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00:13 ♪♪♪ 00:23 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Jëan Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:37 Welcome again to "Sabbath School Study Hour" here at the Granite 00:40 Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:43 We'd like to welcome those who are joining us across the 00:45 country and around the world and a special warm welcome to our 00:48 online church members that tune in every week to participate 00:52 in our Sabbath school. 00:54 We'd also like to welcome our regular church members here, 00:56 as well as those who might be visiting with us today. 01:00 If you've been attending for the couple last weeks or maybe 01:03 if you're a first-time visitor, we've been studying through our 01:05 lesson quarterly dealing with the two Old Testament books 01:09 of Ezra and Nehemiah and today we're going to continue 01:12 our study in these very important books. 01:14 Today, we're on lesson number 7 that's entitled, 01:18 "Our Forgiving God." 01:19 That's lesson number 7. 01:21 Now, for those of you who might be watching, if you don't have a 01:23 copy of today's lesson, you can download lesson number 7 01:27 and study along with us at lesson.aftv.org. 01:32 Again, just lesson.aftv.org. 01:35 Download lesson number 7 in our study of Ezra and Nehemiah, 01:39 and you can study along with us. 01:41 We also have a free offer that we'd like to let you know about, 01:43 a book, one of my favorites, entitled 01:46 "Three Steps to Heaven," and we'll be happy to send this out 01:49 to anyone who calls and asks. 01:51 The number is 866-788-3966, and you want to ask 01:56 for offer number 102. 01:59 Again, that's 866-788-3966. 02:02 Ask for offer number 102. 02:05 We'll be happy to send it to you, or you can text the code 02:08 "SH068" to the number 40544, and you'll be able 02:14 to get a digital download of this book. 02:18 Again, just text the code, and we'll be happy to send you 02:20 a link, and you'll be able to download and read the book, 02:23 "Three Steps to Heaven." 02:25 Well, before we get to our study this morning we'd like to begin 02:27 by lifting our voices in song. 02:30 I'd like to invite our song leaders to come forward 02:32 and now lead us in our song today. 02:34 ♪♪♪ 02:39 ♪ More about Jesus I would know. ♪ 02:43 ♪ More of His grace to others show. ♪ 02:48 ♪ More of His saving fullness see. ♪ 02:52 ♪ More of His love who died for me. ♪ 02:57 ♪ More, more about Jesus. ♪ 03:02 ♪ More, more about Jesus. ♪ 03:06 ♪ More of His saving fullness see. ♪ 03:11 ♪ More of His love who died for me. ♪ 03:16 ♪ More about Jesus let me learn. ♪ 03:20 ♪ More of His holy will discern. ♪ 03:25 ♪ Spirit of God my teacher be. ♪ 03:29 ♪ Showing the things of Christ to me. ♪ 03:34 ♪ More, more about Jesus. ♪ 03:38 ♪ More, more about Jesus. ♪ 03:43 ♪ More of His saving fullness see. ♪ 03:47 ♪ More of His love who died for me. ♪ 03:53 ♪ More about Jesus in His Word, ♪ 03:57 ♪ holding communion with my Lord. ♪ 04:01 ♪ Hearing His voice in every line, ♪ 04:06 ♪ making each faithful saying mine. ♪ 04:10 ♪ More, more about Jesus. ♪ 04:15 ♪ More, more about Jesus. ♪ 04:19 ♪ More of His saving fullness see. ♪ 04:24 ♪ More of His love who died for me. ♪ 04:29 ♪ More about Jesus on His throne. ♪ 04:33 ♪ Riches in glory all His own. ♪ 04:38 ♪ More of His kingdom's sure increase. ♪ 04:42 ♪ More of His coming, Prince of Peace. ♪ 04:47 ♪ More, more about Jesus. ♪ 04:52 ♪ More, more about Jesus. ♪ 04:56 ♪ More of His saving fullness see. ♪ 05:01 ♪ More of His love who died for me. ♪♪ 05:09 Jëan: Dear Father in heaven, we thank You once again for 05:11 this wonderful day that You have given us, an opportunity to 05:13 gather together to worship You, to open up Your Word and study. 05:16 And once again, Lord, we recognize the Bible is Your book 05:19 and in order for us to correctly understand it we need the 05:22 leading of the Holy Spirit, so we invite the Holy Spirit 05:24 in a special way today as we take a look at--a glimpse 05:29 from Scripture revealing the Father's love. 05:33 So, thank you, Father for your grace, your goodness, 05:35 and bless our time together. 05:36 We ask this in Jesus's name. 05:38 Amen. 05:40 Our lesson study today is going to be brought to us 05:41 by Pastor Doug. 05:44 Doug Batchelor: Thank you, Pastor Ross, 05:46 and good morning everyone. 05:47 Thank you to our singers, Michelle and her singing group. 05:51 How is everybody? 05:53 Boy, we're having some beautiful days in California. 05:56 These are nice fall days, unless you're some of the people up 06:00 in the Hills that have no electricity right now, 06:03 because California has become a third-world country. 06:08 It's interesting as I travel. 06:09 Sometimes I've been in some countries where the power just 06:11 goes on and off, but I never expected that to be the case 06:15 in California, so--but we're praising the Lord for another 06:21 opportunity to be able to study His Word together 06:24 and that we have power right now, amen? 06:27 And there's all kinds of power available to God's people. 06:30 We're studying--continuing in our study on the books 06:32 of Ezra and Nehemiah. 06:34 Very enriching period in Bible history, and we're on lesson 7 06:43 today which is titled "Our Forgiving God," 06:46 and we have the memory verse which comes to us 06:48 from Proverbs 28:13. 06:50 Some of you probably already know this one by heart, 06:54 but we're going to say it together. 06:55 Proverbs 28:13. 06:56 It's here in the New King James Version. 06:58 Are you ready? 07:00 "He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses 07:06 and forsakes them will have mercy." 07:09 Part of his lesson is dealing with the subject of repentance 07:15 and prayer and fasting and confession, 07:18 and we're going to be talking about those things. 07:20 Now, just so you know our mission today, as I say, 07:24 our mission, if we choose to accept it, 07:26 our mission is to study Nehemiah chapter 9. 07:31 That's it. 07:32 We got to just study, and I'm going to try to read 07:34 through the whole thing today. 07:35 We'll stop as the lesson does, and I think they break it up 07:38 into about five different segments, 07:39 and we'll do our best to expound it. 07:42 First thing I want you to know is to understand chapter 9 07:45 you need to go back a little bit in chapter 8. 07:48 In chapter 9 they're having a revival and there is repentance 07:55 and confession, but it's springing out of them 07:58 rediscovering the Feast of Tabernacles. 08:01 They'd forgotten a lot of the truths 08:03 that they normally believed. 08:04 For example, if you look in Nehemiah chapter 8, 08:07 verse 2 notice the emphasis on the calendar here, 08:12 "On the first day of the seventh month." 08:15 So, what month is this? 08:17 What's our seventh month? 08:21 Oh, but that's not the Jewish calendar. 08:24 The Jewish calendar was a lunar calendar and their months 08:26 were different than our months. 08:28 This is what they would call their month Tishrei, 08:30 and it's September to October, so it's different. 08:36 Don't be thinking of our calendar. 08:39 The typical calendar of the Western world comes 08:41 from the Romans, and it is all convoluted. 08:44 Not only are we not under the Julian calendar anymore, 08:48 they changed it to what they call the Gregorian calendar. 