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00:35 Hello, friends, and welcome again
00:36 to Sabbath School Study Hour 00:38 coming to you here from the Granite Bay 00:39 Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:42 Very warm welcome to our online members 00:44 and those who are joining us 00:46 on the various television networks 00:48 ready to study our lesson with us today. 00:51 Also, I would like to welcome our regular members 00:53 and visitors right here in person, 00:54 delighted to see you all here today. 00:56 Now as many of you know, 00:57 we've been studying through the Book of Acts, 00:59 that's our lesson that we'll be looking at. 01:02 Today we find ourselves on lesson number seven, 01:04 that's entitled, "Paul's Missionary Journey," 01:07 his first missionary journey. 01:09 That'll be our study for today. 01:10 For those of you online, 01:11 if you don't have a copy of today's lesson, 01:14 you can download for free at study.aftv.org. 01:20 You want to download lesson number seven, 01:22 "Paul's First Missionary Journey,' 01:24 and you can follow along as we study. 01:26 Our free offer for today is a DVD sermon 01:30 by Pastor Doug entitled, 01:32 "Is it Easier to be Saved or Lost?" 01:35 And we'll be happy to send this to anybody who calls and ask. 01:38 The number is 866-788-3966, 01:42 and you want to ask for offer number 853. 01:45 You can also download the sermon for free. 01:48 If you'd like to do so, text the code, "SH102" 01:54 to the following number 40544, 01:59 you'll then receive a little email, 02:01 and that'll tell you where you can download the DVD. 02:05 Again, we'd like to welcome all of you 02:06 to our Sabbath School Study Hour today. 02:09 Before we get to our lesson, we're going to begin 02:11 by lifting our voices in song. 02:13 Now our song leaders will lead us. 02:16 Thank you, Pastor Ross. 02:19 We are talking about Paul in this lesson. 02:23 And this song, "Christ for the world," 02:26 is found on 370 in your hymnal. 02:30 So I would love for you to join with us 02:32 as we sing all three stanzas, 370. 04:01 Thank you for singing with us. 04:02 And at this time, Pastor Ross is going 04:04 to have our opening prayer. 04:07 Let's bow our heads for prayer. 04:09 Dear Father in heaven, thank You once again 04:10 that we have the opportunity to gather together 04:12 and open up Your Word. 04:14 Being inspired by the great evangelist, Paul, 04:17 as we look at his first missionary journey 04:19 taking the gospel to places that... 04:22 Prior to that people thought 04:23 weren't really that interested in the gospel, 04:25 and yet we see his tremendous response 04:28 and power in preaching. 04:30 May we be inspired, Lord, to take the gospel 04:33 to those in our areas. 04:34 Bless our time together, in Jesus' name, amen. 04:38 Our lesson today is going to be brought 04:39 to us by Pastor Doug. 04:42 All right, good to see each of you 04:43 here at the Granite Bay Church. 04:45 Welcome. 04:46 Also, thankful for those who are joining us online, 04:49 we're glad that you're studying the Word with us as well. 04:52 We are going into lesson number seven 04:55 in our Book of Acts. 04:57 Now, we're in lesson seven, 04:58 but we're actually studying Acts 13, 14, 05:02 in the Book of Acts. 05:03 And we have our memory verse. 05:06 Memory verse comes to us from Acts 13:38, 39. 05:13 And it says, "Therefore my friends, 05:16 I want you to know that through Jesus, 05:20 the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 05:23 Through Him, everyone who believes is set free 05:27 from every sin, a justification to you 05:30 were not able to obtain under the law of Moses." 05:34 Now that's actually an excerpt from one of the sermons 05:37 that Paul preached. 05:40 Now if you've got your Bibles, you just turn to Acts 13. 05:44 I'm going to do my best to read Acts 13 and 14 today. 05:48 So we at least cover that in our lesson. 05:51 And actually the study today goes 05:53 all the way through Acts 13 05:55 and we stopped two verses short of completing Acts 14. 06:00 But it pretty well covers his first missionary journey. 06:05 Now today when we think about a missionary 06:08 going to a foreign land, 06:10 they typically go and they pitch their tent 06:13 in a place and they stay and work in this place, 06:16 sometimes for the rest of their lives, 06:18 sometimes for years. 06:20 Paul was not that kind of missionary. 06:21 He was what you would call an itinerant missionary. 06:25 And so Paul would go somewhere, 06:27 and he would go from place to place 06:29 and visit different towns and synagogues, 06:31 he'd get a group of believers, 06:32 he tried to appoint an elder or a leader, 06:35 and then he'd go on to another spot. 06:37 So if you got your Bible, we'll read Acts 13. 06:41 And if you read verse 1, 06:43 "Now the church that was at Antioch 06:45 there were certain prophets and teachers, Barnabas, 06:49 Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, 06:52 Manaen who was brought up 06:54 with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul." 06:57 Now what is Saul being called here? 07:00 I know but what did it say at the beginning? 07:02 There were certain prophets. 07:05 See that in verse 1, 07:06 "At Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers." 07:09 So before this chapter is over, Saul makes a prophecy. 07:13 And I believe it's also putting Barnabas 07:16 in that category of these. 07:19 Barnabas, was he an apostle? 07:22 Well, he was definitely a missionary. 07:24 It seems like he ended up being an apostle. 07:28 He spent a lot of time with the apostles 07:29 or at least he had that kind of authority. 07:31 I don't know that he's ever called that. 07:35 And then it goes on to say in verse 2, 07:37 "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, 07:41 the Holy Spirit said, 07:43 'Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul 07:46 for the work to which I have called them.' 07:51 Then, having fasted and prayed, they laid hands on them, 07:55 and they sent them away." 07:56 And so, is it biblical to set a person aside 08:01 for a special work by praying and laying hands on them? 08:05 Do you know that when it talks about 08:07 some of the different doctrines 08:09 that were discussed and argued in the early church, 08:11 it specifically mentions 08:13 the doctrine of the laying on of hands? 08:17 We don't have that as one of our fundamental beliefs, do we 08:19 But it is something 08:22 that they did in the early days. 08:26 So they fasted, they prayed. 08:28 You notice they don't want to launch out 08:31 doing this special work 08:32 until they know they have the Holy Spirit, 08:33 they know they are doing what God wants them to do, 08:36 and they know they're going where God wants them to go. 08:39 So they're seeking for God's leading. 08:41 And the Holy Spirit said, 08:43 "Here's the two that I want to send first. 08:45 I want them to go as a team." 08:47 Now Jesus said that we should go out 08:48 at least two by two, right? 08:52 Isn't that how He sent them out? 08:54 And they actually take a third member with them 08:57 as you'll see here. 08:59 "So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, 09:03 they went down to Seleucia, 09:05 and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 09:08 And when they arrived in Salamis, 09:11 they preached the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. 09:14 They also had John as their assistant." 09:17 So you've got Paul and Barnabas, 09:19 and who else is in that group? 