodwill on earth?" 19:54 Why this then? 19:57 And what's was interesting is that while Jesus uses a 19:59 metaphorical word here in Matthew, the word "sword" 20:02 he uses a real word, a not metaphorical word in Matthew, 20:06 which is the word "division"--sorry, in Luke. 20:09 Luke 12:53, he uses the word "division." 20:11 And here you have a parallel in these two texts. 20:13 One says he came to bring the sword; the other, he came to 20:15 bring division. 20:16 But the meaning is the same. 20:18 The significance is the same. 20:20 And we first have to observe that one thing 20:23 here can be certain. 20:24 We can be certain of one thing. 20:26 Jesus never advocated for violence or for conflict. 20:29 Never. 20:31 In fact, he taught his followers to not offer retaliation when 20:34 attacked or mistreated. 20:36 That is Christ's way. 20:38 He is not advocating here for the sword or for violence. 20:41 Matthew 5:9 tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they 20:44 shall be called the sons of God." 20:47 So what this means is that the God, our God, the God that we 20:50 worship, the biblical God is the God of peace, and that those who 20:54 follow him, reflect his character as peacemakers. 20:57 Aren't we called to become peacemakers? 21:00 During his last visit to Jerusalem before his death, 21:03 his message had to do with things that bring peace. 21:06 He cried because they rejected that peace. 21:10 The message proclaimed by the disciples, by his followers 21:13 after his departure, is called the gospel of peace. 21:18 Ephesians 6:13, the gospel of peace or 2 Corinthians 5:19, 21:23 the Word of reconciliation. 21:27 But when Jesus spoke of the tensions and conflicts within 21:30 the family, he was speaking, probably here 21:33 from personal experience. 21:35 We have several indications in the gospels that the members 21:38 from his family had no sympathy either for him or for his 21:41 ministry, at least initially. 21:45 When Jesus said that he didn't come to bring peace, 21:48 what did he mean? 21:52 The sword; division. 21:54 Friends, what he was truly, essentially saying is that that 21:58 was the effect of his coming but not the purpose. 22:04 That was the effect, not the purpose. 22:08 His words would come true in the life of the primitive church, 22:13 and subsequently, throughout the history of our church. 22:15 Look back on history. 22:18 How long have the true followers of God not been persecuted? 22:21 For how long prophetically? 22:23 How much time? 22:25 That's a long time. 22:27 Over a thousand years. 22:31 We see that reality playing through the life of the 22:33 primitive church where one or two members of a family or any 22:38 social group accept Jesus, they can expect one or another form 22:43 of discrimination or even persecution. 22:46 We know stories. 22:47 Personally, I know stories of people who, after accepting 22:50 Jesus, were renounced and denounced from their household, 22:55 needing to live then on streets or at the mercy of anyone that 22:59 took them in. 23:01 Paul experienced ruthlessness from his own group, his own 23:05 religious circle as a result of his conversion. 23:07 He knew that tensions would arise among husbands and wives 23:11 that embrace the faith and the other ones that remain 23:13 outside of it. 23:16 That is why he advised that if an unbelieving spouse, husband 23:20 or wife, was satisfied in continuing to live with the 23:24 other, the Christian spouse, it was fine. 23:27 The whole family could yet come to conversion. 23:29 We know that Paul give that counsel. 23:32 But what did he see if the spouse was unbelieving, and they 23:37 sought out divorce or separation to end the marriage? 23:42 He said that the Christian spouse should not stay by force 23:45 or seek legal action because, in his answer, his reasoning, is 23:50 because God has called us for peace or to peace. 23:53 That's in 1 Corinthians 7:12-16, if you want to study it 23:56 a little deeper. 23:58 Friends, the Jews accepted Jesus-- that accepted Jesus. 24:01 The Jews that accepted Jesus were expelled 24:04 from their synagogues. 24:06 That's a real thing right there. 24:09 And we really don't know--because look, if we're 24:11 ever kicked out of Granite Bay Hilltop, all right, if someone 24:13 comes along and someone doesn't like you or something like that, 24:16 if you're kicked out of here, if God forbid one day this becomes, 24:20 you know, nonbiblical, which we pray it never will--but let's 24:24 say a church becomes unbiblical and then you start preaching the 24:27 truth in there and they kick you out, well, I mean you can 24:29 just go to another church. 