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00:10 ♪♪♪ 00:20 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Jean Ross: Hello, friends. 00:37 Welcome again to "Sabbath School Study Hour," here at the Granite 00:39 Bay Seventh Day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:42 I'd like to welcome all of those who are joining us across the 00:45 country and around the world, and a special welcome to our 00:48 online church members that tune in every Sabbath to participate 00:52 in our Sabbath School during our study time. 00:55 I'd also like to welcome our regular Sabbath School members 00:57 that are here in person and also those who are visiting with us. 01:01 Very warm welcome to all of you. 01:03 You know, we've been studying through two Old Testament books, 01:07 the two books of Ezra and Nehemiah. 01:09 That has been the theme for this whole quarter. 01:11 Today we are on Lesson Number 10, 01:14 which is entitled, "Worshiping the Lord," and we'll be studying 01:17 that subject in just a few moments. 01:19 For those of you who might be joining us online, 01:21 if you don't have a copy of our study today, 01:23 you can download for free today's lesson by simply going 01:27 to lesson.aftv.org, and you can download Lesson Number 10, 01:33 and you can study along with us. 01:35 We also have a free offer we'd like to let you know about. 01:38 It's a book entitled "Life in the Spirit," and this is free. 01:41 All you need to do is call the number... 01:46 and ask for Offer Number 155. 01:49 We'll be happy to send this out to anyone who calls and asks. 01:52 We can also make this book available for you for a 01:55 download, a free download. 01:57 All you'll have to do is text the code "SH047" to 02:02 the number 40544. 02:05 You'll then be able to download a digital copy of the book "Life 02:09 in the Spirit," and it's an inspiring read, 02:11 dealing with what the Holy Spirit does in the 02:14 heart of a believer. 02:16 Well, before we get to our study this morning, 02:18 we have a special musical item that'll be brought to us by the 02:21 Granite Bay Church Choir. 02:24 ♪♪♪ 02:27 ♪ Tell me the story of Jesus, ♪ 02:31 ♪ write on my heart every word. ♪ 02:37 ♪ Tell me the story most precious, ♪ 02:41 ♪ sweetest that ever was heard. ♪ 02:47 ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh. ♪ 02:48 ♪ Tell how the angels in chorus, ♪ 02:52 ♪ sang as they welcomed His birth, ♪ 02:57 ♪ singing, "Glory to God in the highest, ♪ 03:02 ♪ peace and good tidings to earth." ♪ 03:08 ♪ Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my ♪ 03:15 ♪ heart every word. ♪ 03:19 ♪ Tell me the story most precious, ♪ 03:23 ♪ sweetest that ever was heard. ♪ 03:29 ♪ I love to tell the story of unseen things above, ♪ 03:39 ♪ of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. ♪ 03:50 ♪ I love to tell the story because I know 'tis true. ♪ 04:00 ♪ It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do. ♪ 04:11 ♪ I love to tell the story, 'twill be my theme in glory, ♪ 04:21 ♪ to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love. ♪ 04:33 ♪ Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. ♪ 04:45 ♪ Little ones to Him belong. ♪ 04:50 ♪ They are weak, but He is strong. ♪ 05:01 ♪♪♪ 05:08 ♪ Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my ♪ 05:15 ♪ heart every word. ♪ 05:19 ♪ Tell me the story most precious, ♪ 05:24 ♪ sweetest that ever was heard. ♪ 05:29 ♪ Yes, I love to tell the story, ♪ 05:34 ♪ 'twill be my theme in glory, to tell the old, ♪ 05:42 ♪ old story, the story of Jesus, ♪ 05:52 ♪ the story of Jesus and His love. ♪ 06:07 ♪ Tell me the story of Jesus. ♪♪ 06:17 Jean: Thank you, choir, for bring us that beautiful story, 06:20 "Tell Me the Story of Jesus." 06:23 Really, that's what the Bible is all about. 06:25 It's telling us the story of Jesus, 06:26 and that's what we're going to be studying this morning. 06:28 Well, before we start our lesson, 06:30 let's just bow our heads for a word of prayer. 06:32 Dear Father, we thank You that we have this opportunity to 06:34 gather in Your house to open up Your Word to study a very 06:38 important subject, that of worshiping the Lord. 06:40 We were created to find our greatest joy in bowing before 06:44 You, coming in your presence to worship You, 06:47 so bless our time together today, 06:49 for we ask this in Jesus's name, amen. 06:52 Our lesson this morning is going to be brought 06:54 to us by Pastor Doug. 06:58 Doug Batchelor: Thank you, Pastor Ross, 06:59 and, again, thank you to the choir and the Hofftees, 07:02 and Michelle, and those who've been leading. 07:04 Morning. 07:06 Happy Sabbath. 07:08 We're continuing our study in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah. 07:12 As Pastor Ross mentioned, we're in Lesson Number 10, 07:15 today, "Worshiping the Lord," and we have a memory verse. 07:19 Memory verse actually comes from Ezra because we're studying both 07:22 Ezra and Nehemiah, and they are books that overlap 07:25 chronologically and historically. 07:27 So if you look in Ezra 3, verse 11--this is our memory verse 07:31 from the New King James Version. 07:33 We're going to say it together, Ezra 3:11. 07:35 Are you ready? 07:37 "And they sang response--" oh, come on, 07:41 you can do better than that. 07:43 I'll give you a chance to find it. 07:44 Ezra 3:11. 07:46 Let's say this in unison. Ready? 07:48 "And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to 07:53 the Lord, 'For a He is good, for His mercy endures forever 07:58 towards Israel.'" 08:02 Now, you know, that particular phrase there, 08:04 "The Lord is good, for His mercy endures forever," is found 08:08 41 times in the Bible. 08:11 That's a lot. 08:12 "The Lord is good," and especially the part, 08:14 "His mercy endures forever." 08:16 "His mercy endures forever." 08:18 The very fact you're here today is evidence that God is a 08:22 merciful God. 08:23 He has been merciful to you throughout your life. 08:27 Now, the lesson today is on worshiping the Lord, 08:29 and our mission--you know, we're going through the books of 08:32 Ezra and Nehemiah. 08:33 Today we're specifically dealing with Nehemiah, 08:35 and we're specifically dealing with chapter 12, 08:39 only verses 27 to 47. 08:41 That's our mission. 08:43 Whole lesson covers those verses, 08:45 and we've got plenty here to talk about. 08:48 I could stop right here and say, "All right, 08:50 let's talk about worshiping the Lord." 08:52 And we come to church, we worship the Lord, 08:55 and a lot of examples of worshiping God in the Bible. 09:01 What is "worship"? 09:03 It's confusing to me. 09:05 Now, if you grow up in a secular world and someone says, 09:07 "We're going to go worship," I go, 09:09 "What does that mean?" 09:11 You picture someone bowing to a statue of Buddha? 09:14 I wasn't sure. 09:16 What does "worship" mean? 09:17 "Worship" really springs in English from the idea of 09:19 "worth-ship," but God is worthy. 09:22 Might I suggest to you, I used to think, 09:25 when people said, "We're going to go to church and worship the 09:28 Lord," I had pictures of--you know, 09:30 you went to Catholic church when I was a kid. 09:32 I went to a couple of Catholic schools and then, 09:34 you know, they'd say these chants, 09:36 and we'd go through the Mass, and I thought, 09:38 "Oh, man, when is this over?" 09:40 I thought--no, really. 