09:22 John. Which John? 09:24 He's known as John Mark, 09:27 and we're going to say more about him, 09:28 but there's a whole gospel 09:30 that we believe he wrote in the Bible. 09:32 But he starts out as a young man. 09:36 Now Paul and Barnabas probably were not old at this point. 09:39 They may have been in the 30s, John is, you know, 09:42 maybe in his 20s, but so they go out, 09:44 there's a two or three witnesses. 09:46 You got Barnabas and Paul, 09:49 he's actually called Saul in these passages. 09:52 And John, who has another name, Mark. 09:54 And we'll get to him in just a minute. 09:56 Now why did they go to Cyprus first 09:59 in their first missionary journey? 10:02 Cyprus was the largest island, third largest island 10:06 I should say, in the Mediterranean. 10:09 It was very close to Asia Minor, 10:11 so it's a good launching point for them. 10:14 There were a number of Jewish synagogues in Cyprus 10:18 that even predate Alexander the Great. 10:21 There had been enclaves of Jews in Cyprus for trade 10:26 for hundreds of years at this point. 10:29 And where did the apostles go as they went preaching? 10:35 What was the message of the apostles 10:37 when they went preaching? 10:41 That Jesus is the Messiah. 10:43 Who is the first audience that they would go to? 10:47 As they went from town to town, 10:48 they would start looking for Jews. 10:49 Why did they start with Jews? 10:51 Because they're more important than others? 10:53 I mean here we are in Acts 13, Peter in Acts 10 10:56 started going to gentiles, 10:58 so they've gotten over that hump, 11:00 while they're still slowly getting over that hump. 11:03 Does Paul say to the Jew first and also to the gentile? 11:07 When there is an announcement made at a wedding feast, 11:11 who are they sent to first, the messengers? 11:15 First, they go to those 11:16 who have accepted the invitation. 11:18 When they don't respond, then they go to the highways, 11:21 and the byways, and the hedges. 11:24 And so if you're going to a new place 11:26 and you're going to do evangelism, 11:28 where would you want to go first? 11:30 Wouldn't you want to go to the people 11:32 who already had some foundation in what you believe? 11:37 If I go to a foreign land 11:38 and I'm going to do some mission work 11:40 starting with Buddhist, for example, 11:43 it'd be very difficult. 11:45 But if in that country there are some Christians 11:47 that live among Buddhists 11:48 and speak the language of Buddhist, 11:49 if I can reach them, they'll do a much better job 11:51 reaching the Buddhist. 11:53 It'll be easier for me to reach them with the message 11:56 if they've already got a background in Christianity. 11:59 So as you go to different parts of the world, 12:01 and you've got the three angels' message, 12:03 it's a special part of Christian truth, 12:06 best place to start is with Christians 12:08 who already have accepted Christ 12:09 that maybe don't know the other points. 12:13 Does that make sense? 12:15 Who do you think typically comes 12:17 to our evangelistic meetings? 12:19 Atheists? Hindus? 12:21 Muslims? Buddhists? 12:24 They're evangelical Christians. 12:27 They want to know about Bible prophecy. 12:29 And when they learn, it then spreads on from there. 12:33 So you want to start 12:33 where the customers are going to be buying, 12:36 and you've got the best possibilities, right? 12:39 And so they went to Cyprus, 12:40 they begin going into the synagogues. 12:42 We already read you one example of that. 12:44 And another reason they probably went to Cyprus. 12:48 Now who is Paul traveling with? Barnabas. 12:51 Where's Barnabas from? Cyprus. 12:55 You remember reading that Acts 4:36. 12:58 He was a Jew from Cyprus. So he'd know it. 13:02 Now what language did they speak in Cyprus? 13:05 Cypreen, no, I made that up, I don't know. 13:08 They were speaking Greek in Cyprus back then. 13:12 And so would it help to have someone 13:14 who was from that area that spoke that language? 13:17 So Barnabas preaches Greek, he understands Greek, 13:21 he's lived in Cyprus. 13:23 But, you know, who really speaks 13:25 Greek very well is Saul of Tarsus, 13:29 which was also a Greek city. 13:31 And so the two of them together, 13:33 they were able to go to this place. 13:35 And so John Mark goes along, probably one reason 13:40 they brought John Mark along also, 13:42 it tells us that he was a cousin of Barnabas. 13:45 John may have also been from Cyprus. 13:48 So they're beginning in an area they're familiar with. 13:51 How did Jesus tell us to do missionary work? 13:55 Acts 1:8, "You shall receive the power of the Spirit. 14:00 You will be My witnesses beginning in Jerusalem." 14:04 Why did He tell the apostles Jerusalem? 14:06 It was a center of Jewish faith. 14:08 Then Judea, then Samaria, 14:12 then the outermost parts of the earth. 14:15 When the gospel comes to you, where do you begin? 14:18 Where you are. 14:20 So when Christ told the disciples, 14:22 "I want you to wait until you receive the Holy Spirit. 14:24 When you receive the Holy Spirit, 14:26 begin preaching where you are in your family, 14:29 among your people." 14:32 I think I probably told you a story 14:34 that's been oft repeated, at least variations of it 14:36 that Billy Graham said 14:39 he was traveling somewhere once, 14:41 and I don't know if it is by train or plane. 14:42 I thought it was by train. 14:44 And he met someone who recognized them and said, 14:46 "Oh, I'm actually preparing to go to mission work right now 14:50 in a foreign country." 14:51 Said, that's wonderful, and he was going 14:52 to a very remote, some exotic country. 14:54 He said, "What has been your evangelism experience 14:59 in your hometown?" 15:00 "Well, I haven't done any evangelism experiences." 15:02 "Well, have you done 15:03 any missionary work in your community?" 15:05 "I haven't done any missionary work." 15:06 He said, "Why are you going to a foreign country 15:09 if you haven't first honed your skills 15:11 in your own hometown?" 15:13 And so one of the first places... 15:15 Boy, and I'll tell you what, 15:16 if you can reach people in your family, 15:18 then you have your black belt. 15:20 Because the Bible says that a prophet is not without honor 15:23 except in his own neighborhood among his own kin. 15:26 And so that sometimes is the best proving ground. 15:30 And so Paul, Barnabas, maybe even Mark, 15:33 they're familiar with this country, 15:35 they speak the language, it's a good place to start, 15:37 and that's where the Holy Spirit sent them. 15:39 Notice, they fasted and prayed for guidance. 15:42 So before you go to a foreign land, 15:43 you want to fast and pray, and make sure that, 15:45 you know, God is sending you to this place. 15:49 And so they begin, they land at Paphos, 15:54 they cross the country presumably by foot. 15:57 They're stopping in the synagogues 15:58 along the way. 15:59 And let me read you here. 16:02 So go to verse 4. 16:06 "Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, 16:08 they went down to Seleucia, 16:09 from there they sailed to Cyprus. 16:11 When they arrived in Salamis, 16:13 they preached the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. 16:16 They also had John as their assistant. 16:18 Now when they had gone through the island, 16:20 they basically started in the east 16:22 and they made their way to the west to Paphos. 16:25 They found a certain sorcerer and a false prophet, a Jew, 16:30 whose name was Bar-Jesus." 16:32 Isn't that interesting? 