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00:10 ♪♪♪ 00:20 ♪♪♪ 00:30 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Shawn Brummund: Hello and welcome to another edition of 00:37 the Sabbath School Study Hour right here in the Granite Bay 00:40 Hilltop Seventh Day Adventist Church in the metropolitan area 00:43 of Sacramento, California. 00:45 It is so good to be able to have all those who are watching 00:48 either livestream or those who are watching on the different, 00:50 various broadcasts in which are carrying 00:53 this particular program. 00:55 It is always nice to be able to have you join us. 00:57 We're glad that you have decided to invest in the next one hour 01:00 into studying one of my favorite Bible books, which is the Bible 01:03 book of Hebrews. 01:05 And so, we're coming back to our quarterly study, and the title 01:09 is "The Message of Hebrews." 01:11 And so, if you've been following along with this, of course, 01:13 you've been blessed as we've been getting together 01:16 from week to week. 01:17 And if you're joining us for the very first time, we know 01:19 that you're going to be blessed today, as we look at a very 01:21 powerful lesson, lesson number 11, which is "Jesus: Author and 01:26 Perfector of Our Faith." 01:28 And so please stay with us as we continue to study. 01:32 I also would like to give a special welcome, of course, to 01:34 our church family that is joining us here in person, and 01:37 always nice to be able to have both our church members, as well 01:41 as friends of the church, and visitors that so often come and 01:44 join us from out of town, as well. 01:47 I want to also encourage you to take advantage of a free gift 01:51 offer that we have for you here, today, which is "Determining the 01:54 Will of God," by our lead pastor, Pastor Doug Batchelor. 01:58 And if you've never read this, this is 02:00 a very, very helpful book. 02:02 It will help you, by faith, to be able to understand God's will 02:06 and leading in your life. 02:08 And so, all you need to do is dial 1-866-788-3966. 02:14 Again, that's 1-866-788-3966. 02:18 And when you call in, ask for offer number 778. 02:22 We'll be happy to get that to you. 02:24 If you live in North America or the various U.S. territories, 02:27 we can have that sent out to you. 02:29 Now, another way that you could also get this is a digital form. 02:33 And so, that's available to be able to download 02:35 for free, as well. 02:36 You just need to text the code SH025, and you want to dial that 02:41 to 40544, and that'll connect you to a link on the Internet 02:46 that will give you a free down link and download copy of this. 02:50 Again, if you're in the U.S. 02:51 and its various territories, we can get that to you. 02:54 And then there's also a website that you can see on the screen 02:56 there that's available for you to be able to get online 02:59 anywhere in the world and download a free digital copy 03:01 for you, as well. 03:03 Father in heaven, we are thankful for the opportunity to 03:06 be able to come together and worship you here this day, and 03:08 we want to thank you for your Bible that you give to us. 03:12 We thank you that we have a Word in which we can count on. 03:15 We want to pray that as we study your Word today that it will 03:17 take its effect in the way that you have always designed, to be 03:20 written upon our heart, that we might walk with you, and we 03:23 might not sin against you. 03:25 And so, God, we want to pray for that special blessing. 03:28 And again, be our teacher and be with Pastor Doug, 03:30 even as he teaches today. 03:32 In Jesus' name, we pray these things, God, amen. 03:36 Doug Batchelor: Good morning, friends. 03:37 Good to see each of you here this Sabbath morning at the 03:41 Granite Bay Hilltop Church, again. 03:43 I know Pastor Shawn also welcomed already those who are a 03:46 part of the wider audience. 03:48 You know, we have also not only people who are watching on 03:52 Facebook, and YouTube, and all the various, different networks. 03:56 We're on the Good News Network, Amazing Facts. 04:01 These programs air on 3ABN, Hope Channel, and we're thankful for 04:04 all of that, but we also have a number of online members around 04:07 the country and other parts of the world. 04:09 We want to greet you, as well. 04:11 You know, sometimes I--we've got a great team of teachers and 04:14 preachers here, and sometimes, because I'm the lead 04:17 pastor--they used to call it senior pastor. 04:19 I don't know when they officially changed that. 04:21 But I prefer not being called senior at this point in my life, 04:25 anything. 04:26 So, I like--lead is okay. 04:28 But I get to choose sometimes. 04:30 And I said, "I want to teach the lesson today." 04:33 The lesson today is on Hebrews chapter 11. 04:37 We'll get to that in just a minute. 04:38 Of course, we're continuing, and this is not only dealing with 04:42 the chapter 11 in Hebrews, but, of course, this is lesson 11, 04:47 and lesson 11 has a memory verse, and the lesson title is 04:50 "Jesus: The Author and Perfecter of Our Faith." 04:53 Our memory verse--and if you want to repeat it after me, 04:55 memory verse is Hebrews 12, verse 2. 04:58 Hebrews 12, verse 2, and we're doing it here from the New King 05:01 James Version. 05:02 You ready? 05:04 "--looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our 05:08 faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the 05:12 cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand 05:16 of the throne of God." 05:19 Now, that's where--our last passage is from Hebrews 12. 05:23 We're actually going to be starting in Hebrews chapter 10 05:28 to get into Hebrews 11. 05:30 So, if you have your Bibles--my Bible conveniently today, when I 05:34 open it up, it covers all of Hebrews 11. 05:37 And so, we're going to do our best. 05:40 There are 40 verses in Hebrews 11. 05:44 We have four verses from Hebrews 10 and three verses from Hebrews 05:46 12, so we're going to do our best to cover 47 verses. 05:50 It's a very simple study today, but we're going to do our best 05:53 to expound on this. 05:55 It's not possible to delve into all of it because there are 06:00 about a dozen different Bible heroes that are mentioned in 06:03 this passage, and I could preach a sermon on any one of them. 06:06 I have, in fact. 06:08 So, we're going to do our best, with God's help, 06:10 to get through this. 06:12 So, go ahead and join me now in Hebrews chapter 10, 06:16 and beginning with verse 35, "Therefore do not cast away your 06:23 confidence, which has great reward." 06:25 Now, let's pause right here and remind ourselves, why is Paul, 06:30 the author of Hebrews, why did he write the book? 06:33 What's the purpose of Hebrews? 06:35 There were a lot of Hebrew or Jewish Christians that had 06:39 accepted Jesus, that are meeting now with persecution. 06:44 Their families are leaving them. 06:45 Do you know, it's still true today, in many Orthodox Jewish 06:50 families, that if someone in the family becomes a Christian, they 06:56 are disowned and even shunned. 