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00:35 Hello, and thank you for joining us
00:36 for another edition 00:37 of the Sabbath School Study Hour. 00:39 We are always so encouraged to be able to know 00:41 that there are people that are watching 00:43 from many different nations in the world 00:46 as well as across the United States of America. 00:48 Welcome to each and every one of you 00:50 when we trust that today's message 00:52 and today's study will be a blessing to you, 00:54 it will help grow your faith if you have a faith, 00:57 and if you don't have a faith in God and in Christ right now 00:59 that this lesson might be your first step 01:02 or one of your important steps to be able to find 01:05 that faith and hope that's found in Christ. 01:07 We are always happy to have everybody that's joining us 01:10 here locally in the Granite Bay 01:11 Seventh-day Adventist Church 01:13 here in Sacramento, California. 01:16 Welcome to all our members and our visitors, 01:18 they're with us here live, 01:20 and it's always a blessing to have both members 01:22 and visitors with us. 01:24 Now before we invite our singers out today, 01:26 and we praise the Lord in song, 01:28 we want to always offer you our free gift, 01:31 each and every edition of Sabbath School Study Hour, 01:34 and so today, we're going to be given away, 01:36 "Hidden Truth," and this is free offer number 832, 01:40 "Hidden Truth." 01:41 We're happy to be able to offer this to you. 01:43 We know that many people have been blessed 01:44 by reading through that and have discovered 01:46 many important Bible truths. 01:47 You just have to dial 1-866-788-3966, 01:53 again, that's 1-866-788-3966, 01:57 and ask for your free offer. 02:00 Now if you would like a digital download of that, 02:02 you can use your phone today, 02:04 and you can text, "SH109, " 02:07 again, that's, "SH109," 02:09 and you text that to 40544, 02:13 and we'll be happy to make sure that you get a digital copy 02:16 of that downloaded for you to read 02:18 and to continue to grow in faith and in truth. 02:22 And so we'd like to invite our singers forward 02:25 as they share with us and lead us in praise. 02:36 Holy, holy, holy! 02:41 Lord God Almighty 02:47 Early in the morning 02:51 Our song shall rise to Thee 02:57 Holy, holy, holy, 03:02 Merciful and mighty 03:08 God in three Persons 03:13 Blessed Trinity 03:18 Holy, holy, holy! 03:24 Angels adore Thee 03:29 Casting down their bright crowns 03:33 Around the glassy sea 03:39 Thousands and ten thousands 03:44 We shall low before Thee 03:49 Which were and art 03:53 And evermore shalt be 04:00 Holy, holy, holy! 04:05 Though darkness hide Thee 04:10 Though the eye of man 04:14 Thy great glory may not see 04:21 Only Thou art holy 04:26 There is none beside Thee 04:31 Perfect in power 04:36 In love, and purity 04:42 Holy, holy, holy! 04:48 Lord God Almighty 04:53 All Thy works shall praise Thy Name 04:58 In earth, and sky, and sea 05:04 Holy, holy, holy, 05:09 Merciful and mighty 05:14 God in three Persons 05:20 Blessed Trinity 05:27 Father in Heaven, we stop, 05:29 and we thank You for the opportunity 05:30 to be able to study, 05:32 we thank You for the Holy Spirit 05:33 that is promised when we ask for it 05:35 from our hearts. 05:37 Lord, that You might be our teacher, 05:38 that You might guide us and give us understanding, 05:41 spiritual understanding 05:42 that can only come from Your throne. 05:44 We thank You, Lord, for Pastor Doug Batchelor. 05:46 We pray that you will bless him and guide his heart, 05:49 his mind as he shares that 05:50 which You have taught him from Your Word. 05:53 And Lord, we want to pray that You will help us 05:55 to be able to pick up and understand 05:56 what You would have us understand today, 05:58 and so we pray for Your blessing. 06:00 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 06:04 Thank you. Pastor Batchelor. 06:07 We're going to be studying 06:09 a very interesting lesson today, 06:11 but I don't know that 06:12 we're going to have time to cover it all 06:13 because our lesson is talking about, 06:15 "Unity in Faith." 06:17 It's in our quarterly dealing with, 06:18 "Oneness in Christ, " 06:20 and we're talking about 06:21 some of the panorama of doctrines 06:24 that we are united on. 06:26 Now our church publishes a book of 27 fundamentals. 06:30 We don't have time to go through all 27 fundamentals, 06:33 but we're going to be talking about the Tennis topics. 06:36 Have you guys ever heard of the Tennis topics before? 06:40 Now that's a play on words. 06:42 You think I'm saying Tennis like tennis ball 06:44 or ping pong or something. 06:45 I'm saying 10-S Topics. 06:49 It is the 10 S's. 06:51 If you want to take a picture of this screen, 06:54 those of you that are watching at home, 06:56 you could do it here too. 06:58 These 10 S's, 07:01 sometimes they are called the Tennis topics, 07:03 these 10 S's summarize 07:06 what a good evangelist is going to cover, 07:07 and it summarizes some of the unique beliefs 07:10 of Seventh-day Adventists. 07:11 Let me go through it for you real quick. 07:13 It's Scripture, Satan, Sin, Salvation, Sabbath, 07:17 State of the Dead, Sanctuary, Spirit, 07:20 Strength, Second Coming. 07:22 Those are the 10 S's, or the Tennis topics. 07:25 Those 10 topics, of course, let me review what they are. 07:28 Scripture is the Bible, foundation of what we believe. 07:31 Satan, the origin of evil. 07:33 Why is there sin in the world? 07:34 Salvation is the everlasting gospel. 07:37 Sabbath is of course the distinct truth 07:40 about the Sabbath as opposed to Sunday. 07:42 State of the Dead that helps people understand that sleep, 07:46 and you don't go right to heaven or hell 07:48 when you die. 07:49 You can also include the millennium, 07:51 it sort of fits in there as well. 07:53 The Sanctuary, 07:55 and that's a special teaching of the judgment, 07:57 and the ministry of Christ in heaven, 08:00 and the church, actually, the Sanctuary as well. 08:03 The Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit, 08:04 the need for the baptism of the Spirit, 08:06 and also the Spirit of Prophecy. 08:08 And you got Strength, 08:10 that's the health message and sustenance. 08:12 And then you've got the Second Coming 08:14 which is the return of Jesus. 08:17 So those were the Tennis topics. 08:19 If you're a good Adventist, you ought to know 08:20 how to give a Bible study on the Tennis topics, 08:23 10-S topics. 08:24 It just helps you memorize them, 08:27 and it kind of covers a panorama. 08:28 Now that's not the whole 28 fundamentals, 08:32 but, you know, you can almost fit the 28 08:36 somewhere under these categories. 08:38 And so, 08:41 if you're a Bible Christian, does it mean that 08:43 all Bible Christians in the church 08:45 need to agree on every point of doctrine? 08:51 The fundamentals. 08:53 We need to be in agreement. 08:55 Now how many of you have run into differences 08:59 in people wondering about the 144,000? 09:02 Is it symbolic? Is it literal? 09:04 Are they alive today? 09:06 You run into that? 09:08 And if someone doesn't agree with me, 09:09 should I excommunicate them on that 09:12 or it depends on what they believe? 09:14 You can go way out there. 09:16 But there are certain fundamental beliefs 09:21 that, you know, we must be in agreement on. 09:25 And, you know, 09:27 if you start talking to five evangelists 09:30 about who the 10 horns are in Revelation 17, 09:34 you're going to get six different answers. 09:37 Actually, there are four or five 09:40 officially accepted views. 