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00:06 CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 abercap.com 00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:21 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends, welcome once again to 00:36 "Sabbath School Study Hour" here at the Granite Bay Seventh 00:39 Day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:42 I'd like to welcome our online members and our friends who are 00:44 joining us across the country and literally around the world, 00:48 part of our extended Sabbath school class. 00:51 And I'd also like to welcome our regular church members and our 00:54 visitors who are joining us here in person. 00:56 It's always a joy to see you week after week 00:58 coming to study the lesson. 01:00 Well, our lesson for this quarter is dealing with the 01:02 subject of the family, and we're on lesson number 11 today, 01:06 it's entitled, "Families of Faith." 01:09 Now, for our friends who are joining us, if you don't have 01:11 access to the lesson quarterly and you'd like to study along 01:14 with us, we do have a website that you can go to. 01:17 It's just simply lesson.aftv.org, 01:21 that's lesson.aftv.org. 01:23 And you can download today's lesson, 01:25 it's lesson number 11. 01:26 And you can study along with us the 01:28 theme of "Families of Faith." 01:30 Well, before we get to our study, 01:32 as we always do, we'd like to lift our voices in song. 01:35 I'd like to invite our song leaders to please come forward. 01:37 ♪♪♪ 01:45 ♪ Standing on the promises of Christ my King, ♪ 01:49 ♪ through eternal ages let his praises sing. ♪ 01:54 ♪ Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, ♪ 01:58 ♪ standing on the promises of God. ♪ 02:03 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 02:07 ♪ standing on the promises of God my Savior. ♪ 02:11 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 02:18 ♪ I'm standing on the promises of God. ♪ 02:23 ♪ Standing on the promises that cannot fail, ♪ 02:27 ♪ when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail. ♪ 02:32 ♪ By the living Word of God I shall prevail, ♪ 02:36 ♪ standing on the promises of God. ♪ 02:40 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 02:45 ♪ standing on the promises of God my Savior. ♪ 02:49 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 02:56 ♪ I'm standing on the promises of God. ♪ 03:01 ♪ Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, ♪ 03:05 ♪ bound to him eternally by love's strong cord. ♪ 03:10 ♪ Overcoming daily with the Spirit's Sword, ♪ 03:14 ♪ standing on the promises of God. ♪ 03:19 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 03:23 ♪ standing on the promises of God my Savior. ♪ 03:28 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 03:35 ♪ I'm standing on the promises of God. ♪♪ 03:41 female: Thank you for singing with us. 03:51 Jean: For those who are joining us online, 03:52 we'd like to let you know about our free offer for today, 03:55 it's a book entitled "Alone in the Crowd." 03:58 And we'll be happy to send this to anyone in North America, 04:01 just a great study, the number to call is... 04:07 and you can ask for the book "Alone in the Crowd." 04:09 If you'd like to get a digital copy of this free offer, 04:12 what you need to do there is text the number 40544, 04:17 and you want to text the code SH004, 04:22 and you'll be able to get a digital download of the 04:24 book "Alone in the Crowd." 04:26 In addition to that, we'd like to let you know about another 04:29 book, it's a free offer we want you to hear about, 04:31 it's "The Culture and the Christian," which goes along 04:34 with our lesson as well. 04:35 And you can read that for free by simply going 04:38 to the Amazing Facts website. 04:40 At this time, let's bow our heads as we start 04:41 our time with prayer. 04:43 Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that we're able to open up 04:45 your Word and gather together and study a very important 04:48 subject, talking about the family and families of faith. 04:52 And I pray, Lord, that your Spirit would come and guide our 04:54 hearts and our lives in Jesus's name, amen. 04:58 Our lesson this morning is going to be brought 05:00 to us by Pastor Doug. 05:03 Doug Batchelor: We're continuing in our lesson dealing 05:05 with the subject of family. 05:07 And today's study is from lesson 11, 05:11 and it's talking about, really, family and culture. 05:14 And so, it's talking about families of faith, 05:18 but it's really dealing with, how do you have a family of 05:20 faith in the varying cultures of the world where you can 05:23 be true to biblical principles? 05:25 And we have a memory verse. 05:27 Memory verse is Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 and 2. 05:30 If you've got your lesson, you want to say this with me, 05:33 Hebrews 12, verse 1 and 2, and it's from 05:35 the New King James version. 05:36 Are you ready? 05:38 It's got a little abbreviated section, 05:39 "Therefore let us run with endurance the race that is set 05:45 before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our 05:50 faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the 05:54 cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right 05:58 hand of the throne of God." 06:01 That's one of my favorite verses here, 06:03 Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1. 06:05 Now, the essence of the lesson we're going to talk about is, 06:09 how can you have a faithful family where culture is often 06:15 working at odds with Christian values? 06:19 Says right here in the first page of your lesson Christian 06:21 families confront cultural challenges all through time. 06:26 Sometimes, the cultural influences can be good. 06:30 Most times, though, the influence is negative or evil. 06:34 Some examples of cultural things that are good, 06:36 I'm just so thankful for the age we live in today, 06:38 where things are a whole lot more hygienic than they used to 06:42 be if you were living in New York City back in the 1870s, 06:47 where there was still sewage in the streets. 06:49 I am so thankful for those improvements in society. 06:53 But now, instead of the sewage in the streets, 06:55 it comes in through the computer screen. 06:59 And they didn't have that problem back then. 07:02 And so, cultures, things change. 07:05 Sometimes there are positive things that you might see in a 07:08 culture, but oftentimes cultures, it's like it says 07:13 in the book of Job, "Man is prone towards 07:16 trouble as the sparks fly upward." 07:19 It's just sort of a law of nature that cultural changes 07:22 are often antithetical to Christian values. 07:26 Now, you know, we've had the privilege, 07:28 and it's been a blessing, to travel all over the world. 07:31 And I enjoy some of the cultural differences and nuances 07:35 as you go to different countries. 07:37 I like the different kinds of food. 07:39 Assuming it's vegetarian food, I like the different varieties 07:43 that you find around the world. 07:45 And you know, I really enjoy eating the food in India. 07:49 It's not hard to find veggie food in India, 07:51 but you better be okay with hot curry. 07:54 And I really enjoy the veggie food in the Philippines. 07:58 You go to a Filipino potluck, if you get that invitation, go. 08:01 It's really great. 