09:42 I thought worship was the most boring thing in the world. 09:46 I'd like to submit to you that, if you ever discover what real 09:50 worship of God is, there is nothing more thrilling, 09:56 more pleasurable, and more fulfilling and exciting than 10:03 genuine worship. 10:06 People think about going to heaven and 10:08 "What are you going to do?" 10:09 And there's a lot of things, neat things that I think I liked 10:11 to--I love to explore. 10:13 Just the idea it, "You'll mount up with wings like eagles." 10:17 I love to fly. 10:18 "Soar to worlds unknown." 10:20 That's not in the Bible. 10:21 That's in "Rock of Ages," but it's going to happen. 10:23 We will--we'll sort of go visit unknown galaxies and cosmos. 10:28 I can't wait to explore and to see the earth made new and 10:31 build--we'll build houses and inhabit them. 10:33 I love puttering around and building working in the yard, 10:37 and I can think of all those things but, 10:39 biblically, the highest thrill, the greatest pleasure, 10:44 for those that knew God was to worship God. 10:50 So when it says that "From one new moon to another and one 10:53 Sabbath to another shall all flesh come before the Lord to 10:57 worship Him." 10:59 You think about when Isaiah had that picture of the angels in 11:02 the presence of God, and the whole temple was filled with 11:06 smoke, and the building shook, and the angel said, 11:08 "Holy, holy, holy," and that was so thrilling. 11:13 It was so frightening and exciting to be in the 11:15 presence of God. 11:17 So when you think about worshiping God, 11:19 realize that understanding what real worship is, 11:23 is one of the most important pursuits. 11:26 It's being in the presence of the Creator and sustainer of the 11:31 universe is awesome when you think about it, 11:35 and so that's really what we're dealing with. 11:38 Now, in Nehemiah chapter 12:27--I've got a couple of you 11:42 that are going to help me with some verses here. 11:43 But in Nehemiah 12:27, it begins by saying, 11:47 "Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought 11:51 out the Levites in all their places, 11:54 to bring them to Jerusalem--" so they're going to bring all the 11:57 different Levites in. 11:58 They don't all live in Jerusalem. 12:00 They live in suburbs around the cities-- "to celebrate the 12:04 dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and with 12:08 singing, with cymbals and with stringed instruments and harps." 12:13 They're going to have a great celebration. 12:15 What's the occasion? 12:16 To dedicate the walls. 12:19 Now, if any of you have ever moved into a house, 12:23 did you have a house dedication? 12:25 You know, in the Bible, that was appropriate. 12:29 We were really excited yesterday afternoon. 12:33 Wash my truck, and then I drove up on the building site because 12:36 I've been out of town for a couple days, 12:38 and I'm always excited to see what kind of progress is 12:40 happening on the house of the Lord on the hill. 12:43 And so I went up there to look around, 12:46 and it's--they got the windows going on the back. 12:48 The walls are all taking shape. 12:50 You can kind of see where things are going to be, 12:52 and it looks like the Lord has had this long fall. 12:54 We may get it closed in before the rains come, 12:56 and we're very excited, but, you know, 12:58 we're planning a dedicated, and we're thinking about 13:01 picking dates. 13:03 Now, we're close enough where we think, 13:04 you know, "We're going to bring in some people. 13:06 They need to know. 13:07 We want to have a date for a dedication," and we thought, 13:09 "Actually, we want to have a month of dedication." 13:13 Let's not just do one week. 13:15 There's so many ways and people to thank and things to do to 13:18 celebrate this place set aside to be a house of prayer, 13:23 a house of proclaiming the Word. 13:25 And so it's appropriate to have a special dedication when you 13:28 thank everybody for the Word, thank everybody for the gifts 13:30 and to praise God for something that's accomplished. 13:34 You know, in the Bible, they not only dedicated houses of the 13:36 Lord, they dedicated houses. 13:41 Look in Deuteronomy 20, verse 5. 13:43 It was so important that, before soldiers went into battle, 13:47 the priests would stand before the soldiers, 13:49 and they'd make this statement. 13:51 They say, "If any of you are afraid, 13:53 go home, lest you cower in the battle and you frightened the 13:57 other soldiers." 13:58 Said, "If you married a wife and you have not taken--" 14:02 in other words, "If you are betrothed to a wife and you've 14:05 not taken her yet, then leave." 14:07 She should have that experience. 14:10 And then it says, "And what man is there of you who has built a 14:13 new house and if you've not dedicated it, 14:16 let him go and return to his house, 14:19 lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it." 14:23 And so that was so important. 14:25 You dedicate your home. You build a home. 14:27 And, you know, that's--you think about it, 14:30 it says, you know, "It is important, 14:32 if you planted a vineyard, you didn't eat from it, 14:34 if you are engaged to a woman, and you've not been married, 14:37 if you build a house, and you've not dedicated it," they said, 14:41 those were three reasons to walk away from battle, 14:43 plus if you're afraid. 14:45 But they said a man ought to experience these things before 14:48 he goes and fights like a soldier and dies. 14:50 And so I thought that was interesting. 14:53 But not only did they dedicate homes. 14:57 When a child is, you know, born, shortly after, 15:00 don't we have a dedication? 15:02 Dedicate children, and we dedicate homes. 15:07 No, they dedicated temples. 15:09 You can look here in--matter of fact, 15:12 I think one of you are going to read for me 1 Kings 8:63. 15:18 You've got that? 15:19 There was actually a Psalm that they would sing at a dedication 15:24 of a house of the Lord. 15:26 Now, when you read the Psalms, you probably jump right to verse 15:29 1, but do you know, a lot of the Psalms actually had titles? 15:32 And the title of Psalm 30, it says, 15:35 "A song at the dedication of the house of David." 15:39 Not the house of the Lord--the house of David. 15:42 So when David--do you remember in the Bible? 15:44 Hiram gave him materials, cedars from Lebanon, 15:47 and sent workers down to build a house for David when he became 15:50 king, and he had a Psalm to dedicate that house. 15:53 All right, go ahead and read for us, 15:56 please 1 Kings 8. 15:58 female: "And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offering, 16:02 which he offered to the Lord, 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep. 16:09 So the King and all the children of Israel dedicated the house 16:13 of the Lord." 16:15 Doug: So when the Temple of Solomon was built, 16:18 there was a great dedication service, 16:22 and don't forget that about the incredible sacrifice that was 16:27 made because later in the lesson, 16:29 we talk about sacrifices. 16:30 Look in 2 Chronicles 5:13 and 14. 16:33 Solomon is praying here. 16:36 Now, you have the dedication of the temple, 16:38 both in 1 Kings and in 2 Chronicles. 16:41 It's the same story. 