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00:35 Good morning, friends, and welcome again
00:36 to Sabbath School Study Hour 00:38 here at the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:40 As you look around, you probably notice that 00:42 the set is little bit different than normal 00:45 for our Sabbath School Study Hour time, 00:48 but we're doing something special, 00:49 connected with the Amazing Facts training program 00:52 called AFCOE. 00:53 That's why you see amazing doctrines right behind. 00:56 But we are starting a brand new series of studies today 01:00 dealing with the Book of Revelation, 01:02 one of my favorite books in New Testament. 01:04 Today, we're looking at Lesson 1 01:07 which is entitled, "The Gospel from Patmos." 01:10 But before we get to our lesson, 01:11 we want to let our friends know 01:12 about a free offer that we have 01:14 that goes along with our study today. 01:16 It is entitled, "The Trinity," 01:18 talking about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 01:20 This is our free gift to anyone in North America. 01:23 All you have to do is call 866-788-3966 01:28 and you can ask for offer 166 01:31 and we'll be happy to send that to you. 01:33 Or if you're outside of North America 01:35 or even in North America, 01:36 you can get a digital copy of the book. 01:39 All you have to do is text the code "SH088" 01:44 to the number 40544. 01:48 And we'll give you a link 01:49 and you'll be able to download the book, 01:50 The Trinity, written by Pastor Doug, 01:52 a lot of very important information found in the book. 01:56 Now for those of you who might not have 01:58 our new lesson quarterly 02:00 dealing with the book Revelation, 02:02 we would encourage you to try and obtain one 02:04 from one of the Adventist churches in your area, 02:07 but you can study along with us 02:09 even now by simply downloading the lesson. 02:11 You can do so at lesson.aftv.org. 02:16 That's lesson.aftv.org 02:19 and you can look up Lesson 1 02:21 on our new study in the Book of Revelation 02:24 and you can follow along. 02:26 Well, before we get to our study, 02:27 we always like to begin by lifting our voices in song. 02:30 I'd like to invite our song leaders to come forward. 02:33 Thank you, Pastor Ross, and Happy New Year. 02:37 It's time to sing like we do every week. 02:39 So if you're at home and you have a hymnal, 02:41 pull it out and join with us 452, 02:45 What Heavenly Music. 02:47 This is one of my all-time favorites. 02:49 We're gonna do all three stances, 452. 05:05 I am looking forward to that day 05:07 when we can all be together and hear that heavenly music. 05:11 Something that I don't think 05:13 we can even get close to imagining on this earth. 05:16 But there is some gorgeous music 05:18 that I know we've all heard and it is just a taste of 05:23 what it would be like on the streets of gold. 05:26 At this time, Pastor Ross 05:27 is going to have our opening prayer. 05:30 Dear Father in heaven, we thank You once again 05:32 that we have this opportunity 05:33 to gather together and open up Your Word 05:35 and study such an important book, 05:37 a timely book for this earth's history. 05:40 And, Father, as we delve into this prophetic book, 05:42 the Book of Revelation, 05:43 we ask for the Holy Spirit to come guide us, 05:46 not only does it present 05:47 various powers at the end of time, 05:49 but more than anything else that reveals to us a savior, 05:52 reveals the lamb, there amongst the beasts. 05:55 So we ask your special blessing upon our time this morning, 05:58 in Jesus' name, amen. 06:00 Amen. 06:01 Our first lesson in the new series today 06:03 is going to be brought to us by Pastor Doug. 06:09 Book of Revelation, 06:10 one of the most perfect books ever written 06:12 is gonna be our theme now for the next 13 weeks. 06:16 And today, we get into our first study 06:18 which is lesson one, of course, 06:19 "The Gospel from Patmos." 06:22 And we have a memory verse 06:24 and the memory verse is Revelation 1:3. 06:27 If you have your Bibles, 06:29 I'd appreciate if you'd say it out loud with me. 06:31 Revelation 1:3 06:33 and this is from the New King James Version. 06:35 You ready? 06:37 "Blessed is he who reads 06:40 and those who hear the words of this prophecy, 06:44 and keep the things that are written in it, 06:46 for the time is near." 06:49 And blessing, the book begins with a blessing. 06:51 You'd be surprised how many people I've met 06:53 that came to a seminar for years before 06:57 I got into official ministry. 07:03 As a layman, I did prophecy seminars, 07:06 we call them Revelation Seminars. 07:08 Some of you remember the Revelation Seminars. 07:10 First ones were written by Harry Robinson, 07:13 and then people did lessons 07:15 that were from Seminars Unlimited written by Bill May. 07:18 And I think even Marvin Moore wrote 07:20 a set of Revelation Seminar lessons I used one time. 07:22 But people were very interested. 07:25 And all the folks would drive around the town, 07:27 they had a bumper sticker it said, "Know the future," 07:30 you know, attend the Revelation Seminar. 07:32 And I'd see people creeping in apprehensively opening night 07:37 and I talked to them and they go, 07:40 our pastor said we shouldn't study the Book of Revelation 07:43 because there's a curse in the Book of Revelation, 07:46 and we don't want to be cursed. 07:48 I said, really. 07:49 So well, there are some curses, 07:51 but there are a lot of blessings. 07:52 The Bible says there's a blessing on those 07:54 who read the book. 07:55 The end of the book, it says, there's a curse on those 07:57 who change the words of this prophecy. 08:00 And so that is a little ominous. 08:02 You need to approach the study of Revelation 08:04 with a faithfulness to say what it says, 08:07 you don't want to be twisting or altering it 08:09 because probably one of the most fearful curses 08:12 in the Bible is pronounced on those 08:14 who distort or corrupt or twist the Word of God. 08:20 And so... 08:21 But notice He says, 08:22 there's a blessing on those who not only read it, 08:26 but not all everyone can read back then, 08:28 but they could hear someone else read it. 08:29 So it says, blessed are those who read and those who hear, 08:33 and then what was the most important part, 08:35 and keep. 08:37 So if you're a reader and a hearer of the word 08:39 and not a doer, 08:40 you're like that man who looks at his face 08:42 and like a glass and walks away, 08:44 forget what manner of man or woman they are. 08:48 And so this is just going to be, 08:50 I think, a tremendous study in this next quarter, 08:53 going through this incredible book. 08:56 Now the Book of Revelation is mysterious. 08:59 And we'll talk a little later about the title of the book, 09:03 and what it means. 09:05 There's a lot of symbols in the book, 09:07 a lot of numbers. 09:08 If you were to retitle the Book of Revelation with a number, 09:12 what would that number be? 09:14 666. 666. 09:20 Some people... That's right. 09:21 Some people would say 666, 09:23 probably, the number seven. 09:26 Another one is 144,000. Yeah. 09:29 The Book of Revelation is really a book of sevens. 09:32 There are 60 times in the book, you find the number seven. 