08:53 The reason we have a month named July, it's named after, 08:56 who knows? 08:57 Julius Caesar. 08:59 And why do we have a month named August? 09:02 Augustus Caesar. 09:03 And why is February short? 09:06 Because Augustus Caesar wanted as many days as July, 09:11 so he took days off of February. 09:15 And what is the eighth month in the--our calendar? 09:23 August. 09:24 Then why is October mean eight? 09:27 How do you say eight in Spanish? Ocho. 09:30 An octagon has how many sides? 09:33 And what is our ninth month? 09:37 But why do we have a month named November? 09:39 Nueve. 09:40 That means nine and deca should be the 10th month, December, 09:46 but it's the 12th month. 09:47 The Romans messed with the calendar, and we're stuck with 09:50 it now, and so the Jews had a totally different calendar. 09:54 And so, when you are studying in the Bible and it talks about the 09:58 seventh month, make sure you're looking at--and most of you 10:01 have--if you have even elementary Bible studies, 10:04 somewhere in your Bible studies, your additional concordance 10:07 you'll see they'll have the Hebrew calendar, 10:09 and it will show you what the names were of the months. 10:12 And they had one month named Nissan. 10:14 That's easy to remember, right? 10:16 Like the pickup truck, 10:17 and so they have their different months. 10:21 So, on the first day of the seventh month it tells us 10:23 in our reading--go to Nehemiah 8, verse 13. 10:27 "Now on the second day the heads of the fathers' house 10:30 and all the people, with the priests and the Levites, 10:32 were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand 10:36 the words of the law." 10:39 So, they're studying the words of the law and in the process 10:41 of this study, with the heads and the priests and people, 10:45 "They found written in the law, 10:47 which the Lord had commanded to Moses, 10:48 that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during 10:52 the feast of the seventh month." 10:53 That's commonly called what feast? 10:56 Tabernacles. They are tabernacling. 10:58 What was the Feast of Tabernacles all about? 11:02 And we've got the 4th of July to remember the independence 11:06 and our freedoms. 11:08 Well, they do the Feast of Tabernacle to remember that for 11:11 40 years God sustained them miraculously as they stayed in 11:16 tents in the wilderness, so they would say in either booths where 11:20 they'd have a cloth roof, or they'd--primarily they'd go get 11:23 branches of palm trees, and they'd make these little tents, 11:28 and they'd stay in them. 11:29 Sometimes they'd do it on their roofs just so they could say, 11:32 "You know, we're going to camp out during this feast." 11:34 It was a week, a Feast of Tabernacles, and they'd 11:37 remember, they'd rejoice, they'd have feasts, and they'd visit 11:40 each other, and it's kinda like their camp meeting. 11:42 And matter of fact, Ellen White says that the modern equivalent 11:46 that we have for the Feast of Tabernacles is when we get 11:49 together at camp meetings. 11:50 I don't know if you ever have been to a Christian camp 11:53 meeting, but I've been to a lot of them around the country, 11:57 both visiting and speaking, and so I've seen some beautiful 12:00 campsites all around the country. 12:02 One of the best camp meetings in North America that I've seen 12:06 is the one in Northern California. 12:08 It's in the Redwoods, and it's really very pretty, 12:12 but I've also seen some other nice ones. 12:14 Anyway, so they're celebrating their Feast of Tabernacles. 12:17 Now go to Nehemiah 8 and verse 18. 12:22 "Also day by day, from the first day," of the Feast of 12:26 Tabernacles, "until the last day, he read from the book 12:29 of law--of the law. 12:30 And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day 12:34 there was a sacred assembly, according 12:36 to the prescribed manner." 12:37 It says after the feast, seven days, then the eighth day 12:39 they'd have another special assembly. 12:41 Now we jump into Nehemiah chapter 9, which is our study. 12:46 Start with verse 1. 12:48 "Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month--" What month? 12:52 They're still in the same month, so you're reading 12:54 Nehemiah chapter 8 and 9. 12:56 It's all talking about the month of Tissan--or rather Tishrei, 13:01 and that's September, October, where they're having this 13:03 revival and assembly and returning to the Lord. 13:07 And it tells us that "the children of Israel 13:11 were assembled with fasting, in 13:14 sackcloth, with dust on their heads." 13:17 The Bible speaks in Isaiah 58 there is a time to fast, 13:22 verse 5, "A day for a man to afflict his soul." 13:25 So, you'll notice we studied earlier Nehemiah. 13:27 That there was a great reform and revival and repentance. 13:31 They had started to intermarry with the locals that did not 13:35 worship the Lord, and God had told them, "Don't do that. 13:38 They'll draw your heart away from you." 13:41 Can you think of examples in the Bible where intermarriage drew 13:44 the hearts of the people away? 13:48 Solomon. 13:50 Matter of fact, right after the pinnacle statement in the Hebrew 13:53 history where it talks about the wealth and the wisdom 13:56 of Solomon and the way God blessed--and 13:58 in 1 year 666 talents of gold came to him. 14:03 Says that. 14:04 Right after it says that it says, "But Solomon loved many 14:08 wives," and they drew his heart away when he was old. 14:11 First lesson, his life was very faithful. 14:14 Who else? 14:15 Samson. 14:17 Yeah, he said to his parents, "I found this Philistine girl." 14:20 And they said, "Isn't there a Jewish girl you can marry?" 14:23 That's what my grandparents said to me 14:25 when I told them I found Karen. 14:28 They said, "A goyim? Isn't there a Jewish girl?" 14:32 I said, "Grandma, she's a Sabbath keeper, and she doesn't 14:36 eat anything that isn't kosher," and they came to love Karen. 14:40 But they said to Samson, "Can't you find a Jewish girl?" 14:43 He said, "Get her for me. 14:44 She pleaseth me well," and if you know the story 14:47 of that wedding it really did not end well. 14:49 And then, he went to see a Philistine harlot, 14:51 and then he started hanging out with Delilah, 14:54 and it just did not end well for Samson. 14:56 And you can see several examples of this in the Bible, 15:00 where they were drawn away to worship other gods 15:04 because of these intermarriages. 15:06 And it wasn't just the men marrying the pagan women. 15:09 It was the pagan men marrying the Jewish girls, 15:12 and so the Bible says don't do that. 15:15 And how does Paul talk about that? 15:19 Do not be unequally yoked together, 15:22 believers with unbelievers. 15:23 For what exchange has Christ with Belial?" 15:28 That's basically saying the Lord with demons. 15:30 And those who are following the Lord, why would you want to 15:34 marry someone where you're going to go in the same direction with 15:37 someone who is following the world in some way? 15:39 So, they were repenting now because of this, 15:42 so they're having this national day of repentance. 15:46 Let me read something to you 15:47 I think you might find interesting. 15:48 Did you hear about the president's proclamation 15:50 for fasting and prayer? 15:51 Listen to this. 15:54 "By the President of the United States of America. 