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Luccas Rodor: Hi, friends.
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Welcome to our "Sabbath School
Study Hour," where we will be
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studying the
Sabbath School lesson.
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I'm so excited.
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For our study today,
we have a really good,
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a really deep biblical study.
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And I'd like to welcome
all of you watching here
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from our local community.
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I'd like to welcome
everyone that's watching online.
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I know that maybe some of
you are in different time zones,
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and so we truly appreciate
you investing this time
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in studying God's Word.
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This week, we will be studying
from our quarterly, our new
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Sabbath School quarterly,
which is "Rest In Christ."
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It is so important for us to
learn how to rest in Jesus and
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to find the true
rest that he provides.
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This week's lesson will be--the
title of this week's lesson is
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"The Roots of Restlessness,"
and I will be leading out today,
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so I'm excited about that.
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But before we actually get into
the lesson, I'd like to invite
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you to take
advantage of our free offer.
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This week's offer is
called "The Surrender Of Self."
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And so, if you're within the
continental North America and
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you'd like a physical copy
of this free offer, then you can
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call 866-788-3966 and you could
ask for offer number 1-5-3.
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However, if you'd like a digital
download, then you could go to
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study.aftv.org/SH0877, or again,
if you're in the U.S., you could
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text S-H-0-8-7 to the number
4-0-5-4-4, and we'd be more than
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happy to send you a digital
download of this free offer.
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Luccas: Let's say a Word
of prayer before we begin.
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"Dear Lord, thank you so
much for this beautiful day.
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Thank you for your
love, your kindness.
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Thank you for your mercy.
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And thank you for helping us
uproot the roots of restlessness
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in our lives.
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Lord, there's so much for us
to learn with our study today.
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I ask you to just
speak through the speaker.
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I ask the words that come
out to be the words from heaven.
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And I ask you to allow us to
learn from you, Lord, how to do
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this uprooting that sometimes
is so difficult for us even to
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perceive in our lives.
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Bless everyone here, everyone
that's watching online, and
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everyone that will
watch this later on, Father.
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Allow it to be a blessing.
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I ask this in Jesus's name.
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Amen."
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Well, studying this week's
lesson was truly a blessing
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because the topics that are
mentioned, the topics that are
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included, are
topics that are so obvious.
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But what I've come to understand
and what I've have come to
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learn, is that usually things
that seem to be obvious, we kind
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of forget them, right, we kind
of cast them aside because it's
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so obvious, it's so
easy, and so we just kind of
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cast it aside sometimes.
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We don't really consider it.
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But in the end, these things
are the things that we'll come
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to think that, "Wow.
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Maybe, I should have
paid more attention to that."
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So I'm really
excited and interested about
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the topics this week.
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There are
several smaller topics.
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The memory verse comes
from James 3:16, that says,
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"For where envy and self-seeking
exists, confusion and every
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evil thing are there."
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Now, even on a superficial
observation of this quarter's
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lesson title, and not to
mention, you know, the really
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diving deep into each individual
lesson, each of the individual
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13 themes that cover the
development of the lesson this
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quarter, allows us to perceive
that this quarter's lesson, this
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quarter's lesson is about one
of the most central, important,
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vital aspects of what
we learn in the Bible,
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which is rest in Christ, right?
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Rest in Jesus.
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That is one of the most
important things that any
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Christian needs to
learn about and needs
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to implement in their
life, how to rest in Jesus.
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How do we do that?
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In this modern era of
unending hurry, tight schedules,
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generalized activism, people are
running to and fro, people have
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schedules that go on and on.
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I was showing, I don't know
how this happened, but I was
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scheduling some kind of meeting
the other day with someone here
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from church, one
of the young adults.
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And I pulled out my phone to
check my schedule and I didn't
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even think twice of it.
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I, you know, just opened it
on my calendar, and they let out
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this long whistle.
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Because the thing is, that in my
calendar, I don't only have my
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schedule, but I also
have the church schedule.
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Right?
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We have a whole church calendar.
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And so it's littered with
different events and different
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things going on.
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Not that all of them are
unnecessarily mine but it just
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looks so--like so much stuff.
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And they're like,
"That's what you got to do?"
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And you know, and so I said,
"Yeah, that's what I got to do."
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And they're like,
"Wow, man. You're busy."
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And then I told them, "Well, not
all of this is mine, you know.
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But it just seems as though
more and more, we have less
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and less time.
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The reality is that
we have the same time.
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Everyone has the same amount of
time allotted to them, but for
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some people it just seems
as though 24 hours in a day
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is not enough.
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Have you ever felt like that?
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Like the 24 hours that
you have is not enough.
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Right? Every day.
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And so, in this era that we're
living in, in which these 24
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hours don't seem enough,
the feverish commitment to
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apparently unpostponable duties,
that has a devastating effect
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that suffocates us,
that dismembers families and
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relationships, skews our
understanding of what is truly
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important and the
primordial in life.
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Now friends, all of this defines
the fact that we need rest.
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Wouldn't you agree with me?
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Don't we need rest?
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And isn't the fact that
we all agree with this, so
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emphatically, isn't
that at least worrisome?
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We need rest.
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We need rest.
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But here's the thing, here's the
caveat, the rest that we need is
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a qualified rest.
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It's not any kind of rest.
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And this is one of those things
that a lot of people get wrong
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about the Sabbath.
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Today isn't about
the Sabbath per say.
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And last quarter, we had a
lesson just about the Sabbath,
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and I think that I was the
one that led out on that one.
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But a lot of people
misunderstand the concept of the
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Sabbath when they think that the
Sabbath is for them to sleep.
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Well, I'm supposed
to be resting, right?
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So I'm just gonna
spend the whole day sleeping.
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That used to be my understanding
when I was a teenager.
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I just, you know,
get home from church.
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After lunch, I'd
go straight to bed.
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I'd sleep from like 2:00 until
8:00, until whatever sundown
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was, and then I'll go
to the gym, play basketball
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with my friends.
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And to me, I kept
the Sabbath just fine.
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I slept all
day. I rested, right?
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But friends, what we learned
is that rest, the rest that
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we need, the rest
that is essential,
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it's a qualified rest.
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It's a specific kind of rest.
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It's rest in Jesus.
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Rest in Christ.
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You know, business
organizations, industries, they
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recognize that
their employees need rest.
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That is something that is
already recognized in the whole
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psychology
dynamic of a business.
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Even work legislations
around the world, force their
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businesses and industries to
allow their employees to rest.
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People need rest.
People need to stop.
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People need vacation.
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And sure enough, who hasn't
taken a much needed vacation?
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Who here hasn't?
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Now, don't answer that because
a few of you might even say,
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"Well, I haven't taken
vacation in ten years."
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Oh well, then I don't know what
you're doing with your time,
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friend, or with your money,
with the work that you're doing.
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But, you know, a lot of us
take this much needed rest.
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And we go to, you know
some tropical resorts, or some
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peaceful mountains, or a
lake, or a cottage or a cabin
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somewhere.
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Perhaps vacation in the Bahamas,
or Florida, or parks or resorts.
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A lot of people come to our
beautiful state of California.
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We have some very
beautiful places here.
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One of the things I love the
most about moving here is that,
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you know, 20, 30 minutes away,
we have mountains, we have lakes
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and hiking trails.
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And right beside our
house, we have a little trail.
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And so, it's so beautiful to
take part of that kind of rest.
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However, a strange phenomenon
occurs frequently where many
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people end up, and see if you
can relate to this, many people
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end up needing
vacation from their vacation.
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Have you ever felt that?
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People need vacation
from vacation itself.
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No, friends.
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The rest that we truly need,
the rest that we really need is
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found in the freedom
that we find only Jesus.
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Only in Jesus, he who invites us
to rest at his feet and to learn
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from him.
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If you read Matthew chapter 11,
verse 28 through 30, we learn
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from him how to reorganize
our schedules, our priorities.
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Our basic sick need
really isn't of physical rest
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or even mental rest.
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And while those things are
important, we know through the
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Bible that our real need,
our real necessity is deeper.
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Our real need is
that of spiritual rest.
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Rest in God.
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Seeking rest, and sophisticated
and expensive resorts and
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paradises, is many times
frustrating, a frustrating
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attempt equivalent to
trying to cure stage IV cancer
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with sedatives.
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Our true need is of liberation,
freedom from the burdens that
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oppress, that asphyxiate,
that suffocate and consumes us.
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That's what we need.
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Something or rather someone that
is infinitely larger and that
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infinitely surpasses the limits
of whatever we can expect.
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What are your
expectations about your rest?
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What do you imagine is ideal?
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Trust me, Jesus
can go beyond that.
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Jesus does better.
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He covers the costs.
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The acceptance of rest that
he offers us is the catalyst to
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solving some of
our major problems.
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What are your problems?
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What do you struggle with?
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Stress.
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We live in the era
of stress, anxiety.
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And I tell you this from
personal experience, I'm a very
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anxious person.
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I'm one of those people that
suffers beforehand by anxiety.
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You know those people, that the
thing is like a month away and
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they're already worrying about
it, they can't sleep about it,
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they're rolling around in bed?
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That's me.
00:11:00.49\00:11:01.89
And so, I'm preaching to
the choir here when I say these
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things because I
need, I need that rest also.
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But the thing is, is that
sometimes we'll leave that only
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for the end.
00:11:09.76\00:11:11.30
We'll try everything else.
00:11:11.33\00:11:12.73
We'll try vitamins, we'll try
hormones, we'll try medicine,
00:11:12.77\00:11:15.00
we'll try sleep techniques,
we'll go to sleep doctors, when
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what you truly need is to learn
how to rest in Christ, to lay at
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his feet our problems,
our anxieties, our worries.