24:31 We have a plethora of churches. 24:32 We have churches, we have religious liberty. 24:33 But back then, being kicked out of the synagogue meant 24:36 or it equated perdition. 24:39 It was equal to being lost because salvation in the Jewish 24:43 culture was done together, collectively. 24:51 And so for them to be kicked out of the synagogue, that equated 24:54 them to be removed from their social connections, 24:58 their support system. 25:01 They were treated as publicans, tax collectors or even 25:04 Samaritans. 25:05 And so, friends, in the words of Matthew, Jesus was warning his 25:07 followers that a covenant with him could cause problems at 25:13 home, problems at work, perhaps even the expulsion from the 25:19 family and from their social connections. 25:24 This way, it was good for them to be aware 25:26 of what would happen. 25:28 Later on, no one could ever say, "Well, I didn't know that the 25:31 price for Jesus, you know, for following him or being his 25:34 disciple would be so high." 25:35 No, look, if there's one thing that you can say about Jesus, 25:38 is that he's transparent, because Jesus was more 25:40 than abundantly clear what would happen if we follow him. 25:48 Jesus is very clear from the very beginning. 25:51 But even under these circumstances, and this is where 25:53 the beauty of being a disciple comes in. 25:56 Even under these experiences and situations of duress, 26:02 companionship with him would still bring internal peace and 26:05 personal tranquility. 26:07 And that's what we understand when Jesus tells us in the Book 26:10 of John that he came to bring this peace, 26:13 but it's a different peace. 26:15 It's a peace that surpasses understanding. 26:17 It's a peace that the world cannot comprehend. 26:20 How could you understand peace amidst the fires of persecution? 26:25 But that's what we have in Christ. 26:28 In any case, from this point onwards, here in the lesson, 26:31 the lesson this week, it zeroes in on other sources of 26:34 restlessness, not only division that being a disciple brings, 26:39 but other roots of restlessness, other things that bring us 26:42 problems in the day-to-day. 26:45 That when subvert and delivered over Jesus, allows us to live in 26:49 peace with ourselves and with others. 26:51 Monday brings us the topic of selfishness. 26:54 You know, ever since the fall, ever since the entrance of sin 26:58 in our world, selfishness has become a part 26:59 of our essential nature. 27:02 By sin, we live centralized in ourselves. 27:06 No one needs to take any sort of educational course, 27:09 no one has to teach you in school or college. 27:11 There no master degrees or PhD's in how to be selfish 27:15 or how to be egocentric. 27:17 It's natural. 27:21 Comes with us. 27:23 It's an inherent part of our fallen condition. 27:27 Friends, the reality is that we live surrounded by ourselves 27:29 to the north, to the south, east and west. 27:32 We are there to ourselves. 27:36 Egoism is the twin brother of pride, and because of it, we 27:41 fail to see correctly, we fail to think correctly, we fail to 27:44 act correctly and to make the correct choices. 27:48 Egoism, selfishness, is among the foundational aspects 27:51 of our afflictions. 27:53 Permanent frenzies, relentless competitions 27:56 and competitiveness. 27:58 We become unhappy, jealous even, if someone else is promoted, 28:03 or valued, or awarded, or considered better 28:07 or even before us. 28:09 And I'm sure that you can relate with me, all right. 28:10 I'm not going to call anyone out. 28:12 I know that I felt these things. 28:15 It's part of who we are. 28:18 Part of what we ask God to free us from daily. 28:22 Daily, I die, and I like--I let Christ reign. 28:27 The reality, friends, the truth of the fact here, is that in the 28:30 heart of every man, woman and child, there is a throne 28:34 and a cross. 28:36 And either the old man is on the cross and Christ is on the 28:38 throne or Christ is on the cross and the man is on the throne. 28:44 Our temptation and our great battle is to remove Christ from 28:48 the cross daily, placing him on the throne and putting that old 28:51 man, that old woman on the cross. 