16:34 He's a false prophet. What does the word "Bar" mean? 16:38 So it means son of. 16:40 And so, here is this guy called son of Jesus. 16:43 He's a false prophet. He's also like a false Christ. 16:47 He's a sorcerer, claims that power, 16:48 but it's not the power of God, 16:50 he's got power from the dark side. 16:52 And so this is very interesting. 16:55 "And he is with the proconsul, the governor of the island, 16:59 his name was Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. 17:04 The man was sharp, he was intuitive. 17:06 This man called for Barnabas and Saul. 17:08 He had heard maybe from the Jews 17:10 that they were teaching some things 17:12 that were new. 17:14 And he sought to hear the Word of God. 17:16 But Elymas, the sorcerer, 17:18 that's what his name is translated, 17:20 as Bar-Jesus is also called Elymas. 17:23 He is a wizard. He with stood them. 17:26 He saw that he was losing 17:27 his influence over the governor. 17:29 Seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith." 17:33 Now what happens when you start preaching? 17:36 If you're going to do mission work, 17:37 does a devil wave a hanky, and throw flowers, 17:40 and wish you bon voyage? 17:42 Or does he try to stop what you're doing? 17:45 And it may not happen right away. 17:47 He usually has to get his strategy together. 17:49 But if you're not working for the Lord, 17:50 if you're trying to do anything great from God, 17:53 you're going to meet with resistance. 17:55 If you don't meet with resistance, 17:56 you're probably not doing anything. 17:59 All that live godly will suffer persecution. 18:02 And so sure enough the devil, 18:03 he's doing all he can to turn them away. 18:05 And this is a very pivotal point in the Bible. 18:09 You notice, here it says that 18:11 when he's trying to turn them away, 18:14 then verse 9. I'm in Acts 13:9, 18:17 "Then Saul, who also is called Paul..." 18:22 Now I've underlined this in my Bible 18:23 because there is... 18:24 This is a transition point in the Bible. 18:27 It's a transition point for several reasons. 18:29 One is, now look for the first time 18:31 it goes from calling Saul, Paul. 18:35 Luke never turns back. 18:36 From here on, he is known as Paul. 18:39 Every other point up until here 18:40 he is called Saul. 18:43 The other reason it's interesting 18:44 is because from this point on, 18:45 instead if it mean Barnabas and Saul, 18:48 it's now Paul and Barnabas. 18:51 You know, actors when the movie is released, 18:53 they fight among themselves to see who gets top billing. 18:57 Whose name is going to be listed 18:58 first in the credits? 19:00 And who is the lead act, so to speak, 19:04 and, you know, up until then 19:05 Barnabas was the one who found Saul. 19:07 Barnabas brought him to the apostles, 19:09 Barnabas introduced them. 19:11 Barnabas had kind of taken a leading role. 19:13 But now all of a sudden, 19:15 the Holy Spirit comes on Saul, he is now called Paul, 19:19 he begins to preach. 19:20 Listen what he says. 19:22 "Filled with the Holy Spirit, 19:24 he looked intently at him," at Elymas, 19:26 and listen to this, this is pretty strong stuff. 19:30 "O full of all deceit and all fraud, 19:33 you son of the devil, 19:35 you enemy of all righteousness, 19:37 will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? 19:40 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, 19:43 and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time." 19:47 Any of you ever seen a pastor missionary do that? 19:52 When the Holy Spirit is moving 19:55 I mean, we always think about pastors or missionaries 19:57 is just blessings and grace, 19:59 but when a person is a prophet of God, 20:02 did John the Baptist 20:03 when he saw the Scribes and the Pharisees 20:05 coming to his baptism, 20:06 he called them a brute of vipers. 20:09 I mean sometimes 20:10 being a messenger of God means 20:12 you know how to call people out for what they are. 20:16 And Jesus said... 20:17 They said, "We're children of Abraham." 20:19 And Jesus said, "You're not children of Abraham, 20:20 you're children of the devil." 20:22 And you're doing the deeds of your father, the devil. 20:25 I mean, we don't get taught that in seminary, do we? 20:30 How to call people out and say they're sons of the devil. 20:33 But did they do it in the Bible sometimes? 20:35 You better make sure the Holy Spirit's guiding you 20:37 when you do that, 20:38 otherwise you're not going to have many friends. 20:41 So he says that, and he makes a prophecy. 20:44 "Now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you," 20:46 meaning in judgment, 20:48 "And you will be blind not seeing the sun." 20:52 Now did Paul know what that was like? 20:55 Did Paul at one point work for the devil? 20:58 Was he opposing the work of Christ? 21:00 And what did God do to him? Struck him blind. 21:04 But was he blind forever? 21:07 It's pretty hard when you've had vision 21:08 to suddenly lose it in three days, 21:10 you don't know if you're ever going to see again. 21:12 Paul remembered that. 21:13 And after he said, "You're going to be blind," 21:15 then he added to his prophecy, "for a time." 21:18 That was mercy, wasn't it? 21:21 And this is after he says that immediately, 21:25 "A dark mist fell on him, and he went around 21:28 seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 21:31 When the proconsul saw this, he believed." 21:35 Now why was he struck with blindness? 21:37 What is blindness a symbol of? 21:40 When God says, "If the blind lead the blind." 21:44 It's talking about religious leaders. 21:46 They're leading other people in the wrong way, says, 21:49 "They'll both fall in the ditch." 21:51 And the Bible tells us in... 21:53 What's the message to the church of Laodicea? 21:56 You don't know that you're poor, and wretched, 21:59 and miserable, and blind. 22:02 What's blindness mean there? 22:05 You think you see but you don't. 22:10 It's spiritual blindness. 22:13 You don't know that you're poor, and wretched, 22:15 and miserable, blind, and naked. 22:17 "And immediately a dark mist fell upon him, 22:19 and he went around seeking someone 22:21 to lead him by the hand." 22:23 Some of your remember 22:24 when Elisha struck a whole army blind 22:27 in the 2 Kings. 22:30 "And when the proconsul," when the governor saw this, 22:34 "he believed when he saw what had been done." 22:37 Now why does God do signs? 22:39 Aren't the signs there to help reinforce the truth 22:42 so that others will believe? 22:45 It's when he saw what had been done, 22:46 he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. 22:49 All right, now, I want to say 22:51 just another word or two about this before. 22:54 So why is Saul suddenly called Paul? 23:00 There's probably a few reasons. 23:01 One is, some have wondered... 23:07 If, you know, what is the word "Paul" mean? 23:11 Paul means small or diminutive. 23:15 I mean, you know, no one wants that nickname, 23:17 "Hey, Shorty." 23:19 So we don't really have any definite Bible proof 23:23 that early church legends tell us 23:26 that Paul was actually short. 23:28 Others say that we believe he was nearsighted, 23:30 he had problems seeing, 23:31 which is why he dictated all of his letters. 23:34 And in one place Paul says, 23:36 "You notice 23:38 with what large characters I'm writing. 23:39 When he wrote, 23:41 he wrote in big letters so he could see it. 23:43 When Paul was being tried by the high priest, 23:45 he called them out, and they said, 23:46 "How dare you revile the high priest." 