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00:13 ♪♪♪ 00:23 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Luccas Rodor: Hi, friends, welcome to our "Sabbath School 00:38 Study Hour" here at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Hilltop 00:42 Seventh Adventist Church. 00:44 So good to be here with you and to have 00:46 you spending this time with us. 00:47 We're ready to dive deep into the study of this week's lesson, 00:51 and we have a very good lesson prepared for you today. 00:54 I hope that you've been studying this lesson. 00:56 The title of this quarter's message is 00:59 "The Message of Hebrews." 01:01 And so, we're going to be looking at the book of Hebrews 01:04 and diving deep into the beautiful messages 01:06 that we find there. 01:07 This day, today, we have Pastor Shawn that's going to be leading 01:10 out, and he'll be teaching lesson five, and the title is, 01:16 "Jesus, the Giver of Rest." 01:19 And so, I'm excited for that lesson. 01:22 Jesus is our rest giver, and I hope that you 01:24 enjoy and learn a lot. 01:26 Before that, I'd like to ask you to take advantage 01:29 of our free offer. 01:30 Today's free offer is "Why God Said 01:32 Remember," and so, if you'd like this free offer, 01:35 you could call 866-788-3966. 01:40 And you could ask for offer number 185. 01:43 If you're in continental North America, you can ask 01:46 for offer SH129, and you can text to the number 40544. 01:52 If you're outside of North America, 01:54 then you could go to study.aftv.org/SH129. 01:58 And you can also get a digital download of this beautiful study 02:03 right here, "Why God Said Remember." 02:07 Please bow your heads and let us pray right now. 02:09 Dear Lord, thank you so much for your blessings. 02:12 Thank you so much for the Sabbath Day, 02:14 and thank you so much for the Sabbath school lessons where we 02:16 can dive deeper into your Word, Lord, 02:19 and extract meaning and truth for our lives today. 02:23 Right now, as Pastor Shawn leads out in this study, 02:27 Father, I ask you to imbue his lips, 02:29 imbue his mind and his heart with your Spirit, 02:30 Lord, that he may speak from above. 02:33 And may we learn what we need to learn 02:37 and what you want us to learn today. 02:38 I ask you these things in Jesus's name, amen. 02:41 God bless, Pastor Shawn. 02:44 Shawn Brummund: You know, it's interesting when you look 02:49 at research in regards to mental health, 02:52 that insomnia is apparently a challenge for about 02:56 35% of all adults in America. 03:00 And so, with those kind of stats, 03:03 I know that some of you that I'm speaking to here today, 03:06 both in the Hilltop Church, as well as those who are watching 03:10 online on various networks, that you're struggling and that you 03:14 also have that challenge in your life, 03:17 either long term or short term. 03:19 And some of us have insomnia for short spurts. 03:23 Even the Apostle Paul is on record twice in 2 Corinthians. 03:26 He talks about how he struggled with sleeplessness. 03:30 And so, this is a challenge that goes 03:32 back, and you're in good company. 03:33 Even the Apostle Paul sometimes struggled with insomnia. 03:38 One of the struggles with insomnia is that 03:39 you deal with sleep deprivation. 03:42 And when you deal with sleep deprivation, 03:44 you increase your risk of being involved in an auto accident. 03:48 You increase your risk of making a critical mistake on the job. 03:53 If it's a long-term challenge that we have in an extensive 03:56 way, we can find ourselves dealing with a lot of different 03:59 health issues that can emerge from struggling with insomnia. 04:05 Some of us have a hard time going to sleep. 04:08 When we go to sleep, we toss and turn. 04:09 We're counting sheep, we're 04:11 reading a book, we're praying. 04:12 We're doing all kinds of things to be able to find ourselves 04:15 finally falling asleep. 04:17 Some of us will be able to get to sleep no problem, 04:19 but then we find ourselves getting up and periodically 04:21 waking up multiple times through the night 04:23 and breaking that sleep cycle. 04:25 Some of you are nodding your head, 04:27 perhaps you've experienced that or are experiencing it. 04:29 Some of us just find ourselves with our eyes kind of popping 04:32 open at 4 or 5 in the morning, we just can't get back to sleep. 04:35 And so, we don't sleep long enough even though we know that 04:39 we need more than that five hours perhaps that we had 04:42 before our eyes popped open. 04:44 Whatever it is, we ended up not having a good night's sleep. 04:49 Now, another thing that the researchers also have 04:52 discovered, and many of us know that by personal experience and 04:57 when they look at the different list of the different 04:59 researchers and experts in that particular field, 05:02 they share with us that the number-one cause of insomnia is 05:08 stress, and not only stress, but some of us 05:13 that struggle with anxiety, depression. 05:17 Some of these other different health, 05:19 mental-health challenges that are very real for some of us 05:23 will contribute to that struggle of insomnia. 05:27 Irregular sleep patterns is another cause of insomnia. 05:32 Too much screen time, maybe too much stimulus 05:35 just before you go to bed. 05:37 You know, there's a number of different reasons why we might 05:40 struggle and what causes that insomnia. 05:43 Why am I calling--talking about insomnia 05:45 during our Sabbath School Hour? 05:46 Well, because, you know, life tells us and experience tells 05:51 us, research tells us that if we don't get a good night's rest, 05:55 our quality of life is not as good as it could be. 06:00 And as it turns out, the term "rest" appears 11 times in the 06:05 two chapters that we're going to be looking at here today in 06:08 Hebrews chapter 3 and in Hebrews chapter 4. 06:11 Eleven times that word comes up, why? 06:13 Because that's the main theme of this week's lesson study, 06:16 "Jesus, the Giver of Rest." 06:20 And so, not only do we need a good night's sleep, 06:23 a good night's rest to be able to have the best quality of life 06:26 during our waking hours, 06:28 but even more importantly that we need to be able to have 06:32 spiritual rest, the rest that comes by having faith in Jesus, 06:38 knowing that Jesus is with me and I am with Jesus, 06:42 knowing that there is a living God that is walking with me, 06:45 that gives me mercy and grace as I sincerely give Him my faith 06:49 that we might be able to walk together with Him. 06:52 And so, that's the theme today. 06:54 Hebrews chapter 3 and Hebrews chapter 4. 06:58 And as we go to Monday's lesson on this particular 07:02 chapter--actually, no, not Monday, 07:04 Sunday's lesson, we find there that it points us to Genesis 07:07 chapter 15, verses 13 to 21. 07:10 Now, this particular passage is one of several places in Genesis 07:15 where God promises to bring Abraham's many descendants into 07:19 the Promised Land of Canaan. 