(upbeat theme music)
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>>Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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We're delighted to
have you back again
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for week number
five of our journey.
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We are looking at the
subject of "Death, Dying,
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and the Future Hope."
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And with us again
today, we have the author
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of the Sabbath school study,
and that is Dr. Alberto Timm.
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He is an associate director
of the Ellen G. White Estate.
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Alberto,
welcome back once again.
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>>Well, it's my
pleasure to join you.
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>>So we're already on a
journey; we're making our way
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through this quarter looking
at a very significant subject.
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And the last study that
we did, last week's lesson
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dealt with the
hope that there is,
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or was, in the Old Testament
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really being found in
the body's resurrection.
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Why did they place
their hope in that?
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And is that still where we
should be placing our hope?
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>>Definitely. That's a...
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ongoing process.
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Let me just illustrate it.
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The second time that
I went to Machu Picchu--
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and this was with my wife, now--
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we went up there after the
bus took us to the right place
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and then we had to
walk up to the hill.
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And it was a very foggy day.
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And then I asked the tour guy
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about the weather,
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and I told him, "I think
it's worthless to be here."
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And he said,
"No, definitely not.
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Soon you will see it clear"--
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I mean, the
weather would clear up--
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"and you will see the
majesty of the place."
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So, probably he was
trying to convince us
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that that was what happened.
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And sure enough, we were there,
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and soon it opened like a
theater, the curtain opened,
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and the gorgeous
majestic scene was there.
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And I think the
same thing you have
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with the hope of
the resurrection.
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You start early here, one
statement in the Old Testament,
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another
quotation there, and so on.
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But finally you
have not only theory,
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you have actual examples
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of resurrections in
both the Old Testament
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and several in
the New Testament.
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>>So, this concept
of the resurrection,
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a very significant
one, a very powerful one,
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and as we're looking
here, this particular week
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is called "Resurrections
Before the Cross."
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Why is it that
people have a hard time
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accepting this teaching,
accepting this truth of the
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Bible? What is it
that's--what's the blockage?
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What's the hurdle
that causes many people
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to stumble with this?
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>>Basically, that is a
matter of presuppositions,
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the way how I read the Bible.
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If I bring into the
Bible my own presuppositions--
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they can be from philosophy
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or can be from some
other kind of cultural element
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or even tradition--I
will have difficulties
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to understand the Bible.
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Or in other
words, I read the Bible
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through my own
glasses of presuppositions.
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And I would like to
mention just a few of them.
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For instance,
for a skeptical mind
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that does not accept a
supernatural element of
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Scripture, there is no
way to accept such a matter of
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resurrection. For those who
believe in natural immortality
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of the soul, why should the
soul that is already in paradise
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rejoicing with
the angels and God
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to be reincarnated here
to raise from the grave,
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if they are already in paradise?
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And another one
definitely is also the matter
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of near-death experiences.
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In this case, if they "prove"
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that when somebody dies,
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does not die but go to a higher
level, higher stage of life,
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then a resurrection of
coming back to this world
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and be raised again
does not make any sense.
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So, these are
just a few examples.
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You could add
any, some other ones,
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but are always presuppositions
read into the Bible
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without allowing the
Bible to speak for itself.
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>>And that same
approach can cause us problems
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not just in this subject
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but in really any
subject that the Bible covers.
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If we come into it
with our own presuppositions
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rather than letting
Scripture speak to us--
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or maybe I should
say God to speak to us
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through the Scripture--then
we can often end up
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with the wrong--at
the wrong destination,
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I guess that's
one way to put it.
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So, in the Old Testament
there are some people who died
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and rose again.
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There are also some people
who sort of skipped a step.
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They went straight from
living in this sin-cursed world
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to being--the word that we
sometimes use is "translated"--
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they went
straight to eternal life.
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Share a little bit
about those situations.
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>>Well, let's start
from the last one example
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that you mentioned is
those who were translated
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without facing death.
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We have evidence that
Enoch walked so close to God,
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that He decided to take him,
and he was taken into heaven.
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And some people
might doubt about this.
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Was that the case
because he was taken over there?