28:57 One of the most radical voyages that a human can take is the 29:01 voyage to be free of themselves, free of their own ego. 29:06 This is a journey that begins when we are babies, infants. 29:10 A newborn is the center of its own universe. 29:15 It's true. 29:17 Growing in Christ is the slow discovery that others exist and 29:21 that we don't exist exclusively to serve ourselves 29:25 and to do our own will. 29:27 But what is tragic here, is that unless Jesus frees us from this 29:30 enslaving syndrome, we will navigate life with this immense 29:35 burden that makes us miserable, that destroys marriages, 29:38 societies and relationships. 29:40 The secret of marriage is you taking care, you taking it upon 29:44 yourself to care for your spouse, to make him or her happy 29:48 and allowing them to do that. 29:50 If you seek your own happiness in a marriage, trust me, that is 29:54 not going to go down well. 29:57 Care for the happiness and the joy of your partner 30:00 and you will be happy. 30:02 Care for your own, your own interests, 30:05 you will be miserable. 30:06 That will be hell on earth. 30:11 What's worse, in our modern, individualistic society, where 30:15 we take pleasure in being number one, and being the best, 30:18 and being second to none. 30:21 But with Jesus, we learn that we are not the center of the world, 30:25 and from him, we received the power to be free 30:27 from this burden. 30:29 I'd invite you to observe the expressions that the New 30:31 Testament uses to describe our national conditions: unclean, 30:35 blind, futile, vein, alienated and ignorant, dead in our 30:40 trespasses, deceptive, carnal, corrupt, 30:44 perverse, irreverent, defiled. 30:47 The list goes on. 30:51 Friends, admitting the disease, admitting the problem 30:53 is the first step in obtaining the cure. 30:56 Selfishness is dangerous because it is usually 30:58 done unconsciously. 31:01 We don't realize it. 31:03 We don't really think at the moment, 31:05 "Well, I'm going to be unselfish now." 31:06 No one wakes up and thinks, "Ah, today is the day that I'm going 31:08 to be unselfish. 31:09 Today is the day." 31:11 No one thinks like that. 31:12 It happens. 31:16 Hindsight is 20/20 though. 31:18 The things that many people don't even think take 31:19 for--or bother. 31:21 They don't even bother to look back, but Jesus helps us. 31:29 To fix this problem, we need external help, 31:32 we need external help. 31:35 He consistently warned us about the feverish materialism 31:39 aggravated by the harassment of unscrupulous propagandas, the 31:43 exploit of human egocentrism. 31:47 To Jesus, contrary to what Karl Marx would say about 31:50 materialism--about religion, forgive me, being the opium of 31:57 the masses. 31:59 To Jesus, materialism is the great narcotic, an opium of the 32:04 masses that numbs people against the reality of their true 32:08 conditions, their true condition: transience, 32:11 mortality, our insanities. 32:17 While always wanting more, their insatisfaction actually makes 32:21 them poor in what is truly important. 32:24 Allow Jesus to free you from this, from the consumerism that 32:29 afflicts your life, the desire to have more, more, more. 32:33 To buy , more, more, more. 32:36 And in that way, attach your identity to the things that you 32:39 have, not understanding that it's not truly you who owned 32:43 these properties, but they own you. 32:48 Another route of restlessness that is brought up in this 32:51 lesson is ambition. 32:52 You know, the Middle Ages a group called the 32:55 monastic--Oriental Monastic Movement, they sought to not 32:58 only overcome sin or the sins that afflicted them, but they 33:02 also wanted to expose the enemy behind these afflictions. 33:06 They formulated a list of sins that today is known as the seven 33:11 capital sins. 33:14 The seven deadly sins. 33:17 Now, it's not that these sins were considered to be worse than 33:20 any other sin, but the problems with these is that they were 33:24 perceived as seminal sins, originating sins, birthing sins, 33:30 which means is that these were the very womb by which all other 33:35 sins are generated. 33:37 Ambition is one that generates a list of evils that become 33:42 incontrollable. 33:44 Jealousy, disputes, murder, slander, perverse 33:47 competitiveness, deceptiveness, betrayals, treachery, felonies, 33:52 infamy,, backbiting, spite, permanent discontentment, 33:55 unsatisfaction. 