16:43 "Indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and the singers 16:46 were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and 16:50 thanking the Lord, that when they lifted up their voice with 16:54 the trumpets and the cymbals and the instruments of music, 16:57 and they praised the Lord, saying, 17:00 'For He is good, For His mercy endures forever.'" 17:03 Now, that's what we just quoted from Ezra, isn't it? 17:06 "That the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 17:10 so the priests could not continue to minister because of 17:13 the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God." 17:18 Now, wouldn't you like to see that experience repeated 17:22 that--Karen and I were reading in our Sabbath worship, 17:28 and we're reading this book on prayer, 17:31 and they talked about every aspect of prayer, 17:34 E.M. Bounds, you can possibly think of they talk about. 17:37 And they talk about what makes a church different from other 17:39 buildings is it's a house of prayer, 17:41 and how prayer consecrates it, but it's not just prayer. 17:45 It's praise. 17:47 Look what happened. 17:49 When they began to sing, to praise God, 17:52 and including the instruments of music, 17:56 there was a worship that was taking place there. 17:59 The glory of the Lord so filled the temple that the priests 18:03 couldn't go in. 18:05 I'm not talking about the Holy of Holies where you had 18:07 the Shechinah glory. 18:08 They couldn't even go into the holy place because the glory of 18:11 the Lord was so intense that it was like, 18:13 you know--I don't know--like an oversized arc welder in there. 18:19 There's just the brightness and the smoke coming out, 18:22 that they just couldn't handle it, 18:25 and it was too bright for them. 18:27 Wouldn't you like to have that problem? 18:29 That'd be frightening. 18:30 Says, "The presence of God is like a consuming fire and the 18:33 glory of the Lord." 18:35 It was a sign of His approval. 18:37 You know, there's only a few times in the Bible when fire 18:39 came down from heaven. 18:40 Came down on the sacrifice of Abel, 18:43 we believe, came down when Moses built the temple. 18:46 And to inaugurate that first tabernacle, 18:50 the fire of the Lord comes down to inaugurate this tabernacle. 18:54 It came down on the altar of Elijah to inaugurate, 18:58 to approve, show approval for his worship. 19:01 So when that fire comes down and accepts the sacrifice it was 19:04 usually a sign of God's blessing and His approval 19:07 with His presence. 19:09 So do you have worship in your home? 19:11 Do you want the fire to come down in that temple? 19:13 Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. 19:17 Do you sing praises to God? 19:19 The Spirit comes in. 19:21 Some of you remember the story when Jehoshaphat went to battle 19:25 against Moab, Edom, and the Ammonites. 19:29 God said, "You'll not have to fight in this battle. 19:31 You just go out, put the band and the orchestra out front. 19:34 Sing to the glory of God and watch what happens. 19:38 And the Lord went and fought for them, 19:41 so the enemy all turned on each other. 19:43 So I think we underestimate the importance of music and worship 19:47 in successful Christian living. 19:50 Psalm 71, and I could read many Psalms along this line: "Also 19:54 with the lute I will praise You and Your faithfulness, 19:58 O my God. 20:00 And I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. 20:02 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing." 20:05 Now, something that I thought was interesting here in that 20:07 previous verse, it talks about--they played with 20:12 these different instruments, with trumpets, 20:14 cymbals, instruments of music--and maybe that's not the 20:18 one I'm looking for. 20:20 It talks about harps and stringed instruments, 20:22 and I wondered, "Harps, well, I know what the harp is." 20:26 In fact, the Greek word for "harp" is "kithara." 20:31 Does that sound familiar? 20:33 And in Spanish, the word for guitar is "gitara" because a 20:37 harp, a guitar is really a form of a harp instrument. 20:41 It's just got the fingerboard on it. 20:42 But I wondered what the other stringed instruments were that 20:45 says "stringed instruments and harps." 20:48 So there's probably many different varieties. 20:50 So they bring all these instruments before the Lord to 20:53 praise the Lord, inaugurate the temple. 20:55 Psalm 57, verse 9, "I will praise You, 20:58 O Lord, among the people. 20:59 I will sing to You among the nations." 21:01 So one of the things they were doing is they were singing 21:04 loudly, and the others, nations, and the pagans that lived among 21:08 them, were hearing them sing. 21:11 You know, when others hear you sing the songs of God, 21:14 it has a converting influence. 21:16 You know, the infancy of the Salvation Army, 21:20 they would go out on the streets of London, 21:24 and they would sing. 21:26 They would have testimonies, and they would sing, 21:28 and a lot of the people that were struggling with sin and 21:31 alcohol on the streets, they'd hear the music. 21:33 They'd be drawn in, then they'd hear the testimonies. 21:36 They'd hear them give praise reports, 21:38 and they'd be invited to, you know, 21:40 accept the Lord and turn from their sins, 21:42 and it was spreading like crazy, but music--the Salvation Army 21:46 had their own hymnbook because they had written hundreds of 21:48 songs, and music was really, like, 21:51 a foundation of what their ministry was. 21:55 David was known as a musician. 21:58 Middle of the Bible has 150 songs. 22:00 He's the greatest king, but he understood the importance of the 22:04 right kind of music and the power of music. 22:07 Now, there's good music, and there's bad music, 22:11 and some people say, "Well, it depends on what culture is." 22:15 I say there's good music and bad music for every culture. 22:18 And, I mean, just like you've got God and the devil 22:21 everywhere, there's the good and the bad, 22:24 and there's different kinds of music for different occasions. 22:29 Even in church, there's lots of good music, 22:31 but there's different kinds of music for different occasions. 22:34 If we're doing an evangelistic meeting, 22:37 the music you sing might be a little different. 22:41 And appeal following a sermon, you want the appropriate music 22:44 for the appeal. 22:46 If you're singing a lullaby, you've got a different--you 22:51 know, all over the world, lullabies are the same. 22:54 You got music for war. 22:57 Do you know, in the Bible, there were songs they sang with the 22:59 drums as they went off to battle? 23:01 And there were songs they sang when they came back from battle. 23:04 Miriam and the women went out with tambourines. 23:06 David and Saul came back from battle, 23:08 and the women that went out, they sang songs of victory. 23:11 And so there's different kinds. 23:13 There's romantic music. 23:15 Some people think that love songs must be all of the devil. 