09:43 I'm on a Bible study group 09:44 with some of the Bible research institutes back in Washington, 09:47 and they have published some of the different views. 09:50 There's about four, five prominent views, 09:53 and they're all semi-orthodox. 09:55 We don't know some things. 09:56 You got to be careful 09:57 not to just be dogmatic about certain things. 10:00 But some things are... 10:03 They're non-negotiable. 10:05 And there are, you know, these truths, at least the ones 10:09 that are described in the Tennis topics, 10:12 but there's more than that. 10:14 So we're going to talk about those, 10:15 and let me just review what the subjects 10:16 where I need to cover this morning. 10:18 I've got some that will help me read a few verses. 10:20 I'm going to talk about Salvation in Jesus, 10:23 the Second Coming of Christ, 10:26 Jesus' ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, 10:28 the Sabbath, death and resurrection. 10:31 Now these are highlighted in the lesson 10:33 because there're some unique things 10:35 that Adventists believe, 10:37 a little different from other Christians 10:39 on these subjects. 10:40 For example, first subject, Salvation in Jesus. 10:44 How are we unique? 10:46 Well, in my opinion, there's a couple of extremes 10:48 on the subject of Salvation. 10:50 One is the idea of, 10:51 "Once you're saved, you can't be lost." 10:54 "Once saved, always saved," 10:55 kind of Calvinistic in its roots. 10:58 And that springs out of a desire for people 11:00 to have assurance of Salvation 11:02 because many of the Anabaptists, 11:04 or the people that believed in free will, 11:07 they were always in doubt of their Salvation. 11:10 When you got those who have what we call sloppy agape, 11:14 they're so enamored with grace 11:17 that they never consider living a holy life. 11:20 And you've got the other extreme 11:21 that are Pharisees, 11:22 they're so preoccupied with their behavior 11:25 that they have no peace and they're judging everybody. 11:27 So do we have extremes in the teaching of Salvation? 11:32 We'd like to believe 11:33 that Adventists have a holistic view 11:37 of being saved by grace. 11:38 But at the same time, 11:40 while you are not saved by your works, 11:42 if you are saved, 11:43 there will be works that are different. 11:47 Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruits." 11:49 And so there ought to be a difference in the life. 11:51 Let's talk about some of those verses 11:53 that sort of encompass what Salvation is all about. 11:56 The lesson gives us Acts 4:8. 12:00 Acts 4:8-12. 12:02 "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, 12:04 he said to them, 12:05 'Rulers of the people and elders of Israel. 12:08 If we this day are judged...'" 12:10 Bonnie always felt me, 12:11 I need to button my suit when I'm up here. 12:13 Well, you know what though? 12:14 Something happened. My suit shrunk. 12:19 They just don't make this fabric 12:20 the way they used to. 12:21 Overtime, if it hangs in your closet, 12:23 it gets smaller. 12:26 Anyway. 12:28 I feel better now. 12:31 So Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, 12:32 he said to them... 12:33 This takes place after Peter heals, 12:35 Acts, Chapter 3, he heals the man, 12:37 the crippled man at the beautiful gate, 12:39 big crowd is gathered. 12:41 "Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, 12:42 said to them, 12:43 'Rulers of the people and elders of Israel. 12:45 If we this day are being judged, 12:47 for the good deed done to a helpless man, 12:49 and by what means he has been made well, 12:51 let it be known to you all, 12:53 and to all the people of Israel, 12:54 that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, 12:57 who you crucified, who God raised from the dead, 13:00 by Him this man stands here before you whole." 13:03 This is the important part. 13:04 "This is that stone 13:05 which was rejected by you builders, 13:07 which has become the chief cornerstone.'' 13:09 Christ is the cornerstone of our faith. 13:11 "'Nor is there salvation in any other..." 13:15 We do not believe that Jesus is one of many ways 13:17 to get to heaven, and your way may be Buddha 13:20 or Krishna or Muhammad, and my way is Jesus. 13:23 The Bible doesn't give you those options. 13:26 Bible says there is no other name 13:29 given among men whereby we must be saved. 13:31 There is no other name. 13:32 There's no other... 13:33 There's not option one, two, and three. 13:36 Actually, that's part of my sermon later. 13:38 So he says, "There is no other name 13:42 by which we must be saved.'" 13:43 Now will there be some people in heaven 13:45 that may be didn't understand the gospel? 13:50 Will there be any people in foreign lands 13:53 that never heard of missionary that could be saved? 13:56 Yeah. 13:57 You know, Jesus, 13:58 He stood up and started teaching in Nazareth, 14:01 and He said, 14:02 "There were many lepers in the land 14:03 in the days of the Elisha, 14:04 but none was healed but Naaman." 14:07 Not a Jew. 14:08 And then he said, 14:09 "There were many widows in the land 14:10 in the days of Elijah 14:13 when the heavens were shut up during the famine, 14:15 but the one that Elijah was sent to was not a Jew." 14:18 He was a Phoenician, Canaanite. 14:20 That's what Jesus was saying. 14:21 "Many will come from the east and the west, 14:23 and we might be surprised, 14:24 there will be some people 14:25 in foreign lands through history 14:28 that God spoke to through providence, 14:30 His Spirit, through angels. 14:32 They accepted the little light that they had, 14:34 they didn't have the Bible, 14:35 they didn't have all the knowledge, 14:37 but they tried to walk in the light they had, 14:39 they may be in heaven." 14:41 But they're not there because of their works, 14:43 they're all there because of Jesus. 14:45 Anyone there is there because of Jesus. 14:47 You see what I'm saying? 14:49 So that's one of the truths that we believe. 14:52 John 3:36. 14:55 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, 14:58 he who does not believe in the Son 15:00 shall not see life, 15:02 but the wrath of God abides on him." 15:04 We've got a couple of choices, believe and don't believe. 15:07 Those were saved by what? 15:09 By belief. 15:10 It's by faith. Amen? 15:12 That's one of the foundational teachings. 15:15 Now in a moment, someone's going to read, 15:16 Acts 10:43. 15:17 Hoftis, you'll have that. 15:19 I'm going to read Romans 3:24 first, 15:22 I'll read verse 25 too. 15:23 Romans 3:24, 25. 15:25 "Being justified freely by His grace." 15:28 How do we find justification? 15:31 Through our works 15:33 or is it through grace? 15:35 In goodness of God and the grace of God. 15:37 "Being justified freely by His grace 15:40 through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, 15:42 whom God has set forth as appropriation by His blood," 15:46 we are forgiven... 15:47 The blood of Christ provides a substitute appropriation 15:51 for our sins 15:54 because God's forbearance, 15:55 He's passed over the sins that were previously committed. 15:59 Now you know, I've kind of underlined that word, 16:01 previously. 16:03 Some people believe that once you accept Jesus 16:09 that means you've got a free record to sin 16:11 as much as you want in the future. 16:13 Repentance is always addressing past sins. 16:17 We don't come to the Lord and say, 16:18 "Lord, I'm going to repent today 16:19 because I plan on sinning tomorrow." 16:22 That's called presumptuous sin, 16:24 and that's sort of like premeditated murder, 16:26 it's different from manslaughter. 16:29 And so the Bible is pretty clear that 16:31 God is providing forgiveness for your past mistakes. 