15:56 A Proclamation. 15:58 Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly 16:01 recognizing the supreme authority and just government of 16:04 Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, 16:10 by a resolution, requested the President to designate 16:13 and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation. 16:17 And whereas is the duty of all nations as well as men, to own 16:22 their dependence upon the overruling power of God and to 16:26 confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, 16:30 yet with assured hope of genuine repentance will lead to mercy 16:34 and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the 16:38 Holy Scriptures and proven by all of history, that those 16:42 nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord." 16:45 Now, did you hear about Trump's proclamation 16:49 on fasting and prayer? 16:51 Governments can't do that anymore, can they? 16:54 But this is true. 16:56 This is March 30, 1863. 17:00 Who was president? 17:02 Lincoln. 17:04 "In as much as we know that by His divine law nations, 17:08 like individuals, are subject to punishments and chastisements 17:12 in this world, we may not justly fear that awful calamity of 17:16 civil war, which now desolates the land, may be a punishment 17:20 inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the 17:25 needful end of our national reformation as a people. 17:28 We have been recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. 17:32 We have been preserved these many years 17:33 in peace and prosperity. 17:35 We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation 17:37 has ever grown, but we have forgotten God. 17:42 We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace 17:45 and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we've 17:49 vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, 17:52 that all these blessings were produced 17:53 by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. 17:57 Intoxicated with unbroken success, we've become too 18:00 self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming 18:03 and preserving grace to pray--too proud to pray 18:07 to the God that made us." 18:09 Wow! 18:10 Almost sounds like at one point we thought 18:12 that we were a Judeo-Christian country. 18:17 Now this would be called separation of church and state. 18:20 You realize that the founding fathers never understood 18:23 separation of church and state to be 18:25 what they've made it today. 18:27 They meant separation of church and state to be you do not have 18:30 a particular denomination that runs the country. 18:34 It didn't mean that we became an irreligious country, because the 18:38 whole constitution is rooted in a truth that we believe we are 18:41 endowed with rights by a Creator. 18:44 And look at Lincoln's language, and he was not the most 18:47 religious president, but he talks about the law of God. 18:51 He talks about the Bible. 18:53 He talks about punishments and obedience 18:55 and sin and repentance. 18:57 And, man, they can't do that now. 19:00 That'd be considered insensitive to the atheists among us. 19:03 Isn't that right? 19:05 Yeah, so this is what they were doing back in Israel. 19:11 They used to have, occasionally, national days of repentance 19:15 and prayer and that's what's happening here 19:17 in Ezra and Nehemiah. 19:18 As they had spent all those days during the Feast of Tabernacle 19:22 reading the Bible, you notice it says here that they were reading 19:28 the Bible for a quarter of the day. 19:31 Well, I haven't gotten to that yet. 19:32 I'm jumping ahead of myself. 19:34 So, they spent time confessing. 19:36 You go to Nehemiah 9:2. 19:38 "Then those of Israel's lineage separated themselves from all 19:42 the foreigners; and they stood, and they confessed their sins 19:46 and the iniquities of their fathers." 19:48 Notice they're not just confessing their sins. 19:52 They're confessing the sins of their fathers. 19:55 Now, the Bible says that there is a time for confession. 19:59 How important is repentance and confession 20:01 to conversion and forgiveness? 20:06 First word from John the Baptist 20:08 when he started preaching: repent. 20:11 Now, confession is the verbal part of repentance. 20:15 It's a package deal. 20:18 If I step on your toe, I am sorry. 20:22 I repent that I stepped on your toe, assuming it was 20:24 undeliberate, and then I say, "Please forgive me. 20:27 Pardon me." 20:29 That's the verbal part of the repentance, 20:31 and so for people to say, "Well, I repented 20:33 but I didn't confess," you haven't repented. 20:36 Confession is the verbal side of repentance 20:39 and a lot of Scriptures tell us that. 20:41 Let me give you some--a memory verse. 20:45 "He who covers his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses 20:49 and forsakes--" So, it's not the kind of confession where you're 20:53 a mafia boss, and you go to your priest, and you confess, 20:55 "I shot three people this week, Father." 20:57 And he says, "Six--say six Hail Marys and two Our Fathers," 21:01 and you do that you can go shoot another three people. 21:03 That's how some people view confession. 21:06 You just, you know, confess it to the priest, 21:07 but you're not sorry. 21:09 You're not going to stop. 21:10 It says whoever confesses and forsakes. 21:13 That means you repent. 21:14 It means a change of direction. 21:16 You want to turn from your sin. 21:18 In a moment I'm going to have somebody read 1 John 1:9. 21:21 Who has that one? 21:23 All right, just you'll be next up here and--but 21:25 here I'm going to read Psalm 32:5. 21:28 "I acknowledged my sin to You, 21:30 and my iniquity I have not hidden. 21:33 I said, 'I will confess my transgression to the Lord,' 21:36 and You forgave the iniquity of my sin." 21:39 It's a principle that if we repent and confess our sins, 21:42 He is merciful. 21:44 Why don't you read your verse for us? 21:46 female: 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, 21:50 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 21:53 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 21:55 Doug: That's a beautiful truth. 21:57 We'll be talking about the Beatitudes later today and one 22:00 of them says, "He that hungers and thirsts after 22:02 righteousness--" Here it tells us that if we confess our sins, 22:06 He cleanses us from all unrighteousness, and 22:12 that's a verse I think that if you're ever doing Bible studies 22:14 one you should remember. 22:16 If you're leading a person to Christ, you need to explain 22:18 we got a problem. 22:19 Problem is sin, and the answer is Jesus, but we must confess 22:24 and repent of our sins, and when we do that He promises 22:27 to cleanse us from how much? 22:29 All unrighteousness. 22:31 So, if you are cleansed from all unrighteousness, 22:34 how much unrighteousness do you have left? 22:36 None. 22:38 So, how does God view you? 22:39 As pure and holy and that means you are forgiven 22:42 and you are saved, so--but it begins with confession. 22:47 And you can read here it says, "We confess our sins." 22:53 It was corporate. 22:55 They stood and confessed the sins and iniquities 22:57 of their fathers. 22:58 Now, how can I be responsible for the sin of my father? 