08:04 And when we were in China, boy, they've got so many mushrooms 08:07 there, it was just amazing. 08:09 It's wonderful food in China. 08:13 I remember Karen and I, the boys, we went to Japan, and 08:18 different places in the world where you 08:20 take your shoes off before you go in, that's nice. 08:24 You know, it talks about, you know, the reverence of the 08:25 church and when you go into the church-- 08:27 We were in India, oh, last year and went to 08:31 a very large church there. 08:32 Matter of fact, it's the largest Christian church in the world, 08:34 and everybody takes off their shoes 08:36 before they go in the church. 08:37 And they got cubby holes, rows, it looks 08:39 like the Library of Congress. 08:41 They got rows and rows of cubby holes, 08:43 where everyone puts their shoes and no one loses their shoes. 08:46 They're all kind of grid-marked with, 08:48 you know, letters and numbers. 08:49 They come out, they get their shoes. 08:51 And in this particular church we were in, 08:53 the men and women do not sit together. 08:55 Husbands do not even sit with their wives. 08:57 The men all sat, and there were, you know, 08:59 20,000 of them when we were there. 09:01 Men all sat on one side, women all sat on another side. 09:05 You know, and just different cultures have different 09:08 traditions, and it's interesting, it's wonderful 09:12 as long as those traditions do not violate some 09:16 biblical truth or principle. 09:20 Nothing wrong, you know? 09:22 We say hello, we shake hands at the door. 09:24 In America, we shake hands at the door. 09:25 We just came from Paris. 09:27 Everybody's kissing everybody when they go to the door. 09:30 And you know, we had--I wasn't quite sure whether to 09:32 go like this or lean forward. 09:34 You're not sometimes sure what to do, 09:36 but it's, you know, it's a cultural thing. 09:38 And so, those things may be different. 09:41 But as you're going to see in our lesson today, 09:43 there are some cultural things that Christians must struggle 09:47 against because, as it said in the lesson, most of the 09:51 cultural shifts are like gravity that sort of pull people down. 09:56 So, let's, with that lengthy introduction, 09:58 we'll go to our first section, it's talking about holding 10:02 fast to that which is good. 10:04 Now, someone is going to be reading for me 10:05 Acts 10, verse 1 and 2. Do you have that, Brad? 10:08 All right, in just a moment I'll have you read that. 10:10 Before that, I'm going to read Philippians 2, 10:12 verse 14 and 15, here's a great principle. 10:15 "Do all things without complaining and disputing, 10:18 that you might become blameless and harmless, 10:21 children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and 10:26 perverse generation among whom you 10:29 shine as lights in the world." 10:31 God is calling for families to shine as lights in the world in 10:35 the midst of a perverted generation. 10:38 And so, how can we do that? 10:40 Now, we're going to look at one family of faith here. 10:42 Go ahead, read for us Acts 10:1 and 2. 10:46 Brad: "There was a certain man in Caesarea called 10:48 Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 10:53 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, 10:58 who gave alms generously to the people 11:00 and prayed to God always." 11:03 Doug: All right, we learn about Cornelius. 11:05 Much of chapter 10 talks about this encounter. 11:07 Cornelius is the first recipient of Peter taking the gospel to 11:13 the Gentiles from the time Stephen was stoned in 34--I 11:19 guess he was stoned in, yeah, 34 AD. 11:23 It wasn't long after that before you see that the gospel now is 11:27 officially going, and Peter's the one who brings it to them. 11:29 Was Cornelius a Jew? 11:33 Was he a Christian? 11:36 In his heart, but they had--Peter had 11:40 to go preach to him. 11:42 But was he someone who feared God? 11:45 Yes, he was. 11:46 And does the Lord have people who fear him in every nation? 11:51 Bible says he does. 11:52 There are people who maybe haven't heard the name of Jesus, 11:54 they're going to get to heaven and say, 11:56 "What happened to your hands?" 11:58 Because they didn't understand these things. 12:02 And there are missionaries around the world that have gone 12:05 to people who never officially heard the teachings of Jesus or 12:08 even the Old Testament, but they have something of angels who 12:12 talk to them, they are walking in the light that God has shed 12:15 on their path, and they are faithful people. 12:17 But now Cornelius, he was Italian probably. 12:22 It says he's of the Italian Regiment, 12:24 a devout man, he fears God. 12:27 He and all his household, his family was a God-fearing 12:30 family, they're a generous family. 12:32 They have the fruits of the Spirit, 12:34 but they don't know about the plan of salvation. 12:36 Peter goes and preaches to them, they're filled with the Holy 12:38 Spirit even before they're baptized. 12:41 So, now we see in the--from chapter 10 on, 12:44 the gospel begins to go to the Gentiles, 12:46 and this presents a problem. 12:48 The Gentiles had a lot of cultural 12:51 differences from the Jews. 12:53 And the Jews, the early church was all 12:56 Jewish, even after Pentecost. 13:00 Says 3,000 were baptized, 3,000 what? 13:03 Jews. 13:04 Later, 5,000 are baptized, all Jews. 13:08 It's not until you get to Acts 10--well, 13:10 there was some people in Samaria that got baptized, 13:13 but they still believed in the books of Moses, 13:15 and so it's not--you're not going to the plain old 13:18 Roman-Greco pagans until you get to Acts chapter 10. 13:22 From then on, the revival among the pagans was so great, 13:27 the non-Jews, that it wasn't very long before there were more 13:30 Gentile Christians than Jewish Christians. 13:33 And so, they were faced with a dilemma. 13:35 They had a lot of customs that were not Jewish customs, 13:38 and they said, "How do we know what we require them to do and 13:43 what we can sort of just, you know, 13:45 say there are non-essentials?" 13:47 And after much discussion, you get to Acts 15, verse 19. 13:52 They came to this conclusion, it says it twice there in Acts 15, 13:54 "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from 13:58 among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 14:01 but that we write to them to abstain from 14:04 things polluted by idols." 14:06 Now, idolatry's one of the Ten Commandments. 14:08 In other words, they need to keep all 14:10 of the Ten Commandments. 14:11 "From sexual immorality," this was also part of the Ten 14:15 Commandments as well as some of the civil law. 14:18 "From things strangled and blood," that was part of the 14:21 health laws, so they were to keep the health laws. 14:24 "For Moses has throughout many generations those that preach 14:28 him in every city being read in the synagogues every Sabbath." 14:32 In other words, scattered throughout the Roman 14:33 empire, there were synagogues. 14:35 These people who were turning to God, 14:37 they have had some exposure to the truth, 14:39 but these are the things they are to walk in. 14:42 Now, one of the big areas you're going to find a dispute in the 14:46 New Testament, once you understand this, 14:48 it'll make it a lot easier. 14:52 Whenever you bought meat in the Jewish marketplace, 14:57 many of the butcher shops, whenever they slaughtered an 15:01 animal, they did it in front of an idol. 15:04 And so the Jews said, "We cannot eat things offered to idols." 