09:39 Fifty five of those times, it says seven, 09:41 five of them it uses the word seventh. 09:43 But it adds up to 60 times. 09:45 Now notice, 09:47 you've got stories and passages in the Bible 09:50 to deal with all kinds of different sevens about 19. 09:54 You can count them as I go through if you want, 09:56 seven churches, seven lampstands, seven lambs, 10:02 seven spirits, seven stars, 10:04 I just realized I don't have enough fingers to do this, 10:06 seven horns, seven angels, 10:09 seven thunders, seven thousand people, 10:12 seven heads, seven crowns, 10:16 seven angels, seven plagues, seven mountains, 10:20 seven bowls, seven kings, 10:23 I may have left one out. 10:26 Yeah, seven trumpets. So I didn't do the trumpets? 10:29 Seven trumpets. 10:30 Now there, that is 20. 10:32 So you got a lot of sevens in the Book of Revelation. 10:35 Now I do talk about the trumpets here in a minute. 10:38 You know, another number appears frequently 10:40 in the Book of Revelation, it's 12. 10:43 That's probably the second number 10:45 that appears the highest. 10:46 Twelve is mentioned 22 times in the book. 10:49 A lot of is where it talks about the 144,000, 10:52 12,000 from this tribe, 12,000 from that tribe. 10:56 And, of course, the 144,000 is 12 times 12,000. 11:00 And then what does seven mean? 11:02 Now if you're going to have a book so full of seven, 11:04 you might need to ask a little about biblical numerology. 11:07 What does seven mean? 11:08 Is it just coincidence? 11:09 Is it just a pretty number? 11:11 Is it just because they roll dice back then? 11:13 And that was, they were trying to avoid snake eyes. 11:16 But what was with the number seven? 11:19 How many days in a week? 11:22 Why? 11:24 It's God's number, it's the perfect number of God, 11:28 and especially connected with a perfect cycle of time. 11:31 Now the Book of Revelation is dealing with time, 11:34 it's a prophecy, 11:36 begins by saying the time is at hand. 11:39 It ends by saying even so come Lord Jesus. 11:42 He comes quickly. 11:44 And so it's a book that talks about an urgency of time, 11:47 and so you've got all these sevens in there. 11:49 It's a perfect number. 11:51 God created the world this perfect cycle of seven, right? 11:55 And there are five epics of seven. 11:59 The book is sort of divided into five sections here. 12:02 You've got the seven churches, which is Revelation 1-3 12:07 covers the spiritual history of the church 12:09 from the first coming to the second coming. 12:13 You have the seven seals. 12:14 Now that's dealing with Revelation 4-8. 12:18 That covers the political history of the church 12:21 between the first coming and the second coming. 12:24 Thirdly, you've got the seven trumpets, 12:26 which is a military history of the church 12:28 between the first coming and the second coming. 12:30 So there's time involved. 12:33 You have and, by the way, that's Revelation 8-11. 12:37 Then you've got between Revelation 12 12:39 really the center of the book where it talks about 12:41 the core of the conflict is the seven heads 12:45 and that's Revelation 12-14. 12:49 This beast is trying to destroy the woman. 12:52 And then when you get to the end, 12:53 you finally have the conclusion, 12:54 the final birth pains and that's the seven plagues, 12:58 children of Israel before they were born as a nation. 13:00 They were born out of 10 plagues. 13:03 And then they came forth during the final plague, right? 13:06 During the final plague, you find in Revelation, 13:08 Jesus comes and we are delivered, 13:11 and we go to the heavenly Canaan land. 13:13 So the book is a book filled with parallels 13:16 between the Old Testament and the New Testament. 13:19 I'd submit to you, 13:20 you cannot understand the Book of Revelation 13:23 if you don't have a pretty thorough knowledge 13:26 of the Old Testament. 13:28 There are 404 verses in the Book of Revelation. 13:32 About 278 of the 404 verses 13:36 can be found almost verbatim in the Old Testament. 13:40 We'll give you some examples of that a little later. 13:42 So it's really important to have a good background. 13:46 It's not just a book that has plagues, 13:48 it's a book that has blessings. 13:49 I talked about the sevens. 13:51 Do you know there's also seven beatitudes 13:54 that you find in Revelation. 13:56 They are the blessings, you get the blessings on the churches, 13:59 and so that's in Revelation 1:3, 14:01 Revelation 14:13, 14:02 Revelation 16:15, 14:04 19:9, 20:6, 22:7, 22:14, 14:07 seven blessings in the Book of Revelation. 14:10 There are seven attributes of the lamb. 14:13 And that's all found in one verse. 14:16 If you look in Revelation 5:12, 14:18 I know this is going fast, people are wondering, 14:20 "Pastor Doug, I can't keep up." 14:21 We always post my notes on the Amazing Facts website 14:26 under the Sabbath School tab. 14:29 And so you'll see a little thing 14:30 it says the notes, 14:31 and so either Pastor Ross or I 14:32 whatever our notes such as they are, 14:34 I'll give you this piece of paper 14:36 that I'm reading from, 14:37 and it's just a word document you can download. 14:40 But if you read in Revelation 7:12, 14:43 these beasts and angels declare, 14:46 "Saying with a loud voice, 14:47 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain 14:50 to receive power and riches and wisdom, 14:54 and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" 14:58 Seven facets. 15:00 Now Jesus is identified as a lamb slain, 15:04 seven horns, seven eyes, 15:07 He's often portrayed in the sevens, 15:09 you get the seven spirits of God. 15:12 Do you look in Revelation... 15:13 No, I'm sorry, look in Isaiah 11:2, 15:17 it identifies seven characteristics 15:19 of the Holy Spirit 15:20 or facets of the Holy Spirit. 15:22 And so, oh, this book is... 15:24 If you're... 15:25 How many of you are number people, 15:27 you like numbers? 15:31 You just like to have things add up. 15:32 Does it frustrate you if a penny is missing 15:34 from the cash register at the end of the day? 15:37 And there's no one's going to steal a penny, 15:39 it's usually an accounting error. 15:41 And Karen loves to have things add up, 15:43 and if they don't add up, 15:46 she just fixes it until it does add up. 15:47 Yeah. 15:48 Just you know you rob Peter and pay Paul, 15:50 there's ways to do that. 15:52 But if you're a numbers person, 15:54 you're gonna really enjoy the Book of Revelation 15:57 because it's got a lot of numbers. 15:58 Now I told you what does the number seven represent? 16:01 Perfect. 16:02 So a perfect interruption of seven is 16:05 when you cut seven in half. 16:07 And if you cut seven in half, what number you'd get? 16:10 Three and a half. 16:11 That is a number of persecution. 16:13 It's a number that you're going to find 16:15 through the Bible, and it's in Revelation, 16:16 and it's listed three different ways. 16:18 It's called 42 months, it's called 3.5 years, 16:23 and it's called 1260 days. 16:26 And that adds up to 3.5 Jewish years. 16:30 Now Jewish year had 360 days for its 42 months with 30 days, 16:35 1260. 16:38 How long did Jesus ministered? 16:40 Three and a half years. 16:42 And it was a time of persecution and resistance. 16:46 What did Elijah do during 3.5 years of famine? 