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And again, I'm
preaching to the choir.
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This isn't something that I've
learned the secrets to just yet.
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But that's also what the
road of sanctification is.
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It's where you
learn gradually, slowly.
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Some of us learn quicker.
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Some of us take more time.
00:11:43.93\00:11:47.54
This week's lesson is all about
the roots of our maladies, our
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evils, which are the true
obstacles and enemies of our
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peace and of our
rest in the first place.
00:11:54.61\00:11:56.95
And just like it is with
any other problem in life,
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recognizing it is
part of the solution.
00:12:01.08\00:12:03.85
You need to recognize
the problem, am I right?
00:12:03.89\00:12:06.79
For you to come to the solution
for you, to find the answer to
00:12:06.82\00:12:09.79
your problems, you need to
know that there is a problem.
00:12:09.82\00:12:12.49
And here, those who are truly
understand their problem are
00:12:12.53\00:12:15.73
already partially cured.
00:12:15.76\00:12:18.77
So, you know--and here we go,
and we dive into what this week
00:12:18.80\00:12:22.50
is actually talking about.
00:12:22.54\00:12:24.01
Not long ago, a popular TV
religious commentator or speaker
00:12:24.04\00:12:28.61
trying to justify his new
interpretation of the four
00:12:28.64\00:12:31.78
horsemen or the horses
of Revelation, trying to
00:12:31.81\00:12:36.02
justify--here you're going to
find a whole bunch of different
00:12:36.05\00:12:38.32
interpretations out there that
aren't especially biblical or
00:12:38.35\00:12:42.29
sound theology.
00:12:42.32\00:12:44.16
But here trying to justify
his opinion, that was that Jesus
00:12:44.19\00:12:47.83
never brings
divisions or persecutions.
00:12:47.86\00:12:50.17
That was his
final interpretation.
00:12:50.20\00:12:52.60
So those horses, whatever
they mean, they don't mean
00:12:52.63\00:12:55.07
persecutions, or
divisions or problems.
00:12:55.10\00:12:57.67
And when I heard that,
immediately the thought is,
00:12:57.71\00:13:03.38
"Oh, has he read the gospels?
00:13:03.41\00:13:06.61
Has he read the New Testament?
00:13:06.65\00:13:08.95
Has he studied the
history of that first church?"
00:13:08.98\00:13:13.05
Because certainly, and here I
admit this: conflicts, problems,
00:13:13.09\00:13:17.63
persecutions, lack of harmony,
that's not the intention or the
00:13:17.66\00:13:22.36
desire of Jesus for our
planet or of acceptance of him.
00:13:22.40\00:13:27.50
It's certainly not what he
wants, but these frequently end
00:13:27.54\00:13:30.47
up being the
results of following Jesus.
00:13:30.51\00:13:34.98
And that's kind of a mystery
until we actually dig into it.
00:13:35.01\00:13:40.05
Since there can't be no harmony
between light and darkness,
00:13:40.08\00:13:44.85
between Jesus, between Christ
and Belial, the division of
00:13:44.89\00:13:48.76
those who accept him
and those who reject him,
00:13:48.79\00:13:51.66
that's inevitable.
00:13:51.69\00:13:53.46
There's no way around it.
00:13:53.50\00:13:54.83
That's the
reality of the matter.
00:13:54.86\00:13:56.46
There will always be a
disharmony between those that
00:13:56.50\00:13:59.37
are born the one time
and those that are born again
00:13:59.40\00:14:03.20
the second time.
00:14:03.24\00:14:06.91
You have to accept
that the acceptance
00:14:06.94\00:14:11.35
of Jesus is totalitarian.
00:14:11.38\00:14:14.45
There's no
other way around this.
00:14:14.48\00:14:16.38
We are talking about
a radical change in life
00:14:16.42\00:14:18.69
when we accept Jesus.
00:14:18.72\00:14:20.39
I what I mean about--what I mean
here is that when you accept
00:14:20.42\00:14:24.89
Jesus, that involves and
that affects the entirety
00:14:24.93\00:14:29.16
of your life.
00:14:29.20\00:14:30.67
It has to affect everything.
00:14:30.70\00:14:32.37
It affects every
single aspect of your waking
00:14:32.40\00:14:34.90
and sleeping life.
00:14:34.94\00:14:37.34
Philosophy, dress code, diet,
our general outlook on life, the
00:14:37.37\00:14:41.14
view of this planet in the midst
of a great controversy, our
00:14:41.18\00:14:45.55
entertainments, our
interests, our priorities.
00:14:45.58\00:14:48.55
We cannot escape the tension
with those that continue in
00:14:48.58\00:14:52.42
their unaltered walk.
00:14:52.45\00:14:53.96
And make no mistake, that is
also totalitarian commitment.
00:14:53.99\00:14:58.86
There is no halfhearted
commitment in this life.
00:14:58.89\00:15:03.43
There is no halfway choice.
00:15:03.47\00:15:06.67
Choosing Jesus is a radical
totalitarian decision, right?
00:15:06.70\00:15:12.41
But not choosing Jesus also is.
00:15:12.44\00:15:15.64
There's no escape.
00:15:15.68\00:15:18.31
You see, friends, Jesus,
he's not just another influence
00:15:18.35\00:15:23.69
among many others.
00:15:23.72\00:15:25.39
But he is the dominating
and governing influence
00:15:25.42\00:15:29.16
above all others.
00:15:29.19\00:15:30.93
And unless you understand this,
unless not only you understand
00:15:30.96\00:15:34.23
but you accept, and internalize
and you put into practice this
00:15:34.30\00:15:37.50
reality, you're going to be half
living the Christian which means
00:15:37.53\00:15:41.50
the same as not a Christian
at all, not a true disciple.
00:15:41.54\00:15:45.31
You might be a fan,
you might be, you know,
00:15:45.34\00:15:48.44
a far-off
follower, but not a disciple.
00:15:48.48\00:15:53.21
And it hurts to say
this, because again,
00:15:53.25\00:15:54.92
this is all of us.
00:15:54.95\00:15:57.19
I'm not up here on this
stage just preaching down to you
00:15:57.22\00:16:00.19
saying that this is something
that only affects others,
00:16:00.22\00:16:01.99
not myself.
00:16:02.02\00:16:03.39
No, this is a difficulty that
all of us on the road to heaven
00:16:03.43\00:16:06.56
have to go through because this
decision involves everything.
00:16:06.59\00:16:13.17
Jesus himself said that in
some circumstances our greatest
00:16:13.20\00:16:16.84
enemies would come from
within our own families, our own
00:16:16.87\00:16:21.01
household, among those who
we love the most and those that
00:16:21.04\00:16:23.85
love us the most,
among those who accept him
00:16:23.88\00:16:26.98
and those who reject him.
00:16:27.02\00:16:28.58
And what that means is
husbands against wives,
00:16:28.62\00:16:31.09
wives against husbands,
children against their parents,
00:16:31.12\00:16:34.19
and parents
against the children.
00:16:34.22\00:16:39.33
In the environment
of school, of work,
00:16:39.36\00:16:43.00
we're also met by turbulence.
00:16:43.03\00:16:45.30
Sometimes, even persecutions.
00:16:45.33\00:16:47.77
I know many people who have
had a hard time in their jobs or
00:16:47.80\00:16:50.71
even at school because of
decisions that had to be made
00:16:50.74\00:16:55.24
because of their
commitment to Christ.
00:16:55.28\00:16:57.21
In Brazil, not long ago, we--so
in Brazil, we have this test for
00:16:57.25\00:17:02.98
you to get into high
school--sorry, for you to get
00:17:03.02\00:17:06.29
into college, you have
to go through this test.
00:17:06.32\00:17:08.76
I think it would be the
equivalent or something around,
00:17:08.79\00:17:11.03
you know, the SATs
or something like that.
00:17:11.06\00:17:13.73
And these tests nationwide used
to be on the Sabbath, and it was
00:17:13.76\00:17:18.13
very difficult for
Adventists or Sabbath keepers.
00:17:18.17\00:17:21.27
I remember that when I did it, I
was one of the first batches of
00:17:21.30\00:17:24.97
them allowing--actually, I was
in one of the first batches of
00:17:25.01\00:17:29.24
this test in general.
00:17:29.28\00:17:32.25
And those first few years,
it was on Sunday and then they
00:17:32.28\00:17:34.48
switched it to Sabbath.
00:17:34.52\00:17:35.92
And by the time I was a
youth pastor, I was already
00:17:35.95\00:17:37.99
ministering and teaching,
chapelling to kids going
00:17:38.02\00:17:40.99
through, you
know, that experience.
00:17:41.02\00:17:44.13
And I remember going
with them to the school.
00:17:44.16\00:17:47.13
So they had these special
schools where the kids will be
00:17:47.13\00:17:49.46
locked in all day from
noon all the way up to sunset.
00:17:49.50\00:17:54.84
And this happens in the end of
the year in South America where
00:17:54.87\00:17:58.31
that's summer.
00:17:58.34\00:18:00.58
End of the year in South
American, southern hemisphere is
00:18:00.61\00:18:02.24
summer, and so
the days are long.
00:18:02.28\00:18:04.18
And so I remember staying with
them from, you know, noon, all
00:18:04.21\00:18:06.51
the way to 8:30 at nights where
they could only sit on their
00:18:06.55\00:18:10.25
chair, on the desk.
00:18:10.29\00:18:11.95
They couldn't speak anything.
00:18:11.99\00:18:13.62
Some of these schools were more
strict than others, and some
00:18:13.66\00:18:15.12
they could, you know, they could
kind of socialize and all that.