33:57 All these things rooting from the desire to always be more, 34:00 more, more, to climb higher on the ladder of success. 34:06 Friends, the list goes on. 34:08 As an internal fire, it destroys peace, joy, solidarity, and the 34:12 spirit of true friendship. 34:14 Because when ambition becomes an idol in our lives, we fail to 34:18 see humans as humans and we see them as things to be used, steps 34:24 on a staircase to be trampled upon. 34:28 Ambition is a close relative to covetousness, the sin condemned 34:35 by God as tenth commandment that reveals his character. 34:40 Fame, fortune, that's the essence of the American dream, 34:45 that is widespread all over the world. 34:48 And those who are infected and poisoned by the spirit since 34:50 their infancy, are trained to see everyone else as their 34:53 competition. 34:55 And this mentality develops the syndrome of individualism that 34:58 just dissolves the possibility of maintaining true and selfless 35:01 friendships. 35:04 Among the disciples, the desire for the right and the left hand 35:08 in the kingdom, seen as places of honor, proximity to the 35:12 throne, to the center, that took them to squabble over who would 35:17 be the greatest. 35:18 You remember this in Matthew 18. 35:21 But I find Jesus here just indescribable. 35:28 Jesus unleashes a fatal blow to their blindness. 35:31 And he called--and Jesus calls a child a symbol of 35:35 unpretentiousness, humility, even of selfless regard. 35:40 He calls a child, a small child. 35:45 Instead of regarding who the greatest is, Jesus reveals 35:49 how the greatest behaves. 35:52 The disciples were so worried about who would be the greatest 35:55 in the kingdom, but Jesus draws the conversation back to the 35:59 very gates of the kingdom, to the access into the kingdom. 36:06 And that was the same as saying, "Look guys, while you're all 36:08 arguing about who's going to be the best, who's going to be the 36:10 greatest, you aren't considering the most important subject here, 36:14 the more important question, which is entering the kingdom 36:16 itself." 36:17 Because that's what Jesus says, unless you become as one of 36:20 these little ones, you will what? 36:22 You will be the greatest or you won't be there. 36:25 That's what he says. 36:28 That is the most vital need and the spirit that qualifies us to 36:31 receive the kingdom. 36:34 That also, that spirit that does define us, that qualifies us to 36:38 receive the kingdom, it also determines the spirit by which 36:42 we service the kingdom, or we serve the kingdom. 36:46 The same spirit that qualifies you to enter it, also qualifies 36:49 you to serve in it. 36:50 And the Spirit of that kingdom is the spirit of a servant. 36:56 That same spirit arose again in Matthew 20. 36:59 And here, Jesus, he places himself as the example of 37:02 unpretension and the lack of self-exaltation, when in Matthew 37:05 20:28, he says "The Son of Man did not come to," what? 37:09 "To be saved but to serve and to give his life 37:13 as a ransom for many." 37:15 Later on, his disciples understood 37:18 what true greatness means. 37:20 And all of them, with the exception of John, sealed their 37:23 commitment to their master with their own blood. 37:26 All of them died the death of a martyr, but all were also freed 37:30 from the idolatry of self and of ambition that afflicted them. 37:37 Wednesday's lesson brings hypocrisy. 37:39 Hypocrisy was known as the mask used by the actors who would 37:43 perform on the stage, and that in their representations, they 37:46 would simulate things, or people, or situations and events 37:50 that they were not. 37:52 And Jesus accused a great portion of the Pharisees and the 37:54 religious leaders of his days of being hypocrites. 37:57 Seen--we see this in Matthew 23, the woes. 38:01 "Woe to you, Pharisees and teachers of the law." 38:05 That was such a mighty blow to them. 38:09 The truth is revealed also by a well-known Latin phrase which is 38:12 acta non verba, which means actions not words. 38:19 Hypocrisy suggests a duality. 38:22 Actions that deny the discourse. 38:25 Deny what you say. 38:26 Ever heard that, you know, you don't only have to talk the 38:29 talk, you got to walk the walk? 38:31 That's the reality here. 38:32 What's curious about Jesus's great condemnations were that 38:36 there weren't directed toward those that were seen as the 38:39 great sinners of the time. 38:40 Jesus doesn't call out here the publicans, the tax collectors. 