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Of course you have
Hebrews 11:5 that says
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that "Enoch was taken away
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so that he did not see death."
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So the New Testament
even confirms the fact
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that Enoch really did not die,
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but he was taken directly
to heaven. And another example
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is also you have
the case of Elijah.
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And Elijah also,
you remember the...
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the incident with the
chariot there of fire,
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that he was taken into heaven.
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And we have
evidence also of he appearing
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in the
transfiguration of Christ.
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You remember in the mountain
together with Moses there,
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so we have evidence
that those two individuals
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did not face death,
but they are exceptions.
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We would not
consider anybody else,
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at least from the
biblical perspective,
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that have this
kind of experience.
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>>So those are just a
couple from Old Testament times
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who were
translated, who never saw death.
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But there are some who
lived in Old Testament times
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who did die, did
experience death,
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and then were resurrected.
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Share a few of
those stories with us.
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>>Well, the first
example is definitely Moses.
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Moses...
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It gives the
impression that he would go
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into the promised land,
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but he had a pitfall,
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and in a place where he
should just speak to the rock,
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he really spanked the rock
or whatever you want to say.
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And that was not God's plan.
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And so he paid the price for it.
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But God had a
better plan for Moses.
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And the Bible pass--
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especially the end of
the book of Deuteronomy,
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says that he was really--
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he died, and God
Himself buried him.
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And later on,
according to the book of Jude
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the small book in the New
Testament, there was a dispute
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when God decided to raise
him up and take to heaven.
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And we have evidences that
that was actually the case,
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that he was taken to heaven
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when he also appeared in
the mountain of transfiguration
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with Elijah there
and spoke with Jesus.
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And you remember
the reaction of Peter,
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even was, "Why don't we
build, make a few tents here
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for them to remain with us?"
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But that was actually
something very special.
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I would like just to call
your attention to something
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a little bit out of
the conventional one.
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Those who believe in the
natural immortality of the soul
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have difficulties
explaining how the body
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is being buried over there
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and the spirit goes
to God. So in this line,
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two Greek church fathers,
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and one is Origen,
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and the other one
Clement of Alexandria,
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and those were from
the school of Alexandria.
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They're mystical.
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They said there were
actually two Moses there,
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one, the body was buried, dead,
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and the other one
ascended to heaven.
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But this is not
what the Bible says.
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You see how
presuppositions really count?
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Actually, what
really the Bible says
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is that he was buried
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and then later on raised.
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And he was the
type of other people
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that would have
the same experience.
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And this is
definitely also the hope
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of Christians in general.
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>>So there is
most definitely hope
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from some of the
stories in the Old Testament.
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On Monday, you talked
about two Old Testament cases
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of people who were resurrected.
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Pull those apart a little bit.
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What are some of the
similarities between these cases
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and some of the
differences between them?
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>>It's interesting that Elijah,
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one of those who
did not face death
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when he was really on this earth
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during his prophetic ministry,
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he visited a widow,
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and definitely in this case,
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the son of the the widow died.
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And he performed,
through God's power--
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definitely he
did not have power--
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he raised from
the dead that boy.
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But then later on you
have another incident.
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And that happened with Elijah.
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You remember that he asked
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for a double
portion of the Spirit,
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and he had a
similar experience also.
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And in that case,
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in that case also a
resurrection took place.
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In two cases,
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there were mothers grieving.
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One was even not from Israel,
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was a foreigner. So
God does not discriminate.
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And the other one was,
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but in both cases, God
really used the prophet
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as an instrument to
raise them from the dead.
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And of course, the
question that you might ask:
00:11:54.34\00:11:57.45
Why these two if there
were so many other ones
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that could be raised as well?
00:12:01.28\00:12:03.22
>>And it's entirely possible
00:12:04.35\00:12:05.82
that there were
others who were raised.
00:12:05.82\00:12:07.69
Maybe we don't
have reference to them
00:12:07.69\00:12:10.43
in the pages of Scripture.
00:12:10.43\00:12:14.30
We have certain
examples that we do see;
00:12:14.30\00:12:16.46
others that we don't.