07:01 Even when I started dating Karen, my Jewish grandparents 07:03 said, "Couldn't you have found a nice Jewish girl? 07:06 Do you have to meet a goyim girl?" 07:09 And when they met Karen, then they were very happy, and they 07:12 loved her. 07:13 But they're so very sensitive to--you know, when you look at 07:19 the world religions, the Jews have had an incredible impact on 07:23 the world, but comparatively they're very small. 07:28 You've got 2.2 billion Christians in the world. 07:31 And, you know, you've got--I don't know what it is. 07:36 There's 1.7 billion Catholics. 07:41 You have 1.7 billion Muslims. 07:48 There's only 16 or 17 million Jews in all the world. 07:53 And so, they want to retain their identity, and they've been 07:57 scattered around the world on three different occasions. 07:59 They've been disowned from their property 08:02 and had to come back again. 08:03 And so, they're very sensitive to maintaining their identity. 08:06 And now when these Jews have become Christians, they felt 08:09 like they had abolished their identity. 08:12 Paul was making it very clear. 08:14 "No, when you are a Jew and you become a Christian, you're a 08:18 fulfilled Jew now." 08:20 This was the whole purpose of your Judaism. 08:23 So, he's making that case, and he's telling them, 08:25 "Do not be discouraged. 08:27 Do not abandon your faith." 08:28 And he's about to give them a great list of all these heroes 08:32 from the Bible that held fast. 08:35 So, that's why he says here in chapter 10, "Do not cast away 08:39 your confidence. 08:40 Don't be discouraged. It has a great reward. 08:43 For you have need of endurance." 08:45 What does Jesus say? 08:46 "He that endures to the end will be saved." 08:49 "So that after you have done the will of God, you might receive 08:52 the promise: 'For yet a little while, And He is coming will 08:57 come.'" What's that promise? 08:59 Eternity that is, of course, fulfilled with the coming of the 09:01 Lord. 09:02 "For He who is coming will come and will not tarry." 09:07 Now, he's quoting from Habakkuk. 09:09 By the way, all through the book of Hebrews, Paul does an 09:14 enormous amount of referencing quotations of the Old Testament 09:17 which was, of course, believed by the Jews. 09:19 So, he's using the Old Testament as a foundation to say, "This is 09:24 the Messiah that it all pointed to." 09:29 "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will 09:32 not tarry. 09:34 Now the just shall live by faith." 09:37 That's one of Paul's favorite passages. 09:39 You read in Romans 1:17, "For in it the righteousness of God is 09:44 revealed from faith to faith. 09:46 As it is written, 'The just shall live by faith." 09:51 The word faith in chapter 11 appears about 25 times. 09:56 I think once or twice it uses the word belief, but this is the 09:59 faith chapter in the Bible, no question about it. 10:03 The word faith appears more than any other time, any other 10:07 passage or section of Scripture here in Hebrews, starting with 10:10 verse 10, verse 35 through chapter 12, verse 3. 10:15 That would amount up to about 27 or 28 references to faith or 10:20 belief. 10:22 So, it tells you about how crucial it is to believe. 10:25 The just shall live by his faith. 10:27 Paul there is quoting Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 3. 10:31 He also mentions this again in not only Romans 1:17, in 10:34 Galatians 3:11. 10:36 The just shall live by faith. 10:37 How many of you have heard about righteousness by faith? 10:41 Now, you don't get saved without righteousness. 10:43 The problem with sin is it's wrong-teousness. 10:47 We've all sinned. 10:49 The way we become righteous is by our works? 10:53 Or we're righteous by what? 10:55 By faith. 10:57 And it's through faith we embrace and obtain that 10:59 righteousness, and there's two different 11:01 kinds of righteousness. 11:03 You've got a righteousness that you received as a gift, where 11:06 you are justified. 11:07 You come just like you are, and God looks at you just as 11:11 if--that's where you get justification. 11:14 He looks at you--at least that's how the evangelists explain 11:17 it--just as if you had never sinned. 11:21 And then you get sanctification. 11:23 You are made righteous. 11:25 And because of your faith in his righteousness, you begin to be 11:29 transformed, and you live a new righteous life. 11:33 And so, he emphasizes the importance of righteousness by 11:36 faith here. 11:38 "But if anyone draws back--" Again, he's pleading, don't let 11:41 go, don't lose your faith. 11:42 "'If anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.' 11:46 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition--" 11:49 And how do you show you're drawing back? 11:51 Go back to perdition, your life of sin. 11:55 "We are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those 11:57 who believe to the saving of the soul." 12:01 The fruit of your belief is what? 12:03 The saving of your soul. 12:05 That's how important that is. 12:07 Hebrews 12, verse 12. 12:09 Now this is, I'm jumping ahead a chapter just to quote a verse 12:11 that goes along with this. 12:12 "Therefore strengthen the hands that hang down, 12:15 and the feeble knees." 12:17 He's saying, "Hang on. 12:18 Do not become discouraged." 12:19 Now, the way you and I move around in this world, in our 12:22 lives, is we operate and we know truth through our senses, 12:28 through our eyes, and through our ears, and our sense of 12:31 touch, and taste, and smell. 12:33 And so, that's how we perceive our environment and our 12:36 worldview. 12:38 For the Christian, the most important sense is the sense of 12:40 faith. 12:43 That's how we know where a person stands. 12:47 "The just shall live by faith." 12:49 So, moving on now here, let's begin by going to Hebrews--now 12:55 we're in Hebrews 11. 12:56 Let's jump into Hebrews 11, read the first three verses. 13:00 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence 13:04 of things not seen." 13:07 All right, he's going to talk about faith, 13:09 and he's defining faith. 13:10 What is faith? 13:11 It's the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of 13:14 things not seen. 13:16 If you have something in hand, you can't say, "Well, I've got 13:19 faith there's a floor under me right now." 13:21 Well, I don't need faith. 13:24 I feel it under me. I see it under me. 13:26 Faith is when you believe in something that maybe isn't seen, 13:31 but there's an evidence for your faith. 13:37 Reading on here. 13:39 "For by it," this is verse 2, "the elders," and he's getting 13:43 ready to give a list of the elders, "obtained a good 13:45 testimony," meaning Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. 13:49 "By faith we understand the worlds were framed by the word 13:52 of God, so the things that are seen were not made from things 13:56 that are visible." 13:58 Now, do you realize that even though 2000 years have gone by 14:02 since Paul said this, and roughly 6000 years have gone by 14:08 since Adam, that the great scientists and philosophers then 14:13 have the same problem that they have today, is how do you get 14:17 something from nothing? 14:20 Nothing in the world that we observe today shows us where 14:23 something comes from nothing, or something happens with no cause. 14:29 What was the great cause that brought the universe 14:31 into existence? 