38:42 the prostitutes. 38:45 He calls out the religious leaders, the religious class. 38:48 And the question is why? 38:49 Because religious pretentiousness, the cape of 38:52 righteousness and holiness, it creates a false feeling 38:57 of safety and security. 38:58 Because when you feel that you're good, that you don't need 39:01 to do anything, well then, friend, 39:03 nothing can be done for you. 39:05 And that's why Jesus says that he didn't come for the holy, he 39:09 came for the sinners, for the lost, because those are the ones 39:12 that recognize their condition. 39:14 Make no mistake, all of them were lost. 39:17 Some of them just recognized how lost. 39:22 Remember the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector? 39:25 Both go up to the temple to pray. 39:27 Luke chapter 18. 39:29 The Pharisee, however, he doesn't really go up to worship 39:31 God, but to praise his own religious performance, 39:35 his virtues. 39:36 He praises himself saying, "Lord, I'm not like all these 39:39 other men that are extortioner or unjust, adulterers, 39:42 negative identities. 39:44 On the contrary, he fasted twice a week, tithed everything." 39:49 Do you know how many times in the Old Testament God asked 39:52 the children of Israel to fast? 39:56 Twice. 39:58 Do you know many times the Pharisees fasted 40:01 when Jesus arrived? 40:04 Twice. 40:06 The thing is that for the children of Israel, 40:08 it was twice a year. 40:11 For the Pharisees, it was twice a week. 40:14 That's what we're dealing with here. 40:17 That's that man. 40:18 On the other hand, the publican doesn't find himself worthy 40:21 to even approach. 40:23 He hangs his head, he beats his chest, acting as though he's in 40:27 the presence of death itself, and all he can manage to do is 40:31 to sob, saying, "Oh God, be merciful of me, a sinner. 40:38 The irony is that the sinner goes down justified while the 40:43 saint remains in his sin. 40:46 The Pharisees and their hypocrisy were capable of 40:48 creating an entire list of all sinners of Judea without ever 40:53 including themselves. 40:56 Friend, Jesus frees us from the hypocrisy and the duplicity, 41:00 because in him, we learn and to see who and what we really are, 41:04 and to accept him and the forgiveness that he offers, and 41:08 to rest from the evil that is deeply rooted in the very marrow 41:12 of our bones. 41:15 And then we are able to live without disguises, without 41:19 ridiculous manipulations. 41:24 Friends, overcoming divisiveness, selfishness, 41:26 ambition, hypocrisy, it's possible. 41:28 And it's mostly recognized in the way that Jesus lived, and 41:33 the example that he laid for us. 41:35 This present life here is not our final destination. 41:38 We don't live for this. 41:40 We await where? What do we await? 41:43 A new heaven and a new earth, where the first things 41:46 will be done away with. 41:48 And with this perspective, we learn to manage our priorities, 41:52 and ultimately understand that we are only passing 41:55 through this world. 41:57 This isn't final. 41:58 This isn't all that there is. 42:00 This is nothing. 42:02 These few decades here, friends, don't allow the roots of 42:05 restlessness to do away with the possibility of so much more. 42:10 In our pains, and our weaknesses, in our falls and 42:12 defeats and disappointments, he accepts us, he receives us, he 42:16 cures us, and his grace is the great motivation for the walk. 42:20 Friends, with Christ, we learn the same that Nicodemus learned, 42:23 being born again is primarily not a demand of God, 42:27 it's an offer. 42:29 It's a gift. 42:31 And so, Nicodemus learned to rest in Christ. 42:34 The Samaritan woman, she also learned that living--the living 42:37 water is infinitely superior to anything else that she could've 42:41 extracted from the bitter cisterns of her superficial 42:44 relationships and her cheap sex. 42:47 And so, she listened to rest in Christ. 42:51 Zacchaeus, he learned that the love of money and greed may even 42:56 guarantee the larger slice of the pie, but if handed over to 42:59 Jesus, it can give way to true contentment, solidarity and 43:05 abnegation, and so, he learned to rest in Christ. 43:09 Blind man Bartimaeus, he learned that through Jesus, he could 43:13 learn to see as never before. 43:17 And so, he learned to rest in Christ. 