23:02 I thought it said in the Bible that the father will not be 23:04 charged with the sins of the son and the son will not be charged 23:06 with the sins of the father. 23:08 Well, that's true, but they had an attitude in the Bible that 23:14 we're in this thing together, and there is even repentance 23:17 of what's happened in the past. 23:20 You know, Americans are very--we're, kind of, 23:22 independent people. 23:26 You know, we broke away from the nations of Europe, and we're a 23:29 hodgepodge of a lot of people that wanted to leave the 23:32 oppression of kings and popes in Europe, and so the people who, 23:36 kind of, ended up coming to America and Australia ended 23:39 up--they're a very independent people. 23:42 We, kind of, are self-sufficient. 23:44 It's not that way when you go to other countries where people 23:48 have been for a millennia on their land. 23:51 They see themselves as generations of people, 23:54 especially if you go to--in the Eastern cultures. 23:57 They actually worship their ancestors. 24:01 And countries like China, where you've got so many people 24:04 and big families. 24:05 They used to be big families. 24:07 They're a little smaller now, but they see themselves more 24:08 with a community mind. 24:10 You can't build a wall 1,500 miles along unless you think 24:14 that way and notice in the Bible when they confessed 24:18 they did it corporately. 24:20 Daniel 9, verse 21, "Now while I was speaking and praying, 24:26 confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel--" 24:30 Can someone here tell me what Daniel's sin was? 24:33 If I say, "What was David's sin?" 24:35 you all know. 24:36 If I say, "What's Solomon or Samson's sin?" 24:39 You know. 24:41 I say, "What is Daniel's sin?" 24:44 Well, everyone has sinned, including Mary, 24:47 other than Jesus. 24:49 It says he is the only one who is without sin, 24:51 so who knows what the sin was? 24:53 It doesn't identify it. 24:54 I think you can read it in the book "Prophets and Kings." 24:57 It said one of his sins was he had been failing to pray 24:59 for God's people, and he saw that as a sin, so Daniel says, 25:03 "I'm praying for my sin and the sin of my people." 25:06 Listen to Isaiah in his conversion. 25:08 Isaiah 6, verse 5, "So I said: 'Woe is me. 25:12 I am undone! 25:13 Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst 25:16 of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King.'" 25:20 Here he is. 25:21 Isaiah is repenting and confessing for his sin and the 25:24 sin of his people, and you'll find this all through the Bible. 25:27 Moses, he's asking God to forgive his sin 25:31 and the sin of the people. 25:33 In the Lord's Prayer--now, you might say, 25:36 "Well, these are Old Testament examples, Pastor Doug." 25:38 Lord's Prayer is New Testament. 25:40 How many times in the Lord's Prayer do you find the word 25:43 "I, me, my, mine, or myself"? 25:47 None. 25:48 You were going through it in your mind, weren't you? 25:51 It's, "Our Father, forgive us. Lead us." 25:55 But a lot of us, when we pray the Lord's Prayer, we're 25:59 thinking of it as, "My father who is in heaven, lead me. 26:04 Deliver me." 26:05 It's not how you're supposed to pray the prayer, 26:06 because I should be concerned as a believer not only 26:09 with my deliverance, but with your deliverance. 26:12 I should not only be concerned with my forgiveness, 26:14 but I should be concerned with your forgiveness, 26:16 and until you are concerned 26:18 with the forgiveness of others you're not really converted. 26:21 And so, we should be praying for God to forgive us as a people, 26:26 as a family, as a church denomination, a country, 26:32 and so this--it was a corporate confession. 26:35 That's what you're having here. 26:38 Nehemiah chapter 9, verse 3. 26:39 I know you're thinking, "Pastor Doug, you better hurry." 26:43 "And they stood up in their place to read from the Book of 26:46 the Law their God for one-fourth of the day; and another fourth 26:51 they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God." 26:53 So, how many hours in a day? 26:57 Twenty-four in our day, but in the Jewish day they thought 27:00 of the daylight, and Jesus said, "Are there not twelve hours 27:05 in the day," right? 27:07 And so, what is one-fourth of 12? 27:13 We got a lot of math majors here. 27:14 Three hours, right? 27:17 Four times three is twelve. 27:19 Isn't that right? 27:20 I failed math, but I know that, because if you, you know, you 27:23 work with a ruler and you do construction you know that 12 27:25 is a great building number. 27:27 Anyway, so for three hours they were reading the Word, 27:32 and then as a result of reading the Word they said, 27:35 "You know, we've got a lot to confess." 27:37 They were convicted, and then they spent three hours 27:40 worshiping God, confessing their sin. 27:43 Now, I've been to some charismatic services before 27:46 where they play the music and everyone stands, and they kinda 27:48 get into a frenzy, and then they start speaking in tongues, 27:51 and then they say, "Let's all worship the Lord together." 27:52 And I'm not trying to be unkind or ridicule. 27:55 I'm just telling you what they do. 27:58 I've seen it, been in it, and they lift their hands, 28:01 and they start to speak in tongues 28:04 and some start to prophesy 28:05 and others start to interpret what the prophecy is, 28:08 and it sounds chaotic, quite frankly. 28:11 Or you maybe will be in a more evangelical church, 28:16 less Pentecostal with the speaking in tongues. 28:18 They say, "Let's worship the Lord," and they all start 28:20 to--they're singing. 28:22 They're raising their arms. 28:23 And so, when it said for three hours they're worshiping 28:27 the Lord and confessing their sins, do you think 28:29 that's what they were doing? 28:31 No, I don't think so. 28:32 I think they may have actually had a platform where, 28:35 when it tells us they did, where different ones came up, 28:38 and they prayed, and they did testimonies, 28:41 and they did confession. 28:43 And then, there were episodes of maybe singing some of the songs 28:45 that were songs of repentance, like Psalm 32, Psalm 51, 28:49 and they were worshiping God, repenting of their sins, 28:53 and they had a revival service 28:55 where they were worshiping, confessing. 28:57 Do you know Ellen White talks about how it would be good 29:00 if sometimes we didn't even have a sermon 29:01 but we had a testimony service? 29:03 And she says it would be good if the Holy Spirit would move on 29:06 some churches, and people would stand and confess their faults 29:10 to each other, humble themselves. 29:13 Now, private things should be privately confessed. 29:15 Public things should be publicly confessed, 29:17 and I think everyone feels that would be a little awkward. 29:21 I'm not suggesting we do this now. 29:23 I'm just saying that's what I think they were doing 29:26 and there was nothing wrong with that. 29:27 Our early founders used to do that. 29:29 That used to happen in a lot of Puritan churches, where they'd 29:32 have a testimony service, and they would get up and confess, 29:39 and they prayed for each other, 29:41 so this is what was going on here. 29:43 They stood in their place. 29:44 They read from the Book of the Law for one-fourth of the day 29:47 and for another fourth they confessed 29:49 and they worshiped the Lord their God. 29:50 So, if you get two-fourths of the day how long 29:52 was their worship service? 