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Series Code: SSH
Program Code: SSH021540A
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00:00 (MUSIC)
00:33 >>GOOD MORNING, FRIENDS. WELCOME, AGAIN, TO SABBATH 00:36 SCHOOL STUDY HOUR. A VERY SPECIAL WELCOME TO OUR 00:38 FRIENDS JOINING US ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD - 00:41 OUR EXTENDED SABBATH SCHOOL CLASS, TODAY. 00:43 ALSO A WARM WELCOME TO THE MEMBERS HERE OF THE GRANITE BAY 00:46 CHURCH AND THOSE WHO ARE VISITING ACROSS THE COUNTRY. 00:49 AND I UNDERSTAND WE EVEN HAVE SOME INTERNATIONAL VISITORS HERE 00:51 THIS MORNING SO A VERY WARM WELCOME TO ALL OF YOU. 00:55 WE'RE GOING TO BE STUDYING OUR LESSON QUARTERLY - IT'S A 00:58 BRAND-NEW ONE DEALING WITH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. SO FOR THOSE 01:01 OF YOU HERE IN THE AUDIENCE, YOU CAN OPEN UP YOUR LESSON 01:04 QUARTERLY TO LESSON #1 ENTITLED THE PROPHETIC CALL OF JEREMIAH . 01:08 FOR OUR FRIENDS JOINING US ONLINE, YOU CAN DOWNLOAD TODAY'S 01:12 LESSON AT THE AMAZING FACTS WEBSITE, JUST AMAZINGFACTS.ORG . 01:16 WE HAVE A FREE OFFER THAT GOES ALONG WITH OUR STUDY THIS 01:20 MORNING ENTITLED THE TWO WITNESSES - AND FOR ANYBODY WHO 01:24 GIVES US A CALL IN NORTH AMERICA, WE'LL BE ABLE TO SEND 01:26 THIS BOOK TO YOU FOR FREE. THE NUMBER IS 866-788-3966. 01:32 AGAIN, THAT NUMBER IS 866-788-3966. 01:37 ASK FOR THE BOOK CALLED THE TWO WITNESSES . AND FOR OUR 01:40 INTERNATIONAL VIEWERS, YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE OFFER 01:44 AT THE AMAZING FACTS WEBSITE. IT'S A PDF FORMAT. 01:47 THE BOOK, AGAIN, IS CALLED THE TWO WITNESSES . 01:50 WELL, AT THIS TIME, I'M GOING TO INVITE OUR SONG LEADERS TO COME 01:53 OUT AND THEY WILL LEAD US AS WE LIFT OUR VOICES IN PRAISE BEFORE 01:57 WE GET TO OUR STUDY. >>THANK YOU, PASTOR ROSS, AND 02:04 HELLO TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE JOINING US AROUND THE WORLD. 02:07 WE'RE KIND OF KEEPING IN THEME WITH OUR NEW QUARTERLY AND WE'RE 02:11 GOING TO SING #568 - MAKE ME A CAPTIVE, LORD - THIS IS A 02:16 BEAUTIFUL SONG; NOT ONE THAT WE TYPICALLY SING ALL THE TIME. 02:20 WE'RE GOING TO DO ALL THREE STANZAS. #568 - JOIN WITH US. 02:24 (MUSIC) 02:37 >>MAKE ME A CAPTIVE, LORD, AND THEN I SHALL BE FREE; 02:46 FORCE ME TO RENDER UP MY SWORD, AND I SHALL CONQUEROR BE. 02:57 I SINK IN LIFE'S ALARMS WHEN BY MYSELF I STAND; IMPRISON ME 03:09 WITHIN THINE ARMS, AND STRONG SHALL BE MY HAND. 03:18 MY HEART IS WEAK AND POOR TIL IT A MASTER FIND; IT HAS NO SPRING 03:30 OF ACTION SURE; IT VARIES WITH THE WIND. 03:39 IT CANNOT FREELY MOVE TIL THOU HAS WROUGHT ITS CHAIN; ENSLAVE 03:49 IT WITH THY MATCHLESS LOVE, AND DEATHLESS IT SHALL REIGN. 04:02 MY WILL IS NOT MY OWN TIL THOU HAST MADE IT THINE; IF IT WOULD 04:13 REACH A MONARCH'S THRONE IT MUST ITS CROWN RESIGN; IT ONLY STANDS 04:27 UNBENT, AMID THE CLASHING STRIFE, WHEN ON THY BOSOM IT HAS 04:40 LEANT AND FOUND IN THEE ITS LIFE. 04:51 >>WE HAVE A SPECIAL SURPRISE FOR YOU AND ECHOES OF MERCY ARE 04:55 JOINING US TODAY. ECHOES , I KNOW IS NOT UNFAMILIAR 04:58 TO MANY OF YOU. THEY ARE OUR WONDERFUL FRIENDS 05:02 FROM A PLACE VERY NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART, SACRAMENTO CENTRAL 05:07 SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH. AND THEY HAVE BEEN BLESSING MANY 05:11 PEOPLE WITH THEIR BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL MUSIC. 05:13 AND SO, TODAY, THEY'RE GOING TO BE SINGING FOR US A BEAUTIFUL 05:16 SONG THAT WE ALREADY HEARD THEM REHEARSE, CALLED HOLY . 05:20 SO WELCOME ECHOES OF MERCY . (MUSIC) 05:24 >>HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY 06:14 LORD HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD 07:10 HOLY LORD OF POWER, HOLY LORD OF MIGHT HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE 07:24 FULL OF YOUR GLORY. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, 08:03 HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD, HOLY LORD. 09:06 >>AMEN, THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL. WELL, AT THIS TIME I'M GOING TO 09:12 INVITE YOU TO BOW YOUR HEADS AS WE ASK GOD'S SPECIAL BLESSING 09:15 UPON OUR STUDY TOGETHER. DEAR FATHER IN HEAVEN, ONCE 09:18 AGAIN WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO GATHER TOGETHER 09:20 ON THIS, YOUR SABBATH, TO STUDY YOUR WORD. 09:23 AND AS WE BEGIN OUR NEW STUDY IN THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH, WE ASK IN 09:26 A SPECIAL WAY FOR YOUR HOLY SPIRIT TO COME AND GUIDE OUR 09:28 HEARTS, OUR MINDS, AND LEAD US, LORD, INTO A DEEPER AND FULLER 09:33 UNDERSTANDING OF THIS VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE CONTAINED IN 09:36 THIS BOOK. FOR WE ASK THIS IN JESUS' NAME, AMEN. 09:40 AT THIS TIME, I'D LIKE TO INVITE PASTOR DOUG BATCHELOR, WHO WILL 09:43 BE LEADING US IN OUR STUDY TODAY. THANK YOU, PASTOR DOUG. 09:45 >>AND THANK YOU, PASTOR ROSS. AND THANK YOU FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL 09:51 MUSIC. WE APPRECIATE THAT. 09:54 MORNING EVERYONE. >>MORNING. 09:57 >>WE'RE GOING TO START THE STUDY OF A NEW QUARTER'S LESSON AND I 10:01 WANT TO WELCOME THOSE WHO ARE PART OF THE CLASS THAT ARE 10:04 WATCHING FROM HITHER AND YON AROUND THE PLANET. 10:06 IF YOU'RE VISITING, WE ARE STUDYING THE FIRST LESSON IN THE 10:09 NEW QUARTERLY DEALING WITH THE SUBJECT OF JEREMIAH. 10:13 AND I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS LESSON. 10:16 YOU KNOW, PERIODICALLY, SOMEONE WILL COME UP TO ME AND THEY'LL 10:20 ASK IF I WILL SIGN OR AUTOGRAPH A BOOK. 10:24 AND THEY SAY, CAN YOU PUT IN YOUR FAVORITE TEXT? 10:28 AND MY FAVORITE TEXT COMES FROM THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 10:32 IT'S, IN PARTICULAR, JEREMIAH 29:13, WHICH IS "YOU WILL SEEK 10:37 ME AND FIND ME, WHEN YOU SEARCH FOR ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART." 10:41 AND SOMETIMES I'LL ACTUALLY INCLUDE VERSES 11 THROUGH 13. 10:44 THERE ARE MANY BEAUTIFUL PROMISES IN THE BOOK OF 10:47 JEREMIAH. ANOTHER GREAT ONE YOU CAN FIND 10:49 IN JEREMIAH 9:23 AND IT SAYS, "THUS SAYS THE LORD: 'LET NOT 10:54 THE WISE MAN GLORY IN HIS WISDOM, LET NOT THE MIGHTY MAN 10:57 GLORY IN HIS MIGHT, NOR LET THE RICH MAN GLORY IN HIS RICHES; 11:02 BUT LET HIM WHO GLORIES GLORY IN THIS, THAT HE UNDERSTANDS AND 11:05 KNOWS ME, THAT I AM THE LORD, EXERCISING LOVINGKINDESS, 11:10 JUDGMENT, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE EARTH. 11:12 FOR IN THESE I DELIGHT,' SAYS THE LORD." 11:15 THAT WAS REALLY THE MESSAGE OF JESUS: 'THIS IS ETERNAL LIFE, 11:18 THAT YOU MIGHT KNOW ME.' NOW I SAY THAT BECAUSE, WHEN SOME 11:22 PEOPLE TALK ABOUT JEREMIAH HE'S REFERRED TO AS 'THE CRYING' OR 11:27 'THE WAILING' PROPHET BECAUSE SO MUCH OF HIS MINISTRY HE WAS IN 11:31 MOURNING ABOUT THE CONDITION - THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF 11:36 ISRAEL, WHICH WAS VERY DIFFICULT. 11:39 HE LIVED THROUGH ONE OF THE MOST DEVASTATING DESTRUCTIONS THAT 11:43 TOOK PLACE IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL. 11:45 NOW THE NAME JEREMIAH MEANS 'THE LORD; EXALTATION OF THE LORD' - 11:50 WHEN YOU SAY 'AH' - LIKE JEREMI-AH - 'AH' IN THE BIBLE - 11:54 ELIJ-AH - USUALLY IS A DERIVATIVE OF THE NAME YAHWEH 11:59 AND SO THAT'S WHAT THAT MEANS. THE NAME OF HIS BOOK, IN THE 12:05 LATIN VULGATE OF THE BIBLE, IT'S CALLED THE PROPHECY OF JEREMIAH . 