00:18:15.16\00:18:17.43
But some of the schools
didn't allow them to get up,
00:18:17.46\00:18:19.46
to talk to each other.
00:18:19.49\00:18:21.03
Either they had to sleep; they
can even take a book to read.
00:18:21.06\00:18:25.53
A few years ago, we had a law in
our national legislation where
00:18:25.57\00:18:29.47
they allowed this test to
be switched over to Sunday, and
00:18:29.50\00:18:32.14
that was a great
victory for the Sabbath keepers.
00:18:32.17\00:18:34.84
And they switched it
because of religious freedom,
00:18:34.88\00:18:36.68
religious liberty.
00:18:36.71\00:18:38.91
And so, that
was a great victory.
00:18:38.95\00:18:41.05
But there are many people
who go through this experience
00:18:41.08\00:18:44.29
without that kind of victory.
00:18:44.32\00:18:49.02
So how do we understand
these words coming from Jesus in
00:18:49.06\00:18:52.16
Matthew 10:34 through 39, where
the Prince of peace, the Prince
00:18:52.19\00:18:56.97
of peace indicates that he came
to bring the sword and fire to
00:18:57.00\00:19:01.17
the earth.
00:19:01.20\00:19:02.50
This text is certainly
among the hard sayings of Jesus.
00:19:02.54\00:19:06.98
Read with me Matthew 10:34
through 39 says, "Do not think
00:19:07.01\00:19:10.75
that I came to
bring peace on earth.
00:19:10.78\00:19:12.68
I did not come to
bring peace but a sword.
00:19:12.71\00:19:15.05
For I have come to 'set a
man against his father, and a
00:19:15.08\00:19:17.29
daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against
00:19:17.32\00:19:19.39
her mother-in-law; and a
man's enemies will be those
00:19:19.42\00:19:21.92
of his own household.
00:19:21.96\00:19:23.32
He who loves father
or mother more than me
00:19:23.36\00:19:25.63
is not worthy of me.
00:19:25.66\00:19:26.96
And he who loves son
or daughter more than me
00:19:27.00\00:19:29.16
is not worthy of me.
00:19:29.20\00:19:31.77
And he who does not take
his cross and follow after me
00:19:31.80\00:19:35.27
is not worthy of me.
00:19:35.30\00:19:36.91
And he who finds his life will
lose it, and he who loses his
00:19:36.94\00:19:40.08
life for my sake will find it."
00:19:40.11\00:19:45.15
When Jesus was born,
didn't angels come to sing,
00:19:45.18\00:19:48.28
saying, "Peace.
00:19:48.32\00:19:50.25
Goodwill on earth?"
00:19:50.29\00:19:54.32
Why this then?
00:19:54.36\00:19:57.43
And what's was interesting
is that while Jesus uses a
00:19:57.46\00:19:59.83
metaphorical word here
in Matthew, the word "sword"
00:19:59.86\00:20:02.80
he uses a real word, a not
metaphorical word in Matthew,
00:20:02.83\00:20:06.30
which is the word
"division"--sorry, in Luke.
00:20:06.33\00:20:09.04
Luke 12:53, he uses
the word "division."
00:20:09.07\00:20:11.24
And here you have a
parallel in these two texts.
00:20:11.27\00:20:13.27
One says he came to bring
the sword; the other, he came to
00:20:13.31\00:20:15.34
bring division.
00:20:15.38\00:20:16.81
But the meaning is the same.
00:20:16.85\00:20:18.91
The significance is the same.
00:20:18.95\00:20:20.88
And we first have to
observe that one thing
00:20:20.92\00:20:23.12
here can be certain.
00:20:23.15\00:20:24.82
We can be certain of one thing.
00:20:24.85\00:20:26.45
Jesus never advocated
for violence or for conflict.
00:20:26.49\00:20:29.52
Never.
00:20:29.56\00:20:31.03
In fact, he taught his followers
to not offer retaliation when
00:20:31.06\00:20:34.60
attacked or mistreated.
00:20:34.63\00:20:36.90
That is Christ's way.
00:20:36.93\00:20:38.37
He is not advocating here
for the sword or for violence.
00:20:38.40\00:20:41.64
Matthew 5:9 tells us, "Blessed
are the peacemakers for they
00:20:41.67\00:20:44.24
shall be called
the sons of God."
00:20:44.27\00:20:47.04
So what this means is that the
God, our God, the God that we
00:20:47.08\00:20:50.31
worship, the biblical God is the
God of peace, and that those who
00:20:50.35\00:20:54.12
follow him, reflect his
character as peacemakers.
00:20:54.15\00:20:57.02
Aren't we called
to become peacemakers?
00:20:57.05\00:21:00.16
During his last visit to
Jerusalem before his death,
00:21:00.19\00:21:03.76
his message had to do
with things that bring peace.
00:21:03.79\00:21:06.59
He cried because
they rejected that peace.
00:21:06.63\00:21:10.10
The message proclaimed by
the disciples, by his followers
00:21:10.13\00:21:13.30
after his departure, is
called the gospel of peace.
00:21:13.34\00:21:18.84
Ephesians 6:13, the gospel
of peace or 2 Corinthians 5:19,
00:21:18.87\00:21:23.88
the Word of reconciliation.
00:21:23.91\00:21:27.55
But when Jesus spoke of the
tensions and conflicts within
00:21:27.58\00:21:30.79
the family, he was
speaking, probably here
00:21:30.82\00:21:32.99
from personal experience.
00:21:33.02\00:21:35.42
We have several indications
in the gospels that the members
00:21:35.46\00:21:38.56
from his family had no sympathy
either for him or for his
00:21:38.59\00:21:41.86
ministry, at least initially.
00:21:41.90\00:21:45.83
When Jesus said that he
didn't come to bring peace,
00:21:45.87\00:21:48.44
what did he mean?
00:21:48.47\00:21:52.31
The sword; division.
00:21:52.34\00:21:54.71
Friends, what he was truly,
essentially saying is that that
00:21:54.74\00:21:58.68
was the effect of his
coming but not the purpose.
00:21:58.71\00:22:04.52
That was the
effect, not the purpose.
00:22:04.55\00:22:08.82
His words would come true in the
life of the primitive church,
00:22:08.86\00:22:13.06
and subsequently, throughout
the history of our church.
00:22:13.09\00:22:15.76
Look back on history.
00:22:15.80\00:22:18.20
How long have the true followers
of God not been persecuted?
00:22:18.23\00:22:21.77
For how long prophetically?
00:22:21.80\00:22:23.74
How much time?
00:22:23.77\00:22:25.94
That's a long time.
00:22:25.97\00:22:27.91
Over a thousand years.
00:22:27.94\00:22:31.45
We see that reality
playing through the life of the
00:22:31.48\00:22:33.82
primitive church where one or
two members of a family or any
00:22:33.85\00:22:38.52
social group accept Jesus, they
can expect one or another form
00:22:38.55\00:22:43.59
of discrimination
or even persecution.
00:22:43.63\00:22:46.29
We know stories.
00:22:46.33\00:22:47.76
Personally, I know stories
of people who, after accepting
00:22:47.76\00:22:50.33
Jesus, were renounced and
denounced from their household,
00:22:50.37\00:22:55.40
needing to live then on streets
or at the mercy of anyone that
00:22:55.44\00:22:59.34
took them in.
00:22:59.37\00:23:01.58
Paul experienced ruthlessness
from his own group, his own
00:23:01.61\00:23:05.48
religious circle as a
result of his conversion.
00:23:05.51\00:23:07.85
He knew that tensions would
arise among husbands and wives
00:23:07.88\00:23:11.42
that embrace the faith
and the other ones that remain
00:23:11.45\00:23:13.29
outside of it.
00:23:13.32\00:23:16.36
That is why he advised that if
an unbelieving spouse, husband
00:23:16.39\00:23:20.23
or wife, was satisfied in
continuing to live with the
00:23:20.26\00:23:24.37
other, the
Christian spouse, it was fine.
00:23:24.40\00:23:27.90
The whole family could
yet come to conversion.
00:23:27.94\00:23:29.87
We know that Paul
give that counsel.
00:23:29.90\00:23:32.84
But what did he see if the
spouse was unbelieving, and they
00:23:32.87\00:23:37.01
sought out divorce or
separation to end the marriage?
00:23:37.05\00:23:42.45
He said that the Christian
spouse should not stay by force
00:23:42.48\00:23:45.65
or seek legal action because,
in his answer, his reasoning, is
00:23:45.69\00:23:50.19
because God has called
us for peace or to peace.
00:23:50.23\00:23:53.93
That's in 1 Corinthians
7:12-16, if you want to study it
00:23:53.96\00:23:56.63
a little deeper.
00:23:56.67\00:23:58.77
Friends, the Jews accepted
Jesus-- that accepted Jesus.
00:23:58.80\00:24:01.30
The Jews that
accepted Jesus were expelled
00:24:01.34\00:24:04.07
from their synagogues.
00:24:04.11\00:24:06.91
That's a real thing right there.
00:24:06.94\00:24:09.44
And we really don't
know--because look, if we're
00:24:09.48\00:24:11.88
ever kicked out of Granite Bay
Hilltop, all right, if someone
00:24:11.91\00:24:13.72
comes along and someone doesn't
like you or something like that,
00:24:13.75\00:24:16.58
if you're kicked out of here, if
God forbid one day this becomes,
00:24:16.62\00:24:20.39
you know, nonbiblical, which
we pray it never will--but let's
00:24:20.42\00:24:24.19
say a church becomes unbiblical
and then you start preaching the
00:24:24.23\00:24:27.40
truth in there and they kick
you out, well, I mean you can
00:24:27.40\00:24:29.53
just go to another church.