23:18 No, in the right context, there is romantic music, 23:23 and you wouldn't sing romantic music as you're getting ready 23:28 to go to war. 23:29 That would not put the men in the right frame of mind. 23:32 You definitely would not do a lullaby as you're getting ready 23:36 to go out to war. 23:38 And so the right kind of music, it might be good music, 23:40 but there's also right occasions for it, 23:43 and there's a whole study on that, 23:45 but, you know, Martin Luther was quite a singer, 23:47 and one of the ways he earned his keep as he went through 23:51 school is he would go from door-to-door and sing for money, 23:54 and that made me feel pretty good because I used to play 23:56 music for money. 23:58 I used to panhandle and beg. 24:00 I couldn't sing very good, but I played the 24:01 flute or played guitar. 24:03 Sometimes I'd be with friends who could sing, 24:04 and we'd panhandle. 24:07 I said, "Martin Luther did that. 24:09 All right, I'm not alone." 24:11 But he understood the power of music, 24:13 and with the Protestant Reformation, 24:17 almost as much as the teaching was the songs 24:21 they began to sing. 24:23 See, during the Dark Ages, they had people singing in foreign 24:25 languages words they didn't even understand, 24:27 chants and stuff. 24:29 It didn't mean anything. 24:31 Music was meant to be instructive, 24:32 and Moses told the children of Israel, 24:34 he says, "These words of your experience should be put into 24:39 song so that your children will remember them." 24:42 So Scripture songs are great for that purpose. 24:45 Who was it? 24:47 Plato said, "Give me the music of a nation, 24:50 and I will change the mind of that nation. 24:53 Music is a secondary language to express." 24:58 Confucius said, "If one should desire to know whether a kingdom 25:02 is well-governed or if its morals are good or bad, 25:05 the quality of its music will furnish the answer." 25:10 Andrew Fletcher said, "I knew a wise man who believed that if 25:13 every man was permitted to make all of the balance, 25:17 he needed not care who should make the laws of a nation." 25:21 If you could control or adjust their music, 25:25 you can adjust their morals. 25:27 I think we underestimate the power of music. 25:30 Now with that in mind, what's the typical music like if you 25:34 surf through the radio? 25:36 Music is not neutral. 25:40 Listening to it affects you. 25:42 There has been a number of studies, 25:44 and the jury is in, music has a physiological effect on you as 25:48 you listen to it, for good or bad. 25:50 And how many of you have you ever caught yourself? 25:55 You go into some public place, and they've got background 25:58 music, and you know, there are a lot of stories I can name 26:01 right now as you're walking around. 26:03 They've got music playing. 26:04 Do you think they just play what's local on the radio? 26:06 No. 26:07 Supermarkets have their own station of specially chosen 26:10 music to put you in a serene state of mind where you will not 26:13 think or care about how much something costs. 26:16 It's true. 26:18 It's absolutely true. 26:20 They play music that's kind of happy and upbeat and light, 26:22 and you say, "Ah, que sera, so I don't care 26:24 how much it costs, you know." 26:26 And it makes people--they find certain kinds of music. 26:28 I mean, if you're walking through the market, 26:30 and you're hearing-- 26:32 [humming somber music] 26:33 You're not going to buy anything. 26:35 That's very somber music. 26:38 So there's a psychology to that, and I find myself going there. 26:42 You know, when you become a Christian, 26:44 there's certain kinds of music that you may have known before 26:47 you're a Christian, and you don't want to sing those songs 26:49 because they don't have the right message, 26:51 but you still know them, and so, you know, 26:58 I go into the store, and I come out, 27:01 and I jump in the car, and I'm going, 27:03 ♪ Yesterday, love was such an easy-- ♪ 27:05 Karen goes, "What are you doing?" 27:07 "Oh, you know, I just listened to that song. 27:08 Sorry, dear--that song." 27:11 So what do you do? 27:12 Then you start singing-- 27:14 ♪ He's able. He's able. ♪ 27:16 Trying to overcome evil with good. 27:18 You know, we're laughing, but it really is serious because 27:21 I remember I got in a car. 27:23 I was in Southern California, going to Palm Springs to speak 27:26 at an AMEN meeting. 27:28 That's a group of doctors, and I was late, 27:32 and I was supposed to be there, and I got my rental car, 27:34 and I jumped in the car, and I'm trying to pull out the map and 27:38 hand them my license as you pull out of the gate, 27:41 and, you know, then you've got to adjust your mirrors. 27:43 You're in a new car, and you're trying to be safe, 27:45 and you're in a hurry, and I'm looking at the watch, 27:49 I'm looking at the GPS, and I must've been ten minutes down 27:52 the road before I realized that, from the time I turned the 27:54 ignition in the car, ten minutes later, 27:57 the radio had been going the whole time with terrible music, 28:02 but I was so busy with what I was doing, 28:07 and in our culture, you hear it so often in the background. 28:12 I like eating at Chipotle, but the music they play there is 28:16 terrible sometimes, and I've had to go to them several times. 28:20 I'm trying to talk to someone. 28:21 I'm already a little deaf. 28:22 I asked, "Could you please turn it down?" 28:24 They've got a volume. 28:25 They can control it, the house music. 28:26 And if there's not a lot of people in there, 28:28 I'll go say, "Do you mind? Listen, look, I'm deaf. 28:30 Could you just turn it down while I'm here so we could talk? 28:31 "No problem." 28:32 They turn it down. 28:34 They hear the same thing all-day long. 28:35 They don't care. 28:36 But sometimes it's the wrong kind of--we hear it so much in 28:39 the background, you wonder how much does that affect us? 28:43 So you've got to compensate by trying to listen to the right 28:47 kind of music, and the "Praising the Lord" with 28:50 the right kind of music. 28:52 So music was a very important of their worship program. 28:56 Music can be a great power for good. 29:00 "Testimonies, Volume 4," verse 71. 29:03 "Music rightly employed is a precious gift of God, 29:06 designed to uplift the thoughts to high and noble themes and to 29:11 elevate the soul." 29:13 "Education, 167." 29:14 "Song is one of the most effective means of impressing 29:18 spiritual truth on the heart." 29:20 That's the book of "Evangelism." 29:21 I think a good evangelist program, 29:23 you should incorporate good music. 29:25 If you can't get good music, don't have any music, 29:27 but you want good music. 29:28 "Music was made to serve a holy purpose, 29:30 to lift the thoughts to that which is pure and noble 29:33 and elevating." 29:35 That's the book, "Patriarchs and Prophets," page 594. 29:38 So music is very much part of worshiping the Lord, 29:41 just as the proclamation of the Word is. 29:44 Can you say, "Amen?" 29:46 All right, someone's going to read for me our next verse where 29:50 we're dealing with a section of purification. 29:52 If you would do that for us, I'll appreciate it. 29:54 male: Nehemiah 12:30: "Then the priests and Levites purified 29:58 themselves, and purified the people, 30:01 the gates, and the wall." 30:03 Doug: All right, they're getting ready to dedicate the 30:05 gates and the wall. 30:07 We talked about purifying--or dedicating a temple, 30:10 dedicating a house. 30:12 Could dedicated the baby. 30:14 Jesus was eight days old when he was brought to the temple. 