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Shawn Brummund: Hello and
welcome to another edition
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of the "Sabbath
School Study Hour."
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We trust that you are going
to be really enriched as we
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come together and continue
to study the Word of God.
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We are almost finished our
quarterly study that we've been
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looking at, a very
deep, a very practical but
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very spiritual subject that
is the subject of the family.
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And so we are on
lesson number 12,
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"What Do They
See in Your House?"
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What do they see in your house?
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And so normally we offer
the Sabbath School quarterly,
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and we can continue to do
that if you like to download it
00:01:05.83\00:01:09.66
at lesson.aftv.org.
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But we're almost finished and so
we're going to be able to look
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at a new theme in
just a couple of weeks.
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And so we're
looking at number 12--
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lesson number 12 today,
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"What Do They
See in Your House?"
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The influence of the family
is something that should be
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number--never underestimated.
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Now, before we continue
on, we want to make you aware
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of a free offer that we always
like to give each and every
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"Sabbath School Study
Hour" and this is no exception.
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And so today we're going to
offer a little booklet written
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by our lead pastor,
Pastor Doug Batchelor,
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which is entitled "Compromise,
Conformity & Courage."
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And so please
take advantage of that.
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You just simply need
to dial 1-866-788-3966.
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Again, that's 1-866-788-3966 and
ask for free offer number 774.
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Now, if you'd like a
digital download of that,
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that's also available.
00:02:07.06\00:02:08.59
You can get on your phone and
you can text the code "SH019."
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That's "SH019" and
you just simply text that
00:02:13.06\00:02:17.63
to the number 40544, and
you can see that in your screen.
00:02:17.67\00:02:23.44
So please take
advantage of that.
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You continue to study
a very important topic,
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especially in our
day and age as we want
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to be faithful to Christ.
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And so, again, we're so
thankful that you've joined us,
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those who are
watching on television, online.
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We're thankful always
for our local church family
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in the Granite Bay Seventh
Day Adventist Church right here
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in the Greater
Sacramento area of California.
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Now, before we open with prayer
and introduce our study and
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our teacher here today, we're
going to celebrate God in song.
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And so we'll invite our
singers out, even right now.
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male: We'll be singing
this morning song number 431,
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"Over Yonder."
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We'll sing all three verses.
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¤ Come let us sing of homeland ¤
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¤ down by the
crystal sea wonderful land ¤
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¤ where Jesus
buildeth a mansion for me ¤
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¤ Over yonder, down
by the crystal sea ¤
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¤ Over yonder,
that's where I want to be ¤
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¤ No more sorrow,
toil, grief, nor care ¤
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¤ in the homeland bright ¤
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¤ and fair over
there, over there ¤
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¤ Water of life there floweth ¤
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¤ fruit in abundant store ¤
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¤ Citizens of that country ¤
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¤ hunger and thirst never more ¤
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¤ Over yonder, down
by the crystal sea ¤
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¤ Over yonder,
that's where I want to be ¤
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¤ No more sorrow,
toil, grief, nor care ¤
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¤ in the homeland
bright and fair over ¤
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¤ over there ¤
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¤ Come go with me to homeland ¤
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¤ Jesus invites you there ¤
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¤ Help spread the invitation ¤
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¤ Tell it to men everywhere ¤
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¤ Over yonder, down
by the crystal sea ¤
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¤ Over yonder,
that's where I want to be ¤
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¤ No more sorrow,
toil, grief, nor care ¤
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¤ in the homeland bright ¤
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¤ and fair over, over there ¤
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Shawn: God in heaven as we stop,
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we continue to ask for your Holy
Spirit to guide us for it is
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the only hope that we
have to understand your Word.
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You tell us that spiritual
things are spiritually discerned
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and you give us the promise that
you would send your Holy Spirit
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that you might be
able to teach us all truth,
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and guide us into all things
and what you want us to know.
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And so God we want to pray that
your Holy Spirit will be with us
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in a very needful
way even right now.
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Want to pray that you'll
be with Pastor Doug Batchelor.
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As he teaches us,
be with his heart,
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his mind, his mouth
as he serves us, Lord,
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and he serves you.
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In Jesus's name, we
pray these things, God.
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Amen.
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Pastor Doug Batchelor, thank
you for teaching again today.
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Doug Batchelor:
We're continuing,
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as Pastor Shawn mentioned,
our study on families,
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and our lesson today is lesson
number 12 and it's talking
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about, what have
they seen in your house?
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That title is based on a
Scripture we're going to look at
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in just a moment.
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What have they
seen in your house?
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We have a memory verse,
which is 1 Peter chapter 2,
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verse 9, 1 Peter 2, verse 9.
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Now, sometimes I
share my testimony,
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and when you share a testimony,
it's not like a sermon where
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you have a lot of Scripture;
but the one Scripture I read
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before I do my
testimony is this verse.
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Why don't you say it with me?
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Here it's in the
New King James Version.
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You ready?
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"But you are a
chosen generation,
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a royal
priesthood, a holy nation,
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his own special people that you
may proclaim the praises of him
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who has called
you out of darkness
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into his marvelous light."
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God wants us to live lives
that are proclaiming praises.
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Now, Jesus is the
light of the world,
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but he said, "You are
the light of the world."
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Individually, you're
all little lighthouses.
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We're supposed to let
his light shine out of us.
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It's just like the sun
has-- or the moon has no light
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of its own except it
reflects the light of the sun.
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The church is to be
a light in the world.
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And we're in the final stages of
building a church that is going
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to be a training center,
an evangelist training center.
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Been working on this
for, believe it or not,
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20 years from
conception to delivery,
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which we trust is this year, and
we want that--it's up on a hill.
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It's really nice view, but we
want it to be literally a light
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on the hill from medium.
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But not only is the church
in the community to be a light
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on the hill, families are
to be a light on the hill.
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You are to be lights in your
community through your families,
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and that's the theme.
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We're talking about, what
did they see in your house?
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Now, I may as well get
right into what the lesson
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is dealing with.
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Turn in your Bibles to
the Book of Isaiah chapter 38.
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We need to do a little
reading here and get this story,
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and it'll basically set the
stage for all that we're going
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to be studying today.
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Isaiah chapter 38.
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This is one of the--you
know, in the New Testament,
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you'll find the same
story three times 'cause it's
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in the Gospel of
Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
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They call it the
harmonic or Synoptic Gospels.
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Very rarely in the Old Testament
you find a story mentioned
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three times.
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The story we're
going to look at now,
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maybe the only one I can
think of that you find mentioned
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three times, it's in
Isaiah, we're going to read it
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in Isaiah, it's in
Chronicles, and it's in Kings.
00:09:13.45\00:09:16.95
So it really stood out
in Old Testament history.
00:09:16.99\00:09:20.39
First go to Isaiah 38, verse 1.
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"In those days, Hezekiah
was sick and near death,
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and Isaiah the
prophet, the son of Amoz,
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went to him and
said, 'Thus says the Lord,
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'Set your house in order
for you will die and not live.'"
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Now, setting your house in
order, you know what that means.
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He said, "Make sure that you've
got your will and your estate
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plan and how you want
your affairs to be taken care
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of after you're gone.
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Get things set in order."
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Some of you remember Ahithophel.
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He went and set his house
in order and then hung himself.
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He knew he was about to
die so he freshened up his will
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and his estate plan
and then he hung himself.
00:10:01.23\00:10:04.07
So when Isaiah says to Hezekiah,
"Set your house in order,"
00:10:04.10\00:10:07.27
he says, "You have your
will and your estate plan
00:10:07.30\00:10:10.04
all taken care of
'cause you're going to die."
00:10:10.07\00:10:12.61
Now, how many of you
would like to get that news?
00:10:12.64\00:10:16.31
That's terrible to get one of
those doctor reports that says
00:10:16.34\00:10:19.18
that your days are numbered.
00:10:19.21\00:10:21.15
Of course if you didn't know it,
all of us our days are numbered.
00:10:21.18\00:10:24.32
I don't know--I don't want
to shake you up but, you know,
00:10:24.35\00:10:26.76
life is terminal, this
life, till you are born again.
00:10:26.79\00:10:31.53
Then you just go
to sleep and you die.
00:10:31.56\00:10:35.13
So Hezekiah is not
very happy about that.
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It's natural for us to
try to live as long as we can,
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even in this life.
00:10:40.14\00:10:41.74
"So he turned his face
toward the wall and he prayed,
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and he said,
'Remember now, oh Lord,
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I pray how I've walked before
you," Hezekiah was a good king,
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"with a loyal heart
and I've done what was good
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in your sight.'
00:10:52.41\00:10:54.12
And Hezekiah wept bitterly,"
00:10:54.15\00:10:57.05
and it just
moved the heart of God.
00:10:57.09\00:10:59.32
"And the Word of
the Lord came to Isaiah,
00:10:59.35\00:11:00.99
saying, 'Go tell Hezekiah,
'Thus says the Lord--'"
00:11:01.02\00:11:03.96
As a matter of
fact, the Word of Lord
00:11:03.99\00:11:05.29
came to Hezekiah
before he got all the way
00:11:05.33\00:11:06.63
out of the palace complex.
00:11:06.66\00:11:09.80
"Go tell Hezekiah, 'The
Lord God of David your father,
00:11:09.83\00:11:15.50
I have heard your prayer.
00:11:15.54\00:11:17.64
I have seen your tears.
00:11:17.67\00:11:19.61
Surely I will add to
your days 15 years.'"
00:11:19.64\00:11:22.64
Now in English, it rhymes.
00:11:22.68\00:11:25.11
"'I will deliver you
in this city from the hand
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of the king of Assyria
and I will defend this city,
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and this is the sign to you
that the Lord will do this thing
00:11:30.25\00:11:34.19
that he has spoken.
00:11:34.22\00:11:35.56
Behold I'll bring the
shadow of the sundial,
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which has gone down with
the sun on the sundial of Ahaz
00:11:37.93\00:11:41.10
10 degrees backward.'
00:11:41.13\00:11:43.47
So the sun returned
10 degrees on the dial,
00:11:43.50\00:11:46.67
by which it had gone down."
00:11:46.70\00:11:48.77
It says, "The writing of
Hezekiah the king of Judah,
00:11:48.80\00:11:50.97
which he had been sick--"
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And then it goes
through a prayer of Hezekiah.
00:11:52.71\00:11:54.28
So this incredible
experience, Hezekiah is told
00:11:54.31\00:11:58.11
he's got a terminal disease.
00:11:58.15\00:11:59.38
We later learn that he had some
kind of a boil that was causing
00:11:59.41\00:12:02.45
a fever and an infection,
and he was going to die
00:12:02.48\00:12:05.29
from some septic problem.
00:12:05.32\00:12:07.02
'Cause later, not
only does God say,
00:12:07.06\00:12:09.96
"I'm going to heal you," he
then applies a natural remedy
00:12:09.99\00:12:13.09
and he tells the
court physicians to put
00:12:13.13\00:12:16.46
a poultice of figs on the
boil and you will recover.