14:33 Scientists can't explain that. 14:34 The Bible says God spoke. 14:37 I can't explain it, but I believe it. 14:39 Why do I believe it? 14:40 Because I have evidence from the other things I read in the Bible 14:44 that God is faithful and what he says is true. 14:47 I'm going to believe that. 14:48 So, I think I've got more evidence than an evolutionist 14:53 who says that something came from nothing with no reason. 14:59 Sometime in the distant past, they got the same issue. 15:03 We believe it by the Word of God, right? 15:06 And then you've got the Scriptures that assure that. 15:08 Look at Psalm 33, verse 6. 15:11 "For by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the 15:14 host of them by the breath of His mouth. 15:17 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded," this is verse 9. 15:21 "He commanded, and it stood fast," by the word of God. 15:25 You know, they had a program on NOVA about the universe, and it 15:32 was talking about string theory, the latest theory and all of 15:38 matter is string theory. 15:41 And in a nutshell, string theory is the idea in theoretical 15:45 physics that reality is made up of infinitesimally small 15:49 vibrating strings that are producing anywhere from 15:54 subatomic to very loud sounds, smaller than atoms, electrons, 16:01 or quarks. 16:03 And they haven't proven it, but this is the big theory now. 16:06 And the bottom line, they're basically saying that all of the 16:10 universe came into existence through sound. 16:14 Well, the Bible says, "God said." 16:17 Wouldn't that mean the Word brought it into existence? 16:21 All right, Hebrews 11, verse 6. 16:24 We're jumping from verse 3 'cause it's going to be hard to 16:27 go--wow, you know, I don't want to do that, but look--so, you go 16:30 to verse 4. 16:32 "By faith Abel--" Now, it's getting ready to list a number 16:36 of individuals. 16:38 It's going to talk about Abel--and this is in 16:40 alphabetical order, not in the order they appear. 16:42 Abel, Abraham, Barak, Daniel, David, Gideon, Jephthah, Jesus, 16:50 Joseph, Moses, Noah, Rahab, Samson, Samuel, and then it 16:55 alludes to several others. 16:57 It alludes to Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Isaiah, Daniel, 17:02 Joshua, in the stories that it shares. 17:06 But it begins by saying, "By faith Abel offered a more 17:09 excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained--" 17:14 Now, Cain is mentioned, but he's not mentioned 17:16 as an example of faith. 17:17 "--through which he obtained witness that he was righteous--" 17:20 Notice, righteous by faith. 17:22 Faith in what? 17:23 In the lamb. 17:25 Abel offered a lamb. 17:26 Through the blood of the lamb, he believed that God would 17:28 forgive him. 17:30 "--testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still 17:33 speaks" by his example. 17:36 So, it's the blood of Abel speaks to us. 17:39 Then he goes to Enoch. 17:41 "By faith Enoch--" And then verse 5 of chapter 11. 17:44 "-- was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not 17:49 found, because God had taken him'; for before him, before he 17:53 was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God." 17:56 And then here it makes a very powerful statement. 18:00 "But without faith it is difficult to please God." 18:03 Let me read it again. 18:06 "But without faith it's harder to please God." 18:12 "But without faith, it's impossible to please Him." 18:19 If is a dirty word to God. 18:23 You remember when a thief on the cross said, "If you are the 18:28 Christ, save yourself and us"? 18:29 He was not saved. 18:31 The father came to Jesus and said, "Lord, if you can do 18:35 anything, help my son." 18:37 Jesus stopped him in his tracks and said, "If you believe, all 18:40 things are possible." 18:42 "But without faith it is impossible to please God." 18:47 You don't want to go to your grave hoping. 18:50 You want to believe that you have a saving relationship with 18:54 Jesus. 18:56 So, he says, "Without faith, it's impossible to please God; 18:59 for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He 19:03 is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." 19:07 The Bible says, "Do not let the doubleminded man think that 19:09 he'll receive anything of God." 19:11 When you ask, ask in faith, believing that you'll receive, 19:14 and you'll have the things that you pray for. 19:16 And so, faith is crucial in the Christian experience. 19:20 Now, faith is not this reckless idea that, you know, you're not 19:26 going to balance out your request and your prayers with 19:28 other promises in the Bible and criteria. 19:34 Faith is saying, "I believe the Word of God, and I'm going to 19:36 order my life in harmony with it." 19:40 If you knew that the stock market was going to crash in one 19:46 week--it might, I don't know--and all of the banks were 19:51 going to close, if you don't take your money out of the 19:55 market and out of the bank between now and next week, you 19:57 didn't really believe it. 20:00 Isn't that right? 20:03 If you believed that the tornado warning--I'm talking to those 20:09 who are listening in the Southwest there, 20:10 mid-America--the tornado warning on the television and the radio 20:15 was accurate, and you don't take shelter, you don't really 20:17 believe. 20:21 If you believe that sinners will be eternally lost, and the 20:27 righteous will be eternally saved, and we are righteous by 20:29 faith, and you do not take God up on His terms, you don't 20:33 really believe it or you don't care about eternity. 20:37 So, when the Bible says those who believe in Jesus, it means 20:40 believe in His teachings. 20:42 You know how you say believe another way? 20:44 Same thing for faith. 20:46 Be live, he who be lives in Him. 20:49 It means to be and to live in Christ. 20:52 That's what belief is. 20:54 So, what's happening now, you notice we're going through--Paul 20:58 stops every now and then he expands. 21:00 He just expanded after talking a little bit about Enoch. 21:02 "Without faith it's impossible to please God." 21:05 He's going through what we call the Hall of Faith in the Bible. 21:10 It's the--you've got all of your great heroes here. 21:15 You know, they've got a National Baseball Hall of Fame museum in 21:21 Cooperstown, New York. 21:23 It serves as a central point of the history of baseball in the 21:27 United States, and it displays baseball-related artifacts and 21:30 exhibits honoring those who have excelled in the sport. 21:34 Among fans, the Hall of Fame means it is the pantheon of 21:38 players, managers, umpires, executives, and pioneers who 21:42 have been inducted into the Hall. 21:44 They're the greats in the game. 21:47 They've also got a Football Hall of Fame. 21:51 There's a Tennis Hall of Fame. 21:53 There is an Aviation Hall of Fame in Oklahoma. 21:57 Did you know that? 21:58 Did you know who was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame 22:02 October 7, 1996? 22:03 George E. Batchelor. 22:06 Karen, you gave it away. 22:10 My dad. 22:13 Kind of neat to know that you're in the Hall of Fame. 22:16 And here now we're going through the Hall of Faith, they call it. 22:21 It is a pantheon of the great heroes of faith. 