12:09 IN THE SYRIAC - OR ARABIC VERSIONS, IT'S CALLED THE 12:12 PROPHECY OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH . 12:15 HE WAS BORN - WE'RE JUST GIVING YOU SOME BACKGROUND HERE - 12:18 JEREMIAH WAS BORN ABOUT 643 B.C. AND THE BIBLE'S A LITTLE VAGUE 12:22 ABOUT THE TIME OF HIS BIRTH, BUT AS NEAR AS WE CAN TELL HE BEGAN 12:26 TO PROPHESY IN THE THIRTEENTH YEAR OF JOSIAH'S REIGN, OR ABOUT 12:29 627 B.C. HE WAS STILL WHAT - BIBLICALLY 12:34 THEY CALLED IT A YOUNG MAN, IF YOU STARTED BEFORE YOU WERE 12:37 THIRTY. HE BEGAN TO PROPHESY IN THE 12:39 THIRTEENTH YEAR OF JOSIAH'S REIGN. 12:41 THE DURATION OF HIS PROPHECY WAS PROBABLY MORE THAN FORTY YEARS. 12:46 HE PROPHESIED DURING THE REIGN OF THE SPAN OF KINGS JOSIAH, 12:52 JEHOAHAZ, JEHOIACHIM, JEHOIACHIN, AND ZEDEKIAH. 12:57 AND THEN, OF COURSE, DURING SOME OF THE CAPTIVITY OF THE TIME OF 13:01 NEBUCHADNEZZAR. HIS LIFE OVERLAPS THE LIFE OF DANIEL. 13:07 DANIEL WAS A YOUNG MAN DURING THE TIME WHEN JEREMIAH WAS 13:10 PROPHECY - PROPHESYING - AND HIS LIFE OVERLAPS THE LIFE OF 13:13 EZEKIEL. WE DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY HOW 13:16 JEREMIAH DIED OR EXACTLY WHAT THE AGE WAS. 13:20 AFTER HE GOES OFF INTO EGYPT NEAR THE END OF HIS LIFE, 13:24 THERE'S NO FINAL RECKONING OR ACCOUNT. 13:28 ALL WE HAVE IS SPECULATION ABOUT WHAT MAY HAVE HAPPENED. 13:31 ALMOST NOBODY QUESTIONS WHETHER JEREMIAH IS THE AUTHOR OF THE 13:36 BOOK JEREMIAH. SOME PEOPLE QUESTION WHETHER HE 13:39 WROTE THE VERY LAST VERSES. MATTER OF FACT, I MIGHT GO THERE 13:42 REAL QUICK. IF YOU HAVE YOUR BIBLES, TURN TO 13:44 THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. GO TO CHAPTER 52. 13:49 JEREMIAH IS ONE OF THE FOUR MAJOR PROPHETS IN THE OLD 13:53 TESTAMENT, THAT BEING ISAIAH, JEREMIAH, EZEKIEL, AND DANIEL. 13:59 NOW SOME HAVE ARGUED THAT DANIEL SHOULD BE LISTED AMONG THE MINOR 14:02 PROPHETS BECAUSE DANIEL'S GOT TWELVE CHAPTERS AND ZECHARIAH'S 14:06 GOT FOURTEEN CHAPTERS, BUT DANIEL'S CHAPTERS ARE LONGER. 14:09 DANIEL IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MAJOR PROPHETS. 14:11 THERE ARE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. 14:13 JEREMIAH IS UNIQUE AMONG THE MAJOR PROPHETS OF THE OLD 14:16 TESTAMENT BECAUSE HE WROTE TWO BOOKS. 14:19 HE WROTE JEREMIAH AND THEN HE ALSO WROTE THE BOOK OF 14:22 LAMENTATIONS. BUT IF YOU GO TO JEREMIAH 14:24 CHAPTER 52, THERE'S SOMETHING INTERESTING HERE. 14:27 YOU CAN READ IN VERSE 31, "AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE 14:34 THIRTY-SEVENTH YEAR OF THE CAPTIVITY OF JEHOIACHIN KING OF 14:38 JUDAH, IN THE TWELFTH MONTH, ON THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY OF THE 14:41 MONTH, THAT EVIL-MERODACH KING OF BABYLON," - NOW THIS IS 14:44 THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS AFTER JERUSALEM WAS DESTROYED. 14:48 JEREMIAH WOULD HAVE BEEN NINETY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE AT THIS 14:51 POINT, IF HE WROTE THIS PART OF THE BOOK. 14:54 BUT THIS PART OF JEREMIAH ALSO APPEARS IN 2 KINGS, ALMOST WORD 14:58 FOR WORD, AND MANY HAVE BELIEVED THAT IT'S REALLY AN APPENDIX - 15:01 AN EPILOGUE THAT THEY TOOK TO JUST SHOW THE FULFILLMENT OF ONE 15:04 OF JEREMIAH'S FINAL PROPHECIES AFTER THE DEATH OF 15:07 NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND IT'S PUT THERE FOR EXAMPLE. 15:10 WHO WROTE THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY? 15:12 >>MOSES. >>MOSES. 15:15 DID MOSES WRITE THE PART OF THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY WHERE IT 15:18 SAYS, 'AND THE LORD BURIED MOSES AND THERE WAS NO PROPHET LIKE 15:21 MOSES'? >>NO. 15:23 >>OR PROBABLY JOSHUA OR SOMEBODY WROTE THAT LITTLE EPILOGUE AT 15:26 THE END, RIGHT? AND SO HE WROTE THE ENTIRE BOOK 15:28 - JEREMIAH WROTE ALL OF JEREMIAH, BUT HE MAY NOT HAVE 15:31 WRITTEN, OF COURSE, THIS - FROM VERSE 31 ON. 15:33 LIKE I SAID, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN NINETY-FIVE. 15:36 HE WAS IN EGYPT AND SO IT WAS JUST NOT LIKELY, BUT ALMOST NO 15:38 SCHOLAR QUESTIONS THAT HE'S THE AUTHOR. 15:41 MATTER OF FACT, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, OTHER OLD TESTAMENT 15:44 WRITERS REFER TO JEREMIAH AS A PROPHET. 15:47 IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, JESUS CALLS HIM 'THE PROPHET 15:51 JEREMIAH.' WELL, THAT WOULD BE A PRETTY GOOD ENDORSEMENT, DON'T 15:53 YOU THINK? AS WELL AS THE OTHER APOSTLES, 15:55 IN THEIR WRITINGS, THEY REFERENCED THE WRITINGS OF 15:59 JEREMIAH AND SO JEREMIAH IS ONE OF THE BEST ENDORSED PROPHETS OF 16:06 SCRIPTURE. ONE REASON IS HE LIVED TO SEE 16:10 MANY OF HIS PROPHECIES COME TRUE. 16:13 THEY OVERLAP WITH HISTORICAL EVENTS THAT WE CAN PROVE AND WE 16:16 KNOW FROM THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS THAT THE THINGS THAT JEREMIAH 16:20 WROTE WERE WRITTEN BEFORE THEY HAPPENED AND THEN YOU CAN LIVE 16:24 TO SEE THE FULFILLMENT OF THOSE THINGS. AND SO, GREAT PROPHET 16:28 OF THE BIBLE. SOMETHING ELSE INTERESTING ABOUT 16:31 JEREMIAH IS THAT HE ENDS HIS LIFE IN EGYPT. 16:36 HE SORT OF IS THE REVERSE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN THE EXODUS. 16:39 BECAUSE THEY TURNED TO THE LORD, THERE WAS THIS GREAT EXODUS. 16:42 THEY WERE BROUGHT FROM THE SLAVERY INTO THE PROMISED LAND. 16:45 JEREMIAH LIVED DURING A TIME WHEN THEY TURNED FROM THE LORD. 16:47 THEY'RE CONQUERED AND THEN THE REMNANT GOES BACK TO EGYPT - THE 16:52 VERY PLACE GOD TOLD THEM NOT TO GO. 16:55 AND SO, IT'S JUST A VERY INTERESTING - AND THE OTHER 16:59 THING IS JEREMIAH WAS PROBABLY ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE 17:04 THAT TOOK TO THE GRAVE THE SECRET OF WHERE THE ARK OF THE 17:09 COVENANT WAS HIDDEN. NOW EVERYBODY SAYS THEY KNOW 17:12 WHERE THE ARK IS, BUT YOU - NOBODY'S PRODUCED IT, RIGHT? 17:16 THE ARK IS PROBABLY STILL HIDDEN. 17:18 JEREMIAH, KNOWING THAT JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE WERE GOING TO BE 17:21 DESTROYED - YOU CAN READ ABOUT THIS IN THE BOOK PROPHETS AND 17:24 KINGS - HE AND SOME OF THE FAITHFUL PRIESTS HID THE ARK IN 17:28 ONE OF THE MANY CAVES THAT HONEYCOMB THE CITY OF JERUSALEM. 17:32 THE ARK WAS A BIG GOLDEN BOX. THEY COULDN'T TAKE IT VERY FAR. 17:34 JERUSALEM WAS SURROUNDED BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND HIS ARMY AND 17:37 THEY DIDN'T WANT THEIR MOST SACRED OBJECTS - NOT THE ARK, 17:43 BUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS INSIDE - TO FALL INTO ENEMY HANDS OR BE 17:45 DESTROYED. IT HAD FALLEN INTO ENEMY HANDS 17:48 ONCE DURING THE TIME OF SAMUEL WHEN THE PHILISTINES CAPTURED 17:50 THE ARK. THEY WERE NOT GOING TO LET THAT 17:52 HAPPEN AGAIN AND SO IT WAS HIDDEN. 17:55 AND THEY SOMEHOW COVERED - HID - SEALED THE CAVE - THE TOMB WHERE 17:59 THEY PUT IT AND IT HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND. 18:03 THERE COULD BE ONE REASON THAT GEDELIAH AND THE OTHERS, WHEN 18:07 THEY TOOK JEREMIAH, THEY ALMOST TOOK HIM FORCIBLY TO EGYPT. 