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00:12 ♪♪♪ 00:22 Doug Batchelor: Every now and then, in the panorama of 00:24 history, we hear about individuals that go from the 00:27 lowest depths to the highest pinnacles. 00:29 They emerge from the shackles of prison to lead 00:32 and inspire a nation. 00:35 Take Joseph for instance. 00:37 He's sold by his brothers as a slave, then falsely accused 00:40 and thrust into the prison. 00:42 Yet, through a series of divine circumstances, he miraculously 00:45 goes from the prison to the palace, ruling the ones 00:48 who once imprisoned him. 00:49 Sound farfetched? 00:51 It's happened in history more than you think. 00:54 South Africa is the home of just such a leader. 00:57 Nelson Mandela worked tirelessly to establish peace and freedom 01:00 in his country, and his influence was felt 01:03 around the world. 01:04 Before freedom, there must be forgiveness. 01:08 Like Joseph, who was unjustly accused for a crime he did not 01:11 commit, Nelson Mandela was accused of terrorism 01:14 and sentenced to life in prison on Robin Island. 01:17 He was often exposed to cruel punishment and abuse, but even 01:20 in the midst of apparent failure and discouragement, 01:23 he never lost heart, he never gave up. 01:25 After years in prison, a growing number of supporters rallied 01:29 for his release, and eventually it took place. 01:32 And god used him so that he was instrumental in helping to 01:35 abolish racial segregation in the country of South Africa. 01:38 Incredibly, he now was virtually the absolute leader 01:42 in the country that had imprisoned him. 01:44 He had all of the tools and the power at his disposal to get 01:47 even with the prison guards and others that had mistreated him. 01:50 Instead, Mandela chose forgiveness. 01:53 It reminds me of that verse in the Bible in Ephesians chapter 01:56 4, verse 32: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and 02:00 anger, and clamor, and railing be put away from you, with all 02:03 malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, 02:06 forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you." 02:11 I'm so thankful that Nelson Mandela, like Joseph, chose to 02:15 forgive those who were once his enemies and to serve his nation 02:18 with love and courage. 02:20 You can find a number of examples of this happening in 02:22 the Bible. 02:24 You have Daniel, who was a captive from the land of Judah, 02:27 and yet God arranged things where he becomes a prime 02:29 minister in the kingdom of Babylon. 02:31 You have Esther, who was a poor orphan girl in Persia, and yet 02:34 God worked things out where she becomes the queen of that 02:37 country. 02:38 The book of Jeremiah ends with an incredible story of a young 02:41 king named Jehoiachin, who was in a Babylonian dungeon for 02:45 37 years and then, King Evil-Merodach has mercy on him, 02:49 and he has a new status, going from the prison to the palace. 02:52 This is what the Lord wants to do for you and me, friends. 02:54 He gives you the bread of life. 02:56 He gives you the robe of Jesus's righteousness. 02:58 He gives you a seat at his table. 03:00 If you accept his forgiveness and you're willing to pass it 03:03 on, you and I can live and reign with Christ. 03:05 Wouldn't you like that experience? 03:09 ♪♪♪ 03:16 ♪♪♪ 03:39 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 03:41 Welcome to Sabbath School Study Hour here at the Granite Bay 03:42 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 03:44 It's part of what we call, "Sabbath School," and I'd like 03:46 to welcome our online members, our friends who are joining us 03:49 across the country and around the world, our extended study 03:52 class, as well as our regular members and visitors. 03:56 We're glad that you are with us today, ready to study the next 03:59 lesson in our series talking about the family. 04:02 For the last few weeks, the last nine weeks, we've been talking 04:05 about "Family Seasons." 04:08 That's our lesson quarterly. 04:10 Today we find ourselves on lesson number nine, entitled 04:12 "Times of Loss," something that, you know, all families go 04:16 through at one point or another, and we'll be getting into our 04:19 study in just a few moments. 04:20 We do have a free offer we'd like to let our friends know 04:22 about, a book that goes along with the theme of our study 04:26 this morning. 04:29 It's entitled "When the Brook Dries Up, Why do Christians 04:31 Suffer?" 04:33 This free offer, if you'd like to receive this book, all you'll 04:36 need to do is give us a call. 04:37 The number is 866-788-3966, and ask for offer number 171 or you 04:44 can send us a text and we'll be able to send you a digital copy 04:49 of the book. 04:50 If you could text the code "SH074" to the number 40544, and 04:58 then you'll be able to get a download of the book 05:01 "When the Brook Dries Up." 05:02 And I think you'll find this encouraging. 05:04 I know every person, every family goes through times of 05:06 loss, and that's a great encouragement. 05:09 Well, before we get to our study this morning, we'd like to 05:11 invite our song leaders to come forward, and they'll be leading 05:14 us in our worship music today. 05:20 female: You at home, I invite you to pull out your hymnals, 05:23 and we are gonna sing hymn 474, 05:26 "Take the Name of Jesus With You." 05:28 We're gonna sing all four verses. 05:30 And I hope that that's what you are doing every single day, 05:33 is taking the name of Jesus to a dying world. 05:38 ♪♪♪ 05:52 ♪ Take the name of Jesus with you, ♪ 05:56 ♪ child of sorrow and of woe, ♪ 06:00 ♪ it will joy and comfort give you, ♪ 06:04 ♪ take it then where'er you go. ♪ 06:09 ♪ Precious name, precious name, ♪ 06:11 ♪ O how sweet, O how sweet. ♪ 06:13 ♪ Hope of earth and joy of heav'n. ♪ 06:17 ♪ Precious name, precious name, ♪ 06:21 ♪ O how sweet, how sweet. ♪ 06:24 ♪ Hope of earth and joy of heav'n. ♪ 06:29 ♪ Take the name of Jesus ever, ♪ 06:33 ♪ as a shield from every snare. ♪ 06:38 ♪ If temptations round you gather, ♪ 06:41 ♪ breathe that holy name in prayer. ♪ 06:46 ♪ Precious name, precious name, ♪ 06:50 ♪ O how sweet, O how sweet. ♪ 06:52 ♪ Hope of earth and joy of heav'n. ♪ 06:55 ♪ Precious name, precious name, ♪ 06:58 ♪ O how sweet, how sweet. ♪ 07:02 ♪ Hope of earth and joy of heav'n. ♪ 07:08 ♪ Oh the precious name of Jesus, ♪ 07:11 ♪ how it thrills our souls with joy. ♪ 07:16 ♪ When his loving arms receive us, ♪ 07:21 ♪ and his songs our tongues employ. ♪ 07:25 ♪ Precious name, precious name, ♪ 07:27 ♪ O how sweet, O how sweet. ♪ 07:29 ♪ Hope of earth and joy of heav'n. ♪ 07:34 ♪ Precious name, precious name, ♪ 07:36 ♪ O how sweet, how sweet. ♪ 07:41 ♪ Hope of earth and joy of heav'n. ♪ 07:46 ♪ At the name of Jesus bowing, ♪ 07:50 ♪ falling prostrate at his feet. ♪ 07:54 ♪ King of kings in heav'n we'll crown him, ♪ 07:59 ♪ when our journey is complete. ♪ 08:04 ♪ Precious name, precious name, ♪ 08:06 ♪ O how sweet, O how sweet. ♪ 08:08 ♪ Hope of earth and joy of heav'n. ♪ 08:13 ♪ Precious name, precious name, ♪ 08:15 ♪ O how sweet, how sweet. ♪ 08:20 ♪ Hope of earth and joy of heav'n. ♪♪ 08:36 Jean: Amen, thank you, song leader, for opening our time of 08:39 study with song. 08:41 Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. 