22:24 And it doesn't list them all, you'll notice as we go on. 22:27 All right, so moving on, we talked about Enoch, and then you 22:32 go down a little bit, and it says in verse 7--oh, by the way, 22:35 the last part of verse 6, I can't leave that out. 22:40 It says, "He who comes to God must believe that He is," 22:44 believe He's real, "and that He is a rewarder of those who 22:48 diligently seek Him." 22:52 Some people seek God, but they're never going to make it, 22:54 because it's a pretty lazy seeking. 22:57 The Bible says you--and this is Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 13. 23:01 "You will search for Me, and you will find Me, when you search 23:04 for Me with all of your heart." 23:07 And if you spend 15 minutes in your Bible once a week, and 90 23:13 hours a week in front of the television, you're not seeking 23:16 God with all of your heart. 23:19 Is that clear? Does that make sense? 23:22 I mean, if you're seeking God with all of your heart, it 23:23 should be a priority in your pursuit, in your study. 23:28 Those who diligently--the word diligently there in the Greek, 23:31 it represents almost a rule book. 23:32 It's like to the point of perspiration, the diligently 23:36 seeking after God. 23:39 All right, then we go to verse 7. 23:41 "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen--" 23:46 What was not seen? 23:48 The flood was not seen, rain was not even seen, but he was 23:52 divinely warned. 23:53 "He moved with godly fear, and he prepared an ark to the saving 23:58 of his house, to the saving of his 24:00 household, by which he condemned 24:01 the world and be--" By his example, he said, "The world is 24:05 going to be condemned. 24:06 It's going to be destroyed because of the wickedness." 24:08 And he "became heir of righteousness which 24:11 is according to faith." 24:13 Now, the Bible says Noah found grace. 24:15 So, was Noah saved by faith or by grace? 24:18 Both. 24:21 The grace he received was demonstrated by faith, and his 24:25 faith was demonstrated by works. 24:27 He built an ark. 24:31 "By faith Abraham," and it spends several verses talking 24:34 about Abraham because Abraham, of course, is one of the great 24:37 central axles upon which major religions of the world turn. 24:43 The Jews, Muslims, Christians, all look at Abraham as the 24:52 father of the faithful, as they say. 24:55 "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out," meaning 24:59 coming from Ur of the Chaldees, "to the place which he would 25:02 receive as an inheritance. 25:04 And he went out, not knowing where he was going." 25:07 God said, "I want you to go out from the place 25:09 you've spent all your life." 25:10 And that's tough moving. 25:11 It's really tough moving when you're like, 25:13 you know, 70 years old. 25:14 When Abraham left, he was like 70, 75. 25:18 And God says, "I want you to go to this land called Canaan." 25:23 Lord, can you send me some pictures? 25:24 Can I look on Google Earth? 25:26 Are there any Facebook sites I can go to, 25:28 to find out more about it? 25:29 I would like to get some testimonies online, 25:31 see what the reviews are." 25:34 He had none of that, and he said, "God's telling me to go. 25:38 I'm going to go." 25:40 And believe me, it was all that God promised it would be. 25:44 And he went out to the place that he would receive as an 25:47 inheritance, not knowing where he was going. 25:50 You know, being a follower of Christ means sometimes you go 25:53 and you don't know where you're going. 25:56 You're living day by day. 25:58 You say, "God is doing something in my life. 25:59 He's leading me. 26:00 I'm not exactly sure where He's leading or why." 26:05 I just finished a really good book. 26:07 It's an old classic. 26:09 How many of you read "The Cross and the Switchblade"? 26:11 I think I read it years ago, but I'd forgotten, 26:13 so I read it again. 26:14 And it's amazing how David Wilkerson--he died about 12 26:18 years ago. 26:20 He just got impressed pastoring a small country church, saw a 26:24 "Time" magazine article about the gangs and some gangs that 26:27 were going to prison, and they were just kids. 26:29 And God said, "I want you to go to New York." 26:31 And he tried to tell his church that God had told him to go to 26:34 New York and work with these young people. 26:36 And they all said, "How are you going to do that?" 26:39 And through a series of miracles, 26:41 God led him to New York. 26:43 He said he didn't even know why. 26:45 Drove into town, said, "Okay, I'm here. 26:46 I don't know what to do." 26:47 And he would pull up right in front of the building where 26:49 there was someone he was supposed to talk to. 26:51 Got arrange these incredible appointments. 26:53 He didn't know where he was going. 26:54 And the end of the story is, that after several years of 26:57 following by faith, they ended up having several centers called 27:00 Teen Challenge to try to help young people, get them off drugs 27:03 and lead them to Christ, and they did a wonderful ministry. 27:06 But half the time he said, "I don't know why I'm here. 27:09 I don't know what I'm supposed to say. 27:10 I don't know what I'm doing, but God told me to go." 27:13 Sometimes in Christianity, you go, and you don't know exactly 27:15 know why or where. 27:18 So, it goes on to say--I'll tell you one more story. 27:26 You know, it's sort of a miracle how I ended up here, and it all 27:33 can be traced back to when I lived in a cave. 27:37 I, one day, got out on the road in Palm Springs and said, 27:39 "I'm going north." 27:41 People would pick me up, and they'd say, 27:42 "Where are you goin?" I'd say, "I don't know." 27:44 This is after I became a Christian. 27:46 But I said, "I feel like I'm supposed to go north." 27:48 And it kept happening until I got picked up by someone. 27:50 And I said, "Where are you going?" 27:53 And he said, "Well, don't you know where you're going?" 27:55 I said, "I'm not sure. I'm going north." 27:56 I said, "Maybe I'll move into a redwood tree." 27:58 That's honestly what I said. I'd been living in a cave. 28:02 I heard about someone that lived in a redwood tree. 28:04 And I said, "So, where are you going?" 28:06 They said, "Well, we're going to a little town out in the middle 28:07 of nowhere called Covelo." 28:10 And I said, "Are there any redwoods?" 28:13 They said, "Not too many." 28:15 I said, "Do they have any caves?" 28:16 Said, "Yeah, probably up by the river." 28:18 I said, "I'll go to Covelo." 28:20 And I can see now that God led me there. 28:22 I ended up pastoring that church in that town. 28:24 I was converted there, met the people I needed to meet that 28:27 studied with me, and I got baptized. 28:29 And I didn't know where I was going. 28:33 I just went out on the road, put out my thumb. 28:35 "And where are you going? Oh, that sounds good. 28:37 I'll go there." 28:39 So, you know, sometimes you've just got to--people tell me, you 28:43 know, "I'm living in this bad situation. 28:44 I can't get out, and I don't know how to get out." 28:46 I say, "Yes, you can." 28:48 I mean, if you've got to walk out on the road, put out your 28:50 thumb, you can get out of it. 28:52 I mean, if you want to, all things are possible to people 28:54 who believe. 