07:20 It's one of the most powerful times that God reconfirms, 07:24 in the deepest way that He can, this covenant that He cuts with 07:28 Abraham, promising that one day when Abraham's descendants 07:33 become as multiplied and as great as the sand of the sea, 07:37 that indeed, God would reconfirm and cut that covenant again 07:41 through what we now call the Old Testament, 07:44 during the times of Moses. 07:46 And so, if you haven't read that passage, we won't take the 07:49 time today because we can't look at everything. 07:51 But in that passage, we find some of the most intriguing 07:54 elements of that covenant with Abraham, 07:57 as well as the prophecies that God had revealed there in 08:00 concern to the several hundred years into Abraham's future. 08:06 And sure enough, in that prophecy, 08:08 we also find that God had prophesied and told Abraham that 08:13 when His descendants do multiply, 08:15 they won't actually multiply in the Promised Land, 08:17 but they will multiply in a foreign land, that of Egypt. 08:21 And then he reveals that, indeed, after several hundred 08:24 years of Israel's residence there and, sadly, 08:28 their slavery that they experienced for many years 08:30 before they were delivered, that indeed, 08:34 they would serve that nation and that God would judge them, 08:38 and God would bring them out, and God would bring them back to 08:42 the Promised Land where Abraham himself lived and died. 08:48 Now, did God bring them out of Egypt to bring judgment 08:51 on Egypt for Egypt's crimes? 08:54 Well, yes. 08:56 We find that answer in the passage of Genesis 15. 08:58 In verse 14, it tells us that, quote, "Also the nation whom 09:03 they serve," God says, "I will judge." 09:08 And so, we find here clearly that God reveals that one of the 09:11 reasons that God had delivered Israel out of slavery, 09:15 out of bondage, out of a very difficult and very tragic 09:20 situation that they found themselves under the leadership 09:23 and slavery of a very evil king and Pharaoh, we find that God 09:29 judges Egypt for its crimes against the people of Israel. 09:35 But is this the only reason? 09:38 Well, no. This is not the only reason. 09:40 There are many other reasons, but one of them was to allow 09:43 them to freely worship God. 09:46 God was revealing them so that they might be able to freely 09:48 sacrifice at the temple, sacrifice at the sanctuary, on 09:53 the altar, that God would be able to establish the Israelites 09:55 a priesthood, that God would be able to reestablish what He had 09:59 already established, many of those elements, already through 10:03 the first family of Adam and Eve and the different families of 10:06 the faithful, Noah's family and extended family through Salah, 10:12 Abraham and the like. 10:13 And so, God was delivering the Israelites 10:15 that they might worship God. 10:19 Moses told Pharaoh, when he first went in to see him as well 10:22 as some of the other visits that he had with the Pharaoh, 10:24 and he said, "Let God's people go that they might worship Him, 10:28 that they might sacrifice before Him." 10:32 God was inviting Israel into a land of freedom, 10:35 a Promised Land that was flowing with milk and honey. 10:37 There was prosperity on a physical level there, 10:39 on a material level so that their quality of life would be 10:42 far greater than that which was when they were being victimized 10:46 by an evil Pharaoh and nation. 10:49 But again, God was delivering them and inviting them into a 10:52 full, free religious experience with Him. 10:57 And friends, that's what the Bible reveals to us as we look 11:01 at the book of Exodus. 11:03 Of course, that follows Genesis. 11:05 We come to the time of Moses. 11:10 I want to read a quote here from page 37 on Sunday 11:13 because it's just worded so well. 11:15 Page 37 in your quarterlies, if you have them with you. 11:21 You can go along and find that with me. 11:23 It's the last couple of three sentences 11:25 there of the actual page. 11:26 It says, "Creation and redemption are both enshrined in 11:30 the Sabbath commandment." 11:33 What is the Sabbath commandment? 11:36 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 11:40 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 11:42 but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God: 11:46 in it you shall do no work, you, 11:49 nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, 11:53 nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, 11:54 nor the stranger who's within your gates: 11:57 For in six days the Lord created the heavens, 11:59 the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, 12:01 but rested the seventh day. 12:05 And therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and--" 12:08 "And hallowed it." 12:10 Okay, so some of you are able to share that with me by memory. 12:15 It's a great commandment to memorize. 12:17 In fact, I would recommend that you have it memorized, 12:19 all of the Ten Commandments, that you memorize it. 12:22 You know, when you memorize the Ten Commandments, 12:24 including the fourth commandment, God is much 12:27 more able and capable of writing His law upon your hearts. 12:31 Okay, because remember, the covenant that God cut through 12:34 Jesus, the New Testament, He says, 12:36 "I will write My laws upon your--upon your mind," okay. 12:42 "And I will put My laws in your mind, 12:46 and I will write them on your heart." 12:47 And so, for God to be able to write it upon your heart, 12:51 you have to make sure that it's firmly planted in your mind. 12:56 Now, friends, I have to say, and I just say this 12:58 as a friendly challenge to you: 13:02 go ahead and memorize those Ten Commandments. 13:05 You know, there's too many of us as Christians, 13:07 as Seventh-day Adventists, as champions as much as we are 13:10 champions of the law of God, that God has called us to be 13:14 able to help the world and to those who are believers and 13:17 those who are coming-- becoming believers, 13:19 to understand that the law of God is very relevant and is 13:22 a very real element that God has always intended 13:26 for a believer to follow. 13:29 But there's too many of us that don't know those Ten 13:31 Commandments off my heart. 13:34 Even if you don't know the full extensive commandment, 13:38 like the fourth commandment, which is one of the wordiest 13:40 ones, that one and the second one are really long. 13:43 I'm not sure, I haven't counted the words, 13:44 but they're a close first and second there. 13:47 Some of them are very short. 13:48 "Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not commit adultery. 13:51 Thou shall not lie or bear false witness 13:53 against your neighbor and--" 13:55 There's too many of us that don't know those 13:57 Ten Commandments by memory. 14:01 But there's something about the exercise of memorizing. 14:03 That's another thing we're going to run out of time if I continue 14:05 to preach on that. 14:08 All right, so that's Exodus chapter 14:09 20, verses 8 through 11. 14:10 What about the second time? 14:12 There's two times that we find it. 14:13 Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 5. 14:15 Let's open our Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 5, 14:18 and we find there, as we've studied our last quarter, 14:20 we looked extensively at the book of Deuteronomy. 