00:24:29.56\00:24:31.03
We have a plethora of churches.
00:24:31.07\00:24:32.43
We have churches, we
have religious liberty.
00:24:32.47\00:24:33.77
But back then, being kicked
out of the synagogue meant
00:24:33.80\00:24:36.44
or it equated perdition.
00:24:36.47\00:24:39.84
It was equal to being lost
because salvation in the Jewish
00:24:39.87\00:24:43.38
culture was done
together, collectively.
00:24:43.41\00:24:51.19
And so for them to be kicked out
of the synagogue, that equated
00:24:51.22\00:24:54.89
them to be removed from
their social connections,
00:24:54.92\00:24:58.13
their support system.
00:24:58.16\00:25:01.10
They were treated as publicans,
tax collectors or even
00:25:01.13\00:25:04.43
Samaritans.
00:25:04.47\00:25:05.87
And so, friends, in the words of
Matthew, Jesus was warning his
00:25:05.90\00:25:07.94
followers that a covenant
with him could cause problems at
00:25:07.97\00:25:13.24
home, problems at work, perhaps
even the expulsion from the
00:25:13.27\00:25:19.05
family and from
their social connections.
00:25:19.08\00:25:24.25
This way, it was
good for them to be aware
00:25:24.29\00:25:26.52
of what would happen.
00:25:26.55\00:25:28.89
Later on, no one could ever say,
"Well, I didn't know that the
00:25:28.92\00:25:31.93
price for Jesus, you know,
for following him or being his
00:25:31.96\00:25:34.03
disciple would be so high."
00:25:34.10\00:25:35.70
No, look, if there's one thing
that you can say about Jesus,
00:25:35.73\00:25:38.00
is that he's transparent,
because Jesus was more
00:25:38.03\00:25:40.80
than abundantly clear what
would happen if we follow him.
00:25:40.84\00:25:48.18
Jesus is very clear
from the very beginning.
00:25:48.21\00:25:51.41
But even under these
circumstances, and this is where
00:25:51.45\00:25:53.62
the beauty of being
a disciple comes in.
00:25:53.65\00:25:56.08
Even under these experiences
and situations of duress,
00:25:56.12\00:26:02.22
companionship with him would
still bring internal peace and
00:26:02.26\00:26:05.63
personal tranquility.
00:26:05.66\00:26:07.40
And that's what we understand
when Jesus tells us in the Book
00:26:07.40\00:26:10.90
of John that he
came to bring this peace,
00:26:10.93\00:26:13.67
but it's a different peace.
00:26:13.70\00:26:15.27
It's a peace that
surpasses understanding.
00:26:15.30\00:26:17.31
It's a peace that the
world cannot comprehend.
00:26:17.34\00:26:20.81
How could you understand peace
amidst the fires of persecution?
00:26:20.84\00:26:25.95
But that's what
we have in Christ.
00:26:25.98\00:26:28.88
In any case, from this point
onwards, here in the lesson,
00:26:28.92\00:26:31.75
the lesson this week, it
zeroes in on other sources of
00:26:31.79\00:26:34.39
restlessness, not only division
that being a disciple brings,
00:26:34.42\00:26:39.23
but other roots of restlessness,
other things that bring us
00:26:39.26\00:26:42.76
problems in the day-to-day.
00:26:42.80\00:26:45.03
That when subvert and delivered
over Jesus, allows us to live in
00:26:45.07\00:26:49.30
peace with
ourselves and with others.
00:26:49.34\00:26:51.51
Monday brings us the
topic of selfishness.
00:26:51.54\00:26:54.71
You know, ever since the fall,
ever since the entrance of sin
00:26:54.74\00:26:57.98
in our world,
selfishness has become a part
00:26:58.01\00:26:59.85
of our essential nature.
00:26:59.88\00:27:02.78
By sin, we live
centralized in ourselves.
00:27:02.82\00:27:06.86
No one needs to take any
sort of educational course,
00:27:06.89\00:27:09.46
no one has to teach
you in school or college.
00:27:09.49\00:27:11.96
There no master degrees
or PhD's in how to be selfish
00:27:11.99\00:27:15.06
or how to be egocentric.
00:27:15.10\00:27:17.50
It's natural.
00:27:17.53\00:27:21.00
Comes with us.
00:27:21.04\00:27:23.44
It's an inherent part
of our fallen condition.
00:27:23.47\00:27:27.08
Friends, the reality is that
we live surrounded by ourselves
00:27:27.11\00:27:29.94
to the north, to the
south, east and west.
00:27:29.98\00:27:32.38
We are there to ourselves.
00:27:32.41\00:27:36.45
Egoism is the twin brother
of pride, and because of it, we
00:27:36.48\00:27:41.69
fail to see correctly, we fail
to think correctly, we fail to
00:27:41.72\00:27:44.73
act correctly and to
make the correct choices.
00:27:44.76\00:27:48.43
Egoism, selfishness, is
among the foundational aspects
00:27:48.46\00:27:51.73
of our afflictions.
00:27:51.77\00:27:53.44
Permanent frenzies,
relentless competitions
00:27:53.47\00:27:56.77
and competitiveness.
00:27:56.81\00:27:58.64
We become unhappy, jealous even,
if someone else is promoted,
00:27:58.67\00:28:03.58
or valued, or
awarded, or considered better
00:28:03.61\00:28:07.05
or even before us.
00:28:07.08\00:28:09.02
And I'm sure that you can
relate with me, all right.
00:28:09.05\00:28:10.92
I'm not going
to call anyone out.
00:28:10.95\00:28:12.25
I know that I felt these things.
00:28:12.29\00:28:15.86
It's part of who we are.
00:28:15.89\00:28:18.59
Part of what we ask
God to free us from daily.
00:28:18.63\00:28:22.93
Daily, I die, and I
like--I let Christ reign.
00:28:22.96\00:28:27.60
The reality, friends, the truth
of the fact here, is that in the
00:28:27.64\00:28:30.84
heart of every man, woman
and child, there is a throne
00:28:30.87\00:28:34.21
and a cross.
00:28:34.24\00:28:36.11
And either the old man is on
the cross and Christ is on the
00:28:36.14\00:28:38.81
throne or Christ is on the cross
and the man is on the throne.
00:28:38.85\00:28:44.25
Our temptation and our great
battle is to remove Christ from
00:28:44.29\00:28:48.12
the cross daily, placing him on
the throne and putting that old
00:28:48.16\00:28:51.66
man, that old
woman on the cross.
00:28:51.69\00:28:57.23
One of the most radical voyages
that a human can take is the
00:28:57.27\00:29:01.17
voyage to be free of themselves,
free of their own ego.
00:29:01.20\00:29:06.37
This is a journey that begins
when we are babies, infants.
00:29:06.41\00:29:10.68
A newborn is the
center of its own universe.
00:29:10.71\00:29:15.15
It's true.
00:29:15.18\00:29:17.25
Growing in Christ is the slow
discovery that others exist and
00:29:17.29\00:29:21.82
that we don't exist
exclusively to serve ourselves
00:29:21.86\00:29:25.69
and to do our own will.
00:29:25.73\00:29:27.36
But what is tragic here, is that
unless Jesus frees us from this
00:29:27.40\00:29:30.93
enslaving syndrome, we will
navigate life with this immense
00:29:30.97\00:29:35.14
burden that makes us miserable,
that destroys marriages,
00:29:35.17\00:29:38.87
societies and relationships.
00:29:38.91\00:29:40.74
The secret of marriage is you
taking care, you taking it upon
00:29:40.78\00:29:44.91
yourself to care for your
spouse, to make him or her happy
00:29:44.95\00:29:48.68
and allowing them to do that.
00:29:48.72\00:29:50.59
If you seek your own happiness
in a marriage, trust me, that is
00:29:50.62\00:29:54.06
not going to go down well.
00:29:54.09\00:29:57.26
Care for the happiness
and the joy of your partner
00:29:57.29\00:30:00.50
and you will be happy.
00:30:00.53\00:30:02.46
Care for your own,
your own interests,
00:30:02.50\00:30:05.20
you will be miserable.
00:30:05.23\00:30:06.80
That will be hell on earth.
00:30:06.84\00:30:11.71
What's worse, in our modern,
individualistic society, where
00:30:11.74\00:30:15.01
we take pleasure in being
number one, and being the best,
00:30:15.04\00:30:18.05
and being second to none.
00:30:18.08\00:30:21.22
But with Jesus, we learn that we
are not the center of the world,
00:30:21.25\00:30:25.02
and from him, we
received the power to be free
00:30:25.05\00:30:27.82
from this burden.
00:30:27.86\00:30:29.19
I'd invite you to observe
the expressions that the New
00:30:29.22\00:30:31.13
Testament uses to describe our
national conditions: unclean,
00:30:31.16\00:30:35.76
blind, futile, vein, alienated
and ignorant, dead in our
00:30:35.80\00:30:40.94
trespasses,
deceptive, carnal, corrupt,
00:30:40.97\00:30:44.34
perverse, irreverent, defiled.
00:30:44.37\00:30:47.41
The list goes on.
00:30:47.44\00:30:51.01
Friends, admitting the
disease, admitting the problem
00:30:51.05\00:30:53.65
is the first step
in obtaining the cure.
00:30:53.68\00:30:56.25
Selfishness is
dangerous because it is usually
00:30:56.28\00:30:58.75
done unconsciously.
00:30:58.79\00:31:01.96
We don't realize it.
00:31:01.99\00:31:03.59
We don't really
think at the moment,
00:31:03.63\00:31:05.09
"Well, I'm going
to be unselfish now."