28:57 Abraham went out. 28:58 "By faith he dwelt in the land," I'm in verse 9, "of promise as 29:02 in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, 29:05 the heirs with him of the same promise." 29:08 They all get in the promised land and saying, "Your 29:10 descendants, the Messiah would come through your seed. 29:13 "For he waited for a city that had foundations, whose builder 29:16 and maker is God." 29:17 Abraham never founded a city like Cain did. 29:21 He traveled around and migrated like a shepherd 'cause he said, 29:23 "I'm looking for the city of foundations." 29:25 By the way, New Jerusalem will completely encase the territory 29:29 that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 29:31 They will inherit that city, and that land is in the city. 29:35 Then it diverts a little bit, and it talks about Sarah. 29:37 And it says, "By faith Sarah herself also received strength 29:42 to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, 29:46 because she judged Him faithful who had promised." 29:49 Now, when God first told Sarah that, she laughed. 29:52 God said, "You laughed." She said, "I didn't laugh." 29:53 He said, "Yes, you did." She laughed in her heart. 29:55 She said, "I didn't laugh out loud." 29:58 And then she finally came to believe that God would do for 30:00 her what he had promised. 30:02 It says these all died in faith. 30:07 And from that one man, Isaac, verse 12, you got, you know, a 30:10 whole nation, more than the stars of the sky. 30:12 "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, 30:16 but having seen them afar off--" 30:17 They were living for the promise. 30:19 Now how many of you believe Jesus is coming? 30:22 You have faith that Jesus is coming. 30:24 Some of you may die in that faith, having seen it afar off, 30:29 but it will still be true for you, won't it? 30:32 And so, they're all going to get their inheritance, but they died 30:34 before they saw it visualized, but they still ordered their 30:38 life according to that promise. 30:41 There are millions of people who have ordered their lives based 30:44 upon faith that this life is temporary. 30:46 This is not the important life. 30:48 This is not the one that lasts forever. 30:50 Most people in the world live as though this is it. 30:53 The Christian orders his life knowing this is not it. 30:57 And we may not receive it in this life, but it is going to 31:02 come, and we will receive it in the resurrection, right? 31:07 "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, 31:11 but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them, and 31:14 embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and 31:17 pilgrims on the earth." 31:18 They said, "This life is not it. I'm just passing through." 31:22 "For those who say such things declare plainly they seek a 31:24 homeland. 31:26 And truly if they had called to mind the country from which they 31:29 had come, they would have had an opportunity to return. 31:32 But now they desire a better country, that is a heavenly. 31:35 Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has 31:39 prepared for them a city." 31:40 And Jesus said if we are ashamed of Him in this evil and 31:43 adulterous generation, He will be ashamed of us. 31:46 But if we proclaim and profess Him in this evil and adulterous 31:50 generation, He will proclaim and profess us before the Father and 31:53 the angels in heaven. 31:54 And you see that happening in the book of Job. 31:58 The Lord says to the devil, "Have you beheld 32:00 my servant Job?" 32:01 Job was not ashamed of God, and God said, 32:03 "I'm not ashamed of him. 32:05 I'm going to declare his name before the sons of God, the 32:08 angels in heaven, and the devil himself." 32:11 And so, God is saying don't live in this world as though you're 32:14 ashamed of Jesus, because you don't want Him 32:17 to be ashamed of you. 32:19 Amen? 32:23 They desire a better country. 32:26 And it goes on to say, "By faith Abraham," 32:29 it returns to Abraham again. 32:32 "By faith Abraham," verse 17, "when he was tested, he offered 32:36 up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up 32:41 his only begotten son--" You notice there that Paul is making 32:44 a pretty clear connection between Abraham and God so 32:47 loving the world He gave His only begotten Son. 32:51 "--of whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be 32:53 called.' He concluded that God was even able to raise him from 32:57 the dead, in which he received him in a figurative sense," 33:00 Isaac being a type of Christ. 33:03 And we talked about that in the series we're doing, cover to 33:06 cover. 33:07 "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to 33:11 come. 33:13 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, he blessed each of the 33:17 sons of Joseph." 33:18 You notice it doesn't talk about all 12 there, but he blessed the 33:20 sons of Joseph. 33:23 You know, Ephraim and Manasseh said, "You are going to be 33:25 numbered among the tribes of Israel." 33:28 The other brothers might not have gone through that when 33:29 Jacob died, but Jacob's prophecy came true. 33:34 Ephraim and Manasseh were treated as the children of 33:39 Jacob, and they became independent tribes. 33:43 And then it says, making mention of, and then "By faith Joseph, 33:47 when he was dying, made mention of the departing of the children 33:50 of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones." 33:53 He said, "God will surely visit you." 33:55 He didn't say when, but He said, "He will visit you." 33:58 "Take my bones, don't bury me here. 34:00 Embalm me and take my coffin to the promised land." 34:04 You know, it never says Joseph ever went home again when he was 34:07 sold as a slave. 34:08 Said, "I want to be buried and back at home." 34:12 And by faith, he made that declaration. 34:15 Did it come true? 34:16 Did they carry his bones back and bury him? 34:18 Did God visit the children of Israel in Egypt? 34:20 And these all had faith. 34:24 Verse 23, now it talks about Moses. 34:27 "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by 34:30 his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child." 34:34 And that always makes me laugh because what if he wasn't a 34:38 beautiful child? 34:42 Anyway, they looked at him and they said, "We just can't obey 34:46 the Pharaoh's command." 34:48 "And they were not afraid of the king's command. 34:51 By faith Moses, when he became of age, he refused to be called 34:55 the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer 34:58 affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing 35:01 pleasures of sin." 35:03 When he's talking about faith, notice that he's making a 35:06 reference to faith to turn away from sin, faith not to make this 35:13 your kingdom, but we're looking for a better country. 35:17 He esteemed the reproaches of Christ. 35:19 Now wait a second. 35:20 It says Moses--what did Moses know about Christ? 35:24 You look in Deuteronomy chapter 18, Moses prophesies of Christ, 35:27 doesn't he? 35:29 He saw Christ. 35:30 He saw His day coming. 35:31 "--esteeming the reproaches of Christ were of greater riches 35:35 than the treasures of Egypt." 