30:15 Now they're going to dedicate a wall. 30:18 Well, they built this to the glory of God. 30:21 It's the walls of Jerusalem, but before they do that, 30:24 you know, whenever you're involved in a construction 30:26 project, there's sometimes some garbage, 30:30 so before you're going to dedicate it, 30:33 what do you think they had to do? 30:34 Says they needed to purify it. 30:37 Well, how do you purify the gate and the wall? 30:40 Do they sprinkle holy water on it? 30:44 Well, probably what happened, where do you think they brought 30:48 the garbage? 30:50 That was brought to the gates. 30:52 Matter of fact, one of the gates in the story of Nehemiah, 30:54 it's still there today. 30:55 They called it the Dung Gate, the Garbage Gate. 30:58 Things went out of the city to keep the city clean, 31:00 and they usually took it down to the Valley of Hinnom, 31:03 and there was a landfill down there. 31:07 If you live in the suburbs of Sacramento, 31:10 you probably once or twice a week, 31:12 you roll your can out front by your gates, 31:16 and someone comes by and picks it up, right? 31:17 You know, it's the most interesting thing in Taiwan. 31:20 They've got--it's a very clean city. 31:24 I don't know if it was always that way, 31:26 but they've got this practice where, 31:28 early in the morning, you're not allowed to leave your garbage 31:31 out on the streets because they didn't want problems with rats, 31:34 so early in the morning, you'll hear the garbage trucks come up 31:38 the street, and they play music, you know, 31:39 like our ice cream trucks? 31:41 And they play this, some classical music, 31:44 and everybody hears it. 31:45 You're to run out while the truck is here. 31:47 You give him your garbage. You go back in. 31:48 You cannot leave your cans out on the street. 31:50 Every citizen brings their garbage out. 31:53 They've got to be ready, or you have to live with your garbage 31:55 until he comes by again. 31:57 It's said, "So they keep it a very clean city," but a lot of 32:00 places they kind of keep it at the gates, 32:02 so it meant they would clean up the garbage, 32:04 maybe partly from construction, other garbage, and the walls. 32:08 Now, I won't go into detail, but if you read your King James 32:11 Version, one of the words they describe "boys," is an 32:15 interesting phrase they used to describe "males." 32:18 I'm not going to tell you what that phrase is. 32:20 You just have to read that in the King James Version. 32:23 But the wall was also the latrine, 32:25 and so, when they said, "to sanctify the walls and to 32:29 sanctify the gates," Deuteronomy 23:14, 32:34 you know, that in the law of God, 32:37 they had a little sanitation law. 32:39 They said that everybody was to have a stick with a paddle on an 32:44 end for a practical purpose when they went through the wilderness 32:47 for the purpose of sanitation. 32:50 And God said, "You're to keep the camp clean," "For the Lord 32:55 your God walks in the midst of your camp--" 32:58 He wasn't just isolated to the sanctuary. 33:00 He walked among them-- "to deliver you and to give your 33:04 enemies over to you. 33:06 Therefore your camp shall be holy, 33:08 that He may see no unclean thing among you, 33:11 and turn away from you." 33:14 Now, that verse stuck with me. 33:17 If you want God, and certainly that would also be true of His 33:20 angels to hang out with you, be clean. 33:24 Does that make sense? 33:26 God wants our homes to be clean. 33:28 Are we wanting to witness for the Lord? 33:32 One of the ways we witness for the Lord is by keeping things 33:34 clean, neat, orderly, try to not have things pile up, 33:40 and Christians should not be hoarding stuff. 33:45 Do you realize you can't take that stuff with you? 33:47 I'm at the stage where people are--my kids, 33:49 sometimes they're giving me things. 33:51 I say, "You realize, what I'm gone, 33:53 I've got to give it back to you?" 33:55 Said, "How long you want me to store these things?" 33:57 Isn't that right? 33:59 "Naked, I came into the world, naked I'm going to go." 34:03 And so we shouldn't be trying to see how much we can collect. 34:06 If anything, we should be minimizing and investing in 34:08 God's work, amen? 34:11 So keep clean. 34:12 Numbers 19:19, says, "And on the seventh day, 34:16 he shall purify himself, wash his clothes and bathe in water." 34:20 So part of the purification of the camp was they would 34:23 physically clean, they would wash their clothes. 34:26 Some of you remember that before God gave the Ten Commandments, 34:30 what was one of the things that he told the children of Israel? 34:34 He said, "Wash yourselves and be ready against the third day. 34:38 God is going to meet with you and wash your clothes." 34:41 And they were to clean up and come into the presence of God. 34:47 So if you read on Daniel chapter 12, 34:49 when we're talking about purifying, 34:52 it's not just the clothes and the body, 34:54 though the sanitation is important. 34:56 What does it mean for a Christian? 34:58 Daniel 12:10, "Many shall be purified, 35:01 made white and refined." 35:03 Is that just talking about physical purity or heart purity 35:06 when it's talking about you're going to be refined? 35:10 "But the wicked will do wickedly." 35:12 So what does the "purified" talk about? 35:14 "Blessed are the pure in heart." 35:16 So as they're getting ready to dedicate the walls and the 35:19 gates, there's to be a purifying. 35:21 You know, your mind is a temple, and God has given you gateways 35:27 to the soul. 35:30 You've got certain walls. 35:32 You want them purified. 35:34 You know, your eye is a gateway to your heart. 35:36 You've got to screen what comes in your ears, 35:40 your mouth, all of your senses. 35:44 You get to make choices about what you listen to, 35:46 what you watch, what you hear, what you say, 35:49 and I think that there's a statement in the "spirit of 35:53 prophecy" that were to guard the avenues to the soul and keep 35:56 those things pure. 35:58 "If we walk in the light," 1 John 1:7, 36:01 "as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, 36:05 and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses." 36:08 That word "cleanses" can be substituted with "purifies." 36:11 "The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin." 36:15 Why? As we walk in the light. 36:18 You know, one reason God took the children of Israel through 36:20 the desert is because deserts--do you know you have 36:24 less chance of catching a cold in the desert? 36:26 You've got a lot better chance of getting an infection and 36:29 catching a cold if you're in a tropical climate than if you're 36:32 in a desert. 36:34 The sun in the desert tends to sterilize things, 36:38 and he brought them through this purifying environment where they 36:44 could be healed and cleansed. 36:48 Finally, now, how do we guard the gateway to our souls? 36:53 "Brethren, whatsoever things--" how many of you know this verse? 36:57 It's a good one to memorize. 36:59 "Whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, 37:02 whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, 37:05 whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good 37:08 report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, 37:12 think on these things." 37:14 That's a good--that's a good quote. 