23:48 He said, "I didn't know it was the high priest." 23:50 And he's right there in the courtroom. 23:53 And Paul talks about a thorn in his eye. 23:55 He had been blind and God made, brought his sight back, 23:58 but it never was quite the same. 24:01 And so... He, Paul was short. 24:05 Another reason possibly it goes from Saul to Paul, 24:08 is Saul is a Hebrew name, 24:09 and now he's going by a Greek name 24:10 because he's working among Greek people. 24:13 But I don't know if that's the best argument 24:15 because even after he goes back to Jerusalem, 24:17 Luke still calls him Paul. 24:19 For the rest of the Bible he's called Paul. 24:25 Saul in the Old Testament was someone 24:27 who was fighting against God. 24:30 And so that could be one reason. 24:32 And some have suggested 24:33 because in honor of Sergius Paulus 24:37 that maybe he adopted this now as a Greek name 24:40 to work among the Greek. 24:41 You notice John's also call Mark. 24:43 John is a Hebrew name, Mark was more of a Greek name. 24:46 And so, sometimes they said, look, 24:48 if you're going to work among the Greeks... 24:49 I've got a lot of Chinese friends. 24:51 And some of their names, I'll just tell you, 24:53 their original Chinese names are very difficult. 24:57 And so when they get to America, 24:58 they realize people are asking them ten times. 25:01 Now how do you say your name? 25:03 And so they say, "My name is Jane." 25:06 And they just say, "I'm going to get an American name." 25:08 They kind of pick an English name. 25:11 So that people can deal with it. 25:12 Well, I think the Greeks had problems 25:14 with the Hebrew names, and so the Jews 25:16 when they worked among the Greeks, 25:17 they would take a Greek name also. 25:19 So, you know, it's somewhat of a mystery, 25:22 but those are some of the reasons 25:23 that are given why that happened. 25:24 All right, now we're going to go 25:26 under the Pisidian Antioch. 25:28 Now this is confusing. 25:30 It's telling us they've left Antioch, 25:32 and on the missionary journey they're going to Antioch 25:35 that's because there's more than one Antioch. 25:37 Now the word "Antioch" it, 25:40 I think it means powerful or driven against. 25:46 And in the original it's Antiokheia in Greek. 25:51 And so, you know, we call it Antioch. 25:53 There's a lot of churches called the Church of Antioch. 25:56 And there was more than one. 25:57 How many of you know 25:58 that there's more than one Farmington 26:00 in North America? 26:02 And if you tell people I just went to Portland, 26:04 they might say Portland, where, Portland, Maine? 26:07 Portland, Oregon? 26:09 We've got, you know how many Farmingtons there are? 26:11 It just means farming town. 26:13 A lot of those spring up when America was being settled. 26:17 And so there was more than one Antioch. 26:19 Now they've left the Antioch, that's over there near Syria, 26:24 and where they were first called Christians, 26:26 now they're going up to the Antioch in Pisidia, 26:29 which is in Asia Minor. 26:31 Matter of fact, I think I've got a map 26:33 that kind of gives you a little picture 26:35 of where they took off from. 26:37 First, you see they leave by Syria, 26:38 they take off from Antioch, they go down, 26:41 the blue line, they're going to Cyprus. 26:43 They make their way from one side of the island 26:45 to the other, 26:46 then they take a boat, and they went up to Asia Minor. 26:48 When they get to Asia Minor, 26:50 then they make their way up to the Antioch, 26:51 it's the furthest north part. 26:54 You go to Acts 13:13, and it tells us that... 27:00 "Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, 27:03 they came to Perga in Pamphylia, 27:06 and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem." 27:10 Now if you underline in your Bible, 27:12 you may want to underline that 27:13 because that little statement has bigger ramifications. 27:17 John, whose name is also... 27:20 What's his name also? Mark. 27:25 He was... Became a close friend of Peter. 27:28 When you read the Gospel of Mark, 27:31 this is the same John Mark, many believe, 27:33 you're really reading Peter's gospel 27:36 being dictated to Mark. 27:41 There was a big argument that took place. 27:45 You look at Acts 15. 27:46 I know you're going to get to this 27:47 next week or the week after, 27:49 but I want to read it to you now. 27:50 Acts 15:36, notice. 27:52 "Then after some days Paul and Barnabas said, 27:54 'Let us go back and visit our brethren in every city 27:57 which we preached the word of the Lord," 27:58 let's go reinforce and encourage them, 28:00 "And see how they are doing.'" 28:02 Now Barnabas was determine 28:04 that they take with them John, who is called Mark. 28:07 But Paul insisted 28:08 that they should not take with them 28:10 the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia. 28:14 Now let me rephrase it. 28:16 They should not take with them the one that had jumped ship, 28:20 who had abandoned them. 28:22 He quit, he got discouraged. 28:26 And if you're out doing mission work 28:27 and you get discouraged, you say, 28:28 "I want to get sent home." 28:29 Then you should be forever disqualified. 28:32 Paul, he was a Pharisee, and he said, 28:35 "He's a quitter, don't take him with you." 28:38 Barnabas said, "You've got to give... 28:39 He's a good man. Give him another chance." 28:43 Then the contention verse 39, 28:45 I'm in Acts 15:39 became so sharp. 28:49 And here's Paul and Barnabas, 28:51 they worked together as friends and missionaries. 28:53 They'd been stoned together, 28:54 I mean, they'd gone through a lot. 28:57 Travel, but they had such a disagreement on this. 29:00 They parted company from one another. 29:03 They said, "Well, look, I'm not working with you. 29:05 You're going to hire a quitter." 29:07 Barnabas said, "You have no mercy, 29:09 I'm not working with you." 29:11 And they had a split. 29:13 So Paul took Silas, 29:14 and he being commended by the brethren 29:17 through the grace of God, he went one place 29:18 and Barnabas took Mark. 29:21 Now who was right here? 29:25 Paul was wrong. 29:28 Do you know, later you read where Paul says, 29:29 "Send to me Mark, 29:31 for he is profitable to me in the ministry." 29:35 Have you ever gotten discouraged and quit? 29:40 Do you know, I haven't told to many people this. 29:43 I wanted nothing more 29:44 than to get called in the ministry. 29:47 And after I got called in the ministry, 29:49 you know, the first one who called me 29:50 to be an official conference pastor? 29:52 It was Cyril Miller, the founder of Amazing Facts. 29:56 Now he never knew 29:57 I'd end up with Amazing Facts back then, 29:58 but he was a president of Texas. 30:00 I was working with the Navajos in New Mexico. 30:02 He said, "Doug, we're considering giving you 30:04 a real conference call. 30:05 Would you be willing to come. 30:07 We've got three churches in Texas." 30:08 Well, it started out two, and they add a third one 30:10 because the pastor left 30:12 and I had Coleman, Hamilton, and Santa Anna. 30:16 And there's like 70 miles between them. 30:18 And I became extremely frustrated 30:21 because here for the last year and a half I had one church, 30:24 one district, and I would invite everybody, 30:25 they'd come that week, I preached to them. 30:28 And now I'd invite everybody that come, 30:29 but I wasn't there that week, 30:30 and something would go wrong, and then I'd come here 30:32 and I'd invite everyone to come, 30:33 they'd go to the other place, and... 30:36 And I was so discouraged, 30:38 I felt like I can't do evangelism like this. 30:40 I'm getting torn between three different places. 