16:49 Ran for his life, fled into the wilderness. 16:52 You read in Revelation 16:53 that the woman fled into the wilderness, 16:55 but she's fed by God. 16:56 Elijah fled into the wilderness, 16:58 but God fed him. 16:59 So all of these prophecies, even about the future, 17:02 at least from Revelation there in the future, 17:05 you find the key to understanding them 17:07 by going back. 17:08 But the numbers are very important. 17:11 We got a lot to cover here. 17:12 And I got about half of my time. 17:14 I don't know who it was that wasted all my time. 17:17 Now let's go to the first section here. 17:19 Well, I talked about the five epics 17:21 that you have in Revelation 17:22 and how the book is divided up. 17:24 The title of the book is very important. 17:27 Now do some of you have 17:28 an old King James Version with you? 17:30 If you read at the very top of Revelation, 17:32 what does it say? 17:34 The Revelation on Jesus Christ. 17:35 Not the first verse. 17:37 What's the title at the top of the page? 17:39 Douglas. Does it say... 17:40 How many of you have one that says 17:41 the Revelation of Saint John? 17:43 Okay. 17:44 All right, Steve's got one right there. 17:45 I needed a witness. 17:48 They use the title of the book. 17:49 They call it the Revelation of Saint John 17:52 'cause John wrote it. 17:53 He's the author of the book 17:55 and I'm not going to steal Pastor Ross's thunder. 17:57 Next week, we'll talk more about John's imprisonment 18:00 and the background for the book. 18:02 But is it a revelation of Saint John? 18:06 What's the first line say? 18:08 Revelation of Jesus Christ. 18:10 And it's interesting that people think 18:11 that the book is a sealed book. 18:15 I've met people before, they think 18:16 there's a curse pronounced on anyone who reads a book. 18:19 Pastor say the book is a mystery, 18:20 we're not supposed to read it. 18:22 I've heard people tell us, their pastor said 18:25 we're not supposed to read Revelation. 18:26 It just confuses people. 18:28 It's the most controversial book, 18:29 stay away from Revelation. 18:31 And some people say, 18:33 folks go crazy reading Revelation. 18:35 I've heard some crazy interpretations. 18:36 But I don't know that the book made them crazy. 18:38 They were probably crazy and they read the book 18:40 and then, but... 18:43 It says there's a blessing on those who read the book. 18:47 And it is a Revelation of Jesus. 18:52 From beginning to end, 18:53 Jesus has more titles in Revelation 18:55 than just about anywhere. 18:56 He's called the First and the Last, 18:58 the Alpha and Omega, 18:59 He is the Lamb, He is Michael. 19:03 He is the one riding on the white horse. 19:05 I mean, you see Jesus all the way from cover to cover 19:08 in the Book of Revelation. 19:10 It is a revelation of Christ. 19:12 You will know Jesus better 19:14 as you read the Book of Revelation. 19:15 Now the word revelation 19:17 comes from the Greek word apocalypses. 19:20 And you recognize that, of course, as apocalypse. 19:24 And if I told you that the weathermen said 19:27 there's an apocalypse coming, 19:29 what would you think? 19:32 That was gonna be terrible. 19:33 I mean, you got some ominous weather about to happen. 19:37 But the word apocalypse didn't used to mean that, 19:39 it means that now because of the spin, 19:41 people have put on the name of Revelation 19:44 because Revelation does talk about, 19:47 you know, locusts, head creatures, 19:49 and fire and plagues, 19:52 and people being scorched with great heat, 19:53 noisome soars in, 19:55 and fire coming down from heaven. 19:57 And people, when they say, I'm reading the apocalypse, 20:00 they always think of terrible things. 20:02 How many of you have heard of the Four Horsemen 20:03 of the Apocalypse? 20:05 That's actually just the first four of the seven seals. 20:09 But the fourth horseman is a rider of death. 20:13 They forget that there's one on a white horse too, 20:15 he's good. 20:17 But the book has come... 20:18 The name apocalypse has come to seem 20:20 very foreboding and ominous, 20:23 but the word means unveiling or revealing. 20:27 And so it's really a good thing. 20:28 It's like, you know, sometimes words take on 20:31 different meanings. 20:35 I think we all know that years ago 20:38 if you said, I'm happy and gay, 20:40 it had a whole different meaning 20:41 that it has today, right? 20:42 Those words sort of change with the culture and over time. 20:46 Well, the word apocalypse means an uncovering, 20:48 it's a revealing. 20:49 It's not a book that Jesus doesn't want us to understand. 20:52 He wants us to understand, 20:54 He pronounces a blessing on those who read. 20:56 Now when it just says read, doesn't mean 20:57 you just sit here and you read it once. 20:59 Dr. Leslie Hardinge used to say, 21:01 if you want to understand the Book of Revelation, 21:03 you'll start understanding it after you read it 50 times. 21:08 He said, as you read it, and that means you read it, 21:11 and you read it, and you listen. 21:14 The Bible is a book, 21:15 it just gets deeper as you go through it. 21:17 And as you read in connection with the Old Testament stories, 21:20 you can keep saying, aha, 21:23 that's like that other story in the Bible. 21:25 These words come from that chapter. 21:28 And it begins to make more and more sense. 21:31 You read, for instance, the very end of Revelation, 21:34 Revelation 22:16, "I, Jesus, have sent My angel 21:39 to testify to you these things in the church. 21:42 I am the Root and the Offspring of David, 21:44 the Bright and Morning Star." 21:46 Told you, He's got many names in Revelation. 21:49 Have you run into people before they argue and fight 21:51 over the proper way to pronounce God's name? 21:55 And they've even retranslated some Bibles 21:57 because they say they don't translate God's name correctly. 22:01 And if you can't say God's name in Hebrew, 22:03 they say God is not going to hear your prayer. 22:07 It's not what the Bible teaches, 22:08 Bible teaches, God has got many names. 22:11 He's Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, 22:15 the Bread of Life, the I Am, the Good Shepherd, 22:17 the Living Water, the Door, 22:20 the Bright and Morning Star, the Fairest of 10,000. 22:22 How many names does Jesus have in the Bible? 22:25 I've got a list somewhere. 22:26 It's, you know, probably 30 different names. 22:31 So that's a really uninformed Bible teaching. 22:35 But He's telling us it is something He wants us to know. 22:38 The book is about Jesus from cover to cover, 22:41 that's why I said Revelation 1 all the way to Revelation 22, 22:44 it is revealed, 22:46 He's not wanting to hide it from us. 22:48 In a moment, I'm gonna have somebody here read a verse, 22:50 you're going to be reading Daniel 2:22. 22:53 While you get ready for that, I'm going to read a verse. 22:55 Deuteronomy 29:29, 22:58 "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, 23:01 but those things that are revealed 23:04 belong to us and our children forever..." 23:06 So is revelation something revealed? 23:09 It belongs to us. 23:11 He wants us to understand it. 23:13 And He said, if you want to understand it, 23:14 what's the promise? 