16:35 By His grace, you're hoping to live godly in the future. 16:38 You probably will sin, 16:39 and then you repent if you fall. 16:42 But God is not saying just plan now on sinning. 16:45 You see the difference? All right. 16:46 Go ahead and read for us please, Acts 10:43. 16:49 Acts 10:43. 16:51 "To Him all the prophets witness that, 16:55 through His name, 16:56 whoever believes in Him 16:58 will receive remission of sins." 17:01 Through faith in Christ. 17:03 It says here in Acts, 17:04 all the prophets testify of this. 17:06 It's not like you've got one gospel in the Old Testament 17:09 and another one in the New. 17:10 When Acts Chapter 10 was written, 17:12 they only had the Old Testament. 17:14 And all the Bible tells us that... 17:17 Excuse me. 17:18 It is through Christ we're going to receive 17:21 the remission of sins and forgiveness. 17:26 Go to 1 John 2:2. 17:30 "And he himself," again, it says, 17:32 "is the propitiation for our sins, 17:34 and not for ours only 17:36 but for the sins of the whole world." 17:38 In other words, he didn't just die for Jews. 17:40 He died for Jews and for Gentiles. 17:43 And again, 1 John 4:9. 17:45 I got to be careful not to use up 17:47 all our time talking about Salvation 17:48 'cause we have a lot to cover. 17:50 1 John 4:9, 10. 17:52 "This is the love of God that was manifested toward us, 17:55 in that God sent His only begotten Son 17:57 into the world that we might live through Him. 18:01 This is love. 18:02 In this is love, not that we loved God, 18:04 but that He loved us," says, He loved us first, 18:07 "and He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 18:10 Jesus is the substitute. 18:12 He died in our place. 18:14 Bible says that, 18:15 "He took our weakness, gives us His strength. 18:19 He took the penalty of our death, 18:22 He gives us His life. 18:24 He took our sin, He offers us His Holiness." 18:28 It's the great exchange that the Lord makes through, for us. 18:34 And then, yeah, 1 Peter 2:21. 18:37 "For to this you were called, 18:38 because Christ also suffered for us, 18:41 leaving us an example, 18:42 that you should follow in His steps." 18:44 So why did Jesus come? 18:48 Three reasons. 18:50 One, says He gave us an example 18:53 to live as He lives. 18:55 He says, 18:56 "You should forgive each other as I've forgiven you." 18:59 Christ is an example. 19:01 Two, He is to reflect the Father, 19:04 He is to show us what God is like. 19:05 He said, "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father." 19:09 And the third reason Christ came was as a substitute, 19:12 propitiation for our sins, 19:13 our sacrifice through His blood. 19:16 So Jesus is our example. 19:18 He is a demonstration of the Father, 19:21 and then Christ is our substitute. 19:23 Okay? 19:24 So this is what we believe about Salvation. 19:26 Now we don't believe that once you're saved, 19:29 you can't be lost. 19:30 We believe that being saved is a daily experience. 19:33 "Give us this day, our daily bread." 19:35 We surrender to Him day-by-day. 19:38 And Paul says, "I die daily." 19:40 That means you're born again every day. 19:42 Now, yeah, there is a moment when you surrender to Christ 19:44 and you have the new birth, 19:45 but then you renew that with the Lord. 19:47 You need to continually feed your soul 19:50 and renew that relationship. 19:51 How many of you out there know that 19:53 for a love relationship to nourish, 19:55 it needs ongoing quality time? 19:58 Isn't that right? 19:59 It's that way with the Lord too. 20:00 It's an ongoing relationship. 20:02 This idea that you say a prayer when you're 10 years old, 20:04 and you come forward 20:05 when the pastor gives an invitation, 20:07 and you're saved, 20:08 then you walk out the doors of church, 20:09 you leave for the world, and no matter what you do, 20:11 you're still saved. 20:12 It's not true. Some churches believe that. 20:14 That's not true. 20:17 Bible says, "You'll know them by their works." 20:19 Are there examples in the Bible that people 20:21 that seem to be spirit filled that ultimately were lost? 20:25 They turned away. 20:27 Who are they? 20:28 Was Saul at one point spirit filled? 20:30 Yeah. King Saul. 20:33 How about Balaam? 20:34 Was he a prophet? 20:36 But he coveted after money, and he ultimately was lost. 20:40 Solomon? 20:41 And Solomon, well, Solomon will be saved in the end. 20:44 He repented in the Ecclesiastics. 20:46 But you're right, he was saved. 20:47 And then he was very lost for a while, 20:49 and he turned back to God. 20:50 And then you're having... 20:51 That's also true with Manasseh. 20:53 Well, Manasseh was never saved but he had later repented. 20:57 Was Judas ever given the Holy Spirit? 21:01 Did Jesus send out the apostles doing miracles? 21:04 Did they all come back and say, 21:06 "Even the devils are subject to us." 21:09 So Judas was, he was out doing the work. 21:12 But he grieved away the Holy Spirit. 21:14 So you've got to be careful not to think 21:16 that once you're saved that's all that is. 21:19 You need to maintain 21:20 your relationship with the Lord. 21:22 All right. Second Coming. 21:24 Seventh-day Adventists are Christians 21:25 that may have a unique belief on the Second Coming from some. 21:30 Now there are three are principal views on prophecy 21:34 Let's take Revelation, for instance. 21:37 You've got Preterism, Historicism, Futurism. 21:41 It's very simple. It means past, history, future. 21:45 Some people read the Book of Revelation, 21:47 and they say, "It's all in the past. 21:49 It all happened back during the time of John, 21:51 and Nero, and Paul. 21:52 And once that first group of apostles died, 21:56 Revelation was done." 21:58 Then, you got Futurists. 21:59 That's your left behind group. 22:01 They believe that from Revelation Chapter 4 on, 22:04 it's all in the future. 22:06 And that trumpet being blown there 22:08 in Revelation 4, that's the secret rapture, 22:10 and we'll get to that in a second. 22:12 And then you get the Historicists 22:14 and that's Adventists. 22:15 We believe like the Protestant Reformers. 22:19 Spurgeon, Wesley, Luther, Calvin, 22:23 they all looked at prophecy 22:24 as sort of a panorama of the church history, 22:27 Revelation anyway, and even Daniel. 22:30 This sort of gives a panorama of God's leading His people. 22:33 It wasn't just all in the past or all in the future. 22:37 And so Adventists ascribe to that view. 22:42 And that affects our view on the Second Coming. 22:45 We do not believe in the secret rapture. 22:47 Look at Acts 1:11. 22:50 In a moment, someone will read, 22:51 Matthew 24:27, okay? 22:55 "Who also said, 'Men of Galilee, '" 22:56 these angels were standing there 22:57 when Jesus ascended, and they said, "Men of Galilee, 23:00 why do you stand and staring up into heaven? 23:03 This same Jesus, 23:04 who was taken up from you into heaven, 23:06 will so come in like manner 23:08 as you have seen Him go into heaven.'" 23:11 How is Jesus coming back? As He went. 23:14 Did they see Him when He went? 23:16 Will we see Him when He comes? Yes. 23:18 Was He real when He left? 23:20 Will He be real when He comes? 23:23 And so He left in the clouds, clouds of angels, 23:26 He's coming in the clouds. 23:28 John 14:3. Is Jesus coming? 23:31 Christ said, "I go to prepare a place for you, 23:33 and I will come again, 23:36 it's real, and receive you to Myself, 23:38 that where I am, you might be also." 23:40 Now notice. 23:41 He's coming back to take us up when He comes. 23:45 There is something you would call a rapture, 23:47 but it's not a secret rapture. 