08:43 Dear Father, once again, we are grateful that we have this 08:45 opportunity to gather together in your house, open up your 08:48 Word, and study a topic that, Father, we know you're familiar 08:51 with, that of loss, for you gave your only begotten Son. 08:54 And as we talk about different experiences that families go 08:58 through, that individuals go through, we ask for 09:01 the Holy Spirit to come and guide us. 09:02 Thank you that you've promised to be our Comforter in whatever 09:05 trial a person might be going through, and we ask this all in 09:08 Jesus's name, amen. 09:11 As mentioned a little earlier before our song, our topic today 09:14 is dealing with loss, when families go through loss, and 09:18 Pastor Doug will be joining me. 09:20 I guess we're gonna be doing this together, Pastor Doug, 09:22 studying together. 09:23 Doug: Morning, everyone, how are you? 09:28 Happy Sabbath, you mentioned the offer already. 09:31 Jean: I did. 09:32 Doug: You did? 09:33 Okay, I guess I wasn't payin' attention. 09:35 Well, good to see each of you. 09:37 We're dealing with lesson number nine in our study on 09:42 "Family Seasons," and it's talking about when you have 09:45 times of loss in the family. 09:47 We have a memory verse that comes to us from Philippians 09:50 chapter 3, verse 8, and this is in the New King James Version if 09:54 you wanna locate that. 09:56 You can either read it right there out of your quarterly or 09:58 in your Bibles, Philippians 3, verse 8. 10:00 Are you ready? 10:02 I'd like you to say it with me: "Yet indeed I also count all 10:07 things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus 10:11 my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, 10:16 and count them as rubbish, that I might gain Christ." 10:21 You know, if you live long enough, you are going to 10:27 experience some element of suffering or loss 10:30 in your family. 10:32 And the Bible gives us some guidance on how we can cope with 10:35 those times. 10:37 Some of you, chances are, many who are listening now, if not 10:40 here, certainly those who are joining us online, have 10:43 experienced different elements of loss. 10:46 Now, I'm actually gonna start with a verse you might be 10:49 surprised, in Matthew 25, verse 35. 10:52 This isn't in the lesson, but it kinda gives a backdrop. 10:56 Matthew 25:35, Christ says on the great judgment day he'll 10:59 separate the sheep from the goats, and he'll say, in 11:03 essence: "'I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and 11:08 you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I 11:13 was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; 11:18 I was in prison and you came to me.'" 11:20 And in all of these passages, he's basically describing 11:23 some form of suffering. 11:25 And then he says, "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least 11:27 of these my brethren, you did it to me." 11:30 God wants us to care for those who are suffering around us. 11:34 And in those six categories that are mentioned, you can sort of 11:37 define all the suffering of life. 11:40 If you live long enough, at some point you'll get sick. 11:44 I remember meeting one or two people in my life that said, 11:47 "I have never been sick a day in my life. 11:49 I never missed a day of school. 11:51 I never missed a day of work because of sickness," and I just 11:54 really was angry with them that they never had that. 11:59 But in most people's lives, there's gonna be some sickness 12:02 that will come. 12:04 There will be loss. 12:05 You know, unfortunately, in the course of life, as time goes by, 12:09 you may have to bury your parents. 12:14 You may have to stand by the grave of a sibling. 12:17 You may have to, God forbid, stand by the grave of a child, 12:21 a spouse. 12:23 And it's sort of in the course of events that these 12:26 things happen. 12:27 There's accidents, there's sickness. 12:29 How do we, as Christians, in our families, deal with these 12:32 different kinds of loss? 12:34 Jean: Well, you know, the Bible begins by describing a 12:36 beautiful paradise. 12:37 God created the world. It was perfect. 12:40 He created a beautiful garden, created Adam and Eve. 12:43 The garden was their home. 12:44 And then, after sin comes to the picture, suddenly we begin to 12:48 see loss. 12:49 Adam and Eve lost access to the tree of life. 12:52 They lost their robes of light. 12:55 They ended up losing the garden. 12:57 They ended up losing a son as a result of murder, and then 13:01 eventually, as time went on, we don't know who died first, but 13:06 whether it was Adam or Eve we're not sure, but they 13:09 lost their spouse. 13:10 And so the Bible begins by revealing to us 13:13 the consequences of sin. 13:14 One of those consequences is that we live in a world where 13:17 there is loss, where there is sorrow. 13:19 And yet, at the very beginning, when we begin to read about 13:22 loss, we also read about hope and the promise of a Redeemer, 13:26 and the promise that one day, God is gonna make 13:28 all things new. 13:30 Doug: Yeah, when man was evicted from the garden, he lost 13:32 access to the tree of life, and then he lost his vitality and 13:36 began to die. 13:38 I'm sure there are some herbalists out there that would 13:41 live to find out what was that essence in the tree of life, 13:43 bottle it, and sell it. 13:45 You'll make a lot of money. 13:47 And a lot of people claim they've found it, but I've not 13:48 really found any of 'em to be telling the truth. 13:51 But the Bible then tells us in the first three chapters, they 13:55 lose the tree of life, they lose their life, their vitality. 13:59 The last three chapters of the Bible, that tree is restored, 14:02 and eternity and paradise are restored. 14:04 So, the Bible talks about tremendous loss, and then it 14:07 ends with tremendous restoration, which is 14:09 the good news. 14:11 And then we have some example. 14:13 Maybe Pastor Ross will read the first one, loss of health. 14:15 You have some examples, and it takes one story from Mark 5. 14:19 Why don't you read 22 to 24? 14:21 Jean: Mark chapter 5, starting in verse 22, it's a 14:24 familiar story, it says: "Behold, one of the rulers of 14:26 the synagogue came, Jairus by name. 14:28 And when he saw him," that's Jesus, "he fell at his feet and 14:31 he begged him earnestly, saying, 'My little daughter lies at the 14:35 point of death. 14:37 Come and lay your hand on her, that she might be healed, 14:40 and she shall live.' 14:42 So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude 14:45 followed him and thronged him." 14:47 Doug: Yeah, that's about the hardest thing that anyone could 14:51 experience, is to watch your children suffer, and especially 14:57 suffer at the point of breath, you're wondering if one of those 15:01 breaths is gonna be their last. 15:04 You know, Ellen White had four boys. 15:08 Two did not survive to adulthood, and she describes the 15:12 incredible suffering. 15:14 I mean, here's a believer. 15:16 I thought that believers, you're not supposed to have those kind 15:18 of experiences. 15:19 But God is gonna set angels about your children, and they'll 15:21 never get sick, and they'll never have an accident, but the 15:24 Bible doesn't teach that. 15:25 This is a leader of the synagogue, and he seems to be a 15:29 good man, and he's got a daughter at the point of death. 15:32 And then, on the way to resurrect--or on the way to heal 15:38 her daughter, Jesus is stopped because he's being thronged by 15:41 this crowd. 15:42 And very quickly, I'll throw in this story, and then I'll have 15:44 you read the remaining verses there. 15:46 You remember, this woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, she 15:49 came and she stopped him and she touched him. 15:52 And Jesus paused and he explained that "your faith has 15:54 made you whole." 15:56 And she rehearses the story, and it's, you know, a wonderful 15:59 example of healing. 