00:12:16.50\00:12:21.17
Some of you remember this.
00:12:21.20\00:12:22.50
You can read this, like
I said, in 1 Kings also.
00:12:22.54\00:12:26.21
And he gets better, but he says,
"I'm going to give you a sign."
00:12:26.24\00:12:30.65
And he asks Hezekiah, "Do
you want the sun to go down
00:12:30.68\00:12:33.72
10 degrees or do you want
it to go back 10 degrees?"
00:12:33.75\00:12:36.55
And Hezekiah was sick, but he
was still sharp enough to know
00:12:36.58\00:12:39.19
it's a small thing for
the sun to go down 10 degrees.
00:12:39.22\00:12:42.32
It does that all the time.
00:12:42.36\00:12:44.29
But if it were to go
backwards, people would spot it.
00:12:44.33\00:12:47.10
If it were to
jump ahead 10 degrees,
00:12:47.13\00:12:48.43
they think they
just missed something.
00:12:48.46\00:12:49.83
But if it went backwards
and they can measure that on
00:12:49.86\00:12:52.67
a sundial--and so
something happened because
00:12:52.70\00:12:56.40
of the prayer of
Isaiah and Hezekiah that had
00:12:56.44\00:12:59.91
never happened
before or happened since.
00:12:59.94\00:13:02.31
In the days of Joshua, Joshua
prayed and the sun stood still.
00:13:02.34\00:13:05.41
But now what's happening is the
sun is not just standing still,
00:13:05.45\00:13:07.48
it's going backwards.
00:13:07.52\00:13:09.12
Now, you can go
ahead and blow a gasket,
00:13:09.15\00:13:11.15
try to figure out how
God did this astronomically.
00:13:11.19\00:13:14.62
I mean, did the
earth stop spinning?
00:13:14.66\00:13:16.42
How come
everyone didn't fly off?
00:13:16.46\00:13:18.63
Did the sun stop moving
or, you know--so people try
00:13:18.66\00:13:22.23
to figure out,
how did God do this?
00:13:22.26\00:13:23.77
I'm not going to worry myself.
00:13:23.80\00:13:25.10
I'll ask the Lord that question.
00:13:25.13\00:13:26.67
It's a conundrum.
00:13:26.70\00:13:28.10
It's an enigma.
00:13:28.14\00:13:29.44
We'll ask him
when we get to heaven.
00:13:29.47\00:13:30.77
I just don't doubt.
00:13:30.81\00:13:32.11
Maybe God just created
the illusion for everyone
00:13:32.14\00:13:33.94
on the planet, but he did
it however he wanted to do it.
00:13:33.98\00:13:37.28
So sun--world
stopped, time stopped.
00:13:37.31\00:13:41.25
It went backwards.
00:13:41.28\00:13:43.52
Now, people that made it their
business to study the heavens
00:13:43.55\00:13:45.99
in Mesopotamia, the wise men--
now, these are not astrologers,
00:13:46.02\00:13:51.79
they are astronomers.
00:13:51.83\00:13:53.93
Very different,
and they noticed this.
00:13:53.96\00:13:58.13
They were of the same order
of the wise men of Babylon.
00:13:58.17\00:14:01.04
Daniel was part of them Magi.
00:14:01.07\00:14:03.67
He was the
chief of the wise men.
00:14:03.71\00:14:05.34
So there were still
people there in Mesopotamia
00:14:05.37\00:14:07.31
that made it their
business to study the heavens,
00:14:07.34\00:14:09.54
and when they
noticed what happened--
00:14:09.58\00:14:12.61
now you got to
jump to chapter 39.
00:14:12.65\00:14:15.15
Go to Isaiah chapter 39.
00:14:16.48\00:14:19.59
"At that time,
Merodachbaladan--"
00:14:19.62\00:14:22.09
This is one of the
ancestors of Nebuchadnezzar
00:14:22.12\00:14:24.06
who had not been born yet.
00:14:24.09\00:14:26.56
"Merodachbaladan,
the son of Baladan,
00:14:26.59\00:14:28.80
king of Babylon, he sent letters
and a present to Hezekiah
00:14:28.83\00:14:32.97
for he heard that he'd
been sick and recovered."
00:14:33.00\00:14:37.44
Now, why did he do that?
00:14:37.47\00:14:39.91
Just because he's
sending a get well card?
00:14:39.94\00:14:42.94
No.
00:14:42.98\00:14:44.31
They realized that--you
know, when they saw the sun go
00:14:44.35\00:14:47.28
backwards, they said, "What
has caused this phenomenon?"
00:14:47.32\00:14:49.68
And words had trickled
through the kingdoms that it was
00:14:49.72\00:14:53.19
the God of Hezekiah,
Jehovah; the God of Israel
00:14:53.22\00:14:57.83
that had done this wonder.
00:14:57.86\00:15:00.13
And they thought,
"Wow, I'd like to know more
00:15:00.16\00:15:01.60
about a God like this."
00:15:01.63\00:15:02.93
So here, the king of Babylon
who's wanting to find out more
00:15:02.96\00:15:05.80
about this marvel--what a
great witnessing opportunity.
00:15:05.83\00:15:11.94
He wants to find
out more about this.
00:15:11.97\00:15:13.31
He sends a gift.
00:15:13.34\00:15:14.64
He tries--you know, it
says gift paves way for a king.
00:15:14.68\00:15:17.11
He's got these
emissaries that come.
00:15:17.15\00:15:18.45
They say, "Tell us,
how did your God do this?
00:15:18.48\00:15:21.68
Our wise men want to
know. Our people want to know.
00:15:21.72\00:15:23.85
Our priests want to
know." What a great opportunity.
00:15:23.89\00:15:27.49
But instead of Hezekiah say,
"Let me tell you about my God,"
00:15:27.52\00:15:33.70
he thought, "Wow,
wise men from Babylon.
00:15:33.73\00:15:36.93
Babylon?
00:15:36.97\00:15:38.27
That's where the
center of learning.
00:15:38.30\00:15:39.60
That's where all
the math experts are
00:15:39.63\00:15:40.94
and the astrologers are.
00:15:40.97\00:15:42.54
You want to know
something from me?"
00:15:42.57\00:15:44.94
And he was so impressed that
they would come from Babylon
00:15:44.97\00:15:48.74
that he wanted to impress
them back with his greatness.
00:15:48.78\00:15:52.75
And instead of
telling them about God,
00:15:52.78\00:15:55.28
he blew this grand opportunity.
00:15:55.32\00:15:59.12
It says, "Hezekiah
was pleased with them."
00:15:59.15\00:16:01.46
That means impressed.
00:16:01.49\00:16:03.12
"And he showed them
the house of his treasures:
00:16:03.16\00:16:06.36
the silver, the gold, the
spices, the precious ointment,
00:16:06.39\00:16:09.80
and all his armory, all that
was found among his treasures.
00:16:09.83\00:16:14.57
There was nothing in his house,"
there's where you get the
00:16:14.60\00:16:17.87
lesson, "or in his dominion that
Hezekiah did not show them."
00:16:17.91\00:16:22.11
You notice the one thing it
doesn't mention is God's house.
00:16:22.14\00:16:26.15
He shows them his
house, his treasury.
00:16:26.18\00:16:29.95
"Then Isaiah the
prophet went to King Hezekiah,"
00:16:29.98\00:16:32.39
I'm in Isaiah 39,
verse 3, "and he said to him,
00:16:32.42\00:16:37.16
'What did these men say?
00:16:37.19\00:16:38.99
Where did they
come to you from?'
00:16:39.03\00:16:41.33
Hezekiah said, 'They
came to me from a far country,
00:16:41.36\00:16:43.26
from Babylon.'"
00:16:43.30\00:16:44.60
Now, a far country
in the Bible often means
00:16:44.63\00:16:46.43
it's a symbol for the lost.
00:16:46.47\00:16:48.57
The gibeonites said, "We
have come from a far country."
00:16:48.60\00:16:51.11
The prodigal son
went to a far country.
00:16:51.14\00:16:53.94
These people were
separated from God,
00:16:53.98\00:16:56.44
and he had a chance to witness.
00:16:56.48\00:16:58.85
"He said, 'What have
they seen in your house?'
00:16:58.88\00:17:03.32
And Hezekiah answered."
00:17:03.35\00:17:04.65
He still was clueless
about what Isaiah is saying.
00:17:04.69\00:17:07.09
So wow, yeah, yeah, he's
still just glowing with the
00:17:07.12\00:17:08.72
"Hey, they came
to me from Babylon."
00:17:08.76\00:17:10.43
"What did they
see in your house?
00:17:10.46\00:17:13.96
He said, "I've shown
them all that's in my house.
00:17:14.00\00:17:16.80
There is nothing
among all my treasures
00:17:16.83\00:17:18.80
I have not shown them."
00:17:18.83\00:17:20.87
"And Isaiah said,
'Hear the word of the Lord.
00:17:20.90\00:17:22.80
Behold, the days are coming
when all that is in your house
00:17:22.84\00:17:27.31
that your fathers have
accumulated until this day
00:17:27.34\00:17:29.61
will be carried to Babylon.
00:17:29.64\00:17:31.81
Nothing will be
left,' says the Lord.
00:17:31.85\00:17:33.52
They'll take away some of your
sons who will descend from you."
00:17:33.55\00:17:36.99
Their names were Daniel,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
00:17:37.02\00:17:40.52
Actually, names were Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
00:17:40.56\00:17:45.19
"And they will be eunuchs
in the palace of Babylon."
00:17:45.23\00:17:47.96
Did that prophecy come true?
00:17:47.96\00:17:50.37
"So Hezekiah said to Isaiah,
'The word the Lord has spoken is
00:17:50.40\00:17:53.17
good for he said in his heart at
least it'll be peace in my day."
00:17:53.20\00:17:56.50
It's going to happen later on.
00:17:56.54\00:17:58.57
It's like he didn't care
about what was going to happen
00:17:58.61\00:18:00.68
to his posterity.
00:18:00.71\00:18:02.51
It's kind of
like that motorhome,
00:18:02.54\00:18:03.95
that big old motorhome
you see going down the road;
00:18:03.98\00:18:06.61
that RV, and it's got
the bicycles on the back
00:18:06.65\00:18:09.58
and the satellite dish on the
front and it's towing a jeep.
00:18:09.62\00:18:12.35
It's got a
bumper sticker it says,
00:18:12.39\00:18:14.09
"I'm spending my
children's inheritance."
00:18:14.12\00:18:17.26
Seen that?
00:18:17.29\00:18:19.03
So Hezekiah says, "I don't care
what happens to the grandkids.
00:18:19.06\00:18:21.03
At least there's
peace in my day."
00:18:21.06\00:18:23.80
So this is a very important
lesson because here he had this
00:18:23.83\00:18:28.10
great opportunity to--they come
to him to find out about his God
00:18:28.14\00:18:32.61
and instead he didn't show God.
00:18:32.64\00:18:36.11
He tried to show his
glory instead of God's glory.