43:19 The woman caught in adultery, she learned that the forgiveness 43:22 and the sanctification of life are the results of a new and a 43:26 purified heart that is handed over to Jesus Christ, that he 43:31 offers to create in us, and so she learned to rest in Christ. 43:36 The lepers or that one, learned that Jesus could 43:41 make him clear, clean. 43:44 And not only this, he was more than willing to purify him. 43:49 And so they learned to rest in Christ. 43:52 Friends, Jesus has this mysterious power of seeing in us 43:56 what we can't see ourselves, of making us fall in love with what 44:00 we can become in him, transformed by his grace. 44:06 And then hate what we have been. 44:09 Allow this same master to change your life. 44:15 You know, Jesus is just like the sun, in which we don't believe 44:19 in it just because we see it, but because of its light, we 44:24 learn to see everything else. 44:27 You don't believe in the sun just because you see it, but 44:29 because through it, you see everything else. 44:31 Jesus is just like that. 44:33 We don't believe in him just because we see him or know him, 44:36 but because through him, everything else changes. 44:39 Everything else becomes different. 44:42 What are the roots of your restlessness? 44:44 What have these roots been in your life? 44:47 The heartaches and the heartbreaks of life? 44:49 Trust me, Jesus can transform these roots of restlessness in 44:54 blessings. 44:56 He's more than willing. 44:57 You remember the story of the man that comes to Jesus says, 45:00 "Lord, are you willing to heal me, to cleanse me? 45:03 And Jesus says, "Yes, I am willing." 45:06 And today, he says to you, "Yes, I am willing. 45:11 Come to me all of you are tired and heavy laden, 45:16 and I will give you rest." 45:19 May God bless you. May he bless you. 45:21 And may he bless you. 45:22 I'd like to invite you again as we finish this lesson, not to 45:27 forget to take advantage of our special offer, 45:31 "The Surrender of Self." 45:32 If you would like this, please call the number, 866-788-3966. 45:37 I'm sure that you will learn how to rest in grace through this. 45:39 You can also text S-H-0-8-7 to the number 4-0-5-4-4. 45:44 We will send you a digital download. 45:46 Or if you're outside of the continental North America, you 45:48 could go on to study.aftv.org/SH087 and you 45:54 could listen how to surrender yourself to God and allow him to 45:57 dwell within your own heart, your life and 46:00 you will rest in him. 46:01 May he bless you. Amen and amen. 46:07 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 46:08 life-changing, free resource. 46:10 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 46:13 download a digital copy straight to your computer 46:15 or mobile device. 46:16 To get your digital copy of the today's free gift, simply text 46:20 the keyword on your screen to 4-0-5-4-4 or visit the web 46:24 address shown on your screen. 46:26 And be sure to select that digital download option on the 46:28 request page. 46:30 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 46:33 "Amazing Facts," wherever and whenever you want. 46:36 And most important, to share it with others. 46:40 ♪♪♪ 46:43 announcer: "Amazing Facts. 46:44 Changed Lives." 46:51 Rueben: You know, we grew up in a neighborhood up in the 46:54 Midwest that was a pretty bad neighborhood. 46:56 And when I became a teenager, I started using drugs. 47:00 I was on--I started using meth when I was, I think 16, 15, 47:04 something like that. 47:06 I was having some problems in my life I really didn't know how to 47:09 deal with. 47:11 The only thing I really knew was violence. 47:14 So this night here, I was going to inflict violence on myself. 47:18 I was really high, really depressed, so I took, you know, 47:22 I had this 40 caliber. 47:23 So I remember I put one in the chamber, and I stuck it to the 47:26 side of my head like this. 47:30 And that gun had a hair trigger, you know. 47:34 And I remember I was tapping it. 47:36 Just--and a part of me said, "No, I don't want to do this," 47:40 but there was something very evil present there saying, 47:43 "Do it." 47:44 I just said to myself, I said, "God, if you're real, show 47:50 yourself to me." 47:52 My mother took me to church when I was a little kid and we used 47:56 to sing Jesus Loves Me. 47:58 And I remember that song, it started playing in my mind and I 48:04 almost had like a vision of me as a little kid. 48:09 You know, and in Sabbath school, we used to bang those sticks 48:15 together and sing Jesus Loves Me, and I heard that in my mind. 48:25 So I said, "Wow." 48:29 So, I just kind of like put the gun down, and I kind of fell on 48:32 my bedside there and said, "Lord," I just basically just 48:37 prayed this crazy prayer. 