35:36 Now, Egypt had, during the time of Moses, Egypt was at its 35:40 zenith of wealth and splendor. 35:42 The pyramids back then were glazed. 35:44 They weren't all bumpy, rocky, rough. 35:47 They were all beautifully glazed brick surface that shone in the 35:52 sun, and everything was in its splendor. 35:53 Moses could have been the king of all that. 35:57 And he said, "I would rather have God's kingdom than 36:01 the world as my kingdom." 36:03 So, like Jesus, he turned away from the earthly kingdoms when 36:06 he was tempted, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the 36:10 people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. 36:15 He esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches. 36:18 "By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath--" Like 36:21 Abraham, by faith he went out. 36:24 "--not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured seeing Him 36:27 who is invisible. 36:29 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, yet 36:33 lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them." 36:36 They had faith in the blood that they would be saved. 36:40 "By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, 36:43 whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, 36:45 were drowned." 36:47 Why did the sea not swallow them up, but it did swallow up the 36:50 Egyptians? 36:52 They had faith in God, and they were following God. 36:54 The Egyptians were following the Israelites. 36:58 The Israelites were following God. 37:00 See the difference? 37:02 "By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down." 37:04 Now, here it would normally say Joshua, but it's just telling 37:08 you about the event. 37:09 "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were 37:13 encircled for seven days." 37:14 Now, think about that. 37:17 Now, can you imagine any military officer ever gathering 37:22 his generals and saying, "Here's the plan. 37:26 We're gonna march across that river that's over our heads." 37:28 "How are we going to do that?" 37:31 "Don't worry, God told us to do it. 37:32 He'll take care of it. 37:34 And after we march across that river, we're going to go to that 37:36 big walled city, and we're going to march around quietly 37:39 and blow a horn. 37:42 And then after seven days of doing that, on the seventh day 37:44 we'll do it seven times, and then we're all going to shout, 37:47 and then we'll win." 37:50 No general's ever tried that again, but that's what 37:54 God told them to do. 37:55 So, by faith, they obeyed what would normally be a very strange 37:59 military plan, and God blessed, and the walls did come down. 38:05 And then he mentions, "By faith the harlot Rahab--" 38:10 So, it mentions Sarah. 38:11 It mentions Rahab, a couple of women here. 38:13 "--did not perish--" You know, we are saved by faith. 38:17 He said, "If you believe in me, you will not perish." 38:21 "She did not perish with those who did not believe," meaning 38:23 the Canaanites, "when she received the spies with peace." 38:29 Now, Rahab is an interesting study in this chapter on faith 38:34 because it tells us that Rahab is not only mentioned as an 38:39 example of faith. 38:42 The Bible tells us in James--well, 38:44 let me read it to you. 38:46 James chapter 2, verse 25. 38:47 "Likewise was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when 38:52 she received the messengers and sent them out another way." 38:56 Martin Luther said he would like to use the book of James to 38:58 start his fire. 39:01 I know that shocks you to hear that. 39:02 He didn't. 39:04 He said it's really difficult for him because Martin Luther 39:06 was all about faith. 39:07 He had come out of the works orientation of Catholicism, and 39:10 then he'd read James where it says by works, by works, 39:13 by works. 39:15 And that really bothered him because here it says that 39:18 Rahab--now what does a woman represent in Bible analogy? 39:22 The church. 39:24 Rahab is saved by faith because she received the two messengers 39:28 sent by Joshua. 39:30 How do you say Joshua in Greek? 39:34 Jesus, same name. 39:37 Two messengers sent by Jesus, the two witnesses, the law and 39:40 the prophets, Moses and Elijah. 39:43 She receives these two messengers by faith. 39:46 But then she shows her faith by doing the works. 39:51 She protects them. She lets them down the wall. 39:54 She brings everybody into her house. 39:55 She hangs the red rope in her window. 39:57 She'd done something that she's told to do by these two 39:59 messengers. 40:01 Because of faith, she does the works. 40:02 That's how it happens for the Christian. 40:04 First you've got the faith, then you have works. 40:07 She demonstrated her faith when she says when the-- 40:12 you can read here. 40:14 It tells us that she declares--and this is Joshua 2, 40:17 verse 8. 40:19 "Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and 40:21 said, 'I know that the Lord has given you the land and that the 40:25 terror of you has fallen upon us. 40:27 We heard what the Lord did for you against the Egyptians.'" She 40:31 had the evidence of what God had done, and she had faith that God 40:34 was going to bring the people all the way in, and her only way 40:37 of escape was to make peace with Joshua, which she did. 40:43 So, James says faith without works is dead. 40:48 I think Will Rogers is the one who said even if you're on the 40:50 right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. 40:54 People said, "I've got faith." They don't do anything. 40:56 Well, you don't really have faith. 40:59 And then after Rahab was mentioned, as happens to me 41:03 often, as happened this very moment, Paul figures, "I'm 41:07 running out of time." 41:10 And he said, "What shall I more say?" 41:12 I don't know of any of you that used 41:14 to hear Byron Speers preach. 41:16 That was a great Adventist evangelist you can still listen 41:19 to his teach--Amazing Facts has copied all of his tapes, with 41:21 the family's permission, to CDs or audio you can listen to. 41:29 He would preach 90 minutes, use 100 Scriptures, and read all the 41:32 Scriptures, never hold a Bible, and do it all by memory. 41:35 But while he was preaching, whenever he paused, he'd say, 41:38 "And what shall I more say," quoting this passage. 41:41 "And what shall I more say?" 41:42 So, Paul was saying, "I don't have time. 41:48 " I've only gotten to Rahab. 41:51 And so, going back here, you read in verse 32, "And what 41:55 shall I more say? 41:57 For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and 42:02 Samson and Jephthah, also of David--" Many sermons on David. 42:06 He can't preach them all now. 42:08 "--and Samuel and the prophets." 42:10 And he summarizes and he says, "--who through faith subdued 42:14 kingdoms, and worked righteousness, and obtained 42:17 promises, and stopped the mouths of lions." 42:19 Who's he talking about there? 42:22 Samson, David, and Daniel, all killed lions or stopped 42:25 the mouths. 42:27 "--quenched the violence of the fire." 42:28 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 42:30 "--escaped the edge of the sword--" That could be David 42:32 and many others. 