15:08 Paul disagreed with some of the other apostles. 15:11 He said, "Look." 15:12 You know, they're talking about clean meat. 15:14 They're not even talking about the unclean meats, 15:15 they're talking about chicken and the sheep 15:17 and the goat and the ox or whatever it was. 15:19 And whenever they killed them, it was in front of the idol, 15:22 and then they'd sell it. 15:24 And Paul said, "Look, you didn't offer it to the idol, 15:27 the idol has no power. 15:28 And so, if people buy things in the marketplace, 15:31 don't ask, 'Was this offered to an idol?' because then you're, 15:34 you know, maybe make your weaker brother stumble." 15:37 Paul talks about those who are weak in 15:38 faith eat only vegetables. 15:40 Has nothing to do with physical weakness or vegetarianism. 15:43 It has to do with people who are so--their consciences were so 15:46 sensitive that they couldn't buy even the clean meat because it 15:50 may have been offered to an idol and they thought, 15:52 "We will be indirectly worshipping idols." 15:55 Let me bring this down to our day. 15:57 How many of you like Thai food? 16:00 Chinese food? 16:02 Have you ever eaten Chinese or Thai food? 16:04 Japanese food anybody? 16:06 And you've gone in and you've seen the Buddha? 16:08 Let me see your hands, come on, fess up. 16:11 Did you say, "I can't eat here. 16:14 They got incense burning to a Buddha"? 16:17 Now, if you were a devout Jew, that 16:19 could've been a moral dilemma. 16:22 But you and I realize we're just eating their good food, 16:24 we're not worshipping Buddha. 16:26 And so, they had a big struggle about this 16:29 back then, "What do we do?" 16:30 And so, and you'll find this being addressed in Corinthians, 16:35 in Romans, and several places in the Bible they talk about this. 16:39 So, they were saying, "Look, tell them not to eat the unclean 16:43 food or things that are strangled." 16:45 You're not supposed to eat even the clean meat with the blood. 16:47 That's why he said, "Don't eat blood." 16:48 Now, isn't it clear the idea about not eating blood is part 16:53 of the Old Testament health laws, so why, in the New 16:56 Testament, is it telling them to remember the health law? 16:59 Why in Acts chapter 10 does Peter say, "Lord, not so." 17:04 God said, "Arise, eat something from the sheet full 17:07 of animals, unclean animals." 17:09 Peter says, "Not so, Lord." 17:11 How dare someone say, "Not so, Lord." 17:13 He says, "Not so, Lord, I have never eaten 17:16 anything common or unclean." 17:18 Peter never eats anything from the sheet. 17:20 That vision has nothing to do with clean and unclean food, 17:23 it has to do with taking the gospel to the Gentiles. 17:26 So, it's pretty clear they still were observing 17:29 the health laws based on this. 17:31 Isn't that right? 17:33 I see my friend David here, when we worked with the Navajo 17:35 Indians years ago, these folks were having 17:38 big problems with alcohol. 17:39 Yeah, they ate prairie dog and blood sausage. 17:42 That used to always just make me cringe, blood sausage. 17:46 And then we brought a number of people to the Lord and we'd have 17:49 potlucks, and there might be some cheese lasagna. 17:52 Well, some of the saints from Farmington would come and say, 17:54 "Haven't you told these people they 17:56 shouldn't be eating cheese?" 17:58 And we said, "Look, they've just given up alcohol, 18:01 blood sausage, and prairie dog. 18:03 Will you please give them a break?" 18:05 And you know, and that's kind of what was happening is some of 18:10 the Jews were telling the Gentiles, 18:12 "Now, you got to keep the feast days and you 18:14 got to make sure and grow your beard long." 18:15 And they were telling them all these things that really were 18:17 not commands, circumcision and other things. 18:21 And so, they had to decide what are the biblical principles and 18:24 what are the cultural things, or maybe the traditional things. 18:28 All right, got to move along though. 18:30 This is going to get very interesting, as you see. 18:34 The power of culture on family is our next section. 18:39 Genesis 16:1 through 3, "Now Sarai, 18:43 Abram's wife," this is before she's Sarah, 18:46 "had borne him no children. 18:48 And she had an Egyptian maidservant," probably picked 18:51 up during their brief detour through Egypt. 18:54 "She had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 18:58 So, Sarai says to Abram, 'See, now the Lord has 19:00 restrained me from bearing children. 19:02 Please, go into my maid. 19:04 Perhaps I shall obtain children by her.'" 19:07 All right, let's stop here. 19:08 Anyone try--else done that before? 19:12 Anyone here, maybe you're having problems having enough children 19:15 or children, and so you tell your husband, 19:17 "Look, let's just bring a surrogate in to live with us. 19:20 And she can be your concubine." 19:24 Is that a cultural thing that God would approve of? 19:30 Was that part of God's plan? 19:32 Were other people doing it back then? 19:35 Yeah. 19:37 There were a lot of things that were going on back then. 19:38 Did Abraham have slaves? 19:41 Is slavery okay? 19:44 Wait a second, God has laws in the Bible about how 19:47 to treat your slaves fairly. 19:49 Doesn't that mean slavery's okay? 19:52 God has laws in the Bible that say, "If you have more than 19:55 one wife, you got to make sure treat the second wife, 19:57 the less loved wife the same. 19:59 They all got to get--" 20:01 Does that mean it's okay for polygamy? 20:04 Why did God make some of these laws? 20:06 Because he approved of what those cultures were doing, 20:09 or because he was protecting people? 20:13 Jesus said because of the hardness of your hearts, 20:15 he made laws about divorce, it was never his will. 20:18 And because of the hardness of their hearts, 20:20 he made laws to protect slave, protect people that were 20:23 in multiple wife relationships. 20:25 Those were never part of his will. 20:26 Those things were adopted by the cultures around them. 20:29 David is a man after God's own heart, would we agree? 20:33 How many of you have read Psalms and you recognize it's inspired? 20:36 How many wives did David have? 20:39 Was that 'cause it was God's will, 20:41 or because he was following the culture around him? 20:46 As we said, most cultural influences are not positive. 20:51 A lot of these things, it's like sin is gravity 20:53 in our natures, it goes down. 20:56 Are there voices, are there trends in cultures today 21:01 that are affecting families? 21:04 The biblical distinctions between male and female, 21:09 are they under attack? 21:11 Does the Bible make it very clear that he 21:15 made them man and woman? 21:17 There's not all these other garbled letters in between where 21:19 people sort of pick what their sexual gender or some nuance 21:23 or some amalgamation of gender might be. 21:28 But is it in the culture? 21:30 Are we to have our values about what the distinctions of men and 21:34 women are shaped by culture or Scripture? 21:39 It's supposed to be--but how many of you know Christians that 21:42 are beginning to second guess what our views should be on 21:46 homosexuality because we're being bombarded by 21:49 the culture to view it differently? 21:53 You can see how that happens. 