14:23 And now we revisit it again in the light 14:25 of Moses's last speeches. 14:27 Moses knows that his life is quickly coming to an end. 14:30 He knows that they're at the border of the Promised Land. 14:32 He's giving his last words as God works through him to 14:35 summarize the covenant and the laws and the principles and the 14:38 plans that God has for Israel when they are entering 14:41 into the Promised Land. 14:42 And, of course, naturally, one of the things that Moses goes 14:45 and reiterates verbally is that of the Ten commandments. 14:50 Now, Moses knew by memory, I am certain, 14:53 I would bet my life on it, that he knew it just as well as you 14:56 and I know it by memory, as we just recited it, 14:59 from the wording that God actually wrote with His own 15:02 finger on the tablet of stone. 15:05 But when Moses recites the Ten Commandments before the 15:08 Israelites, he takes prophetic liberty as God is inspiring him 15:13 to be able to alter a couple--three of those 15:16 commandments, not to leave the principles and the ways and the 15:20 truth that is at the bedrock of each of those commandments, 15:25 but to be able to get further insight 15:27 and further understanding. 15:29 And so, sometimes we get discouraged or sometimes we get 15:33 confused when we read the fourth commandment in Jesus-- 15:37 or in Moses's speech. 15:39 And we say to ourselves, "Well, was Moses confused? 15:42 In Exodus, he writes it one way, and in Deuteronomy, 15:45 the same author writes it a different way." 15:48 No, we have to remember this as a verbal recitation that Moses 15:51 is sharing here, and he's taking prophetic liberty 15:54 to further--give some insight. 15:57 It says, "Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, 15:59 as the Lord your God commanded you. 16:01 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work: 16:03 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God: 16:06 in it you shall do no work, you, 16:08 nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, 16:10 nor your female servant, nor your cattle-- 16:13 or nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, 16:16 nor your stranger who's within your gates; 16:19 that your male servant and your female servant 16:22 may rest as well as you." 16:25 So, there's some additional information that's not on the 16:27 tablets of stone, but certainly is a commentary that God is 16:31 inspiring Moses to give in further understanding, saying 16:34 that's the reason why God tells you not only for you to rest, 16:37 but for your manservant and maidservant to rest, 16:39 so they can rest. 16:41 That's a whole other lesson that I was so tempted to go off in a 16:44 tangent and talk about going out to the restaurants on Sabbath, 16:47 or, you know, going to a fair, some of these other things where 16:51 we're soliciting the services of other 16:53 manservants and maidservants. 16:55 And this is, of course, contrary to the very principle and 16:58 direction that God gives us in regards 17:00 to the Sabbath commandment. 17:01 He says, "That your male servant in your female servant 17:04 may rest as well as you. 17:07 "And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, 17:09 and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty 17:12 hand and by an outstretched arm: 17:14 therefore the Lord your God commanded you 17:16 to keep the sabbath day." 17:17 And so, when we come to the last words of Moses's rendition of it 17:23 here, we find here that God is inspiring him to also reveal, 17:27 under inspiration, that God has now given the Sabbath to the 17:31 believing, the believers that God is trying to establish as 17:35 believers in Israel, that they were to keep the Sabbath both as 17:40 a commemoration and a memorial of the fact that God had created 17:45 this planet and all its beauty and amazing intricacies. 17:50 All the species or life forms that we find upon the planet, 17:53 all of it was done by God with power and with great 17:56 intelligence and design within six powerful days. 18:01 And then He capped off that seven--He capped off that 18:04 six-day week into a seven-day week because then He looked at 18:08 all that He had made, as Genesis chapter 2 says, 18:10 or at the end of Genesis chapter 1, it says, 18:13 "He saw the all that He had made indeed it was very-- 18:16 it was very good." 18:19 Okay, and then He goes on, but then God blessed 18:22 the Sabbath Day and rested on it. 18:26 And not only that, but it also says that he's 18:27 on record of making it holy. 18:32 God rested from all His works and He made it holy. 18:37 And so, that's why we--when we come to the bottom of page 37 18:41 here and it says, "Creation and redemption are both enshrined 18:44 in the Sabbath commandment." 18:45 Did God redeem the Israelites from in slavery 18:48 and bondage in Egypt? 18:50 Yes, He did. Okay, He rescued them. 18:52 He bought them--he brought them as His son out of Egypt into the 18:57 land of Canaan, into the Promised Land of freedom. 19:01 And so, creation and redemption are both enshrined in the 19:06 Sabbath commandment. 19:08 Now, of course, the rest of the Bible and the Bible writers use 19:11 the Exodus, use this deliverance from slavery and bondage. 19:15 Paul in particular really rode this theme and this truth in the 19:19 fact that God was using Israel and its deliverance from literal 19:24 slavery and bondage to represent God's deliverance from--for us 19:28 from literal slavage and bondage to sin, 19:32 to our selfishness, to our self-centeredness, 19:36 and all these different struggles that we are born with 19:39 that we come into this world with. 19:41 And so, God delivers us when we come to Jesus by faith. 19:45 He forgives us our sins, justification. 19:49 He totally wipes our slate clean, but then also He 19:53 delivers us from sin as well, doesn't He? 19:57 Okay, "Behold, I am or God who delivered you out of the slavery 20:00 in bondage of Egypt," as God said in his--in the original 20:04 record of the Ten Commandments and the time that God actually 20:07 gave the Ten Commandments on the tablets of stone. 20:12 And then it goes on in page 37, "Just as we did not create 20:15 ourselves, we cannot save ourselves," okay? 20:18 It says, "We cannot redeem ourselves" in the quarterly. 20:21 But redeem is something that we're not as familiar with. 20:24 And so, I'd like to look at--you know, synonyms, 20:27 that help us to be able to--that we're more familiar with. 20:29 It might make it clear for us. 20:31 He did not create ourselves--we did not create ourselves, 20:35 and we cannot redeem or save ourselves. 20:37 It's a work that only God can do, and by resting, 20:39 we acknowledge our dependence upon Him, 20:42 not only for existence, but also for salvation. 20:45 Sabbath keeping is a powerful expression 20:47 of salvation by faith alone. 20:51 And we're going to touch on more on that as we continue 20:55 in our study here today. 21:01 All right, so the Israelites are now free to observe the 21:03 universal seventh-day Sabbath. 21:05 God has delivered them out of Egypt. 21:07 He's delivered to them out of bondage. 