30:43 I was 23 years old, 24 years old, 30:47 and I finally went back to Cyril Miller, 30:49 and I brought him my paycheck, 30:50 and I said, "I can't take this 'cause I'm is not earning it." 30:52 I said, "I quit." He said, "Don't do it, Doug." 30:55 He said, "It took forever for me 30:56 to convince the conference committee to hire you 30:59 because you don't have the education, don't quit." 31:02 We had a long discussion. 31:04 And you know what? I told him I quit. 31:07 But God is so good. 31:10 Before the word got out that I had quit, 31:13 I got a call from Northern California. 31:16 And they said, "Doug, we heard you're working in Texas. 31:19 We've got a church in the hills of Covello. 31:22 We're looking for someone to do conference evangelism 31:24 and pastor the church. 31:26 I thought, "Praise the Lord, 31:27 that's exactly what I'm looking for." 31:30 So I had quit, but word had not gotten out 31:32 that I had quit yet. 31:34 And I got called to Northern California. 31:35 And I've been in Northern California 31:37 now for 33 years. 31:39 But God is merciful. 31:42 He's saved me from myself, from my own discouragement. 31:45 And so, anyway, 31:47 they had this sharp disagreement all about Paul. 31:52 Anyway, all right, moving on from there, 31:54 so Paul left them in the work it says, 31:56 and that was in Acts 13:13. 32:00 "But when they departed from Perga, 32:02 they came to Antioch in Pisidia, 32:04 and they went into the synagogue 32:05 on the Sabbath day and sat down. 32:07 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets." 32:09 This was normal, 32:10 they read from the Law and the Prophets. 32:11 You remember, Jesus Has his custom was, 32:13 He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. 32:15 He sat down and read the scriptures. 32:19 It even tells what Jesus read one day. 32:22 "The rulers of the synagogue sent to them," 32:24 a message was sent to them. 32:25 They saw that we've got guests here 32:28 that are from Jerusalem, 32:29 "saying, 'Men, brethren, have you any word 32:32 of exhortation for the people, speak.'" 32:34 They said we got guest speaker. 32:36 I was in Sedona, Arizona last week 32:40 on vacation with the family, 32:42 and didn't tell anybody we were coming, 32:44 and just Karen, Nathan and I showed up. 32:47 And as soon as I got there, 32:49 they said, "Oh, Pastor Doug, we're so glad you're here. 32:52 Will you do Sabbath School?" 32:55 And then they came up and said, 32:57 "Nathan would you do special music?" 33:00 And then they said, "Will you preach the sermon?" 33:04 So sometimes that happens 33:05 when you have visitors in the area. 33:07 So they saw Paul and they saw Barnabas, 33:09 and they said, "Do you have any word?" 33:11 Then instead of Barnabas, "Paul stood up, 33:14 and motioned with his hand, 33:15 'Men of Israel, you who fear God, listen.'" 33:18 Calls them the brethren. 33:20 Now, this is a very, very important passage. 33:23 And the reason this is so important 33:25 is because there are hundreds of times 33:28 that we can track where Paul and Barnabas, 33:31 or Paul and Silas in their missionary journeys, 33:34 the first place they would go 33:36 is one of these Jewish communities 33:38 where there was a synagogue, 33:40 and they'd stand up and they preach. 33:41 And we've always wondered what did they preached. 33:43 Here is an example that you've got a whole sermon 33:47 of what they preach, at least some of it. 33:49 So we're going to look at this together. 33:50 Bear with me as I read Paul's sermon to you. 33:54 The God... And I'm in Acts 13:17. 33:58 "The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, 34:02 and exalted the people 34:04 when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, 34:06 and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. 34:09 Now for a time of about 40 years 34:10 He put up with their ways in the wilderness." 34:12 He's reminding them, they've not always been faithful. 34:15 "And when He had destroyed seven nations 34:17 in the land of Canaanites, 34:19 He distributed their land to them by allotment. 34:22 'After that He gave them judges for about 450 years, 34:26 until Samuel the prophet. 34:27 And afterward they asked for a king, 34:29 so God gave them Saul," which had been his former name, 34:32 "The son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, 34:35 for 40 years. 34:36 And when He had removed him, 34:38 He raised up for them David as king, 34:40 to whom He also gave testimony." 34:42 He very quickly brings them through their history 34:44 and he brings them to David. 34:45 And then he jumps from David to Jesus, listen. 34:48 And he says, "He gave them testimony saying, 34:50 'I have found David the son of Jesse, 34:51 a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.' 34:55 From this man's seed." 34:57 In other word, it's a prophecy, a promise. 34:59 "According to the promise, 35:00 God raised up for Israel a Savior Jesus." 35:05 Now, they had heard about Jesus at this point. 35:08 Several years have gone by since the cross. 35:11 And this probably... 35:12 This missionary journey is like 44 to 46 AD. 35:16 Jesus ascended to heaven in 31 AD. 35:20 So word had reached to Jewish settlements 35:22 about Jesus' work, His death. 35:25 And so he's saying, Jesus was a messiah. 35:28 "After John had first preached, before His coming, 35:32 the baptism of repentance,'' 35:33 they all knew about John the Baptist. 35:35 "To all the people of Israel. 35:37 And as John was finishing his course, 35:39 he said, 'Who do you think I am? 35:40 I am not the one. 35:42 But behold, there comes One after me, 35:44 the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.'' 35:47 'Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham.' 35:49 He's talking to the Jews in the synagogue. 35:51 "'And those among you who fear God, 35:54 to you the word of salvation has been sent. 35:56 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, 35:59 because they did not know Him, 36:01 nor even the voices of the Prophets 36:02 which are read every Sabbath, 36:04 have fulfilled the prophets in condemning Him. 36:08 And though they found no cause of death in Him, 36:12 they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. 36:15 Now when they had fulfilled 36:16 all that was written concerning Him, 36:18 they took Him down from the tree 36:19 and laid Him in a tomb. 36:21 But God raised Him from the dead. 36:23 He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him 36:26 from Galilee to Jerusalem, 36:28 who are His witnesses to the people. 36:30 And we declare to you the glad tithings," 36:33 that's the gospel, the good news, 36:35 "That the promise which was made to the fathers. 36:37 God has fulfilled for us their children, 36:41 in that He has raised up Jesus 36:42 as it is also written in the 2 Psalm 36:45 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.' 36:48 And that He raised Him from the dead, 36:50 no more to return to corruption.'" 36:51 He would not experience decay in the grave. 36:54 "'He spoke thus, 36:55 'I will give you the sure mercies of David. 36:57 Therefore He also says in another Psalm, 37:00 'You will not allow Your Holy One 37:02 to see corruption." 37:03 Notice what Paul is doing in a sermon. 37:05 He covers their history very quickly. 37:07 He talks about Jesus was a Messiah, 37:09 then he goes back and he shows from the prophecies 37:12 that Christ is the fulfillment of those prophecies. 