00:18:36.14\00:18:39.31
You know, I heard that
one of the great tragedies
00:18:39.35\00:18:42.62
of history--you
know, the Protestant church
00:18:42.65\00:18:46.02
is growing the
fastest in Catholic countries.
00:18:46.05\00:18:49.56
Did you know that?
00:18:49.59\00:18:51.03
Places like Mexico, the
Philippines, South America,
00:18:51.06\00:18:53.36
right now
Catholicism is declining,
00:18:53.40\00:18:57.30
the evangelical churches and our
churches as well are exploding.
00:18:57.33\00:19:03.61
You know how much--the
places we're really struggling
00:19:03.64\00:19:06.47
in are places like
Middle East and China.
00:19:06.51\00:19:10.81
Do you know that when Marco Polo
went to China with his uncle,
00:19:10.85\00:19:15.78
Nicolo, and his
father, Mateo Polo,
00:19:15.82\00:19:19.35
the Kublai Khan was impressed
with the Christian religion?
00:19:19.39\00:19:24.29
Marco Polo was--became
very good at learning languages,
00:19:24.33\00:19:28.20
and he spoke fluent
Mandarin or whatever it was
00:19:28.23\00:19:31.17
the Kublai Khan spoke.
00:19:31.20\00:19:33.94
I don't know if it was
some form of Cantonese,
00:19:33.97\00:19:35.67
but he learned the language and
he told about the Christian God.
00:19:35.70\00:19:40.81
And the Kublai Khan said,
"When you go back and you're
00:19:40.84\00:19:44.31
conducting your trade--next time
you go back to your country,
00:19:44.35\00:19:46.75
to Venice," says, "you
tell your chief priest,
00:19:46.78\00:19:50.29
the pope, send 100 of
his priests to my country
00:19:50.32\00:19:53.76
to teach our
people about your God."
00:19:53.79\00:19:57.03
So when the Polos
went back to Italy,
00:19:57.06\00:20:01.00
they tried to get an
audience with the pope and says,
00:20:01.03\00:20:02.96
"We've just come from
this incredibly large empire,
00:20:03.00\00:20:05.10
much bigger than
Europe, of China,
00:20:05.13\00:20:08.17
like a wall 1500 miles around,
and they have asked for us
00:20:08.20\00:20:12.11
to send 100 priests."
00:20:12.14\00:20:15.44
Well, that was at the
moment when there were two popes
00:20:15.48\00:20:18.01
warring with each other
about who was the real pope.
00:20:18.05\00:20:20.88
You know, there were a couple
of times in Catholic history
00:20:20.92\00:20:22.45
the popes were warring.
00:20:22.48\00:20:23.79
There were two popes
that said, "No, I'm the pope."
00:20:23.82\00:20:25.12
The other one
said, "I'm the pope."
00:20:25.15\00:20:26.45
They were fighting with
each other and they kept said--
00:20:26.49\00:20:28.62
they said, "We
don't have time for that."
00:20:28.66\00:20:29.96
They said, "You've
got-- this is the greatest
00:20:29.99\00:20:31.29
missionary
opportunity in history.
00:20:31.33\00:20:33.36
Send 100 priests to teach them.
00:20:33.40\00:20:35.86
The whole nation,
there's millions of people.
00:20:35.90\00:20:37.67
They will convert."
00:20:37.70\00:20:39.53
And they didn't do it 'cause
they were too preoccupied.
00:20:39.57\00:20:41.54
Finally, at the
pleading of the Polos,
00:20:41.57\00:20:43.17
they sent two priests.
00:20:43.20\00:20:44.51
One got sick and
died along the way,
00:20:44.54\00:20:45.97
the other one turned
back, and historians say history
00:20:46.01\00:20:49.64
would have been so different if
they had taken this seriously.
00:20:49.68\00:20:54.42
Have we sometimes missed
missionary opportunities because
00:20:54.45\00:20:57.49
of what people see in our house?
00:20:57.52\00:21:02.22
You know, you don't hear much
about hospitality these days.
00:21:02.26\00:21:08.20
I have a friend.
00:21:08.23\00:21:09.53
He wrote a book on
Christians and hospitality,
00:21:09.56\00:21:11.63
and I was
convicted when I read it.
00:21:11.67\00:21:13.67
I thought--you know, I'm one
of these guys that after church,
00:21:13.70\00:21:16.54
I go home and I want
to crawl in my cave and--
00:21:16.57\00:21:21.14
but the day was when people
had a lot more hospitality,
00:21:21.18\00:21:27.08
Christians would bring people
to their houses every week.
00:21:27.12\00:21:30.32
I remember in our churches we
always had who were the elders
00:21:30.35\00:21:35.42
that took the visitors home.
00:21:35.46\00:21:37.46
When you are in a bigger
church, it's a little harder for
00:21:37.49\00:21:39.13
one family to say, "I'm going
to take these 20 visitors home."
00:21:39.16\00:21:42.76
But that's why we have some kind
of a visitor's potluck every
00:21:42.80\00:21:46.20
week and the elders come here
and--but people used to bring
00:21:46.23\00:21:49.27
everyone to their homes.
00:21:49.30\00:21:51.34
Things have changed.
00:21:51.37\00:21:55.01
Some of you, you've
heard of Tom Bodett.
00:21:55.04\00:21:59.21
You know, Tom Bodett
was famous before he did
00:21:59.25\00:22:01.38
the Motel 6 commercial.
00:22:01.42\00:22:03.79
He was a speaker, a
regular speaker in NPR radio,
00:22:03.82\00:22:07.12
and Motel 6 hired him to do
a commercial for their motel,
00:22:07.16\00:22:12.06
and this was many years ago.
00:22:12.09\00:22:14.00
It was 1986.
00:22:14.00\00:22:16.13
And so they hired these very
expensive marketing executives
00:22:16.16\00:22:19.77
to write a radio script that was
supposed to be an exact amount
00:22:19.80\00:22:22.57
of time, and then they gave
it to Tom to read the script
00:22:22.60\00:22:26.24
about Motel 6--come to Motel 6.
00:22:26.27\00:22:28.14
Well, Tom was something
of an expert on the radio
00:22:28.18\00:22:31.18
'cause he did radio
broadcasts with NPR every week,
00:22:31.21\00:22:33.55
and he realized as he
was getting to the end
00:22:33.58\00:22:35.28
of the script, he was
stopping 3 seconds short.
00:22:35.32\00:22:37.02
Three seconds is
an eternity in radio.
00:22:37.05\00:22:39.92
And he thought, "I got to
put something else in there."
00:22:39.95\00:22:42.39
And so totally, he ad-libbed:
"We'll leave the light
00:22:42.42\00:22:46.06
on for you."
00:22:46.09\00:22:48.00
That wasn't in the script.
00:22:48.03\00:22:49.86
That became the most
important advertising campaign,
00:22:49.90\00:22:53.13
one of the most successful
advertising campaigns ever
00:22:53.17\00:22:55.37
and it wasn't even invented
by the marketing experts.
00:22:55.40\00:22:58.71
That whole idea that
our home is your home.
00:22:58.74\00:23:03.08
You know, it's like the farmer
coming in from the fields.
00:23:03.11\00:23:05.08
"Honey, I'll
leave the light on for.
00:23:05.11\00:23:06.58
Kids coming home late, I'll
leave the light on for you."
00:23:06.61\00:23:08.88
It give that feeling of welcome,
and he just ad-libbed that
00:23:08.92\00:23:12.02
but it
communicated that homey feeling.
00:23:12.05\00:23:15.22
It proved to be very successful.
00:23:15.26\00:23:18.06
Well, is your light on for
others to come into your home?
00:23:18.09\00:23:24.03
What have they
seen in your house?
00:23:24.07\00:23:26.47
This is a very
important part of visiting.
00:23:26.50\00:23:29.97
You know, I had an
experience I'm not proud of.
00:23:30.01\00:23:33.54
You may be heard
me share this before,
00:23:33.58\00:23:35.11
but some watching Sabbath
School maybe did not hear this.
00:23:35.14\00:23:41.52
You know, we have a
house up in the hills.
00:23:41.55\00:23:44.12
I'll be taking a little trip
up there later this afternoon.
00:23:44.15\00:23:47.69
I haven't been
there in a few weeks.
00:23:47.72\00:23:49.49
And been there 40
years-- or had it 40 years and--
00:23:49.52\00:23:54.83
David and Cindy are here today.
00:23:54.83\00:23:57.93
They built a house.
00:23:57.97\00:23:59.30
They lived up there with
us 30 something years ago.
00:23:59.33\00:24:02.80
It's been awhile.
00:24:02.84\00:24:04.27
And house is off the
grid, gravity flow waters,
00:24:04.31\00:24:07.94
solar electric.
00:24:07.98\00:24:09.28
Even years later, we
put on a little Pelton wheel
00:24:09.31\00:24:11.05
to make
electricity from running water,
00:24:11.08\00:24:13.31
and good soil,
southern exposure.
00:24:13.35\00:24:15.65
It's nice.
00:24:15.68\00:24:19.85
So one day I had
some gas delivered.
00:24:19.89\00:24:24.66
Now, one thing I don't
have-- I do use firewood.
00:24:24.69\00:24:27.00
We can heat our
water with firewood,
00:24:27.03\00:24:28.73
but we use gas for the
refrigerator and for the stove.
00:24:28.76\00:24:32.50
In the summer, it's too
hot inside to cook with wood
00:24:32.53\00:24:35.40
so we cook with gas.
00:24:35.44\00:24:37.44
So we have to
have propane delivered.
00:24:37.47\00:24:39.27
So one summer, the propane
comes up to deliver propane,
00:24:39.31\00:24:41.61
and the young man jumps out
and I look at him and I realize
00:24:41.64\00:24:44.98
he's a young man that I know.
00:24:45.01\00:24:48.02
He used to be in my
junior Sabbath School class.
00:24:48.05\00:24:51.22
I used to teach him.
00:24:51.25\00:24:52.55
I also knew he had not been
going to church for a while,
00:24:52.59\00:24:57.29
and I thought, "Lord, what
a providential appointment.
00:24:57.33\00:25:01.16
Here I can talk to him
about his soul and how he needs
00:25:01.20\00:25:03.60
to come back.
00:25:03.63\00:25:04.93
He's now a young man and--"
But he made a terrible mistake.
00:25:04.97\00:25:10.27
He said, "Doug, I
have never been up here.
00:25:10.31\00:25:11.87
This is a nice place.
00:25:11.91\00:25:13.31
Did you design this yourself?"
00:25:13.34\00:25:15.61
Oh, he let the genie out of
the bottle, a genie of pride.
00:25:15.64\00:25:19.68
And I said, "Well,
matter of fact, yes I did."
00:25:19.71\00:25:22.58
And I said, "You
know, I designed it here.
00:25:22.62\00:25:24.95
So it's got--the
sun comes in the winter,
00:25:24.99\00:25:26.92
and I got the right angle on
the roofs so in the summertime
00:25:26.96\00:25:29.52
you don't get the
sun, in the winter you do.
00:25:29.56\00:25:31.46
See the solar
panels on the roof?
