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00:12 ♪♪♪ 00:22 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends. 00:37 Welcome again to "Sabbath School Study Hour" here at the Granite 00:40 Bay Seventh Day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:43 I'd like to welcome all of you on a somewhat rainy Sabbath. 00:47 We glad you have braved the cold to be here with us. 00:50 I'd also like to welcome those who are joining us online, 00:52 and we have a number of our online members that tune 00:55 in every week to participate in our Bible study together. 00:59 Well, we've come to the final study in our series on the books 01:03 of Ezra and Nehemiah. 01:05 Today, we find ourselves on lesson number 13; it's 01:09 entitled "Leaders in Israel." 01:11 So we're going to be wrapping up our study on these two very 01:14 important prophetic Old Testament books. 01:17 But before we get to our lesson, I'd like to let our friends know 01:19 about our free offer today. 01:21 We have one of our "Amazing Facts" study guides, and we'll 01:24 be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 01:28 The study guide is entitled "Is Obedience Legalism?" 01:32 And this again is our free offer for today. 01:34 If you'd like to receive this, the number to call is... 01:40 and you can ask for offer number 706, 01:43 and we'll be happy to send that to you. 01:45 Again, ask for the study guide entitled 01:46 "Is Obedience Legalism?" 01:49 Or if you'd like, you'd be able to download a digital copy 01:52 of our study guide, and you'll be able to read it online, 01:55 on your iPhone, or whatever tablet you might have. 01:59 If you'd like to receive a digital copy of this study 02:02 guide, you would need to just text the number that you'll find 02:06 on your screen, and we'll be happy to send you the link as 02:09 to how you can download a free copy of the study guide, "In 02:13 God, We Trust." 02:14 Well, before we get to our lesson today, 02:16 we have a special treat. 02:19 We have a musical item that will be brought to us, 02:21 including the harp, the oboe, the violin. 02:23 And so I think it'll help be a wonderful blessing 02:26 for our worship today. 02:29 ♪♪♪ 02:39 ♪♪♪ 02:49 ♪♪♪ 02:59 ♪♪♪ 03:09 ♪♪♪ 03:19 ♪♪♪ 03:29 ♪♪♪ 03:39 ♪♪♪ 03:49 ♪♪♪ 03:59 ♪♪♪ 04:09 ♪♪♪ 04:19 ♪♪♪ 04:29 ♪♪♪ 04:39 ♪♪♪ 04:49 ♪♪♪ 04:59 ♪♪♪ 05:04 ♪♪♪ 05:14 Jean Ross: Amen. Thank you, musicians. 05:16 Beautiful. 05:17 Let's bow our heads for prayer. 05:20 Dear father in Heaven, we thank You that we have this 05:21 opportunity together in Your house to open up your word, 05:23 and we ask for Your special blessing as we finish up our 05:26 study on these two Old Testament books, Ezra and Nehemiah. 05:29 That You would guide us into a clear understanding 05:31 of how we can apply these important truths 05:33 to our lives today. 05:35 For we ask this in Jesus's name, amen. 05:38 Our lesson this morning's gonna be brought to us 05:40 by Pastor Shawn. 05:43 Shawn Brummund: Well, good morning to everyone. 05:47 It's good to be able to see you here on this Sabbath morning as 05:49 we continue to study and as we look at our last lesson study 05:55 for this particular quarter of this year, and it's the last 05:58 year of 2019. 05:59 Can you believe it? 06:01 Some of us, the older we get, the less we can believe it 06:03 because the faster the time goes by, but another year has flown 06:08 by, we're wrapping things up for 2019, and we're also 06:10 wrapping up our study for this particular study. 06:15 And so we're looking at lesson number 13, "Leaders in Israel." 06:19 And as I already mentioned by Pastor Jean, this is our last 06:23 weekly study on Ezra and Nehemiah. 06:27 These are no small individuals in the history of God's plan 06:30 of Salvation. 06:31 They are absolutely instrumental. 06:34 And I hope you pick that up. 06:35 We've looked at it in the light of history. 06:37 We've looked in study this in the light of prophecy, 06:41 and we've looked at in the light of the plan of salvation that 06:44 God had and continues to have for this particular world 06:48 and planet. 06:50 These were two men that played critical roles in the second 06:52 great Exodus from slavery, from captivity, and led God's 06:58 people back into the promised land. 07:01 Now, the first exodus was led by Moses. 07:05 Good, I hear some people responding, and some of us are 07:07 tuning in and waking up, that's good. 07:10 And, so the first exodus was led by Moses. 07:12 That was an easy one, wasn't it? 07:13 From what country? 07:15 From Egypt. 07:16 There's another easy one. 07:18 The second great Exodus was from the country of? 07:21 Was from the countryside of Babylon. 07:23 Now, of course, the Empire was not ruled by Babylon by the time 07:26 Ezra and Nehemiah came along, but it was ruled by? 07:30 The Persians and the Medes. 07:32 Now I'm challenge you a little bit more. 07:33 Now you have to think a little bit stronger. 07:35 And yeah. 07:36 So, when Moses-- 07:38 Or sorry, when Ezra and Nehemiah came along, they were 07:40 under the rulership of the Persians, which was more 07:42 to the east, modern Iran and so on. 07:45 And so the capital of the Empire was no longer in the city 07:49 of Babylon. 07:50 Babylonia in Mesopotamia was no longer the central headquarters 07:53 of the known world back then, but rather it was in Persia. 07:58 But nevertheless, Babylon is where the Israelites 08:01 and the Jews were taken into captivity some 70 years 08:04 beforehand, and so of course, this is where they reproduced 08:08 and settle down and continue to serve, first the babylonians, 08:11 and then also the Persians and the Medes. 08:14 And so, yes, the first exodus was led by Moses from Egypt, 08:20 the second was from the area of Babylon, and just like Moses, 08:24 both of these men were called to be prophets. 08:27 And so, there's a lot of parallels between Ezra 08:28 and Nehemiah and that of Moses. 08:31 Moses was called to be a prophet. 08:32 Was Moses a Bible writer? 08:35 Mm-kay, some of you are saying yes, some of you're saying no, 08:38 all right. 08:39 Now, I'm starting to wake up a little bit more. 08:40 The answer is? 08:42 Yes, okay? 08:43 In fact, he wrote the first five books of the Bible, didn't he? 08:45 Starting with Genesis and the evidence also seems 08:48 to indicate that more likely than not, Moses also wrote 08:51 the book of Job. 08:52 And so Job, I mean Moses wrote at least five, and probably six 08:57 of the old Testament books. 08:58 And he was the first Bible writer to contribute 09:00 to the Bible. 09:02 Well, so did Ezra, and so did Nehemiah. 09:04 So both of them were called to be prophets. 09:06 Both of them were Bible writers, okay? 09:08 So these are critical figures, and just like Moses they are 09:11 instrumental in leading out in God's plan of fulfilling 09:14 His plan of salvation. 09:17 And how are they doing that? 09:19 They were preparing the way for the Messiah. 09:21 They were preparing the way for the arrival of the Christ 09:23 that would take away the sins of both Israel and the world. 09:27 And so, these are no small figures that we've been 09:31 studying. 09:32 Just like Moses, Ezra and Nehemiah did not hesitate 09:34 to stand for the right. 