18:10 HE DIDN'T REALLY WANT TO GO - IT COULD BE BECAUSE THEY KNEW HE 18:14 WAS ONE OF THE ONLY LIVING PEOPLE THAT STILL HELD THIS 18:16 SECRET. TO OUR KNOWLEDGE, THAT SECRET HAS NEVER BEEN WRITTEN 18:19 ANYWHERE OR IF - THE MAP HAS NOT BEEN FOUND AND THE ARK IS STILL 18:22 HIDDEN. BUT JEREMIAH LIKELY KNEW WHERE 18:25 THE ARK OF THE COVENANT WAS HIDDEN. 18:28 HE SOMETIMES IS REFERRED TO AS 'THE CRYING PROPHET' - 'THE 18:32 LAMENTING PROPHET' BECAUSE HE - WELL, HE WROTE THE BOOK OF 18:36 LAMENTATIONS, BUT HE LIVED DURING A TIME OF GREAT APOSTASY 18:39 BUT, IN SPITE OF THAT, HIS BOOK IS ALSO FILLED WITH 18:42 ENCOURAGEMENT AND HOPE. A LOT OF VERY POSITIVE THINGS 18:46 HAPPENED DURING HIS TIME. SOME OF THE GREAT PROMISES IN 18:49 THE BIBLE ARE IN THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. 18:51 WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE PROPHECIES AND WE'LL 18:54 GET TO JEREMIAH 1 IN JUST A MOMENT. 18:56 JEREMIAH 7, VERSE 5, "FOR IF YOU THOROUGHLY AMEND YOUR WAYS AND 19:02 YOUR DOINGS, IF YOU THOROUGHLY EXECUTE JUDGMENT BETWEEN A MAN 19:07 AND HIS NEIGHBOR, IF YOU DO NOT OPPRESS THE STRANGER, THE 19:10 FATHERLESS, AND THE WIDOW, AND DO NOT SHED INNOCENT BLOOD IN 19:14 THIS PLACE, OR WALK AFTER OTHER GODS TO YOUR HURT, THEN I WILL 19:18 CAUSE YOU TO DWELL IN THIS PLACE, IN THE LAND THAT I GAVE 19:22 TO YOUR FATHERS FOREVER AND EVER." YOU'LL SEE - AND THIS IS 19:25 UNDER THE HEADING OF THE PROPHETS - THAT THE PROPHETS HAD 19:29 A MESSAGE AND THEIR MESSAGE WAS USUALLY ONE OF REVIVAL. 19:32 I REMEMBER PASTOR JOE CREWS WHO, OF COURSE, WAS THE FOUNDER OF 19:36 AMAZING FACTS - HE SAID THAT ANY GOOD SERMON SHOULD SAY SOMETHING 19:39 ABOUT SIN AND SALVATION BECAUSE THE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE IS 19:43 THERE'S A PROBLEM BUT GOD HAS THE ANSWER. 19:47 EVERY DAY IN OUR LIVES WE DEAL WITH TEMPTATION, STRUGGLE, 19:52 VICTORY - THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL IS THE STORY OF SIN AND 19:56 SALVATION AND THE MESSAGE OF THE PROPHETS WAS 'GOD HAS A LAW BUT 19:59 WE'VE BROKEN HIS LAW, BUT IF YOU TURN AND REPENT, THROUGH GOD'S 20:02 POWER, OF YOUR SINS, TURN TO GOD, RECEIVE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, 20:06 YOU WILL BE BLESSED. IF YOU REBEL, YOU'RE GOING TO 20:09 HAVE PROBLEMS,' WHICH IS PROBABLY A GOOD PLACE TO READ 20:12 EZEKIEL 18:23 - WE'LL DO THAT NOW. 20:16 >>"'DO I HAVE ANY PLEASURE AT ALL THAT THE WICKED SHOULD DIE?' 20:19 SAYS THE LORD GOD, 'AND NOT THAT HE SHOULD TURN FROM HIS WAYS AND 20:22 LIVE?'" >>YES, AND THEN, OF COURSE, 20:25 HE GOES ON AND SAYS, 'TURN YE, TURN YE, WHY WILL YOU DIE?' 20:28 SO THE MESSAGE OF THE PROPHETS, THOUGH SOMETIMES STRONG, WAS A 20:31 MESSAGE OF MERCY. IF YOU'RE WARNING A PERSON TO 20:36 AVOID A ROAD WHERE THE BRIDGE IS OUT ON A RAINY NIGHT, YOU MIGHT 20:40 BE ACCUSED OF BEING NEGATIVE, BUT YOU'RE DOING IT TO SAVE 20:45 THEIR LIVES. AND SO, THE PROPHETS WERE OFTEN 20:47 GIVEN MESSAGES OF WARNING AND SOMETIMES AT GREAT RISK. 20:52 I'LL, FOR INSTANCE, READ ISAIAH 1 - ANOTHER ONE OF THE MAJOR 20:56 PROPHETS - NOW WE'RE READING EZEKIEL, A MAJOR PROPHET; 20:58 JEREMIAH, A MAJOR PROPHET; ISAIAH, MAJOR PROPHET - HE SAYS 21:01 IN ISAIAH 1:19, "'IF YOU ARE WILLING AND OBEDIENT, YOU SHALL 21:06 EAT THE GOOD OF THE LAND; BUT IF YOU REFUSE AND REBEL, YOU SHALL 21:10 BE DEVOURED BY THE SWORD'; FOR THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HAS 21:14 SPOKEN." NOT ONLY DOES JEREMIAH FORETELL 21:17 THE GREAT JUDGMENT WHEN THE CITY WOULD BE DESTROYED, JERUSALEM 21:22 WOULD BE BURNT, THE GREATEST TEMPLE THAT'S EVER BEEN BUILT - 21:25 THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON - WOULD BE DESTROYED, BUT HE ALSO TOLD THEM 21:30 IF THEY TURNED, THEY'D LIVE. ISAIAH ALSO PROPHESIED THAT. 21:34 IT SAYS, 'IF YOU REFUSE AND REBEL. YOU'LL BE DEVOURED. 21:37 IF YOU'RE WILLING, YOU'LL EAT THE GOOD OF THE LAND.' THIS WAS 21:40 THE MESSAGE OF JEREMIAH. HE SAID, 'YOU'LL DWELL IN THE 21:42 LAND FOREVER AND EVER IF YOU REPENT.' NOW, WAS THAT JUST THE 21:45 CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DWELLING IN THE PROMISED LAND, OR DOES THAT 21:49 MESSAGE APPLY TO CHRISTIANS IN OUR DAY? 21:52 IS THERE A LAND THAT WE WANT TO DWELL IN? 21:55 YEAH, IT'S THE PROMISED LAND STILL AND WE WANT TO DWELL IN 22:00 THAT LAND. AND SO, THESE MESSAGES APPLY TO US TODAY. 22:02 IT'S TALKING ABOUT THE ETERNAL BLESSING THAT GOD HAS. 22:05 YOU CAN READ, FOR INSTANCE, IN MATTHEW - NOW THIS IS ANOTHER 22:08 PROPHET. WAS JOHN THE BAPTIST A PROPHET? 22:11 MATTHEW CHAPTER 3, VERSE 7, "BUT WHEN HE SAW MANY OF THE 22:15 PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES COMING TO HIS BAPTISM, HE SAID TO THEM, 22:19 'BROOD OF VIPERS! WHO WARNED YOU TO FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME? 22:23 THEREFORE BEAR FRUITS WORTHY OF REPENTANCE, AND DO NOT THINK TO 22:27 SAY TO YOURSELVES, 'WE HAVE ABRAHAM AS OUR FATHER.' FOR I 22:31 SAY TO YOU THAT GOD IS ABLE TO RAISE UP CHILDREN TO ABRAHAM 22:34 FROM THESE STONES. AND EVEN NOW THE AX IS LAID TO 22:37 THE ROOT OF THE TREES. THEREFORE EVERY TREE WHICH DOES NOT BEAR 22:41 GOOD FRUIT IS CUT DOWN AND THROWN INTO THE FIRE." 22:44 I JUST WANT TO PAUSE AND REMIND YOU OF SOMETHING: IN THE VISION 22:48 THAT DANIEL HAD ABOUT THE TREE, THE TREE IS CUT DOWN, BUT THE 22:52 ROOT IS LEFT IN THE GROUND SO THAT IT WOULD COME BACK. 22:56 JOHN THE BAPTIST WAS PREACHING A MESSAGE SAYING, 'NEXT TIME 23:00 JUDGMENT COMES, THE TREE IS GOING TO GO, ROOT AND BRANCH.' 23:03 THE NATION WOULD BE UPROOTED. AND SO HE HAD A VERY DIFFICULT 23:08 MESSAGE TO PREACH AND IT WASN'T POPULAR. IF IT'S NOT BEARING 23:12 THE RIGHT KIND OF FRUIT, IT IS CUT DOWN AND THROWN IN THE FIRE. 23:15 HE GOES ON TO SAY, 'I INDEED BAPTIZE YOU WITH WATER UNTO 23:19 REPENTANCE, BUT HE WHO IS COMING AFTER ME IS MIGHTIER THAN I, 23:22 WHOSE SANDALS I AM NOT WORTHY TO CARRY. 23:25 HE WILL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FIRE." 23:28 WHO IS HE TALKING ABOUT? JESUS. 23:31 SO THESE MESSAGES - THESE PROPHETS - OFTEN HAD TOUGH 23:34 MESSAGES. NOW, WHAT HAPPENED TO ISAIAH 23:37 BECAUSE OF HIS PROPHECY? HE WAS SAWN IN TWO BY KING 23:42 MANASSEH. WHAT HAPPENED TO JEREMIAH 23:46 BECAUSE OF HIS DIFFICULT PROPHECIES? 23:48 HE WAS PUT IN PRISON - MORE THAN ONCE, PUT IN A CISTERN, 23:54 THREATENED WITH DEATH, PERSECUTED. 23:58 WHAT HAPPENED TO MICAIAH THE PROPHET? 24:01 WHEN HE GAVE A DIFFICULT PROPHESY? 24:04 AHAB HAD HIM PUT IN PRISON AND SAID, 'FEED HIM WITH THE BREAD 24:09 OF AFFLICTION AND THE WATER OF AFFLICTION UNTIL I RETURN AGAIN 24:11 IN PEACE.' AND AHAB NEVER DID COME BACK. 24:14 MATTER OF FACT, MICAH SAID, 'IF YOU RETURN IN PEACE, GOD HAS NOT 24:17 SPOKEN FROM ME.' PROPHETS WERE ASKED TO GIVE UNPOPULAR MESSAGES 24:22 AND SOMETIMES THEY PHYSICALLY SUFFERED FOR THE MESSAGE, BUT 24:27 THEY NEEDED TO BE BRAVE AND BOLD TO GIVE IT. 24:29 WHAT HAPPENED TO JOHN THE BAPTIST BECAUSE OF HIS MESSAGE? 24:33 PREACHING THE TRUTH IS NOT POPULAR AND GOD NEEDS PEOPLE WHO 24:38 WILL BE FAITHFUL TO PROCLAIM THE TRUTH WHETHER IT'S POPULAR OR 24:41 NOT. JEREMIAH WAS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. 24:44 LOOK AT VERSE - OR CHAPTER 11, VERSE 2 - JEREMIAH 11, VERSE 2 - 24:47 AND MEANWHILE, SOMEBODY'S GOING TO READ JEREMIAH 1:1. 