00:25:31.49\00:25:32.79
Let me show you
the electric room."
00:25:32.83\00:25:34.10
And I started showing him.
00:25:34.13\00:25:35.43
It said, "It's
gravity flow water,"
00:25:35.46\00:25:36.77
and I started
talking all about the house.
00:25:36.80\00:25:38.57
And he seemed
interested for a little while,
00:25:38.60\00:25:41.07
but sometimes I've discovered
I become hypnotized by my own
00:25:41.10\00:25:43.84
voice and people aren't near as
interested as I think they are.
00:25:43.87\00:25:47.21
You know, sometimes you
think everyone wants to hear
00:25:47.24\00:25:48.98
everything you're thinking
and they don't necessarily.
00:25:49.01\00:25:51.81
And then he looked
at his watch, he said,
00:25:51.85\00:25:53.42
"Hey, I got to go
make another deliver."
00:25:53.45\00:25:54.85
And he hopped in his
truck and he drove away.
00:25:54.88\00:25:57.42
And just as I saw the dust
billowing behind his truck,
00:25:57.45\00:26:01.26
I heard a little
voice say, "What has he seen
00:26:01.29\00:26:05.16
in your house?"
00:26:05.19\00:26:07.13
The Lord sent him to me for
me to talk to him about his soul
00:26:07.20\00:26:11.13
and just all of a sudden
I realized how proud I was.
00:26:11.17\00:26:14.57
I just started talking about me
and my stuff and how smart I am,
00:26:14.60\00:26:20.51
and I've never seen him again
and I lost that opportunity.
00:26:20.54\00:26:25.25
I didn't get his
contact information or anything.
00:26:25.28\00:26:28.58
Now here's--this leads into this
next verse: 2 Chronicles 32.
00:26:28.62\00:26:34.22
"In those Hezekiah--"
00:26:34.26\00:26:35.66
This is 2
Chronicles 32, verse 24.
00:26:35.69\00:26:38.29
"In those days
Hezekiah was sick near death,
00:26:38.33\00:26:41.60
and he prayed to the
Lord and he spoke to him
00:26:41.63\00:26:44.50
and he gave him a sign."
00:26:44.53\00:26:46.07
Sun went backwards.
00:26:46.10\00:26:47.64
"But Hezekiah did not repay
according to the favor shown him
00:26:47.67\00:26:51.44
for his heart was lifted up."
00:26:51.47\00:26:54.68
He thought, "Hey,
I'm so close to God.
00:26:54.71\00:26:56.31
I pray and there's
astronomical changes.
00:26:56.34\00:26:59.61
I'm so close to God."
00:26:59.65\00:27:01.55
He started to think a
little too much of himself.
00:27:01.58\00:27:04.12
"His heart was lifted up.
00:27:04.15\00:27:05.45
Therefore, the wrath was looming
over him and over Judah and
00:27:05.49\00:27:07.86
Jerusalem, and Hezekiah humbled
himself for the pride of his
00:27:07.89\00:27:12.13
heart and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem so the wrath
00:27:12.16\00:27:14.63
of the Lord did not come upon
them in the days of Hezekiah."
00:27:14.66\00:27:17.73
That's the same
story we're talking about.
00:27:17.77\00:27:19.70
So in our first section here,
it's talking about learning
00:27:19.73\00:27:22.27
from the king's mistake.
00:27:22.30\00:27:25.81
When people come to our
house, we need to be interested
00:27:25.84\00:27:29.41
in talking to them about them.
00:27:29.44\00:27:31.05
How many of you have
heard the phrase FORT, F-O-R-T?
00:27:31.08\00:27:35.08
If you'd like to know how to
share your faith in your home
00:27:35.12\00:27:37.35
with people you meet, just--you
might want to write this down,
00:27:37.39\00:27:40.19
F-O-R-T.
00:27:40.22\00:27:42.32
FORT: family,
occupation, testimony--
00:27:42.36\00:27:47.83
no, family,
occupation, religion, testimony.
00:27:47.86\00:27:52.90
I can't spell either.
00:27:52.93\00:27:55.07
Ask them about their family.
00:27:55.10\00:27:56.87
Whether you go to their house
or they come to your house,
00:27:56.91\00:27:59.14
let them talk about them.
00:27:59.17\00:28:02.68
It's so easy for us
to talk about ourselves
00:28:02.71\00:28:04.35
when people come over.
00:28:04.38\00:28:06.01
Get to know them.
00:28:06.05\00:28:07.48
Find out about them.
00:28:07.52\00:28:09.15
Then ask about
their-- "What do you do?"
00:28:09.18\00:28:11.39
You know, I meet people all
the time and--just this week,
00:28:11.42\00:28:17.26
one of our members here, Tony
and I were playing racquetball.
00:28:17.29\00:28:19.76
As a matter of
fact, yesterday morning,
00:28:19.79\00:28:21.26
and Nathan was with
us, and met a new person
00:28:21.30\00:28:24.83
and wanted to get to know them.
00:28:24.87\00:28:27.30
So we said, "So what do
you do?" It's a natural segue.
00:28:27.34\00:28:30.41
And then they'll
often say, "What do you do?"
00:28:30.44\00:28:31.97
And I said,
"Well, I'm a pastor."
00:28:32.01\00:28:33.61
And they said, "What church?"
00:28:33.64\00:28:34.94
And you get a chance
to start talking about
00:28:34.98\00:28:36.28
religion almost instantly.
00:28:36.31\00:28:37.75
Then finally, tell
your personal testimony.
00:28:37.78\00:28:39.88
So you can say,
"So what do you do?"
00:28:39.91\00:28:41.45
And then you say, "Do
you go to church somewhere?"
00:28:41.48\00:28:47.52
It used to be everybody
went to church in America.
00:28:47.56\00:28:49.22
He says, "What church?"
00:28:49.26\00:28:50.56
Well, now you kind of
say, "Do you go to church?"
00:28:50.59\00:28:52.96
And then the last
thing you say, "Yeah,
00:28:52.99\00:28:54.93
I'm a Christian also and
God's done so much for me,"
00:28:54.93\00:28:57.97
and give your testimony.
00:28:58.00\00:28:59.53
And that then creates a segue
to talk about spiritual things,
00:28:59.57\00:29:02.54
and this is a great program
to follow in your family.
00:29:02.57\00:29:07.04
Go to the next
section: family first.
00:29:07.08\00:29:10.85
And someone's going to
read for me Acts 1, verse 8,
00:29:10.88\00:29:13.65
in just a moment, and
we'll get you ready for that.
00:29:13.68\00:29:16.75
I'm going to
read John 1:40 and 42.
00:29:16.79\00:29:19.45
Chapter 1 of John the
Gospel, one of the two who heard
00:29:19.49\00:29:23.26
John the Baptist
speak, when he said this is
00:29:23.29\00:29:25.93
the Lamb of God, followed him.
00:29:25.96\00:29:27.66
He followed Jesus.
00:29:27.73\00:29:29.43
"He was Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother.
00:29:29.46\00:29:31.67
He first found his own
brother Simon and said,
00:29:31.70\00:29:34.54
'We have found the Messiah,'"
which is translated Christ,
00:29:34.57\00:29:38.11
"and he brought them to Jesus."
00:29:38.14\00:29:39.97
So as soon as Andrew--Andrew is
always bringing people to Jesus.
00:29:40.01\00:29:43.48
You know, it's Andrew who
brought the Greeks to Jesus.
00:29:43.51\00:29:45.48
It's Andrew who
brings a little boy to Jesus.
00:29:45.51\00:29:47.68
Andrew never preaches
a sermon that we know of,
00:29:47.72\00:29:50.09
but Andrew is always trying
to bring people to Christ.
00:29:50.12\00:29:53.19
First person he brings
is who? A family member.
00:29:53.22\00:29:56.16
That's where it
should start. Go ahead.
00:29:56.19\00:29:57.93
Read for us please your verse.
00:29:57.96\00:30:00.26
female: Act 1:8, "But you
shall receive power when the
00:30:00.30\00:30:03.47
Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you shall be witnesses to me
00:30:03.50\00:30:07.54
in Jerusalem and in
all Judea and Samaria
00:30:07.57\00:30:11.07
and to the end of the earth."
00:30:11.11\00:30:14.58
Doug: Notice that Jesus
gave concentric circles to
00:30:14.61\00:30:18.35
the disciples when he told them
how they were going to witness.
00:30:18.38\00:30:21.25
He said, "You'll be witnesses
for me: Jerusalem, Judea,
00:30:21.28\00:30:24.92
Samaria, and everywhere
else, the end of the world."
00:30:24.95\00:30:29.36
This is exactly how they did it.
00:30:29.39\00:30:30.93
Holy Spirit's
poured out in Jerusalem.
00:30:30.96\00:30:32.46
That's where they
lived. That was their home.
00:30:32.49\00:30:34.66
They started witnessing
there and then it expanded
00:30:34.73\00:30:38.20
and it went on to Judea and then
it went on to the half Jews,
00:30:38.23\00:30:43.67
the Samaritans, and
then, to the ends of the world.
00:30:43.71\00:30:46.61
You know, that's
how it happened in Acts.
00:30:46.64\00:30:48.31
Holy Spirit in Jerusalem,
then the Holy Spirit in Judea,
00:30:48.34\00:30:51.08
then the Holy
Spirit fell in Samaria,
00:30:51.11\00:30:53.25
then the disciples in chapter
8 were scattered everywhere
00:30:53.28\00:30:56.12
preaching the gospel.
00:30:56.15\00:30:57.45
So, the very thing
Jesus said would happen,
00:30:57.49\00:30:59.12
is how you read it
unfolding in the Book of Acts,
00:30:59.15\00:31:02.49
but it starts at home.
00:31:02.52\00:31:04.83
You want to be able to
start doing evangelism.
00:31:04.86\00:31:06.53
You know, sometimes in
doing our AFCO training,
00:31:06.56\00:31:09.16
people come to our
program and they say,
00:31:09.20\00:31:11.77
"Why are you
taking the training?"
00:31:11.80\00:31:14.44
"I want to go to the
foreign mission field.
00:31:14.47\00:31:15.77
I want to be a missionary."
00:31:15.80\00:31:17.11
I said, "That's wonderful.
00:31:17.14\00:31:18.44
The Lord's put
that on your heart."
00:31:18.47\00:31:19.77
Said, "How many people have
you lead to the Lord at home?"
00:31:19.81\00:31:23.45
"Well, I haven't.
00:31:23.48\00:31:24.78
Yeah, it'll be much easier to
go talk to them pagans out there
00:31:24.81\00:31:28.12
and primitive countries and--"
00:31:28.15\00:31:29.62
"So wait a second.
00:31:29.65\00:31:31.69
You haven't led any of
your family to the Lord?
00:31:31.72\00:31:34.22
You're not leading
anyone in your neighborhood
00:31:34.26\00:31:36.09
or where you work to the Lord?"
00:31:36.12\00:31:38.79
You don't want to go overseas.