09:35 As we have studied their lives, just like Moses, even when their 09:39 decisions and stand was unpopular, not only with those 09:43 outside of Israel--you know, the surrounding nations 09:46 and leaders and governors of the area--but also, 09:48 sometimes within the people of Israel as well. 09:52 And so both Moses, Ezra and Nehemiah had that parallel. 09:56 They were very strong men of God, and they were willing 09:59 to take a strong stand, no matter the heavens fall, 10:03 and these were the type of men that God had called just 10:06 for that reason. 10:10 And so what was the secret of their success? 10:12 What made Ezra and Nehemiah so successful in their 10:15 leadership? 10:17 And how can we tap into it for our own success in regards 10:20 to faith and in regards to the role that we play 10:24 in God's plan of salvation? 10:25 'Cause God's plan is still playing out, isn't it? 10:28 Now, we've been studying, you know, about 500 years 10:30 before Christ. 10:31 We've been parked about 2,500 years ago, for the last three 10:35 months, as we've studied these two individuals and books. 10:38 But of course, we're still extending the God's plan 10:40 of Salvation. 10:42 And if you are a believer today, and you are studying here as 10:44 a worshiper of God today, there is a plan and a part that God 10:49 has for you. 10:50 Now, what may not be in the position, as instrumental 10:52 as Ezra and Nehemiah, but each of us has a small but very 10:58 important part and never forget that. 11:01 Never forget that. 11:03 You will say, "Well, my part is so small. 11:04 I just help out with the hospitality." 11:05 Or, "I just help out, you know, with janitorial." 11:08 Whatever it is, friend. 11:10 Whatever your part is, it is absolutely instrumental. 11:14 It is critical. 11:15 It is important. 11:16 Now, it may be a small part compared to Ezra, Nehemiah, 11:18 or Doug Bachelor and so on, but friends, it's still 11:23 critical, because when you put all of the members of the body 11:26 together, we are fulfilling and extending the plan 11:29 and the kingdom of God and preparing the way 11:30 for the second coming of Jesus. 11:32 Ezra and Nehemiah prepared God's people to be able to be ready 11:36 for the first coming of Christ, and we are involved in preparing 11:40 God's people and the world for the second coming of Christ. 11:43 Well, that being said, let's open our quarterlies 11:46 to page 104. 11:48 We're going to page 104 here this morning. 11:55 And, you know, I rarely, rarely do this. 11:58 This is for those of you who have listened in on my "Sabbath 12:04 Schools" before, where I'll just read the whole page, but you 12:06 know the introduction is so well done here on the opening page, 12:09 I'm just gonna go ahead and read that as we introduce ourselves 12:13 to this lesson study, "Israel's Leaders." 12:16 And it says, "Both Ezra and Nehemiah are examples 12:19 of great leaders who were dedicated to God 12:21 and to fulfilling the task that the Lord had called them to do. 12:25 Their love for God inspired in them a desire to be faithful 12:30 servants." 12:31 What was it that inspired them? 12:32 Their love. 12:34 Their love for God. 12:35 And we didn't wanna brush over that. 12:37 In fact, their faithfulness was a central part of our study. 12:40 This week we're gonna look at examples of leadership that 12:42 is found in the Bible. 12:44 So not just Ezra and Nehemiah, but other leaders as well, 12:46 including the examples of Ezra and Nehemiah. 12:49 These are not exhaustive lessons for sure, as there are many that 12:52 can be discussed. 12:53 Of course, we don't have near the time, nor the pages. 12:55 However, their lessons that we are chosen--we have chosen, are 12:59 essential for any leader. 13:00 And so we're gonna look at the essentials that are 13:02 universal for the success of all leaders. 13:05 You may not consider yourself a leader at this specific time 13:08 in your life, but we all have influence with some people, 13:10 and therefore, the lessons are applicable to everyone. 13:14 And so you say, "Well, I don't have a leadership position, 13:16 and I'm not sure if I ever going to have a leadership." 13:18 Well, we all have some kind of leadership capacity, okay? 13:21 We may be the leader of our house. 13:23 We may be the leader of our family or a group or a committee 13:27 or an organization or whatever it is. 13:30 God always puts us in some form of leadership and influence, 13:34 and so the principles are universal. 13:36 Central to the story of these leaders is the word of God. 13:40 Now, I like that, don't you? 13:42 Okay, so central to the story of these leaders is the word 13:46 of God. 13:48 This was instrumental to both Ezra and Nehemiah. 13:52 Now, the word transformed their thinking and life and resulted 13:55 in the whole program for revival and reformation. 13:58 They were totally indebted to God's word and His 14:01 instructions that are found in it. 14:04 And in the same way, no matter who we are and whatever our role 14:08 is, we must keep the word of God central to how we live as 14:13 Seventh Day Adventist Christians. 14:15 And I'm glad to hear a couple of amen's out there, because I'd 14:19 say a hearty amen to that as well, and I know that the Lord 14:21 Himself is saying amen, because Jesus has called us. 14:26 He says, "Sanctify them by Your truth. 14:28 Thy word is truth." 14:30 As Jesus was praying to His father concerning 14:32 His first disciples. 14:33 And then later on in that same prayer, he said, "I pray not 14:35 only for these but for those in the future, for those who are 14:38 to come." 14:40 And so that prayer is for us as well. 14:42 So, Ezra and Nehemiah understood the great power and importance 14:46 and centrality of the word of God in regard to their 14:49 personal lives and in regards to the success that God had 14:53 called them to in that of a position of leadership. 14:57 And too often, as leaders, even within the church, we can find 15:02 ourselves setting this aside just a little bit more 15:05 than we should. 15:07 And so I believe that this lesson, this last lesson that 15:10 we're looking at here today, in our time here today, is 15:13 speaking to all of us as leaders. 15:15 Pastors, conference leaders, union leaders, GC leaders, 15:19 and so on. 15:21 All the different levels of leadership that God has given 15:22 to this organization. 15:24 We have to remember that this needs to remain central to our 15:28 personal lives, our thinking, our decision-making, our 15:32 sanctification, as well as, of course, all church leaders 15:37 within the church at whatever capacity that is in our church 15:42 leadership. 15:44 So thats instrumental for you and me. 15:48 Now, the interesting thing about Ezra the priest is that he 15:52 was not the only priest to lead and reestablishing Israel 15:54 in the promised land. 15:55 Now, we have to think way back to the very beginning of this 15:57 quarter, and at the very beginning of the book of Ezra, 16:01 and we find there that Ezra is not found in the first exodus, 16:05 in the first phase of the second great exodus of Israel's 16:08 history. 16:09 It's the largest group. 16:10 There's about 50,000 that went originally but it was led 16:13 under Zerubbabel, who was the governor, but then the high 16:17 priest and the instrumentals figure that's listed right 16:20 after the governor is? 16:22 Is Jeshua. 