23:50 Why don't you go ahead and read your verse for us? 23:53 Matthew 24:27, 23:56 "For as the lightning comes from the east 23:57 and flashes to the west, 23:59 so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." 24:03 Yeah, Jesus is going out of His way 24:04 to make it clear, it's not a secret. 24:06 You read the previous verse. 24:08 "Therefore if they say to you, 24:09 'Look, He is in the desert!' don't go. 24:10 Look, He is in the inner rooms!' 24:11 don't believe it.' " 24:12 If someone said, 24:13 "Oh, Christ is hiding," or, "He's up here, " 24:15 or "He's showed up on TV yesterday, " 24:18 nobody is going to have to text or email you 24:20 and tell you when Jesus comes. 24:22 Everybody is going to know when Jesus comes. 24:25 It's going to be... He said... 24:26 The brightest thing they had back then was lightning. 24:30 It's still pretty bright today 24:31 spanning from sky to sky, flashing. 24:34 So everybody's going to know when Jesus comes. 24:37 It's not going to be a secret. 24:39 Matthew 24:36. 24:43 Something important these days. 24:45 "'But of that day and that hour no one knows, 24:48 not even the angels of heaven, 24:50 but My Father only.'" 24:53 Do we know better than to set dates? 24:56 Do people still set dates? 24:59 We're told not to do that. 25:01 First of all, one reason is 25:03 if you thought that you knew the date, 25:06 you'd wait to get ready just like you wait 25:08 till the last week before your tax returns, right? 25:11 God wants us to be ready. 25:13 And... 25:16 I remember a few years ago, some of you remember, 25:19 the founder of Family Radio, Harold Camping. 25:21 Our family radio has some good music and stuff. 25:23 But Harold Camping, 25:24 his theology was a little bit loopy. 25:26 Several times he predicted the Second Coming, 25:28 and last time, I think it was May 21, 25:31 was it 2012, or something? 25:33 I don't remember. 25:34 But everybody got all worked up, 25:37 and then of course, it doesn't happen. 25:38 What happens to cynics or what happens to people 25:42 who aren't fully grounded in their faith 25:44 when people start setting dates and then they pass? 25:47 Their faith is weakened. 25:48 And so... 25:49 And if Jesus said, "The angels don't even know, " 25:53 are you saying you're smarter than the angels? 25:56 But I continue to meet people. 25:58 I remember back in 1986, 26:03 all the planets were lining up, 26:05 everybody was telling me then, "This is it." 26:08 You know, back in World War I, the church was saying, 26:10 "This is it. 26:11 It probably looked like it too, World War I. 26:13 This is the end of the world." 26:15 Then World War II, and atomic weapons. 26:17 And the church said, "This is it." 26:20 And then more time went by. "This is it." 26:24 Then they said the formation of Israel, 1948. 26:28 They said, 40 years after, 1988, Hal Lindsey wrote a book, 26:31 "The Late, Great Planet Earth." 26:32 "The Rapture is going to take place in 1981, 26:35 Second Coming, 1988." 26:37 They said, "This is it." 26:38 And even some Adventists thought that maybe at least 88, 26:41 there'd be a Second Coming. 26:43 And so, then, Y2K. 26:45 Anyone remember Y2K? 26:47 "This is it." 26:49 You've got to be very careful for people that are out saying, 26:52 "I have figured it out." 26:53 And then there are people who said, 26:54 "Well, it'll be 2000 years from the birth of Christ." 26:57 I kind of wondered about that myself. 26:58 Well, that would have been 1996 27:00 because Jesus was born 4 B.C. 27:03 And I said, "All right. Well that didn't happen." 27:05 So then they thought, 27:06 "Well, maybe it'll be 2000 years." 27:08 Then the next big thing is just saying, 27:09 "2000 years from the baptism of Christ," 27:13 or, "2000 years from the death of Christ, " 27:16 which would be 27:18 30 years after 1996, whatever that is. 27:21 You see what I'm saying? You can continue setting dates. 27:23 Now whenever you set a date, you know what my answer is? 27:27 It could be later than you think 27:29 because God is long suffering to us 27:32 not willing that any should perish. 27:34 He might wait longer. 27:35 And it could be sooner than you think 27:38 because the Bible said, 27:39 "Then the days will be shortened 27:41 or no flesh would be saved, " 27:42 and he's going to cut the work short 27:44 in righteousness. 27:45 So whatever day you come up with, 27:46 I can mix that date up. 27:48 I can move it forward or move it back biblically. 27:50 You see what I'm saying? 27:52 But I'll tell you what Jesus said. 27:54 "In such an hour as ye think not 27:58 the Son of Man comes." 28:00 So please be careful when you say 28:02 or run into someone who says, "I got it figured out now. 28:05 I found the date for the Second Coming." 28:08 But while we don't know the day or the hour, 28:11 can we know when it's near. 28:13 Yeah. 28:15 And when He said day and hour, 28:16 some people say, "Well, that doesn't mean year." 28:17 You can pick the year, 28:18 just don't think pick the day and the hour. 28:19 Or you can pick the month, 28:20 don't pick the day and the hour. 28:22 Jesus said, "Day and Hour." 28:23 He said, "Don't be picking times." 28:24 But we can know 28:25 when it's near based on general signs, you see, 28:28 and I see those signs happening now. 28:32 Gospel being preached in all the world 28:34 is one of them. 28:36 The increase of knowledge is another one. 28:38 Look at how the world has changed in one generation. 28:41 All right. 28:42 So Adventists believe 28:44 in the imminent return of Jesus. 28:47 And you know, I'm going to look at all, 28:50 I got to cover, I better skip that verse. 28:51 Let's talk about 28:52 Jesus' ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. 28:56 Oh, yeah, one more thing about Christ 28:58 Coming not being a secret. 28:59 Revelation 1:7, 29:00 "Behold, He comes in the clouds, 29:02 and every eye will see Him, 29:04 then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn 29:05 and they will see the Son of Man." 29:07 Is it a secret or do we all see it? 29:10 But what about Pastor Doug where it says, 29:12 He's coming like a thief. 29:14 Yes, He is coming like a thief, but it's not a secret, 29:17 read the whole verse. 29:19 2 Peter Chapter 3, 29:20 "Behold the day of the Lord come as a thief in the night, 29:23 in which the heavens pass away with a great noise." 29:28 He's coming like a thief but everyone knows about it. 29:30 It means it's a surprise. 29:32 "The elements melt with fervent heat." 29:33 So there's a great noise and the elements are melting. 29:36 Is that a secret? 29:37 No, it's a surprise. 29:38 That's why He said as a thief. 29:40 So yeah, don't be mixed up by that. 29:43 All right. 29:44 Jesus' ministry in this heavenly sanctuary. 29:46 Sometimes this is called the pre-advent judgment. 29:49 And we're one of the only churches 29:50 that really teaches this but it makes sense. 29:54 How many here agree that when Christ comes, 29:58 that He is dispensing rewards immediately upon His return? 30:04 Doesn't the Bible say He comes of the clouds, 30:07 He'll reward every man according to his works? 30:09 Obviously, when He comes, some will be destroyed 30:12 by the brightness of His coming. 30:13 That's a reward, not a good one. 30:16 Others will be caught up to meet Him in the air. 30:18 That's a good reward. 30:19 So if those things are determined when He comes, 30:22 is there some investigation prior to His coming? 30:25 Yeah. 30:26 That's what you call the pre-advent judgment, 30:28 something that's going on. 30:30 When did that begin? 30:32 Well, prophetically, 30:34 if you read in Daniel Chapter 8, 30:36 it talks about the beast power 30:39 that would cast the truth to the ground, 30:42 there'd be a great time of darkness and confusion 30:44 that would even come to God's people. 