00:31:38.83\00:31:41.10
First, you want to
start at home and see,
00:31:41.13\00:31:42.60
"Can I lead
someone here locally?"
00:31:42.63\00:31:44.93
If you can't
reach anybody locally,
00:31:44.97\00:31:46.40
why do you think it's
going to be easier when you go
00:31:46.43\00:31:48.54
to a foreign country you
can't speak the language?
00:31:48.57\00:31:51.41
And so good evangelism is
going to begin right there
00:31:51.44\00:31:55.11
in the home.
00:31:55.14\00:31:56.44
By the way, where
is it the hardest?
00:31:56.48\00:31:58.98
It's in the home.
00:31:59.01\00:32:01.12
Jesus said a prophet is
not without honor except where?
00:32:01.15\00:32:04.82
At home.
00:32:04.85\00:32:06.29
The hardest people for
me to reach was my family
00:32:06.32\00:32:08.02
because they knew my
past before I came to Christ.
00:32:08.06\00:32:11.13
When I said, "I
found the truth."
00:32:11.16\00:32:12.46
They said, "Oh man, you've tried
all these different religions.
00:32:12.49\00:32:14.86
This is just another one, Doug."
00:32:14.93\00:32:16.93
It took a few
years for them to say,
00:32:16.97\00:32:18.30
"It looks like you're serious
about this Christianity stuff."
00:32:18.33\00:32:21.67
Because I've been
hopping from, you know,
00:32:21.70\00:32:23.64
Buddhism to yoga to
meditation, and just all
00:32:23.67\00:32:25.61
these different things.
00:32:25.64\00:32:26.94
They said,
"Yeah, yeah, I don't--"
00:32:26.98\00:32:28.64
So hard to reach
your family sometimes.
00:32:28.68\00:32:31.71
Luke 8:39.
00:32:31.75\00:32:33.65
After Jesus saved
the demoniac, he said,
00:32:33.68\00:32:36.52
"I want to go with you,
Jesus." Jesus said, "No.
00:32:36.55\00:32:39.15
Return to your own house
and tell what great things God
00:32:39.19\00:32:43.29
has done for you."
00:32:43.32\00:32:44.96
Jesus said, "Go to
your house." What did he do?
00:32:44.99\00:32:47.13
"He went his way and
he proclaimed through
00:32:47.13\00:32:48.43
the whole city what great
things Jesus had done for him."
00:32:48.46\00:32:51.33
But where did
Jesus tell him to start?
00:32:51.37\00:32:54.10
Jesus blessed his
efforts. He was sincere.
00:32:54.14\00:32:56.50
But he said, "Go home.
Tell those in your home."
00:32:56.54\00:32:59.04
And telling those in your home
doesn't mean you go shake them
00:32:59.07\00:33:01.68
by the throat and
say, "You need to believe."
00:33:01.71\00:33:04.75
It means
witnessing in your home,
00:33:04.78\00:33:07.68
and you want to be
a consistent witness.
00:33:07.72\00:33:10.09
1 Timothy 5:8, "But if anyone
does not provide for his own,"
00:33:10.12\00:33:14.36
meaning his own
family, "and especially those
00:33:14.39\00:33:16.06
of his household, he's denied
the faith and is worse than
00:33:16.09\00:33:19.56
an unbeliever."
00:33:19.59\00:33:20.90
So here's a principle.
00:33:20.93\00:33:22.20
When it comes to providing
financially--Bible says
00:33:22.23\00:33:24.77
if you're not
providing for your own family,
00:33:24.80\00:33:26.63
speaking of a working man,
you're worse than an infidel.
00:33:26.67\00:33:29.44
What's more important,
providing for your own family
00:33:29.47\00:33:31.51
financially or spiritually?
00:33:31.54\00:33:34.21
The first priority would
be-- well, you want to make sure
00:33:34.24\00:33:36.04
they're fed, but make
sure they're fed spiritually.
00:33:36.08\00:33:40.22
Deuteronomy 6, after he
makes that wonderful statement,
00:33:40.25\00:33:45.42
"Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God is one.
00:33:45.45\00:33:47.12
Thy shall love the
Lord with all your heart,
00:33:47.16\00:33:48.59
mind, soul, and strength."
00:33:48.62\00:33:49.92
He then says, "And these words
that I command you today--"
00:33:49.96\00:33:52.83
This is the Ten Commandments
you find in Deuteronomy 5.
00:33:52.86\00:33:55.96
"These words I command you
today shall be in your heart.
00:33:56.00\00:33:58.90
You shall teach them
diligently to your children.
00:33:58.93\00:34:01.87
You shall talk of them
when you sit in your house,
00:34:01.90\00:34:04.57
when you walk by the
way, when you lie down,
00:34:04.61\00:34:08.48
when you rise up."
00:34:08.51\00:34:09.94
That means, do you
have evening worship?
00:34:09.98\00:34:12.95
Last night before
we went to sleep--
00:34:12.98\00:34:14.28
well, when the
Sabbath started in our family,
00:34:14.32\00:34:16.15
we only got one of our offspring
at home for the summer: Nathan.
00:34:16.18\00:34:19.69
So we have family
worship, have a Sabbath worship.
00:34:19.72\00:34:22.29
Woke up this morning,
we kneel together, we pray.
00:34:22.32\00:34:25.19
Don't have time Sabbath morning
for a while--a long study
00:34:25.23\00:34:27.30
'cause everyone's kinda
running hither and thither.
00:34:27.30\00:34:28.93
But you always take
your time and you spend time
00:34:28.96\00:34:31.27
with the Lord.
00:34:31.30\00:34:32.60
But it's not just
when you're, you know,
00:34:32.63\00:34:35.10
having your formal worship.
00:34:35.14\00:34:36.71
When you walk by the
way, put the word on the doors
00:34:36.74\00:34:40.11
of your house, on your
gates so that it's surrounding
00:34:40.14\00:34:44.18
all you do in your family.
00:34:44.21\00:34:46.95
This is--let him
see it in your house.
00:34:46.98\00:34:50.29
Ruth chapter 1, verse 14.
00:34:50.32\00:34:54.66
Because of the
witness of Naomi in the home,
00:34:54.69\00:34:57.43
it especially
impressed her daughter-in-law.
00:34:57.46\00:35:01.20
Says, "Then they lifted up
their voices again and wept,
00:35:01.23\00:35:04.63
and Orpah kissed
her mother-in-law,
00:35:04.67\00:35:06.20
but Ruth clanged to her.
00:35:06.23\00:35:08.24
She said, 'Look, your
sister-in-law has gone back
00:35:08.27\00:35:09.97
to her people and her gods.'"
00:35:10.01\00:35:12.14
In other words,
Orpah-- was about to say Oprah.
00:35:12.17\00:35:15.81
Orpah at one time
had worshiped Jehovah,
00:35:15.84\00:35:20.98
but now she said she's
going back to her gods.
00:35:21.02\00:35:23.85
"Return after
your sister-in-law.
00:35:23.89\00:35:26.19
But Ruth said, 'Entreat me
not to leave you or to turn back
00:35:26.22\00:35:30.09
from following after you.
00:35:30.13\00:35:31.79
For wherever you go, I will go.
00:35:31.83\00:35:33.26
Wherever you
lodge, I will lodge.
00:35:33.29\00:35:34.83
Your people will be my people.
00:35:34.86\00:35:36.33
Your God, my God.
00:35:36.36\00:35:38.03
Where you die, there will
I die and I will be buried.
00:35:38.07\00:35:40.77
The Lord do so to me
and more also of anything,
00:35:40.80\00:35:43.57
but death parts you and me."
00:35:43.61\00:35:45.34
There's hardly a more
poignant declaration of loyalty
00:35:45.37\00:35:50.61
in the Bible.
00:35:50.65\00:35:51.95
I sometimes use
this when I do weddings,
00:35:51.98\00:35:53.98
of what Ruth said to Naomi.
00:35:54.02\00:35:57.25
Why did she say that?
00:35:57.29\00:35:59.42
She had seen God
in Naomi's heart,
00:35:59.45\00:36:03.43
and she saw it was so different
from the gods of the Moabites.
00:36:03.46\00:36:06.26
She says, "No,
I'm staying with you.
00:36:06.29\00:36:07.60
Your God is my God."
00:36:07.66\00:36:09.03
Because she saw her
live it out in the home.
00:36:09.06\00:36:11.50
Wasn't because she had all the
blessings because here she lost
00:36:11.53\00:36:15.14
her husband and two sons in
the time that Ruth knew her.
00:36:15.17\00:36:19.07
But she saw how Naomi dealt with
all that through trusting God,
00:36:19.11\00:36:22.48
and she said, "I'm
sticking with you."
00:36:22.51\00:36:25.31
And because of that, she ended
up becoming a mother in Israel.
00:36:25.35\00:36:27.95
Now, somebody has got
for me 1 Peter 2, verse--
00:36:27.98\00:36:33.25
1 Peter 3,
rather, verse 1 and 2.
00:36:33.29\00:36:36.66
Dan, I think we're
ready for that now.
00:36:36.69\00:36:38.13
So you go ahead.
00:36:38.16\00:36:39.46
male: "Wives,
likewise, be submissive to your
00:36:39.49\00:36:41.43
own husbands that even if
some do not obey the Word,
00:36:41.46\00:36:45.47
they, without a word, may be won
by the conduct of their wives
00:36:45.50\00:36:49.77
when they observe your chaste
conduct accompanied by fear."
00:36:49.80\00:36:54.28
Doug: All right, thank you.
00:36:54.31\00:36:55.61
Now, Peter is talking
here about a situation where
00:36:55.64\00:36:56.98
you got a believer
married to a non-believer.
00:36:57.01\00:36:58.75
Let's hope that's
because one was converted.
00:36:58.78\00:37:02.28
We know there are cases
where-- even though we've been
00:37:02.32\00:37:05.19
counseled very clearly in the
Word believers should not marry
00:37:05.22\00:37:08.89
unbelievers, sometimes
they still do it anyway and then
00:37:08.92\00:37:12.73
they repent later and they say,
"I've got to bring my spouse,
00:37:12.76\00:37:16.03
wife, or husband to the Lord."
00:37:16.06\00:37:18.67
And what's the
best way of doing that?
00:37:18.70\00:37:21.40
Being a witness
by your behavior.
00:37:21.44\00:37:24.37
It says conversation
in the King James Version.
00:37:24.41\00:37:26.71
By their conversation.
00:37:26.74\00:37:28.18
It would certainly
include your words,
00:37:28.21\00:37:30.08
but the most
important thing is your conduct.
00:37:30.11\00:37:32.75
It means as they
behold your godly conduct,
00:37:32.78\00:37:36.42
your love--and I'll tell
you, if anybody is going to know
00:37:36.45\00:37:39.79
that you've got flaws and warts,
it's going to be your spouse.
00:37:39.82\00:37:44.83
Being a consistent, loving,
patient Christian that does not
00:37:47.30\00:37:51.77
get irritated, that does
not retort and be sarcastic,
00:37:51.80\00:37:56.40
and to be loving
and kind in the family,
00:37:56.44\00:37:59.37
that is the biggest challenge.