21:09 And now they're free to worship Him in all ways, 21:12 including that of observing the seventh-day Sabbath, 21:15 the one that God had created for mankind in the very beginning of 21:18 the first week of history here on this earth. 21:25 Now, the original one that was found on the tablets of stone 21:27 points Israel to that time that God had delivered them. 21:33 But the verbal reference to it by Moses includes something more 21:37 that God wants the Israelites to know. 21:39 And this ultimately points to the ultimate redemption that's 21:42 found through Christ as the spiritual New Testament Israel. 21:48 And so, I think that's another point that I just want to stop 21:51 and clarify for us because I know that there's a lot of 21:55 confusion in modern Christianity, 21:57 in Protestant Christianity, evangelical Christianity, 22:00 in concern to, what is Israel right now? 22:04 Where do we find God's Israel today? 22:08 And many of us have been taught and many of us have believed, 22:13 perhaps some of us even taught, that Israel today, 22:16 God's Israel, is found in the Middle East. 22:20 That's not true. 22:22 That's not true at all. 22:23 God reveals, both through Jesus's teachings, 22:26 as well as later on through His apostles, 22:29 that if you want to find Israel today, 22:31 God's Israel, biblical Israel, it's right here. 22:36 You're modern Israel. 22:38 You're God's Israel. 22:41 Israel today is Zion. 22:43 Israel today is the church. 22:46 We have to remember that Christianity is not a religion 22:49 that is separate from Judaism. 22:52 Christianity is the ultimate fulfillment 22:55 and extension of biblical Judaism. 22:58 And so, true Judaism is found fully and most completely in the 23:04 Christian church, in the New Testament. 23:08 Now, friends, I know that for some of us, 23:10 that will be revolutionary, even as I'm saying it, 23:13 especially if you've been taught that Israel is in the Middle 23:15 East, that God isn't concerned, He has a plan, 23:17 and that His main focus is on that 23:20 little country in the Middle East. 23:21 It used to be, but Jesus says, "I have removed the kingdom from 23:26 you, and I have given to another nation 23:28 bearing the fruits thereof." 23:31 And then Peter later on in 1 Peter chapter 2, 23:33 he says that you are a holy nation, 23:37 a holy and royal priesthood. 23:39 You are modern Israel. 23:41 Paul comes along and says if you have faith in Jesus, 23:43 you are of the seed of Abraham. 23:47 Now, friends, this is a truth that has been totally buried 23:51 within Protestantism just over the last 50 years. 23:54 If you back up 50 years in America to 19--well, 23:58 70 years now from--I can safely say for 1950 backwards, 24:02 you can go to any Baptist Church, 24:03 Methodist Church, Pentecostal church, 24:05 almost any of those churches, and it was regular chorus for 24:09 the pastors and the Sunday school teachers, 24:11 the Sabbath school teachers, to be able to share with their 24:14 members that indeed you are Zion, you are Israel. 24:19 So, even though it's new coming from this pulpit and other 24:22 Seventh-day Adventist pulpits, if you've never been exposed to 24:25 it before, it wasn't if you go back 24:28 70 plus years in this country. 24:30 Across the board, Protestants understood that New Testament 24:34 Israel is the church. 24:39 And so, when we look at ancient Israel and how God had 24:42 physically delivered them out of bondage and slavery, 24:45 this is why Paul and the other apostles were able to very 24:49 freely and confidently talk about how that symbolized the 24:54 ultimate deliverance of all believers within modern Israel, 24:57 within New Testament Israel, which is the church when you put 25:00 your faith in Christ, experience His sanctification, 25:03 as well as His justification that comes from Christ alone 25:08 by faith in Christ alone. 25:12 And so, the rest of the lesson study this week is 25:14 in Hebrews chapter 3 and 4. 25:16 Because these two chapters lean so heavily upon Psalm 95, 25:19 I want to invite you to come with me as we go 25:21 to Psalm 95 today. 25:23 We're going to the 95th Psalm. 25:30 And as we go to the 95th Psalm, 25:32 I want to read it in its fullness. 25:34 Now, Hebrews 3 and 4 doesn't quote the whole thing, 25:36 but we're there and I'd like to see it in its full context and 25:38 then be able to carry ourselves forward such, about a thousand 25:42 years to Paul's day where he wrote Hebrews. 25:46 So, we're back at Psalm 95 written by David. 25:49 It doesn't say that in your Bible here because the ancient 25:52 records in the Jewish Psalms doesn't say that. 25:54 But when you come to Hebrews chapter 3, in particular, 25:57 Hebrews chapter 4, it tells us that David 26:00 is writing this psalm. 26:02 So, we know it was written about 3,000 years back from our day. 26:05 It says, "O come--" 26:06 And, in fact, let's go ahead and read it together. 26:09 Okay, so let's go ahead and read together. 26:10 Just read it softly, but let's read it out loud together. 26:13 Let's see if we can capture the Spirit and do 26:15 a little something different. 26:16 You ready? 26:19 It says, "O, come and let us sing to the Lord. 26:22 Let us shout joyfully to the God of our salvation, 26:27 let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. 26:30 Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 26:34 For the Lord is the great God and the great King 26:37 above all kings--above all gods. 26:40 In His hand are the deep places of the earth. 26:43 The heights of the hills are His also. 26:45 The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands 26:48 formed the dry land. 26:50 O come, let us worship and bow down. 26:53 Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, 26:56 for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and 27:00 the sheep of His hand. 27:02 Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your 27:06 hearts as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the 27:09 wilderness when the fathers tested me. 27:12 They tried me, though they saw my work. 27:15 For 40 years, I was grieved with that generation and said, 27:19 "It is a people who go astray in their hearts, 27:21 and they do not know my ways. 27:24 For I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest." 27:30 And so, here we find a very powerful psalm. 27:32 Now, of course, this was a song. 27:34 Psalm is an old English term that simply means song 27:36 in our modern English. 27:38 And so, the songs were all--had a tune. 27:41 I have no idea how that tune goes, 27:42 I don't think any scholar does. 27:44 And it was all for the better anyway because God gave me the 27:47 opposite of a gifted singing voice. 27:50 And so, I wouldn't want to dare to try to sing it 27:54 even if I knew the tune. 27:58 But clearly, when we come to the Psalm, 28:01 God invited the generation of Moses to enter His perfect 28:06 spiritual, gospel rest. 28:09 God was inviting Israel into a gospel experience. 