37:16 "For David, after he had served his own generation 37:18 by the will of God, he fell asleep, 37:20 and was buried with his fathers, 37:21 he saw corruption," his body decayed. 37:24 "'But He whom God raised up saw no corruption. 37:26 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, 37:28 that through this Man is preached to you 37:31 the forgiveness of sins, and by Him everyone 37:33 who believes is justified from all things 37:36 by which you could not be justified 37:38 by the law of Moses.'" 37:40 Now that's mentioned also in chapter 14 in our lesson. 37:45 And so it gives us a sample here 37:48 of the very sermon that he's preaching 37:50 as he goes there. 37:52 And when he got done preaching the sermon, 37:56 it says in Acts 13:42, 37:58 "So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, 38:01 the gentiles begged 38:02 that these words might be preached 38:04 and then the next Sabbath." 38:06 Now how do the gentiles know that he preached those words? 38:10 Because the Jews had proselytes. 38:13 They were converts to Judaism from the Greeks 38:16 that had joined the synagogue. 38:17 And they were in there... And they were listening. 38:19 They went home and they told the gentile families, 38:21 they said, "You should hear what this man says, 38:23 did someone raise... 38:24 They rose from the dead." 38:26 And now someone's going to read for me, Acts 13:44. 38:29 You'll have that? And it said... 38:32 I want to just finish Acts 13:43. 38:36 "They went out of the synagogue, 38:37 the gentiles begged at these words..." 38:39 Oh, you know, I long for the day when that happens. 38:41 When they all beg you, 38:43 "Will you please preach to us again next week?" 38:46 And when the congregation had broken up, 38:47 many of the Jews and devout proselytes." 38:50 Proselytes are the converts to Judaism. 38:52 "They followed Paul and Barnabas, 38:54 who, speaking to them, persuaded them," 38:56 they continued to convince them, 38:58 "To continue in the grace of God." 39:01 What happened as a result of that? 39:02 Go ahead. 39:03 "On the next Sabbath 39:04 almost the whole city came together 39:06 to hear the word of God." 39:09 Would God that would happen again, 39:13 I mean, let's just be modest. 39:19 Wouldn't it be nice 39:21 if all of Rockland came together 39:24 to hear the Word of God where we are right now. 39:27 Or when we move all of Granite Bay 39:30 or be greedy, 39:31 all of Sacramento came together to hear the Word of God. 39:35 America's so secular now. 39:37 People are so distracted with all kinds of other things. 39:42 But when the Holy Spirit's poured out 39:43 and trials start coming, 39:45 and maybe they'll be some kind of economic implosion, 39:48 or natural disaster, 39:49 or a fire like no fire we've seen, 39:51 I mean, who knows what it'll take. 39:53 People become very religious. 39:54 I'll never forget after 9/11, the church attendance said that 39:58 Sacramento Central was record breaking. 40:02 And that didn't even happen in our state. 40:05 The whole city came together to hear the Word of God. 40:07 How many of you like to see that happen again? 40:09 Do you think it will happen again before Jesus comes? 40:12 People will be so hungry for the Word of God. 40:15 That's a good missionary to get the whole city. 40:19 Now the devil, what do you think of that? 40:22 You know one reason that Paul was able to do this. 40:25 Paul, how could Paul speak 40:26 to a gentile city in Asia Minor? 40:30 He's a Jew. 40:32 Paul spoke many languages. 40:34 He was very educated. How do we know this? 40:37 Acts 14:18, Paul said, "I thank My God, 40:42 I speak with tongues more than you all." 40:45 Some people read that verse, 40:47 they think it means that Paul babbled 40:50 like Pentecostals interpret babbling, 40:53 and that he babbled more often than anyone else 40:57 in these spiritual tongues that nobody understands. 41:00 And you've probably seen what I'm talking about 41:01 charismatic churches. 41:02 It's not what Paul means. 41:03 Paul means, "I'm thankful, 41:05 I speak with more languages than you all." 41:07 Paul was widely traveled, 41:09 he was very fluent in many languages, 41:12 and he was probably the most educated of all the apostles. 41:15 And that's how he was able to preach. 41:17 And then you got the message of what happened in Iconium. 41:21 You go to Acts 13:45. 41:23 So when the Jews saw these converts, 41:25 were they happy? 41:27 "But when the Jews saw the multitudes, 41:29 they were filled with envy." 41:31 The Jews that didn't accept Jesus. 41:33 "And they contradicted, and they went against them, 41:36 and they blasphemed, 41:37 and they oppose things spoken by Paul. 41:41 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, 41:43 'It was necessary that the word of God 41:45 should be spoken to you, but since you reject it, 41:48 and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, 41:51 behold, we turn to the gentiles. 41:54 For the Lord has commanded us, 41:55 'I have set you as a light to the gentiles.'" 41:57 Now this is also a very important statement. 41:59 When they went to a synagogue, they go there first, 42:02 if they accept it like the Bereans, 42:04 they studied whether these things are so, 42:05 they embraced it, great. 42:07 If they didn't and they persecuted them, 42:09 they said, "Look, we go to the gentiles." 42:13 And when the gentiles heard this, they were glad, 42:16 and they glorified the Word of the Lord. 42:18 And as many as have been appointed 42:19 to eternal life, believed. 42:22 And you go to verse 49. 42:23 "And the Word of the Lord was being spread 42:25 throughout all of the region. 42:27 But the Jews stirred up the devout 42:29 and prominent women and the chief men of the city, 42:33 and raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas." 42:36 Now someone's going to read for me 42:38 Matthew 10 in just a moment. 42:40 You can get ready for that, Matthew 10:14. 42:42 Notice what happens. 42:43 "After they persecuted them, 42:45 they expelled them from their region." 42:48 They were kicked out of the city. 42:51 But they shook the dust off their feet against them. 42:54 Now how many of you remember when Jesus told the apostles, 42:56 "When you go out preaching, if they don't accept you, 42:58 then shake the dust off your feet." 43:00 You remember that? 43:01 Go ahead and read that for us, Darrell. 43:04 "And whoever will not receive you 43:05 nor hear your words, 43:07 when you depart from that house or city, 43:08 shake off the dust from your feet. 43:10 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable 43:14 for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah 43:16 in the day of judgment than for that city!" 43:20 Now how many of you have witnessed 43:22 and shared your faith? 43:24 Okay, good. I hope every hand goes up. 43:27 I think you all have to do something. 43:29 How many of you have had someone tell you 43:31 that they were not interested in what you had to share? 43:34 Nicely or not so nicely, 43:35 sometimes people just say not now. 43:37 How many of you have shook the dust off your feet? 43:40 Yeah, well. 43:42 Yeah, the Jehovah Witnesses are actually taught 43:45 that if they go to a neighborhood 43:48 or might even be at home, if the people say, 43:50 "Get out of here, we don't want it." 43:52 They go through a little ritual where they tap their... 