24:50 WHO HAS THAT VERSE? OVER HERE. WE'LL GET YOU NEXT, OKAY? 24:53 ALRIGHT, JEREMIAH 11, VERSE 2, "'HEAR THE WORDS OF THIS 24:57 COVENANT, AND SPEAK TO THE MEN OF JUDAH AND TO THE INHABITANTS 25:01 OF JERUSALEM; AND SAY TO THEM, 'THUS SAYS THE LORD GOD OF 25:03 ISRAEL: 'CURSED IS THE MAN WHO DOES NOT OBEY THE WORDS OF THIS 25:07 COVENANT WHICH I COMMANDED YOUR FATHERS IN THE DAY I BROUGHT 25:10 THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT,'''" - YOU MEAN EVEN 25:13 JEREMIAH, HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER THEY CAME OUT OF EGYPT, IS 25:17 STILL SAYING THEY NEEDED TO OBEY THAT COVENANT - ABOUT EIGHT 25:21 HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THEY CAME OUT, THE COVENANT WAS STILL 25:23 THERE AND HE SAID THERE'S A CURSE ON THOSE WHO DO NOT OBEY - 25:26 WHEN "'''...I BROUGHT THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, FROM THE 25:30 IRON FURNACE, SAYING, 'OBEY MY VOICE, AND DO ACCORDING TO ALL 25:33 THAT I COMMAND YOU; SO SHALL YOU BE MY PEOPLE, AND I WILL BE YOUR 25:36 GOD.' THAT I MAY ESTABLISH THE OATH WHICH I HAVE SWORN TO YOUR 25:39 FATHERS, TO GIVE THEM 'A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY,' AS 25:43 IT IS THIS DAY.' AND I ANSWERED AND SAID, 'SO BE IT, LORD.' THEN 25:47 THE LORD SAID TO ME, 'PROCLAIM ALL THESE WORDS IN THE CITIES OF 25:51 JUDAH AND IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM, SAYING: 'HEAR THE 25:54 WORDS OF THIS COVENANT AND DO THEM.'" NOW, THE REASON THAT 25:58 JEREMIAH - HIS PROPHECY IS FOCUSING ON JERUSALEM AND JUDAH, 26:02 IS BECAUSE JEREMIAH LIVED WHEN IT WAS STILL FRESH IN THEIR 26:05 MEMORIES THAT THE TEN TRIBES HAD BEEN CARRIED AWAY BECAUSE OF 26:09 THEIR DISOBEDIENCE. AND SO, ALL YOU'VE GOT LEFT NOW 26:12 ARE THE PEOPLE OF JUDAH - THE PRIESTS - AND BENJAMIN. 26:16 AND SO, THE MESSAGE OF JEREMIAH WAS PRINCIPALLY TO WHAT WE WOULD 26:19 CALL THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM, BECAUSE THE NORTHERN KINGDOM, 26:22 BECAUSE OF THEIR DISOBEDIENCE AND IDOLATRY, HAD BEEN CARRIED 26:25 OFF BY THE ASSYRIANS. ALRIGHT, AND SO SOMETIMES THESE 26:29 MESSAGES OF PROPHETS WERE DIFFICULT, BUT YOU FIND ALL OF 26:32 THEM ARE TALKING ABOUT 'GOD HAS MADE A COVENANT WITH YOU, 26:35 BELIEVE THE WORD OF THE LORD. OBEY THE COVENANT, YOU'LL BE 26:38 BLESSED. YOU DISOBEY, THERE'S GOING TO BE 26:39 CONSEQUENCES. PROPHETS OFTEN TALK ABOUT - I 26:42 REMEMBER, YOU KNOW, KAREN, SHE ALWAYS LIKED USING THE WORD 26:45 CONSEQUENCES EVEN WHEN THE KIDS WERE VERY LITTLE. 26:48 AND I THOUGHT, 'DO THEY EVEN KNOW WHAT CONSEQUENCES MEAN?' 26:50 THEY FIGURED IT OUT PRETTY QUICK. 26:52 YEAH, THEY - IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG BEFORE THEY LEARNED A WORD WITH 26:54 FOUR OR FIVE SYLLABLES. FOUR SYLLABLES, YEAH. 27:00 I HAD TO THINK ABOUT THAT. 27:02 ALRIGHT, LET'S READ - NOW WE'RE IN SECTION 2 - JEREMIAH'S FAMILY 27:05 BACKGROUND - LET'S GET A LITTLE MORE BACKGROUND ON HIM. 27:07 SOMEONE'S GOING TO READ JEREMIAH 1:1. 27:10 >>"THE WORDS OF JEREMIAH THE SON OF HILKIAH, OF THE PRIESTS WHO 27:14 WERE IN ANOTHOTH IN THE LAND OF BENJAMIN," - 27:17 >>ALRIGHT, THERE WAS A TOWN JUST NORTH OF JERUSALEM CALLED 27:22 ANATHOTH AND IT WAS - IT WAS IN THE LAND OF BENJAMIN. 27:26 BENJAMIN AND JUDAH BORDERED EACH OTHER - IT WASN'T THAT FAR FROM 27:29 JERUSALEM. LET ME GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE 27:31 BACKGROUND ON THIS: WHEN JOSHUA 27:33 BRINGS THEM INTO THE PROMISED LAND AND THE LAND IS BEING 27:35 DIVIDED AMONG THE TWELVE TRIBES - YOU CAN READ IN JOSHUA 21:17, 27:40 "AND FROM THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN, GIBEON WITH ITS COMMON-LAND, 27:44 GEBA WITH ITS COMMON-LAND, ANATHOTH WITH ITS COMMON-LAND, 27:51 AND ALMON WITH ITS COMMON-LAND: FOUR CITIES. 27:54 ALL THE CITIES FOR THE CHILDREN OF AARON, THE PRIESTS, WERE, 27:57 THIRTEEN CITIES WITH THEIR COMMON-LANDS." 28:00 SO WHAT THE LORD DID, WHEN HE PUT THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL IN 28:03 THE PROMISED LAND, AS THEY DIVIDED UP THE LAND AMONG THE 28:06 TWELVE TRIBES - HOW MANY TRIBES WERE THERE? 28:08 THIRTEEN, REALLY. I KNOW THAT'S CONFUSING. 28:12 JACOB HAD HOW MANY SONS? >>WHO? 28:15 >>JACOB - TWELVE SONS, RIGHT? ONE DAUGHTER WE KNOW OF, DINAH. 28:21 BUT WHAT HAPPENED IS, WHEN JOSEPH WAS SOLD BY HIS BROTHERS 28:25 - JACOB, ONE OF HIS DYING COMMANDS WAS - BECAUSE I'VE BEEN 28:29 SEPARATED BY THIS BELOVED SON, I AM GOING TO GIVE EACH OF YOUR 28:33 SONS EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH AN INHERITANCE EQUAL TO THEIR 28:37 BROTHERS. WELL THAT CHANGED THE NUMBER TO THIRTEEN. 28:42 BUT WHEN THEY ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND, THEY DIVIDED IT 28:46 TWELVE WAYS. WHY? 28:48 BECAUSE LEVI DID NOT GET AN INHERITANCE. 28:51 THE SONS OF AARON AND THE LEVITES, BECAUSE THEY WERE TO 28:54 SCATTER AMONG THE TWELVE TRIBES, TO MINISTER AS PRIESTS TO TEACH 28:57 THE LAW, THEY WERE ALL GIVEN PORTIONS AMONG THE TWELVE 29:02 TRIBES. THEY WERE THE PRIESTLY CITIES, 29:05 AND SOME CITIES WERE FOR THE LEVITES AND SOME FOR THE 29:07 DESCENDANTS OF AARON. THE LEVITES ALL COULD HELP IN 29:10 THE TEMPLE, BUT ONLY THE SONS AND DESCENDANTS OF AARON COULD 29:13 SERVE AS PRIESTS. THERE WERE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 29:16 THE LEVITES AND THE PRIESTS, JUST LIKE THERE MIGHT BE BETWEEN 29:19 A DEACON AND AN ELDER, YOU SEE WHAT I'M SAYING? 29:21 PRIESTS WERE KIND OF LIKE THE ELDERS, THEY WERE THE PASTORS. 29:26 AND SO ANATHOTH WAS ONE OF THESE PRIESTLY CITIES. 29:32 THIS IS WHERE JEREMIAH CAME FROM. 29:34 THEY WERE JUST BUILDING A CASE HERE THAT HE WAS OF THE 29:37 PRIESTHOOD. HE WAS ACQUAINTED WITH THE WORD OF THE LORD. 29:41 HE HAD ACCESS TO THESE SACRED TEACHINGS. 29:43 IF YOU LOOK IN 1 KINGS, FOR INSTANCE, VERSE 25 - I WANT TO 29:48 GIVE YOU A LITTLE STORY - WHAT FAMILY JEREMIAH WAS FROM. 29:53 HE DESCENDED FROM THE FAMILY OF ABIATHAR THE PRIEST. 29:57 ABIATHAR STARTED OUT GOOD, AS A PRIEST - MOST OF HIS LIFE WAS 30:00 VERY GOOD. HE KIND OF MADE ONE MAJOR 30:02 BLUNDER NEAR THE END OF HIS LIFE. 30:04 YOU'LL REMEMBER THAT WHEN SAUL WAS KING, ONE OF THE TERRIBLE 30:08 THINGS THAT SAUL DID, HE FELT THAT THE PRIESTS WERE ON THE 30:11 SIDE OF DAVID AND SO SAUL HAD ALL OF THE PRIESTS KILLED - THE 30:16 DESCENDANTS OF ELI'S FAMILY - ONE OF THEM ESCAPED WITH THE 30:21 EPHOD FROM THE TEMPLE AND RAN TO DAVID FOR PROTECTION. 30:24 HIS NAME WAS ABIATHAR. ABIATHAR WAS WITH DAVID THROUGH 30:28 ALL OF HIS RUNNING FROM SAUL, THROUGH ALL OF HIS TRIALS. 30:30 FINALLY, WHEN DAVID WAS INSTALLED AS KING, ABIATHAR 30:33 BECAME THE HIGH PRIEST AND HE SERVED WITH DAVID FOR FORTY 30:36 YEARS. HAD A LONG LIFE. HE EVEN OUTLIVED DAVID. 