37:16 If you've got a desk, or if you've got a place where you 37:18 have a poster you look at, you might want to put that up 37:20 because one of the hardest things to do as a Christian is 37:24 maintain your thinking in a positive way. 37:28 There's a lot of negative things in the world. 37:30 If you want to think about negative things, there's plenty 37:32 of ammunition, lot of negative things out there. 37:35 Try to hang out with positive people, 37:38 for one thing, and if you got a good Christian friend, 37:40 and if you're married, encourage each other to say and to think 37:46 those things that are just and noble and lovely and pure and of 37:49 good report, and that should--and what we choose to 37:52 watch or listen to should fit in that category. 37:57 Romans 12, verse 9: "Abhor what is evil." 38:01 It means, "Hate what is evil." 38:02 "Cling to what is good." 38:04 Someone said, "It's not enough if you're a good gardener 38:06 to love flowers; you need to hate weeds." 38:09 Job was a perfect and an upright man who love God and hated evil. 38:16 Psalm 101, verse 3: "I will set nothing wicked before my eyes." 38:21 That's an excellent test in this day. 38:23 You know, we have more screens. 38:26 We're living only one generation away from people who had no such 38:29 thing as a television, but not only are there TVs now, 38:33 people will have their laptops. 38:36 They got the tablets. 38:37 They got their desktop computers. 38:39 They've got their phone screens. 38:41 You go on an airplane, there's a screen. 38:43 I stopped to pump gas, and all the sudden, 38:46 I heard voices. 38:47 I turned, and there's a commercial playing on the pump. 38:49 It's got a screen on it. 38:50 There was a restroom, some public place. 38:53 You go in the restroom, they got monitors. 38:55 So they don't want you to waste any time 38:57 while you're standing there. 38:59 It's advertising stuff. So we are surrounded. 39:02 Have any of you seen that yet? 39:03 We are surrounded with messages. 39:07 And so, as a Christian, boy, for one thing, it's 39:10 impossible to not be influenced by that to some extent. 39:16 This week, I was up at the cabin in Coltlaw, 39:23 and I knew we had a problem because I was working in the 39:28 kitchen, and I heard this loud scratching, 39:30 and I went into the restroom, and I thought 39:34 there's a mouse in the bath. 39:36 And I opened up the shower door and there's no mouse, 39:38 but I could hear it scratching. 39:41 I got down on my knees, and I listened, 39:43 and right underneath the bathtub, 39:45 there's some mouse nest a rat's nest, 39:47 and you're hearing all this activity and stuff, 39:49 and I had no way to get to it. 39:51 It's under the floor. 39:52 And so I'm pounded on the tub, and it got quiet for a minute, 39:54 and then it came back again. 39:55 I thought, "Oh, man, that's going to be a problem." 39:57 I was starting to smell something a little strange, 39:59 anyway, and the only way to deal with it is I've got to crawl 40:02 under the house. 40:04 It's in the middle, in the back of the house. 40:05 Brightest part of the day, it's dark back there, 40:07 full of black widows. 40:10 And so I had to put on some dirty clothes because I knew 40:14 there is no way I can go under there, 40:16 crawling around, and not come out dirty. 40:19 There's just no way. 40:21 And so, you know, you get out, and then I--still, 40:26 I haven't dealt with the rat yet. 40:28 I put some poison out. 40:30 But so I got out, and I was slapping my stuff. 40:33 Dust is flying everywhere. 40:35 I'm dusting myself as you can, and that's kind of what it's 40:38 like in this world is trying to keep your mind clear and pure. 40:42 It requires an extraordinary effort. 40:46 The only way you can do it is to have the Holy Spirit, 40:49 and you've got to put on special clothes to be able 40:54 to--hazmat suit, I guess. 40:56 Job says and Job 31 verse 1, "I have made 41:02 a covenant with my eyes. 41:03 Why, then should I look upon a young woman?" 41:06 In then following verses, he talks about 41:08 faithfulness to his wife. 41:10 You know, there's an epidemic, absolute epidemic of pornography 41:14 because it is so readily available. 41:16 They say that one-third of all streaming material that goes 41:21 through computers is pornographic. 41:23 That's staggering when you think about it. 41:25 You need to make a covenant with your eyes. 41:28 This is men and women. 41:31 All right, going on to the next section, 41:33 two large thanksgiving choirs. 41:36 If you read in Nehemiah chapter 12, 41:38 now, I'm not going to read all of this. 41:40 I'm going to jump a little bit because, 41:42 I'll confessed, there's a lot of names in there, 41:43 and I will probably be struggling through some of them. 41:46 So let me get to the heart of it. 41:47 Nehemiah 12:31, "So I brought the leaders of Judah up on the 41:51 wall, and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs." 41:57 So He gets them in stereo. 41:59 "One went on the right hand on the wall 42:01 towards the Refuse Gate." 42:02 No, nothing about--I mean, they're not the refuse choir, 42:05 since that's where the direction where it was-- 42:08 "And after them went some of the priests, the sons with the 42:11 trumpets, with the musical instruments of David the man of 42:14 God, and Ezra the scribe went before them. 42:16 By the Fountain Gate in front of them--and they went on the 42:19 stairs of the City of David, on the stairway of the wall, 42:22 beyond the house of David, as far as the Water Gate eastward. 42:25 And the other thanksgiving choir--" I'm in verse 38-- 42:28 "went the opposite way, and I was behind them--" 42:31 this is Nehemiah. 42:33 So Ezra is with one group. 42:35 Nehemiah is with another group-- 42:36 "with half of the people on the wall. 42:38 So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God, 42:42 likewise I and the half of the rulers with me, 42:45 and the priests, and the singers sing loudly with Jezrahiah the 42:50 director," so they got a choir director. 42:54 That's important. 42:55 Also, that "day they offered great sacrifices, 42:58 and they rejoiced, for God had made them 43:01 rejoice with great joy. 43:03 The women and the children also rejoice, 43:07 so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard far off." 43:10 Now, they just didn't go into the temple and shut the doors. 43:13 They didn't have some secretive cult to where they say, 43:16 "Well, there's no windows because we don't want anyone to 43:18 see what we do in here." 43:20 They actually--not just they're in the temple. 43:22 They get up on the walls on two sides of the city, 43:25 massive choir, and they're singing in response 43:29 to each other. 43:31 Maybe they're doing parts. 43:33 You know, one of the most amazing things I've ever seen as 43:35 I've traveled through the South Pacific, 43:38 boy, some of those islanders can really sing, 43:42 and I was in Micronesia years ago, 43:45 and they had a Pohnapeian children's choir. 43:49 Pohnpei is the capital of Micronesia. 43:51 And those kids, it's like they don't need any lesson. 43:54 They all know how to sing, but not just how to sing. 43:56 They all knew how to sing parts. 43:58 And, you know, we can be trained. 44:00 You get all these different parts in the note, 44:02 but they would sing, and they would offset each other. 