21:56 That happens a number of ways. 21:57 This is what was happening to Abraham. 22:00 "So, she took Hagar her maid, gave her to her husband after 22:03 Abram dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan." 22:06 When in Canaan, do like the Canaanites, right? 22:10 How did that end for Abram and Sarai? 22:13 Not good. 22:14 And Hagar ended up getting sent away because of that. 22:17 Romans 12, verse 2, "Do not be conformed 22:23 to this world, but be transformed." 22:26 So, is there a constant influence 22:27 of the world to conform us? 22:30 What is a Christian supposed to do in response? 22:33 It requires an ongoing effort to resist being 22:38 conformed by the world. 22:40 But you know, we're all under pressure all the time. 22:42 How often do I need to fight that temptation to be conformed 22:48 to the world, its values, its culture, its principles? 22:51 It's constant. 22:52 It's going on all the time. 22:54 "Do not be conformed, but be transformed by the renewing, 22:58 an ongoing new birth in your mind that you might prove," 23:02 we got to test everything, "what is the good and 23:05 acceptable and perfect will of God." 23:06 How do we test, do we turn on the news? 23:09 We go to social media? 23:11 Or do we open the Scriptures to find out what is the good and 23:14 perfect and acceptable will of God? 23:16 1 Timothy 5:14, "Therefore I desire that the younger widows 23:22 marry, bear children, manage the house, giving no opportunity 23:27 to the adversary to speak reproachfully." 23:30 Now, today if a pastor preaches a sermon and says, 23:34 "Okay, young ladies, make sure you're good wives, 23:36 have children, take care of the house," aah, what 23:40 kind of caveman are you? 23:43 I mean, we live in a different world. 23:45 The idea that women should have children and take care of the 23:47 house, talk about antiquated. 23:51 But where did I read that? 23:54 Who said that, Doug? Is it possible? 23:56 Now, that's not saying that women should not work. 24:00 Karen's working part-time now and she's been a PT, 24:02 you understand what I'm saying? 24:04 But isn't it--isn't the messaging of our culture today 24:08 that a woman is somehow a lesser woman if she 24:10 says, "What do you do?" 24:11 "Well, I'm a domestic engineer. 24:16 I take care of things at home. 24:18 I have children and I manage the house." 24:20 And have you ever read Proverbs 31 about this super woman? 24:25 She's the super wife and the super mother. 24:29 She is not--she doesn't have a career outside the home, 24:33 but she is spoken of in glowing terms. 24:36 But boy, that is a very unpopular sermon to preach, why? 24:41 'Cause the culture is sending us different messages. 24:45 And matter of fact, anything you say talking about distinctions, 24:48 biblical distinctions between men and women, 24:51 it's considered rude, insensitive because we're 24:56 supposed to be acting like there's really no difference. 25:00 But the Bible says there's big differences. 25:03 Let me read something to you from the book "Adventist Home." 25:07 "There is a God above, and light and glory from his throne rests 25:11 upon faithful mothers as they try to educate their children to 25:14 resist the influence of evil. 25:17 No other work can equal hers in importance. 25:21 She has not like the artist to paint the form of beauty upon a 25:25 canvass, nor like the sculptor to chisel it from marble. 25:28 She is not like the author to embody a noble thought in word 25:32 of power, nor like the musician to express a 25:35 beautiful sentiment in melody. 25:38 It is hers with the help of God to develop in a human soul 25:42 the likeness of the divine." 25:44 She says, "The work of the mom at home with her children is the 25:49 most important work in the world." 25:53 More important than the CEO of a multibillion-dollar corporation 25:56 is the work of a mother at home with the children. 25:59 That's not a message that culture is giving. 26:02 The message of the culture is you've got to break that glass 26:05 ceiling, and keep getting that next promotion, and working your 26:09 way away from the home on up through the corporate world. 26:12 Isn't that right? 26:15 And so, all right, someone's going to read for me 26:17 Matthew 24, verse 12 and 13. 26:19 All right, hold on Brian, I'm going to read 26:21 a verse just before that. 26:22 Matthew 7, verse 14, Jesus said, "Narrow is the way which leads 26:27 to life and few there be that find it." 26:29 We're surrounded by counterfeit doors and roads, 26:33 and so it's hard to find the true one unless 26:35 you use the Scriptures. 26:37 Go ahead, read that verse for us. 26:39 Brian: "And because lawlessness will abound, 26:42 the love of many will grow cold. 26:46 But he who endures to the end shall be saved." 26:50 Doug: The Lord tells us in the last days that the devil is 26:52 going to have a deception that is so overwhelming that if it 26:56 were possible, even the very elect would be deceived. 26:59 My predecessor in "Amazing Facts" who I have the greatest 27:01 respect for, Joe Crews, he calls it the contaminating 27:06 process of gradual compromise with a culture. 27:11 He thinks the deception that is going to be so powerful that if 27:15 it were possible, even the elect would be overtaken, 27:17 it's not something where the devil pops up and he's got a 27:21 mask, and he looks like Jesus, and he's going 27:23 to just hypnotize the world. 27:25 No, it's the gradual compromise with the world that we're going 27:30 to get where we don't know where to draw the line 27:31 between principle, and culture, and biblical 27:36 truth, and what's popular. 27:38 This is what's going on all the time around us. 27:41 All right, let me give you an example of that. 27:43 Did they struggle, did families in the Old Testament struggle 27:47 with compromising with the cultures around them? 27:50 Genesis 35, verse 1 through 4, if you got your Bibles. 27:55 "Then God said to Jacob, 'Arise and go up 27:58 to Bethel, and dwell there.'" 27:59 Now, what does the word "bethel" mean? 28:01 House of God. How did Bethel get its name? 28:06 It's where Jacob had a dream of the escalator of angels going up 28:10 and down to heaven, right? 28:12 God is saying, "Renew your covenant, come back to me. 28:14 Go to Bethel, dwell there, make an altar there to God 28:18 who appeared to you when you fled from the 28:20 face of Esau, your brother." 28:22 And Jacob said to his household he's going to meet with God. 28:25 Jacob said to his household and all who are with him, 28:28 his family and all the servants in his family. 28:31 Not only at this point does he have his servants, 28:33 but if you know the Bible story, the sons of Jacob, 28:37 Simeon and Levi, annihilated all the men in Shechem, 28:41 and then they took the women and the children as slaves. 28:45 Do you remember that story? 28:46 This is happening right after that. 28:48 And so, he's got a great household now. 28:49 He's got--like he's just basically plundered a town, 28:53 taken all the people other than the men. 28:55 And so, now what happens when you have all these Canaanites 29:01 that flow into your family? 29:04 Do they bring some of their habits and customs with them? 29:07 And if you're looking at that day after day, 29:09 does that begin to wear down your values and your principles? 