29:56 Two times three. 29:57 Six-hour worship service, so shall we start a new precedent? 30:03 Got one taker. 30:05 All right, let's go to Monday's section. 30:07 The beginning of the prayer. 30:08 The prayer really starts in Nehemiah 4, verse 38, 30:14 and I want you to notice that in this prayer 30:16 he's spending time talking about the Creator. 30:22 I usually mark my Bible. 30:25 Nehemiah 4. 30:29 I'm sorry. 30:30 Nehemiah 9, verse 4, and it names these individuals twice. 30:39 "Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, 30:46 Bani, and Chenani stood on the stairs--" 30:49 So, do they have a platform? 30:51 "And the Levites cried out with a loud voice 30:54 to the Lord their God. 30:56 And the Levites," and it lists them again, except there's a 30:58 couple of names difference, "Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, 31:02 Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, 31:06 Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said: 'Stand up--'" 31:10 Now, why would they say stand? 31:12 So, during this long confession worship service were they 31:15 standing for three hours? 31:16 You don't ask someone to stand if they're already standing, 31:19 so they had been either seated on the ground. 31:21 Sometimes they had carpets, or they may have had--I don't think 31:23 they had chair, regular chairs. 31:26 "Stand and bless the Lord your God forever and ever! 31:30 Blessed be Your glorious name, 31:32 which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 31:36 You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, the heaven of 31:39 heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and everything in it, 31:44 the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve. 31:46 The host of heaven worships You." 31:49 All right, now he--this is a section. 31:51 We're going to stop here. 31:53 This first section they're establishing 31:55 why He is a God worthy of worship. 31:57 And what is the answer? What are we reading here? 32:00 It says, "You created everything." 32:03 Now, what's part of the three angels' message 32:05 that we're to give to the world? 32:07 "Fear God and give glory to Him. 32:11 He's created everything, the springs of water." 32:15 And so, what right does God have to ask us to worship Him? 32:20 He made us, and He has remade us. 32:24 He is our Creator, and He's our--so, you'll notice it talks 32:27 here in the section, for the rest of this chapter--and 32:30 I'm just going to mention it. It says He is the Creator. 32:33 The section part, He is the Preserver. 32:36 Third part, He is the Promise Keeper. 32:38 I said for these three sections really there. 32:40 He says, "You along, Lord, have made the heaven of heavens, 32:44 with all their hosts, the stars and the earth 32:47 and everything on it, 32:48 the seas and all that are in them. 32:50 And You preserve them. 32:52 The host of heaven worships You." 32:55 And there sometimes it talked about the host of heaven, 32:59 meaning the angels. 33:03 You can read in Colossians 1, verse 16 and 17. 33:06 "For by Him all things that were created that are in heaven 33:10 and on the earth, visible and invisible, 33:13 whether thrones or dominions or principalities 33:16 or powers, all things were created 33:18 through Him and for Him. 33:20 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." 33:24 He not only made everything, He sustains everything, 33:27 and in Him everything consist. 33:29 Now, you know, once a week I've been trying to do--I 33:32 don't get it every week, but I've been trying to do 33:35 these new short excerpts. 33:36 People like watching short, quick, pithy Bible answers on 33:39 YouTube, so I've been doing the Friday evening Bible question of 33:42 the week and didn't get to one this week because it's just been 33:45 really busy, but I want to do one next week. 33:47 And it's a question a lot of people have. 33:51 "If God is all-powerful, if He made everything, 33:53 then how can He be a loving God if there is so much suffering? 33:56 Why do innocent people suffer?" 33:57 How many of you have heard that question? 34:00 If God is good, if He's love, if He's all-powerful then why did 34:02 he make a devil and why do the innocent suffer? 34:06 And if He's all-powerful why doesn't he stop it? 34:09 And people don't understand the great controversy and why God 34:13 will not violate His own law, and there is cause and result, 34:17 but the Bible is pretty clear that God made everything, 34:20 and it's even the power of God that gives the wicked 34:27 the strength to curse Him. 34:29 If God did not keep their hearts beating, 34:32 they would not have the breath to curse Him. 34:35 He's the one gives them a mind to choose to disbelieve in Him. 34:39 He's a God that gives great freedom, and so He allows these 34:43 things to play out, and He is a creator of all things. 34:46 Okay, next. 34:48 On Tuesday it's a call of God's people and their deliverance, 34:54 and so a confession along with repentance is central to our own 34:57 acknowledgement that we must be justified by Christ alone. 35:04 And here we can look in--let me see. 35:07 I'm going to read--I want to read here about the deliverance, 35:12 so you go to verse 7. 35:13 I'm in Nehemiah 9, verse 7. 35:15 "You are the Lord God, who chose Abram, and brought him out of Ur 35:20 of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham." 35:23 Started out Abram. 35:24 Became Abraham, because he said, "I'm making a covenant. 35:26 You're going to be the father of a nation," 35:27 and that's what that means. 35:29 "You found his heart faithful before You, and be--and made a 35:33 covenant with him to give him the land of the Canaanites, 35:37 the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, 35:40 the Girgashites--to give it to his descendants. 35:43 And You have performed Your words, for You are righteous." 35:47 And so, it talks about the call of Abraham, and then ultimately 35:52 they end up down in the land of Egypt. 35:55 "You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt. 35:58 You heard their cry by the Red Sea. 36:01 You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and against all 36:04 his servants and against all the people of his land. 36:07 For You knew that they acted proudly against them. 36:10 So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day." 36:14 Now, when was it that God made a name for Himself? 36:18 In the plagues that fell on Egypt. 36:20 It says there was nothing like it before it or any that came 36:23 after it, and it talks about the dark day. 36:25 It talks about the blood. 36:27 It talks about the locusts. 36:28 It says there was no plague of locusts that had ever been like 36:31 that plague and there has never been one since, and it was such 36:34 a momentous event that the other nations around knew about it. 36:39 When the spies are being hidden by Rahab, 36:41 you know what Rahab says? 36:43 "We heard about the Lord who led you out of Egypt and the signs 36:47 He did and how you crossed the seas," and the miracles and 36:51 things that happened to the Egyptians. 36:53 This is 40 years later, and it's still monumental among all those 36:57 nations what had happened. 36:58 It was a great point in history. 