30:46 The prophets of God would prophesize 30:49 with their light obscured by sackcloth. 30:53 The truth was going to be obscured. 30:56 But then there'd be 30:57 a great revival movement in the end, 30:58 the last day of the church 31:00 sometimes known as the Age of Laodicea, 31:02 God would raise up a people, 31:04 and He'd begin cleansing the sanctuary in heaven 31:08 and the sanctuary on earth. 31:09 Now first of all, 31:10 does God have a sanctuary in heaven? 31:13 Well, read in Exodus 25:8. 31:17 "Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I might dwell among them 31:20 according to all that I show you," 31:23 God showed Moses a pattern, 31:25 "that is the pattern of the tabernacle 31:26 and the pattern in all its furnishings." 31:29 It was a miniature of a very real sanctuary 31:31 God has in heaven. 31:33 How do you know that? You read in Revelation. 31:34 "I saw the temple of God open in heaven." 31:37 God says He has a sanctuary in heaven. 31:39 Bible says, "Christ is our High Priest." 31:41 I'm getting ahead of myself. 31:42 Someone's going to read Hebrews 8:1, 2. 31:44 John, go ahead. 31:47 Hebrews 8:1, 2. 31:50 "Now this is the main point of the things we are saying. 31:53 We have such a High Priest, 31:55 who is seated at the right hand of the throne 31:57 of the Majesty in the heavens, 31:59 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle 32:03 which the Lord erected, and not man." 32:06 The Bible says it's real. 32:07 It's a true tabernacle, it's a real dwelling place. 32:10 The earthly model was facsimile, 32:13 it was a miniature. 32:15 On the earthly model, 32:16 when you went into the holy of holies, 32:18 there were engravings of angels on the walls. 32:22 Is God surrounded by gold wallpaper in heaven 32:26 or are there living wall of angels that surround Him? 32:30 On the earthly tabernacle, on the Ark of the Covenant, 32:34 they call that the mercy seat, 32:36 it was a symbol for the dwelling place 32:38 of the throne of God, 32:39 there were two golden angels. 32:41 Does God sit next to two golden statues of angels? 32:44 Or does... 32:45 Do you read in Isaiah Chapter 6, 32:47 that there are two living in the seraphim 32:50 by God in heaven? 32:52 So the earthly, it's a small imperfect model 32:55 of a very real dwelling place. 32:58 The earthly high priest, 33:00 when he comes in before the altar, 33:01 and he'd sprinkled the blood, 33:04 is there somebody in heaven 33:05 sprinkling lamb's blood before God 33:07 or is it Jesus pleading His own blood 33:10 before the Father as our High Priest? 33:13 So this is very real. 33:15 And when we pray by face now, 33:17 we don't have to go to God through a local priest. 33:19 It says, "We can each boldly come before the Father 33:23 through Jesus who is our High Priest." 33:25 It sounds wonderful when you think of it 33:28 that you can have a personal audience with God 33:30 through Christ's blood. 33:32 When I close my mind and I'm praying, 33:33 I'm asking God to forgive my sins. 33:35 In my mind's eye, I actually see Christ 33:38 spreading his nail pierced hands 33:39 before the Father in a very real place. 33:43 This is something that's happened. 33:44 So you get the sanctuary teaching. 33:46 Now in the Jewish year, 33:50 they would symbolically store the sins of the people 33:53 through the blood of the goats and the lambs in the bowls 33:56 that were sacrificed in the temple. 33:59 And at the end of the year, 34:00 they had a time of judgment and cleansing 34:03 where the people would especially repent, 34:05 and fast, and humble themselves before the Lord 34:08 because God was about to meet them 34:10 and separate them from their sins 34:12 through the Day of Atonement, 34:13 Yom Kippur, that's what they call it. 34:18 That began on a prophetic scale. 34:20 If Christ is ministering as our High Priest daily 34:25 in the last phase of the church 34:27 which is the Church of Laodicea... 34:29 You know what Laodicea means? 34:31 Judging of the people. 34:34 Christ entered into His final work. 34:37 Now not only did He begin 34:38 the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven, 34:40 before He comes, 34:42 there's going to be a separation of sin 34:44 from the people of God before He returns. 34:46 Bible says, "He is coming without sin unto salvation." 34:49 He is not coming forever as a sin-bearer. 34:52 And so not only is there sanctuary in heaven 34:55 but does God have a sanctuary on earth? 34:59 Does God still have a sanctuary on earth? 35:01 Where is it? 35:03 We are. 35:05 Is there a scripture for that? 35:08 Yeah, let's hope or else not teach it. 35:10 Jesus said, "Destroy this temple made with hands, 35:13 and in three days, I will make one without hands." 35:15 He spoke of His body, 35:17 the church is called the body of Christ. 35:19 The Bible said, "What know ye not that ye 35:22 are the temple of the Holy Spirit." 35:23 One place, Paul says, 35:24 "What don't you know that your body is a temple, 35:26 but you collectively are a body, 35:29 and we are different parts of the body of Christ, 35:31 and you are living in stones built on the cornerstone 35:35 to make a dwelling place for God." 35:36 There's a lot of scripture 35:37 which says God still has a temple on earth. 35:39 It's His people, 35:41 and He inhabits His church. 35:44 So not only did He begin cleansing in 1844, 35:47 the sanctuary in heaven, 35:48 but did something happen to the church on earth in 1844? 35:53 What was the problem in Daniel? 35:54 Truth was cast to the ground. 35:56 Did God begin to restore the lost truths 36:00 to a remnant in 1844? 36:02 Do you know before 1844 was over? 36:05 It's a very interesting year. 36:07 First electronic message, 1844. 36:10 And that was Robert Morse. 36:12 He sent, "What has God wrought?" 36:14 as Morse code. 36:16 Karl Marx, 36:18 I think that's when he completed his manifest, 36:20 and communism was born. 36:22 And Darwin wrote his thesis on the Beagle in 1844. 36:26 I mean, this was all the stuff that was happening, 36:28 stuff was happening in heaven 36:29 and stuff was happening on earth that year. 36:33 And that year, 36:34 God got Christians together from many different churches. 36:37 There were Methodists and Baptists and Presbyterians 36:40 and Christians in all different churches. 36:42 And when Christ didn't come through, 36:44 there's great disappointment, the Millerite movement. 36:47 They came together, they said, 36:48 "Let's find out what the Bible really says. 36:50 Obviously we misunderstood some stuff." 36:53 They realize they were wrong about baptism 36:56 that it was to be by immersion. 36:57 They realize they were wrong about salvation. 36:59 It was to be by grace, 37:01 and it was to be a maintained relationship. 37:03 They learned the Sabbath truth, 37:04 the Ten Commandments were still in effect, 37:07 they were not optional. 37:08 They learned the truth about our bodies 37:10 being the temple of the Holy Spirit 37:12 all in that year. 37:14 Now Ellen White didn't get her health message until later, 37:16 but Joseph Bates was sharing the health message in 1844. 37:20 They called that the temperance movement 37:21 back then. 37:22 In that year, everything started coming together. 37:25 God began cleansing the people on earth. 37:27 Is He done yet? 37:29 When He's done, He's coming. 37:31 And when He's done in heaven, He's coming. 37:33 But we're living in that time of final cleansing. 37:35 It's the time when we should be seeking 37:37 after genuine biblical holiness. 37:40 Amen? 37:42 So you get the sanctuary message. 