29:14 Does it get to just kind of--the lines get fuzzy and grey about 29:18 what is the worship of the true God, and it was being all 29:21 mixed up with the worship of the Canaanite gods. 29:24 And so, he says, "Let's go renew the covenant." 29:28 He could see the things were slipping. 29:30 He says to his household, "Put away the foreign 29:33 gods that are among you." 29:34 How did the foreign gods slip in? 29:37 Well, he'd begun to develop relationships with these 29:39 Canaanites, people from Shechem. 29:42 "Put away the foreign gods who are among you, 29:45 purify yourselves, change your garments." 29:49 Now, I don't want to take this too far, but changing your 29:53 garments might not only mean put on a clean set of clothes. 29:58 Are there garments of the world? 30:00 Does the world and the culture dress differently than what 30:05 Christians should dress, how Christians should dress? 30:08 So, maybe they'd started to dress like the Canaanites when 30:11 he said, "Change your clothes." 30:13 It could also mean clean your clothes 'cause you're going to 30:15 appear before God, and that's probably 30:16 a good argument as well. 30:19 "Change your garments. 30:20 Let us arise and go to Bethel, and there I will make an altar 30:24 to the God who answered me in the day of my distress, 30:26 who has been with me in the way that I have gone." 30:29 Let's renew our covenant to God. 30:30 We're not Canaanites, we're people of Jehovah. 30:33 "So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods 30:35 that were in their hands." 30:37 You wonder how big the pile was. 30:39 "And the earrings that were in their ears." 30:42 Notice the connection between foreign gods and jewelry. 30:47 And Jacob hid them, the word "hid" there is really 30:49 he buried them under a tree. 30:51 He didn't just say, "Let's hide them here so we can get our 30:53 gods and our jewelry later." 30:55 He said, "We're going to bury it." 30:59 "And they hid them under the terebinth 31:00 tree which lays by Shechem." 31:03 So, do we see that the culture is affecting 31:07 the dress of Christians? 31:10 Is that something that should be resisted? 31:14 Does it creep into our families? 31:17 And the young people, you know, especially when they're going 31:19 through the teens and they see all their friends at school, 31:24 not every Christian can afford Christian school. 31:26 Some go to public school, or they may go to a Christian 31:29 school that is not a denomination school, 31:32 and they see the influences and what's happening to the kids, 31:34 listening to the music of the world, 31:36 and they're watching the videos, and they're on social media. 31:38 And they don't always dress like saints in that world. 31:42 Are you aware of that? 31:44 And they start to try to dress like their favorite music stars, 31:48 and they start to look like them and walk like--and the parents, 31:50 if you're a Christian parent, you are under constant pressure 31:55 to say, "Now son, daughter, is that how 31:58 Jesus wants you to dress?" 32:00 And they go, "Oh Mom, Dad, you're so stuck in the mud." 32:03 And say, "All my friends think I'm weird." 32:07 And if you try to live like a Christian in this world today, 32:11 it is tough on parents to continually be raising the 32:17 standard and drawing the lines, and you got to teach your kids 32:19 principles as often--if they're old enough and they can 32:22 understand, explain the principles. 32:24 Sometimes you just have to say, "I'm your parent and I'm bigger 32:27 than you are, and God made me that way, 32:29 you got to listen to me," right? 32:31 How many of you remember your parents saying, 32:36 "Because I told you so," and you vowed you would never say that 32:40 to your children because that's not a good answer? 32:43 Just wait until time goes by. 32:48 So Jacob said, "Whole family is compromising." 32:51 Remember the story of Rachel, when Jacob and his family fled 32:56 from Laban, and Laban comes charging into Jacob's camp and 33:00 he says, "You stole away my family and you stole my gods." 33:05 And who had taken his gods? 33:07 Rachel. 33:09 And so, was that part of the Lord's plan that we--you know, 33:13 first of all, we shouldn't steal. 33:14 Secondly, don't steal idols. 33:18 And some have said, "Well, that's because those idols were 33:22 really deeds to the property," and I have not 33:25 seen a lot that supports that. 33:28 Anyway, so it started sneaking in. 33:30 Look at 1 Kings 11, verse 1 and 2. 33:34 "But Solomon loved many foreign women." 33:37 Now, what did God say about do not intermarry with the pagans? 33:41 He said, "Do not do this. 33:44 They will draw--if your daughters marry pagan men and 33:47 your sons marry pagan ladies, they will draw them away." 33:52 And it's so often true, not always, but so often true that 33:56 when a believer marries an unbeliever, the unbeliever 33:59 also has an influence on the believer. 34:02 It's the siphon effect. 34:04 You know what the siphon effect means? 34:06 Let me tell you a story. 34:08 Up in Covelo, we have two water tanks above our house. 34:13 The water runs in one tank and it runs out of the bottom of the 34:16 other tank, two tanks side by side. 34:19 Both tanks always have the exact same amount of water, 34:24 even though they're separate tanks. 34:26 Because the two tanks are connected, 34:30 they always even out at the siphon point. 34:33 They're always going to level off because they're connected. 34:35 If you disconnect the tank, one may drain, 34:37 the other one stay full. 34:39 But when they're connected, they sort of find a happy medium. 34:42 If one was too full, once you connect them, 34:43 it goes down, the other one goes up. 34:46 When you get one person who's a Christian and they say, 34:49 "Ah, I've got--I'm in love with this person over here. 34:52 They're tall, dark, and handsome, and they're just so 34:54 nice, and I think I can convert him. 34:57 It'll be easier to make them study the Bible 34:59 with me after we're married." 35:01 Even though the Bible says do not be unequally yoked. 35:04 And so, they get married and they say, 35:06 "Oh look, they're coming closer to the Lord. 35:08 Praise the Lord, they're adopting my beliefs," but they 35:10 don't realize in the process they're also making compromises. 35:14 That's the way it often works. 35:16 And sometimes, I've seen the believer just completely abandon 35:18 their faith and level off with the unbeliever. 35:21 This is what happened to Solomon. 35:25 You've gotten so quiet, I don't remember you ever being so 35:28 quiet during a Bible study. 35:32 But Solomon loved many foreign women. 35:34 One more thing I got to tell you about this, 35:36 this is a very interesting verse. 35:39 How does this verse begin? 35:42 But why does it start that way? 35:46 'Cause everything it said prior was in glowing terms of Solomon. 35:52 The kingdom was going up, up, up, up, up, up. 35:56 Palace was built, temple was built, 35:57 people are flowing, money's flowing in, 36:00 the people are all blessed, they got peace on every side. 36:02 The queen of Sheba, she's coming saying, 36:04 "Your God is the greatest God," and everything's looking great. 36:07 Little, little amazing fact, and it says in one 36:10 year 666 talents came to Solomon. 36:14 Immediately before this verse, it says 666. 36:17 Isn't that interesting? 