28:14 God was inviting Moses's generation into a true 28:17 spiritual, perfect rest. 28:19 In fact, in Exodus chapter 33 and verse 14, it tells us, 28:22 "And He said, 'My presence will go with you, 28:25 and I will give you rest.'" 28:30 Exodus 33, verse 14, He said, "My presence will go with you, 28:33 and I will give you rest," Jesus says to 28:36 Moses and to his generation. 28:40 All right, so Monday, it turns us--it starts to direct 28:43 us to Hebrews chapter 3, and so that's where 28:45 we're going to spend the rest of our time here today. 28:47 Hebrews chapter 3, and we're going to pick it 28:49 up with verse 12. 28:51 Now, verses 7 through 11, we find that--here we find Paul 28:58 quoting from Psalm 95 for the first time, 29:02 and then he basically unpacks that through the rest of chapter 29:04 3 and through chapter 4. 29:06 And so, that's what we're going to do over the next 29:08 few minutes here today. 29:09 So, we're just going to take it verse by verse again. 29:11 Verses 7 through 10, verses 7 through 11, 29:14 we've already read in its original context, 29:17 in its original place in Psalm 95. 29:21 Verse 7 does say, "Therefore as the Holy Spirit says 29:24 today if you'll hear His voice." 29:25 Now, of course, the voice of God comes through 29:27 the Holy Spirit, doesn't it? 29:29 And so, there's a perfect tie-in there. 29:34 Okay, but again in verse 11, sadly, 29:35 Jesus, God the Father eventually had to say to that generation, 29:39 "So I sworn in my wrath, they shall not enter My rest." 29:45 "Beware, brethren," Paul goes on to his generation. 29:48 You see, there's three generations that are being 29:51 addressed here in these two chapters. 29:53 One of them is Moses's generation, 29:55 which again, we're finding as he quotes from David's generation, 30:01 but also, as we'll later on look at, 30:03 he's also quoting from--well, no, 30:05 the psalm itself is reflecting on Moses's generation. 30:08 But then later on in Hebrews chapter 4, 30:11 we find that God is also--Paul is--and in the Bible here is 30:14 also addressing David's generation because David was the 30:17 one that was prophetically inspired to give 30:19 the psalm to his generation. 30:21 "Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your heart." 30:24 And then, of course, Paul ultimately 30:26 is addressing his generation. 30:28 And then God made sure--saw fit to be able to make sure that the 30:32 writings of Paul in--to the Hebrew believers of his day was 30:35 recorded and preserved in the Holy Scriptures of the New 30:38 Testament, which means that it's also addressing our generation. 30:42 It's addressing you and I, and that's why we're looking 30:44 at it here today as well. 30:47 By the way, when it says, "Today, if 30:48 you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts," what's 30:51 the opposite of hardening your hearts? 30:55 It's softening your hearts, isn't it? 30:57 All right, okay. 30:58 So, when God says, "Today, if you will hear His voice, 31:00 do not harden your hearts," another way of saying that is 31:04 today, if you hear His voice, soften your hearts, 31:09 soften your hearts to the Lord God. 31:13 You know, there's a sinful, independent part of us, 31:16 you know, that wants to harden our hearts. 31:18 And it's a temptation for all human beings. 31:20 But God says don't fall for it, soften your hearts instead. 31:25 Don't go that down that pathway. 31:27 Don't choose that choice that you can make to be able to 31:31 harden your heart and to be able to choose a way that is not 31:34 with God and not of God. 31:38 And so, Paul here is doing what he does throughout the whole 31:41 book of Hebrews, as Pastor Doug and others that have been 31:44 teaching this lesson study so far. 31:46 You know, the book of Hebrews was written predominantly to be 31:49 able to encourage, as well as to warn Jewish believers in Paul's 31:53 day not to go into apostasy. 31:55 Apparently, there was a number of different Jewish believers 31:58 that saw that Jesus was the ultimate Jewish Messiah, 32:01 that He was the cap to Judaism, and that the New Testament was 32:05 the ultimate fulfillment of Judaism, 32:07 a transition and full completion of Judaism. 32:09 And so, they embraced Christianity 32:12 and they accepted Christ. 32:14 But that came with a high, high price because there was great 32:19 pushback by their families, by the Jewish community, 32:23 by their synagogues, by their neighborhoods. 32:24 And so, there was massive persecution. 32:27 Many of them were disowned by their family completely. 32:32 And so, because of that, there was a great temptation to be 32:35 able to go into apostasy, to abandon this great, 32:38 powerful truth, and revert back to what was a semi-Judaism. 32:44 The reason I say semi-Judaism, and this is not to offend any of 32:47 my Jewish friends that might be watching considering the things 32:50 of the New Testament Scriptures, but rather because of the fact 32:53 that, just like Christianity became semi-Christianity, 32:57 Judaism, also by Jesus's generation, Paul's generation, 33:01 had become semi Judaism, biblical Judaism, why? 33:04 Because, as we are so apt to be able to do so often, 33:10 we want to start to create a lot of our own religion and add to 33:15 the Scriptures, add to Judaism, add to Christianity. 33:18 And we just start to develop theologies and traditions and 33:22 religions and ceremonies that aren't written in the Bible, 33:25 and sadly, quite often are contrary to the original 33:27 Judaism, original Christianity. 33:30 And so, many Jewish believers in the Christian church were 33:34 tempted to go back and apostatize from this truth and 33:37 go back to their ways so that they can reassemble it and be 33:39 accepted within their families and the neighborhoods. 33:43 And so, when we come to verse 12, 33:45 he says, "Beware, brethren, lest there be any of you that have an 33:48 evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. 33:51 But exhort one another daily while it is still called today, 33:55 lest any of you be hardened through 33:57 the deceitfulness of sin. 34:00 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning 34:03 of our confidence steadfast in the end. 34:06 While it is said, today, if you will hear His voice, 34:10 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, 34:12 soften your hearts instead." 34:15 And so, we find here a warning. 34:18 And by the way, verse 14 and all through Hebrews, 34:21 you know, sometimes I like to just know a book. 34:23 You know, some--I know a number of different Scriptures that God 34:25 gives to me to be able to help people see through different 34:28 lies, religious lies, that have crept into Christianity. 34:31 And one of those religious lies is that once you give your heart 34:35 to Jesus, you come into a saving relationship with Him, 34:38 you cannot be lost. 34:41 Okay, now if you stay in that relationship with Him, 34:43 you cannot be lost, it's true. 34:45 But you do have that ability and capability. 34:49 And there were believers all through history that demonstrate 34:52 that you can have a born-again, saved relationship with Jesus 34:55 Christ and still find yourself dying a lost man or woman, why? 35:00 Because you made choices later on that started to bring you 35:03 away from Jesus and you began to apostacize, 35:07 and you began to find yourself outside of that salvation. 