23:15 Seek and I'm going to hide it from you. 23:20 God is gonna blindfold us as we try to understand. 23:22 He wants us to understand. That's why he wrote it. 23:25 He promises, this is something revealed. 23:28 Amos 3:7, 23:30 "Surely the Lord God does nothing, 23:32 unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets." 23:34 That's a very important verse. 23:36 That means whenever God is going to do 23:38 something significant in history, 23:39 He will raise up a prophet or prophetess 23:41 to help prepare people. 23:43 Before the flood, 23:45 did God get a prophet to warn people? 23:47 Would you say the flood was significant? 23:50 The whole world is going to be destroyed. 23:52 Now before the Exodus, did God raised up a prophet? 23:55 What was his name? Moses. 23:57 And the other one was Noah, right, before the flood. 24:01 Before the captivity and conquering by Babylon, 24:03 did God raised up prophets? 24:06 Yeah, He had Jeremiah and Isaiah. 24:09 Before fire comes down from heaven 24:12 and the people are saved from Baal worship, 24:13 did God raised up Elijah, 24:16 one of the greatest prophets. 24:17 Before the Son of Man came the first time, 24:20 did God raised up a prophet, John the Baptist. 24:23 Does it make sense to you that 24:24 before the Lord comes the second time, 24:26 He'd have the gift of prophecy? 24:29 He does. 24:30 And at least one prophet, 24:31 I think He raised was Ellen White, 24:33 doesn't mean it's the last because it says 24:35 it'll come to pass in the last days, 24:37 I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh 24:40 and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. 24:43 Dream, dream, see visions. 24:45 And so, I don't think God has retracted His promise 24:48 for the gifts of the spirit to His church. 24:50 So it's something He wants us to understand. 24:52 Please read for us your verse. 24:56 Daniel 2:22, 24:58 "He reveals deep and secret things, 25:00 He knows what is in the darkness, 25:03 and light dwells with Him." 25:05 Amen. 25:06 You'll see several times in the Bible 25:07 where God gives them a serious dream 25:10 to some monarch 25:13 and they don't know what it means, 25:15 and finally they need to call a Jew. 25:17 And the Jew explains the dream. 25:19 You know the story of Joseph in Egypt. 25:21 Now God didn't give this dream to just keep everybody guessing 25:24 and have it just fade away. 25:25 He gave it so that it could be understand, 25:27 but they needed to go to a Jew 25:29 because the Jews, they wrote the Bible, 25:31 it represents the Word of God. 25:33 And Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar has at least two dreams, 25:36 he can't understand, his wise men can't understand, 25:38 God wants him to understand. 25:40 And finally, when they turn to God, 25:42 Joseph said to Pharaoh, God has the answer. 25:44 Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, God has the answer. 25:47 They wanted them to know who to turn to 25:50 for an understanding of the future, 25:52 and it was revealed. 25:54 That's what Daniel saying here. 25:55 You look in Proverbs 3:32. 25:59 "For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, 26:02 but His secret counsel is with the upright." 26:06 God did not reveal the secrets to the wise men of Pharaoh 26:10 or the wise men of Nebuchadnezzar, 26:12 but he did reveal the secret to his people. 26:16 And so what's one of the keys to understanding prophecy? 26:20 Blessed are those who read here and keep, 26:22 we need to have the Lord in our hearts, 26:25 spiritual things are spiritually discerned. 26:28 And we need to have the Holy Spirit 26:31 to understand these mysteries. 26:32 Say amen. Amen. 26:34 Matthew 13, 26:36 "Jesus answered and said to them," 26:38 this is verse 11, 26:39 "because it has been given to you 26:41 to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, 26:44 but to them it has not been given." 26:46 His people that are consecrated to him, 26:49 if they study and they seek for truth, 26:51 He will reveal these things, 26:54 but there are some people who do not understand. 26:56 You can read in Matthew 13, Christ said, 26:58 that's few verses later. 27:01 In verse 15, 27:03 "For the heart of this people has grown dull. 27:05 Their ears are hard of hearing, their eyes have closed, 27:09 lest they should see with their eyes 27:10 and hear with their ears, 27:12 lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, 27:15 so that I should heal them. 27:16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, 27:19 and your ears for they hear. 27:21 For assuredly, I say to you 27:22 many prophets and righteous men have desired 27:24 to see what you see, and did not see it, 27:26 and hear what you hear, and did not hear it." 27:29 Now, if God is going to give a generation 27:30 the ability to understand Revelation, 27:34 why would not it be this generation 27:37 upon whom the ends of the world have come? 27:39 Here we are, if we're not going to understand it, 27:41 nobody's going to understand it. 27:42 He wants us to know what these things mean 27:44 to prepare the world for His coming. 27:46 He said, "Behold, I come quickly." 27:48 Amen? 27:49 In the book Testimonies to Ministers, 27:52 Ellen White writes in page 118, 27:55 "Let Daniel speak, let the revelation speak, 27:59 tell what truth is 28:01 but whatever phase of the subject is presented, 28:03 uplift Jesus at the center of all hope, 28:07 the Root and the Offspring of David, 28:09 the Bright and the Morning Star, 28:10 just reiterates, 28:11 Christ must be kept the center of the book. 28:14 It is ultimately a revelation of Jesus Himself. 28:17 All right, so the next section, 28:18 what is the purpose of the Book of Revelation? 28:21 Now you know what I'm doing in my study today, 28:23 this is an introduction, 28:25 my comments are dealing with verse 1-8, 28:28 and that's about it. 28:30 So if you look under the purpose of the book, 28:32 and someone here in a minute is going to read John 14:29. 28:36 Revelation 1:1, 28:37 "The revelation of Jesus Christ, 28:40 which God gave Him to show His servants 28:44 things which must shortly take place." 28:47 Now that tells you right there 28:48 that the beginning of the fulfillment 28:52 of the prophecies of Revelation was imminent. 28:56 Now before I go any farther 28:57 and I'm sure that between myself, 29:00 Pastor Ross, Pastor Brummund, and others that may teach, 29:02 there will be some repetition which is good. 29:06 When you approach Revelation, 29:07 there are three principal views. 29:10 You got past, present, future. 29:14 You've got one that is called the preterist view. 29:18 Just think of the word pre. 29:20 They think that all of Revelation was fulfilled 29:24 by the time the apostles died, first 100 years. 29:28 They think Nero was the antichrist. 29:30 And then they've got kind of a creative way 29:32 to try to make that work. 29:34 I don't think it's very effective, 29:37 because there's a lot of revelation like 29:38 when it talks about Jesus coming 29:39 that clearly hasn't happened. 