36:19 And then it says, "But." 36:20 And then the kingdom goes down. 36:24 Why? 36:26 Compromising with the culture around him, 36:28 intermarrying with pagan religions. 36:32 As well as the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the 36:34 Moabites and the Ammonites and the Edomites and the 36:37 Zidonians and the Hittites. 36:38 Now, you notice what happens. 36:40 First it mentions Moab, Ammon, Edom. 36:43 Now, why were they different than some of the other ites? 36:48 They were all sort of related. 36:50 Moabites came from Lot, Edomites came from Esau, 36:54 Ammonites came from Lot. 36:56 They said, "Well, you know, they're not really Jews, 36:59 but you know, they do practice some of the same things. 37:01 In some ways they're monotheistic, and they practice 37:03 circumcision, so if I marry their daughters even though 37:06 they really have compromised, what's the big deal?" 37:10 It's like a person saying, "Well, I would never marry 37:11 someone who doesn't believe in God, but you know, 37:14 I'm Christian, I'm going to marry someone who's a Muslim. 37:16 At least they believe in God." 37:18 And they start to--they say, "They're part way there." 37:21 See how compromise works? 37:23 Little steps until he starts out marrying Edomites, 37:27 Moabites, Ammonites, and then he just throws all restraint to the 37:31 wind and he starts to intermarry with the Hittites and the 37:35 Zidonians and you name it, the list of every 37:38 pretty girl out there. 37:40 And what happened? 37:42 These turned his hearts away. 37:44 Solomon clung to these in love, and eventually he sets 37:48 up their idols in the temple. 37:51 So, what happened to Solomon's family? 37:54 Instead of his influencing, God wanted Solomon to be true to God 37:59 so people like the queen of Sheba would 38:00 come and learn about God. 38:01 He would influence them. 38:03 He wanted them to be a light in the world, 38:05 but because of compromise, they influenced him. 38:09 And what happened to the kingdom? 38:10 [whistling] 38:11 Went down that vortex of compromise. 38:15 Ezra 10, now after the people have been in Babylon for years 38:18 because of their bad behavior, they come back, 38:21 they get their nation back, they start to build the temple again, 38:23 and what's the first thing they do? 38:25 They start to intermarry again with the 38:28 locals, who were pagans. 38:31 And Ezra had a meltdown, that's the only way to put it. 38:36 I think it's the story where he's, like, pulling out his 38:37 beard, pulling out other people's beards, 38:39 and he's just--he's all upset. 38:42 "And Ezra rose and he made the leaders and the priests and the 38:44 Levites and all Israel to swear an oath that they would 38:48 do according to this word." 38:49 They had to swear an oath to put away all of the pagan 38:53 gods that were among them. 38:55 They had been compromising so much 38:57 that it was just destroying thing. 39:00 So, do we see these cultural influences in our church today? 39:09 You're quiet. Say amen if you agree with me. 39:12 Do we have to be aware of it? 39:16 Sometimes, you know, you need to 39:17 be specific and identify things. 39:20 What are some of the areas where we're seeing compromise, 39:24 where God's people, the remnant church, 39:26 is being urged to sort of look the other way or not be so 39:30 distinctive in our beliefs? 39:32 I made a list of about ten things. 39:35 No longer believing in the inerrancy of the Word of God. 39:39 You know, there's still, even within our church, 39:41 there's some people that say, "Well, you know, some 39:44 of the stories in the Bible may not be literal. 39:47 Those first 11 chapters of Genesis could be figurative 39:50 and for teaching purposes. 39:51 Flood didn't really happen, Adam and Eve, eh." 39:55 Doubting the six literal days of creation, 39:58 yeah, I meet people in the church. 40:00 Do we hear in our culture about evolution all the time? 40:03 Isn't it being stated like fact? 40:06 Do you know that that does have an impact on people? 40:09 In spite of the Word of God, they start to say, 40:11 "Well, maybe I'm misunderstanding these verses." 40:13 And instead of letting the Bible define what is truth, they're 40:16 starting to read the Bible through the glasses of culture. 40:20 Until pretty soon they say, "Well, maybe those six days were 40:23 6 billion years or thousand years or something like that." 40:27 And they begin to compromise their beliefs. 40:30 Believing that God saves us with our sin and not from our sin. 40:35 More and more you hear in churches, not all, but many 40:38 Protestant churches, it's basically that you just, you 40:41 know, say a prayer, accept Jesus, and you pretty much live 40:44 like everybody else, but you've got eternal life. 40:47 It doesn't talk about turning from sin and living a life of 40:49 godliness, purity of heart, holiness. 40:53 That message, repentance from sin, 40:55 confession of sin, turning from sin, 40:58 you're hearing less and less about that. 40:59 And I, you know, started out in the other Protestant churches 41:02 and then became an Adventist, so I heard that a lot. 41:05 One of the things that appealed to me about Adventism was I 41:08 thought it was teaching the whole gospel about what real 41:11 grace really is, is God gives you grace to be a new creature. 41:16 It's not grace that's just always a coverup, 41:19 it's grace is power to be transformed. 41:23 Well, you're getting where you don't hear that so much. 41:25 And those teachings and that theology, 41:28 I see it becoming more pervasive even among God's people. 41:32 No longer having confidence in the inspiration and authority 41:35 of the spirit of prophecy. 41:36 God did something for our church he's not done for many, 41:40 is he's raised up a special messenger to just help us to 41:45 understand the Word of God more clearly in these last days, to 41:48 magnify the Scriptures, and that's being challenged. 41:53 No longer preaching the truth of the sanctuary 41:56 and rejecting the significance of 1844. 41:59 A lot of churches you can go to, you'll never 42:00 hear a message on that. 42:02 And yet, that's part of the three angels 42:04 message for the last days. 42:07 Rejecting the idea that the Seventh Day Adventist Church is 42:10 the remnant church of Bible prophecy. 42:12 Instead, that's played down, they say, 42:13 "Oh, we're not really special. 42:15 We're just one of many churches and 42:16 all rivers lead to the ocean. 42:18 It doesn't matter what denomination you're part of." 42:19 Instead of believing this is a movement of prophecy that people 42:23 are being called into in the last days with a special 42:26 work, that's being downplayed. 42:28 They say, "Oh, what arrogance for you to think 42:31 that you have anything special." 42:33 But you know, that's what we're founded on is a belief that we 42:37 are unique and a movement of prophecy. 42:41 Rejecting biblical lines of distinction, talking about 42:44 biblical lines of distinction in the roles of men and women. 42:49 And even views about abortion are being influenced by the 42:56 world instead of by Scripture. 42:58 That's another one I threw in. 43:01 Rejecting of reverence in worship in favor for some 43:03 of the loud pagan worship styles that have been 43:06 creeping into the churches. 43:09 Downplaying the health messages, legalism. 43:12 Laxness in keeping the Sabbath day as a holy 43:15 day instead of a holiday. 