48:39 I said, you know, I told him everything that was wrong 48:40 with me. 48:42 And I remember one day I was driving around, I kind of felt 48:44 lost, and I drove by this church, and I seen Tom 48:47 out there. 48:48 Tom was just out there watering the flowers, you know. 48:52 Tom: So I caught a vision out of the side of my eyes, this 48:55 big, husky guy with tattoos walking up, 48:59 and he's saying hello. 49:02 And I said--so I asked him if I could help him, and he told me 49:07 that he drives by the church on occasion, and every time he goes 49:13 by, he's thinking that he should stop in. 49:15 Rueben: After he showed me around the church, you know, I 49:20 was like, "Okay, man, it's nice meeting you," and this and that. 49:24 So I jumped in my car, and I started heading 49:26 down the driveway. 49:29 And the next thing you know, in like my peripheral vision, I see 49:32 him coming around the corner like Jerry Rice 49:36 running a football. 49:38 No, not that fast, but you know, he was taking off after me. 49:42 And he says, "Hey, hey, hey. Hold on. Hold on." 49:45 Tom: I asked him if he would like to have some Bible studies 49:47 and he said, "Yeah." 49:49 Reuben: He would come by the house, we'd all start--we'd 49:51 start hiding the beer cans and trying to air out the weed 49:55 smell. 49:56 And there was a presence that came with Tom that was 49:59 comforting. 50:01 You know what I mean? 50:03 Even though I wasn't taking the Bible studies as serious as I 50:05 should've, looking back, there was just a presence about him 50:10 being there in the house that was comforting. 50:14 I told Tom, I said, "Tom, you know you can't win everybody. 50:17 Tom: I looked at him and I knew I said to him, "Rueben, 50:21 I never get anybody." 50:23 I said, "It's the Holy Spirit will do that." 50:28 And I kind of in my heart knew that the Holy Spirit was going 50:31 to work on Rueben. 50:33 Rueben: So then Tom kind of left the picture for a while. 50:36 And then I think one day at my mother's house, they were 50:39 watching "The Final Events of Bible Prophecy." 50:41 So I watched that, and I remember the scene where they 50:48 had the hellfire and stuff. 50:51 You know, they're outside the city and it showed the hellfire 50:56 coming down and bringing people and stuff. 50:58 And I remember saying to myself, "That's where I would 51:03 be right there." 51:04 After the hellfire scene, I saw the saints in the city, and the 51:11 new Jerusalem, and Jesus recreating the earth. 51:16 And I said, "I want that to be me and my family." 51:23 There was something about the way Doug preached and things 51:25 that I felt that touched me, because he's kind of like 51:30 myself, you know. 51:32 He didn't grow up like that. 51:35 You know, he'd done drugs and things, so I kind of found these 51:39 common grounds that I had with him, and I liked how he just 51:43 kind of like kept it real with his preaching. 51:45 And then Pastor Rodney came to the church and I got to know him 51:50 very well, and we started doing some finishing studies. 51:55 He wanted to make sure I understand what I 51:56 was doing and things. 51:59 And he baptized me, my wife, my brother. 52:03 No matter what you've done, where you come from, where 52:08 you've been, no matter how bad of a sinner you think you are, 52:13 the Lord Jesus loves you no matter what you've done. 52:17 Doug Batchelor: Friends, is because of God's blessing and 52:19 your support, thousands of others just like Rueben have 52:23 found Jesus and eternal life. 52:27 ♪♪♪ 52:39 male announcer: "Amazing Facts. Changed Lives." 52:47 Sue: I felt like I was receiving some angel messages in 52:51 and around my son's death. 52:53 My son Jesse was just 31 years old, so I didn't expect him to 52:56 die before I did. 53:00 But in November of 2009, we decided to have Thanksgiving 53:06 with him, and we'd normally go to a family to have 53:08 Thanksgiving. 53:09 I didn't know that it was going to be the very last time that I 53:11 would see my son alive. 