37:00 In fact, many Egyptologists believe that there was a 37:07 powerful effort from some of the pharaohs to expunge the history 37:16 of the plagues from the hieroglyphics and the writings 37:20 in Egypt. 37:21 They were so embarrassed by what happened. 37:24 There is a lot of plaques. 37:26 There is a lot of walls, a lot of plasters that--on the walls 37:30 of Egypt they find in these ancient ruins where someone took 37:33 a chisel and chiseled off all the writing, and they're 37:36 wondering was this an account of what had happened? 37:40 Did they try to expunge the whole story of the Israelites? 37:43 Because they struggle sometimes to find it. 37:44 They have found it, but they didn't want everyone to know. 37:48 It was such a--it was a national embarrassment, of how the whole 37:52 nation had been humiliated by the God of the slaves, what it 37:56 did to their gods, and so you can understand why they wouldn't 38:00 want to codify that. 38:03 But the other nations knew, as mentioned by Rahab and others 38:06 you find in the Bible. 38:07 All right--and so, he's talking about all that he did and let me 38:13 read a statement to you from the book "Selected Messages," page 38:17 3, 191. 38:20 "When through repentance and faith we accept Christ as our 38:23 Savior, the Lord pardons our sins and remits the penalty 38:27 prescribed for the transgression of the law. 38:29 The sinner then stands before God just as a person--just--God 38:33 as a just person; he is taken into favor with heaven, and 38:38 through the Spirit has fellowship with the Father and 38:41 with the Son." 38:42 And so, it's saying that, you know, God saved Abraham because 38:45 He had faith in him. 38:47 He looked upon him as righteous and when the people went down to 38:51 Egypt because of Joseph, they started forgetting about God and 38:56 adopting the habits of the Egyptians. 38:59 God in His mercy, He stepped in to save them, and it says here, 39:05 "You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt. 39:07 You heard their cry by the Red Sea. 39:09 You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and his servants 39:13 and against all the people of the land. 39:15 For You knew they acted proudly against them. 39:17 So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day. 39:20 You divided the sea before them, and they went through the midst 39:24 of the sea and the dry land; and their persecutors You threw into 39:28 the deep, as a stone into the mighty waters. 39:32 Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, and by 39:36 night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the road 39:39 which they should travel." 39:40 So, this is a wonderful story. 39:42 It's telling us how God led them out, 39:44 and it says they went through the sea. 39:47 What is the sea a type of, according to Paul, 1 Corinthians 39:50 chapter 10? 39:52 "You baptized them in the sea," it says, "and You led them by 39:56 this pillar of fire." 39:59 They were baptized in the Spirit, the sea. 40:04 When you go into the sanctuary there are two things. 40:08 You had fire, and you had water. 40:10 In the altar you had the laver. 40:12 Laver had water, altar had fire, then you went into the presence 40:16 of God. 40:17 Children of Israel came out of Egypt. 40:19 They went through the water, and then they were baptized in a 40:22 pillar of fire that protected them from the Egyptians, 40:24 remember? 40:26 Gave them light, but it was darkness for the Egyptians. 40:29 And then, it says they had--you go into the holy place 40:32 you got bread. 40:34 Did God give them bread from heaven? 40:36 And there was an altar of incense, 40:38 and then you had the candlestick. 40:42 There is three things in there and that represents the three 40:44 disciplines of the Christian life and how we sustain them. 40:47 Bread of life, the Word of God, altar of incense, prayer, 40:50 communion with God, and the light is being 40:53 a witness for God. 40:54 You are the light of the world. 40:55 Let your light shine, so the whole wilderness experience is, 40:59 sort of, an analogy of salvation. 41:03 Then it tells us they cried out to God and someone is going to 41:06 read for me Judges 6:6. 41:08 You'll have that in just a moment. 41:10 I'm going to read Psalm 106, verse 44 and 45. 41:13 "Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, He heard their cry; 41:18 and for their sakes He remembered His covenant, and He 41:20 relented according to the multitude of His mercies." 41:24 You know, you and I read the history of Israel. 41:26 I don't know what you think, but there are sometimes I 41:27 think--"Forget about it. 41:30 You know, I save them from Egypt. 41:32 They turn back to foreign gods. 41:33 They say they want to go back to Egypt, and I save them again. 41:35 I save them again. 41:37 I bring them into the Promised Land. 41:38 They intermarry with the pagans. They forget about Me. 41:40 They worship pagan gods. I say just forget about it." 41:43 But in their affliction they turn back to God, and they say, 41:46 "Okay, I'll forgive you again." 41:47 Then they forget about God, and they turn back to the devil. 41:49 They have a hard time. 41:52 God forgives them, says, "Okay, I'll forgive you again." 41:56 They backslide. "I'll forgive you again." 41:58 They backslide. "I'll forgive you again." 42:01 You know that verse that says He is longsuffering to us-ward. 42:05 Aren't you glad when you read the history of Israel? 42:07 Look at the 2,000 years of patience He had with Israel. 42:13 From the Exodus, or you could say the call of Abraham, to 42:18 Christ there's 2,000 years of almost continual backsliding and 42:23 forgiveness, backsliding and forgiveness, but don't use that 42:28 as an excuse to forever be backsliding. 42:30 God is merciful, but there is an end to--if there's not an end to 42:33 His mercy, there's an end to your life eventually, so you 42:36 can't be presumptuous with His mercy, right? 42:39 Read for us, please, Judges 6:6. 42:41 male: Judges 6:6, "So Israel was greatly impoverished because 42:48 of the Midianites, and the children of Israel 42:51 cried out to the Lord." 42:53 Doug: So, God sometimes allows us to go through 42:55 impoverishment or affliction so we'll recognize our need of Him 43:01 and then we cry out for help. 43:02 Does He help? 43:04 He sent Gideon and look at all the judges that He sent, 43:07 and it was usually they got a low point. 43:09 Moses is out there. 43:10 God says, "I've heard the cry of my people." 43:13 Now, did they cry for one or two days or sometimes did they cry 43:16 for years? 43:18 A day with the Lord is like a thousand years, so you think, 43:20 "O Lord, I'm crying out for three hours now. 43:22 How come I don't have an answer?" 43:25 You might have to cry out more than a day. 43:27 I know people that have been praying for their loved ones for 43:31 years, and then He answers their prayers, and so you need to be 43:33 persistent. 43:34 All right, then you go to Nehemiah chapter 9, and I'm 43:39 going to read down to verse 13. 43:42 "You came down on Mount Sinai, and You spoke with them from 43:45 heaven, and You gave them just ordinances and true laws, good 43:50 statutes and commandments. 43:51 You made them know Your holy Sabbath." 43:54 Stop. Wait. 43:56 Did they get the Sabbath the first time there on Mount Sinai? 