00:12:16.46\00:12:18.10
And we are gonna be
coming back and taking a look
00:12:18.10\00:12:20.04
at several other
examples of this and some things
00:12:20.04\00:12:23.20
in the New Testament as well.
00:12:23.20\00:12:25.77
So why is this so important?
00:12:25.77\00:12:27.98
Well, as you've been
learning week by week,
00:12:27.98\00:12:30.55
there are some
significant misconceptions
00:12:30.55\00:12:32.88
about this subject,
the subject of death,
00:12:32.88\00:12:35.28
the subject of a resurrection,
00:12:35.28\00:12:38.22
when it takes place,
where people go when they die,
00:12:38.22\00:12:41.99
a lot of misconceptions.
00:12:41.99\00:12:43.66
And those misconceptions
can lead us to make decisions
00:12:43.66\00:12:48.00
in our life that
aren't always the best.
00:12:48.00\00:12:51.77
So we're spending some
time this quarter looking at
00:12:51.77\00:12:54.57
the subject of "Death,
Dying, and the Future Hope."
00:12:54.57\00:12:57.74
And if you would like to
get even more out of the lesson,
00:12:57.74\00:13:00.44
you already have the Sabbath
School Bible Study Guide,
00:13:00.44\00:13:03.48
you're listening to the
author, Dr. Alberto Timm,
00:13:03.48\00:13:06.28
share some thoughts,
additional thoughts on this
00:13:06.28\00:13:09.52
during our
"Sabbath School" program,
00:13:09.52\00:13:11.69
but I wanna
encourage you to pick up
00:13:11.69\00:13:13.59
the companion
book to the lesson,
00:13:13.59\00:13:16.39
and that is "On Death,
Dying, and the Future Hope."
00:13:16.39\00:13:19.33
Of course, the
author is Dr. Alberto Timm,
00:13:19.33\00:13:22.00
our guest on our
"Sabbath School" program.
00:13:22.00\00:13:24.93
You can pick this book
up at itiswritten.shop,
00:13:24.93\00:13:29.00
itiswritten.shop.
00:13:29.00\00:13:30.57
It is the companion book
to the Sabbath school guide,
00:13:30.57\00:13:33.61
called, again, "On Death,
Dying, and the Future Hope."
00:13:33.61\00:13:37.55
Pick up a copy, and you will get
00:13:37.55\00:13:38.85
even more out of this subject,
00:13:38.85\00:13:40.65
and you'll be able to share
it more effectively with others
00:13:40.65\00:13:44.15
who you may know,
00:13:44.15\00:13:45.65
who are a little bit
misguided on this subject,
00:13:45.65\00:13:49.09
so that they can have
hope and encouragement as well.
00:13:49.09\00:13:51.76
We're going to be back
in just a couple of minutes
00:13:51.76\00:13:54.10
as we continue our study
00:13:54.10\00:13:55.80
on looking at resurrections
in the Old Testament.
00:13:55.80\00:13:58.30
We'll be right back.
00:13:58.30\00:13:59.40
(theme music swells and ends)
00:13:59.40\00:14:01.97
>>[John Bradshaw] You
know that at It Is Written
00:14:03.44\00:14:04.74
we are serious about
studying the Word of God,
00:14:04.74\00:14:07.24
and we encourage you
to be serious as well.
00:14:07.24\00:14:10.01
Well, here's what you do
00:14:10.01\00:14:11.05
if you want to dig
deeper into God's Word:
00:14:11.05\00:14:13.11
Go to itiswritten.study
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for the It Is Written
Bible Study Guides online,
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studies that will take you
00:14:18.22\00:14:20.86
through the major
teachings of the Bible.
00:14:20.86\00:14:23.22
You'll be blessed,
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and it's something you'll want
to tell others about as well:
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itiswritten.study.
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Go further: itiswritten.study.
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(upbeat theme music)
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>>[Eric] Welcome
back to "Sabbath School,"
00:15:08.60\00:15:10.14
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:15:10.14\00:15:12.17
We're continuing our
study of lesson number five
00:15:12.17\00:15:15.64
in the quarterly
looking at "Death, Dying,
00:15:15.64\00:15:18.35
and the Future Hope."