29:41 And so I don't accept 29:43 but that's not a very popular view. 29:46 Then you've got a popular view and it's a new view, 29:50 it's called the futurist view 29:52 and they say that from Revelation Chapter 4 onward, 29:56 the Revelation 4 says "They heard a voice behind me 29:59 and there's a trumpet and says, 'Come up here.'" 30:01 And John is kind of taken up and shown this vision, 30:04 they say all of that is from the rapture on. 30:08 So they say everything from Chapter 4 in Revelation 30:12 is still future. 30:13 Well, that I would respectfully disagree with, 30:16 and that is a relatively new view 30:18 that was actually developed by two Jesuit priests, 30:21 Francisco Ribera being one of them. 30:25 And it was later adopted by Scofield 30:28 and he put it in his Scofield Bible 30:30 that was picked up by then Hal Lindsey, 30:32 who put it in the book, The Late, Great Planet Earth, 30:34 when he foretold the end of the world, 1988, 30:37 and none of that happened. 30:39 But it took hold the secret rapture, 30:41 futuristic view to hold at that point, 30:43 and they never let go of it. 30:45 Then you got the view, 30:46 that was the view of the reformers, 30:48 which is called the historicist view. 30:49 And that means Revelation really is a panorama 30:52 that covers the history of the church 30:54 between the first coming. 30:56 Jesus said, "The time is at hand, 30:57 it starts now till the second coming, 31:01 you get to the end of the book and all things are restored. 31:04 And so Revelation is for God's people in every age. 31:08 And every lesson for every age is for every person. 31:13 The seven messages to the seven churches 31:15 are not just to those particular churches in history, 31:18 but every individual sort of goes through 31:20 sometimes phases of Ephesus, Smyrna, 31:24 Philadelphia, Laodicea, Sardis, so forth. 31:28 Persons first converted, they're Ephesus, 31:32 and they get persecuted by their families. 31:33 Smyrna, they joined a church. 31:35 Philadelphia, brotherly love. 31:36 Then they've been in the church for a while, 31:38 Laodicea. 31:40 And so it's for every Christian, 31:43 but it really does cover the panorama of church history. 31:47 And so we'll be sharing in this series, 31:50 this historicist view. 31:52 All right, so the main purpose of the book is redemption. 31:56 Now read for me please, John 14:29. 31:59 John 14:29, " 32:01 And now I have told you before it comes, 32:04 that when it does come to pass, 32:05 you may believe." 32:07 All right, so God gives us prophecy, 32:09 so we will know how to invest in the stock market, 32:12 or how to pick lotto numbers, 32:15 or how to plant our crops. 32:18 Well, there was a place where God gave prophecy to Joseph 32:21 to tell them how to plant his crops, right? 32:24 But typically, prophecy is best understood looking backwards. 32:30 God does not give us prophecy 32:32 so that we can say the end is coming, 32:33 let's go run for the hills, let's dig a hole, let's hide. 32:37 He gives us prophecy so that 32:38 when the prophecies come true, our faith grows. 32:41 "Hey, God saw this all coming." 32:44 Prophecy is typically best understood looking backwards. 32:48 Now some of the prophets, they can look ahead 32:51 and tell you exactly what's going to happen. 32:52 If you believe them, you'll benefit from that. 32:54 But, you know, most of my faith comes from the prophecies 32:57 that have been fulfilled. 33:00 My faith is strengthened that all things are in God's hands. 33:03 I realized God is never in heaven worried, 33:05 He knows exactly what's going to happen, 33:08 that gives me peace that my life is in His hands. 33:11 He knows what's coming, that what He said will happen. 33:16 And so when I look at 33:17 how God works in the prophecies, 33:18 it's redemptive. 33:20 Prophecy is principally redemptive. 33:22 The Book of Revelation is a book of salvation. 33:25 It's a gospel book. 33:27 It is not a prognostication book. 33:29 It is not a big book of fortune cookies. 33:33 It's a book of salvation. 33:35 There is a lot of prophecy in there that came true 33:37 but don't think of prophecy as 33:39 "I've got an inside track on what's coming." 33:42 Prophecy is there so that as we preach prophecy, 33:45 people say, "Wow, God knows all things." 33:49 And He wins in the end. 33:52 That's one of the wonderful thing about Revelation 33:56 is that... 33:58 The final chapter tells us you know who wins. 34:02 And that really says a lot right there. 34:04 John 13:19, Jesus said, 34:06 "Now I tell you before it comes to pass, 34:08 that when it does come to pass, 34:10 you might believe that I am He." 34:12 Why does He tell us? 34:13 That we might believe that He is the one. 34:17 Prophecy is to help us recognize Jesus is the one. 34:20 Look at John 16:4, 34:22 "But these things I told you that when the time comes, 34:24 you might remember that I told you of them." 34:28 God wants us to have more faith, and prophecy does that. 34:31 Isaiah 46:9, 34:34 "Remember the former things of old, 34:37 For I am God, and there is no other, 34:39 I am God, and there is none like Me, 34:41 declaring the end from the beginning, 34:44 And from ancient times things that are not yet done, 34:48 saying, 'My counsel will stand, 34:50 and I will do all My pleasure.'" 34:52 The prophecies in the Bible are telling us 34:55 that God sees all things. 34:58 So one of the principal purposes of the book 35:01 is to tell us that 35:02 Christ is coming, but He's coming soon. 35:05 Chapter 1, these things must shortly take place, 35:08 that means imminently. 35:11 Revelation 22, "Surely I come quickly." 35:15 Everybody in every age can read Revelation 35:18 and know that some part of it applies to them, 35:21 their age in which they live. 35:24 And you might say Revelation begins 35:28 where the gospel ends with Jesus. 35:30 Gospels ends with Jesus, Revelation begins with Jesus. 35:34 It's talking about His resurrection, 35:36 and His ascension to heaven, 35:38 the primary purpose of this 35:40 is to remind us that God is in control. 35:42 Now here's one of the most important sections, 35:44 it's talking about the symbolic language of Revelation. 35:48 Touched on that a little bit, 35:49 but I'm going to give you some examples. 35:52 If you look in Revelation 1:1, it says, 35:56 "He sent and He signified it 35:58 by His angel to His servant, John." 36:02 That says a revelation of Jesus Christ, 36:04 which God gave him, 36:06 and He sends and He signifies, what does signify mean? 36:11 Signify means to sign-ify. 36:15 It actually means He gives it in symbols. 36:20 And the Book of Revelation is filled with symbols. 36:25 For example, 36:26 if you look in Revelation 17:1, 36:31 "Then I stood on the sand of the sea, 36:33 and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, 36:36 having seven heads and ten horns on his heads, 36:40 and ten crowns on his heads, and a blasphemous name." 36:44 Beast with seven heads and ten horns. 36:48 People will say, "That's what happens 36:49 when you don't use organic fertilizer, 36:52 you know, it just affects the animals in the last days." 36:56 So there's people who think those kind of creatures 36:57 are going to be roaming the earth, 36:59 it's all because of what we've done to the environment. 37:01 I think it's a symbol. 37:03 What does that mean? 37:05 You go to Daniel 7. 37:08 In the first year... Verse 1. 