44:04 ♪ Jesus is come--coming ♪ 44:07 ♪ again--every morning, night, and noon. ♪ 44:09 And they're all singing these different parts of the song. 44:11 I'm going--and it's like they're not even trying, 44:14 but it was so beautiful. 44:16 Actually, took them on a tour in America, 44:17 and they cut a record. 44:18 It was such an amazing singing group. 44:21 Well, the Hebrews were singing like that, 44:23 and they're singing parts, and they're playing the instruments. 44:27 Now, why did they go up on the walls? 44:28 They want the other nations to hear them. 44:32 Keep in mind, it's not just them. 44:33 You read through the story of Nehemiah, 44:35 they had a lot of problems with the other nations that an 44:38 intermarried with them, that were doing business 44:40 on the Sabbath. 44:41 They're surrounded with other nations that had moved into the 44:43 land while they were in Babylon, and they're still there, 44:45 and they did not have the right to chase them out like when they 44:48 came with Joshua. 44:50 It's not theirs now. 44:51 It belongs to the Persian king. 44:53 And so they are singing and glorifying God on the wall so 44:56 others will hear them. 44:59 You remember the story where Paul and Silas are in jail, 45:01 and they've been whipped? 45:04 But instead of complaining, they praise God, 45:07 and they sing, and what happens? 45:10 The angel of the Lord comes, and there's an earthquake, 45:12 and the prison shook, and the doors were opened, 45:14 but it says the other prisoners were listening to them, 45:18 and the doors were opened because the other prisoners were 45:22 listening to them, and so their music actually liberated the 45:26 others, but they were singing because the 45:28 others could hear them. 45:30 And so it's a witness. 45:31 And so they had these two great choirs, 45:33 and they're doing it how? 45:34 Great joy. 45:37 They rejoiced. 45:39 Even though they've been through struggles, 45:41 they're rejoicing. 45:43 You know, I've read the book of Jonah 100 times. 45:46 That may not be an exaggeration. 45:49 And I heard something. 45:52 I was listening to a sermon on the radio yesterday and a pastor 45:55 highlighted something in the end of Jonah's prayer that, 45:58 you know, when God set Jonah free? 46:01 Jonah was in the belly of the whale. 46:04 When does Jonah actually set free? 46:06 The last part of Jonah's prayer, he says, 46:09 "But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. 46:12 I will pay what I have vowed. 46:14 Salvation is of the Lord." 46:16 Then the fish gets instructions to burp him out and set him 46:19 free, after he thanks the Lord. 46:22 Now, what do you thank the Lord inside a fish? 46:26 You know, I'm amazed, in Daniel chapter 6, 46:28 before Daniel goes to the lions' den, 46:29 he kneels down three times that day. 46:31 He prays and gives thanks. 46:33 Did Daniel know what was going to happen? 46:34 He knew about the law, and he still thanks the Lord. 46:38 In all things, give thanks. 46:41 So one of the things our choir should be doing is what? 46:43 They call that thanksgiving choirs. 46:46 That doesn't mean once a year in November. 46:48 It means their choirs were giving thanks. 46:52 These are choirs of joy and gratitude, 46:54 and then one more thing. 46:57 Oh, I've got so much I could say. 46:58 1 Chronicles 25, verse 7: "So the number of them, 47:01 with their brethren, who were instructed in the songs of the 47:04 Lord, all who were skillful, was 288." 47:10 Now, there's a special group in revelation in the last days. 47:13 How many? 47:14 Hundred and forty-four thousand. 47:17 What's 2 times 144? 47:20 Two eighty-eight. 47:21 Isn't that interesting that they had the two choirs and how many? 47:24 Two eighty-eight? 47:26 That means each choir had roughly--isn't that interesting? 47:30 So when you look at Revelation, remember, 47:33 the keys are in the Old Testament. 47:35 Sacrifice as part of worship, Nehemiah 12:43, 47:39 "Also that day they offered great sacrifices, 47:41 and they rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great 47:45 joy, and the women and the children also rejoiced." 47:49 Now, some people, when they come to church and they sacrifice, 47:51 they go, "Oh, no, not again. 47:53 It's offering time." 47:55 Should that be our attitude, or should we just be praising the 47:58 Lord for all of his blessings? 48:00 And I heard this one church--I don't recommend it, 48:03 but when the pastor would get up and say, 48:05 "It's time for the offering," they all broke into applause. 48:08 I'm not recommending that. 48:10 I'm just saying it'd be nice if--"Pastor, it's 48:12 time for our offering. 48:13 Amen." 48:18 We'll try that today. 48:19 Let's see if any of you remember. 48:22 We're going to have another offering in just a minute. 48:24 He's got the baskets back there. 48:26 No "Amens," huh? 48:28 Okay, Romans 12:1-2, what kind of sacrifice is part of worship? 48:34 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, 48:36 by the mercies of God, that you present yourself a living 48:40 sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your 48:44 reasonable service. 48:46 And don't be conformed to the world, 48:48 but be transformed by the renewing of your mind," and 48:51 "Moses was willing to sacrifice being called the son of 48:55 Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with 48:58 the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin." 49:03 Our last section, priests and Levites as part of the worship. 49:06 So they realize that God had specified that Aaron and the 49:10 children of Levi were to be leading out in the priesthood 49:14 and the temple services, so they needed to recruit them because 49:18 they had gone back to their farms. 49:21 Matter of fact, I'm jumping ahead to Nehemiah 13 verse 10. 49:25 "I realized that the portions for the Levites had not been 49:29 given them, for each of the Levites and the singers--" 49:32 notice, "the Levites and singers who did the work of the Lord had 49:35 gone back to their fields." 49:37 Some of them had full time jobs in music and somewhere to 49:40 teach the Word. 49:41 Let me prove that to you. 49:43 2 Chronicles 7: "In the third year of his reign," Jehoshaphat, 49:47 this is, "he sent the leaders Ben-Hail, 49:50 Obadiah, Zechariah, Nathaniel, Michaiah, 49:53 to teach in the cities of Judah. 49:56 And with them he sent the Levites." 49:58 So they taught in Judah. 50:00 What was the job of the Levites and the priests? 50:02 Just soccer and sacrifice once a week? 50:04 Or were they to be scattered throughout the 12 tribes, 50:07 and their job was to be teaching the Word of God and the 50:10 way of the Lord? 50:12 They were also the doctors, quite honestly, 50:14 and they were the judges for not all cases, 50:17 but in many cases among the people, 50:20 but when they were not supplied by the tithes and the offerings, 50:24 they said, "Look, if you guys aren't going to help, 50:26 I've got to support my family." 50:27 They'd leave their ministry. 50:29 They'd go to their fields. 50:30 Jehoshaphat said no, no, no, we need to be returning the 50:34 offering and the tithes so they could be doing 50:37 their work of teaching. 