30:38 BUT THE PROBLEM WAS, WHEN DAVID WAS GETTING OLD AND HE WAS GOING 30:41 TO DIE, DAVID SAID, 'I WANT SOLOMON TO BE KING.' ABIATHAR 30:44 JOINED A REBELLION OF ADONIJAH, ALONG WITH JOAB. 30:50 SO THAT REBELLION DIED, ADONIJAH WAS SLAIN, JOAB WAS SLAIN, BUT 30:59 KING SOLOMON SAID TO ABIATHAR - AND I CAN READ IT TO YOU HERE IN 31:04 1 KINGS CHAPTER 2, VERSE 26, "AND TO ABIATHAR THE PRIEST THE 31:09 KING (SOLOMON) SAID, 'GO TO ANATHOTH, TO YOUR OWN FIELDS, 31:14 FOR YOU ARE DESERVING OF DEATH; BUT I WILL NOT PUT YOU TO DEATH 31:17 AT THIS TIME, BECAUSE YOU CARRIED THE ARK OF THE LORD GOD 31:20 BEFORE MY FATHER DAVID, AND BECAUSE YOU WERE AFFLICTED EVERY 31:23 TIME MY FATHER WAS AFFLICTED.'" JEREMIAH, NOW IS A DESCENDANT OF 31:29 THIS LINE OF AARON. YOU REALIZE THERE WERE SEVEN 31:31 DIFFERENT STREAMS OF AARON THAT YOU GET A FAMILY TREE THAT GROWS 31:35 AS TIME GOES BY. DO YOU KNOW THAT JOHN THE 31:38 BAPTIST'S MOTHER - IT SAYS THAT ELIZABETH WAS OF THE DAUGHTERS 31:42 OF AARON. SO JOHN THE BAPTIST ALSO HAD 31:45 THIS PRIESTLY LINE IN HIM AS WELL. 31:49 AND YOU CAN READ IN THE BOOK PROPHETS AND KINGS , "A MEMBER OF 31:55 THE LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD, JEREMIAH HAD BEEN TRAINED FROM 31:59 CHILDHOOD FOR HOLY SERVICE. IN THOSE HAPPY YEARS OF 32:02 PREPARATION, HE LITTLE REALIZED THAT HE HAD BEEN ORDAINED FROM 32:06 BIRTH TO BE A PROPHET UNDER THE NATIONS AND WHEN THE DIVINE CALL 32:10 CAME, HE WAS OVERWHELMED WITH A SENSE OF HIS UNWORTHINESS. 32:14 'AH, LORD GOD,' HE EXCLAIMED, 'I CANNOT SPEAK, I AM A CHILD.'" 32:18 NOW WE'RE GETTING AHEAD OF OURSELVES, BUT WE'RE GOING TO 32:21 READ THAT NEXT. SO HE CAME FROM THE PROPHETIC 32:23 LINE - UNFORTUNATELY, ABIATHAR WASN'T ALWAYS A FAITHFUL PRIEST. 32:29 JEREMIAH DESCENDED FROM HILKIAH, WHO ALSO WAS NOT 32:33 ALWAYS FAITHFUL. HE WAS DURING THE TIME OF 32:36 JOSIAH, BUT NOT AFTERWARD. AND SOME OF THE PRIESTS KIND OF 32:42 WENT BACK AND FORTH, DEPENDING ON WHO WAS THE KING. 32:45 ELI WAS A GOOD PRIEST, BUT HE WASN'T VERY GOOD IN THE WAY HE 32:49 TRAINED HIS SONS AND SO THAT'S THE KIND OF BACKGROUND. 32:53 SO JEREMIAH COULD HAVE GONE EITHER WAY. 32:55 NOW IT TALKS HERE, UNDER THE NEXT SECTION, ABOUT THE 32:58 PROPHETIC CALL OF JEREMIAH. SOMEONE IS GOING TO READ FOR ME, 33:01 IN JUST A MOMENT, LUKE 1:15 - WHO HAS THAT? 33:04 BACK THERE? OKAY, JUST GET YOU LOCATED. 33:07 ALRIGHT, I'M GOING TO READ JEREMIAH 1 THROUGH 5 AND THIS IS 33:10 THE CALL OF JEREMIAH: "THE WORDS OF JEREMIAH THE SON OF HILKIAH, 33:16 OF THE PRIESTS WHO WERE IN ANATHOTH IN THE LAND OF 33:19 BENJAMIN, TO WHOM THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME IN THE DAYS OF 33:22 JOSIAH THE SON OF AMON, KING OF JUDAH, IN THE THIRTEENTH YEAR OF 33:27 HIS REIGN." - NOW I WANT TO PAUSE RIGHT HERE. 33:29 JOSIAH - GOOD KING/BAD KING? WHICH WAS IT? GOOD KING. 33:34 NOT JUST SORT OF GOOD, VERY GOOD. 33:39 IN FACT, THERE'S REALLY NOTHING THAT CAN BE FOUND WRONG WITH 33:44 JOSIAH - THE ONLY THING WAS HE KIND OF WENT INTO BATTLE AT THE 33:47 END - GOT KILLED FIGHTING AGAINST THE EGYPTIANS AND HE 33:50 PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE GONE INTO THAT BATTLE BUT HE WAS NOT 33:54 WANTING EGYPT TO START GETTING A FOOTHOLD IN ISRAEL. 33:58 HE - IT SAYS, MATTER OF FACT, FROM A LITTLE CHILD HE BEGAN TO 34:01 SERVE - I THINK IT WAS SEVEN YEARS OF AGE. 34:03 THERE WERE TWO KINGS THAT STARTED SERVING VERY YOUNG - 34:06 WELL THREE - MANASSEH, THEN YOU'VE GOT JOSIAH, THEN YOU'VE 34:11 GOT JOASH. JOSIAH WAS FAITHFUL ALL THROUGH HIS LIFE. 34:15 JOASH LATER APOSTASIZED - STARTED GOOD BUT WENT BAD. 34:18 JOSIAH WAS FAITHFUL THE WHOLE TIME - RESTORED THE WORSHIP OF 34:22 GOD, RESTORED THE TEMPLE OF GOD, RESTORED THE PASSOVER, BROUGHT 34:25 ABOUT A REVIVAL, TORE UP THE IDOLS, DUG UP THE GRAVES OF THE 34:29 FALSE PRIESTS, BURNT THEIR BONES - I MEAN, HE JUST REALLY HAD A 34:33 ZEAL FOR PURIFYING THE LAND. HE NOT ONLY PURIFIED JUDAH AND 34:36 JERUSALEM, AFTER TEN OF THE TRIBES WERE CARRIED OFF HE WENT 34:39 UP INTO THE NORTH AND HE DID SOME PURIFYING THERE AS WELL. 34:42 I MEAN HE JUST WAS VERY ZEALOUS FOR A RETURN TO THE TRUE GOD. 34:46 HE'S THE ONE THAT CRIED, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY READ THE BOOK 34:49 THAT THEY HAD FOUND IN THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD. 34:51 HE WAS A GOOD PRIEST - A GOOD KING, RATHER. SO JEREMIAH BEGINS 34:56 TO PROPHESY DURING THE TIME "...OF JOSIAH, THE SON OF AMON, 35:02 KING OF JUDAH, IN THE THIRTEENTH YEAR OF HIS REIGN. 35:04 IT CAME ALSO IN THE DAYS OF JEHOIAKIM THE SON OF JOSIAH, 35:08 KING OF JUDAH, UNTIL THE END OF THE ELEVENTH YEAR OF ZEDEKIAH 35:11 THE SON OF JOSIAH, KING OF JUDAH, UNTIL THE CARRYING AWAY 35:15 OF JERUSALEM CAPTIVE IN THE FIFTH MONTH. 35:17 THEN THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME, SAYING: 'BEFORE I FORMED 35:21 YOU IN THE WOMB I KNEW YOU; BEFORE YOU WERE BORN I 35:24 SANCTIFIED YOU; I ORDAINED YOU A PROPHET TO THE NATIONS.'" 35:30 WHAT IS THAT TEACHING, PREDESTINATION? 35:33 OR DOES THAT MEAN THAT GOD'S GOT A PLAN FOR EVERYBODY AND WHEN HE 35:38 CALLED JEREMIAH, JEREMIAH CHOSE TO LISTEN TO THAT PLAN? 35:42 ARE THERE EXAMPLES IN THE BIBLE OF PEOPLE THAT WERE INITIALLY 35:45 CALLED AND THEN TURNED AWAY FROM THEIR CALL? 35:48 WAS SAUL CHOSEN TO BE A KING? KING SAUL? WHO CHOSE HIM? GOD. 35:57 WAS HE GIVEN THE HOLY SPIRIT? DID HE EVEN PROPHESY? 36:01 BUT THEN DID HE NURTURE A PROUD HEART AND EVENTUALLY TURN AWAY? 36:07 WAS BALAAM INITIALLY A PROPHET OF GOD? 36:10 BUT HE, CONSUMED WITH COVETOUSNESS, EVENTUALLY SOLD 36:14 HIS SOUL, AS DID JUDAS. WHEN JESUS SENT OUT THE TWELVE 36:20 APOSTLES PREACHING, TEACHING, CASTING OUT DEVILS, WAS JUDAS 36:23 ONE OF THE TWELVE THAT WENT OUT DOING THAT? 36:25 DID HE EVER FEEL HIS HEART BURN WITHIN HIM AS HE HEARD JESUS 36:28 PREACH? DID HE EVER FEEL THE STIRRINGS 36:30 OF THE SPIRIT AND GO OUT AND PREACH AND ENJOY SEEING PEOPLE 36:33 TURN FROM THEIR SINS? PROBABLY, BUT HE WAS STRUGGLING 36:37 WITH A SECRET SIN HE WOULD NEVER RELEASE AND HE SELF-DESTRUCTED. 36:40 SO JEREMIAH WAS CALLED - HE HAD A CALLING. 36:45 BY THE WAY, YOU'VE GOT A CALLING. 36:46 GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE AND HE WILL MOBILIZE AND ACTIVATE 36:50 THAT PLAN AS YOU SURRENDER TO HIS CALL ON YOUR LIFE. 36:54 HE MAY NOT TELL YOU, RIGHT AWAY, WHAT IT IS. JEREMIAH - HOW OLD 36:58 WAS HE WHEN HE WAS CALLED? WELL, WE DON'T KNOW. 37:01 NEAR AS WE CAN TELL, YOU BEGIN TO SERVE AS A PRIEST AT 30. 37:05 HE FELT HE WAS TOO YOUNG. HE WAS NOT QUITE 30 YET. 37:08 KING SOLOMON, WHEN HE BEGAN TO RULE - 37:12 NOTICE THAT SOLOMON ALSO SAID, 'I AM JUST A CHILD. 37:15 I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GO OUT OR COME IN.' SOLOMON WAS ALSO 37:17 SOMEWHERE BETWEEN TWENTY-FIVE AND THIRTY. 37:19 YOU WEREN'T REALLY CONSIDERED A MAN UNTIL YOU WERE THIRTY. 37:22 JESUS DID NOT BEGIN HIS MINISTRY UNTIL HE WAS THIRTY. 37:24 YOU COULDN'T SERVE AS A PRIEST UNTIL YOU WERE THIRTY. 37:26 DAVID BEGAN TO REIGN WHEN HE WAS THIRTY. 37:28 JOSEPH WENT OUT OVER ALL OF EGYPT WHEN HE WAS THIRTY. 37:32 UP UNTIL THEN YOU SORT OF FELT LIKE YOU WERE STILL LEARNING. 37:37 YOU COULD GO TO WAR AT TWENTY YEARS OF AGE, BUT YOU COULD NOT 37:43 SERVE AS A PRIEST. SO JEREMIAH WAS SOMEWHERE 37:45 BETWEEN TWENTY-TWO AND THIRTY YEARS OF AGE WHEN HE GOT THIS 37:50 CALL AND HE SURRENDERED IT. 'BEFORE I FORMED YOU IN THE 37:54 WOMB.' ALRIGHT, LET'S TALK ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE WHO GOT A CALL. 37:57 WHO'S GOT LUKE 1:15? BACK HERE. 37:59 >>FOR HE WILL BE GREAT IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, AND SHALL 38:02 DRINK NEITHER WINE NOR STRONG DRINK. 