16:24 Now Jeshua were not quite as familiar with that form 16:27 of the name, but that form of the name it turns out, 16:29 scholars have discovered, and Zechariah also uses 16:33 the form Joshua. 16:35 So Joshua or Yeshua, and so we have Jeshua. 16:40 And so we have a number of different forms 16:43 of the same name. 16:46 So Jeshua was the high priest, and he was with the first phase 16:49 of the exodus, the largest group that first initially went back. 16:52 And so he was the initial key priest that led that first group 16:55 of Jews back to Israel. 16:58 And he was also living when Ezra arrived. 17:00 So, when Ezra arrived several years later, we find that Jeshua 17:03 continued to parallel his leadership and his role as high 17:08 priest in this new budding, reestablishing nation that God 17:13 had led them back for. 17:16 And yet we find the interesting thing is that Ezra very quickly 17:19 rose to prominence. 17:21 It almost seems like the moment that Ezra arrived, God kinda put 17:24 him in front. 17:26 Now, Jeshua continued to lead in his role as the high priest, 17:30 but he was no longer the instrumental priest, very 17:33 parallel, again, to that of Moses. 17:35 Because when we find Moses and Aaron, we find that Moses 17:38 was not the high priest, Aaron was the high priest. 17:43 Now Moses was a levite. 17:45 He was part of the tribe of Levi and of Holy work 17:48 within the sanctuary and temple and so on, but he was called 17:52 to a more prominent position than even that of his brother 17:55 Aaron in his position. 17:57 So, interesting that Ezra rose to prominence so quickly, almost 18:01 immediately after he arrived in Israel. 18:05 Now, speaking of Moses, have you ever wondered why God had chosen 18:08 Moses instead of his older brother Aaron? 18:12 Why had God chosen Moses instead of his older brother Aaron? 18:16 Now, we could have a whole-- spend the rest of our time 18:18 looking at that, examining the life of Moses 18:20 and the background that Moses had, the experiences that God 18:23 had given to Moses. 18:24 But why had God chosen Moses? 18:26 He could have chose a different plan. 18:27 I mean, it makes more sense and biblically, there's 18:29 a principle there. 18:31 Even today, you know, when I think of my experience with my 18:34 younger brother, I was the preeminent one. 18:36 Now, doesn't make me more important, but you know, when 18:38 you're the older brother, you're the older brother. 18:41 And so, then you have your kid brother. 18:44 Why was it that God chose Moses's kid--I mean, Aaron's 18:47 kid brother to be the most prominent leader in the first 18:50 exodus and establishing the initial nation of Israel? 18:57 Well, history tells us that Moses had proven to be more 19:00 faithful than Aaron. 19:02 Now, if we look at the history and the record of Aaron as we 19:05 look at his life and actions and decisions, can you imagine 19:09 how history would've been rewritten for the worse if God 19:12 had chosen Aaron to be the preeminent and the most 19:15 prominent leader in the first exodus? 19:18 They would have been in trouble, wouldn't they? 19:21 Mm-kay, some of us remember some of the different foibles 19:25 of the older brother of Moses. 19:27 So Moses had proven to be more faithful, and therefore he was, 19:30 as a result, he was stronger than Aaron. 19:33 Now that doesn't mean he could necessarily win him in a arm 19:37 wrestle, but what that means is that he was stronger morally, 19:41 spiritually, and that's what God needed. 19:44 That's what God needed, that's what Israel needed at that time. 19:46 And so therefore, Moses was more qualified, and he was more 19:50 capable to withstand the tremendous pressures 19:54 and the temptations that Israel would give to him. 19:56 And many of us that have read through the writings 19:58 and the experience of Moses saw that he went through a lot 20:03 of tremendous pressure. 20:04 Not from those outside of Israel, but within 20:07 the ranks themselves. 20:09 That's where his greatest source of grief was on 20:10 a continual basis. 20:13 And so, because of that, God knew that Moses, the younger 20:17 brother, was the one that was to be chosen to be preeminent. 20:22 Of course, as we look at Aaron, and again this is not a slight 20:24 against Aaron. 20:25 Aaron was still a sincere man of God. 20:27 God had demonstrated that through his continual support 20:30 of Aaron. 20:32 But Aaron, you know, when Moses took a long meeting, committee 20:36 time with the Lord Himself at the top of Mount Sinai, you 20:40 know, the Israelites got restless, their minds started 20:42 to go back to their religious ways in Egypt, mingling 20:47 through the truth of the religion they'd inherited 20:49 from Abraham with that of the Egyptians. 20:51 And they said to themselves, "We want to know and worship the God 20:54 that has called us out of here in the way 20:56 that we're accustomed. 20:57 Make us a golden calf!" 20:59 Now, Aaron was second-in-charge, and so he was the one that was 21:02 in charge while Moses was vacant. 21:04 And of course we find that Aaron didn't take a stand, and instead 21:10 we find that he ended up capitulating and he had 21:15 helped facilitate the making of this golden calf, 21:19 and of course the golden calf is just a small part. 21:21 All the religious activities that surrounded that 21:23 and the deep immorality that surrounded that religious system 21:27 also emerged during that time. 21:29 Now, when Moses came back, did he say, "Oh well, it's too late. 21:33 You know, the horse is out of the corral. 21:35 Cat's out of the bag. 21:36 Nothing we can do now to get it back in."? 21:38 No, not at all. 21:39 Moses came back and he was a much different man, wasn't he? 21:42 Much stronger than his older brother Aaron. 21:46 Now, again, this is not to say that Aaron's faith was not 21:48 saving and sincere. 21:50 God still chose him to be-- to take the role as high priest, 21:54 the first high priest. 21:56 We find here that God is still merciful and graceful to Aaron, 22:02 but Aaron was not the man for the job as far 22:05 as position goes. 22:08 And so when we come back to Ezra, we find that Ezra 22:10 proved himself to be more of a Moses, and we find that 22:13 the evidence is that Jeshua proved himself to be more 22:17 of an Aaron. 22:19 And so both sincere men of God, but Ezra certainly was more 22:22 faithful, he was more stronger, as a result, he was more 22:25 capable, and therefore more qualified. 22:28 Let me demonstrate that. 22:30 Let's open our bibles to Ezra chapter 7. 22:32 Let's go back to the book of Ezra. 22:35 Now, of course, at the end of this particular time, we find 22:37 that-- 22:42 In our study, we find that we've read through pretty well, if not 22:46 every verse in both Ezra and Nehemiah. 22:48 They're not long books, and so that's one 22:49 of the advantages when we study these two small books over three 22:52 months is that we can make our way carefully through all 22:55 the verses. 22:57 So we're going through Ezra chapter 7, and we're gonna read 23:02 verse 10. 23:04 Now, this is not a small verse. 23:05 In Ezra chapter 7, verse 10. 23:07 This is Ezra recording his initial experience and calling 23:10 by God as God is about to have him head up the second phase 23:16 and group of Israelites to exodus, or exit, that 23:21 of Babylonia and go back to Israel, the land of Israel. 