00:15:18.35\00:15:19.81
Resurrections in
the Old Testament--
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Alberto, we've looked at
a couple of them already,
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and we've talked about
some people who were translated,
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but on Tuesday's lesson
and on Wednesday's lesson,
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we look at the son
of the widow of Nain,
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and we look at Jairus' daughter.
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So what is the significance
of these individuals,
00:15:37.80\00:15:41.30
the way they were resurrected,
00:15:41.30\00:15:42.64
why their resurrection
is important to us today?
00:15:42.64\00:15:45.37
>>Well, the first case
that you mentioned, Eric,
00:15:46.71\00:15:49.11
the one, the widow of Nain,
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that was something
completely surprising
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because Jesus
arrived at that place,
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there was a funeral service
00:15:58.25\00:16:01.96
at that time going on,
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and people were
definitely very down
00:16:04.36\00:16:08.30
because of that
situation. The son had died.
00:16:08.30\00:16:11.97
And Jesus just approached
the place where the corpse was
00:16:11.97\00:16:16.71
and really raised
him from the dead.
00:16:16.71\00:16:20.94
In other words, he
came to life again.
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And people were amazed.
00:16:24.71\00:16:27.48
How does it come that
somebody approached here
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and raised from the dead
somebody that not even asked?
00:16:31.12\00:16:35.09
And the second case
is the death of Jairus.
00:16:35.09\00:16:39.03
And Jairus--really,
his young daughter,
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12 years of age, was sick,
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and then he went to Jesus,
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and he believed that
Jesus could heal her.
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Definitely He has
done in many other cases,
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has helped other
people. And there are evidences,
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I believe, that
happened in Capernaum.
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Only--if you go over
there, Capernaum only
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will be the city where
Jesus really had, so to say,
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the "headquarters" of
his ministry in Galilee.
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And then he asked.
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But then came the
news that she already died.
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And when Jesus
came to the house,
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they said, "Well,
there is nothing to be done
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because she already died."
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And in this case,
the people over there
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were even wondering
what would take place.
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And Jesus used the
expression, very meaningful,
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when He said, "Well,
she's just sleeping."
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And then they
said, "No, she is dead."
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And then He raised her up;
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she came to life again.
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But then people went
to the other direction.
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Well, Jesus just wakened
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this little girl
up from the dead.
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But those were people
really that were doubting
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a little bit, but they
saw the miracle taking place.
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>>So two very
interesting experiences
00:18:21.06\00:18:24.17
that Jesus had in
raising people, but really,
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none compares with
the story of Lazarus.
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And in John, chapter 11,
we get a very clear picture
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of what happened
in this resurrection.
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And this is one that,
it has been considered
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one of the most powerful
miracles, influential miracles,
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significant
miracles that Jesus did.
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And it's also one
that got Him more hated
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than any of His other miracles.
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It didn't make Him very popular,
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at least with a
certain class of people.
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John 11 talks about the
resurrection of Lazarus of
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Bethany. So who was Lazarus?
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What relationship did he and
his siblings have with Jesus?
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And what came out of this?
What made it so significant?
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>>Actually Jesus
was a very close friend
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with the two ladies
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and also with Lazarus,
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who was a brother.
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So it seems that
Jesus, during His ministry,
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He faced several turmoils
and problems here and there,
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but that was a place where
He could feel at home with them.
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But then came the news
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that Lazarus was
sick and finally died.
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And of course,
they went to Jesus
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knowing that He had
all the power to heal
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sick people and
also to raise the dead.
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And then Jesus came.
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But it's interesting that
Jesus did not go immediately.
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He delayed His
journey over there,
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and people were
even wondering why;
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He could have gone immediately.
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I think that we have
enough evidences to believe
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that in the case
of the resurrection
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of the daughter of
Jairus, people were claiming,
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"Well, she was
not actually dead.
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"He just Himself said
that He just wake her up
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from her sleep."
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But now there was no way to deny
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that Lazarus was dead
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because he was even
smelling bad, at that,
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over there. So there
was--he was even buried.