44:00 No, because He had already been giving them bread from heaven 44:03 six days a week before they ever got to Mount Sinai, Exodus 16. 44:07 So, did God first help them know about the Sabbath in Exodus 16, 44:12 or did Abraham know about the Sabbath? 44:15 God is saying, "You reminded them. 44:17 You brought it back to them," because they were a whole 44:19 generation that had forgotten the statutes of the Lord, but 44:22 you read about Abraham. 44:23 "Abraham kept My commandments, My laws, My statutes, 44:27 My judgements," and that's back in Genesis, and so, yes, 44:31 God had the Sabbath before they ever got to Mount Sinai. 44:34 Some people have read that and said this is when He first gave 44:36 it to them. 44:37 No, He's reminding them of it. 44:40 "And You commanded them precepts, statutes, and laws, by 44:42 the hand of Moses Your servant." 44:44 For instance, one of those laws says don't commit adultery. 44:47 Was that the first time they had heard not to commit adultery? 44:50 Who lived first, Moses or Joseph? 44:54 Joseph. 44:55 And did God tell Joseph, "It's wrong for you 44:58 to have Potiphar's wife. That's adultery"? 45:01 One of the Ten Commandments God gave them was don't murder. 45:05 Who lived first, Moses or Cain? 45:08 Cain. Did God tell Cain murder was a sin? 45:11 Yeah, so they knew about murder, they knew about adultery, and 45:14 they knew about the Sabbath all the way back at the beginning, 45:16 but they'd forgotten it, so he wrote it down for them. 45:21 "You gave them bread from heaven," I'm in verse 15, 45:23 "for their hunger. 45:25 You brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, 45:27 and told them to go to possess the land 45:30 which You swore to give them. 45:32 But they and our fathers acted proudly. 45:35 They hardened their necks. 45:36 They did not heed Your commandments. 45:37 They refused to obey. 45:39 They were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. 45:42 But they hardened their necks in their rebellion." 45:45 It's like a horse that's stiffening his neck so you can't 45:47 turn him. 45:49 "They appointed a leader to return to their bondage." 45:52 That means Egypt. 45:53 "But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, 45:57 slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and You did not 46:00 forsake them." 46:01 How many times did God say to Moses, "Out of My way. 46:05 I'm going to wipe them out. I'll make a nation out of you"? 46:08 And Moses said, "Oh, no, Lord. Be patient. 46:10 They're Your people. What will happen to Your name?" 46:12 God didn't really want to wipe them out. 46:14 He wanted Moses just to intercede. 46:17 "Abundant in kindness, and You did not forsake them." 46:20 I'm in verse 18. 46:21 "Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, and said, 46:24 'This is your god that brought you up out of Egypt,' and they 46:28 worked great provocations," they provoked the Lord, "yet in Your 46:31 manifold mercies You did not forsake them in the wilderness. 46:35 The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day, to lead 46:38 them on the road; nor the pillar of fire by night, to show them 46:41 light, that they should know the way they should go. 46:44 You gave them Your good Spirit to instruct them." 46:46 Notice right after the pillar it talks about the Spirit. 46:50 "And You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth," that 46:53 bread of life, the Word. 46:54 "You gave them water for their thirst. 46:56 Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked 46:59 nothing; their clothes did not wear out. 47:01 Their feet did not swell. 47:03 Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations, and divided them 47:07 into districts. 47:08 So they took possession of the land of Sihon, the land of Og, 47:12 the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og of Bashan. 47:15 You multiplied their children like the stars of heaven, and 47:19 brought them into the land which You had told their fathers to go 47:21 in and possess. 47:23 So the people went in and possessed the land; and You 47:25 subdued them before the inhabitants of the land, the 47:28 Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings 47:32 and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they 47:35 wished. 47:36 And they took," they conquered, "strong cities and a rich land, 47:40 and possessed houses full of goods and cisterns already dug, 47:43 and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. 47:46 So they ate and they were full and grew fat, and they delighted 47:50 themselves in Your great goodness." 47:52 And what tends to happen when we do that? 47:56 Is there a danger that we can forget the Lord? 48:00 Let me read something to you real quick, and someone's going 48:02 to read for me 2 Peter 3:9. 48:07 Deuteronomy 6:10, "So it will be, that when the Lord your God 48:11 brings you into the land which we swore your fathers, Abraham, 48:14 Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which 48:17 you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you 48:20 did not fill, hewn-out wells that you did not dig, vineyards 48:24 and olive trees you did not plant--that when you have eaten 48:27 and are full--beware, lest you forget the Lord." 48:32 That's why it's hard for a rich person to get into the kingdom. 48:35 They got all their blessings. 48:36 They stopped thinking about praying and their need for God. 48:38 Out of sight, out of mind. 48:40 "Lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of 48:42 Egypt, out of the house of bondage," the God who saved you. 48:46 He is so patient, even though they did forget. 48:48 Lloyd, you could read for us, please, 2 Peter 3:9. 48:53 Lloyd: 2 Peter 3:9. 48:54 This is the New King James Version. 48:56 "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some 48:59 count slackness, but is longsuffering towards us, 49:03 not willing that any should perish but that all 49:05 should come to repentance." 49:07 Doug: Thank you. 49:08 Now, what we'll learn as we're reading through--rehearsing this 49:11 history here in Nehemiah, he's saying, "Look how God has been 49:15 so patient." 49:16 Now, keep in mind in Nehemiah they're already coming out of 49:18 Babylonian captivity. 49:19 They're on the tailender. 49:21 This is just before Christ comes back. 49:22 They never get dispossessed again until Jesus comes back 49:26 later, by the Romans, so they really have 49:29 a great revival that lasts. 49:31 Matter of fact, their revival goes so far. 49:33 They even develop a sect called Pharisees that make sure they're 49:36 never worshiping idols again. 49:38 From the time of Ezra to the time of Jesus, they never turn 49:41 back to idolatry. 49:42 Pharisees saw to that and, matter of fact, they had a 49:45 couple of riots with the Romans when the Romans would march into 49:48 the city with a eagle on their flag pole, and they'd say, 49:51 "That's an idol," so they never wanted to go back to idolatry. 49:54 So, this revival, it did have a lasting effect, but you can read 49:57 on, and He reviews here--we're out of time to read the whole 50:00 chapter, but He reviews here how He sent prophets to them and He 50:05 was so patient with them. 50:06 "Yet for many years You had patience with them." 50:09 I'm in verse 30. 50:12 "And You testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. 