42:34 "--out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in 42:36 battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens--" That 42:39 could be many of the judges. 42:41 "Women received their dead raised to life again." 42:44 That's talking about the resurrections that were done by 42:47 Elijah and Elisha. 42:49 "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they 42:53 might obtain a better resurrection." 42:55 Many of the prophets. 42:56 "Still others had trials of mockings and scourging, yes, of 43:00 chains and imprisonment. 43:02 They were stoned," like Zechariah between the altar 43:05 and the porch. 43:07 "They were sawn in two," like Isaiah the prophet. 43:10 "They were tempted." 43:11 Even these prophets were tempted. 43:13 "They were slain with the sword. 43:14 They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being 43:17 destitute, afflicted, tormented." 43:20 You know, living a life of faith could also be a life of 43:23 persecution and trial. 43:26 "--of whom the world was not worthy. 43:28 They wandered in deserts and mountains," like Elijah, "in 43:32 dens and caves of the earth," like your pastor. 43:36 "And these having obtained--" Sorry, I couldn't miss that. 43:39 I did live in a cave, you know. 43:41 "These all, having obtained a good testimony through faith, 43:45 did not receive the promise." 43:47 Paul is saying to these Jewish readers, "You have seen the 43:51 fulfillment of all they pointed to in Jesus." 43:56 Amen? 43:58 God having provided something better for us, that they should 44:01 not be made perfect apart from us. 44:04 Our last verses. 44:05 "Therefore," chapter 12, verse 1. 44:07 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud 44:11 of witnesses--" This is the Hall of Fame. 44:12 It's just itemized. 44:14 Well that is--what's the summary of everything he's saying now? 44:17 Listen to this. 44:19 "Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily 44:24 beset us, and let us run with endurance the race that is 44:28 set--" Don't give up. 44:30 That's the appeal he's making. 44:31 Don't give up. 44:33 "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." 44:35 How do we lay aside the sin? 44:37 How do we run the race? 44:38 "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." 44:42 Look at His example. See Him on the cross. 44:45 "--who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, 44:48 despising the shame, and he has sat down at 44:51 the right hand of God." 44:53 Our best friend, our Savior is at the right hand of God. 44:55 Amen? 44:56 Wow, what a wonderful passage. 44:58 I wish they had three lessons on this one subject. 45:00 We're out of time. 45:02 So, I want to remind our friends who are watching, if you'd like 45:04 our free offer, it's called, "Determining the Will of God," 45:08 a book we'll send you. 45:10 Ask for offer number 778, and the number you would call to 45:14 receive that is 866-788-3966. 45:16 That's 866-Study-More, and I think you can even text us, or 45:25 you can download it by texting SH025, and you text that to 45:30 40544. 45:32 Outside North America, you can just go to study.aftv.org/SH025. 45:35 That's a lot of information, but that'll be on the screen. 45:43 God bless you, friends. 45:45 We'll study His Word together again next week. 45:49 announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 45:52 free resource. 45:53 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail. 45:55 You can download a digital copy straight to your computer 45:58 or mobile device. 45:59 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 46:02 the key word on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 46:07 shown on your screen, and be sure to select the digital 46:10 download option on the request page. 46:12 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 46:16 Amazing Facts, wherever and whenever you want, and most 46:19 important to share it with others. 46:21 ♪♪♪ 46:30 female: One day, my daughter and my son come to me. 46:32 It was on a Sunday. 46:33 And they told me that they were going to go by his friend's 46:36 house. 46:37 My daughter asked her brother if she could go along with him, 46:40 just to get out of the house. 46:41 And I says, "I want you to know that I want 46:43 you guys to be careful." 46:45 And I says, "I want you to know that I love you 46:47 and I always will." 46:48 And I said, "And I'll see you tonight." 46:49 It was at 12:30. 46:51 Usually 11:30, 12:00 they usually come back to the house, 46:53 but they never returned. 46:55 At nighttime, we got a knock on our door. 46:57 It was about 2 in the morning. 47:00 And it was a sheriff and a coroner there. 47:03 And they told me and my husband, he said, 47:05 "I want you two to sit down." 47:07 And he's like, "I've got some bad news for you," and he says, 47:09 "I know it's going to be hard. 47:11 He said, "Your children both got into a car accident tonight." 47:16 He said, "And both of them died right on impact." 47:20 I felt numb. 47:22 My world didn't seem the same anymore. 47:23 For a while, after a while I had a void in my life because I knew 47:27 I would never see them again. 47:30 My husband was asleep in the living room, 47:32 and he must've woke up. 47:33 He turned on the TV and watching it. 47:35 And so he comes in the bedroom, and he says, "Dorothy, 47:37 you've got to get up." 47:38 I said, "Why? What'd you wake me up for? 47:40 You know I got to sleep." 47:42 He said, "No, you've got to see this guy on TV. 47:43 He's something else." 47:45 So, I got up, and I went in there. 47:46 I sat down, and he says--I seen this guy there, and it's the 47:49 first time I ever seen him. 47:50 He said he's from "Amazing Facts." 47:52 He said, "Something about this guy, what he's talking about. 47:53 He's really hitting me in my heart." 47:55 He said, "And the more he talked, the more I sit up here 47:59 and listen." 48:00 I watched Doug Batchelor, I would cry. 48:01 I thought, "Man." 48:03 And I wasn't crying because I was sad. 48:04 I was crying because I was happy. 48:06 And I also loved his humor. 48:08 And he said, "Well, God has humor, too." 48:10 And I said, "I imagine he does." 48:12 As I got to know more about Doug Batchelor, watching his show, 48:16 the void that I had for a long, long time finally was filled. 48:21 God did answer my prayer, but he did it in his own time. 48:24 Since I gave myself, put my life with Christ, you know, I went 48:27 through a brain surgery, I went through a heart attack, and now 48:30 I have arthritis, which is most part of my body. 48:35 And even though I'm in a lot of pain, I don't have no feelings 48:39 at all against God. 48:41 I think, matter of fact, because of that, it's drawing me 48:44 closer to Him. 48:46 I thank Doug Batchelor from Amazing Facts, who is one who 48:50 played a very big part in my conversion and turning my life 48:54 more to God, even though all the suffering 48:58 I went through, you know. 49:00 He helped me to just keep strong, keep going, 49:05 and keep my eyes on God. 49:09 Thank you for changing my life. 49:12 ♪♪♪ 49:15 announcer: Amazing Facts, Changed Lives. 49:18 ♪♪♪ 49:22 Jennifer: When I was a teenager growing up, 49:24 I was getting into all sorts of trouble. 