00:37:59.41\00:38:02.04
And boy, if you can do that
there, it'll win their hearts.
00:38:02.08\00:38:05.71
You've probably heard
me share this story before.
00:38:05.75\00:38:07.78
It's one of the old
evangelism stories about this--
00:38:07.82\00:38:10.22
a woman that was
married to just an ordinary man.
00:38:10.25\00:38:13.89
She had converted to
Christ after their wedding,
00:38:13.92\00:38:16.29
and he ended up turning to drink
and he was often coming home
00:38:16.32\00:38:20.00
drunk and he'd bring his
friends home and he'd wake up
00:38:20.03\00:38:22.26
his wife and say,
"Cook me something.
00:38:22.30\00:38:24.23
I got some friends.
You got anything to eat?"
00:38:24.27\00:38:26.53
Just very rude.
00:38:26.57\00:38:27.90
His friends banging around
in the house making noise,
00:38:27.94\00:38:29.67
waking her up, and she was
always so kind and so patient.
00:38:29.70\00:38:33.07
I'm not saying you
should have to put up
00:38:33.11\00:38:34.41
with that kind of
abuse, but she did.
00:38:34.44\00:38:37.45
And one night after he had
brought his friends over and
00:38:37.48\00:38:40.58
she cooked them something to eat
and they had been misbehaving
00:38:40.62\00:38:43.52
and they all
left, he began to cry.
00:38:43.55\00:38:46.82
He realized how mean
he was being to his wife.
00:38:46.86\00:38:49.69
And she came over and she
put her hand on his shoulder,
00:38:49.72\00:38:53.29
and he says, "How
come you're so good to me?"
00:38:53.33\00:38:55.66
Says, "I am so rude
and I'm so inconsiderate.
00:38:55.70\00:38:57.87
I'm so unkind to you and you are
so good and patient and loving.
00:38:57.90\00:39:02.20
You put up with
such bad behaviors."
00:39:02.24\00:39:03.67
He says, "Why are
you so good to me?"
00:39:03.71\00:39:06.11
And she said, "Honey,"
she said, "I found Jesus
00:39:06.14\00:39:09.94
and I have everlasting life."
00:39:09.98\00:39:11.45
She says, "I'm going to have
a new body and live in a world
00:39:11.48\00:39:13.31
and he's
prepared a mansion for me,
00:39:13.35\00:39:15.28
and I'm going to
be happy forever."
00:39:15.32\00:39:18.09
She said, "The only
happiness you're going to have
00:39:18.12\00:39:19.62
is this life.
00:39:19.65\00:39:20.96
I feel sorry for you so I'm
just trying to make you as happy
00:39:20.99\00:39:23.06
as I can."
00:39:23.09\00:39:25.39
And that broke his
heart, and he was converted.
00:39:25.43\00:39:28.66
So it doesn't
always happen that way,
00:39:28.70\00:39:31.47
but one of the best
ways you can reach people,
00:39:31.50\00:39:34.04
if you're in a divided
home, is by your behavior.
00:39:34.07\00:39:37.17
And you really need to pray for
extra grace to make that happen,
00:39:37.21\00:39:40.11
amen?
00:39:40.14\00:39:42.21
Paul says, "Now, what if you
are married to an unbeliever?"
00:39:42.24\00:39:45.81
Now, when Paul writes this,
keep in mind he's talking--
00:39:45.85\00:39:48.98
the gospel had taken off like
wildfire among the Gentiles.
00:39:49.02\00:39:53.09
Greeks everywhere
were accepting Christ,
00:39:53.12\00:39:55.36
but sometimes just
one member of the family,
00:39:55.39\00:39:57.36
maybe just the
husband or just the wife.
00:39:57.39\00:39:59.33
So he's not talking about
people who chose to be unequally
00:39:59.36\00:40:01.76
married, he's talking
about people who are pagans:
00:40:01.80\00:40:03.93
one of them accepted the
Lord, the spouse has not.
00:40:03.97\00:40:07.10
And so this is what he's talking
about here in 1 Corinthians 7,
00:40:07.14\00:40:10.44
verse 12.
00:40:10.47\00:40:12.21
"To the rest, I
say, not the Lord,
00:40:12.24\00:40:15.24
'If any brother has a
wife that does not believe
00:40:15.28\00:40:18.08
and she's willing to
live with him, let her not--
00:40:18.11\00:40:21.02
let him not divorce her.
00:40:21.05\00:40:22.75
And a woman who has a
husband who does not believe,
00:40:22.78\00:40:25.25
if he's willing
to live with her,
00:40:25.29\00:40:26.76
let her not divorce him.
00:40:26.79\00:40:28.86
For the unbelieving husband
is sanctified by the wife,
00:40:28.89\00:40:32.59
and the unbelieving wife
is sanctified by the husband.
00:40:32.63\00:40:35.93
Otherwise, your
children would be unclean.'"
00:40:35.96\00:40:38.60
This is a very important
theological point here,
00:40:38.63\00:40:40.50
that there's a
sanctified influence
00:40:40.54\00:40:43.24
of the believing
parent on the children.
00:40:43.27\00:40:46.78
And Paul is also saying
the children are an additional
00:40:46.81\00:40:50.08
reason for married
people to stay married,
00:40:50.11\00:40:54.58
and you're setting an
example for them there.
00:40:54.62\00:41:00.46
But he goes on to
say, "But now they're holy.
00:41:00.49\00:41:04.86
But if the unbeliever
departs, let him depart.
00:41:04.89\00:41:07.93
A brother or sister is not
under bondage in such cases.
00:41:07.96\00:41:11.37
God has called us to peace."
00:41:11.40\00:41:12.83
So this is one of the
few exceptions for divorce,
00:41:12.87\00:41:15.27
that if you got two
people that are pagans,
00:41:15.30\00:41:17.71
not talking about Christians--
two people that are pagans,
00:41:17.74\00:41:19.67
one accepts the
Lord, the unbeliever says,
00:41:19.71\00:41:22.91
"I didn't sign up for that.
00:41:22.94\00:41:24.28
I worship Mercury and
Jupiter. I'm leaving."
00:41:24.31\00:41:27.45
And this young woman
now is abandoned and maybe
00:41:27.48\00:41:31.12
she has children.
00:41:31.15\00:41:32.45
Is she now never
allowed to remarry again?
00:41:32.49\00:41:35.02
The Bible says--Paul says
here, this would be a case
00:41:35.06\00:41:37.43
where she would be
allowed to remarry again.
00:41:37.46\00:41:39.73
Says, "You're not
under bondage in such cases."
00:41:39.76\00:41:42.63
But--so you'd be a
witness in your family
00:41:42.66\00:41:44.77
to your unbelieving spouse.
00:41:44.80\00:41:46.63
Look in Ephesians 5:22.
00:41:46.67\00:41:51.24
"Wives, submit to your
own husbands as to the Lord
00:41:51.27\00:41:55.14
for the husband is the head
of the wife as also Christ is
00:41:55.18\00:41:57.81
the head of the church,
and he is Savior of the body.
00:41:57.85\00:42:00.55
Therefore, just as the
church is subject to Christ,
00:42:00.58\00:42:02.95
so let the wives be to their
own husbands and everything.
00:42:02.98\00:42:06.09
Husbands, love your wives
as Christ also love the church
00:42:06.12\00:42:09.46
and gave himself
for you--for her."
00:42:09.49\00:42:12.69
So he's talking about,
there needs to be love.
00:42:12.73\00:42:15.06
There needs to be
submission in the family,
00:42:15.10\00:42:18.27
and you melt the other
person's heart by the behavior.
00:42:18.30\00:42:22.27
All right, and then there's--the
next section talks about family
00:42:22.30\00:42:25.41
life is for sharing, and here we
go to 1 Corinthians 4:16 and 17.
00:42:25.44\00:42:31.88
By your example, you
mirror Christ in the family,
00:42:31.91\00:42:36.08
to visitors and to the actual
other members of the family.
00:42:36.12\00:42:40.59
1 Corinthians 4:16 and
17, "Therefore I urge you,
00:42:40.62\00:42:44.56
imitate me.
00:42:44.59\00:42:46.19
And for this reason,
I've sent Timothy to you,
00:42:46.23\00:42:48.13
who is my beloved and
faithful son in the Lord,
00:42:48.16\00:42:50.50
who will remind you of my ways
in Christ as I teach everywhere
00:42:50.53\00:42:54.24
in every church."
00:42:54.27\00:42:56.27
So there should be a modeling
of Christ in the family.
00:42:56.30\00:43:00.51
Ephesians 5:1,
"Therefore, be imitators of God
00:43:00.54\00:43:04.18
as dear children."
00:43:04.21\00:43:06.45
And so we want to model
God's behavior in our family.
00:43:06.48\00:43:10.49
1 Thessalonians 1:16,
"And you became followers of us
00:43:10.52\00:43:14.72
and of the Lord, having received
the Word in much affliction,
00:43:14.76\00:43:19.06
with joy of the Holy Spirit."
00:43:19.09\00:43:21.90
And then one more here
in Hebrews 6, verse 12.
00:43:21.93\00:43:25.37
"That you do
not become sluggish,
00:43:25.40\00:43:27.04
but imitate those who through
faith and patience inherit
00:43:27.07\00:43:30.87
the promise."
00:43:30.91\00:43:32.51
You all know what
bonding is in animals?
00:43:32.54\00:43:37.38
You have--they found it in
fish, they found it in birds,
00:43:37.41\00:43:42.72
and they find
it even in mammals.
00:43:42.75\00:43:47.39
I remember when I was a
kid, I was playing soccer
00:43:47.42\00:43:50.33
in Central Park.
00:43:50.36\00:43:51.73
I actually kicked the soccer
ball up against the window
00:43:51.76\00:43:54.56
of the Natural
Museum of Natural History.
00:43:54.56\00:43:56.60
It didn't hurt the window
'cause there were iron bars.
00:43:56.63\00:43:59.33
But I went to get my ball and
I found--this cat ran out from
00:43:59.37\00:44:04.17
the metal bars of the window and
I looked down and I realized,
00:44:04.21\00:44:08.28
"Oh, she had some kittens."
00:44:08.31\00:44:10.05
You know, there's feral
cats all over New York City.
00:44:10.08\00:44:11.78
They also have feral rats, too.
00:44:11.81\00:44:14.15
But I thought, "Wow,--"
00:44:14.18\00:44:17.55
I looked in and saw
these little bitty kittens.
00:44:17.59\00:44:20.22
They weren't that big.
00:44:20.26\00:44:21.69
And I went to pick
one up and it's spat at me
00:44:21.72\00:44:24.56
and it wanted to kill me.
00:44:24.59\00:44:26.19
Now, it couldn't do
much, but it scared me.
00:44:26.23\00:44:28.13
You ever seen
that little bitty cat?
00:44:28.16\00:44:29.93
It was just old enough where it
knew that I was not its mother,
00:44:29.96\00:44:34.70
and it was wild.