37:10 "In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, 37:12 Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed." 37:15 So it's a vision. 37:16 "He wrote down the dream telling the main facts. 37:19 Daniel spoke and said, 'In my dream by night 37:22 I saw four winds of heaven stirring on the great sea.'" 37:26 But here we just read in Revelation, 37:27 I stood in the sand of the sea, 37:28 these beasts rising up out of the sea. 37:30 And Daniel says, these beasts raised up out of the sea. 37:33 "Four great beasts come up out of the sea, 37:35 each different from the other." 37:36 And he talks about one like a lion, 37:39 one like a bear, one like a leopard. 37:41 You look in Revelation 13, it talks about, like a lion, 37:43 like a bear, like a leopard, 37:45 but the beast in Daniel is, these beasts are kingdoms. 37:49 So by going here a little and there a little, 37:51 comparing scripture with scripture, 37:54 pretty soon it all starts to come together 37:56 what it's dealing with. 37:59 For example, if you read in Revelation, 38:04 you'll see in Chapter 4. 38:06 If you got your Bibles, 38:07 you might turn to Revelation Chapter 4, 38:09 and you look in verse 4. 38:12 No, yeah, go to Revelation 4:7 actually. 38:15 It talks about these creatures around the throne of God. 38:18 "First creature's like a lion, 38:20 the second living creature's like a calf, 38:22 third living creature had the face of a man, 38:25 fourth creature was like a flying eagle." 38:28 Okay, just pause right there and go. 38:31 What does that mean? 38:32 Well, if you're reading your Old Testament, 38:34 you will read Ezekiel where it says in 1:10, 38:37 "As for the likeness of their faces, 38:39 these four creatures, 38:40 each had the face of a man, 38:43 and the forehead, the face of a lion, 38:45 face of an ox, that's a calf, 38:48 and the face of an eagle." 38:50 That's not coincidence. 38:51 I mean, when you think of 38:52 the thousands of different kinds of animals 38:54 that both Ezekiel and Revelation 38:56 get the same four animals on their creatures. 38:59 They're seeing the same thing, aren't they? 39:01 And you start saying, "What does that mean? 39:03 Well, let's keep reading in Revelation." 39:05 Back to Chapter 4 in Revelation, 39:07 you read verse 8, 39:08 "The four living creatures, each have six wings, 39:11 and they were full of eyes around and within. 39:13 They do not rest day or night saying, 39:15 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, God Almighty who is to come.'" 39:21 What does that mean? 39:22 Well, you go to Isaiah 6. 39:25 It says, "Above it stood seraphim, 39:27 each had six wings." 39:28 Didn't we just read that in Revelation? 39:31 "With two he covered his face, 39:32 with two they covered their feet, 39:33 with two he fly. 39:34 And one cries like another and says, 39:36 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, 39:38 The whole earth is full of His glory!'" 39:40 You know, one of the incredible things 39:41 about Revelation, when I read it, 39:42 I get little goose bumps 39:44 because I know I am reading something 39:47 a human could not write. 39:51 Because I know the Bible pretty well. 39:53 And John, 39:56 a 90 year old fisherman 40:00 to write a cohesive vision that draws in a way 40:06 where it actually makes sense and comes together, 40:09 pictures like a kaleidoscope of the whole Old Testament 40:14 could never concoct this. 40:16 A man could never dream it up. 40:18 The whole Book of Revelation 40:20 is a beautiful composite of the story of salvation 40:25 drawn from books all through the Old Testament, 40:28 yet it makes sense when you get to Revelation 40:31 and you look at the life of Jesus. 40:32 And then it also at the same time, 40:35 not only is it all pulled together, 40:37 it then shows in the way it's put together 40:40 the prophecy of history 40:42 from Jesus' time to His second coming. 40:45 By drawing all these snippets 40:47 from all of these other prophets, 40:49 now there are four other 40:51 primary apocalyptic prophets in the Old Testament. 40:55 To understand Revelation, 40:56 you should understand or at least be reading 40:59 Daniel, Ezekiel, Zachariah, what's the fourth? 41:05 I'm forgetting. 41:07 Isaiah. 41:09 And... 41:10 Yeah, Isaiah also has some apocalyptic, 41:12 "hey, you know, there's a couple of others. 41:14 Job, yeah has some, and you find... 41:17 You got grasshoppers in Job, grasshoppers in Revelation. 41:20 I mean you look at the, even the minor prophets, 41:22 you're going to see it's just taking you through 41:25 that everywhere from Genesis, 41:28 Revelation touches on Genesis all the way to Malachi. 41:31 It is the most incredible book in the Bible by far. 41:34 So you see how it's full of symbols. 41:37 And it's all telling us about Jesus. 41:40 In Revelation, it talks about who God is, 41:42 talks about the Godhead. 41:44 Notice, you even find the Trinity. 41:45 Someone's going to read for me in just a moment 41:47 2 Corinthians 13. 41:50 I'll read Revelation 1:4-5. 41:53 "John, to the seven churches, which are in Asia, 41:56 grace to you, and peace 41:58 from He who is, and from He who is to come, 42:01 and from the seven spirits that are before His throne, 42:04 and from Jesus Christ," 42:06 Right there, notice what you've got. 42:08 It says, from He who sits on the throne, 42:10 from the seven spirits, from Jesus Christ. 42:12 "The faithful witness are firstborn from the dead. 42:15 The ruler of the kings of the earth," 42:16 he's called the King of kings in Daniel. 42:19 "To him who loved us 42:20 and washed us from our sins in His own blood." 42:22 So what's the central message? 42:24 God loves you, 42:26 He washes you from your sins in His blood. 42:29 You see, it's a book of the gospel, isn't it? 42:33 But yet here you've got a picture of the Godhead. 42:36 Go ahead, want to read that next verse? 42:38 2 Corinthians 13:14, 42:41 "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 42:43 and the love of God, 42:45 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 42:47 to be with you all." 42:49 You know, I've got a list of about 24 verses. 42:52 I did a book on the Trinity recently, 42:55 and I put in a list of 24 verses in the Bible 42:58 where you see it's either in one or two verses together 43:01 all three members of the Godhead 43:04 that are mentioned. 43:05 And it's something that, you know, 43:07 it took years for people to better understand 43:10 how this one God is composed of three unique persons, 43:14 but it is the one God we call the Godhead. 43:17 God, the Father, soul of the world, 43:18 He sent God the Son, 43:20 and God the Son died and ascended to heaven, 43:22 He said, "I will send God the Spirit." 43:24 And even in Genesis, 43:27 "The Spirit of God moved on the face of the water." 43:29 Then you get to Revelation, 43:31 it says, "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come." 43:33 So all through the Book of Revelation, 43:35 you're going to find the Father, the Son, 43:37 and the Spirit are mentioned not just in chapter one, 43:41 but several times throughout the book. 43:42 So it gives us a picture of God. 43:45 And you can look also 1 Peter 1:2, 43:48 "According to the foreknowledge 43:49 of God, the Father, 43:50 by the sanctifying work of the Spirit 43:52 to obey Jesus Christ." 