38:05 HE WILL ALSO BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, EVEN FROM HIS 38:08 MOTHER'S WOMB." >>WELL THAT SOUNDS SOMETHING 38:11 LIKE WHAT GOD SAID TO JEREMIAH, 'BEFORE I FORMED YOU IN THE WOMB 38:16 I KNEW YOU.' DOES GOD KNOW ALL THINGS? 38:20 ALL KNOWLEDGE - EVERY DETAIL OF OUR LIVES. 38:24 AND JOHN THE BAPTIST ALSO, FROM HIS MOTHER'S WOMB HE WAS FORMED 38:29 - HE WAS CALLED. YOU CAN READ ISAIAH 44, VERSES 1 38:32 AND 2. IT SAYS, "YET HEAR NOW, O JACOB 38:36 MY SERVANT, AND ISRAEL WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN. 38:38 THUS SAYS THE LORD WHO MADE YOU AND FORMED YOU FROM THE WOMB, 38:42 WHO WILL HELP YOU: 'FEAR NOT, O JACOB MY SERVANT; AND YOU, 38:45 JESHURUN, WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN.'" - THAT'S JUST ANOTHER WAY OF 38:48 TALKING ABOUT JACOB. WHEN DID GOD DECLARE THAT JACOB, 38:52 THE YOUNGER, WOULD RULE OVER ESAU, THE OLDER? 38:56 DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN REBEKKAH WAS PREGNANT - WHILE THEY WERE 39:01 STILL IN THE WOMB - SHE FELT THEM HAVING - KICKING INSIDE - 39:05 AND IT LOOKED LIKE THEY WEREN'T JUST KICKING HER, THEY WERE 39:07 KICKING EACH OTHER. AND THE LORD SAID, 'YOU'VE GOT 39:09 TWO NATIONS INSIDE YOUR WOMB.' BOY, TALK ABOUT INDIGESTION. 39:13 (LAUGHTER) HAVING TWO NATIONS AT WAR INSIDE - TO GO THROUGH NINE 39:19 MONTHS OF THAT AND - BUT THE ANGELS SAID, BEFORE THEY WERE 39:22 EVEN BORN, THAT THE OLDER WOULD SERVE THE YOUNGER. 39:25 AND SO, EVEN FROM THE WOMB, JACOB, WHICH ENDED UP BEING THE 39:29 NATION OF ISRAEL, WAS CALLED. AND SO GOD IS SAYING TO 39:32 JEREMIAH, AND HE SAYS TO ISAIAH, AND HE SAYS TO US, AND JOHN THE 39:35 BAPTIST, THAT 'I HAVE A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE EVEN FROM THE VERY 39:40 BEGINNING AND I'VE CALLED YOU.' AND IF YOU SURRENDER TO THAT 39:43 PLAN - YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE, THEY RESIST GOD'S PLAN 39:48 FOR THEM FOR YEARS. DID JONAH RUN FROM GOD? 39:53 IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TIME WHEN YOU READ ABOUT IT. 39:57 SOMEONE IS GOING TO READ FOR ME ISAIAH 6:5. 40:01 WHO HAS THAT VERSE? RIGHT UP FRONT HERE? 40:04 IN JUST A MOMENT WE'LL GET TO YOU. 40:05 I'M GOING TO START OUT BY READING JEREMIAH 1, VERSE 6. 40:09 WE READ VERSES 1 THROUGH 5. IT SAYS IN VERSE 6, "THEN SAID 40:12 I: 'AH, LORD GOD! BEHOLD, I CANNOT SPEAK, FOR I AM 40:15 A YOUTH.'" NOT TOO OFTEN DOES A PERSON WRITE AN EMOTION. 40:19 BUT YOU REALIZE, WHEN YOU SAY 'AH' IT ALMOST - WHAT DOES THAT 40:26 MEAN? 'AH' - DOESN'T THAT MEAN THE 40:30 SAME THING IN EVERY LANGUAGE? OR WHEN YOU RIGHT THE WORD 'OH' 40:35 - WHEN GOD SAYS, 'OH, THAT THERE WAS SUCH A HEART IN THEM THAT 40:38 THEY WOULD FEAR ME AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.' ALMOST COMES FROM 40:41 THE WORD - GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD. 40:44 IT'S ALMOST LIKE YOU'VE GOT A WORD WITH AN EMOTION BUILT IN. 40:47 HE SAYS, 'AH, LORD GOD! I'M JUST A CHILD. 40:53 I'M A YOUTH. I CAN'T SPEAK. I'M NOT ELOQUENT. 40:56 I LIVE IN THIS, YOU KNOW - IT SAYS ANATHOTH AND ITS 41:00 PASTURE-LANDS. DID YOU CATCH THAT EARLIER? 41:02 IT WAS A FARM TOWN WHERE THE PRIESTS WOULD GROW THEIR 41:05 VITTLES. WHAT DID MOSES SAY WHEN HE WAS CALLED? 41:09 AND THIS IS EXODUS 4, VERSE 10, MOSES SAID, 'OH, LORD MY GOD, I 41:16 AM NOT ELOQUENT.' YOU CAN JUST HEAR THE ANGUISH. 41:19 'I AM NOT ELOQUENT, NEITHER IN THE PAST NOR SINCE YOU'VE SPOKEN 41:23 TO YOUR SERVANT; BUT I'M SLOW OF SPEECH AND OF TONGUE.' SEE, 41:27 MOSES STRUGGLED A LITTLE BIT BECAUSE HE LIVED THE FIRST FOUR 41:30 OR FIVE YEARS WITH HIS MOTHER HEARING HEBREW. 41:33 THEN HE GOT DUMPED IN THE PALACES AND NOW HE'S GOT TO 41:35 LEARN EGYPTIAN SO HIS HEBREW'S NOT GREAT AND HIS EGYPTIAN IS 41:38 NOW MUDDLED BECAUSE, DURING THOSE FORMATIVE LINGUAL YEARS, 41:41 HE'S BEEN LEARNING HEBREW AND HE NEVER CLAIMED TO BE ELOQUENT. 41:45 NOW GOD SAID - NOW HE HASN'T SPOKEN EGYPTIAN IN FORTY YEARS. 41:49 YOU KNOW, YOU START TO LOSE IT. HE'S BEEN SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE 41:52 OF MIDIAN - SOME ARAMAIC - AND NOW HE'S GOT TO GO BACK AND TALK 41:56 TO THE PHARAOH. HE SAYS, 'I CAN'T SPEAK THAT 41:58 TONGUE ANYMORE.' DID HE FEEL WORTHY? 42:01 THE LORD SAID TO HIM, 'WHO HAS MADE MAN'S MOUTH? 42:05 WHO MAKES THE MUTE OR THE DEAF, THE SEEING OR THE BLIND? 42:09 IS IT NOT I, THE LORD?' DID SOMETHING HAPPEN WITH THE 42:12 APOSTLES WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT CAME ON THEM WHERE THEY SUDDENLY 42:15 - FISHERMEN BECAME VERY ELOQUENT? 42:17 CAN GOD GIVE YOU THE WORDS TO SPEAK? 42:20 DID JESUS SAY, AT ONE POINT, 'WHEN YOU'RE BROUGHT BEFORE 42:23 KINGS AND RULERS FOR MY NAME'S SAKE, TAKE NO THOUGHT WHAT 42:26 YOU'LL SAY FOR IT'S NOT YOU THAT SPEAKS, BUT I WILL SPEAK THROUGH 42:28 YOU'? I HAVE TO CLAIM THAT PROMISE 42:31 WHEN I GET UP TO PREACH. YOU'RE GOING TO READ FOR US 42:34 ISAIAH 6:5 - WHO HAS THAT? RIGHT HERE. 42:36 >>"SO I SAID: 'WOE IS ME, FOR I AM UNDONE! 42:41 BECAUSE I AM A MAN OF UNCLEAN LIPS, AND I DWELL IN THE MIDST 42:44 OF A PEOPLE OF UNCLEAN LIPS; FOR MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE KING, THE 42:49 LORD OF HOSTS.'" >>AND SO THIS HAPPENS ALSO TO 42:52 ISAIAH WHEN HE GETS HIS CALL, HE SAYS, 'OH, WOE IS ME! 42:56 I CAN'T DO THIS. I'M A' - PARDON ME - 'I'M A MAN 43:00 OF UNCLEAN LIPS AND I DWELL IN THE MIDST OF A PEOPLE OF UNCLEAN 43:03 LIPS.' SO WHAT DID GOD DO FOR ISAIAH TO HELP DEAL WITH THE 43:07 UNCLEAN LIP PROBLEM? AN ANGEL IS SENT WITH A COAL 43:11 FROM THE ALTAR AND PLACES IT WHERE? ON HIS LIPS. 43:14 AND HE EMPOWERS HIM TO PREACH. YOU FIND SEVERAL TIMES, THOSE 43:19 WHO ARE CALLED BY THE LORD, THEY DON'T FEEL LIKE THEY'RE WORTHY. 43:22 IN LUKE CHAPTER 5, WHEN JESUS IS CALLING THE APOSTLES AND HE'S 43:27 SAYING, 'FOLLOW ME AND I'LL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN.' HE FILLS 43:30 PETER'S BOAT WITH FISH AND WHEN THEY SEE THIS MIRACLE - YOU CAN 43:33 SEE IN VERSE 8, WHEN SIMON PETER SAW IT, HE FELL DOWN AT JESUS' 43:38 KNEES AND HE SAID, 'DEPART FROM ME LORD, FOR I'M A SINFUL MAN.' 43:41 'I CAN'T DO THIS.' AND WHAT DOES JESUS SAY? 43:45 'DON'T BE AFRAID, FOLLOW ME AND I'LL MAKE YOU A FISHER OF MEN.' 43:49 AND SO YOU CAN ALMOST ALWAYS SEE THAT WHEN THESE PEOPLE ARE 43:53 CALLED TO THESE GREAT CALLINGS, THEY FEEL LIKE THEY'RE UNWORTHY. 43:57 THAT'S A GOOD THING. >>AMEN. 44:01 >>ARROGANCE IN MINISTRY IS A BAD COMBINATION. 44:05 I HEARD ABOUT A PROUD YOUNG PREACHER THAT GOT UP TO SPEAK 44:08 ONE DAY AND HE WAS JUST SO SURE THAT HE WAS GOING TO KNOCK THE 44:11 BALL OUT OF THE PARK WITH HIS SERMON, HE GOT UP THERE JUST 44:14 VERY COCKY AND TRIED TO PREACH AND JUST REALIZED THAT WITHOUT 44:18 THE SPIRIT OF GOD - UGH - HE WAS FIRING BLANKS. 