43:18 That's my little list of ten. 43:21 But you know, I think all this was foretold. 43:23 These things that are happening now, 43:24 let me read something to you from 1 Selected Messages. 43:26 I'm looking at the clock and I want to read this to you. 43:29 "The enemies of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that 43:33 a great reformation was about to take place among Seventh Day 43:36 Adventists, and this reformation would consist of giving up the 43:39 doctrines that have been pillars of our faith, 43:42 and engaging in a process of reorganization." 43:45 That's that code for compromise. 43:48 "Were this reformation to take place, 43:49 what would be the result? 43:51 The principles of truth that God and his wisdom has given to the 43:54 remnant church would be discarded. 43:55 Our religion would be changed. 43:57 The fundamental principles," we're talking about biblical 43:59 principles here, "that has sustained the work for the last 44:03 50 years would be accounted as an error. 44:06 A new organization would be established. 44:08 Books of a new order would be written. 44:10 A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. 44:13 The founders of the system would go into the cities 44:15 and do a wonderful work. 44:16 The Sabbath, of course, would be lightly regarded, 44:19 as also the God who created it. 44:21 Nothing would be allowed to stand in the 44:23 way of this new movement. 44:24 Their foundation would be built on the sand, 44:27 and the storm and the tempest would sweep away the structure." 44:31 I think that the compromise in our culture is leading us in 44:34 that direction right now. 44:36 That's a very dangerous concern. 44:39 All right, moving on here. 44:41 So, you read now in the book of Esther, Esther is trying to 44:44 maintain godly living surrounded by the Persian empire. 44:50 And Mordecai, this is Esther 2, verse 7, 44:53 "And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah," that is Esther, 44:58 "his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. 45:01 The young woman was lovely and beautiful. 45:03 And when her father and mother died, 45:05 Mordecai took her as his own daughter. 45:07 So it was when the king's command was and the decree was 45:10 heard and many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel 45:14 under the custody of Haggai, that Esther was also taken to 45:17 the king's palace into the care of Haggai, 45:20 the custodian of the women. 45:22 Now, the young woman--" wait a second now, let's just pause. 45:25 You've been raised a faithful Jew. 45:28 Mordecai believed in God, he would not bow down to Haman. 45:31 He had scruples, amen? 45:34 But all of the sudden, this daughter he's adopted, 45:36 it's really, you know, a relative, she, after all of her 45:40 godly upbringing, is thrust into the middle of the Persian 45:43 pagan palace to be part of a harem for the king. 45:48 How can you live out your Christian 45:50 principles in a situation like that? 45:53 Boy, she must've had a real struggle. 45:55 And when they--all the other girls were fighting 45:59 over the garments and the jewels of what they were 46:01 going to wear, Esther said, "Look, I'm just going to 46:03 let the eunuch decide, the chief of the eunuchs 46:06 decide what I'm supposed to do." 46:07 She was not clamoring and grasping, and she had such 46:10 a different spirit about her that she became a light in the 46:13 palace, and ultimately the king recognized that, right? 46:17 "Now the young woman pleased him and obtained his favor, 46:21 so he readily gave beauty preparations to 46:23 her beside her allowance. 46:25 Then seven choice maid servants were provided for her from the 46:28 king's palace, and he moved her and her maid servants 46:31 to the best place in the house of women." 46:34 So, Esther's trying to maintain her belief. 46:38 And of course, you know what, Mordecai later sends a message, 46:40 he says, "Do not think you'll escape any more than the 46:43 other Jews in the kingdom. 46:45 Perhaps you've come to the kingdom for 46:46 such a time as this." 46:48 And then don't miss this verse, Esther chapter 2, 46:50 verse 20, "Now Esther had not revealed her family and her 46:54 people just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed 46:58 the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him." 47:03 He's saying, "Look, there's going to be a time for you to 47:06 reveal who you are and what you believe, 47:09 but I believe that right away is not that time." 47:12 So, when you're living in a culture where you're surrounded 47:14 just by a rank paganism, you need discretion and diplomacy to 47:20 know how to share the distinctive 47:24 things of your faith. 47:26 Being a Christian in this world is a challenge. 47:29 You know, there's a quote in Adventist Home, 47:30 page 32, "The greatest evidence of the power of Christianity 47:35 that can be presented to the world is a 47:38 well-ordered, well-disciplined family. 47:42 This will recommend the power of truth as nothing else can, 47:45 for it is a living witness of its practical 47:48 power upon the heart." 47:50 Now, I throw that there right after this verse in your lesson, 47:53 Genesis 18:19, "For I have known him, 47:56 Abraham, in order that he might command his children and his 48:00 household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord and do 48:03 righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring Abraham 48:07 what he has spoken to him." 48:09 Abraham came out from Ur of the Chaldees, pagan world. 48:13 Because and then he--God says, "I'm going to give you this 48:15 land," but he's still surrounded by paganism, the Canaanites. 48:19 And what did Noah say? 48:20 Didn't Noah curse the--Canaan, the son? 48:24 These were a cursed people. 48:26 Noah--or Abraham's living in the midst of them; 48:29 and yet, he is commanding his family after him. 48:32 So, you know, God calls upon us to be faithful in our families. 48:37 Now, how do you do that? 48:41 It's a day by day. 48:42 I'm going to have you read your verse. 48:44 First, I want you to know Paul says 48:47 in--where does Paul say that? 48:53 Paul says, yeah, in 1 Corinthians 15:31, 48:56 "I affirm by the boasting in you which I have in Christ 48:59 our Lord Jesus that I die daily." 49:03 How do you be a consistent witness? 49:05 Go ahead, read your verse for us. 49:07 male: Luke 9:23, "Then he said to them all, 49:10 'If anyone desires to come after me, 49:12 let him deny himself and take of his cross daily and follow me.'" 49:16 Doug: If you're dying to self daily and taking up your cross 49:19 daily, you must also be born again daily. 49:22 That is the renewing of your mind. 49:23 We read about Jesus said we must be born again, 49:27 and whoever believes in Christ is born of God. 49:30 We become new creatures every day. 49:32 We need to be reborn and that happens 49:34 through the power of the Word. 49:35 The Word must be defining our values. 49:38 Unless we're reading the Word every day, 49:39 if you're surrounded by culture, culture is going to define your 49:43 thinking and your worldview. 49:45 Your worldview needs to be defined 49:46 by the Word of God, amen? 49:49 And we have a special book, one that we'd like to make 49:52 available, it's called "Alone in the Crowd." 49:53 If you'd like the free offer, then you can simply call... 49:59 ask for offer number 714. 