16:01 But right after he heals that woman who had been bleeding for 16:04 12 years, someone then comes to Jarius--Jarius, Jairus, it's 16:08 said both ways. 16:09 And says, "Don't trouble the Master anymore. 16:11 Your daughter's dead." 16:14 So you can imagine his devastation. 16:16 And matter of fact, I'm jumpin' into those verses. 16:19 I'll let you read 'em. 16:21 Jean: Yes, it starts in verse 35, still in Mark chapter 5. 16:23 It says: "While he was still speaking, some came from the 16:26 ruler of the synagogue's house and said, 16:29 'Your daughter is dead. 16:31 Why trouble the Teacher any further?' 16:34 As soon as Jesus heard 16:35 the word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the 16:38 synagogue, 'Do not be afraid; only believe.' 16:41 And he permitted no one to follow him except Peter, 16:45 James, and John the brother of James. 16:46 Then he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and he 16:50 saw a tumult and these were those who wept 16:52 and wailed loudly. 16:54 Then he came in, and he said to them, 'Why make you this 16:57 commotion and weep? 16:59 The child is not dead, but sleeping.' 17:02 And they ridiculed him. 17:03 But when he had put them all outside, he took the father and 17:06 the mother of the child, and those who were with him, he 17:08 entered into where the child was lying. 17:11 Then he took the child by the hand, and said to her, 'Talitha, 17:15 cumi,' which translated means, 'Little girl, 17:18 I say to you, arise.' 17:20 Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was 17:23 twelve years of age. 17:25 And they were overcome with great amazement. 17:28 But he commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and 17:31 said that something should be given to her to eat." 17:35 Doug: Now, I have to guard myself here that I just don't 17:38 launch off into a sermon 'cause this is a sermon right here 17:41 waiting to be preached. 17:43 But I should probably just say, what does sleep 17:48 represent biblically? 17:50 Jesus said, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps." 17:53 And what did he mean by that? "He's dead." 17:56 So this girl was dead. Jesus called it, "Asleep." 17:59 Now, if you are a believer and you lose a child, especially if 18:03 they die before the age of accountability, how should you 18:05 look upon that child's death? 18:08 Are they dead, or are they sleeping until the resurrection? 18:12 So that's one lesson we could learn, and Jesus can raise those 18:15 who are sleeping. 18:18 The other thing is that he was tempted to be discouraged by the 18:22 friends and family at the funeral. 18:26 Have you ever noticed, sometimes friends at the funeral don't 18:28 always say the most sensitive things, and even family members? 18:32 And Jesus put 'em all out. 18:33 He said, "Look, you need to look to me in this time of grieving 18:36 and have faith that I am still with you." 18:40 And, of course, he works a miracle and he raises this 18:43 little girl. 18:44 I also think it's interesting that you have a woman who is 18:47 bleeding for 12 years, and she is embedded in the story of a 18:53 young girl who is 12 years old. 18:55 And I've always seen in that story you've kind of got an 18:57 overview of the plan of salvation, the Old Testament. 19:02 You've got God's church with a continual flow of sacrificial 19:05 blood, but they're not healed by the blood of animals. 19:08 And then you've got this girl who's 12 years old. 19:11 Twelve is the number for the church. 19:12 Revelation 12, not that the chapter means anything, you've 19:16 got a woman with 12 stars above her head, and she's a symbol for 19:19 God's church. 19:20 New Jerusalem, 12 foundations, 12 gates, tree of life, 12 times 19:25 of fruit, 12 times a year. 19:26 That's the church. 19:27 And so here you've got, like, the New Testament church 19:29 is that girl. 19:31 He resurrects her, gives her something to eat. 19:32 The New Testament church is born with the Resurrection of Christ, 19:35 and then he opens the Word, gives her something to eat. 19:38 And so, this story has got a much deeper meaning. 19:41 But I think it's also there just to tell us that Jesus is there 19:45 with us to comfort us. 19:47 He says, "Do not weep." 19:49 He's trying to comfort them during this time of 19:52 tremendous loss. 19:53 Now, we've got another story. 19:55 I don't know if you wanna read this one. 19:56 Jean: We do, another one also related to Jesus performing a 19:58 miracle, this time healing. 20:01 And this is not occurring with a Jew, but it's rather 20:04 interesting, a woman that Jesus encounters when he leaves the 20:07 territory that was occupied by the Jews. 20:11 And as far as we know, he went up into this area and performed 20:14 this one miracle and then returned back home. 20:17 It's the only thing that we know of that Jesus did when he 20:19 went up there. 20:20 And you'll find the story in Matthew chapter 15, and it 20:24 starts in verse 21. 20:25 I'll just read a few of these verses, and then, Pastor Doug, 20:27 you can expound on that a little it. 20:29 It says: " Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the 20:31 region of Tyre and Sidon," or Sidon. 20:34 "And behold, a woman of Cana came from the region and cried 20:37 unto him, saying, 'Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! 20:40 My daughter is severely demon-possessed.' 20:43 But he answered her not a word. 20:45 And his disciples came and urged him, saying, 'Send her away, 20:49 for she cries out after us.' 20:51 But Jesus answered and said, 'I have not been sent 20:55 except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' 20:57 Then she came and worshiped him, saying, "'Yes, Lord,'" but she 21:02 said, "'Even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall 21:06 from the masters' table.' 21:08 Then Jesus answered and said to her, 21:10 'O woman, great is your faith! 21:12 Let it be to you as you desire.' 21:14 And her daughter was healed from that very hour." 21:18 Doug: Yeah, now, that's a difficult story because, you 21:23 know, most of the time, when someone asked Jesus for help, 21:26 he helps 'em. 21:28 Here this woman is pleading on behalf of her daughter, who's 21:30 terribly harassed by a devil, and he said, "It's not good to 21:35 take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." 21:38 Have you ever wondered sometimes why the Lord doesn't seem to 21:41 answer your prayer right away? 21:44 Why did he give such a harsh answer to her? 21:47 First of all, I think that he's trying to teach the disciples a 21:52 lesson because the disciples believed the Gentiles were dogs. 21:57 You remember that the poor man was at the rich man's door, 22:02 begging to be fed with the crumbs that fell from his table, 22:05 and the dogs came and licked his sores. 22:07 And in New Jerusalem, it says, "Outside of the dogs--" 22:11 They always thought that the unbelievers, the pagans, the 22:13 Gentiles were the dogs. 22:15 And so Jesus is giving her an answer the way the religious 22:18 leaders would have answered her, and he wanted to show the 22:23 disciples--for one thing, he's testing her faith. 22:26 He's also wanting to show the disciples how harsh 22:28 their view is. 22:30 And he said, "No, it's not appropriate to take the 22:32 children's food and give it to the dogs. 22:33 I'm only sent to the house of Israel." 22:35 But one more thing I just gotta interject here. 22:39 Jesus, like Elijah--do you know, Elijah went and stayed with 22:43 a widow in Tyre and Sidon, and he worked a miracle 22:47 of a resurrection? 22:49 Here, Jesus makes this one trip outside of the territory of 22:52 Israel, and he performs a miracle for this woman 22:55 for her child as well. 22:57 So he's doing kinda the work Elijah did, showing that his 23:00 ministry also is gonna go to the Gentiles. 