35:10 Now, there's a number of different quotes, 35:12 you know, 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and later in that chapter, 35:15 you know, Paul says, "You know, I discipline my body that I 35:18 might not lose that salvation which I've preached to others." 35:21 You know, so very clearly, we find some proof text. 35:23 But if you wanted to go to a whole book, 35:25 the whole book of Hebrews is one of the greatest answers to the 35:28 question, "If we're saved, can we ever be lost?" 35:32 And so, Hebrews is warning and encouraging the Hebrew believers 35:37 that, indeed, you may have a saving relationship with him 35:39 now, but if you begin to backslide and you begin to 35:41 apostacize, you can lose that salvation. 35:47 Verse 14 says, "For if we have become partakers of Christ, 35:50 if, if we hold the beginning of our confidence 35:55 steadfast to the end." 35:57 Just as "if" is reiterated dozens of times in the Old 36:01 Testament, so is "if" also found, reiterated and 36:05 repeated throughout the New Testament, why? 36:06 Because salvation is conditional upon 36:09 a sincere, consistent faith. 36:14 And then we come to verse 16. 36:16 It says, "For who having heard rebelled?" 36:19 Well, of course, sadly, that was Moses's generation. 36:22 "Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses?" 36:27 Now, of course, many times when the Bible uses the term "all," 36:30 he doesn't intend, and the Bible doesn't intend, 36:33 for us to take it to its literal fullest end, meaning 36:36 every single individual Israelite. 36:38 And this is one of those cases because we have Joshua and Caleb 36:41 for certain were faithful to God through that generation and 36:44 actually entered the Promised Land. 36:46 But all as a whole who came out of Egypt led by Moses, 36:50 sadly, chose to harden our hearts rather than soften it, 36:53 chose to not believe and obey, rather than to believe and obey. 36:59 And verse 17, it says, "Now with whom was he angry 40 years? 37:04 Was it not with those who sinned, 37:07 whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 37:10 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, 37:14 but to those who did not obey." 37:18 And verse 19, now let's pick this up. 37:21 Verse 19, it says, "So we that they could enter it--so we--so 37:29 we see that they could not enter it because 37:31 of unbelief," because of unbelief. 37:35 Now, there's a parallelism here that we'd want to pick up that I 37:38 don't want us to brush over because again here, 37:41 it also reveals in these two chapters another kernel of truth 37:44 that is very critical for us to understand, 37:46 and that is true belief always comes with obedience. 37:51 Okay, so Paul here could very confidently and very freely go 37:55 back and forth between obedience and unbelief, 37:57 between disobedience and unbelief, 38:00 between obedience and faith, why? 38:02 Because one always comes with the other. 38:04 You cannot have a sincere faith and not want to obey Jesus. 38:10 If someone comes to you and says, "Listen, I'm a born-again 38:12 Christian, I love Jesus with all my heart," but you start to talk 38:14 about the law and obedience to them, and they start to turn off 38:17 immediately and tell you how unimportant that is, 38:19 that person does not have a sincere saving faith. 38:25 And so, God has called us to be able to help our Christian 38:28 friends if they're in that place to be able to understand that 38:30 true love and faith in Jesus means a willing 38:34 and surrendered obedience to Jesus. 38:38 Now, the book of James unpacks that. 38:39 We find that reiterated here throughout these two chapters in 38:42 a very powerful way because, again, 38:44 Paul is going back and forth. 38:45 The Bible goes back and forth between them being 38:47 unbelievers and disobedient, why? 38:49 Because when you believe, you obey. 38:52 When you don't believe, you're disobey. 38:56 Okay, and the more you believe, the more you will obey. 38:58 And the more you obey, the more you believe. 39:01 It's a great life-giving cycle that God gives to us that the 39:04 Bible reveals for you and me. 39:10 All right, so let's go to Hebrews chapter 4, and we're 39:17 just going to commentate through Hebrews chapter 4 39:19 because we're going to run out of time very quickly here. 39:21 Verse 4, chapter 4 it says, "Therefore, 39:23 since a promise remains of entering His rest, 39:26 let us fear lest any of us seem to have come fall short of it." 39:29 Again, that conditionality of their salvation very clear. 39:32 "For indeed the gospel was preached to us 39:35 as well as to them." 39:36 Friends, the first time I saw that, 39:37 I just about fell off my chair. 39:40 And now I've got it highlighted in my most important color, 39:42 green, in my Bible, why? 39:43 Because it tells us very clearly that God was inviting and had 39:48 revealed the gospel of Jesus Christ to the first generation 39:51 of Israelites in which he cut a covenant with--through Moses and 39:54 the leadership of Moses, just as much as he did with the first 39:57 generation of Christian believers and you and me. 40:01 It tells us that the gospel was crystal clear to them. 40:04 God was inviting them to the same experience that he is 40:07 inviting you and I as Christians today. 40:10 And that's another lie that God had--not that God, 40:13 but the devil has sold to too many religious believers 40:16 throughout Christianity's history, that somehow the Old 40:20 Testament was not gospel-based. 40:22 It was not based on what Ephesians tells us. 40:25 Paul had been inspired to summarize 40:27 in such a powerful way. 40:28 For by grace you have been saved through? 40:31 Through faith. It's not of yourselves. 40:33 It is a--it's a gift of God. 40:36 "It's not of works, lest anyone should boast. 40:38 For we are His workmanship, created 40:40 for good works in Christ Jesus. 40:44 "Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 through 10, 40:47 that same gospel was also preached to the 40:49 Israelites in Moses's generation. 40:53 The Holy Spirit was offering them the exact same experience, 40:56 to be born again and saved by grace through faith. 40:59 Was the law important? 41:01 Was obedience conditional to that faith? 41:03 Well, yes, even as it is in the New Testament. 41:06 And so, these two chapters are so powerful because it just 41:09 blows away so many different lies that have 41:11 crept into Christianity today. 41:13 "For indeed, the gospel was preached to us as well as to 41:15 them, but the word which they heard did not profit them." 41:18 Why? 41:20 Because it was not mixed with faith in those who heard it. 41:22 You see, you can hear the Word and go away an unbeliever, why? 41:26 Because we choose to either soften our hearts to the Word of 41:29 God and the invitation he brings to us through the scriptures and 41:33 his invitations, or we can, we can soften our hearts and we can 41:39 open our hearts and say, "Lord Jesus, come in. 41:43 I embrace this truth and this Word and the 41:45 voice that is coming with it." 41:46 The Holy Spirit always comes and speaks to our hearts and our 41:50 minds when we hear the Word of God, 41:52 when we read the Word of God. 41:54 What we do with it is what makes all the difference. 