00:44:34.74\00:44:38.44
I couldn't take it home.
00:44:38.47\00:44:40.81
Then, again, I've been
there when baby kittens are born
00:44:40.84\00:44:43.11
and they're used to a
human being around the mother
00:44:43.14\00:44:46.11
and petting the mother.
00:44:46.15\00:44:47.45
You can pick them
right up and they figured,
00:44:47.48\00:44:49.55
"Okay with mom, okay with me."
00:44:49.58\00:44:51.42
That kind of bond,
they become used to it.
00:44:51.45\00:44:54.42
With ducks, do you know
if-- when the duck hatches,
00:44:54.46\00:44:58.99
if the mama duck is not there
but the family dog is there,
00:44:59.03\00:45:02.80
if that dog is
lying by the baby ducks,
00:45:02.83\00:45:04.53
when that dog gets up,
the ducks will follow the dog.
00:45:04.57\00:45:07.30
How many of you have seen this?
00:45:07.34\00:45:10.07
They bond, and people have a
little bit of that inside us.
00:45:10.11\00:45:15.61
Every human being has a
little photographic plate,
00:45:15.64\00:45:18.65
for lack of a better word,
inside our minds and we sort
00:45:18.68\00:45:22.52
of become like what we behold.
00:45:22.55\00:45:24.02
We are changed by beholding.
00:45:24.05\00:45:25.99
And so as we model Christ in
our families--it's especially
00:45:26.02\00:45:29.49
sensitive when they're children,
but even for older people--
00:45:29.52\00:45:32.89
when I first became a Christian,
I had no idea how a Christian
00:45:32.93\00:45:35.16
was supposed to act, but a
pastor and his wife took me
00:45:35.20\00:45:39.60
into their home and
they modeled Christianity.
00:45:39.63\00:45:42.80
I said, "I don't know.
How do you keep the Sabbath?
00:45:42.84\00:45:44.51
What does Sabbath
keeping look like?"
00:45:44.54\00:45:46.11
I saw how they did it.
00:45:46.14\00:45:47.94
"What does family
worship look like?"
00:45:47.98\00:45:49.38
I saw how they did it.
00:45:49.41\00:45:51.25
"How are you supposed to
talk to a husband and wife?"
00:45:51.28\00:45:52.98
I saw how they
treated each other.
00:45:53.01\00:45:54.95
They're just so kind.
00:45:54.98\00:45:56.28
One time he was
carrying a long pile of lumber,
00:45:56.32\00:45:59.12
Pastor Phillips.
00:45:59.15\00:46:00.52
He was like 80
something years old.
00:46:00.56\00:46:02.06
He had a long piece of
lumber and his wife was
00:46:02.09\00:46:04.43
in the driveway.
00:46:04.46\00:46:05.76
When he turned around
just like a vaudeville thing,
00:46:05.79\00:46:07.66
he hit her in the
head with a board.
00:46:07.73\00:46:10.37
She said, "Joe."
He clobbered her.
00:46:10.40\00:46:12.90
And he said, "Oh,
I'm so sorry, dear."
00:46:12.93\00:46:14.40
She said, "It's
okay." And they were so nice.
00:46:14.44\00:46:16.30
I thought, in most families,
they would be screaming
00:46:16.34\00:46:17.97
and cursing each other
after something like this.
00:46:18.01\00:46:20.44
But--so I saw
how they modeled it.
00:46:20.48\00:46:23.71
And people--even
when you're older,
00:46:23.75\00:46:26.28
by beholding people,
modeling Christianity,
00:46:26.31\00:46:29.05
you become changed.
00:46:29.08\00:46:30.59
So you want to do
that in your family.
00:46:30.62\00:46:32.09
If you have not been doing
it, it's not too late to change.
00:46:32.12\00:46:35.42
Amen?
00:46:35.46\00:46:36.86
You get the Holy
Spirit, all things are possible.
00:46:36.89\00:46:39.76
Someone's going to
read for me Isaiah 58.
00:46:39.79\00:46:42.73
Our families should be centers
of contagious friendliness.
00:46:42.76\00:46:46.77
Okay, you have that?
00:46:46.80\00:46:48.80
female: "Is this not the fast
that I have chosen: to loose
00:46:49.30\00:46:52.77
the bond of the wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens,
00:46:52.81\00:46:57.15
to let the oppressed go free,
and that you break every yoke?
00:46:57.18\00:47:01.78
Is it not to share
your bread with the hungry,
00:47:01.82\00:47:04.45
and that you bring to your
house the poor who are cast out;
00:47:04.49\00:47:07.99
when you see the
naked, that you cover him,
00:47:08.02\00:47:10.66
and to hide yourself
from your own flesh?"
00:47:10.69\00:47:14.50
Doug: So what does he say?
00:47:14.56\00:47:16.30
What Isaiah is saying is
one of the most important fasts.
00:47:16.33\00:47:19.80
You bring
people into your homes,
00:47:19.83\00:47:22.60
that you bring to your
home the poor who are cast out.
00:47:22.64\00:47:24.77
Jesus said,
"When you have a feast,
00:47:24.81\00:47:26.11
don't invite your friends."
00:47:26.14\00:47:27.48
Bring them in your home.
00:47:27.51\00:47:28.84
Now, that doesn't mean that
you need to all go get a van and
00:47:28.88\00:47:30.61
drive around the
neighborhood and bring
00:47:30.65\00:47:31.95
all the homeless to your home.
00:47:31.98\00:47:33.82
Blessed are the
poor in what? Spirit.
00:47:33.85\00:47:37.05
God especially wants us to bring
people into our home that are--
00:47:37.09\00:47:39.62
have spiritual poverty.
00:47:39.65\00:47:40.96
They don't know the
Lord. Study with them.
00:47:40.99\00:47:43.99
1 Peter 4:19, "Be hospitable to
one another without grumbling."
00:47:44.03\00:47:49.80
You know one reason we don't
have so much hospitality today?
00:47:49.83\00:47:53.67
Hotel chains everywhere.
00:47:53.70\00:47:55.54
People travel, they
don't stay in homes anymore.
00:47:55.57\00:47:57.61
They stay in hotels.
00:47:57.64\00:47:59.77
I know. Bonnie's here.
00:47:59.81\00:48:01.48
When the Heritage singers
first started going on the road,
00:48:01.51\00:48:03.88
they stayed--you would
arrange houses for them to stay
00:48:03.91\00:48:06.18
and they stayed
in people's homes.
00:48:06.21\00:48:07.72
Last few years,
it was all hotels.
00:48:07.75\00:48:09.95
Things started changing.
00:48:09.98\00:48:11.69
You remember when pastors would
come to a town and do a meeting?
00:48:11.72\00:48:13.96
It's, "What family
would they stay with?"
00:48:13.99\00:48:16.02
But now it's, "What
hotel will they stay in?"
00:48:16.06\00:48:19.56
Now, people
communicate digitally.
00:48:19.59\00:48:22.36
People used to go
to homes and talk.
00:48:22.40\00:48:24.20
They talk on the phone.
00:48:24.23\00:48:25.77
Singing.
00:48:25.80\00:48:27.04
You wanted to sing with a group?
You went to home and you'd sing.
00:48:27.07\00:48:29.84
Now, you just press the
button on your iPod or whatever
00:48:29.87\00:48:32.04
and you get the music that way.
00:48:32.07\00:48:35.01
Relationships used to be
you interact with people.
00:48:35.04\00:48:38.01
Now, you turn on television and
you watch other people relate.
00:48:38.05\00:48:42.55
People are so absorbed
now in their personal comfort
00:48:42.58\00:48:44.92
and convenience.
00:48:44.95\00:48:46.39
The idea that a stranger would
invade our homes kind of puts us
00:48:46.42\00:48:49.59
all out, but what does the
Bible say about hospitality?
00:48:49.62\00:48:52.89
"Speaking of someone
who qualifies as a bishop,
00:48:52.93\00:48:56.36
sober-minded, good behavior,
hospitable, able to teach."
00:48:56.40\00:49:02.00
Titus chapter 1, verse 7 and 8,
"But a bishop must be blameless
00:49:02.04\00:49:06.47
as a steward of God, not
self-willed but hospitable,
00:49:06.51\00:49:10.75
a lover of what is good."
00:49:10.78\00:49:12.71
Romans 12, verse 9, "Be kindly
affectionate one to another
00:49:12.75\00:49:16.58
with brotherly love,
distributing to the needs
00:49:16.62\00:49:19.02
of the saints
given to hospitality."
00:49:19.05\00:49:22.89
Was Lot
hospitable with the angels?
00:49:22.92\00:49:26.13
Ended up saving them.
00:49:26.16\00:49:27.46
What about Rehab with the spies?
00:49:27.50\00:49:29.93
Did Jethro take in Moses?
00:49:29.96\00:49:32.80
And Moses got a
wife out of the deal.
00:49:32.83\00:49:35.70
And those of
you who are singles,
00:49:35.74\00:49:39.07
Elijah stayed with a
widow and she had a baby
00:49:39.11\00:49:42.71
and a resurrection.
00:49:42.74\00:49:44.15
She invited him
to her upper room.
00:49:44.18\00:49:46.48
Jesus was invited to
Peter's house and he healed
00:49:46.51\00:49:49.78
Peter's mother-in-law.
00:49:49.82\00:49:51.99
And you got Zacchaeus.
00:49:52.02\00:49:55.29
Jesus said, "And I want
to abide in your house."
00:49:55.32\00:49:56.83
Martha and
Lazarus invited Jesus.
00:49:56.86\00:49:58.43
A lot of
hospitality in the Bible.
00:49:58.46\00:49:59.79
We're just out of time.
00:49:59.83\00:50:01.10
Let me remind you of
what our free offer is today.
00:50:01.13\00:50:04.43
Friends, if you've
joined us a little late,
00:50:04.47\00:50:06.10
you missed this
at the beginning,
00:50:06.13\00:50:07.44
it's called "Compromise,
Conformity & Courage."
00:50:07.47\00:50:09.94
Talk to us about how
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00:50:09.97\00:50:11.74
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00:50:11.77\00:50:15.41
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00:50:15.44\00:50:19.35
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00:50:19.38\00:50:21.72
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00:50:21.75\00:50:23.92
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00:50:25.89\00:50:34.00
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00:50:34.03\00:50:37.37
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00:51:07.66\00:51:10.63
announcer: Amazing
Facts changed lives.
00:51:14.54\00:51:17.37
Gary: Early 1980s, all the
baby boomers were turning 21
00:51:22.31\00:51:24.81
and the nightclubs seemed
to exploding and I thought
00:51:24.85\00:51:27.98
of the
entertainment lighting company.
00:51:28.02\00:51:30.25
female: I was the president.
00:51:30.29\00:51:31.89
There were six divisions doing
the raves in the '80s and '90s,
00:51:31.92\00:51:35.16
you know, in some warehouse
where you're setting up lighting
00:51:35.19\00:51:37.33
and fog and, you know,
who knows what's going on
00:51:37.36\00:51:40.00
in there and
nightclub installations.