23:03 But does the Lord always answer our prayers the first prayer? 23:08 He gave her an answer. 23:11 She could have thrown up her hands and said, 23:13 "I'm going home." 23:14 But she persisted. 23:16 When you're interceding for your loved ones, 23:18 don't be discouraged. 23:21 Don't lose faith. 23:22 You're praying for your children, you may have 23:24 to pray for years. 23:25 Praying for a spouse or a parent or a sibling or somebody that 23:27 doesn't know the Lord. 23:28 They seem to be spiritually harassed, or maybe they're 23:31 struggling, persistent prayer, plead after Jesus. 23:35 She would not be discouraged by his answer. 23:40 She said, "Yes, Lord, but even the little dogs," here she says, 23:43 "Puppies," "eat the crumbs. 23:46 Give us some crumbs." 23:48 And Jesus said, "O woman, great is your faith!" 23:50 You know, a couple of times, Christ commends people for their 23:51 great faith, and they're Gentiles. 23:55 You remember the centurion? 23:56 Said, "You don't even need to come to my house." 23:58 He said, he paused, he marveled, "What great faith!" 24:01 And this woman said, "Yeah, but you could at least give 24:04 us some crumbs." 24:06 He says, "What great faith!" 24:07 So, sometimes the Lord tests us because he's looking for what? 24:11 Strength in our faith by delay. 24:16 Don't be discouraged if your prayers are not 24:17 answered right away. 24:19 Sometimes your faith grows. 24:20 Muscles don't grow overnight. 24:22 It usually takes time. 24:24 You have anything to add to that? 24:25 Jean: I was just gonna say that it's interesting that you 24:27 find in these examples is that you have the parent interceding 24:30 on behalf of their child. 24:32 Well, how true that is in a spiritual sense. 24:34 I'm sure there's many times where parents intercede for the 24:38 health of their children. 24:39 But how much more is it where parents are interceding for the 24:42 spiritual health of their children? 24:44 And the lesson is, we are not to give up, right? 24:47 We are to be persistent in bringing our prayer requests 24:50 before the Lord. 24:51 Not that God is unwilling to answer it, but our 24:54 faith needs to grow. 24:56 We need to grasp ahold of that wonderful promise and 24:58 cling to it. 25:00 So, some important lessons there. 25:01 Well, we have another story dealing with the subject of 25:03 sickness and family loss, and a miracle that Jesus performed. 25:08 This is in Luke chapter 4, verse 38. 25:11 It say: "Now he arose from the synagogue and he entered into 25:14 Simon's house. 25:16 But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a fever, and they made 25:19 the request of him concerning her. 25:21 So he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. 25:25 And immediately she arose and served them." 25:28 You know, I find it interesting. 25:29 In this story, we have Jesus calling the first disciples. 25:33 This is right at the beginning of Christ's public ministry, and 25:36 here Peter is, and Christ has called him to give up his 25:39 fishing for fish and come be a fisher of men. 25:43 And Peter might have thought, "Well, Lord, 25:44 what about my family? 25:46 How am I gonna provide for those who are dependent upon him?" 25:49 And I think in this miracle where Jesus healed Peter's 25:52 mother-in-law, Christ is illustrating the truth that if 25:55 God calls us to a special work or service for him, he's very 25:59 aware of the needs of our family and those who are dependent upon 26:03 us, and he will provide for the needs--not only for our needs, 26:07 but also for our loved ones. 26:09 And so there's comfort and encouragement, I think, 26:11 in that story. 26:12 Doug: Yeah, this also is as reminder. 26:14 Peter had invited Jesus to stay in his house. 26:19 If Jesus is in your house, it's to Jesus's advantage to heal the 26:25 people in the house. 26:27 Why did he heal her? 26:29 I shouldn't say just why he healed her, but you notice after 26:31 he healed her, she served him. 26:33 It says, "Soon as she was healed, she got up and served." 26:35 Why does God heal us? So we can serve him. 26:39 And so, if you want healing, then invite the Lord into your 26:43 house and into your heart. 26:45 Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 26:46 And then be willing to use your healing to serve him. 26:50 Some people say, "Lord, heal me, heal me, heal me. 26:52 I can't enjoy my sin anymore, I'm sick." 26:54 I mean, really, that's--you know a lot of people that are out 26:57 there and when they're sick--they're not 26:58 servin' the Lord. 27:00 They're sick and they want healing, but why do they 27:01 want healing? 27:03 So they can enjoy sin again. 27:04 And that's not why we should pray for healing. 27:07 We should say, "Lord, I wanna be healed so I can serve you." 27:10 Now, here's something tough. 27:12 Would you ask the Lord to make you sick if it would 27:13 glorify him? 27:18 Some people glorify God through their health. 27:20 Some people glorify God through their sickness. 27:23 God told Paul when he prayed, said, "I've got this thorn 27:26 that's tormenting me. 27:27 Lord, please heal me." 27:29 I mean, here Paul prayed, and other people were healed, 27:31 but he had something. 27:33 And three times God said, "No, my strength is made perfect 27:36 in weakness. 27:37 You're gonna glorify me better through your sickness or through 27:41 your malady," whatever it was. 27:43 Jean: And before we move on to the next section, which is 27:45 Monday's lesson, talking about "Loss of Trust," just one 27:48 additional point. 27:51 We need to keep in perspective the suffering that 27:53 we go through. 27:55 I know it's difficult when we go through suffering, but we wanna 27:56 keep that in perspective. 27:58 I remember my father, a number of years ago, had a very serious 28:01 illness, and at the time it didn't look very promising. 28:04 We had a special anointing service for him, and during this 28:07 time, we were praying, and our church was praying, and 28:12 he had a dream. 28:13 And in the dream, he saw himself standing on the seashore, and he 28:19 was holding in his hand a glass, and it was filled with water. 28:23 But then he noticed a crack down the side of the glass, and some 28:26 of the water was coming out of the crack. 28:28 And in his mind, he felt as though the water was his life, 28:31 and the crack was there and the water was running out as if his 28:34 life is just, you know, going away. 28:37 And he's trying to stop somehow the water from coming 28:39 from the glass. 28:41 And then he had an impression in his dream to look up. 28:44 And he looked up, and he saw the ocean spread out before him. 28:47 And the conviction came to him, "You are so worried about this 28:49 little bit of life that you have right here, trying to protect 28:53 it, but God has an eternity in store for you." 28:57 And it brought a degree of peace, knowing that, yes, God 29:00 does have things in control. 29:02 This world and this life is not all we have, but if our faith is 29:05 in Jesus, there is hope for something much better. 29:08 Now, I think, as Christians, we need to keep that in mind. 29:11 It gives us perspective. 29:13 Doug: Amen, good point. 29:14 Next section is "Loss of Trust," and this is difficult, but does 29:19 the Bible tell us that sometimes there's loss in trust in 29:25 families, a sense of betrayal? 29:30 Yeah, you can look at a number of examples about this. 29:35 Matter of fact, you've got "Loss of Trust Part 1" and 29:38 "Loss of Trust Part Two." 29:41 I almost feel like I need to go to "Loss of Trust Part 2," 29:45 start with that, and then go back to the solutions, 29:46 which are in part 1. 