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There was no other
evidence. And then Jesus comes.
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And there is an
interesting dialogue with,
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especially with Martha, and
I like very much a statement
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that you find here
in John, chapter 11.
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And this is verse 25.
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Jesus says, "I am the
resurrection and the life.
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"He who believes in
me, through he may die,
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he shall live."
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So Jesus speaks about His power.
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And then it goes on,
and He even goes to a point
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where He says to
Marta, "If you believe,
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you will see the glory of God."
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So the glory of God
can only be seen by faith.
00:21:46.67\00:21:51.64
I like very much--
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there is a theologian
that says that "doxa theou,"
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or the "glory of
God," can only be seen
00:21:58.35\00:22:01.88
by "pistis," or "faith,"
using the Greek terms to it.
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But then Jesus
comes to life, and what is
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impressive, what is really
amazing in this story is--
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and I would say
not only this story,
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but all the ones that
actually experience death
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in the Old Testament, during
Christ's earthly ministry,
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none of them presented any kind
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of nice near-death report
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saying, "Well, I saw
angelic being welcoming me
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to paradise," or a
tunnel of light and so on.
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Nothing, there was nothing.
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It was just something normal,
00:22:47.93\00:22:50.63
from the non-existence
back to existence again.
00:22:50.63\00:22:55.60
>>So looking at this story
00:22:57.01\00:22:58.54
and kind of trying to
fit together the common idea
00:22:58.54\00:23:03.45
of what happens when you
die, in the Christian world,
00:23:04.78\00:23:06.21
that when you die,
some part of you, your soul
00:23:06.21\00:23:08.52
or your spirit
continues to live on
00:23:08.52\00:23:10.49
and goes immediately to heaven,
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it's interesting when
you look at this dialogue
00:23:12.82\00:23:14.92
between Jesus and Martha
00:23:14.92\00:23:18.19
in verse number
21, John 11, verse 21,
00:23:18.19\00:23:22.63
it says, "Now
Martha said to Jesus,
00:23:22.63\00:23:24.63
"'Lord, if You had been here,
00:23:24.63\00:23:26.40
my brother
would not have died.'"
00:23:26.40\00:23:29.27
And then she says,
"'But even now I know
00:23:30.34\00:23:32.77
"that whatever You ask
of God, God will give You.'
00:23:32.77\00:23:35.28
Jesus said to her, 'Your
brother will rise again.'"
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And then Martha makes
an interesting statement.
00:23:39.51\00:23:41.25
She says, "I know
that he will rise again
00:23:41.25\00:23:45.69
in the
resurrection at the last day."
00:23:45.69\00:23:48.32
She doesn't say,
00:23:48.32\00:23:49.66
I know that my brother
is up in heaven right now
00:23:49.66\00:23:51.79
walking the streets of
gold singing with the angels.
00:23:51.79\00:23:54.60
There's--she
didn't get that idea.
00:23:54.60\00:23:57.30
And of course, she
wouldn't have gotten that idea
00:23:57.30\00:24:00.17
because she knew what
happened when a person dies
00:24:00.17\00:24:02.94
'cause she got her
theology directly from Jesus.
00:24:02.94\00:24:06.14
And I think there's maybe
a lesson for us there too.
00:24:06.14\00:24:08.84
If we get our
theology from Jesus
00:24:08.84\00:24:10.78
rather than
maybe popular teachers
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or maybe rather than from a
church or what a church teaches,
00:24:13.11\00:24:17.32
let's get our
beliefs from Jesus.
00:24:17.32\00:24:20.19
I think we'll be
a little better off.
00:24:20.19\00:24:21.56
What do you think, Alberto?
00:24:21.56\00:24:22.96
>>Well, that is precisely the
case, and I am really thankful
00:24:22.96\00:24:26.86
that you brought this
matter up, because even more,
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Jesus would have the
chance of correcting Martha
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if she was mistaken in
this matter here, but not.
00:24:35.44\00:24:39.74
And plus, it would be unfair
probably to bring Lazarus back
00:24:39.74\00:24:44.41
from paradise, rejoicing over
there, to have to suffer here.