44:21 HE JUST WASN'T GETTING THROUGH AND AFTER HE MUMBLED THROUGH AND 44:25 MUTTERED THROUGH HIS SERMON, HE LOST HIS PLACE IN HIS NOTES AND 44:28 HE KIND OF BOWED HIS HEAD AND HE CAME BACK DOWN. 44:31 AND AT THE DOOR, ONE OF THE OLD TIMERS IN THE CHURCH SAID, 44:36 'YOUNG MAN, IF YOU HAD GONE UP THE WAY YOU CAME DOWN, YOU WOULD 44:41 HAVE COME DOWN THE WAY YOU WENT UP.' IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A 44:46 SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY, ONE OF THE GOOD THINGS IS TO NOT BE DOING 44:49 IT TRUSTING IN YOURSELF, BUT TO HAVE A SPIRIT OF HUMILITY IN 44:53 THAT. SO YOU'LL NOTICE THAT ALL THESE 44:56 GREAT PROPHETS ARE SAYING, 'I AM NOT ABLE TO DO IT.' IT'S A GOOD 45:00 THING THAT WE HAVE THAT PROMISE OF JESUS, 'I AM WITH YOU UNTO 45:02 THE END OF THE WORLD.' AMEN? >>AMEN. 45:04 >>ALRIGHT, LET'S GO INTO THE ALMOND BRANCH . THIS IS ONE OF 45:07 THE PROPHECIES OF JEREMIAH YOU FIND IN CHAPTER 1 - JEREMIAH 1 45:10 VERSES 11 THROUGH 19 - I'M JUST GOING TO READ THROUGH THIS. 45:14 JEREMIAH 1:11 - 19, "MOREOVER THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME, 45:20 SAYING, 'JEREMIAH, WHAT DO YOU SEE?' 45:23 AND I SAID, 'I SEE A BRANCH OF AN ALMOND TREE.' THEN THE LORD 45:27 SAID TO ME, 'YOU HAVE SEEN WELL, FOR I AM READY TO PERFORM MY 45:30 WORD.'...DO NOT BE DISMAYED BEFORE THEIR FACES, LEST I 45:33 DISMAY YOU BEFORE THEM. FOR BEHOLD, I HAVE MADE YOU THIS 45:37 DAY'" - NOTICE THE PROMISE HE MAKES TO JEREMIAH. 45:40 YOU'VE GOT SOME TOUGH THINGS TO SAY, BUT DON'T BE AFRAID. 45:42 I AM MAKING YOU - "'A FORTIFIED CITY AND AN IRON PILLAR, AND 45:47 BRONZE WALLS AGAINST THE WHOLE LAND - AGAINST THE KINGS OF 45:51 JUDAH, AGAINST ITS PRINCES, AGAINST ITS PRIESTS, AND AGAINST 45:52 THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND.'" - IN OTHER WORDS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO 45:55 BE AFRAID. I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU STRENGTH 45:57 AND RESILIENCE. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? 46:00 JEREMIAH, AGAINST ALL THE PERSECUTION - FORTY YEARS OF 46:03 PREACHING AN UNPOPULAR MESSAGE - HE SURVIVED THE KINGS, THE 46:07 PRIESTS, THE FALSE PROPHETS AROUND HIM THAT KEPT PREDICTING 46:10 HIS DOOM - THEY ALL PERISHED. WHEN NEBUCHADNEZZAR CAME AND THE 46:14 CITY WAS DESTROYED AND THE TEMPLE, THEY TOOK JEREMIAH OUT 46:17 OF THE PRISON AND KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR SAID, 'I HEARD 46:20 THAT YOU TOLD THEM TO SURRENDER AND LIVE. 46:24 BECAUSE - AND YOUR PROPHECIES HAVE ALL COME TRUE, YOU ARE FREE 46:27 TO GO. HERE'S A CREDIT CARD' - HE 46:32 BASICALLY GAVE JEREMIAH A BUDGET - HE SAID, 'YOU CAN GO WHEREVER 46:34 YOU WANT.' AND ALL THOSE WHO WERE GIVING JEREMIAH A HARD TIME 46:39 AND PERSECUTING HIM, THEY WERE ALL JUDGED BY THE KING. 46:42 THAT'S THE SCENARIO FOR YOU AND ME. 46:45 HERE IN THIS LIFE, THE DEVIL MAY GIVE YOU A HARD TIME BUT IF YOU 46:47 STAND UP FOR JESUS, WHEN THE KING COMES, YOU WILL BE REWARDED 46:53 AND THEY WILL BE PUNISHED. WHAT HAPPENED TO JEREMIAH WILL 46:57 ALSO BE THE LOT OF THOSE THAT SERVE THE LORD FAITHFULLY. 47:00 EZEKIEL 2, VERSE 6, "AND YOU, SON OF MAN, DO NOT BE AFRAID OF 47:05 THEM NOR BE AFRAID OF THEIR WORDS, THOUGH BRIERS AND THORNS 47:09 ARE WITH YOU AND YOU DWELL AMONG SCORPIONS; DO NOT BE AFRAID OF 47:12 THEIR WORDS OR DISMAYED BY THEIR LOOKS, THOUGH THEY ARE A 47:16 REBELLIOUS HOUSE." HAVE YOU EVER HAD TO WALK 47:18 THROUGH BRIERS AND THORNS? YOU HAVE TO JUST PICK YOUR WAY 47:21 THROUGH VERY CAREFULLY SO THAT YOU'RE NOT INJURED. 47:22 THAT'S WHAT HE'S SAYING TO EZEKIEL. 47:24 YOU MIGHT LOOK LIKE YOU'RE HEDGED IN WITH BRIERS AND THORNS 47:26 ON EVERY HAND, SURROUNDED BY SCORPIONS - DON'T BE AFRAID. 47:30 YOU EVER CAMP WHERE YOU KNOW THERE'S SCORPIONS? 47:32 YOU'VE GOT TO CHECK YOUR SHOES IN THE MORNING? 47:34 HE'S TELLING EZEKIEL, "DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THEIR WORDS OR 47:38 DISMAYED BY THEIR LOOKS, THOUGH THEY ARE A REBELLIOUS HOUSE. 47:42 YOU SHALL SPEAK MY WORDS TO THEM, WHETHER THEY HEAR OR 47:46 WHETHER THEY REFUSE, FOR THEY ARE REBELLIOUS." 47:48 I KNOW ONE PASTOR SAID, 'I'M AFRAID TO MAKE ALTAR CALLS AT 47:51 THE END OF MY SERMONS BECAUSE WHAT IF NOBODY COMES UP?' 47:54 AND THE OLD EVANGELIST TOLD HIM, DON'T BE AFRAID. 47:56 THAT'S NOT YOUR PROBLEM. YOU INVITE PEOPLE TO COME. 47:59 YOU PREACH ABOUT SIN AND SALVATION AND THEN WHETHER THEY 48:02 COME OR NOT, YOUR SOUL IS CLEAR. YOU ARE TO GIVE THE WORD OF THE 48:05 LORD. IF THEY RESPOND, GREAT. 48:07 IF THEY DON'T, THAT'S BETWEEN THEM AND GOD. 48:09 CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW BAD NOAH FELT? 48:13 TALK ABOUT A DIFFICULT ALTAR CALL. 48:15 (LAUGHTER) I MEAN, THERE HE STANDS AT THE DOOR OF THE ARK 48:17 BEFORE IT SHUTS - PREACH FOR A HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS, MAKE 48:20 AN APPEAL, AND NO ONE COMES BUT YOUR FAMILY. 48:22 BUT HE DID WHAT GOD TOLD HIM TO DO, RIGHT? 48:26 AND SO THAT'S WHAT GOD SAYS TO HIS PROPHETS, 'YOU PREACH. 48:29 YOU LEAVE THE RESULTS WITH ME. DON'T WORRY. 48:32 IF THEY DON'T LISTEN, THEY DON'T LISTEN.' AND SO - AND THEN, YOU 48:36 KNOW, THE OTHER THING THAT YOU WANT TO NOTICE ABOUT THIS IS GOD 48:39 WANTS HIS PROPHETS TO BE BOLD. SOMEONE'S GOING TO READ FOR ME 48:44 ACTS 4:31. WHO HAS THAT VERSE? 48:46 ALRIGHT, WE'LL GET TO YOU IN JUST A MOMENT - ACTS 4:31. 48:49 HE WAS ASKING JEREMIAH TO BE A BOLD PROPHET - TO NOT BE AFRAID. 48:54 YOU KNOW, WHEN JESUS PREACHED, WAS HE TIMID OR WAS HE BOLD? 48:59 YOU CAN READ IN JOHN 7:26, "BUT LOOK! 49:03 HE SPEAKS BOLDLY AND THEY SAY NOTHING TO HIM. 49:06 DO THE RULERS KNOW INDEED THAT THIS IS TRULY THE CHRIST?" 49:08 JESUS PREACHED WITH BOLDNESS AND, THOSE THAT FOLLOW HIM, WE 49:12 MUST HAVE THAT SAME KIND OF COURAGE. 49:14 ACTS 4:13 - HOW DID THEY KNOW THAT THEY WERE FOLLOWERS OF 49:17 JESUS? IT SAYS, "NOW WHEN THEY SAW THE 49:20 BOLDNESS OF PETER AND JOHN, AND PERCEIVED THEY WERE UNLEARNED 49:24 AND IGNORANT MEN, THEY MARVELED; AND THEY TOOK 49:26 KNOWLEDGE OF THEM, THAT THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS." 49:29 JESUS SAID SOME VERY UNPOPULAR - WAS JOHN THE BAPTIST BOLD? 49:31 >>YES. >>'THE WICKED FLEE WHEN NO MAN 49:35 PURSUES, BUT THE RIGHTEOUS ARE' - DO YOU KNOW THE REST OF THAT? 49:39 - 'AS BOLD AS A LION.' ACTS 4:29 - LISTEN TO WHAT THEY PRAY 49:44 ABOUT, "AND NOW, LORD, BEHOLD THEIR THREATENINGS: AND GRANT 49:47 UNTO THY SERVANTS, THAT WITH ALL BOLDNESS THEY MAY SPEAK THY 49:50 WORD." THEY'RE PRAYING FOR WHAT? 49:52 PREACH THE WORD FOR BOLDNESS. DON'T WE NEED MORE OF THAT HOLY 49:55 BOLDNESS TODAY? >>AMEN. 49:58 >>ALRIGHT, GO AHEAD, READ FOR US ACTS 4:31. 50:00 >>"AND WHEN THEY HAD PRAYED, THE PLACE WAS SHAKEN WHERE THEY WERE 50:04 ASSEMBLED TOGETHER; AND THEY WERE ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY 50:07 GHOST, AND THEY SPAKE THE WORD OF GOD WITH BOLDNESS." 50:11 >>SO WHAT DOES GOD WANT TO DO WITH US WHEN HE FILLS US WITH 50:13 THE HOLY GHOST? THEY SPOKE THE WORD WITH WHAT? 50:17 >>BOLDNESS. >>THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL GIVE YOU 50:19 BOLDNESS AND THAT'S WHAT THESE PROPHETS HAD. 50:22 WOULD WE ALL AGREE PROPHETS HAD THE HOLY SPIRIT? 50:24 THE HOLY SPIRIT GAVE THEM COURAGE TO SAY WHAT NEEDED TO BE 50:28 SAID FOR GOD EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T POPULAR. 