41:58 And that's what God is telling us again here today 42:00 in verse 2, sadly, that generation heard the word, 42:03 they heard the voice, they experienced the convictions that 42:07 came with it, but they did not profit because 42:09 it was not mixed with faith. 42:11 Verse 3, "For we who have believed do 42:14 enter that rest," he says. 42:16 But the good news is that that rest is still available, 42:18 even as it said in verse 1 of the same chapter. 42:21 And we have experienced it. 42:22 We have entered into the rest. 42:26 [sighing] 42:30 You take a deep breath sometimes and just reflect on the rest 42:33 that God has given to you and me. 42:36 Now, God uses the Sabbath to be able to represent that rest in 42:39 the rest of this chapter in a very powerful way. 42:41 We want to pick up because it's not just where he quotes the 42:43 Sabbath commandment or actually reflects on the seventh day as 42:47 first recorded in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 2. 42:49 But he actually starts to introduce it in the verse or two 42:53 before it, as well as the verse or two after it. 42:55 And so, let's pick that up because the Sabbath is a 42:57 beautiful representation of the, [sighing], the rest that 43:03 we can find in Jesus. 43:05 Because even though obedience is--willing obedience is 43:09 conditional upon our salvation, it is not the way 43:12 in which we earn our salvation. 43:15 You see the difference there, friends? 43:16 God requires a willing obedience, 43:20 but that obedience does not save us in of itself. 43:25 So, we rest in what Jesus has done for us. 43:29 Thank you, Jesus, that you died on the cross to be able to know 43:32 that my sins have been wiped clean, 43:34 that my sins have been made as white as snow. 43:38 Thank you, Jesus, for the promise that when I confess my 43:40 sins, you are just and faithful to forgive my sins and to 43:44 cleanse me from all unrighteousness. 43:48 Thank You, Jesus, that it's you that works in be, 43:51 both to will and to do Your good pleasure, 43:53 that it's not my righteousness that I must lean upon to find 43:56 victory in this life, but I lean upon You and I 43:59 rest in Your righteousness. 44:02 I rest in Your holiness. 44:05 And then He makes us holy with His power, 44:07 and not with mine. 44:10 And so, in verse 3, it says, "For we who have believed, 44:12 do enter that rest as He said. 44:14 So I swear on My wrath, they shall not enter My rest." 44:17 This is reverse deduction as he's using the fact that God 44:20 said, "They shall not enter My rest" to reveal that, 44:24 indeed, He offered it to them, but they would not accept it. 44:26 And so He said, "You will not enter it." 44:28 "Although the works were finished 44:29 from the foundation of the world--" 44:31 There's that first introduction to the seventh-day Sabbath. 44:33 "Although the works were finished from 44:34 the foundation of the world." 44:36 When God came to the end of his creation activities at the end 44:40 of day six and that he rested on the Sabbath, 44:42 is there an eighth date on record which he says, 44:44 "Oh, you know what, there's a couple of things I forgot. 44:47 I need to go back and touch up a couple of things. 44:50 There's a couple of species I forgot to put. 44:51 And boy, did I ever really blew it with that elephant. 44:54 That nose is way too long. 44:55 I gotta be able to shorten that." 44:58 No, it doesn't say that, right? 44:59 It says what He came to the end of His 45:00 works, it was finished. 45:03 And then He rested. 45:06 He paused as a symbol for you and me. 45:10 And so, that's why we find in verse 4, 45:12 "And he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day in this way, 45:15 and God rested on the seventh day from all his works." 45:18 Genesis chapter 2 and verse 2 he's quoting. 45:20 "And again in this place, they shall not into My rest. 45:23 Since therefore remains that some must enter it and those to 45:26 whom it was first preached did not 45:28 enter because of disobedience." 45:30 Again, he designates a certain day saying in David, 45:33 "Today, after such a long time, as it has been said, 45:36 today, if you will hear His voice, 45:37 do not harden your hearts." 45:40 And then as we're short for time, I'm 45:41 going to skip down to verse 9 and 10 to close up. 45:44 It says, "There remains therefore a rest 45:46 for the people of God. 45:48 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his 45:52 works as God has from His." 45:56 And again, verse 10 is reflecting 45:58 the seventh-day Sabbath. 46:00 And even as God finished and rested His works, 46:04 God calls us to rest in His works as well so that we can 46:07 know when we stand at the Judgment Day, 46:10 when we stand at the border of the heavenly eternal kingdom and 46:14 the Promised Land and he says, "Why should I let you in?" 46:17 We can't say, "Well, because I was good enough, 46:19 because I kept the Sabbath long enough, 46:20 because I returned tithe faithfully enough." 46:22 No, this was all part of your sincere faith 46:25 experience and your salvation. 46:28 But that's not the reason that you enter the Promised Land. 46:30 It's because what Christ has done for you and what Christ is 46:34 still doing for you, even right now as your high priest. 46:37 Thank God for that. 46:39 Thank you so much for studying, folks. 46:40 For those of you that are watching, it's nice to have you. 46:42 We look forward to having you join us if you--in the future at 46:45 Sabbath School Study Hours. 46:47 Until then, God bless. 46:54 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 46:55 life-changing, free resource. 46:57 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 46:59 you can download a digital copy straight to your 47:01 computer or mobile device. 47:03 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 47:06 simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web 47:11 address shown on your screen. 47:13 And be sure to select the digital download option 47:15 on the request page. 47:16 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 47:20 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most 47:23 important, to share it with others. 47:31 announcer: Amazing Facts Change Lives. 47:40 male: My greatest wish is that my children will see me the 47:46 way I see my own father. 47:51 He's a very devoted man, and that kind of framed my childhood 47:56 going forward from there, where I was always 47:59 involved in church work. 48:01 And I had a very rich experience with the Lord at a young age all 48:08 the way up through college. 48:10 Then after I got married, I got into a company called Comcast, 48:15 and I spent the past, roughly, eight-and-a-half years, 48:19 nine years at Comcast. 48:21 And I was actually watching television with my son, 48:25 and a Comcast commercial came on the air. 48:30 And he said, "Oh, Daddy, that's Comcast. 48:33 That's where you work, Daddy." 