23:24 Verse 10, it says, "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek 23:28 the law of the Lord and to?" 23:32 To do it, okay? 23:34 We find James in the New Testament says be not only 23:36 hearers of the word, but be doers also, alright? 23:40 So here we have that Ezra has fulfilled that. 23:43 He says, "For Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law 23:45 of the Lord and to do it, and to teach statutes 23:49 and ordinances in Israel." 23:51 And so here we have Ezra, from his heart, he's preparing 23:55 his heart, and he had determined as God had very clearly called 23:59 him to seek the Law of the Lord. 24:00 Now, we may have to remember the law here is capital L, 24:03 and this is not in the context of just the 10 Commandments, 24:06 although that is to be sure to be included, but the Law 24:09 of the Lord in this particular context, as it is many times 24:11 in the Old Testament, is referring to all the writings 24:13 of Moses, the first five books of the Bible. 24:16 The old covenant and all the details that God had given 24:19 them to follow and to obey. 24:22 And not only would he do it personally, but then he was also 24:25 determined as God had called them to be a teacher of those 24:27 statutes and ordinances in Israel. 24:30 And so, because Ezra was so solid and so daily committed 24:35 to that calling and that foundation that we read in verse 24:39 10, which of course needs to apply to us if we're going 24:42 to be successful as Christians, especially 24:43 as a Christian leaders. 24:46 Then, of course, that qualified Ezra for a preeminent position. 24:54 Now, last week we learned that shortly after Ezra arrived 24:56 in Israel, he had learned from some of the Jewish leaders 25:00 that many of the Jewish young men or older men perhaps as well 25:03 had taken for themselves wives, but they didn't choose those 25:06 wives from within God's people, they had chosen them 25:09 from the surrounding nations and peoples, 25:12 unconverted pagan wives. 25:14 Now, if they had done Bible studies with them, and there may 25:15 be some watching, or some here today in Granite Bay Church 25:18 that, you know, I have a good friend of mine back in Canada, 25:21 and he's a pastor, and he used to be a coal porter, 25:23 a Bible worker. 25:25 And one of his Bible studies ended up being a young woman 25:27 that he ended up marrying. 25:29 Now when he first started Bible studies with her, she wasn't 25:31 on the same page, she didn't understand the truths and so on, 25:34 but as she understood and accepted those truths, was 25:36 baptized, then she became qualified to be his wife. 25:40 And they're still happily married today. 25:43 But in this case, we're talking about marrying wives 25:47 before they're converted. 25:49 And so these are pagan wives, and we studied that in extent 25:52 last week as Pastor Lucas had done such a good job for us. 25:56 And so we don't want to spend too much time on that, but we're 25:59 looking at in the light of Ezra and why he was preeminent even 26:03 after he came after Jeshua. 26:08 Now, what was Ezra's immediate response when he heard 26:10 the bad news? 26:13 Tore his robe, he began to tear at his hair, and then we find 26:18 that he immediately started to go into a phase of fasting. 26:23 So he put aside you know, the regular luxuries and creams 26:26 and lotions and things and as well as food and such, and so he 26:30 began to put all these things that we have distract us 26:34 and consume so much of our day, and he just poured his heart 26:37 out before the Lord. 26:38 And after a phase of fasting, we find then that he's on record 26:41 of falling on his knees, and he lifts up his arms 26:44 before the Lord, and he begins to pray. 26:47 And he lifts up his arms, but he doesn't lift up his head. 26:50 In fact, it says that he bows his head and says, 26:51 "Lord, I am shamed." 26:53 I'm ashamed, not because of his own decisions, but the shame-- 26:56 he was ashamed of the choices of his people. 26:58 And he had been out of town for a while, by the way. 27:00 The context is he was back at the King's business 27:03 in Persia, and now he had returned and found-- 27:05 And sorry, no, that's not true, that's Nehemiah. 27:10 Don't want to get the two confused. 27:11 And so here Ezra is arriving. 27:13 He hears the bad news, he falls on his knees, and in shame he 27:17 confesses the sins of his people. 27:19 And it says that he was weeping, he was crying over the sins 27:24 and the sinful position, the very vulnerable position 27:29 that the decisions of the Israelites 27:30 had put them in. 27:32 And as he's praying, we find here that God had answered. 27:35 He's praying and not only confessing, but praying 27:37 for repentance. 27:38 And repentance came, didn't it? 27:40 And before his prayers were even open, we have them come 27:44 in and they're crying as well, some of the key Israelites. 27:46 "And they're saying, We've really blown it. 27:48 We need to be able to fix this." 27:50 And by God's grace they did. 27:53 Now, again, this is not a slight against Jeshua 27:56 in regards to his faith, because Jeshua and the evidence, just as 27:59 Aaron was, was that even though he wasn't as strong as Aaron, he 28:02 still had a sincere faith, the evidence is there. 28:04 But Jeshua was the only one on record of permitting one 28:08 or more of his sons to marry one of those 28:10 unconverted pagan wives. 28:12 And so the response, in the position of both these 28:15 men of God, these priests, is much different, isn't it? 28:20 So Jeshua was sincere, just as Aaron was, 28:21 but he was not as strong. 28:25 Ezra chapter 10 and verse 18, by the way, is where you can 28:27 find that record. 28:29 So Jeshua was on record of permitting one or more of his 28:31 sons to marry one of those unconverted pagan wives, 28:34 and so Joshua had committed, even under his own household, 28:38 had allowed this predicament to take place 28:40 in his particular house. 28:42 Now, to be sure, also Jeshua and his son, or more again, it's 28:49 not clear in that verse if it was one or more, but certainly 28:54 both Jeshua and his son or sons, had repented with the rest 28:58 and had separated themselves from the unconverted pagan wives 29:01 that they had brought into the camp. 29:03 And so that's just something interesting and a parallel there 29:07 between Moses and that of Ezra, as well as that of the older 29:11 brother of Moses, Aaron. 29:15 Well, as we continue on in Sunday, we look 29:17 at the influence of leaders. 29:19 And as we look at the influence of leaders, we find that Sunday 29:23 is pointing out that there are some good influences found 29:27 in the leadership of Israel throughout its history and some 29:29 bad leadership examples as well. 29:32 And so it gives us a number of those for us to be able 29:36 to look at. 29:37 And of course, when we're in a position of leadership, 29:41 our influence is greater. 29:42 The decisions that we make have a bigger impact on other people, 29:46 both, not only believers, but also unbelievers as well. 29:50 And so as a pastor, sometimes, you know, I have to remember, I 29:53 have to keep reminding myself, you know, that my 29:55 neighbors are watching. 29:56 You know, they found out very quickly that they have a new 29:59 neighbor and that neighbor is a pastor. 30:01 He's not only a Christian, but he's a Christian pastor. 