50:30 GOD NEEDS TO GIVE US THIS HOLY AUDACITY TO SAY THINGS THAT MAY 50:36 NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT, THEY MAY NOT BE WELL RECEIVED, BUT 50:39 IT'S THE WORD OF GOD. HEBREWS 4:16, "LET US THEREFORE 50:43 COME BOLDLY UNTO THE THRONE OF GRACE, THAT WE MAY OBTAIN 50:47 MERCY," - NOT ONLY DO WE PREACH BOLDLY - WHAT DID PAUL SAY WE DO 50:49 WITH THE ARMOR OF GOD? "PRAYING" - AND THIS IS 50:53 EPHESIANS 6:18 - "PRAYING ALWAYS WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION 50:58 IN THE SPIRIT, BEING WATCHFUL TO THIS END WITH ALL PERSEVERANCE 51:01 AND SUPPLICATION FOR ALL THE SAINTS - AND FOR ME," - NOW WHAT 51:05 DOES PAUL WANT THE CHURCH TO PRAY FOR? 51:07 - "AND FOR ME, THAT UTTERANCE MAY BE GIVEN TO ME, THAT I MAY 51:10 OPEN MY MOUTH BOLDLY TO MAKE KNOWN THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL, 51:14 FOR WHICH I AM AN AMBASSADOR IN CHAINS; THAT IN IT I MAY SPEAK 51:19 BOLDLY, AS I OUGHT TO SPEAK." YOU KNOW WHAT YOU PRAY FOR? 51:22 WHAT YOU ARE TEMPTED NOT TO HAVE. AND FOR CHRISTIANS, 51:27 WE ARE TEMPTED TO BE TIMID ABOUT OUR FAITH. 51:30 THAT'S WHY WE NEED TO PRAY THAT GOD'LL GIVE US THIS BOLDNESS AND 51:34 JEREMIAH IS A GREAT EXAMPLE IN THE BIBLE OF SOMEBODY WHO LIVED 51:38 DURING A VERY DIFFICULT TIME, BUT HE STOOD UP FOR THE LORD. 51:41 SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VERSES IN THE BIBLE, YOU'RE 51:44 GOING TO FIND IN THE FIFTY-TWO CHAPTERS OF JEREMIAH, AND SO 51:48 WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO STUDYING THIS TOGETHER AS WE 51:50 PROCEED. WE DO WANT TO REMIND YOU THE 51:53 GIFT OFFER, FOR THOSE THAT MAYBE MISSED IT AT THE BEGINNING. 51:56 FOR ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE A COPY, WE'LL SEND THE BOOK THE 51:58 TWO WITNESSES . IT TALKS ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD 52:01 AND THE INSPIRATION OF GOD'S WORD AND JUST ASK FOR OFFER #195 52:04 WHEN YOU CALL - 866-788-3966 AND, NOT ONLY THAT, YOU CAN JUST 52:11 - THAT'S ONE - I'M SORRY, THAT'S 866-STUDY-MORE. 52:15 YOU CAN ALSO READ IT ONLINE FOR FREE. 52:17 SIMPLY GO TO AMAZINGFACTS.ORG AND YOU CAN FIND THE BOOK THE 52:21 TWO WITNESSES . THANK YOU FOR STUDYING WITH US, 52:24 FRIENDS. GOD WILLING, WE'LL STUDY HIS 52:26 WORD TOGETHER AGAIN NEXT WEEK. >>MY GREATEST WISH IS THAT MY 52:32 CHILDREN WILL SEE ME THE WAY I SEE MY - MY OWN FATHER. 52:39 HE - HE'S A VERY DEVOTED MAN AND THAT KIND OF FRAMED MY CHILDHOOD 52:45 GOING FORWARD FROM THERE, WHERE I WAS ALWAYS INVOLVED IN CHURCH 52:49 WORK AND I HAD A VERY RICH EXPERIENCE WITH THE LORD AT A 52:54 YOUNG AGE - ALL THE WAY UP THROUGH COLLEGE. 52:58 AND AFTER I GOT MARRIED I GOT IN A COMPANY CALLED COMCAST AND I 53:04 SPENT THE PAST, ROUGHLY, EIGHT AND A HALF YEARS - NINE YEARS - 53:08 AT COMCAST AND I WAS ACTUALLY WATCHING TELEVISION WITH MY SON 53:13 AND A COMCAST COMMERCIAL CAME ON THE AIR AND HE SAID, 'OH, DADDY, 53:20 THAT'S COMCAST. THAT'S WHERE YOU WORK DADDY.' 53:23 AND MOST FATHERS WOULD BE PROUD OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BUT IT 53:28 REALLY STRUCK ME THAT, YOU KNOW, MY SON'S GETTING OLDER AND HE 53:32 DOES NOT SEE ME AS A SERVANT OF THE LORD. HE SEES ME AS A 53:36 SERVANT OF MY COMPANY AND I KNEW THAT I WOULD HAVE TO MAKE SOME 53:42 CHANGES BECAUSE I WANTED HIM TO KNOW ME AS A MAN OF GOD. 53:48 I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD BE A PREACHER OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, 53:51 BUT I KNEW THAT THERE WAS ROOM IN THE WORK FOR ME AND FOR MY 53:56 TALENTS AND I WANTED MY SON TO SEE ME OPERATING IN THE WORK. 54:03 THAT'S WHEN I KNEW THAT MY TIME THERE WAS COMING TO AN END. 54:10 I WAS SITTING IN MY OFFICE ONE DAY AND I WAS KNEELING IN PRAYER 54:14 AND I SAID, 'GOD, YOU KNOW, SHOW ME WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO 54:17 BECAUSE THIS SEEMS LIKE A BIG MOVE HERE AND, YOU KNOW, 54:25 EVERYONE'S THINKING I'M CRAZY AND I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY HOW, 54:31 YOU KNOW, THINGS ARE GOING TO GO IF THEY DON'T GO WELL.' CRAZY 54:36 THOUGHT WHEN YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT GOD. 54:41 AND I LIFTED MY HEAD UP IN PRAYER AND THERE WERE JUST LIKE 54:46 A FLOCK OF OH, MAYBE THREE HUNDRED BIRDS THAT WERE JUST 54:51 FLYING AND THEY WERE SWOOPING DOWN OVER THE WATER AND THEY 54:56 WOULD FLY BACK UP AND THEN THEY WOULD CHASE EACH OTHER AROUND 55:00 AND, YOU KNOW, I WAS JUST LOOKING AT THE PATTERN OF THE 55:04 GIANT FLOCK AND THE PROMISE OF THE LORD CAME TO ME WHERE HE 55:08 SAYS THAT, YOU KNOW, HE TAKES CARE OF THE SPARROWS AND YOU 55:12 DON'T SEE THEM WORRYING ABOUT HOW THEY ARE GOING TO BE TAKEN 55:17 CARE OF FROM DAY TO DAY. YOU KNOW, THEY DON'T, YOU KNOW, 55:21 WRING THEIR HANDS WONDERING, YOU KNOW, WILL THERE BE ANY WORMS TO 55:24 EAT TOMORROW. AND THAT PROMISE REALLY STOOD 55:28 OUT TO ME AND HE SAID, 'HOW MUCH MORE DO I LOVE YOU?' 55:32 YOU KNOW, I'M NOT GOING TO SEND YOU ON A MISSION TO DO MY WORK 55:36 AND LEAVE YOU HIGH AND DRY, BECAUSE YOU CLAIM TO BE MY 55:41 CHILD, YOU CLAIM TO BE MY SON, AND EVERYONE KNOWS THAT.' THAT 55:47 ASSURANCE ALLOWS ME TO KNOW THAT WHATEVER HAPPENS HERE, WHATEVER 55:51 HAPPENS AFTER HERE, WE'RE SONS OF GOD AND THERE ARE CERTAIN 55:58 THINGS THAT WE SHOULDN'T WORRY ABOUT. 56:00 FROM THE DAY WE ARRIVED AT AFCOE, IT'S BEEN OBVIOUS THAT 56:07 GOD HAS BLESSED THE AMAZING FACTS MINISTRY, THE AFCOE 56:10 PROGRAM, AND I WILL BE USING MY AFCOE EXPERIENCE, NO MATTER 56:16 WHERE I GO, TO REACH PEOPLE, BECAUSE THE PERSONAL TOUCH OF 56:21 FACE-TO-FACE EVANGELISM, SPEAKING AND SHARING THE WORD OF 56:27 GOD OUT OF YOUR OWN MOUTH, THERE'S NO REPLACEMENT FOR THAT 56:31 AND AMAZING FACTS HAS BEEN VERY INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING ME FIND 56:35 THE AREA OF THE WORK OF GOD AND SHOWING ME HOW LARGE AND HOW 56:44 BROAD IT IS. IT'S BEEN A TREMENDOUS BLESSING 56:47 TO BE IN A PLACE WHERE WE'RE AROUND PEOPLE SEEKING TO DO 56:51 GOD'S WILL AND LISTENING FOR HIS VOICE IN THEIR LIFE AND THAT'S 56:54 VERY, VERY IMPORTANT TODAY. >>TOGETHER WE HAVE SPREAD THE 57:07 GOSPEL MUCH FARTHER THAN EVER BEFORE. 57:11 THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. >>SOMEONE ONCE SAID, 'PICK YOUR 57:19 HEROES VERY CAREFULLY OR YOU MIGHT BECOME LIKE THEM. 57:22 SADLY, MOST PEOPLE TODAY IN THE WORLD ADMIRE THE WRONG CLASS OF 57:25 HEROES - STRONG ATHLETES, TALENTED ACTORS OR SINGERS WHOSE 57:29 PERSONAL LIVES ARE OFTEN EXPOSED FOR VIOLENCE, DRUGS, OR 57:33 IMMORALITY. THIS IS NOT NEW. 57:35 THE WORLD TYPICALLY CHOOSES THE WRONG HEROES. 57:38 REMEMBER, THE PEOPLE CHOSE BARABBAS INSTEAD OF JESUS. 57:41 WELL, IF YOU'RE READY TO MEET A NEW BATCH OF POSITIVE ROLE 57:44 MODELS, I'D LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN AN INSPIRING 57:48 NEW SERIES OF MEETINGS THAT WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE FROM LANSING, 57:52 MICHIGAN, OCTOBER 2ND. IT'S CALLED HEROES OF FAITH . 57:55 THIS NEW EVANGELISM SERIES IS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY AND IT'LL 57:59 HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE REAL HEROES OF HISTORY FROM THE 58:01 BIBLE. PLAN NOW TO ATTEND WITH YOUR 58:04 FRIENDS AND FAMILY AS WE LEARN FROM THE PAST HOW WE CAN BE 58:07 HEROES OF FAITH TODAY. TO FIND OUT MORE OR REGISTER 58:10 YOUR HOME OR CHURCH, GO TO THEHEROESOFFAITH.COM AND BECOME 58:15 A HERO BY BRINGING A SOUL TO CHRIST. 58:19 (MUSIC) |
Revised 2015-09-30