00:31:05.13\00:31:06.36
No one wakes up and thinks, "Ah,
today is the day that I'm going
00:31:06.39\00:31:08.50
to be unselfish.
00:31:08.53\00:31:09.83
Today is the day."
00:31:09.86\00:31:11.33
No one thinks like that.
00:31:11.37\00:31:12.87
It happens.
00:31:12.90\00:31:16.10
Hindsight is 20/20 though.
00:31:16.14\00:31:18.51
The things that many
people don't even think take
00:31:18.54\00:31:19.84
for--or bother.
00:31:19.87\00:31:21.44
They don't even bother to
look back, but Jesus helps us.
00:31:21.48\00:31:29.88
To fix this problem,
we need external help,
00:31:29.92\00:31:32.79
we need external help.
00:31:32.82\00:31:35.76
He consistently warned us
about the feverish materialism
00:31:35.79\00:31:39.63
aggravated by the harassment
of unscrupulous propagandas, the
00:31:39.66\00:31:43.43
exploit of human egocentrism.
00:31:43.47\00:31:46.97
To Jesus, contrary to
what Karl Marx would say about
00:31:47.00\00:31:50.14
materialism--about religion,
forgive me, being the opium of
00:31:50.17\00:31:57.35
the masses.
00:31:57.38\00:31:59.28
To Jesus, materialism is the
great narcotic, an opium of the
00:31:59.31\00:32:04.29
masses that numbs people against
the reality of their true
00:32:04.32\00:32:08.06
conditions, their
true condition: transience,
00:32:08.09\00:32:11.29
mortality, our insanities.
00:32:11.33\00:32:17.90
While always wanting more, their
insatisfaction actually makes
00:32:17.93\00:32:21.37
them poor in what
is truly important.
00:32:21.40\00:32:24.57
Allow Jesus to free you from
this, from the consumerism that
00:32:24.61\00:32:29.41
afflicts your life, the
desire to have more, more, more.
00:32:29.44\00:32:33.88
To buy , more, more, more.
00:32:33.92\00:32:36.79
And in that way, attach your
identity to the things that you
00:32:36.82\00:32:39.79
have, not understanding that
it's not truly you who owned
00:32:39.82\00:32:43.02
these
properties, but they own you.
00:32:43.06\00:32:48.20
Another route of restlessness
that is brought up in this
00:32:48.23\00:32:51.20
lesson is ambition.
00:32:51.23\00:32:52.70
You know, the Middle
Ages a group called the
00:32:52.73\00:32:55.84
monastic--Oriental Monastic
Movement, they sought to not
00:32:55.87\00:32:58.37
only overcome sin or the sins
that afflicted them, but they
00:32:58.41\00:33:02.61
also wanted to expose the
enemy behind these afflictions.
00:33:02.64\00:33:06.08
They formulated a list of sins
that today is known as the seven
00:33:06.11\00:33:11.82
capital sins.
00:33:11.85\00:33:14.52
The seven deadly sins.
00:33:14.56\00:33:17.13
Now, it's not that these sins
were considered to be worse than
00:33:17.16\00:33:20.03
any other sin, but the problems
with these is that they were
00:33:20.06\00:33:24.30
perceived as seminal sins,
originating sins, birthing sins,
00:33:24.33\00:33:30.74
which means is that these were
the very womb by which all other
00:33:30.77\00:33:35.48
sins are generated.
00:33:35.51\00:33:37.41
Ambition is one that generates
a list of evils that become
00:33:37.45\00:33:42.88
incontrollable.
00:33:42.92\00:33:44.22
Jealousy, disputes,
murder, slander, perverse
00:33:44.25\00:33:47.29
competitiveness, deceptiveness,
betrayals, treachery, felonies,
00:33:47.32\00:33:52.03
infamy,, backbiting,
spite, permanent discontentment,
00:33:52.06\00:33:55.53
unsatisfaction.
00:33:55.56\00:33:57.50
All these things rooting from
the desire to always be more,
00:33:57.53\00:34:00.27
more, more, to climb
higher on the ladder of success.
00:34:00.30\00:34:06.14
Friends, the list goes on.
00:34:06.17\00:34:08.44
As an internal fire, it destroys
peace, joy, solidarity, and the
00:34:08.48\00:34:12.58
spirit of true friendship.
00:34:12.61\00:34:14.95
Because when ambition becomes
an idol in our lives, we fail to
00:34:14.98\00:34:18.52
see humans as humans and we see
them as things to be used, steps
00:34:18.55\00:34:24.03
on a staircase
to be trampled upon.
00:34:24.06\00:34:28.30
Ambition is a close relative to
covetousness, the sin condemned
00:34:28.33\00:34:35.54
by God as tenth commandment
that reveals his character.
00:34:35.57\00:34:40.94
Fame, fortune, that's the
essence of the American dream,
00:34:40.98\00:34:45.91
that is widespread
all over the world.
00:34:45.95\00:34:48.45
And those who are infected
and poisoned by the spirit since
00:34:48.48\00:34:50.85
their infancy, are trained
to see everyone else as their
00:34:50.89\00:34:53.56
competition.
00:34:53.59\00:34:55.06
And this mentality develops the
syndrome of individualism that
00:34:55.09\00:34:58.26
just dissolves the possibility
of maintaining true and selfless
00:34:58.29\00:35:01.10
friendships.
00:35:01.13\00:35:04.73
Among the disciples, the desire
for the right and the left hand
00:35:04.77\00:35:08.57
in the kingdom, seen as places
of honor, proximity to the
00:35:08.60\00:35:12.54
throne, to the center, that took
them to squabble over who would
00:35:12.57\00:35:17.05
be the greatest.
00:35:17.08\00:35:18.58
You remember this in Matthew 18.
00:35:18.61\00:35:21.48
But I find Jesus
here just indescribable.
00:35:21.52\00:35:28.42
Jesus unleashes a fatal
blow to their blindness.
00:35:28.46\00:35:31.86
And he called--and Jesus
calls a child a symbol of
00:35:31.89\00:35:35.26
unpretentiousness, humility,
even of selfless regard.
00:35:35.30\00:35:40.90
He calls a child, a small child.
00:35:40.94\00:35:45.04
Instead of regarding who
the greatest is, Jesus reveals
00:35:45.07\00:35:49.14
how the greatest behaves.
00:35:49.18\00:35:52.78
The disciples were so worried
about who would be the greatest
00:35:52.81\00:35:55.38
in the kingdom, but Jesus draws
the conversation back to the
00:35:55.42\00:35:59.42
very gates of the kingdom,
to the access into the kingdom.
00:35:59.45\00:36:06.39
And that was the same as saying,
"Look guys, while you're all
00:36:06.43\00:36:08.60
arguing about who's going to be
the best, who's going to be the
00:36:08.63\00:36:10.63
greatest, you aren't considering
the most important subject here,
00:36:10.67\00:36:14.17
the more important question,
which is entering the kingdom
00:36:14.20\00:36:16.40
itself."
00:36:16.44\00:36:17.87
Because that's what Jesus says,
unless you become as one of
00:36:17.91\00:36:20.21
these little
ones, you will what?
00:36:20.24\00:36:22.34
You will be the
greatest or you won't be there.
00:36:22.38\00:36:25.71
That's what he says.
00:36:25.75\00:36:27.98
That is the most vital need and
the spirit that qualifies us to
00:36:28.02\00:36:31.92
receive the kingdom.
00:36:31.95\00:36:34.86
That also, that spirit that does
define us, that qualifies us to
00:36:34.89\00:36:38.73
receive the kingdom, it also
determines the spirit by which
00:36:38.76\00:36:42.63
we service the kingdom,
or we serve the kingdom.
00:36:42.66\00:36:46.17
The same spirit that qualifies
you to enter it, also qualifies
00:36:46.20\00:36:49.37
you to serve in it.
00:36:49.40\00:36:50.74
And the Spirit of that kingdom
is the spirit of a servant.
00:36:50.77\00:36:56.14
That same spirit
arose again in Matthew 20.
00:36:56.18\00:36:59.05
And here, Jesus, he
places himself as the example of
00:36:59.08\00:37:02.08
unpretension and the lack of
self-exaltation, when in Matthew
00:37:02.12\00:37:05.75
20:28, he says "The Son of
Man did not come to," what?
00:37:05.79\00:37:09.69
"To be saved but to
serve and to give his life
00:37:09.72\00:37:13.56
as a ransom for many."
00:37:13.60\00:37:15.80
Later on, his
disciples understood
00:37:15.83\00:37:18.57
what true greatness means.
00:37:18.60\00:37:20.00
And all of them, with the
exception of John, sealed their
00:37:20.04\00:37:23.10
commitment to their
master with their own blood.
00:37:23.14\00:37:25.97
All of them died the death of a
martyr, but all were also freed
00:37:26.01\00:37:30.85
from the idolatry of self and
of ambition that afflicted them.
00:37:30.88\00:37:37.62
Wednesday's
lesson brings hypocrisy.
00:37:37.65\00:37:39.52
Hypocrisy was known as the mask
used by the actors who would
00:37:39.55\00:37:43.46
perform on the stage, and that
in their representations, they
00:37:43.49\00:37:46.80
would simulate things, or
people, or situations and events
00:37:46.83\00:37:50.27
that they were not.
00:37:50.30\00:37:52.50
And Jesus accused a great
portion of the Pharisees and the
00:37:52.53\00:37:54.87
religious leaders of his
days of being hypocrites.
00:37:54.90\00:37:57.91
Seen--we see this in
Matthew 23, the woes.
00:37:57.94\00:38:01.68
"Woe to you, Pharisees
and teachers of the law."