53:13 In April 2010, I was urged to call him on the day 53:18 that he died. 53:20 I didn't make that call. 53:21 I was too busy. 53:23 I thought I had till the next morning to call him and it turns 53:26 out that I didn't. 53:28 And then, my husband's father was passing away in a nursing 53:31 home slowly, not eating, taking his medicine. 53:37 Just wasting away. 53:38 Merwyn: We were putting out "Amazing Facts" Bible study 53:42 guides, and we had sent out cards, and we have this card, 53:51 but when I knocked on Sue and Kirk's door by mistake. 53:57 male: And we were convinced that this was the right house, 54:00 and it obviously turned out to our surprise to 54:02 be the wrong house. 54:04 Kirk: When they came by, we weren't expecting 'em. 54:08 I think he told me about these pamphlets, these "Amazing Facts" 54:14 that explained their doctrine. 54:18 male: Well, to our surprise, when they answered the door, the 54:22 gentleman, when he saw what we were doing, he said, 54:25 "Well, we would like to take these studies. 54:28 Kirk: Anything about the Lord increases my faith 54:32 is always open. 54:35 Sue: These lessons came at a time that we didn't know 54:38 we were searching. 54:40 We didn't know what we needed. 54:42 We were just hurting from the grief that we'd been through. 54:45 When I saw this studies by "Amazing Facts" about the 54:48 Sabbath, it struck a chord with me because I remembered when I 54:55 had talked to my mother as a child about the Sabbath, about 54:59 seeing the truth, when I was only eight years old and asking 55:03 her why we didn't honor the Sabbath day. 55:07 And she told me that it was just not the way 55:10 that they did things. 55:12 Well, that wasn't a good enough expression, 55:14 a good enough explanation. 55:16 There was no scriptural basis for what she told me. 55:20 She just said to forget it. 55:21 And I went through all the studies that we had gotten, 55:24 and I wanted more. 55:26 So I decided that, well, if they put of these "Amazing Facts" 55:30 Bible studies, there must be something online about 'em. 55:35 So I decided to check it out. 55:36 I went on the computer to "Amazing Facts," and it said it 55:40 right down at the bottom of the Bible studies, amazingfacts.org. 55:43 Checked it out and there was free Bible studies there. 55:45 It was the very same ones that we had been studying. 55:49 After finding the "Amazing Facts" Bible studies online, 55:52 and I did them all. 55:54 There were 27, 28 Bible studies, I felt like I was finally seeing 55:59 the truth after all these years. 56:01 We ordered the "Amazing Facts" DVDs like "The Cosmic Conflict," 56:07 and "The Final Events," "Prophecy Foundations," and 56:12 different materials like that, went through them and enjoyed 56:16 all of them, and they impacted our lives even more. 56:21 female: Well, I worked at the post office, and I knew Kirk and 56:24 Sue for a very long time. 56:26 And I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone about the Bible, and 56:31 Bible studies and things like that. 56:33 They had told us not to. 56:34 But anyway, when Sue came in and talked about it, she talked 56:37 about the Sabbath. 56:38 And I told her, I said, "Well Sue, I go to church on 56:40 Saturday." 56:42 Sue: So I invited myself. 56:44 She was excited, of course, to have me go. 56:46 My husband and I both started going that very next Sabbath. 56:50 And it wasn't but just four months after that, that we were 56:53 baptized in this church. 56:55 And it felt like the most glorious experience 56:59 I could have ever had. 57:01 male: The thing that touches my heart the most is Merwyn and 57:04 I had been doing this for over the last year and a half or two 57:08 years, and Sue is not the only one that has responded to 57:12 "Amazing Facts." 57:13 We've had several others that have responded and have been 57:17 baptized, so this is what really makes it exciting. 57:21 There's times it's discouraging, but the bottom line is every 57:24 time you see someone in the water being baptized, 57:27 it's a thrill. 57:28 Sue: I know that Jesus loves me. 57:30 After all of the tragedy that had been through, he made sure 57:34 that the two men came and brought the "Amazing Facts" 57:37 Bible studies to me and my husband. 57:40 My life will never be the same. 57:43 It is forever changed, and I am forever 57:46 part of the family of God. 57:48 ♪♪♪ 57:57 ♪♪♪ 58:07 ♪♪♪ 58:13 ♪♪♪ 58:23 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2021-07-14