00:51:40.03\00:51:43.23
I loved it, and
it was who I was.
00:51:43.26\00:51:46.87
Gary: Bought a new house out
of town and we moved about two
00:51:46.90\00:51:49.07
or three times, but we were all
going into different churches.
00:51:49.10\00:51:53.04
We're in a Lutheran Church and
then we're at a Methodist Church
00:51:53.07\00:51:55.18
and I think we went three
different Baptist churches.
00:51:55.21\00:51:58.35
My wife was raised Catholic.
00:51:58.38\00:52:00.05
I was raised Methodist.
00:52:00.08\00:52:01.48
Currently, I've been reading
all the Hal Lindsay books
00:52:01.52\00:52:03.82
and watching all the
"Left Behind" movies.
00:52:03.85\00:52:05.95
And so I really
wanted to understand what
00:52:05.99\00:52:07.49
the Book of
Revelation was all about,
00:52:07.52\00:52:09.26
but nothing really
ever made sense to me.
00:52:09.29\00:52:11.39
female: One day,
Pastor Lloyd Logan
00:52:11.43\00:52:13.29
came knocking and he
had that Net 99 flyer.
00:52:13.33\00:52:16.93
Lloyd Logan: We were preparing
for an evangelistic series,
00:52:16.97\00:52:21.50
and different people were
going different directions.
00:52:21.54\00:52:24.14
I was in Hidden Hills to
invite people to the meetings.
00:52:24.17\00:52:28.34
female: I saw that
coming at me, you know,
00:52:28.38\00:52:30.28
all the colors and I thought,
00:52:30.31\00:52:31.65
"Oh, no, this is
some kind of cop thing."
00:52:31.68\00:52:33.25
Lloyd: And she says,
"Thank you very much.
00:52:33.28\00:52:35.15
I'm not much interested myself.
00:52:35.18\00:52:37.85
Well, my husband
likes that kind of thing."
00:52:37.89\00:52:40.36
female: And Lloyd said,
00:52:40.39\00:52:41.76
"Would you give
it to him, please?"
00:52:41.79\00:52:43.26
And I said, "Okay, I will."
00:52:43.29\00:52:45.63
So I took the pamphlet
and I put it on the counter.
00:52:45.66\00:52:48.93
Gary came home
and he walked by it.
00:52:48.96\00:52:51.00
Gary: Ran to the kitchen,
quickly eat and take a shower,
00:52:51.03\00:52:53.74
and go back out and work a show.
00:52:53.77\00:52:55.87
female: Two, three days
went by like this and I moved
00:52:55.90\00:52:57.81
that brochure from the counter,
put it on the dining room table,
00:52:57.84\00:53:02.98
put it back on the
counter, and I actually threw it
00:53:03.01\00:53:05.61
in the garbage.
00:53:05.65\00:53:06.95
As I threw it in
that garbage can,
00:53:06.98\00:53:08.72
I could hear him
and see his face saying,
00:53:08.75\00:53:11.49
"Would you give
it to him, please?"
00:53:11.52\00:53:13.72
And I actually
took the garbage out.
00:53:13.76\00:53:15.46
And that night lying in
bed, I kept seeing his face
00:53:15.49\00:53:18.23
and hearing his voice and
thinking, "Boy, I got to get
00:53:18.26\00:53:21.36
that brochure
out of the garbage."
00:53:21.40\00:53:24.30
And I took that and I
put it right underneath
00:53:24.33\00:53:27.34
the remote control.
00:53:27.37\00:53:28.97
"Bright colors. He'll see it."
00:53:29.00\00:53:30.74
Gary: I finally sat down in
my living room and I picked up
00:53:30.77\00:53:32.64
the remote and I saw that
angel holding out that scroll.
00:53:32.67\00:53:35.24
female: "Whoa,
cool. What is this?"
00:53:35.28\00:53:38.65
And I was in the kitchen
cooking and I thought, "Oh, no."
00:53:38.68\00:53:42.25
Gary: And I looked at it
and I turned it over and then
00:53:42.28\00:53:45.05
I saw a little building--
a little church building,
00:53:45.09\00:53:47.26
and it wasn't too far away.
00:53:47.29\00:53:48.69
It was about six houses down,
and I said, "Friday night."
00:53:48.72\00:53:52.19
female: And I
certainly wasn't going.
00:53:52.23\00:53:54.10
I mean, it wasn't
my intention to go.
00:53:54.13\00:53:56.06
Gary: I didn't have any
shows going on that night.
00:53:56.10\00:53:58.20
And so I thought it
was a one night deal.
00:53:58.23\00:54:00.30
I went and as I heard
about the Millennium man,
00:54:00.34\00:54:03.04
I was just blown away.
00:54:03.07\00:54:05.31
I didn't want it to end.
00:54:05.34\00:54:06.68
I knew what I was hearing
was all from the Scripture,
00:54:06.71\00:54:09.18
and it wasn't based on
Hollywood movies or other books
00:54:09.21\00:54:11.78
that were written.
00:54:11.81\00:54:13.11
They said, "Come
again tomorrow night."
00:54:13.15\00:54:14.55
And I thought,
"Wow, great. Two nights."
00:54:14.58\00:54:17.02
So I tried to tell my
wife about it and she still
00:54:17.05\00:54:19.35
wasn't interested, and
then she decided to come.
00:54:19.39\00:54:22.12
female: I started to
hear the truth, you know,
00:54:22.16\00:54:24.39
and I started to get fed.
00:54:24.43\00:54:26.06
Gary: Every night
after the seminar,
00:54:26.09\00:54:27.76
they would hand us an
Amazing Facts study guide.
00:54:27.83\00:54:30.00
I couldn't get
those fast enough.
00:54:30.03\00:54:31.80
female: The business
kept us going 7 days a week
00:54:31.83\00:54:34.97
and it was night and day.
00:54:35.00\00:54:36.57
Gary: Crew is
working around the clock.
00:54:36.60\00:54:38.57
And so, when we finally heard
the Sabbath message, you know,
00:54:38.61\00:54:41.61
so far everything was
true right from the Bible.
00:54:41.64\00:54:43.68
female: Church on
Saturday, no work?
00:54:43.71\00:54:45.98
Anyway, it all clicked.
00:54:46.01\00:54:48.15
Gary: Both our heads
turned at each other.
00:54:48.18\00:54:49.68
Our jaws dropped open.
00:54:49.72\00:54:51.49
female: I said,
"We can't do that."
00:54:51.52\00:54:54.42
Gary: And the first thing
that came out of my mouth was,
00:54:54.46\00:54:56.46
"We have to."
00:54:56.49\00:54:57.79
female: I knew that
it would be a sacrifice
00:54:57.83\00:55:00.16
and I was in fear about it.
00:55:00.20\00:55:02.76
Gary: We didn't know
how we were going to do it,
00:55:02.80\00:55:05.23
but we talked to the pastor
about it and the pastor said,
00:55:05.27\00:55:08.47
"We'll just pray about
it and God will open doors."
00:55:08.50\00:55:11.04
female: I didn't want to
give up all the connections
00:55:11.07\00:55:12.91
I've made, all the
networking, all the money,
00:55:12.94\00:55:15.58
all the investment.
00:55:15.61\00:55:17.11
Gary: We went to the
board and asked them if
00:55:17.15\00:55:18.61
they would consider closing
on Saturday, and they agreed to.
00:55:18.65\00:55:22.25
So we closed the
storefront on Saturday,
00:55:22.28\00:55:24.35
but we're still doing
productions and that kind
00:55:24.39\00:55:26.45
of bothered us.
00:55:26.49\00:55:27.79
So a couple months later,
God opened the door for my wife.
00:55:27.82\00:55:31.36
She exited the company.
00:55:31.39\00:55:32.93
I prayed about it, and God
opened the door for me too.
00:55:32.96\00:55:35.36
female: Gary shortly after
was offered a job being paid
00:55:35.40\00:55:39.50
more money than he made
as an owner of the company.
00:55:39.53\00:55:43.27
Gary: He said, "I'll
give you $1,000 raise
00:55:43.30\00:55:46.14
and you will never
work another weekend."
00:55:46.17\00:55:48.68
female: And we were able
to keep the Sabbath and enjoy
00:55:48.71\00:55:52.28
the wonderful blessings that God
had for us on the Sabbath day.
00:55:52.31\00:55:56.32
Gary: My kids
never again had to say,
00:55:56.35\00:55:57.99
"Quit talking about work."
00:55:58.02\00:55:59.59
After the seminar was over, my
wife and I and my children were
00:55:59.62\00:56:02.26
all baptized into the
Seventh Day Adventist Church.
00:56:02.29\00:56:05.23
Even if I gave up
everything, I knew that God
00:56:05.26\00:56:07.30
would have something better.
00:56:07.36\00:56:09.06
female: I have much more
understanding and there's
00:56:09.10\00:56:12.23
much more depth in my
Christian walk with the Lord.
00:56:12.27\00:56:16.30
Gary: We started an Amazing
Fact Bible School at our church.
00:56:16.34\00:56:19.24
It allows anybody to
understand the Scriptures,
00:56:19.27\00:56:22.08
to understand the end times.
00:56:22.11\00:56:23.68
Church changed my
life dramatically,
00:56:23.71\00:56:25.78
and I'm very happy and
excited to be a part of it.
00:56:25.81\00:56:28.65
announcer: Let's face it.
00:56:36.49\00:56:37.79
It's not always easy
to understand everything
00:56:37.83\00:56:39.83
you read in the Bible.
00:56:39.86\00:56:41.33
With over 700,000
words contained in 66 books,
00:56:41.36\00:56:45.07
the Bible can
generate a lot of questions.
00:56:45.10\00:56:47.54
To get biblical
straightforward answers,
00:56:47.57\00:56:49.87
call into Bible Answers Live,
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00:56:49.90\00:56:53.27
program where you can
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00:56:53.31\00:56:56.78
and ask him your most
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00:56:56.81\00:56:59.35
For times and stations
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00:56:59.38\00:57:02.25
to answers online,
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00:57:02.28\00:57:06.79
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At aftv.org, you can enjoy
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Visit aftv.org.
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announcer: Did you
know that Noah was present
00:57:39.72\00:57:41.69
at the birth of Abraham?
00:57:41.72\00:57:43.29
Okay, maybe he
wasn't in the room,
00:57:43.32\00:57:45.26
but he was alive and
probably telling stories
00:57:45.29\00:57:47.93
about his floating zoo.
00:57:47.96\00:57:50.23
From the creation of the
world to the last day of events
00:57:50.27\00:57:52.87
of Revelation, biblehistory.com
is a free resource where
00:57:52.90\00:57:56.47
you can explore major
Bible events and characters,
00:57:56.50\00:58:00.14
enhance your
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00:58:00.18\00:58:02.08
and draw closer to God's Word.
00:58:02.11\00:58:04.45
Go deeper.
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Visit the amazing Bible
timeline at biblehistory.com.
00:58:05.98\00:58:09.98