30:04 And so because of that, you know, I have to be-- 30:09 I'm sincere anyway, but you know, I have to be careful, you 30:13 know, and I have to make sure that I understand that my 30:18 influence and the decisions that I'm making is impacting not only 30:21 church members, but also non-church members as well. 30:25 And sometimes, you know, because God is working on all of us, 30:29 there's been times when I say something or do something it is 30:33 not--the Lord has spoken to me on it, but he not always speaks 30:36 to me on it in concern to my error, but then it was 30:39 in earshot or in eyesight of a neighbor, and I realize oh, 30:42 Lord, please forgive me, and may You help to undo that 30:46 influence for the worse, rather than the good. 30:50 By God's grace, you know, that's the exception to the rule in my 30:54 life as he works through me, but it's a good principle for us 30:57 to be able to keep in mind. 30:59 It's crucial that we reflect the principles and teachings 31:02 of scripture. 31:05 So we're gonna just look at a couple of them as they give 31:07 a number of examples. 31:08 Rehoboam. 31:09 Now, Rehoboam is the son of? 31:12 Solomon, somebody says. 31:13 Okay, this is where I know if you've studied your lesson 31:15 or not. 31:16 Or you know the Bible really, really well. 31:19 Because, not too many people, if you haven't studied this book 31:22 or lesson beforehand, would remember who Rehoboam is. 31:25 But Rehoboam is the eldest son of King Solomon. 31:27 King Solomon dies, and so, of course, Rehoboam is the one 31:31 that is rightly put on the throne. 31:33 And but the problem is that Rehoboam is not, well, Solomon 31:38 wasn't all that wise in his last years either, unfortunately, 31:41 and he wasn't so close to the Lord Himself. 31:45 And so because of that, some of the fruits, and by the way 31:48 the influence of the leadership of Solomon didn't end at his 31:50 grave, did it? 31:53 You know, the influence of Solomon rubbed off on-- 31:56 and his bad decisions rubbed on--his bad leadership rubbed 32:01 off on his son as well. 32:03 And so here we have Rehoboam, I think the scripture says he was 32:06 like 41 years old. 32:08 So he's not old man, he's not a young man, but he's been 32:10 around and such. 32:12 And we find that you know, Jeroboam one of the Jews 32:17 from the tribe of Efraim. 32:20 He is also a prominent leader, he was a servant of Solomon, he 32:24 was in hiding in Egypt because Solomon was after him because 32:27 God had prophesied that he would rule most of the tribes 32:31 of Israel after Solomon's death. 32:34 And Solomon tried to interfere with God's plan, and so he tried 32:37 to have him killed. 32:39 And so he's in hiding, he comes out. 32:41 And so during the inauguration of Rehoboam, we find that 32:45 Jeroboam is the spokesperson for the majority of the tribes 32:48 of Israel. 32:49 And he comes up and he speaks publicly, 32:52 and he addresses Rehoboam. 32:54 And he says, "Rehoboam, you know your father, your dad, Solomon, 32:58 you know he was hard on us. 33:01 He brought on us unreasonable burdens, upon the people, and if 33:05 there's one request that we have at the beginning of your reign, 33:08 if you could please lighten those burdens to something 33:10 at a more reasonable rate and a more reasonable level." 33:13 Jeroboam said, "I'll get back to you in three days." 33:15 He addressed the elders who had been around for many years, 33:18 had the experience, had stood beside, at the side 33:21 of the throne of Solomon for many years, and he said, 33:23 "What do you think?" 33:25 And they said, "Well, O King, live forever, but Rehoboam, we 33:28 are suggesting a devices that you do lighten the load. 33:30 You listen to the people, and if you encourage them and show them 33:33 that you sincerely care for them and you give them good words 33:36 and you count yourselves as their servant, then they we'll 33:40 serve you forever." 33:43 Now, does that sound like good advice? 33:45 Sure it is! 33:46 Okay, this advice came from the Lord without doubt. 33:48 Well, Rehoboam, it says, sadly, he didn't like that advice 33:51 at all. 33:52 And so he said, "You know what? 33:53 That doesn't hold water with me." 33:55 And so, he went and he got his second group of advisers. 33:57 Now, the second group of advisers are his buddies. 34:00 These are the ones he went to high school with, he grew 34:02 up with, and such. 34:04 And so he goes to them and he says, "What do you think?" 34:06 And they said, "Well, Rehoboam, no, don't listen 34:08 to those old guys. 34:10 They don't know what they're talking about. 34:11 You need to go out and you need to tell them you thought it was 34:12 tough with Solomon, it's going to be twice as tough 34:14 with me now." 34:16 And so we increased the burden to show how tough he was and how 34:18 strong and powerful he was as a king. 34:21 And so, his head kind of swelled two sizes bigger 34:23 probably that day. 34:26 Did it work out? 34:28 How did that go? 34:29 How did that work out for him, as we say today? 34:32 Okay, he lost 10 of the tribes of the 12 tribes of Israel. 34:36 And so his reign and his kingdom shrunk to about, well, less than 34:40 20% of what it was before he had made that bad decision. 34:45 So there's an example of bad leadership in concern to one 34:49 of the ancient kings and leaders of God's Nation. 34:53 Now, in 1 Kings chapter 14, 1 Kings chapter 14 and verse 21, 1 35:05 King--sorry, 1 Kings chapter 14 and verse 21, as well as verse 35:09 31, you will find there that God had inspired the prophet 35:15 or prophets that wrote the book of 1 Kings, that they point 35:20 out something interesting that normally is not pointed out. 35:22 But I believe it was pointed out twice because God wanted us 35:24 to pick up on this. 35:26 And this brings us back to Ezra, Nehemiah's day, when you have 35:29 intermarrying with unbelievers in the surrounding peoples. 35:34 And that is that Rehoboam's mother was not an Israelite, 35:38 she was an Ammonitess. 35:41 An Ammonitess, okay? 35:43 It sounds like a disease today, doesn't it? 35:45 Okay, but it's not, and it actually means that she was 35:48 a citizen of the people and country of Ammon, okay? 35:53 And so, was she a believer? 35:55 No, was she converted? 35:56 No, see, one of the things on the record of Solomon is that 35:59 he had made the mistake of marrying dozens, even 36:00 hundreds of unbelieving wives. 36:03 And it was to his detriment and to the detriment 36:06 of the nation. 36:07 And so here we have another result of the bad decisions that 36:11 Solomon had made during his reign and that he had chosen 36:14 to marry an Ammonitess, a woman of Ammon who also had 36:17 a different religion, different language, different values, 36:20 different principles, and because of that, she was 36:23 the number one influence, of course on Rehoboam. 36:28 And it didn't turn out well, did it? 36:31 No, not at all. 36:34 All right, so let's look at a good example, we don't want 36:36 to focus on the negative for too long. 36:37 In 2 Kings chapter 23, in verses 1-10, if you read in debt your 36:41 homework beforehand, you're able to read that. 36:43 We don't have time to read all 10 verses, 36:45 but then we have Josiah. 36:47 And Josiah was one of the line. 36:49 In fact, he was the last faithful king during the reign 36:50 of Israel before they were taken into exile and captivity 36:54 to Babylon. 