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And if you continue
reading the Gospel of John,
00:24:49.32\00:24:52.49
you will see that they
did not only hate Jesus
00:24:52.49\00:24:56.83
but even were planning to
kill Lazarus, because that was
00:24:56.83\00:25:00.86
the argument
against the Pharisees
00:25:00.86\00:25:05.23
that really
denied the power of Jesus
00:25:05.23\00:25:10.31
and His divinity
00:25:10.84\00:25:13.61
or being really the Messiah.
00:25:13.61\00:25:17.08
>>So Jesus says, "I am
the resurrection and the life.
00:25:18.48\00:25:21.52
He who believes in me, though
he may die, he shall live."
00:25:21.52\00:25:26.59
We've looked at some
significant resurrections today
00:25:27.79\00:25:29.96
in this week's lesson.
00:25:29.96\00:25:32.29
What are some
lessons that we can learn
00:25:32.29\00:25:34.60
from these resurrections?
What can we take away from this
00:25:34.60\00:25:37.73
that will give us
hope and encouragement?
00:25:37.73\00:25:39.83
>>Before we go to the lessons,
00:25:39.83\00:25:42.40
let me just highlight one more
point that I like very much.
00:25:42.40\00:25:46.44
One of the Greek church
fathers, John Chrysostom,
00:25:47.81\00:25:52.45
he even stated
that Jesus had to speak
00:25:53.55\00:25:57.22
or to name Lazarus,
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mention his name,
because if He would just say,
00:26:01.39\00:26:05.39
"You should come from
the grave, to raise up,"
00:26:06.49\00:26:10.20
all those who died in
Christ would have, or other--
00:26:10.20\00:26:14.60
the children of God
would raise from the dead.
00:26:14.60\00:26:17.64
So He mentioned
specifically his name
00:26:17.64\00:26:21.38
so that only he would be
raised; such a power has Christ.
00:26:21.38\00:26:26.15
And this is something that
we know; that time will come
00:26:26.15\00:26:28.98
when really Jesus will
raise from the grave all those
00:26:28.98\00:26:33.52
who died in Him. But I
think that there are some points
00:26:33.52\00:26:38.19
that we should
consider first of all.
00:26:38.19\00:26:40.96
And one of those is very clear,
00:26:40.96\00:26:43.80
that resurrection is the
only hope of everlasting life
00:26:43.80\00:26:48.77
for those who
died. And secondly,
00:26:48.77\00:26:52.61
also Lazarus and the
other ones are types,
00:26:52.61\00:26:57.61
or in other words,
are the "first fruits,"
00:26:57.61\00:27:01.82
if you want to use
the biblical language,
00:27:01.82\00:27:04.15
of the great multitude
of those who will be raised
00:27:04.15\00:27:08.59
from the dead when Jesus comes.
00:27:08.59\00:27:12.03
And if you have
some beloved ones
00:27:12.03\00:27:14.46
that are no
longer with you, as I do,
00:27:14.46\00:27:17.83
my parents, my siblings.
And so, what a glorious moment
00:27:17.83\00:27:22.14
and what a glorious hope we
have for their resurrection.
00:27:22.14\00:27:25.77
And I hope that we
will be ready to rejoin
00:27:25.77\00:27:30.85
all those who be
with Christ in heaven.
00:27:31.91\00:27:34.32
>>Thank you, Alberto,
for painting such a beautiful
00:27:35.82\00:27:38.99
picture of what the future
looks like for those who are in
00:27:38.99\00:27:43.66
Christ. Thank you for
joining us again this week.
00:27:43.66\00:27:45.59
We are going to continue
our study of "Death, Dying,
00:27:45.59\00:27:48.80
and the Future Hope" when
we come back again next week
00:27:48.80\00:27:53.03
on "Sabbath School,"
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:27:53.03\00:27:55.94
God bless you.
We'll see you then.
00:27:55.94\00:27:57.87
(upbeat theme music)
00:27:57.87\00:28:01.34
(music ends)
00:28:26.87\00:28:28.97