29:48 What happened to Joseph? 29:51 Not Joseph the mother--or the father of Jesus. 29:56 I'm talking about Joseph the son of Jacob. 29:59 Was he betrayed by his family? 30:02 Was there a loss of trust? 30:04 And can that be difficult? 30:06 You can read here in Genesis chapter 37. 30:08 You wanna read that, Pastor Ross? 30:10 Jean: Genesis chapter 37, starting in verse 27. 30:16 It says: "'Come and let us sell him,'" this is 30:18 the brothers of Joseph. 30:21 "'Come let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our 30:24 hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.' 30:27 And his brothers listened. 30:29 Then the Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers 30:32 pulled Joseph up and lifted him up out of the pit, and sold him 30:35 to the Ishmaelites for twelve shekels of silver. 30:39 And they took Joseph to Egypt." 30:41 What an experience, being, first of all, grabbed by your 30:44 brothers, thrown in the point. 30:45 You hear them conspiring to put you death, and then you get 30:49 dragged out and get sold as a slave from your brothers. 30:53 Talk about betrayal. 30:55 Doug: Yeah, and they took the money and probably wasted it, 30:58 spent it on something foolish. 31:01 And he lost his freedom. 31:03 Not only did he end up becoming a slave, he spent years 31:05 in prison. 31:07 Now, how would you be feeling during those times? 31:11 Would you be brooding over how to get even with your brothers? 31:14 Would you be wishing bad things and wrath to come 31:18 down upon them? 31:20 Well, how did Joseph end up responding? 31:22 Well, he kinda tested his brothers, but did 31:26 he forgive them? 31:28 Yeah, Matthew chapter 6. 31:30 Now I'm going back to "Loss of Trust Part 1." 31:33 Matthew 6:14: "'If you forgive men their trespasses, your 31:37 heavenly Father will also forgive you. 31:40 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will 31:43 your Father forgive your trespasses.'" 31:45 So one of the keys is we've gotta practice forgiveness. 31:50 Now, this can be tough. 31:51 When Jacob stole his brother's birthright--we've just talkin' 31:55 about these in our prayer meeting during the week. 31:58 What was Esau's initial reaction? 32:01 Jean: He was ready to take his brother's life. 32:04 Doug: Wanted to kill him at first, and he probably thought 32:07 that for years. 32:08 But finally, when Jacob came home, and Jacob was wrestling 32:11 with the angel and praying, I think some angels went and 32:15 talked to Esau. 32:16 And then Jacob sent all of these gifts to show he was sorry, that 32:19 he wasn't coming to take his father's inheritance, 32:21 he had plenty. 32:23 And finally softened Esau's heart, and they embraced 32:26 each other. 32:28 Jean: You know, Pastor Doug, I like the response with--and 32:30 this, I think, is just so powerful to give us a 32:33 perspective of a person that has hope and faith in Christ. 32:37 After the death of Joseph's father Jacob, the brothers, this 32:43 is still in Egypt, they began to think about what they had done, 32:46 and they got a little nervous, thinking, "Now that Jacob is 32:49 gone, probably if Joseph's gonna take revenge on us, 32:52 it's gonna be now." 32:53 So they came very humbly before Joseph, bowing before him, and 32:57 basically asking for mercy. 32:59 And Joseph says--you know, they say, 33:01 "Please don't take revenge." 33:02 I'm paraphrasing. 33:04 And I like the response of Joseph. 33:05 He says, "You intended it for evil, but God intended it for 33:09 good," to save life. 33:12 And of course, it was through Joseph that his family's life 33:16 was spared. 33:17 And that's Joseph's perspective. 33:19 He had given his life to God. 33:20 He trusted in God and that God would work things out. 33:23 And at the end, there's no hostility between Joseph and his 33:26 brothers, but he genuinely forgives them. 33:29 I think that can only really happen if we genuinely 33:31 understand God's forgiveness of us that we're able 33:33 to forgive others. 33:35 Doug: Yeah, Joseph even wept when they came to him. 33:38 He wept that they thought that he would do something like that. 33:42 And that leads us to James 5, verse 16: "Confess your 33:46 trespasses one to another and pray for one another that you 33:50 may be healed. 33:52 The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." 33:56 And the word "effective, fervent" is talking about 33:58 ongoing prayer, persistent prayer. 34:00 I won't ask you to raise your hands, but have you known a 34:04 family where people in the family don't talk to each other? 34:08 It's kinda sad, isn't it? 34:11 My mother--I can talk about them, I guess, respectfully now. 34:14 My mother and my grandmother did not talk for nine years. 34:19 They had an argument. 34:20 It was difficult too 'cause my mom would send my brother and I 34:22 to California from New York City to visit Grandma and back again, 34:25 but she'd never communicate with her. 34:27 They had some argument about somethin'. 34:29 I don't even know what it was. 34:31 I really don't. 34:32 Finally, one day my brother got on the phone with Grandma and he 34:35 said, "Here, talk to Mom." 34:39 And he was just, he was like 11 years old, and he thrusts the 34:40 phone over to my mother. 34:43 And she took the phone, and they said a couple of grudging words. 34:46 And then, all of a sudden, it broke the ice. 34:48 They became good friends again. 34:50 But, yeah, you've probably known that. 34:52 Family members, they just can't forgive, or, "You betrayed me," 34:55 or siblings, they don't talk for years. 34:58 And now there may be cases--let's suppose you're a 35:03 believer and you got a family member that's not a believer, 35:06 and whenever you're with them, they just ridicule your faith 35:08 and it's just almost impossible. 35:10 I've known cases where people have told me what 35:12 the situation was. 35:13 I said, "You may need to just pray for them and decide that 35:16 you've gotta live a life without bein' involved in their life." 35:19 There are cases where it's just really hard to reconcile, but 35:23 you don't wanna harbor any bitterness in your heart. 35:26 As far as possible, especially if you're Christians, you should 35:29 try to be able to communicate and love each other. 35:33 Jean: You know, Pastor Doug, I remember we did a series of 35:36 meetings, I think it was Romania, and you spoke on the 35:39 subject of forgiveness, if you'll remember that. 35:41 And afterwards, somebody related a story that there was two 35:44 brothers, if I understand it correctly, and a dad there, and 35:48 the father and one of the sons had not spoken for a 35:51 very long time. 35:53 They all claimed to be Christians, hadn't spoken 35:55 for years. 35:56 Doug: Went to the same church. 35:58 Jean: Went to the same church. 35:59 You wonder how you could even do that. 36:00 But during this sermon on forgiveness that Pastor Doug was 36:04 preaching, somewhere along the line, one of the brothers 36:07 motioned to his brother and he said, and he pointed to his 36:11 father, "Can you call dad?" 36:13 And I guess--I don't know if he did the same thing to his dad-- 36:16 Doug: And they called after the service, yeah. 36:17 Jean: They called, and there was an opportunity for 'em. 36:19 Doug: I don't know how it worked out, but I guess they 36:20 finally decided to communicate. 36:22 Jean: Finally, yes, and these are Christians. 36:23 So, I mean, talk about Christians and being loving and 36:25 forgiving, that's something that I think especially needs to 36:28 begin with families. 36:30 We need to be able to forgive and love our family. 