00:38:01.71\00:38:05.38
That was such a
mighty blow to them.
00:38:05.41\00:38:09.25
The truth is revealed also by a
well-known Latin phrase which is
00:38:09.28\00:38:12.65
acta non verba, which
means actions not words.
00:38:12.69\00:38:19.03
Hypocrisy suggests a duality.
00:38:19.06\00:38:22.70
Actions that deny the discourse.
00:38:22.73\00:38:25.23
Deny what you say.
00:38:25.27\00:38:26.74
Ever heard that, you know,
you don't only have to talk the
00:38:26.77\00:38:29.00
talk, you got to walk the walk?
00:38:29.04\00:38:31.04
That's the reality here.
00:38:31.07\00:38:32.71
What's curious about Jesus's
great condemnations were that
00:38:32.74\00:38:36.04
there weren't directed toward
those that were seen as the
00:38:36.08\00:38:39.08
great sinners of the time.
00:38:39.11\00:38:40.42
Jesus doesn't call out here the
publicans, the tax collectors.
00:38:40.45\00:38:42.42
the prostitutes.
00:38:42.45\00:38:44.99
He calls out the religious
leaders, the religious class.
00:38:45.02\00:38:48.32
And the question is why?
00:38:48.36\00:38:49.92
Because religious
pretentiousness, the cape of
00:38:49.96\00:38:52.73
righteousness and holiness,
it creates a false feeling
00:38:52.76\00:38:57.07
of safety and security.
00:38:57.10\00:38:58.47
Because when you feel that
you're good, that you don't need
00:38:58.50\00:39:01.57
to do anything,
well then, friend,
00:39:01.60\00:39:03.00
nothing can be done for you.
00:39:03.04\00:39:05.01
And that's why Jesus says that
he didn't come for the holy, he
00:39:05.04\00:39:09.88
came for the sinners, for the
lost, because those are the ones
00:39:09.91\00:39:12.88
that recognize their condition.
00:39:12.91\00:39:14.68
Make no mistake,
all of them were lost.
00:39:14.72\00:39:17.75
Some of them just
recognized how lost.
00:39:17.79\00:39:22.62
Remember the story of the
Pharisee and the tax collector?
00:39:22.66\00:39:25.73
Both go up to
the temple to pray.
00:39:25.76\00:39:27.36
Luke chapter 18.
00:39:27.40\00:39:29.06
The Pharisee, however, he
doesn't really go up to worship
00:39:29.10\00:39:31.03
God, but to praise his
own religious performance,
00:39:31.07\00:39:35.20
his virtues.
00:39:35.24\00:39:36.57
He praises himself saying,
"Lord, I'm not like all these
00:39:36.60\00:39:39.01
other men that are extortioner
or unjust, adulterers,
00:39:39.04\00:39:42.64
negative identities.
00:39:42.68\00:39:44.58
On the contrary, he fasted twice
a week, tithed everything."
00:39:44.61\00:39:49.48
Do you know how many times
in the Old Testament God asked
00:39:49.52\00:39:51.99
the children of Israel to fast?
00:39:52.02\00:39:56.46
Twice.
00:39:56.49\00:39:58.43
Do you know many
times the Pharisees fasted
00:39:58.46\00:40:01.76
when Jesus arrived?
00:40:01.80\00:40:04.77
Twice.
00:40:04.80\00:40:06.63
The thing is that for
the children of Israel,
00:40:06.67\00:40:07.97
it was twice a year.
00:40:08.00\00:40:11.07
For the Pharisees,
it was twice a week.
00:40:11.11\00:40:14.08
That's what we're
dealing with here.
00:40:14.11\00:40:16.98
That's that man.
00:40:17.01\00:40:18.31
On the other hand, the publican
doesn't find himself worthy
00:40:18.35\00:40:21.75
to even approach.
00:40:21.78\00:40:23.69
He hangs his head, he beats his
chest, acting as though he's in
00:40:23.72\00:40:27.92
the presence of death itself,
and all he can manage to do is
00:40:27.96\00:40:31.73
to sob, saying, "Oh God,
be merciful of me, a sinner.
00:40:31.76\00:40:38.13
The irony is that the sinner
goes down justified while the
00:40:38.17\00:40:43.14
saint remains in his sin.
00:40:43.17\00:40:46.51
The Pharisees and their
hypocrisy were capable of
00:40:46.54\00:40:48.48
creating an entire list of all
sinners of Judea without ever
00:40:48.51\00:40:52.98
including themselves.
00:40:53.01\00:40:56.32
Friend, Jesus frees us from
the hypocrisy and the duplicity,
00:40:56.35\00:41:00.29
because in him, we learn and to
see who and what we really are,
00:41:00.32\00:41:04.73
and to accept him and the
forgiveness that he offers, and
00:41:04.76\00:41:08.56
to rest from the evil that is
deeply rooted in the very marrow
00:41:08.60\00:41:12.40
of our bones.
00:41:12.43\00:41:15.47
And then we are able to
live without disguises, without
00:41:15.50\00:41:19.24
ridiculous manipulations.
00:41:19.27\00:41:24.01
Friends, overcoming
divisiveness, selfishness,
00:41:24.05\00:41:26.21
ambition,
hypocrisy, it's possible.
00:41:26.25\00:41:28.78
And it's mostly recognized
in the way that Jesus lived, and
00:41:28.82\00:41:33.02
the example that he laid for us.
00:41:33.05\00:41:35.36
This present life here is
not our final destination.
00:41:35.39\00:41:38.09
We don't live for this.
00:41:38.13\00:41:40.26
We await where?
What do we await?
00:41:40.30\00:41:43.26
A new heaven and a new
earth, where the first things
00:41:43.30\00:41:46.67
will be done away with.
00:41:46.70\00:41:48.47
And with this perspective, we
learn to manage our priorities,
00:41:48.50\00:41:52.74
and ultimately understand
that we are only passing
00:41:52.77\00:41:55.61
through this world.
00:41:55.64\00:41:57.35
This isn't final.
00:41:57.38\00:41:58.78
This isn't all that there is.
00:41:58.81\00:42:00.32
This is nothing.
00:42:00.35\00:42:02.02
These few decades here, friends,
don't allow the roots of
00:42:02.05\00:42:05.25
restlessness to do away with
the possibility of so much more.
00:42:05.29\00:42:10.43
In our pains, and our
weaknesses, in our falls and
00:42:10.46\00:42:12.76
defeats and disappointments, he
accepts us, he receives us, he
00:42:12.79\00:42:16.20
cures us, and his grace is the
great motivation for the walk.
00:42:16.23\00:42:20.70
Friends, with Christ, we learn
the same that Nicodemus learned,
00:42:20.74\00:42:23.87
being born again is
primarily not a demand of God,
00:42:23.91\00:42:27.88
it's an offer.
00:42:27.91\00:42:29.21
It's a gift.
00:42:29.24\00:42:31.08
And so, Nicodemus
learned to rest in Christ.
00:42:31.11\00:42:34.28
The Samaritan woman, she also
learned that living--the living
00:42:34.32\00:42:37.62
water is infinitely superior to
anything else that she could've
00:42:37.65\00:42:41.76
extracted from the bitter
cisterns of her superficial
00:42:41.79\00:42:44.89
relationships and her cheap sex.
00:42:44.93\00:42:47.96
And so, she
listened to rest in Christ.
00:42:47.96\00:42:51.07
Zacchaeus, he learned that the
love of money and greed may even
00:42:51.10\00:42:56.10
guarantee the larger slice of
the pie, but if handed over to
00:42:56.14\00:42:59.84
Jesus, it can give way to
true contentment, solidarity and
00:42:59.87\00:43:05.08
abnegation, and so, he
learned to rest in Christ.
00:43:05.11\00:43:09.72
Blind man Bartimaeus, he learned
that through Jesus, he could
00:43:09.75\00:43:13.56
learn to see as never before.
00:43:13.59\00:43:17.13
And so, he
learned to rest in Christ.
00:43:17.16\00:43:18.99
The woman caught in adultery,
she learned that the forgiveness
00:43:19.03\00:43:22.16
and the sanctification of life
are the results of a new and a
00:43:22.20\00:43:26.40
purified heart that is handed
over to Jesus Christ, that he
00:43:26.43\00:43:31.37
offers to create in us, and so
she learned to rest in Christ.
00:43:31.41\00:43:36.78
The lepers or that one,
learned that Jesus could
00:43:36.81\00:43:41.68
make him clear, clean.
00:43:41.72\00:43:44.89
And not only this, he was
more than willing to purify him.
00:43:44.92\00:43:49.59
And so they
learned to rest in Christ.
00:43:49.62\00:43:52.63
Friends, Jesus has this
mysterious power of seeing in us
00:43:52.66\00:43:56.80
what we can't see ourselves, of
making us fall in love with what
00:43:56.83\00:44:00.40
we can become in him,
transformed by his grace.
00:44:00.44\00:44:06.17
And then hate what we have been.
00:44:06.21\00:44:09.84
Allow this same
master to change your life.
00:44:09.88\00:44:15.18
You know, Jesus is just like the
sun, in which we don't believe
00:44:15.22\00:44:18.99
in it just because we see
it, but because of its light, we
00:44:19.02\00:44:24.23
learn to see everything else.
00:44:24.26\00:44:27.30
You don't believe in the
sun just because you see it, but
00:44:27.30\00:44:29.23
because through it,
you see everything else.
00:44:29.26\00:44:31.80
Jesus is just like that.
00:44:31.83\00:44:33.40
We don't believe in him just
because we see him or know him,
00:44:33.44\00:44:36.30
but because through
him, everything else changes.