36:55 Excuse me, so Josiah was at the last, at the very tail 36:59 end of the string of kings that had ruled in Israel 37:02 up until the Babylonian exile. 37:06 And was he faithful to God? 37:10 Praise God, he was. 37:11 Wasn't he? 37:13 He was the exception. 37:14 Sadly, we have to say that he was the exception because sadly, 37:17 most were not quite as faithful as they should have been. 37:19 But Josiah was one of those ones that was very faithful to God, 37:25 just like Ezra and Nehemiah. 37:27 And so we find that there's an interesting, very intriguing 37:31 scene there, they were Josiah and his previous kings, his 37:37 ancestors had strayed so far from the Lord that not only were 37:40 they not reading and following and teaching 37:42 the Bible, they didn't even know where the Bible was. 37:46 So, you know, if Ezra would arrive at that time and they 37:48 said, "Well, show me the book of the law. 37:49 I need a copy of the book of Deuteronomy." 37:52 And they said, "Deuter-what?" 37:54 They said, "We'd never even heard of Deuteronomy. 37:56 What is that" "Well, so what do you mean? 37:58 Of course, that's the fifth book of the book of the law 38:01 of Moses." 38:02 And they said, "Well, we haven't had a bible around for years!" 38:04 And so they literally didn't even know where the Bible was. 38:07 And so here we have Hilkiah and Shaphan the Scribe. 38:11 Hilkiah the high priest and they're doing some other 38:13 orders and renovations of the house of God 38:15 and the temple of God as Josiah had righteously had 38:20 commissioned, and we find there that they're going through one 38:24 of the back rooms, and they come across this mysterious book 38:26 and it says Deuteronomy and Exodus, and it talks 38:29 about Aaron and so on, and so Shaphan, you know 38:32 the scribe, brings it to the king and starts to read 38:34 it to the King. 38:35 And the King is hearing the word of God for the very 38:37 first time, okay? 38:40 He took the throne, I think he was eight years old. 38:42 Just a young boy. 38:43 Can you imagine taking the throne at eight and still 38:44 being faithful to God? 38:46 Now there's a faithful young man, faithful boy 38:48 and then young man. 38:50 And so he was about 26 I think, when this happened and he hears 38:52 the word of God after being king for several years in Israel. 38:55 And here's the word of God for the very first time and as 38:58 he hears the words, and the words of the covenants, 39:00 and he hears the blessings and the curses at the end 39:02 of the last speech of Moses in Deuteronomy, and he realizes 39:06 that everything that is happening in Israel, 39:08 under the leadership of his ancestors, for decades now, 39:12 is demanding God's curse upon Israel. 39:16 And so how does he respond? 39:19 He tears his robe, just like Ezra did. 39:21 Didn't he? 39:22 He tears his robe and he puts on sackcloth and ashes, and he 39:26 begins to mourn and to weep and to cry over the condition 39:30 that he realizes more than-- 39:32 Now, he probably had a pretty good feeling and a pretty good 39:35 idea because he had the spirit of the Lord that Israel wasn't 39:37 where it's supposed to be, but now this confirmed crystal 39:40 clear, in living color, that they had strayed so far 39:44 from the Lord Himself and from His covenant 39:46 and from His words. 39:48 And so we find that he's very much on the same page as Ezra 39:52 and the same page of Nehemiah. 39:54 And so not only does he weep over it, but then he leads 39:57 out a very powerful reformation and revival. 40:01 He begins to tear down things, you know and crush and break 40:05 to pieces all these idols, some of them in the very temple 40:08 of God itself. 40:10 Now, friend, sometimes we brush over this and we don't think 40:13 about the personal experience that Josiah must have gone 40:16 through, but can you imagine the pushback that he experienced 40:20 when that took place? 40:21 Now, when he gave all these commissions, and I'm sure he 40:23 over-looked it, and was physically there most 40:25 of the time when these instrumental idols were being 40:28 destroyed and so on. 40:30 Because you know that the pushback and the resistance 40:32 would've been tremendous, because the devil had such 40:36 inroads and had established routes that were so deep 40:40 for so long that inevitably he would have experienced all kinds 40:45 of pushback and resistance. 40:48 And so it wasn't a popular thing for him to do that. 40:50 For us, we read it, and would say, "Go Josiah!" 40:53 You know? 40:54 But for him, he's not sleeping very well a lot of those nights 40:56 because there's bound to be tremendous pushback from very 40:59 powerful and instrumental figures within Israel. 41:03 But just like Ezra and Nehemiah, regardless of how popular it 41:07 was, he wanted to please the Lord first. 41:10 You know, it's like the Apostle Paul says, "If I were a pleaser 41:12 of men, I would not be a pleaser of God." 41:15 You can't please man and God at the same time. 41:18 So sometimes the stands that we make don't always make friends, 41:22 but friends, sometimes even though we may lose friends 41:25 at times, it's amazing how many times God can bring us around, 41:29 you know round circle, and we can come back and be friends 41:32 in the future as god brings us both to that same page. 41:35 So that's important for us to understand. 41:36 Let's continue on. 41:38 It was, you go to Monday. 41:39 Evil in the sight of the Lord. 41:40 We have a few more examples of a bad leadership, very much 41:45 like on Sunday, and then it goes on and tells us that spiritual 41:49 leaders influence others, either toward God, if they themselves 41:54 see God, or toward evil if they do not. 41:56 The fact that Ezra and Nehemiah had a strong relationship 41:59 with God is undeniable. 42:03 Now, friends, this is just as important as their faithfulness 42:05 to the word of God. 42:07 If we are only faithful to studying the word of God, 42:09 but we're not faithful and committed to have any 42:11 personal, saving, day-by-day relationship with the Lord, then 42:17 we're still in a bad place, aren't we? 42:20 Okay, and so Ezra and Nehemiah found their qualifications, not 42:23 only because of their dedication to the word of God, but because 42:26 of the dedication to the God of the word. 42:30 And so they also found themselves on their knees 42:33 on a daily basis, talking to the Lord, saying, "Lord, 42:37 guide me, help me to be a faithful servant again today. 42:39 Help me to know what Your plan is. 42:41 Give me Your Holy Spirit, that I may have strength that is far 42:44 bigger than myself. 42:45 Help me to have wisdom that is far greater than my mind. 42:48 Help me to make good decisions, because you're walking with me 42:51 and through me and in me." 42:53 And the same thing of course applies to us, doesn't it? 42:56 And so they had both. 42:58 We need to have both. 42:59 And we need to be able to understand that's the only 43:01 way that we can resist evil. 43:03 The word of God, plus a personal relationship with 43:07 the Lord Himself. 43:10 And then we can make a powerful, powerful difference. 43:14 Now, it's also pointed out on Monday that not everyone 43:16 that Ezra and Nehemiah influenced brought them 43:19 to the throne of grace, okay? 43:21 Not everybody that Nehemiah and Ezra influenced were brought 43:25 into the kingdom of God. 43:27 Some of them still said, "You know what? 43:28 I see the Lord. 43:29 I see the powerful workings. 