37:44 And because of that, Hebrews 7:25, 37:48 "Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost 37:52 those who come to God through Him, 37:54 since He always lives to make intercession for them." 37:58 Christ is our Great High Priest. 38:01 Do you see that in the Bible? 38:03 Yeah? Okay, want to make sure. 38:05 Bible is very clear, Christ is our High Priest. 38:08 Then you got the Sabbath. 38:09 Now, lot of churches believe in weekly worship 38:12 in a special way, but... 38:14 And some even call Sunday, the Sabbath. 38:16 But Seventh-day Adventists 38:17 realized it's not a seventh day. 38:20 Does the commandment say keep a seventh day 38:22 or does it says keep the seventh day? 38:25 How different is that? 38:28 If I tell you to bring me some medicine, 38:31 you could bring me some aspirin. 38:32 But I might be dying for need of a particular medicine. 38:35 So I would say bring me the medicine, 38:37 and you know there is a specific prescription. 38:40 When God says the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, 38:43 and that's what He says, that specific. 38:47 Adventists realized, "You know, He blessed a particular day. 38:50 We don't get to pick the day." 38:51 God says, "He blesses it." 38:53 He wants us to remember the day that He blessed. 38:55 And we receive the blessing if we keep the day He blessed. 38:59 And it's a commandment. 39:01 He doesn't say, "You know, if you're in the mood." 39:04 This is a commandment from God. 39:05 Just like the commandment says, "Don't kill." 39:08 It's that important. 39:09 So Adventists realized, 39:11 "Hey, we're going to do it the way God says 39:14 and the way that Jesus did it." 39:17 So there's the Sabbath truth, that's something unique 39:19 that we take a stand, and we're not kind of... 39:23 You know, I meet people all the time. 39:25 They go to other churches and say Pastor Doug, 39:27 we believe salvation like you. 39:29 I've had people come to me, 39:30 I go to these religious broadcaster meetings, 39:33 and I meet Christians from all different faith. 39:35 And they'll come up, they'll say, "Pastor Doug, 39:37 I've been watching your programs. 39:39 I'm a vegetarian now." 39:41 It's like they're afraid for anyone to find out. 39:45 And I've had them come up, and they go, "Pastor Doug, 39:48 I believe just like you on health." 39:52 And a number of other things, 39:55 but you know what's one of the hardest things 39:57 is the Sabbath, why? 39:59 Because once you announced to your fellow church members, 40:02 if you say to them, "You know, I believe a little different. 40:04 I'm a vegetarian." 40:05 They'll say, "Great, good for you." 40:06 If you say to him, 40:07 "You know, I don't believe hell burns forever and ever, 40:09 but I believe the wicked are burnt up in hell," 40:11 most churches will not disfellowship you for that, 40:14 and some Baptist churches might. 40:16 But a lot of good theologians believe in eternal destruction, 40:22 and that the soul is not conscious 40:23 after they're destroyed. 40:24 So that's almost acceptable now. 40:27 But once you say to your friends 40:29 in your Sunday church, 40:30 "I am now going to keep the Sabbath. 40:31 Will you join me tomorrow or the day before?" 40:34 They go, "Ah, we're going to have to go separate ways." 40:37 It's sort of is a... 40:39 It's a device of teaching 40:41 because people often have to become 40:43 part of a different congregation. 40:45 And sometimes, 40:46 they have to change their work schedule, 40:48 maybe even threatens their job. 40:49 It's a real test in truth. 40:52 A lot of churches believe tithe like we do. 40:55 Some don't, some believe 40:56 that's just an Old Testament law. 40:58 But some do. 40:59 But you know, couple of things that really make us stand out 41:02 are our belief on the sanctuary and the Sabbath. 41:06 And God says, Ezekiel 20:12, 41:09 "Moreover I gave them My Sabbaths, 41:11 to be a sign between Me and them, 41:13 that they might know 41:15 that I am the Lord that sanctifies them." 41:17 And you read in verse 20. 41:19 It's a sign that God creates us. 41:23 Exodus Chapter 20. 41:24 "For in six days, the Lord made the heaven and the earth." 41:27 Every Sabbath day, it's a memorial 41:28 that He sanctifies, and He creates. 41:32 Now how many of us need sanctification? 41:35 How many of us need recreation? 41:37 "I will create a new heart within you." 41:39 Isn't that the new birth? 41:40 Old things are passed away. 41:41 All things are made create a new. 41:43 Every Sabbath, we're remembering 41:45 that He's the one who gives us the new birth. 41:48 How many of you want to live in a world made new? 41:51 Every Sabbath, we remember, in six days, He made the... 41:53 He's going to make a new heavens and a new earth. 41:56 Are we living in a world that believes in evolution? 42:00 A lot of secular people believe that we've evolved, 42:02 there's no purpose of life. 42:04 Every Sabbath, they were saying, 42:05 "Ah, no, I don't believe that." 42:07 I believe that God made it in six literal days. 42:11 And so, it is a very distinctive, 42:14 deciding... 42:16 Sometimes, it's a bellwether doctrine 42:18 you might say. 42:19 All right. 42:20 So there's some unique things. 42:22 We're united in our belief on the Sabbath. 42:24 Amen? 42:26 And another thing we're united on, 42:28 and this is the last section, 42:29 is the death and resurrection teaching. 42:33 Now in many churches, 42:34 they believe that when you die, you immediately go to heaven, 42:38 or if you're lost, you go to hell. 42:41 Adventists studied that out and said that's not biblical. 42:44 For one thing, the Bible is very clear 42:46 that rewards are given after Jesus comes. 42:51 The judgment is still future. We all agree with that? 42:54 The great Judgment Day, 42:55 the day of the Lord is still future. 42:57 To give people their rewards before the judgment, 42:59 before the return of the Lord, there is a problem with that. 43:02 What confuses people is it's just a few verses. 43:06 On the cross, Jesus says to the thief, 43:08 "Verily I say to you, 43:09 today you'll be with Me in paradise." 43:12 They say, "Well, he must have died 43:13 and gone right to paradise with Jesus that day." 43:16 We know that the Greek had no punctuation. 43:19 Jesus didn't say that. 43:20 He said, "Verily I say to you today, 43:23 you're going to be with Me in paradise." 43:25 The emphasis is, "I'm telling you today 43:28 though I don't look like a Lord and a King." 43:30 He just said, "Lord, remember me 43:31 when You come in Your kingdom." 43:32 "Though I don't look like a Lord and a King, 43:34 I'm telling you today, you will be there." 43:36 When? When the dead rise. 43:38 Not that day. How do we know that? 43:40 Jesus didn't go to paradise that day. 43:43 Sunday morning, he tells Mary, 43:44 "I've not yet ascended to My Father." 43:46 That's Sunday, Jesus died Friday. 43:49 So that's one doctrine makes it clear. 43:51 Then you've got the one, "Absent from the body, 43:53 present with the Lord." 43:55 People read that and they think, 43:56 "There you have it. 43:57 As soon as you die, 43:58 you go right to the presence of the Lord." 44:00 Well, it's true, 44:01 but they misunderstand the dimension of time. 44:05 For a believer, when they die, 44:07 their next conscious thought is the presence of the Lord, 44:10 the resurrection, right? 44:12 But they're not there yet. 44:14 How do you know? 44:15 Is King David saved or lost, good King David? 44:18 That's a tip. 44:20 Good King David. Is he saved? 44:23 The one who killed Goliath. 44:25 You read in Acts Chapter 2, 44:27 Peter says, 44:29 "David is dead and buried and not ascended to heaven. 