43:55 they literally shake the dust off your feet. 43:59 That's biblical I guess, huh? 44:02 But no one really wants to think, 44:04 "I don't even want the dust of you." 44:07 But they did. 44:08 They said, "We're going to shake 44:09 the dust off our feet." 44:10 And then you have, of course, 44:12 when they go to Lystra and Derbe. 44:14 Now we're in Acts 14. 44:16 And I've got to hasten along here. 44:19 "Now it happened in Iconium that they..." 44:22 They went down to Lystra, they went over to Iconium. 44:27 "They went together to the synagogue of the Jews, 44:30 and so they spoke at a great multitude 44:32 both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. 44:34 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the gentiles 44:37 and poisoned their minds against the brethren. 44:40 Therefore they stayed there a long time." 44:42 They had to fight against the heresy. 44:44 "Speaking boldly in the Lord, 44:47 who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, 44:49 granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 44:53 But the multitude of the city was divided, 44:56 part of them sided with the Jews, 44:57 and part with the apostles." 44:58 They got the whole city divided. 45:00 Now when you preach, will the gospel bring division? 45:04 What did Jesus say, "I came to send peace." 45:07 What did He said, "I didn't come to send peace, 45:09 I came to send a sword." 45:12 A man's foes will be they of his own house. 45:14 There will be division in families, and towns, 45:17 and neighborhoods and cities and whole city became divided. 45:20 And people could easily say, "We know you guys are bad 45:23 because you've divided our community." 45:27 But does sometimes the gospel cause division? 45:29 They all have become divided over this. 45:32 But God gave them signs, and wonders, and miracles. 45:36 "And when a violent attempt was made by both the gentiles 45:39 and the Jews, with their rulers, 45:40 to abuse and to stone them, 45:42 they became aware of it and they fled to Lystra 45:44 and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, 45:46 and the surrounding region." 45:47 When they persecute you in the city, 45:49 go to the next. 45:50 "And they were preaching the gospel there. 45:53 And in Lystra a certain man 45:58 without strength in his feet was sitting, 45:59 crippled from his mother's womb," 46:02 just like in Acts 3, from his mother's womb, 46:04 he was crippled in his feet, who had never walked. 46:07 This man heard Paul speaking. 46:08 And Paul, observing him intently, 46:11 seeing that he had faith to be healed, 46:12 he said with a loud voice, 46:14 'Stand straight up on your feet!' 46:16 And he leaped and walked." 46:18 Again, it says that's what happened in Acts 3. 46:21 Walking, and leaping, and praising God. 46:23 "Now when the people saw what Paul had done, 46:25 they raised their voices 46:26 in the Lycaonian language saying, 46:28 'The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!' 46:31 And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, they called Hermes." 46:36 Now isn't that interesting, 46:37 they're trying to give Greek gods 46:38 to these Jewish apostles, 46:40 Greek names or Greek gods. 46:43 Did the Romans later gave Jewish names to their idols? 46:47 They called Diana, Mary, and they called Peter, 46:51 Mercury, or Pluto, or Jupiter, 46:56 and they started renaming their idols. 46:59 And they are preparing to make offering to them, 47:03 and they get oxen to be slaughtered, 47:05 they're bringing flowers and garlands, 47:06 they're going to make sacrifice to them 47:08 because this miracle that gods have come down to us. 47:10 That's almost as bad as a plain persecution. 47:13 The last thing they want us to be worshiped. 47:15 "When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, 47:17 they tore their clothes 47:18 and they ran among the multitude, 47:20 crying out and saying, 'Men, 47:21 why are you doing these things? 47:23 We also are men with the same nature as you, 47:26 and we preach to you that you should turn 47:28 from these useless things to the living God, 47:30 who made the heaven and the earth,'" 47:32 that kind of offended them that they didn't appreciate 47:34 their willingness to worship them. 47:37 "God, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea," 47:39 that's the God of the Sabbath, 47:41 "And all things that are in them, 47:43 who in bygone generations allowed all the nations 47:45 to walk in their own ways. 47:47 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, 47:49 in that He did good, 47:51 and He gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, 47:53 filling our hearts with good and gladness.' 47:55 And with all these things they could scarcely 47:58 restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them." 48:01 In other words, they're getting ready 48:03 to worship them in this verse, 48:04 I just got to finish this real quick. 48:06 Go to verse 19. 48:08 "Then Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. 48:11 And they came there, 48:12 having persuaded the multitudes, 48:14 they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city 48:17 supposing him to be dead. 48:20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, 48:22 he rose up and he went into the city. 48:24 And he departed the next day with Barnabas to Derbe." 48:27 One minute they're saying, 48:30 "Hail, the king. 48:31 The son of David, Hosanna, then they crucify him." 48:34 One minute they're saying, 48:36 "We want to make offerings to you, 48:38 and then they stone him in the next few verses." 48:41 The crowd can be pretty fickle, huh? 48:44 Going from worship to war in just a few verses. 48:49 And eventually you'll need 48:51 to continue reading chapter 14, it says, 48:53 "They strengthened the converts." 48:55 And our passage ends in verse 26. 48:57 "From there they sailed to Antioch, 48:59 where they had been commended 49:01 to the grace of God for the work 49:02 which they completed. 49:04 They finally made this circle in their work, 49:06 they came back, and they gave a report 49:08 and had a little R and R. 49:10 And, you know, when the missionaries 49:11 aren't doing their work, 49:12 it's good for him to go back every now and then, 49:13 and encourage, give a report. 49:14 They did not have email back then to inspire. 49:18 They also probably had to do a little more fund 49:20 raising to go back out again. 49:22 Anyway, hopefully that's been a blessing. 49:24 We have a free offer, 49:25 I want to remind you before we sign off 49:27 that we'll send you if you call in. 49:30 It's "Is it Easier to be Saved or Lost?" 49:33 You can dial 866-Study-More. 49:36 That's 866-788-3966 for that free offer, 49:40 ask for offer number 853. 49:43 It's actually a good message if I say to myself. 49:45 You can text the code "SH102" to 40544, 49:51 you can get a digital download of this, 49:53 and listen to it right away. 49:55 That should be on your screen as well. 49:56 Thank you very much for studying the Word with us. 49:58 God willing, we'll do it again next Sabbath. 50:02 Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible Study? 50:05 You don't have to wait until next week 50:07 to enjoy more truth-filled programming. 50:09 Visit the Amazing Facts Media Library at aftv.org. 50:14 At aftv.org, 50:17 you can enjoy video and audio presentations 50:19 as well as printed material all free of charge, 50:22 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 50:25 right from your computer or mobile device. 50:27 Visit aftv.org. 50:35 Amazing Facts Changed Lives. 50:43 It was ongoing with me, I would get up and drink, 50:47 I would go to work and drink, I would come home and drink. 