43:31 There's an undeniable evidence that the Lord is working 43:32 through you and through your ministry, in rebuilding the wall 43:35 and rebuilding the temple, and rebuilding and establishing 43:38 Israel and Jerusalem as the Holy City. 43:40 But you know what? 43:41 I still want to go my own way." 43:43 Okay, there are still several people that find themselves 43:46 in that camp. 43:47 Does that mean that Ezra and Nehemiah failed? 43:50 Does that mean that we as spiritual leaders 43:52 in the church fail? 43:54 No, of course, we just have to go back to the Master 43:57 Himself, to Jesus. 43:59 Now, Jesus walked for 3 1/2 years, He ate, He talked, He 44:02 walked, and He lived with 12-plus faithful disciples. 44:06 Now the 12, the most prominent, where the inner circle 44:09 of the 12 Apostles. 44:10 Now, one of those 12 was by the name of Judas Iscariot, okay? 44:16 Now, did Jesus neglect Judas? 44:18 Did He say, "Oh, listen, you're a write off, like, you know, 44:20 I'm not gonna spend my--" 44:22 No, He--in fact, He probably invested more in Judas than He 44:26 did in some of the other Apostles. 44:28 Did Judas still find himself in the kingdom of God? 44:32 No. 44:33 All the evidence shows that he hung himself, and he became 44:35 a man that was lost for all of eternity. 44:38 And so even Jesus, the greatest, most influential figure in all 44:42 of time, that had the attention of Judas Iscariot for 3 1/2 44:47 complete years still lost Judas. 44:49 And so, if He can't win them all, we won't be able 44:52 to influence them all into the kingdom as well. 44:54 The bottom line is that all of us need to answer 44:57 before the Lord alone. 44:58 We all as individuals have to answer and say, "Am I going 45:01 to respond to the faithful influence of this pastor or my 45:05 Christian friend or my Seventh Day Adventist neighbor, or am I 45:09 not gonna respond?" 45:10 And some say yes, some say no. 45:14 And that's just a sad reality of life. 45:17 But let's continue on to Tuesday. 45:19 On Tuesday, we also have a very important facet or trait 45:25 of every successful spiritual leader, and that is courage. 45:30 Courage is neat. 45:31 Now, we've already touched on that, we looked at Moses, 45:33 we looked at Ezra, we looked at Nehemiah. 45:35 These were men of great courage because of their faithfulness 45:38 and their submission to God in such a regular, deep, 45:41 and real way. 45:43 In Nehemiah chapter 4, verses 7-23, the passage there that 45:48 the study points us to is in regards to rebuilding 45:51 the wall. 45:52 Now, as they started to rebuild the wall, and as the surrounding 45:55 enemies and non-Israelite people saw their success that was 45:59 budding, they started to try to stymie that. 46:02 In fact, they even conspired that we're going to attack them 46:04 when they don't know we're coming. 46:06 Well, the word got out, and the Lord gave them a heads 46:08 up on that. 46:09 And so, Nehemiah made it clear to them, to the enemies, that 46:12 they were prepared, and he also prepared them, didn't they? 46:15 And that points out something very important in regards 46:18 to courage and working with God. 46:19 Now, Nehemiah could have said, "All right God, You do it all. 46:22 You know, I'm just going to put it in Your hands, we're going 46:24 to go out there just with our tools that are needed to be able 46:30 to build the wall, and that's all we're gonna bring with us. 46:33 And the rest we're going to put in Your hands." 46:34 No, we find that he works in partnership with what he has 46:37 at his hand, and as it turns out, they had available spears 46:41 and bows and swords and so on, and so he took half of his 46:47 resources and people and he put them in charge of protecting 46:50 the other half, and even the ones that were at the wall 46:52 were taking turns. 46:53 They would take watch by night, and they would build a wall 46:56 during the day when it was daylight. 46:58 And it says that the during the last days of that 47:00 51 powerful period in which they rebuilt the wall, they didn't 47:03 even change the clothes. 47:05 They didn't even go home and go to bed. 47:06 They would just sleep on the wall, as they were taking 47:09 turns watching through the night. 47:10 And it says the only time they change their clothes was when 47:12 they had to wash their clothes, but otherwise they didn't even 47:15 take off the clothes to go to sleep at night. 47:17 No one really saw their bed for several weeks. 47:20 And so here we find a very powerful, courageous partnership 47:25 that Nehemiah had with the Lord Himself. 47:29 There's a really powerful sentence in the middle 47:32 of Tuesday's lesson. 47:33 It says, "Nehemiah encouraged the people, believed in them, 47:37 worked with them, and gave them responsibility to act." 47:41 And this is important, "He empowered them to do the work as 47:45 he delegated and assigned responsibilities." 47:47 And so Nehemiah also didn't make the mistake of thinking that he 47:50 could do it all himself. 47:52 He says, "Wow, I'm powerful. 47:53 I'm close to the Lord. 47:54 God has given me a preeminent position. 47:56 I'm just going to do it all. 47:57 You guys just stay back and just watch the show." 47:59 No, he said, "Listen, we're in this together. 48:01 There's no way I can do it alone. 48:02 We need to work together." 48:03 And so he encouraged them. 48:05 He worked with them. 48:07 He believed in them. 48:08 Have you ever noticed that when you're working out at a leader 48:10 within a committee in the church or in ministry, and they believe 48:13 in you and encourage you and they empower you, that you 48:17 just feel a whole lot more encouraged, and you just feel 48:19 a lot more effective in your ministry? 48:21 And so this is powerful, valuable stuff for us as leaders 48:26 in whatever capacity we are within the church. 48:30 The other thing that we find is that Nehemiah not only did he 48:33 delegate and empower and encourage and such, but it 48:36 tells us that he worked alongside with them as the work 48:39 needed to be done, and so he didn't just delegate, encourage 48:42 only, and then just say, "Listen, you know, I'll be 48:45 at home if you need me." 48:47 No, he said, "Listen, we're in this together. 48:49 We're in this together." 48:50 So Wednesday's lesson is on purpose and passion. 48:53 Every good spiritual leader will have purpose and they will have 48:55 passion within their ministry. 48:58 What is purpose? 48:59 What was the purpose of Ezra and Nehemiah? 49:01 To see God's will done in the lives of His people. 49:04 To establish the Holy Temple, to establish the Holy City, 49:07 so that it would be prepared to receive the Messiah 49:10 of the Lord. 49:11 To reestablish the great symbolism that was found 49:13 in the ceremonial sacrificial system of the temple that was 49:17 all declaring in 3D, God's plan of Salvation in which Christ was 49:20 going to come and fulfill in His literal ministry. 49:23 And so there was a lot of purpose, and therefore 49:27 the passion follows that purpose as they went forward to fulfill 49:32 that purpose God had in their life. 49:35 Ezra did this through studying the scriptures, teaching 49:38 the people the word of God on a faithful and regular basis. 