36:33 Doug: What's the number-one attribute of God? 36:36 "God is love." 36:38 And we should have that love. 36:41 You look in 1 John 4:18. 36:42 It says: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out 36:47 fear, because fear involves torment. 36:50 But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." 36:54 When you look in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32, and Pastor 36:57 Ross, I'll have you read in a moment Colossians 3, verse 12 37:01 and 13 because they're similar. 37:03 Ephesians 4, verse 32: "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, 37:07 forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you." 37:11 [whistling] 37:13 How do we forgive each other the way God forgives us? 37:15 That's pretty complete forgiveness. 37:17 But he's sayin' that "how merciful has God been with you? 37:20 Pass it on. 37:21 If you wanna keep his forgiveness, 37:23 you gotta pass it on." 37:25 Jean: We find something similar in Colossians chapter 3, 37:28 verse 12 and 13: "Therefore, as the elect of God," he's talking 37:30 to the church, "holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, 37:34 kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one 37:37 another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a 37:42 complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you 37:46 also must do." 37:48 Of course, that can be a tall order, especially if you've been 37:50 deeply hurt by a family member or a close friend. 37:54 And it does require prayer and a time of healing. 37:59 But that's what God wants us to do. 38:02 He wants to give us the grace and the ability to forgive. 38:06 Now, when we talk about forgiving someone, it doesn't 38:08 mean that--you've heard the saying, "Forgive and forget." 38:11 Well, that's not always the case. 38:13 I mean, sometimes things have been done that you just can't 38:15 forgive, but in forgiving someone, you're letting it go. 38:18 You're not brooding. 38:20 You're not thinking on it. 38:21 You're not allowing it to eat you up in the inside. 38:23 You've turned it over to the Lord, and you've forgiven them. 38:28 And then, if they don't respond, if they don't give back that 38:31 forgiveness, you leave it with the Lord. 38:33 As far as you're concerned, you wanna have peace 38:37 as far as possible. 38:38 Doug: Yeah, you're doing your part. 38:40 Part of the reason you forgive them is not just for them. 38:43 It's for you because the bitterness hurts you. 38:47 He who practices vengeance digs two graves, you know, one for 38:54 your enemy and one for yourself. 38:57 And so, can you think of some examples in the Bible 38:58 of family feuds? 39:01 Who was the man after God's own heart in the Bible? 39:05 David, did he have any problems in the family? 39:09 Did he have a son that wanted to kill him? 39:12 What was the final attitude of David towards Absalom who wanted 39:16 to kill him? 39:17 He said, "Deal gently with the young man Absalom," and when he 39:21 died, he wept for him. 39:22 He didn't say, "Good riddance." 39:24 And so he had that love. 39:26 Look at that, that patient love of a father for a son that 39:28 wants to kill you. 39:31 I mean, that's pretty--it tells us something about the 39:33 love of God. 39:34 Go ahead. 39:36 Jean: Yeah, just to kinda add to that, even though we find in 39:37 the Bible some terrible accounts of family feuds, we can also see 39:42 in the Bible opportunities of restoration and healing, even 39:45 through some very difficult experiences and times. 39:47 The one that I like particularly is the one we already 39:49 referenced, with reference to Joseph forgiving his brothers. 39:52 I think that's a beautiful demonstration of God's love and 39:55 his ability to restore and make whole. 39:58 And we have many other examples where, yes, relationships were 40:02 strained, but God was still able to work through that experience. 40:06 Doug: Yeah, and then you've got another example going back 40:08 to where it says, "Lost of Trust continued." 40:10 One of David's sons, Amnon, abused his half-sister Tamar, 40:19 which was the full sister of Absalom. 40:22 And that caused all kinds of problems. 40:24 And eventually, Absalom killed Amnon. 40:27 And you just look at some of the--yeah, I mean, it doesn't 40:31 get any more serious than that. 40:34 Just some of the terrible things that you saw happen in families. 40:37 And I've had people, I've preached on sermons--the sermon 40:39 I've got on forgiveness I preach frequently if I go to a new 40:42 place and do a revival 'cause I find it's just, it's such a 40:44 sensitive and a necessary subject. 40:48 But then people come to me afterward and they say, "Well, 40:50 Pastor Doug, surely God doesn't expect me to forgive. 40:52 If you knew what my father or my mother did to me," and then I'll 40:56 hear these horrific stories and I'll say, "Well, look at 41:02 Manasseh." 41:04 I don't know, is Manasseh in our lesson? 41:07 Yeah, yeah, you can read about Manasseh. 41:11 It says in 2 Kings chapter 21, "He made his son pass through 41:15 the fire. 41:17 He practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, consulted 41:19 spiritualists and mediums, did much evil in the sight of the 41:22 Lord to anger." 41:24 Sacrificed his children to pagan gods. 41:26 I mean, that would be the unpardonable sin, you'd think. 41:28 But was Manasseh forgiven? 41:31 That's inconceivable, you and I, we could never do that. 41:35 That doesn't mean you need to ever submit to--you know, if 41:39 you've got a parent or somebody that was abusive, you don't have 41:43 to put yourself under that abuse anymore, but you must say, 41:46 "Lord, I'm gonna let it go." 41:48 I mean, didn't Jesus say, "Father, forgive them," when 41:50 they were nailing him? 41:51 That's hard. 41:53 Stephen said, "Lord, don't lay this sin to their charge," when 41:55 they were stoning him. 41:56 Jean: You know, I remember there was a story when I was 42:00 just a kid and it made an impression upon my mind. 42:03 There was an old man that was getting baptized one Sabbath in 42:06 church, and just before the pastor did the baptism, he said, 42:09 "Pastor, could I just say something to the congregation?" 42:12 And the pastor said, "Yes." 42:14 And I remember, he looked out, and his wife was sitting in the 42:16 front, and he said, "Brethren, I want you to know the reason I'm 42:21 getting baptized today is because of the godly example of 42:24 my wife." 42:26 He said, "For all these years, I have been such--just a terror to 42:30 live with." 42:31 He says, "I mocked her. I made fun of her. 42:33 I verbally abused her. 42:35 But her devotion, her faith, her prayers the Lord got through to 42:38 me and changed my heart." 42:40 And of course she's sitting there, and tears are running 42:41 down her face. 42:42 He said, "The reason I am getting baptized is because of 42:44 what my wife has done, her godly example. 42:46 So, I was impressed with that power of forgiveness. 42:49 Even though it took a long time, her faithful example and her 42:53 prayers, the Holy Spirit is able to change this hardened man's 42:57 heart, and there was a remarkable change that he went 43:00 through and he was just a kind, loving person after that. 43:03 So, yes, God can change the hearts. 43:06 So we wanna be faithful in demonstrating his 43:09 love and grace. 43:10 Doug: That's right, it says, I think it's 1 Peter chapter 3, 43:13 that "the unbelieving husband can be converted by the 43:16 consistent Christian behavior of the wife." 43:19 That's a paraphrase, and it works both ways, by the way. 43:24 All right, we're gonna jump down to the section under "Loss of 43:27 Freedom." 