50:38 Deuteronomy 12:19: "Take heed to yourself you do not forsake the 50:43 Levite as long as you live in the land." 50:46 So, anyway, we did, I think, a pretty good job of covering 50:50 the--most of the lesson here. 50:52 I want to remind our friends we have this beautiful book that I 50:54 think you'll enjoy by Joe Crews, called "Life in the Spirit." 50:58 We'll send you a free copy. 50:59 Simply call the number 866-788-3966, 51:04 and ask for Offer Number 155. 51:07 When you do that, you can even get it right now by texting. 51:10 Everyone uses their phone. 51:12 You can get a free copy of this book. 51:14 Just text "SH047." 51:17 Text that to 40544. 51:20 You can download it and have your copy now. 51:21 Thank you very much for studying with us, friends. 51:23 Lord willing, we'll do this again next week. 51:28 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 51:30 free resource. 51:31 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 51:33 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or 51:36 mobile device. 51:37 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 51:39 simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544, 51:44 or visit the web address shown on your screen, 51:47 and be sure to select the digital download option on the 51:49 request page. 51:51 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 51:54 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want and, 51:57 most important, to share it with others. 52:05 announcer: Amazing Facts: changed lives. 52:13 male: We were going to church every other week. 52:15 About 19 years old, things really started to make 52:18 sense for me. 52:20 I started to go to church for myself, 52:21 and the pastor wanted to study with me. 52:24 We came to the study on baptism. 52:27 I kind of just shrugged, put my head down. 52:30 I said, "I'm not ready." 52:31 He looked me in the eye and said, 52:33 "Jason, you'll never make yourself ready. 52:37 This is something you have to do." 52:40 I put a lot of things behind me. 52:42 The drinking and smoking and all that stuff stopped. 52:44 All throughout the time, what I've been learning about God, 52:48 it was just me and God. 52:50 Comes around up to about August, and I meet this girl. 52:54 About two years in the relationship, 52:57 we're talking about marriage and everything. 52:59 We didn't pray. 53:01 We didn't study together. 53:02 We were arguing a lot, but we were engaged. 53:08 I started drinking again, and that was a slow, 53:10 downward spiral into different things, 53:13 and my devotional life started really weaseling away. 53:15 We broke up in 2008. 53:17 It was heavy for me because, again, 53:20 being with somebody for that long, 53:22 it's almost like a divorce. 53:24 I started to fall back away even more. 53:27 I remember looking in the mirror, 53:30 just looking at myself and saying, 53:31 "What are you doing? 53:33 How can you do this to God? 53:35 He's brought you so far." 53:37 And, you know, God really heard my cry. 53:42 There was a testimony telling at my church, 53:46 and there was a call, and kids started getting up. 53:49 Bunch of high school kids start getting up for calls to baptism. 53:52 I'm back, doing the PA system at this time, 53:54 and I feel just, like, this urge. 53:56 Just, my heart just start ripping out of my chest, 53:58 and I just had this feeling just to go up. 54:02 I get up to the front, and I meet the pastor in open arms. 54:08 I realized that there's so much more to life than just living 54:11 life for myself and, you know, falling away, 54:15 it's not a necessity, but God can work through anything in the 54:20 bad to make it to good. 54:22 That's a promise he makes. 54:25 ♪♪♪ 54:34 announcer: Together, we have spread the Gospel much farther 54:37 than ever before. 54:39 Thank you for your support. 54:46 ♪♪♪ 54:56 Doug: What can be more irresistible than a kitten? 54:59 These guys might look cute now, but some of their ancestors have 55:02 grown into man eaters. 55:04 [roaring] 55:06 ♪♪♪ 55:09 Doug: We're here in a lion park in South Africa now where 55:10 we can view these creatures in relative safety, 55:13 but there's a reason they're known as the king of beasts. 55:16 So what is it that people find so enchanting and frightening 55:19 about lions? 55:21 Is it their speed, their claws, their sharp teeth, 55:23 or all of the above? 55:25 Might also be some of the stories about man-eating lions, 55:27 like in 1898, right here in Africa, 55:31 they were building a bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya, 55:35 and two brother lions terrorized the construction process, 55:39 eating 135 workers. 55:43 Did you know lions are mentioned in the Bible over a hundred 55:46 times, and you can find them all the way from 55:48 Genesis to Revelation? 55:50 It's usually in reference to their ferocity and how 55:53 dangerous they are. 55:54 Of course, Samson killed a lion with his bare hands. 55:56 David kill a lion. 55:58 There are man-eating lions in the Bible. 56:00 The way that they punish criminals was by throwing them 56:03 in the lions' den, and early Christians were even fed 56:05 to lions. 56:07 But, amazingly, as the Bible mentions, 56:09 not all lions are to be feared. 56:11 There have been a few friendly lions in history. 56:14 For example, in the 1950s, a couple, 56:17 George and Margaret Westbeau, who lived up at a ranch near 56:21 Seattle, Washington, adopted an abandoned lion cub. 56:25 They named it Little Tyke because they felt sorry for it. 56:27 But they discovered, as they tried to feed her, 56:30 she refused to eat any meat at all. 56:33 They were concerned, thinking there was no hope for this 56:36 little lioness to survive, and everybody told them the same 56:39 because we know, in the wild, lions survive on almost an 56:42 entirely meat diet. 56:44 Then someone showed the Westbeaus that verse in the 56:47 Bible that talks about, in heaven, 56:49 the animals are vegetarians, and the lion will eat 56:52 straw like the ox. 56:54 That encouraged them, and so they began to feed Little Tyke 56:58 a purely vegetarian diet. 57:00 Not only did she survive, she thrived, 57:03 growing into a lion that was over 352 pounds and over 57:07 10 feet long. 57:09 In fact, zoologists that examined Little Tyke when she 57:12 was full grown, said they had never seen such a perfect 57:14 specimen of a lioness in their life, 57:17 a pure vegetarian. 57:19 You know, when we hear incredible stories about that of 57:21 Little Tyke, it reminds us that God's original plan was to make 57:25 a world of total peace. 57:27 It describes it here in the Bible in Isaiah chapter 11, 57:30 verse 6: "The wolf also will dwell with the lamb, 57:34 the leopard will lie down with a young goat, 57:36 the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, 57:39 and a little child will lead them." 57:41 Nothing is going to hurt and destroy in the new heavens and 57:44 the new earth that God is going to create. 57:46 Wouldn't you like to live in a kingdom where there's perfect 57:48 peace, where there's no more death or killing or pain? 57:51 God says that He wants you in that kingdom. 57:54 The Lamb of God made it possible for you to have an encounter 57:58 with the Lion of the tribe of Judah. 58:01 Wouldn't you like to meet Him today? 58:04 ♪♪♪ 58:14 ♪♪♪ 58:24 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2019-11-30