43:54 So these are just some of the many verses you see 43:56 that give us a picture of the same Godhead 43:58 that then appears in Revelation. 44:01 Now finally, 44:02 what is the keynote of Revelation? 44:05 What is the central figure of Revelation? 44:09 Revelation 1:7, 44:12 "Behold, He is coming with the clouds," 44:14 right here at the beginning. 44:16 And I told you, my mission this morning 44:18 is just verses 1, Chapter 1 through verse 8. 44:21 It says in 1:7, 8. 44:24 "He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him. 44:28 They who pierced Him, 44:30 and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him." 44:33 Now how are the ones who pierced Jesus 44:35 going to see Him when He comes? 44:39 Is everybody, all the wicked going to be raised 44:42 when He comes? 44:43 Or is that the second resurrection? 44:45 Where do we learn about the second resurrection? 44:48 Revelation 20 tells us the most. 44:50 "The rest of the dead do not live till the second, 44:52 till the thousand years are finished. 44:55 Blessed and holy is He that has 44:56 part in the first resurrection." 44:58 So how do those who pierced Him see Him when He comes? 45:02 There's a special resurrection. 45:03 And you can also see in Daniel Chapter 12. 45:07 It says, at that time, Michael will stand up, 45:09 the great prince that stands 45:11 for the children of your people. 45:12 There'll be a time of trouble such as there never has been 45:14 since there was a nation even to the same time. 45:17 And at that time that people will be delivered, 45:19 everyone that is written in the book, 45:22 and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 45:24 will awake, resurrection, some to everlasting life, 45:27 some to shame and everlasting contempt. 45:30 So when He comes, some are raised to shame. 45:33 They also who pierced Him. 45:35 So there's a special resurrection 45:37 of those who were accessories 45:39 or complicit of the crucifixion and they mock trial of Christ, 45:45 and He's going to come in glory, 45:46 and they're going to see that. 45:49 Woe on them. 45:51 And then you look in Daniel Chapter 7, 45:54 you've also got the central key focus 45:57 here in Revelation. 45:59 "I was watching in the night visions 46:01 and behold one like the Son of Man 46:03 coming with the clouds of heaven, 46:05 and he came to the ancient of days." 46:07 Do we only find Jesus in the New Testament? 46:11 Or do we find Jesus in the prophecies 46:13 of the Old Testament? 46:15 Who is the Son of Man 46:17 that comes to the ancient of days? 46:21 Well, let's read about what it says here. 46:23 "They brought the Son of man, He came to the ancient of days, 46:26 they brought Him near before Him, 46:27 then to Him was given dominion, 46:30 and glory, and the kingdom, 46:32 and all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. 46:35 His dominion is an everlasting dominion." 46:38 You know, the central theme of Daniel 46:39 is God's kingdom will win. 46:41 Daniel starts by God's people in captivity, 46:45 but it reminds us through the book 46:47 that these captivities are temporary, 46:49 God's kingdom will ultimately fill the earth. 46:51 And it says Jesus is going to be the King. 46:53 It's not talking about the ancient of days, 46:55 the God, the Father, talking about God the Son. 46:57 And in Daniel when it says, 46:59 Nebuchadnezzar stands up and he says, 47:01 "I threw three men in that furnace, 47:04 but now I see four alive and walking around, 47:06 the ropes are burned, 47:07 and the form of the fourth is like Son of God." 47:11 So even in the prophecies, in the Old Testament, 47:14 do we see Jesus appearing? 47:17 So one of the central message is, of course, 47:19 and the keynote of Revelation 47:21 is, "Behold, I am coming quickly." 47:23 And you go all the way to the end of the book. 47:25 And the final part of Revelation 47:27 is be jeweled with a prayer 47:30 where John says, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." 47:34 And you know, 47:35 that's the cry of a man who's writing from bondage. 47:39 He's a prisoner, 47:41 and it's like the children of Israel, 47:42 praying there in Egypt for the deliverance, 47:44 they cried unto the Lord for deliverance, 47:47 and the God sent the plagues, it got really bad, 47:49 and then it got really good 47:51 when they entered the Promised Land. 47:53 And we are going to have 47:54 something similar in the future. 47:55 Time of trouble they went through, 47:57 time of trouble the early church went through, 47:59 and there's gonna be a great tribulation 48:01 at the end of time, 48:02 and then Jesus is going to come. 48:04 Amen? Amen. 48:05 And so we need to pray, even so come, Lord Jesus. 48:08 I'm really excited about our study 48:09 together in Revelation in the next... 48:12 Well, I guess we got 12 more weeks left. 48:13 I want to remind those 48:14 who may be missed at the beginning, 48:16 we're glad you're studying with us, 48:17 but we have a free offer. 48:19 And we do talk about the Godhead 48:20 in our study this morning. 48:22 We have a book called "The Trinity, Is It Biblical?" 48:25 Offer number 166, 48:27 and you can text "SH088." 48:31 You can download it right now to 40544, 48:34 you want to download it or you can call 866-788-3966, 48:39 we'll send that to you for free, 48:41 give you some additional study. 48:43 Matter of fact, 48:44 you know, I think I can just make a fiat decision 48:46 here and say, 48:47 we have a new book, it's expanded on the Trinity, 48:50 we'll share that with you if you ask for it. 48:53 And it's called 48:54 "The Trinity, One God or Three?" 48:57 And, but, if you call, we'll send you either one. 49:00 Did you learn anything today? 49:02 Good. Praise the Lord. 49:03 I sure enjoyed this study, 49:04 and we're looking forward to studying 49:06 His Word with you again next week. 49:09 Don't forget to request 49:11 today's life changing free resource. 49:13 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 49:15 you can download a digital copy 49:17 straight to your computer or mobile device. 49:19 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 49:22 simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544 49:26 or visit the web address shown on your screen. 49:29 And be sure to select the digital download option 49:31 on the request page. 49:32 It's now easier than ever for you 49:34 to study God's Word with Amazing Facts 49:37 wherever and whenever you want, 49:39 and most important to hare it with others. 49:51 Hello, friends. 49:53 We all know, a marathon 49:54 is one of the longest and hardest races 49:55 a person can run. 49:57 But did you hear about the Ultramarathon 49:59 they used to have in Australia? 50:01 It was 544 miles from Melbourne to Sydney. 50:05 It attracted as many as 150 world class athletes. 50:09 But then something happened that no one would ever forget. 50:11 In 1983, a 61-year-old potato farmer 50:15 named Cliff Young decided to enter the race. 50:18 People were very amused 50:19 because he had on rubber galoshes 50:21 over his boots. 50:22 And when the race began and all the runners took off, 50:25 sure enough, old Cliff 50:26 was left behind shuffling along very slowly, 50:30 but he was shuffling very persistently. 