48:36 And most fathers would be proud of something like that, 48:39 but it really struck me that, you know, my son's getting older 48:44 and he does not see me as a servant of the Lord. 48:46 He sees me as a servant of my company. 48:50 And I knew that I would have to make some changes because I 48:55 wanted him to know me as a man of God. 48:59 I never thought I would be a preacher or anything like that, 49:03 but I knew that there was room in the work for me 49:07 and for my talents. 49:11 And I wanted my son to see me operating in the work. 49:17 That's when I knew that my time there was coming to an end. 49:21 I was sitting in my office one day, 49:23 and I was kneeling in prayer. 49:25 I said, "God, you know, show me what you want me to do because, 49:30 you know, this seems like a big move here. 49:33 And, you know, everyone's thinking I'm crazy. 49:39 And I don't know exactly how, you know, 49:44 things are going to go if they don't go well." 49:48 That's a crazy thought when you're thinking about God. 49:52 And I lifted my head up in prayer, 49:56 and they were just like a flock of, 50:00 I don't know, maybe 300 birds that were just flying, 50:04 and they were swooping down over the water. 50:07 And they would fly back up, and then they 50:10 would chase each other around. 50:11 And, you know, I was just look at the pattern 50:13 of the giant flock. 50:15 And the promise of the Lord came to me where he says that, 50:20 you know, He takes care of the sparrows, 50:23 and you don't see them worrying about how they are going to be 50:27 taken care of from day to day. 50:30 You know, they don't, you know, wring their hands, wondering, 50:33 you know, "Will there be any worms to eat tomorrow?" 50:36 And that promise really stood out to me. 50:40 And He said, "How much more do I love you? 50:44 You know, I'm not going to send you on a mission to do My work 50:48 and leave you high and dry because you claim to be My 50:51 child, you claim to be My son, and everyone knows that." 50:57 That assurance allows me to know that whatever happens here, 51:03 whatever happens after here, we're sons of God. 51:07 And there are certain things that we shouldn't worry about. 51:12 From the day we arrived at AFCOE, 51:16 it's been obvious that God has blessed the Amazing Facts 51:19 Ministry, the AFCOE program. 51:22 And I will be using my AFCOE experience, 51:27 no matter where I go, to reach people. 51:30 Because the personal touch of face-to-face evangelism, 51:36 speaking and sharing the Word of God out of your own mouth, 51:40 there's no replacement for that. 51:42 And Amazing Facts has been very instrumental in helping me find 51:49 the area of the work of God and showing me 51:52 how large and how broad it is. 51:55 It's been a tremendous blessing to be in a place where we're 51:59 around people seeking to do God's will and listening 52:03 for His voice in their life. 52:06 And that's very, very important today. 52:16 announcer: Together, we have spread the gospel 52:18 much farther than ever before. 52:21 Thank you for your support. 52:32 announcer: Amazing Facts Changed Lives. 52:40 Nita Littlefield: I'm Tlingit Indian from Sitka, Alaska. 52:44 My Tlingit name is [speaking Tlingit] 52:48 It was a very depressing time for the people of Alaska. 52:52 A lot of alcohol abuse was taking place. 52:57 And unfortunately, my mother got caught up in the alcohol. 53:03 It made myself and my siblings grow up in 53:09 a pretty horrible environment. 53:15 It was really hard to understand God. 53:19 It was really hard to understand what love was. 53:23 I ended up having a child in my 12th grade and leaving home 53:33 when I was 15 years old. 53:35 But somehow, someway, we made it. 53:38 And I became a loner, I became a hermit. 53:41 So, I went up to the biggest marijuana county, 53:46 to Humboldt County, and started my new career. 53:51 Things weren't right though. 53:52 No matter how nice I kept thinking life was living up on 53:57 top of the mountain, not having to worry about wearing clothing, 54:03 just waking up and watching the plants grow, 54:07 searching still for more and more. 54:10 I went to the post office, and I was standing there by myself. 54:16 I looked down and here was this, what is called 54:20 a handbill, a postcard. 54:23 And the letters on it grabbed my attention 54:26 and it said, "Revelations." 54:28 I'd never heard Revelation taught before, and I thought, 54:32 "Gosh, that would have been so good." 54:35 I looked at the time and the day and I said, "Wow, that's today." 54:42 And for six weeks, I sat there in the front seat of that 54:49 building and could not believe the things that I heard. 54:54 And I found this hunger, that I had in my heart 54:59 for decades being filled. 55:02 I was actually like a starving child, 55:05 you know, wanting to get into learn more about Revelations. 55:09 And I chose to be baptized on April 3. 55:15 Even though I chose to serve God, I kept falling. 55:20 I was going to Bible studies all--four times a week and just 55:26 so hungry to learn as much as possible. 55:30 God, just overnight, had me studying the Word of God through 55:35 AFCOE, and the miracles that happened through 55:39 AFCOE is so incredible. 55:42 The only preacher I was listening to was Pastor Doug 55:45 Batchelor, who I didn't even call by his name. 55:48 I called him the caveman. 55:51 And then here, all of a sudden, I'm sitting in front of him in 55:56 his classroom, learning from him. 56:00 On October 11, I sat there, though, 56:04 in my room saying, "Lord, here I am studying Your Word. 56:09 But what, what am I doing here? 56:13 What do I need to do? 56:16 What is it you want me to do?" 56:18 And that night about 1 in the morning, 56:20 God spoke to me and He said, "I want you to write a note to 56:25 Pastor Doug and tell him what you do." 56:27 I sat there and I says, "No, I'm not going to write a note. 56:29 I'm not going to write a note." 56:31 And I said okay, so I ripped off a piece of paper, 56:34 and I wrote on the note and I said, 56:36 "I'm an experienced fashion designer. 56:39 I can sew anything. 56:40 I could make any patterns. 56:42 If there's any way that I can be of any service to you, 56:47 God told me to be bold and tell you." 56:49 And I walked up and I handed him the note, 56:51 and he didn't know what it was, but he said, "Thank you." 56:54 And four hours later, I got a phone call from Amazing Facts. 56:58 Pastor Doug told me that I was an answer to their prayers. 57:02 They had been looking for a wardrobe stylist for their new 57:06 film that they're producing. 57:09 male: Action, two, three. 57:12 female: Amazing Facts has changed my life in the direction 57:17 that God wants me to go. 57:20 And now, out of all the knowledge that was taught to me, 57:24 I'm able to go out into this world and share the gospel and 57:29 finish the work for Jesus Christ. 57:34 Doug Batchelor: Friends, it's because of God's blessing and 57:36 your support that thousands of others like Nita have found 57:40 Jesus and everlasting life. 57:43 ♪♪♪ 57:54 ♪♪♪ 58:04 ♪♪♪ 58:14 ♪♪♪ 58:24 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2022-01-20