43:29 You know, I started out sayin', "I was in prison and you 43:31 visited me." 43:33 Some people, you've got family members, and there's those who 43:38 are imprisoned by habits and addiction. 43:41 And what if you've got someone in the family that struggles 43:43 with an addiction? 43:45 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 19: "While they promised them 43:47 liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; by whom a 43:51 person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage." 43:56 I don't know if you wanna read the next verse, Pastor Ross. 43:59 Jean: Yes, Luke chapter 16, verse 13, Jesus puts 44:01 it this way. 44:02 He says: " No servant can serve two masters; for either he will 44:05 hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the 44:08 one and despise the other. 44:10 You cannot serve God and mammon.'" 44:12 Doug: All right, well, some people are addicted to money. 44:15 Some are addicted to drugs. 44:17 You can't have two masters. 44:18 The story you just told a minute ago about that husband and wife 44:21 made me think of one. 44:23 There was a woman--this is years ago in the Midwest somewhere, 44:27 and she had a husband with a terrible drinking problem. 44:29 And he would frequently come home drunk. 44:32 He'd bring his friends over. 44:33 He'd say, "Woman, make us some food." 44:35 And she'd get up and she'd cook for 'em, and she was very kind, 44:37 very patient, very loving, and she put up with this behavior 44:41 that, you know, nobody would expect a wife to put up with. 44:46 And he would always wake her up and bring his friends home when 44:51 he was drunk and he was yelling. 44:53 And one day, after his friends left, and she was cleaning up 44:58 because he had woken her up in the middle of the night to fix 45:01 him something to eat, he started crying. 45:03 And she said, "Why are you--?" 45:07 Or she said to her husband, "Why are you crying?" 45:10 And he said, "Why are you so good to me?" 45:13 He says, "I'm so mean to you. 45:15 I'm so bad. I make fun of your religion. 45:17 I come over with my friends. They make a mess of the place. 45:19 You clean it up. You never complain." 45:22 And she put her hand on her husband's shoulder and she said, 45:24 "Look," she says, "I'm a Christian, I have eternal life." 45:27 She says, "You're not, you don't." 45:30 She says, "The only happiness you're gonna have is 45:31 in this life. 45:33 I'm tryin' to make you as happy as I can for the little time 45:34 you've got." 45:36 And he was so moved by that that he gave up his drinking and 45:39 became a Christian. 45:43 Jean: You know, there's hope even if you are in a situation 45:45 where maybe there is a family member that is struggling with 45:48 some kind of addiction, whether it's alcohol or 45:51 whatever it might be. 45:52 The Bible does promise that in Christ we can have freedom. 45:57 Of course, there's a choice involved. 45:58 We have to choose. 46:00 Romans chapter 6, starting in verse 16 says: "Do you not know 46:03 that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you 46:05 are that one's slave whom you obey, whether of sin leading to 46:09 death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" 46:12 And then verse 17 goes like this: "But God be thanked that 46:15 though you were the slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the 46:20 heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. 46:25 And having been set free from sin, you have become the slaves 46:28 of righteousness." 46:30 So here Paul is speaking to believers and he says, "You were 46:32 slaves to sin, but by faith you received the doctrine, the 46:36 truth, the gospel. 46:37 Now you have become slaves of righteousness. 46:40 God has given you the victory." 46:42 And of course, that verse which is so precious, Jesus says, "If 46:44 the Son sets you free, you shall be," what? 46:47 "Free indeed." 46:49 "In Christ we are a new creation." 46:51 And I think, for family members that might have somebody else in 46:54 their family struggling with addiction, let's never 46:56 give up, right? 46:57 Let's keep praying. 46:59 Let's be the best example we can be because, "God's arm is not 47:03 shortened that he cannot save," as the Bible says. 47:05 Doug: Amen, on that same theme, Romans 6 said, "For he 47:10 who has died has been freed from sin." 47:13 In other words, when we are crucified with Christ, he breaks 47:17 the chains of slavery. 47:19 You've never seen a dead person be offended. 47:24 So many of the things that cause problems and offense in a 47:26 family--if we are crucified with Christ, if you're dead, 47:28 you're freed. 47:30 Then we're gonna--we just got a few minutes. 47:32 We wanna jump into the last section here, "Loss of Life," 47:35 and this is really a big thing that people struggle with. 47:38 You know, I know in our midst today, you know, in the church 47:41 family, a lot of people here have lost loved ones. 47:45 Some have lost, of course, siblings. 47:47 Parents, spouses, and how do we deal with loss? 47:52 And, you know, that's especially painful when there's loss 47:56 like this in a family. 47:58 And in John chapter 11, we read about Jesus had some dear 48:03 friends, a brother and two sisters, Lazarus, Mary, Martha. 48:06 And it tells us that "they sent to Jesus, said, 'Come, 48:10 our brother is sick, heal him.'" 48:13 And Jesus got there too late, and he died. 48:16 And they said, "Lord, why did you let this happen?" 48:18 You read where Mary's asking in verse 32: "She came to where 48:22 Jesus was, and she saw him, and fell down at his feet, and said, 48:24 'Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died.'" 48:29 Sometimes it's not, you know, the natural course. 48:31 Maybe there's an accident or some unexpected sickness, and 48:34 you think, "Why me? 48:35 Why my family member? 48:37 Why did this have to happen?" 48:38 And we think, "Does God still love us?" 48:40 And it wounds our faith. 48:42 But how did Jesus restore the faith of Mary and Martha? 48:46 He performed a miracle and there's a resurrection. 48:50 You know, the Bible says, "As Christians we do not sorrow as 48:52 those that have no hope." 48:56 But what do you do--? 48:58 I'm gonna ask something very difficult. 48:59 What do you do if you have loss of a family member and you 49:02 question whether they were a believer? 49:05 Or maybe they said they weren't. 49:07 How do you cope with that? 49:09 You know, I think the only way you can is you identify with 49:13 God, who loves 'em even more than you do, who is experiencing 49:18 that loss with you, and then you focus your attention on those 49:23 who are saved, who can be saved. 49:27 King David lost a son. 49:29 You know, when Absalom, I mentioned earlier, killed Amnon, 49:32 David grieved for Amnon. 49:34 I mean, here's he got this son that died at a feast, drinking. 49:37 He had abused his sister. 49:39 Amnon did not die with a lot of promise that he would 49:42 have eternal life. 49:44 And David wept and he wept, and then finally, he got up and he 49:47 dusted himself off and he said he realized that Amnon was gone. 49:52 He decided to focus his attention on the ones who 49:54 were alive. 49:56 And, you know, that's really the only thing you can do is just 49:59 say, "This is a terrible loss. 50:01 Will I grieve forever? 50:03 Or am I now gonna do what God does and direct my attention on 50:05 reaching the ones who are alive?" 50:07 Now, nobody knows another person's fate. 50:10 Only God knows their heart, right? 50:12 So there's that promise there that says, "We have this hope." 50:16 "We hope as others--" 50:18 Or, "We have a hope unlike others." 