50:32 Normally, during this seven-day race, 50:35 the runners would go about 18 hours running 50:37 and then they'd sleep for six hours. 50:39 But nobody ever told Cliff that. 50:42 When the other runners stopped to rest 50:43 during the night, Cliff just kept on running. 50:46 Some people were afraid 50:47 old Cliff was going to have a heart attack, 50:49 and they were asking the race organizers to show 50:51 mercy and stop the crazy old man. 50:53 But he would have none of it. 50:55 Each day, he was gaining on the pack 50:57 because when they were sleeping, 50:59 he was plodding along. 51:01 During the last night of the race, 51:03 Cliff passed all of these world class athletes. 51:06 Not only was Cliff able to run 51:08 that 544 mile race without dying, 51:11 he won beating all the other racers by nine hours, 51:15 breaking the record, 51:16 and becoming a national hero in process. 51:19 What's really amazing is when they told him 51:20 that he had won the $10,000 prize, 51:22 he looked confused 51:24 and said he didn't know there was a prize, 51:25 and he decided to share it with the other runners. 51:28 When asked how he was able to run all night long, 51:31 Cliff respond that he grew up on a farm 51:33 where they had about 2,000 herd of cattle, 51:35 and because he couldn't afford horses, 51:37 he used to have to round them up on foot 51:38 sometimes running two and three days nonstop. 51:41 So throughout the race, 51:43 he just imagined he was chasing after the cows 51:45 and trying to outrun a storm. 51:47 Old Cliff's secret was to keep on running 51:50 while others were sleeping. 51:52 You know, the Bible tells us 51:53 that the race is not necessarily to the swift, 51:56 something like Aesop's parable of the tortoise and the hare. 51:59 The tortoise just kept on plodding along. 52:02 That's why Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:13, 52:05 "He that endures unto the end, 52:07 the same will be saved." 52:09 Now you might slip and fall during the race. 52:11 You might even get off to a bad start. 52:13 But in the Christian race that we run, 52:15 the main thing is you want to finish well. 52:17 Keep on running, friends, and don't give up. 52:29 Let's face it, 52:30 it's not always easy 52:31 to understand everything you read in the Bible. 52:34 With over 700,000 words contained in 66 books, 52:38 the Bible can generate a lot of questions. 52:40 To get biblical straightforward answers, 52:43 call into Bible Answers Live, 52:44 a live nationwide call-in radio program 52:47 where you can talk to Pastor Doug Batchelor 52:49 and ask him your most difficult Bible questions. 52:52 For times and stations in your area 52:54 or to listen to answers online, 52:56 visit Bal.AmazingFacts.org. 53:09 Amazing Facts changed lives. 53:18 I'd have to say that I had a wonderful childhood. 53:20 Growing up, I went to a private school 53:23 up until the seventh grade till junior high. 53:25 I believe it was at that point in junior high 53:28 that my life began to change. 53:32 Going from a Christian education 53:33 and to a public school was a big difference. 53:36 There was a lot of secular influence, 53:40 a peer pressure. 53:42 And for me, it was the music. 53:44 I started listening to heavy metal music. 53:46 Every concert that would come to town, 53:47 I was there that had a profound effect on me. 53:51 I started using marijuana probably at the age of 14, 53:57 I started drinking, using a lot of cocaine. 54:00 And that led to methamphetamine, 54:01 and that completely changed my life. 54:04 I dropped out of high school 54:06 my sophomore year and went to work. 54:10 I would get off of work, 54:12 and we'd go into the bar until two o'clock in the morning, 54:14 I get back up at five, 54:15 and I'd go back again, 54:17 six, seven days a week. 54:22 At the age of 20, 54:24 I lost my dad to a heart attack. 54:27 I didn't know how to handle the loss. 54:29 So I tried to mask my pain with alcohol and drugs. 54:33 I got three DUIs in one year, was arrested. 54:37 They gave me a year in the county jail. 54:40 And the moment I got out, 54:42 I went back to doing the same thing, 54:44 hanging with the same people, the same crowd. 54:47 I was involved in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident, 54:49 and I was charged with a felony DUI, 54:52 even though at the time of the accident, 54:53 I was not under the influence. 54:55 I still had methamphetamine in my system. 54:57 At my sentencing day, 55:00 I left the courtroom, I didn't come back. 55:03 And that left me with felony warrant. 55:06 And I'd fallen asleep being in a park, 55:09 and I woke up to a park ranger knocking on my window. 55:13 I knew I was wound up, 55:14 and I knew that I was not going 55:16 to just turn myself in. 55:19 I turned to him and I made the comment, 55:21 "Not today," and I took off, 55:24 and led five different intricacies 55:26 on about a 35 minute chase. 55:28 And I realized at that point that I wasn't going to get away 55:31 and that this was going to end up 55:32 either me killing somebody or myself. 55:37 And so I made a decision to pull over. 55:39 At that point, everything that I had, I lost. 55:43 I was sentenced to two years in state prison, 55:46 and it was there that God got a hold of me. 55:51 And that was through Amazing Facts Ministries. 55:55 I remember listening on my radio 55:57 to Pastor Doug Batchelor. 55:59 I wanted to get to know the Bible, 56:00 I wanted to know God. 56:02 And so my aunt Marylyn sent me the Amazing Facts study guides. 56:08 And it was there 56:11 that my relationship with Christ began. 56:15 I had called home, 56:17 and I knew my mother wasn't doing well, 56:20 but I didn't realize that she had cancer. 56:24 She had about a 30% chance 56:29 of making it through her surgery. 56:31 She had told the doctors 56:32 that she was not going to have chemo, 56:34 and she was not gonna have radiation, 56:35 that if her God was going to save her, 56:36 then He would save her. 56:39 I remember hanging up the phone, 56:41 that I thought was my last conversation 56:44 with my mom. 56:47 I turned around, I got down on my knees, 56:50 and I prayed to God. 56:51 I said, "God, if You're there, please save my mother. 56:56 Wherever You lead me in life, whatever You want me to do, 57:00 I am Yours." 57:01 And I had a feeling of such peace 57:05 that I knew that my mother was going to be okay, 57:09 and that my life was going to change. 57:12 There are no words 57:13 that I can adequately express to Amazing Facts 57:15 and Pastor Doug to say thank you 57:18 to all those people who support the ministry. 57:20 I am a product of your support. 57:23 My life has changed because of this ministry. 57:28 And I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 57:43 Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible Study? 57:46 You don't have to wait until next week 57:48 to enjoy more truth-filled programming. 57:50 Visit the Amazing Facts media library at aftv.org. 57:55 At aftv.org, 57:58 you can enjoy video and audio presentations 58:00 as well as printed material all free of charge, 58:04 24 hours a day, 58:05 7 days a week right from your computer 58:07 or mobile device. 58:09 Visit aftv.org. |
Revised 2018-12-27