50:50 And that was my way of life. 50:54 I had an older sister. 50:56 And in 2008, we received a phone call from her husband 50:59 saying that she was involved 51:01 in a very serious home accident. 51:03 She had fallen outside on her patio, 51:06 it was a concrete patio, and she hit her head. 51:10 Because she was a drunken stupor, 51:13 and she needed emergency brain surgery 51:17 because of the trauma that she had suffered. 51:19 And so they were able to stop the bleeding in her brain, 51:23 but her organs started shutting down one by one. 51:26 So here I was, you know, I hadn't had a drink 51:29 being a full blown alcoholic myself, 51:31 I hadn't had a drink in probably full day, 51:34 which was, you know, a lifetime for me. 51:37 And during the time we're watching there, 51:39 and they said that she was going to make it, 51:41 and we had made the decision as a group, you know, 51:43 with her children present and her husband 51:45 that they were just going to go ahead 51:46 and pull the plug. 51:47 And during that time watching her fade away, 51:50 God forgive me, 51:51 but I sat there asking her to die fast, 51:56 so I could go get a drink. 51:58 And, you know, I didn't even see it then. 52:01 I didn't see how bad I was at that time. 52:03 But now I look back at it now, and it just tears me up. 52:09 And alcohol, that's what it does to you. 52:12 I was walking out to go to work one morning with my breakfast, 52:15 which was a six pack of beer. 52:17 And as I was climbing into my truck, 52:20 it just hit me that it was enough. 52:24 So I turned around, and took the six pack of beer 52:27 and I threw it in trash can. 52:29 And I went and told my wife, I needed help. 52:32 And there's two things I never do, 52:33 ask for help, and throw away beer. 52:36 And, you know, thank God I was able to do both. 52:41 Well, when I finally got to the hospital, 52:43 and they came, got me, and took me in. 52:46 And when they did a blood alcohol on me, 52:48 they had to do it twice because they weren't quite sure 52:50 it was right, but was .38. 52:54 They were all amazed 52:55 I was even able to walk in there little, 52:57 you know, being conscious. 52:59 It was about two months after I got out of treatment 53:02 and starting my fresh life, I left home, left my wife, 53:06 and I was going to start my new life with sobriety, 53:09 and she wasn't going to be part of it. 53:10 So I moved out, 53:12 and I was on my way to the store one morning 53:15 when I was T-boned, broadsided by an oncoming SUV. 53:20 And the driver side door of my truck, 53:23 and this driver was doing 53:24 at estimated 65 to 70 miles an hour, 53:27 and he smack on my side of the door. 53:30 I woke up in the passenger seat of the truck. 53:33 And I remember coming to 53:35 and hearing people standing outside, 53:37 "Look, he's still alive." 53:38 There was hairline fractures in my pelvis, 53:41 and some compression fracture in my spine. 53:43 And so on all intents and purposes, 53:46 I walked away from an action. 53:47 I had no business living. 53:49 While with a broken back, 53:50 I wasn't allowed to be vertical for... 53:54 But very short periods of time, 53:55 and I wasn't very mobile with the fractured pelvis. 54:00 So I was forced to move back home. 54:03 And, you know, thank God I've got a stubborn wife 54:06 who was willing to take me back and put up with all this. 54:10 During my recovery, the only thing 54:11 that I could really do was watch television. 54:14 And so I was thumbing through the channels, 54:16 I noticed a gentleman, and I had to stop 54:20 because he was proclaiming that you can't prove biblically 54:24 that the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday. 54:27 And that it's not biblical. 54:29 And I thought, "Well, you know what? 54:31 I think I can do this." 54:33 You know, so I took up my Bible, 54:35 and did something strange to me, 54:36 which was actually study. 54:38 You know, and over a course of several months 54:41 of watching this man who I would later discover 54:44 was Pastor Doug Batchelor. 54:48 I started trying to disprove everything he was saying. 54:51 And the more I read and the more I studied, 54:54 the more I found out 54:55 that not only could I not disprove it, 54:59 I was believing it, 55:00 and I realized it was the truth. 55:03 Then I started soaking up everything 55:05 that Amazing Facts had. 55:07 I was at the website, you know, doing all the reading. 55:09 I was looking at the Sabbath truths, I was, 55:11 you know, downloading, streaming everything they had. 55:14 You know, and I was really, really getting it. 55:16 And it helped me so much. 55:18 Over a process of about three months, 55:21 while studying, you know, with Doug Batchelor 55:24 and the Amazing Facts team, 55:25 and then, you know, of course, just my Bible. 55:28 But over that three months, 55:29 I had fallen in love with Christ 55:32 like I never had before. 55:34 And not only was my back and my pelvis healed, 55:37 my soul was healed. 55:39 And I experienced an emotional and a mental healing that, 55:45 you know, I had been longing for, for years. 55:50 I've got to do something. What do I do next? 55:52 So I looked up in the phone book, 55:55 and I phoned the number for the local pastor. 55:57 And I called him and said, "Hi, my name is Brian. 55:59 I've just been converted. Where do I go?" 56:02 And the poor guy was like, "Brian, it's nice to meet you. 56:05 Converted from what and go where?" 56:08 And I said, "That's what I want to know." 56:10 But we had a little laugh over that. 56:12 He thought I was moving. 56:13 And before he knew it, I was, you know, 56:16 heart and soul into this little church. 56:18 And I was studying with the pastor 56:21 and decided, you know, I want to be baptized, 56:23 I want to be re-baptized. 56:25 And we thought, great. 56:27 So I did some study and we agreed that 56:31 I was gonna be baptized on this date. 56:33 Well, the next morning, my wife asked me, said, 56:35 "You realize what day this is?" 56:36 I said, "Well, it's Sabbath." 56:38 And Sabbath was amazing in itself, 56:41 but she said, "Look at the calendar." 56:44 And when I looked at the calendar, 56:46 on that day was my one year anniversary of my sobriety. 56:50 I was being baptized one year after being sober. 56:53 And I just thought, you know, this doesn't seem coincidence, 56:56 that was just amazing that God worked out for me. 56:59 God has done amazing things with my life. 57:02 And I have to give Him, you know, 57:05 all the credit because short of just responding, you know, 57:11 I have done nothing, and it's been Him. 57:13 And it's pleasure, 57:15 absolute pleasure to be called child of God. 57:18 I'm really thankful that God used 57:20 Amazing Facts television program 57:22 and Pastor Doug Batchelor to make a change in my life. 57:30 Together we have spread 57:32 the gospel much farther than ever before. 57:36 Thank you for your support. 57:41 Did you know that Noah was present 57:43 at the birth of Abraham? 57:44 Okay, maybe he wasn't in the room. 57:47 But he was alive and probably telling stories 57:49 about his floating zoo. 57:52 From the creation of the world 57:53 to the last day events of Revelation, 57:56 biblehistory.com is a free resource 57:58 where you can explore major Bible events and characters. 58:02 Enhance your knowledge of the Bible 58:04 and draw closer to God's Word. 58:06 Go deeper, visit the amazing Bible Timeline 58:10 at biblehistory.com. |
Revised 2018-08-07