44:32 His grave is with us to this day." 44:34 How much more clear can you be? 44:36 When will He rise? 44:37 When the Lord descends from heaven with a shout, 44:40 then the dead in Christ will rise. 44:43 For David to be absent from the body 44:45 is to be present with the Lord 44:47 'cause the next thing David knows is the resurrection. 44:50 That also means nobody's burning in hell right now. 44:54 And that ought to bring some people great relief. 44:56 You know, there have been parents 44:58 that have been driven literally insane 45:01 because they had one or more children 45:02 that died in what appeared to be an unsaved condition, 45:06 and these parents were taught all their lives 45:08 that if you die unsaved, that you're cast 45:10 in a burning sulfur and brimstone torture chamber 45:13 where you will there suffer 45:14 through the ceaseless ages of time 45:17 as long as God shall last, you will be burning. 45:20 Now if you're a parent, and you love your kids, 45:22 and all of a sudden they die, and you think they're lost, 45:24 and that immediately they're burning. 45:26 What does that do to you mentally? 45:29 That would be torment for a parent 45:33 to think my child died lost and they are burning right now. 45:36 How much better, what they used to put 45:38 on the cemetery graves, 45:40 R-I-P, Rest in Peace. 45:43 Whether you're saved or you're lost, you're asleep. 45:46 Now what did Jesus say to Lazarus 45:48 or He said about Lazarus? 45:50 My friend Lazarus is asleep. Is it all good? 45:54 You'll get better if you sleep in Jesus? 45:55 No, he's dead. 45:56 Jesus called death, sleep. 46:00 That's why it said, "Many that sleep 46:01 in the dust of the earth shall awake." 46:03 Hasn't happened yet. 46:04 Let me give you some verses, 46:05 I've just been kind of rambling. 46:06 I gave you, I guess, verses while I was rambling. 46:09 Look at 1 Corinthians 15:51. 46:13 "Behold, I tell you a mystery. 46:15 We will not all sleep, 46:16 but we will be changed in a moment, 46:18 in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." 46:21 When does it happen? 46:22 Transformation is in. We'll be sleeping until then. 46:25 Some of you been awakened by an alarm clock. 46:28 Karen had her Apple phone went off this morning, 46:30 it woke us both up. 46:32 And Jesus again used a trumpet alarm. 46:36 "For the trumpet will sound, 46:38 and the dead will be raised incorruptible, 46:40 and we will be changed," 46:41 even glorified bodies, "for this corruptible," 46:44 that means bodies get old and decay, 46:46 "will put on an incorruptible body, 46:48 the mortal will put on immortality." 46:50 Now, if you have any doubts, 46:52 I'm going to go back a few verses. 46:53 If you have any doubts about 46:55 when this is going to happen 46:56 and how it's going to happen, look at this. 46:58 1 Corinthians 15:21, 47:00 "For since by man came death, 47:03 by Man also came the resurrection of the dead." 47:06 Jesus became a man to provide that. 47:09 "For as in Adam all die," 47:11 we've all kind of inherited the sinful DNA of Adam, 47:14 "Even so in Christ 47:16 shall all believers be made alive." 47:19 There's even unbelievers were made alive after the lamb. 47:22 "Each one in his own order," 47:24 now he's going to give the order 47:25 of when they're made alive. 47:26 Notice. 47:27 "Christ, the firstfruits," Jesus rose, 47:29 "afterword those who are Christ's at his coming." 47:33 How do people misunderstand that? 47:36 The resurrection of Christians happens at His coming. 47:40 And if that's not clear, 47:42 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 47:45 "But beloved, I don't want you to be ignorant, 47:47 concerning those who have fallen asleep." 47:49 See Paul had this problem even back in his day. 47:51 People in the church were ignorant 47:52 about what happened. 47:54 "Lest you sorrow as others that have no hope." 47:56 Praise God, Christians don't mourn as those atheists. 48:01 Boy, how sad 48:02 when someone goes to a funeral of an atheist 48:05 or an atheist goes to another atheist's funeral. 48:07 No hope of ever seeing them again. 48:10 It says we don't need to be ignorant. 48:12 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again 48:15 which we do, even so God will bring with Him 48:18 those who sleep in Jesus." 48:19 How do they get to be with Jesus? 48:22 He explains it. 48:23 "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, 48:25 that we who are alive 48:26 and remain until the coming of the Lord 48:28 will by no means precede," that means we don't go before, 48:31 "those who are asleep. 48:32 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven 48:34 with a shout, 48:35 with the voice of the archangel, 48:36 the trumpet, there's a trumpet again of God. 48:39 The dead in Christ will rise first." 48:41 So as the Lord sweeps around the world, 48:43 first, the dead in Christ rise, 48:44 they get their glorified bodies, 48:45 we just read about in 1 Corinthians. 48:47 "Then those of us who are alive and remain 48:50 will be caught up together," so they are there with Him 48:51 when we get there 48:53 to meet them in the air, 48:55 "thus we will always be with the Lord. 48:57 Therefore comfort one another with these words." 49:00 The Bible is so clear 49:02 that the resurrection has not happened yet, 49:05 and that nobody is burning in hell now, 49:07 and people do not burn in hell forever and ever and ever. 49:11 The Bible says, they are consumed, 49:14 they perish, they are burnt up, they're devoured, 49:18 never will they be any more, there's no more pain, 49:21 all things are made new." 49:22 You look at the scriptures and it's pretty clear 49:24 that God does not have an eternal torture chamber. 49:27 And just think about the injustice of that 49:30 that you'd have these creatures 49:31 that are born with sinful natures, 49:33 they are already prone to sin, 49:35 and the God will say, 49:37 "If you don't love My Son, you don't love Me, 49:41 I'm going to burn you forever and ever." 49:45 And for one life time. How long? 49:47 That means Ike a 13 year-old boy, 49:49 who dies lost, 49:50 let's assume he's past the age of accountability, 49:54 God is going to burn him forever and ever 49:56 for the sins of that one lifetime. 49:59 Oh, just think about how... 50:01 What does that make God look like? 50:03 Makes Him look sadistic, doesn't it? 50:06 But the Bible says that God 50:07 is going to wipe away every tear. 50:09 There's nobody screaming and shrieking through eternity. 50:12 So, yes, this is a doctrine 50:14 that separates Adventists from some popular churches 50:17 that believe a mythological view of hell, 50:20 that the church concocted to scare people 50:23 into giving money and coming to church. 50:25 And so, I'm so thankful for these truths that unite us. 50:29 Amen? 50:30 Anyway, I hope we learned something, 50:32 we're out of time. 50:33 I want to remind our friends, we have a very special, 50:34 this is a premium offer, premium upgrade offer. 50:38 It's a beautiful color magazine and it's great for sharing. 50:41 Read it. 50:42 It talks about hidden truths, some of these hidden truths 50:44 just like the ones we talked about. 50:46 Highlights seven of the hidden doctrines 50:48 many churches don't understand, 50:50 and all you've got to do is ask for offer number 832. 50:53 To get a free copy, call 866-788-3966. 50:59 That's 866-Study-More, 51:01 and we'll send that to you, 51:02 do share with a friend. 51:03 God bless you and thank you for studying with us. 51:06 We look forward to doing this again together next week. 51:10 Don't forget to request today's life changing free resource. 