49:27 I was drinking, smoking. 49:30 I would look for love in all the wrong places. 49:33 I thought that those were ways that could make me happy, 49:36 and it didn't. 49:38 It just made everything worse. I was very confused. 49:40 I didn't know who I was. 49:42 I had no identity whatsoever and just I had such a hole in me, 49:46 such hurt that I would do anything and everything just to 49:50 try to fill that void. 49:51 I was making a lot of bad decisions, a lot of bad choices. 49:55 I got pregnant when I was 19 years old, 49:57 and I was a single mother. 49:59 And to try to prove to myself and the world that I can make it 50:04 on my own, I became an exotic dancer. 50:07 My mom, she started sending me links to Amazing Facts Ministry, 50:11 just sermons, and seminars, and Bible studies, and YouTube 50:14 videos with Doug Batchelor. 50:16 And I started watching it. 50:17 And beforehand, I would delete them. 50:19 But now here I am watching, and I couldn't get enough of it. 50:22 My heart was on fire. I wanted more and more. 50:25 So, instead of going to the club, I would go to the website, 50:28 the Amazing Facts website, and then I would go to the Bible 50:31 studies, and I would go after one, study one, which would make 50:35 me want to study another one. 50:37 So, I'd study another one and another one, and I went through 50:39 the whole set. 50:41 And that wasn't enough for me. 50:43 I wanted more, so I just, I would do it again. 50:45 I would read the whole set over again, and I was learning so 50:48 much, and I just couldn't get enough of it. 50:50 And this made me where I didn't even want to go to work. 50:53 I just had this fire in my heart. 50:55 And then it got to where I was on the interstate to go to work, 50:58 and then I pulled over, and God, He just, He told me like, He's 51:05 like, "Jennifer, we can't do this anymore." 51:08 And so, I told Him, I said, "God, I know this is you. 51:12 I know that you're speaking to me right now." 51:14 And for the first time ever, my eyes were opened, the whole 51:18 situation, and how I was living my life. 51:21 And I went home, and I got down on my knees, 51:23 and I fell before God. 51:25 I started to beg him, "God, please take me 51:28 out of this lifestyle. 51:30 And if you do, I promise you I will serve you 51:32 for the rest of my life." 51:33 And so, for the first time in my life, I was healing, and I was 51:37 learning, and I was coming to a knowledge of the truth, and that 51:40 truth was Jesus Christ Himself and that He loved me." 51:43 So, as I'm going about these studies, Amazing Facts comes to 51:47 my local church, and Pastor Wyatt Allen, he puts on this 51:51 evangelistic series, and he makes a call for baptisms, and 51:57 I'm impressed, you know, that I need to do this, and I want to 52:03 make this decision for Christ, to rededicate my life to Him. 52:08 My life has been completely changed in so many ways, just 52:12 seeing where God has taken me on this journey, where He took me 52:18 from this--to this lost, confused girl to this woman who 52:22 knows who she is, her identity in Christ. 52:25 ♪♪♪ 52:29 Jennifer: My name is Jennifer. Thank you for changing my life. 52:33 ♪♪♪ 52:44 announcer: Amazing Facts, Changed Lives 52:52 Nita: I'm Tlingit Indian from Sitka, Alaska. 52:56 My Tlingit name is-- 53:00 It was a very depressing time for the people of Alaska. 53:03 A lot of alcohol, abuse was taking place. 53:08 And unfortunately, my mother got caught up in the alcohol. 53:14 It made myself and my siblings grow up in 53:21 a pretty horrible environment. 53:26 It was really hard to understand God. 53:31 It was really hard to understand what love was. 53:35 I ended up having a child in my 12th grade and leaving home when 53:45 I was 15 years old. 53:47 But somehow, someway, we made it. 53:50 And I became a loner. 53:51 I became a hermit. 53:53 So, I went up to the biggest marijuana county, to Humboldt 53:58 County, and started my new career. 54:02 Things weren't right, though. 54:04 No matter how nice I kept thinking life was, living up on 54:08 top of the mountain, not having to worry about wearing clothing, 54:13 just waking up and watching the plants grow, searching still for 54:20 more and more. 54:23 I went to the post office, and I was standing there by myself. 54:28 I looked down, and here was this, what is called a handbill, 54:33 a post card, and the letters on it grabbed by attention, and it 54:38 said, "Revelations." 54:40 I never heard Revelation taught before. 54:43 And I thought, "Gosh, that would've been so good." 54:46 I looked at the time and the date, and I said, 54:49 "Wow, that's today." 54:54 And for six weeks I sat there in the front seat of that building 55:01 and could not believe the things that I heard. 55:05 And I found this hunger that I had in my heart for decades 55:12 being filled. 55:13 I was actually like a starving child, you know, wanting to get 55:18 in to learn more about Revelations. 55:20 And I chose to be baptized on April 3rd. 55:27 Even though I chose to serve God, I kept falling. 55:32 I was going to Bible studies four times a week, and just so 55:37 hungry to learn as much as possible. 55:41 God just overnight had me studying the Word of God through 55:47 AFCOE. 55:48 And the miracles that happened through AFCOE is so incredible. 55:53 The only preacher I was listening to was Pastor Doug 55:56 Batchelor, who I didn't even call by his name. 56:00 I called him the cave man. 56:03 And then here all of a sudden, I'm sitting in front of him in 56:07 his classroom, learning from him. 56:12 On October 11th, I sat there, though, in my room saying, 56:17 "Lord, here I am studying your Word. 56:20 But what am I doing here? 56:25 What do I need to do? 56:27 What is it you want me to do? 56:29 And that night, about 1 in the morning, God spoke to me, and he 56:33 said, "I want you to write a note to Pastor Doug 56:37 and tell him what you do." 56:39 I sat there and I says, "No, I'm not going to write a note. 56:41 I'm not going to write a note." 56:43 And I said, "Okay." 56:44 So, I ripped off a piece of paper, and I wrote on the note, 56:48 and I said, "I'm an experienced fashion designer. 56:50 I can sew anything. I can make any patterns. 56:54 If there's any way that I can be of any service to you, God told 56:59 me to be bold and tell you." 57:01 And I walked up, and I handed him the note, and he didn't know 57:04 what it was, but he said, "Thank you." 57:05 And four hours later, I got a phone call from Amazing Facts. 57:10 Pastor Doug told me that I was an answer to their prayers. 57:14 They had been looking for a wardrobe stylist for their new 57:18 film that they're producing. 57:20 male: Action! Two, three! 57:23 Nita: Amazing Facts has changed my life in the direction 57:28 that God wants me to go. 57:31 And now out of all the knowledge that was taught to me, I'm able 57:36 to go out into this world and share the gospel and finish the 57:42 work for Jesus Christ. 57:43 Doug: Friends, it's because of God's blessing and your 57:48 support that thousands of others like Nita have found Jesus 57:52 and everlasting life. 57:54 ♪♪♪ 58:03 ♪♪♪ 58:13 ♪♪♪ 58:23 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2022-03-05