50:15 Yet they would not listen; therefore You gave them into the 50:18 hand of the peoples of the lands," whether it be Assyria or 50:21 Babylon. 50:23 "Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly 50:26 consume them or forsake them; for You are a gracious and a 50:29 merciful God. 50:30 Now therefore, our God, the great and the mighty, awesome 50:33 God, Who keeps covenant and mercy: do not let all the 50:36 trouble seem small to You that has come upon us, our kings, our 50:40 princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and all 50:43 Your people, from the day of the kings of Assyria," that's when 50:46 the ten tribes were first carried off, "until this day." 50:49 They had been carried off by Babylon. 50:51 "However You are just in all that has befallen us; for You 50:56 have dealt faithfully, but we have done wickedly." 50:59 And they finish out, and they talk about, "We're getting what 51:02 we deserve." 51:03 Now they end up saying, "Show mercy to us. 51:06 Make a covenant with us that we will not worship other gods," 51:11 and they never did go back to other gods again. 51:13 Like I said, to this day, the Orthodox Jews, they don't 51:17 worship other gods. 51:18 They may not be faithful in some aspects, but that you're not 51:22 going to hear them naming the other gods, and so this was a 51:25 great revival. 51:26 They seal it with a covenant with their leaders, and it was 51:29 the result of a whole month of revival in the Feast of 51:33 Tabernacles. 51:34 Hope we learned something edifying today. 51:36 We want to remind our friends as we're signing off that we do 51:38 have a special gift book. 51:40 We recommend you read this, if you've not. 51:42 It will encourage you. 51:43 It's called "Three Steps to Heaven." 51:45 Talks about how to take those steps and if you want a free 51:48 copy call 866-788-3966. 51:52 That's 866-STUDY-MORE. 51:55 Ask for offer number 102. 51:57 You can also download it right now if you want to read it. 51:59 Just text "SH068." 52:03 Text "SH068"--I think you see it on your screen there--to 40544, 52:08 and you can download this and pass it on, email, post, and 52:12 send it to all of your friends and enemies. 52:15 We're out of time. 52:16 God bless until we study his Word together again next week. 52:21 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 52:23 free resource. 52:24 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 52:26 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 52:29 or mobile device. 52:30 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 52:34 the key word on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 52:38 shown on your screen and be sure to select the digital download 52:42 option on the request page. 52:43 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 52:47 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want and, most 52:50 important, to share it with others. 52:52 announcer: Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible study? 52:57 You don't have to wait until next week to enjoy more 53:00 truth-filled programming. 53:02 Watch Amazing Facts Television by visiting aftv.org. 53:07 At aftv.org you can view Amazing Facts programming 24 hours a 53:13 day, 7 days a week right from your computer or mobile device. 53:17 Why wait a week? 53:19 Visit aftv.org. 53:21 It's that easy. 53:25 ♪♪♪ 53:27 announcer: Amazing facts. Changed lives. 53:36 male: I'd have to say that I had a wonderful childhood 53:38 growing up. 53:40 I went to a private school up until the seventh grade, 53:42 till junior high. 53:44 I believe it was at that point in junior high that my life 53:48 began to change. 53:50 Going from a Christian education to a public school 53:52 was a big difference. 53:54 There was a lot of secular influence, peer pressure, and 54:01 for me it was the music. 54:03 I started listening to heavy metal music. 54:05 Every concert that would come to town, I was there. 54:07 It had a profound effect on me. 54:10 I started using marijuana probably at the age of 14. 54:15 I started drinking, using a lot of cocaine, and that led to 54:19 methamphetamine, and that completely changed my life. 54:22 I dropped out of high school my sophomore year and went to work. 54:28 I would get off of work and we'd go into the bar until 2 o'clock 54:31 in the morning. 54:33 I'd get back up at 5, and I'd go back and begin, six, 54:36 seven days a week. 54:41 At the age of 20, I lost my dad to a heart attack. 54:45 I didn't know how to handle the loss, so I tried to mask my pain 54:49 with alcohol and drugs. 54:51 I got three DUIs in one year, was arrested. 54:55 They gave me a year in the county jail and the moment I got 54:59 out I went back to doing the same thing, hanging with the 55:03 same people, the same crowd. 55:05 I was involved in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident, and I was 55:08 charged with a felony DUI. 55:10 Even though at the time of the accident I was not under the 55:12 influence, I still had methamphetamine in my system. 55:16 At my sentencing date I left the courtroom, and I didn't come 55:20 back, and that left me with a felony warrant. 55:24 And I'd fallen asleep in a park, and I woke up to a park ranger 55:29 knocking on my window. 55:31 I knew I was wanted, and I knew that I was not going to just 55:35 turn myself in. 55:37 I turned to him, and I made the comment, "Not today," 55:40 and I took off. 55:42 I led 5 different agencies on about a 35-minute chase, and I 55:45 realized at that point that I wasn't going to get away and 55:50 that this was going to end up either me killing somebody or 55:54 myself, and so I made a decision to pull over. 55:56 At that point everything that I had I lost. 56:01 I was sentenced to two years in state prison, and it was there 56:06 that God got ahold of me, and it was through Amazing Facts 56:11 Ministries. 56:13 I remember listening on my radio to Pastor Doug Batchelor. 56:17 I wanted to get to know the Bible, I wanted to know God, and 56:20 so my aunt Marilyn sent me the Amazing Facts study guides, and 56:27 it was there that my relationship with Christ began. 56:31 I had called home, and I knew my mother wasn't doing well, 56:41 but I didn't realize that she had cancer. 56:45 She had about a 30% chance of making it through her surgery. 56:49 She had told the doctors that she was not going to have chemo, 56:51 and she was not going to have radiation. 56:53 That if her God was going to save her, 56:54 then He would save her. 56:57 I remember hanging up the phone to what I thought was my last 57:01 conversation with my mom. 57:05 I turned around, I got down on my knees, and I prayed to God, 57:09 and I said, "God, if you're there please save my mother. 57:14 Wherever You lead me in life, whatever You want me to do, I am 57:18 Yours," and I had a feeling of such peace that I knew that my 57:24 mother was going to be okay and that my life was going to 57:28 change. 57:30 There are no words that I can adequately express to Amazing 57:33 Facts and to Pastor Doug to say thank you. 57:36 To all those people who support the ministry, I am a product of 57:39 your support. 57:41 My life has changed because of this ministry, and I thank you 57:47 from the bottom of my heart. 57:51 ♪♪♪ 58:01 ♪♪♪ 58:11 ♪♪♪ 58:21 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2019-11-14