51:13 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 51:15 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 51:18 or mobile device. 51:19 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 51:22 simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544, 51:26 or visit the web address shown on your screen, 51:29 and be sure to select 51:30 that digital download option on the request page. 51:32 It's now easier than ever for you 51:34 to study God's Word with Amazing Facts 51:37 wherever and whenever you want, 51:39 and most important, to share it with others. 51:43 Let's face it. 51:44 It's not always easy to understand 51:46 everything you read in the Bible. 51:47 With over 700,000 words contained in 66 books, 51:51 the Bible can generate a lot of questions. 51:54 To get biblical straightforward answers, 51:56 call into Bible Answers Live, 51:58 a live nationwide call in radio program 52:01 where you can talk to Pastor Doug Batchelor, 52:03 and ask him your most difficult Bible questions. 52:06 For times and stations in your area, 52:08 or to listen to answers online, visit bal.amazingfacts.org. 52:24 My parents got divorced when I was three or four, 52:26 and then, I was basically unchurched most of my life. 52:29 I had a girlfriend in high school telling me 52:31 that she had to break up with me 52:32 because I wasn't a Christian. 52:33 I thought that's weird, I believe in God, 52:34 why would she say that? 52:36 Not realizing I was living a horrible life 52:38 with foul language, was mean, and other stuff. 52:40 And that kind of challenged me initially, 52:44 and then my dad, 9/11 woke him up. 52:46 He wasn't ready to meet his Lord 52:47 though he was a man that I valued in. 52:50 I knew he loved me, didn't doubt that. 52:52 But he just knew he needed more. 52:53 So he started watching TV ministries first. 52:56 Baptist preachers, and others, 52:57 and he was kind of intrigued by what he was learning, 53:01 and so when he turned me on to this television station, 53:04 first thing that I got access to 53:07 was Doug Batchelor's Most Amazing Prophecies series 53:09 he did in Berrien Springs, Michigan. 53:11 And I remember when I first watched this, 53:13 my background was Baptistish of sorts, 53:16 but I remember when I first watched the series, 53:19 I remember thinking I've never heard that before 53:21 about the State of the Dead, 53:23 or about the Sabbath, or the Commandments, 53:24 or the Rapture, other things. 53:26 I remember thinking to myself, I've never heard that before, 53:28 but that's what the text says, and that kept happening, 53:32 and I had this experience of just wondering like, 53:34 "Well, what else have I believed 53:35 that isn't as it is, you know?" 53:37 And the more I watched, the more helpful it became. 53:41 But again, he kind of took 53:42 a different perspective on the messages. 53:43 It was fresh to me, but I just... 53:46 These things I had never heard before, 53:48 and I just realized like, 53:50 "There's so much stuff in the Bible 53:52 that no one's talking about and that people need to know." 53:55 And so I ended up in this awkward situation 53:57 that some of my friends who didn't believe 54:00 what I was coming to believe, 54:01 I didn't know how to communicate with them, 54:03 and so one of the things that helped me initially 54:06 was the SabbathTruth.com website, 54:09 the truth about Hell.com, 54:11 and the truth about death. 54:12 And some of those resource websites 54:14 that Amazing Facts had put together, 54:16 that were just full of resources. 54:18 If I needed an answer to something 54:19 that someone brought up, 54:21 there would be a 95% chance 54:23 that Amazing Facts would have something that I could use. 54:26 It makes witnessing even easier in that sense. 54:29 The Amazing Facts Prophecy Study Bible 54:30 was my first real Bible 54:32 that I had of a more trusted translation. 54:35 The Bible study guides were on the back of it 54:37 and lot of other resources that were helpful. 54:39 If you can hand a book to somebody 54:41 and you can pick up a phone and call Amazing Facts, 54:43 you have everything you need. 54:44 And so I was just printing off stuff 54:46 and handing it to people, 54:47 you know, like, here's what I'm coming to realize, 54:49 this is true, it's in the Bible. 54:51 And it was a huge blessing to me, 54:53 and a real help just to kind of help me 54:55 to better understand what the message was, 54:58 and understand it for myself, 54:59 and have resources to put in the hands of the other people, 55:01 it was invaluable. 55:03 Some time went by, I eventually went to school of evangelism, 55:06 and was baptized. 55:07 And then I had this amazing opportunity 55:09 that after being in the ministry 55:11 for about 5 or 6 years, 55:12 Doug Batchelor was going to be the main speaker 55:14 at youth events, and I was actually going to be 55:16 doing a seminar at this youth event. 55:18 And it was just this amazing kind of full circle experience 55:21 that the first person 55:22 that I came in contact within Adventism, 55:24 to hear the message to have it make sense, 55:26 to be able to do ministry together with him 55:28 in whatever role possible 55:30 just meant the world to me, 55:31 and to be able to tell him my story 55:33 and tell him thank you was invaluable. 55:35 And so God just gave me a precious gift 55:38 and afforded an opportunity and I'll never forget that. 55:41 My name is Dee. 55:42 Thank you for changing my life. 55:59 So what is the brightest light in the world? 56:02 Well, naturally, you would say the sun. 56:03 But we're talking about 56:04 the brightest man-made light in the world. 56:07 It's the light that shines out of the roof 56:09 of that pyramid shaped hotel in Las Vegas called the Luxor. 56:13 There in the cap of that hotel, 56:15 there is a room that contains 39 washing machines 56:19 size xenon bulbs, 56:20 and each of those bulbs requires about 7000 watts, 56:24 altogether they produce about 56:26 40 billion candlepower of light. 56:30 Can you imagine getting that electric bill 56:31 of the Luxor hotel every month? 56:33 That light is so bright 56:35 that planes can see it 250 miles away. 56:39 They are shooting light 10 miles up into space, 56:42 meaning if you happen to be floating by, 56:44 you can read a newspaper up there. 56:47 And as you might have guessed that bright light 56:49 has become the world's best bug attractor. 56:51 Bringing in moths, bats and owls 56:54 creating its own ecosystem there at night above the hotel. 56:57 But the sad thing about 56:58 the brightest light in the world 57:00 is especially when the night air 57:02 is clear without any particles, 57:04 the light doesn't hit anything and it's invisible, 57:07 it shoots up into empty space. 57:10 The brightest light in the world 57:12 illuminates nothing. 57:14 You know, the Bible tells us 57:15 that there's another great wasted light, 57:17 and that's the light of God's Word. 57:19 It says in Psalm 119:105, 57:22 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet 57:25 and a light unto my path." 57:27 And yet so many people are walking in darkness. 57:29 Furthermore, Jesus said, "If you do have that light, 57:32 make sure you don't put it under a bushel, 57:34 but you let it shine 57:35 and illuminate the lives of others. 57:37 Jesus said in Matthew 5, 57:39 "Set your light up on a hill like a city 57:41 so that all might see it." 57:43 Light only benefits others 57:45 when it reflects off of something. 57:48 God wants our lights 57:49 to illuminate the lives of others. 57:52 So are you glowing for God? 57:53 Remember, Jesus said, "Let there be light." |
Revised 2018-11-20