50:02 That's... and that of course is in 50:05 North America and its territories. 50:07 The book is "Alone in the Crowd," or you can even text 50:10 SH004 to 40544, you can download the book there. 50:17 Another good book I quoted here in the lesson is a book called 50:22 "Culture and the Christian," it's at the Amazing Facts 50:24 website, "Culture and the Christian." 50:26 Has some really good principles, recommend that for everybody. 50:29 Thank you very much for studying God's Word 50:31 with us this week, friends. 50:32 And until next week, God bless you. 50:35 announcer: Don't forget to request today's 50:37 life-changing free resource. 50:39 Not only can you receive this free gift in the 50:40 mail, you can download a digital copy straight 50:43 to your computer or mobile device. 50:45 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 50:48 simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544. 50:52 Or visit the web address shown on your screen. 50:55 And be sure to select the digital download 50:56 option on the request page. 50:58 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 51:02 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, 51:05 and most important, to share it with others. 51:09 ♪♪♪ 51:20 Doug: Hello, friends. 51:22 We're here in the Philippines overlooking the Taal volcano and 51:25 lake, which is one of the most interesting pieces of 51:28 geography in the whole world. 51:30 For one thing, this great caldera was once the 51:33 biggest volcano in the world. 51:35 And now, it holds a lake that holds another volcano, 51:39 that has another little lake in it, 51:41 that has another little island in it. 51:43 This volcano has erupted six times in a 51:46 major way since the 1500s. 51:49 And even in 1911, there was an eruption where over 1,300 people 51:53 died, killed by the smoke and the ash 51:56 that covered the community. 51:57 There were tsunamis that came from the lake and destroyed the 52:01 villages that surrounded the borders of the lake. 52:03 In fact, this is one of the most carefully monitored 52:06 seismic places in the Philippines. 52:09 This volcano is being watched all the time. 52:11 And they've noticed as of 2006 that it appears that the water 52:15 temperatures are going up. 52:17 There's increased seismic activity. 52:19 In other words, they know that this volcano is a 52:22 ticking time bomb prepared to blow. 52:25 And it's very interesting because this place is a 52:27 place of great seismic activity. 52:29 But in spite of the fact that volcanologists know this is 52:33 going to blow again someday, it 52:34 is a popular tourist destination. 52:36 They're fighting for the real estate, they're building 52:39 like mad, and sit on the edge of disaster. 52:41 It makes us think about how God has given us so many warnings in 52:45 his Word that the world is going to end, that Jesus is 52:48 going to come, that the heavens will dissolve with a 52:51 great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. 52:54 Seeing then that all these things will be dissolved, 52:57 what kind of people should we be in all holy 52:59 conversation and godliness? 53:02 Friends, are you becoming distracted with the tranquil 53:04 views of the world, or are you preparing for the next world? 53:08 Are you getting ready for the big bang? 53:10 ♪♪♪ 53:20 announcer: Amazing Facts, changed lives. 53:31 Justin: Growing up as a kid, my mother was on drugs and 53:36 alcohol, lots of fighting in the home. 53:39 My mom would be abused mentally, verbally, physically. 53:44 Went from California to Oregon, spent some time in Oregon, 53:48 and it was just the same cycle of drugs, alcohol, violence. 53:53 My mom's boyfriend would go to jail at times. 53:56 She would wait until he would, you know, 53:59 get out of jail and it was back to square one. 54:02 The drugs and the alcohol escalated to a lot harder drugs, 54:06 crystal meth, cocaine, and lots and lots of alcohol. 54:11 So, I started using the alcohol to--as a medication. 54:16 It was like it took the misery and the fear that I had, 54:20 I wanted to drown all that misery. 54:22 Times I would just grab, you know, a bottle of beer and go 54:27 out into the desert and just drink until sometimes I'd just 54:31 pass out in the desert somewhere and wake up the next morning. 54:34 And you know, and I just couldn't find rest. 54:38 My stepdad had got me a motorcycle, 54:42 and so I started riding motorcycles. 54:44 I'd drink a lot of beer, get on the motorcycle, 54:47 ride into the desert, do donuts and just--you know, 54:50 just ride on private property. 54:53 People would chase me off and I was just causing, 54:56 stirring up dust and rocks and just causing chaos. 55:01 And the adrenaline rush that I had was so exciting and the 55:05 feeling of it was so intense that I loved it, 55:10 and I forgot about all my problems, 55:13 you know, at the moment. 55:14 And I thought that material things would make me 55:17 feel so good, you know? 55:20 And so, I started working, started making 55:21 money, had a responsibility. 55:24 But as time went by, I had more money, so I would, you 55:30 know, use my money that I made to buy drugs and alcohol. 55:35 Got pulled over, drinking and driving, 55:38 ended up going to jail for a couple days. 55:42 I lost my job because I missed work for a few days. 55:47 Lost my girlfriend, lost all the money that I had. 55:51 So, once again I was empty, no money, 55:55 no drugs, no alcohol, and that was a turning point in my life. 55:59 At this time, I was living with my grandfather. 56:02 And as I was flipping through the channels on the satellite 56:06 system, I found "Amazing Facts." 56:09 Pastor Doug Batchelor was telling his--sharing his 56:12 testimony about how he was living in a cave. 56:16 And he was--he struggled the same struggles of alcohol and 56:19 drugs, and I continued to read the book "The Richest Caveman," 56:24 and it really impacted my life, and really related to the things 56:28 he was struggling with and all the events that 56:31 took place in his life. 56:33 And when I started reading the Bible, Philippians 4:13 says, 56:36 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 56:39 And I recognized that I had no strength. 56:41 I was weak and I was wretched and I needed help. 56:45 So, I just asked the Lord, I said, "Just help me, Lord." 56:48 And the Holy Spirit convicted me, and I decided to 56:54 be baptized and to give my life to Jesus Christ. 56:58 A few years after the Lord took the temptation of drinking and 57:02 doing drugs, he gave me a beautiful wife I met at church. 57:07 Now, I have a beautiful baby boy, two-year-old baby boy. 57:10 It's just exciting to see, you know, 57:13 what God is doing in my life and my family. 57:17 I met with some friends from my local church that I was 57:21 attending, and they had told me about Amazing Facts Center of 57:26 Evangelism Training Seminar. 57:28 The AFCOE to Go program really inspired me and motivated me to 57:34 tell young people about, you know, 57:37 the same struggles that I was struggling with, 57:40 to help these kids give their life to Jesus Christ. 57:43 And there's nothing else that you could ask for. 57:46 I'm Justin, and God used you to change my life. 57:50 ♪♪♪ 58:01 ♪♪♪ 58:11 ♪♪♪ 58:21 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2019-06-11