00:44:36.34\00:44:39.77
Everything else
becomes different.
00:44:39.81\00:44:42.31
What are the roots
of your restlessness?
00:44:42.34\00:44:44.58
What have these
roots been in your life?
00:44:44.61\00:44:47.35
The heartaches and
the heartbreaks of life?
00:44:47.38\00:44:49.88
Trust me, Jesus can transform
these roots of restlessness in
00:44:49.92\00:44:54.16
blessings.
00:44:54.19\00:44:56.32
He's more than willing.
00:44:56.36\00:44:57.96
You remember the story of the
man that comes to Jesus says,
00:44:57.99\00:45:00.26
"Lord, are you willing
to heal me, to cleanse me?
00:45:00.30\00:45:03.30
And Jesus says,
"Yes, I am willing."
00:45:03.33\00:45:06.90
And today, he says to
you, "Yes, I am willing.
00:45:06.94\00:45:11.81
Come to me all of you
are tired and heavy laden,
00:45:11.84\00:45:16.11
and I will give you rest."
00:45:16.14\00:45:19.35
May God bless
you. May he bless you.
00:45:19.38\00:45:21.42
And may he bless you.
00:45:21.45\00:45:22.78
I'd like to invite you again
as we finish this lesson, not to
00:45:22.82\00:45:27.42
forget to take
advantage of our special offer,
00:45:27.46\00:45:31.33
"The Surrender of Self."
00:45:31.36\00:45:32.59
If you would like this, please
call the number, 866-788-3966.
00:45:32.63\00:45:37.17
I'm sure that you will learn how
to rest in grace through this.
00:45:37.20\00:45:39.67
You can also text S-H-0-8-7
to the number 4-0-5-4-4.
00:45:39.70\00:45:44.31
We will send you
a digital download.
00:45:44.34\00:45:46.78
Or if you're outside of the
continental North America, you
00:45:46.81\00:45:48.91
could go on to
study.aftv.org/SH087 and you
00:45:48.94\00:45:54.18
could listen how to surrender
yourself to God and allow him to
00:45:54.22\00:45:57.79
dwell within your
own heart, your life and
00:45:57.82\00:46:00.56
you will rest in him.
00:46:00.59\00:46:01.89
May he bless you. Amen and amen.
00:46:01.92\00:46:04.49
male announcer: Don't
forget to request today's
00:46:07.30\00:46:08.66
life-changing, free resource.
00:46:08.70\00:46:10.80
Not only can you receive this
free gift in the mail, you can
00:46:10.83\00:46:13.10
download a digital copy
straight to your computer
00:46:13.13\00:46:15.17
or mobile device.
00:46:15.20\00:46:16.81
To get your digital copy of the
today's free gift, simply text
00:46:16.84\00:46:20.11
the keyword on your screen
to 4-0-5-4-4 or visit the web
00:46:20.14\00:46:24.55
address shown on your screen.
00:46:24.58\00:46:26.41
And be sure to select that
digital download option on the
00:46:26.45\00:46:28.78
request page.
00:46:28.82\00:46:30.35
It's now easier than ever
for you to study God's Word with
00:46:30.39\00:46:33.36
"Amazing Facts,"
wherever and whenever you want.
00:46:33.39\00:46:36.32
And most important,
to share it with others.
00:46:36.36\00:46:39.06
¤¤¤
00:46:40.80\00:46:43.40
announcer: "Amazing Facts.
00:46:43.43\00:46:44.90
Changed Lives."
00:46:44.93\00:46:50.71
Rueben: You know, we grew
up in a neighborhood up in the
00:46:51.74\00:46:54.24
Midwest that was a
pretty bad neighborhood.
00:46:54.28\00:46:56.75
And when I became a
teenager, I started using drugs.
00:46:56.78\00:47:00.85
I was on--I started using
meth when I was, I think 16, 15,
00:47:00.88\00:47:04.82
something like that.
00:47:04.85\00:47:06.32
I was having some problems in my
life I really didn't know how to
00:47:06.35\00:47:09.29
deal with.
00:47:09.32\00:47:11.73
The only thing I
really knew was violence.
00:47:11.76\00:47:14.73
So this night here, I was going
to inflict violence on myself.
00:47:14.76\00:47:18.63
I was really high, really
depressed, so I took, you know,
00:47:18.67\00:47:22.44
I had this 40 caliber.
00:47:22.47\00:47:23.94
So I remember I put one in the
chamber, and I stuck it to the
00:47:23.97\00:47:26.14
side of my head like this.
00:47:26.17\00:47:29.98
And that gun had a
hair trigger, you know.
00:47:30.01\00:47:34.18
And I remember I was tapping it.
00:47:34.22\00:47:36.08
Just--and a part of me said,
"No, I don't want to do this,"
00:47:36.12\00:47:40.72
but there was something
very evil present there saying,
00:47:40.76\00:47:43.26
"Do it."
00:47:43.29\00:47:44.63
I just said to myself, I
said, "God, if you're real, show
00:47:44.66\00:47:50.50
yourself to me."
00:47:50.53\00:47:52.53
My mother took me to church when
I was a little kid and we used
00:47:52.57\00:47:56.60
to sing Jesus Loves Me.
00:47:56.64\00:47:58.71
And I remember that song, it
started playing in my mind and I
00:47:58.74\00:48:04.05
almost had like a
vision of me as a little kid.
00:48:04.08\00:48:09.92
You know, and in Sabbath school,
we used to bang those sticks
00:48:09.95\00:48:15.96
together and sing Jesus Loves
Me, and I heard that in my mind.
00:48:15.99\00:48:25.13
So I said, "Wow."
00:48:25.17\00:48:29.30
So, I just kind of like put the
gun down, and I kind of fell on
00:48:29.34\00:48:32.41
my bedside there and said,
"Lord," I just basically just
00:48:32.44\00:48:37.21
prayed this crazy prayer.
00:48:37.25\00:48:39.45
I said, you know, I told
him everything that was wrong
00:48:39.48\00:48:40.95
with me.
00:48:40.98\00:48:42.35
And I remember one day I was
driving around, I kind of felt
00:48:42.38\00:48:44.09
lost, and I drove by
this church, and I seen Tom
00:48:44.12\00:48:47.22
out there.
00:48:47.26\00:48:48.62
Tom was just out there
watering the flowers, you know.
00:48:48.66\00:48:52.13
Tom: So I caught a vision
out of the side of my eyes, this
00:48:52.16\00:48:55.73
big, husky guy
with tattoos walking up,
00:48:55.76\00:48:59.47
and he's saying hello.
00:48:59.50\00:49:02.14
And I said--so I asked him if
I could help him, and he told me
00:49:02.17\00:49:07.24
that he drives by the church on
occasion, and every time he goes
00:49:07.28\00:49:13.05
by, he's thinking
that he should stop in.
00:49:13.08\00:49:15.68
Rueben: After he showed me
around the church, you know, I
00:49:15.72\00:49:20.12
was like, "Okay, man, it's nice
meeting you," and this and that.
00:49:20.16\00:49:24.33
So I jumped in my
car, and I started heading
00:49:24.36\00:49:26.93
down the driveway.
00:49:26.96\00:49:29.03
And the next thing you know, in
like my peripheral vision, I see
00:49:29.06\00:49:32.63
him coming around the
corner like Jerry Rice
00:49:32.67\00:49:36.27
running a football.
00:49:36.30\00:49:38.01
No, not that fast, but you know,
he was taking off after me.
00:49:38.04\00:49:42.58
And he says, "Hey,
hey, hey. Hold on. Hold on."
00:49:42.61\00:49:45.01
Tom: I asked him if he would
like to have some Bible studies
00:49:45.05\00:49:47.08
and he said, "Yeah."
00:49:47.12\00:49:49.42
Reuben: He would come by
the house, we'd all start--we'd
00:49:49.45\00:49:51.49
start hiding the beer cans
and trying to air out the weed
00:49:51.52\00:49:55.19
smell.
00:49:55.22\00:49:56.62
And there was a presence
that came with Tom that was
00:49:56.66\00:49:59.83
comforting.
00:49:59.86\00:50:01.63
You know what I mean?
00:50:01.66\00:50:03.23
Even though I wasn't taking the
Bible studies as serious as I
00:50:03.26\00:50:05.80
should've, looking back, there
was just a presence about him
00:50:05.83\00:50:10.07
being there in the
house that was comforting.
00:50:10.11\00:50:14.31
I told Tom, I said, "Tom, you
know you can't win everybody.
00:50:14.34\00:50:17.38
Tom: I looked at him and I
knew I said to him, "Rueben,
00:50:17.41\00:50:21.12
I never get anybody."
00:50:21.15\00:50:23.92
I said, "It's the
Holy Spirit will do that."
00:50:23.95\00:50:28.39
And I kind of in my heart knew
that the Holy Spirit was going
00:50:28.42\00:50:31.69
to work on Rueben.
00:50:31.73\00:50:33.26
Rueben: So then Tom kind of
left the picture for a while.
00:50:33.29\00:50:36.73
And then I think one day at
my mother's house, they were
00:50:36.77\00:50:39.10
watching "The Final
Events of Bible Prophecy."
00:50:39.13\00:50:41.87
So I watched that, and I
remember the scene where they
00:50:41.90\00:50:48.61
had the hellfire and stuff.
00:50:48.64\00:50:51.58
You know, they're outside the
city and it showed the hellfire
00:50:51.61\00:50:56.15
coming down and
bringing people and stuff.
00:50:56.18\00:50:58.62
And I remember saying to
myself, "That's where I would
00:50:58.65\00:51:03.02
be right there."