50:20 The Bible says there's this blessed hope. 50:22 We may be surprised. 50:23 So, when you don't know, you just have to put it in God's 50:26 hands and say that, you know, there's a day coming when God's 50:28 gonna dry the tears. 50:30 In the meantime, we've got a work to do. 50:33 Jean: The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 26 50:36 that: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is that of death." 50:41 Death, of course, was never part of God's plan. 50:44 It's the consequences of sin. 50:45 Yet we do have a promise that, one day, when Jesus comes, 50:48 there'll be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more death. 50:51 He'll make all things new. 50:52 Often at a funeral, at a graveside service, we're 50:55 standing there in the cemetery and we're laying a loved one to 50:59 rest, and the family are weeping, and, yes, that it's a 51:02 place of sadness without a doubt. 51:05 But I try to encourage believers that even though the cemetery is 51:08 a place of sadness today, one day when Jesus comes it's 51:12 probably gonna be one of the happiest places around because 51:15 the dead in Christ will rise first and we get to meet them in 51:18 the air. 51:20 So even though there is sorrow and pain and death, the Bible 51:22 gives us hope and comfort. 51:24 And that, of course, is found in Jesus. 51:26 Doug: Amen, there's a good quote in the lesson. 51:28 It's from "The Desire of Ages" page 787: "To the believer death 51:32 is but a small matter. 51:34 To the Christian, death is but a sleep, in a moment of silence 51:37 and darkness. 51:39 The life is hid with Christ in God, and when Christ, who is our 51:43 life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear 51:45 with him in glory." 51:48 So, I tell our friends that if they lose a loved one that's a 51:52 believer, you just have to look up on it as you've gone on 51:55 a trip and you're gonna be reunited. 51:57 It's just longer than you had hoped. 51:59 But you will meet again, and you'll meet again in 52:02 much better circumstances. 52:04 And so that, of course, is that great blessed hope. 52:06 Well, I think we're about out of time, Pastor Ross. 52:08 You wanna mention the--? 52:10 Jean: Yes, we've got a great offer, especially for those who 52:12 are facing grief. 52:14 And all of us, at some point, go through loss or sorrow. 52:17 It is a book entitled "When the Brook Dried Up," and the 52:20 question is, "Why Do Christians Suffer?" 52:22 This is gonna be our free gift to anyone who will call and ask. 52:25 The number is 866-788-3966, and you can ask for offer number 52:30 171, or you can send us a text. 52:34 You can text the code SH074 to the number 40544 and we'll be 52:41 able to send you a link as to where you can download the book, 52:45 "When the Brook Dries Up, Why Do Christians Suffer?" 52:48 Doug: Amen, thank you very much, friends. 52:49 We're glad you joined us. 52:51 Those who are watching online, God bless you. 52:53 We look forward to studying his Word together again next week. 52:57 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 52:59 life-changing free resource. 53:00 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 53:03 download a digital copy straight to your computer 53:05 or mobile device. 53:07 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 53:10 the key word on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 53:14 shown on your screen and be sure to select the digital download 53:18 option on the request page. 53:20 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 53:23 "Amazing Facts" wherever and whenever you want. 53:27 And most important, to share it with others. 53:34 announcer: "Amazing Facts" changed lives: 53:45 Justin: Growing up as a kid, my mother was, like, on drugs 53:50 and alcohol. 53:51 Lots of fighting in the home. 53:53 My mom would be abused mentally, verbally, physically. 53:57 Went from California to Oregon. 54:01 Spent some time in Oregon and it was just the same cycle of 54:04 drugs, alcohol, violence. 54:07 My mom's boyfriend would go to jail at times. 54:10 She would wait until he would, you know, get out of jail, and 54:14 then it was back to square one. 54:16 The drugs and alcohol escalated to a lot harder drugs, crystal 54:21 meth, cocaine, and lots and lots of alcohol. 54:25 So I started using the alcohol as a medication. 54:31 It was like the misery and the fear that I had, I wanted to 54:35 drown all that misery. 54:37 At times I would just grab, you know, a bottle of beer and go 54:41 out into the desert and just drink until sometimes I'd just 54:45 pass out in the desert somewhere and wake up 54:47 the next morning, you know? 54:50 And I just couldn't find rest. 54:52 And my stepdad had gotten me a motorcycle and so I started 54:57 riding motorcycles. 54:59 I'd drink a lot of beer, get on the motorcycle, ride into the 55:02 desert, do donuts, and just, you know, just ride 55:05 on private property. 55:07 People would chase me off, and I was just causin', stirrin' up 55:11 dust and rocks and just causin' chaos. 55:15 And the adrenaline rush that I had was so exciting, and the 55:20 feeling of it was so intense that I loved it, and I forgot 55:25 about all my problems, you know, at the moment, and I thought 55:29 that material things would make me feel so good, you know? 55:34 And so I started workin', started makin' money, had a 55:37 responsibility, but as time went by, I had more money. 55:43 So I would, you know use my money that I made to buy 55:48 drugs and alcohol. 55:50 Got pulled over drinkin' and driving, ended up going to jail 55:53 for a couple days. 55:56 I lost my job because I missed work for a few days, lost my 56:00 girlfriend, lost all the money that I had. 56:05 So, once again, I was empty, no money, no drugs, no alcohol, and 56:10 that was a turning point in my life. 56:13 At this time, I was living with my grandfather, and as I was 56:18 flipping through the channels on the satellite system, I found 56:21 "Amazing Facts," and Pastor Doug Batchelor was sharing his 56:25 testimony about how he was living in a cave and he 56:31 struggled the same struggles of alcohol and drugs. 56:34 And I continued to read the book, "The Richest Caveman," and 56:38 it really impacted my life and really related to the things he 56:41 was struggling with, and all of the events that 56:46 took place in his life. 56:47 And when I started reading the Bible, Philippians 4:13 says: "I 56:51 can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 56:53 I recognized that I had no strength. 56:56 I was weak, and I was wretched, and I needed help. 57:00 So I just asked the Lord, I said, "Just help me, Lord." 57:03 And the Holy Spirit convicted me and I decided to be baptized and 57:10 to give my life to Jesus Christ. 57:13 A few years after the Lord took the temptation of drinking and 57:16 doing drugs, he gave me a beautiful wife I met at church. 57:20 Now I have a beautiful baby boy, two-year-old baby boy. 57:24 It's just exciting to see, you know, what God is doing through 57:28 my life and my family. 57:32 I met with some friends from my local church that I was 57:35 attending and they had told me about Amazing Facts Center of 57:40 Evangelism Training Seminar. 57:43 The AFCOE to go program really inspired me and motivated me to 57:47 tell young people about, you know, the same struggles that I 57:53 was struggling with, to help these kids give their life to 57:56 Jesus Christ, and there's nothin' else 57:58 that you could ask for. 58:00 I'm Justin, and God used you to change my life. 58:05 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2019-05-24