00:51:03.06\00:51:04.83
After the hellfire scene, I saw
the saints in the city, and the
00:51:04.86\00:51:11.23
new Jerusalem, and
Jesus recreating the earth.
00:51:11.27\00:51:16.04
And I said, "I want
that to be me and my family."
00:51:16.07\00:51:23.35
There was something about
the way Doug preached and things
00:51:23.38\00:51:25.58
that I felt that touched
me, because he's kind of like
00:51:25.61\00:51:30.52
myself, you know.
00:51:30.55\00:51:32.95
He didn't grow up like that.
00:51:32.99\00:51:35.09
You know, he'd done drugs and
things, so I kind of found these
00:51:35.12\00:51:39.19
common grounds that I had with
him, and I liked how he just
00:51:39.23\00:51:43.30
kind of like kept it
real with his preaching.
00:51:43.33\00:51:45.33
And then Pastor Rodney came to
the church and I got to know him
00:51:45.37\00:51:50.71
very well, and we started
doing some finishing studies.
00:51:50.74\00:51:55.04
He wanted to make
sure I understand what I
00:51:55.08\00:51:56.88
was doing and things.
00:51:56.91\00:51:59.41
And he baptized me,
my wife, my brother.
00:51:59.45\00:52:03.65
No matter what you've
done, where you come from, where
00:52:03.69\00:52:08.29
you've been, no matter how bad
of a sinner you think you are,
00:52:08.32\00:52:13.80
the Lord Jesus loves you
no matter what you've done.
00:52:13.83\00:52:16.13
Doug Batchelor: Friends, is
because of God's blessing and
00:52:17.47\00:52:19.77
your support, thousands of
others just like Rueben have
00:52:19.80\00:52:23.34
found Jesus and eternal life.
00:52:23.37\00:52:27.21
¤¤¤
00:52:27.24\00:52:34.35
male announcer:
"Amazing Facts. Changed Lives."
00:52:39.35\00:52:43.19
Sue: I felt like I was
receiving some angel messages in
00:52:47.60\00:52:51.43
and around my son's death.
00:52:51.47\00:52:53.30
My son Jesse was just 31 years
old, so I didn't expect him to
00:52:53.34\00:52:56.74
die before I did.
00:52:56.77\00:53:00.28
But in November of 2009, we
decided to have Thanksgiving
00:53:00.31\00:53:05.98
with him, and we'd
normally go to a family to have
00:53:06.01\00:53:08.25
Thanksgiving.
00:53:08.28\00:53:09.68
I didn't know that it was going
to be the very last time that I
00:53:09.72\00:53:11.79
would see my son alive.
00:53:11.82\00:53:13.89
In April 2010, I was
urged to call him on the day
00:53:13.92\00:53:18.29
that he died.
00:53:18.33\00:53:20.23
I didn't make that call.
00:53:20.26\00:53:21.73
I was too busy.
00:53:21.76\00:53:23.20
I thought I had till the next
morning to call him and it turns
00:53:23.23\00:53:26.00
out that I didn't.
00:53:26.03\00:53:28.90
And then, my husband's father
was passing away in a nursing
00:53:28.94\00:53:31.44
home slowly, not
eating, taking his medicine.
00:53:31.47\00:53:36.98
Just wasting away.
00:53:37.01\00:53:38.68
Merwyn: We were putting
out "Amazing Facts" Bible study
00:53:38.71\00:53:42.75
guides, and we had sent out
cards, and we have this card,
00:53:42.78\00:53:51.63
but when I knocked on Sue
and Kirk's door by mistake.
00:53:51.66\00:53:57.03
male: And we were convinced
that this was the right house,
00:53:57.07\00:54:00.14
and it obviously
turned out to our surprise to
00:54:00.17\00:54:02.57
be the wrong house.
00:54:02.60\00:54:04.37
Kirk: When they came by,
we weren't expecting 'em.
00:54:04.41\00:54:08.48
I think he told me about these
pamphlets, these "Amazing Facts"
00:54:08.51\00:54:14.25
that explained their doctrine.
00:54:14.28\00:54:18.05
male: Well, to our surprise,
when they answered the door, the
00:54:18.09\00:54:22.39
gentleman, when he saw
what we were doing, he said,
00:54:22.42\00:54:25.76
"Well, we would like
to take these studies.
00:54:25.79\00:54:28.26
Kirk: Anything about
the Lord increases my faith
00:54:28.30\00:54:32.47
is always open.
00:54:32.50\00:54:35.80
Sue: These lessons came
at a time that we didn't know
00:54:35.84\00:54:38.87
we were searching.
00:54:38.91\00:54:40.51
We didn't know what we needed.
00:54:40.54\00:54:42.34
We were just hurting from the
grief that we'd been through.
00:54:42.38\00:54:45.81
When I saw this studies
by "Amazing Facts" about the
00:54:45.85\00:54:48.85
Sabbath, it struck a chord with
me because I remembered when I
00:54:48.88\00:54:55.02
had talked to my mother as a
child about the Sabbath, about
00:54:55.06\00:54:59.86
seeing the truth, when I was
only eight years old and asking
00:54:59.89\00:55:03.06
her why we didn't
honor the Sabbath day.
00:55:03.10\00:55:07.30
And she told me that
it was just not the way
00:55:07.34\00:55:10.37
that they did things.
00:55:10.41\00:55:12.61
Well, that wasn't a
good enough expression,
00:55:12.64\00:55:14.91
a good enough explanation.
00:55:14.94\00:55:16.75
There was no scriptural
basis for what she told me.
00:55:16.78\00:55:20.08
She just said to forget it.
00:55:20.12\00:55:21.55
And I went through all the
studies that we had gotten,
00:55:21.58\00:55:24.65
and I wanted more.
00:55:24.69\00:55:26.86
So I decided that, well, if they
put of these "Amazing Facts"
00:55:26.89\00:55:30.76
Bible studies, there must
be something online about 'em.
00:55:30.79\00:55:35.03
So I decided to check it out.
00:55:35.06\00:55:36.90
I went on the computer to
"Amazing Facts," and it said it
00:55:36.93\00:55:40.10
right down at the bottom of the
Bible studies, amazingfacts.org.
00:55:40.14\00:55:43.74
Checked it out and there
was free Bible studies there.
00:55:43.77\00:55:45.77
It was the very same ones
that we had been studying.
00:55:45.81\00:55:49.34
After finding the "Amazing
Facts" Bible studies online,
00:55:49.38\00:55:52.55
and I did them all.
00:55:52.58\00:55:54.12
There were 27, 28 Bible studies,
I felt like I was finally seeing
00:55:54.15\00:55:59.02
the truth after all these years.
00:55:59.05\00:56:01.76
We ordered the "Amazing Facts"
DVDs like "The Cosmic Conflict,"
00:56:01.79\00:56:07.86
and "The Final Events,"
"Prophecy Foundations," and
00:56:07.93\00:56:12.83
different materials like that,
went through them and enjoyed
00:56:12.87\00:56:16.47
all of them, and they
impacted our lives even more.
00:56:16.50\00:56:21.24
female: Well, I worked at the
post office, and I knew Kirk and
00:56:21.78\00:56:24.18
Sue for a very long time.
00:56:24.21\00:56:26.21
And I wasn't allowed to talk
to anyone about the Bible, and
00:56:26.25\00:56:31.25
Bible studies
and things like that.
00:56:31.29\00:56:33.52
They had told us not to.
00:56:33.56\00:56:34.96
But anyway, when Sue came in
and talked about it, she talked
00:56:34.99\00:56:37.59
about the Sabbath.
00:56:37.63\00:56:38.93
And I told her, I said,
"Well Sue, I go to church on
00:56:38.96\00:56:40.86
Saturday."
00:56:40.90\00:56:42.36
Sue: So I invited myself.
00:56:42.40\00:56:44.20
She was excited, of
course, to have me go.
00:56:44.23\00:56:46.00
My husband and I both started
going that very next Sabbath.
00:56:46.03\00:56:50.41
And it wasn't but just four
months after that, that we were
00:56:50.44\00:56:53.44
baptized in this church.
00:56:53.48\00:56:55.84
And it felt like the
most glorious experience
00:56:55.88\00:56:59.65
I could have ever had.
00:56:59.68\00:57:01.62
male: The thing that touches
my heart the most is Merwyn and
00:57:01.65\00:57:04.49
I had been doing this for over
the last year and a half or two
00:57:04.52\00:57:08.12
years, and Sue is not the
only one that has responded to
00:57:08.16\00:57:12.43
"Amazing Facts."
00:57:12.46\00:57:13.90
We've had several others that
have responded and have been
00:57:13.93\00:57:17.03
baptized, so this is
what really makes it exciting.
00:57:17.07\00:57:21.24
There's times it's discouraging,
but the bottom line is every
00:57:21.27\00:57:24.47
time you see someone in
the water being baptized,
00:57:24.51\00:57:27.48
it's a thrill.
00:57:27.51\00:57:28.91
Sue: I know that Jesus loves me.
00:57:28.94\00:57:30.58
After all of the tragedy that
had been through, he made sure
00:57:30.61\00:57:34.75
that the two men came and
brought the "Amazing Facts"
00:57:34.78\00:57:37.29
Bible studies to
me and my husband.
00:57:37.32\00:57:40.76
My life will never be the same.
00:57:40.79\00:57:43.69
It is forever
changed, and I am forever
00:57:43.73\00:57:46.59
part of the family of God.
00:57:46.63\00:57:48.10
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00:57:48.13\00:57:55.94
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00:57:57.74\00:58:07.72
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00:58:07.75\00:58:12.99
¤¤¤
00:58:13.76\00:58:23.70
¤¤¤
00:58:23.73\00:58:28.20