49:41 Nehemiah encouraged the people to do what was right and stand 49:44 up boldly for God. 49:46 And so they fulfilled their purpose in a powerful way 49:49 with God-given passion. 49:51 And then finally on Thursday we have humility. 49:55 And Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 23 is where we're going 49:58 to close today. 50:00 So if you want to turn with me to Nehemiah and chapter 4 50:06 and verse 23. 50:09 Nehemiah chapter 4, the last verse, verse 23. 50:12 It says, "So neither I, my brethren, my servants, 50:16 nor the men of the guard who followed me, took off our 50:19 clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing." 50:21 And that's why I was just talkin' about before. 50:23 And so what I want to point out here is that we find that is 50:26 in the exclusive sense, isn't it? 50:28 Here Nehemiah is writing. 50:30 He says, "Neither I, my brethren, or my servants, 50:33 or the men of the guard who followed me, took off our 50:35 clothes." 50:36 So Nehemiah didn't say, "Listen, you guys just stay overnight. 50:38 You guys, you know, you're not gonna see your beds 50:40 for a couple weeks. 50:42 But I'll be at home sleeping soundly." 50:44 No, he said, "Listen, I'm going to be sleeping on that wall 50:45 just with you. 50:47 I'm going to be in the same predicament as you are. 50:48 We're in this together." 50:50 He rolled up his sleeves and that shows a humble leader, 50:53 doesn't it? 50:54 And so, the last verse on Thursday, it says, "He sat," 50:57 this is Jesus, "and he sat down, called the 12, and said to them, 51:01 'If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all 51:04 and servant of all.'" 51:06 We found that in Mark chapter 9, and verse 35. 51:09 Jesus said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, 51:13 but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." 51:18 And so we need to remember that God calls us 51:21 to be successful leaders. 51:23 And humility, being humble and counting ourselves as 51:25 a servant to the people that were leading, is instrumental 51:29 to that success. 51:30 Well, it's nice to be able to have you join us here 51:32 on the "Sabbath School Study Hour." 51:35 We're just so thrilled to be able to study with you week 51:37 by week, as we have made our way through Ezra and Nehemiah. 51:40 Next week, we're going to pick it up with a new study and that 51:42 quarterly is one of my favorite books. 51:44 It's the prophetic book of Daniel. 51:46 Now, if Daniel is a foreign name to you, or you thought, "Boy, 51:49 I've never really studied the Old Testament of Daniel." 51:50 Don't miss this quarterly because this is powerful stuff. 51:53 It is the sister book of Revelation, whether you knew 51:56 that or not, you'll find out as we go through it. 51:58 And we look forward to seeing you next week, God bless. 52:04 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 52:06 free resource. 52:08 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 52:10 download a digital copy straight to your computer 52:12 or mobile device. 52:14 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply 52:17 text the keyword on your screen to 40544. 52:21 Or visit the web address shown on your screen and be sure 52:24 to select a digital download option on the request page. 52:27 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's word 52:30 with "Amazing Facts" wherever and whenever you want and most 52:34 important, to share it with others. 52:42 male announcer: "Amazing Facts: Changed Lives." 52:49 ♪♪♪ 52:50 female: It wasn't my choice to be a Catholic. 52:52 It was my parents' choice. 52:54 My mom, she's very, very religious. 52:59 My father, he was made the presidential trouble-shooter 53:04 during the martial law. 53:07 I guess, having seven kids would not be able to make my mother 53:12 to be, you know, be there for each and every one of us, 53:15 but what was really very hard for me was I was always told 53:19 to be the ugliest, to be the darkest. 53:22 You know, here in the Philippines, you're 53:24 beautiful if you're white, but if you're brown or a little 53:29 bit darker, which I was, you're ugly. 53:33 All of us had about seven maids, one for each child. 53:38 The maids would say, "My baby," or the one she's taking care of, 53:43 "Is a lot better than yours," referring to me. 53:47 I believed because I was ugly, I believed I was stupid. 53:50 I believed I was good for nothing, so I attracted all 53:54 the bad things in my life. 53:57 I had to believe that God is fair, so I said maybe that's 54:02 because I was bad in my previous lives. 54:07 So I believe in, of course, reincarnation, and when I was 54:11 young, my mom told me that I could really see ghosts. 54:16 I went into a lot of seance. 54:21 And there was even a time when we did a ouija board, and then 54:25 in front of me--really, it really happened, the four 54:29 of us--the glass, which is a wine glass, it just went up. 54:38 So because this is my life, I do believe that I was attracted 54:42 to the wrong man. 54:43 There's anything that really happened very good was to have 54:47 my two adorable children, but I was really abused in all areas: 54:53 physically, emotionally, of course spiritually. 55:00 You will think, "Where is God?" 55:07 I began to search, and unfortunately, my church 55:10 doesn't have a Bible study. 55:12 So I was able to go to a Baptist Bible study, and there I had 55:18 a classmate. 55:19 Her name is Lu. 55:20 She gave me the DVDs, and that is where I learned about 55:25 Pastor Doug and "Amazing Facts." 55:30 That Baptist church saw my eagerness, so when I started 55:35 asking for Sabbath worship on Saturday, they took me out. 55:43 They even got a meeting, and they said that I was 55:47 a stumbling block, me and Lu, and that is how we left. 55:52 Our friends are all from the Baptist and we love 55:56 them dearly, but the truth cannot be compromised. 56:03 So that is when we started having a Bible study, every four 56:08 o'clock at Club Filipino, and I invite all my friends. 56:15 It pains me to think that I was really lost. 56:19 Why is it I could find teaching through a foreigner, 56:24 from Pastor Doug? 56:27 What if nobody gave me the message, because my growth 56:33 happened because the DVDs that I watch every night, every 56:40 morning. 56:41 And even my friends, who happened to have Master degree, 56:46 they say, "Why are you so much better? 56:49 Maybe your teachers are good." 56:52 Yes, my teachers are from the "Amazing Facts." 56:56 I owe my salvation, really, to all the teachings that I've 57:00 learned from your DVDs and from your books. 57:17 male announcer: Can't get enough Amazing facts Bible study? 57:20 You don't have to wait until next week to enjoy more 57:22 truth-filled programming. 57:25 Watch Amazing Facts television by visiting aftv.org. 57:30 At aftv.org, you can view Amazing Facts programming 24 57:35 hours a day, 7 days a week, right from your computer 57:39 or mobile device. 57:40 Why wait a week? 57:41 Visit aftv.org, it's that easy. 57:46 male announcer: If you've missed any of our Amazing Facts 57:48 programs, visit our website at amazingfacts.org. 57:51 There you'll find an archive of all our television and radio 57:54 programs, including "Amazing Facts Presents." 57:56 One location, so many possibilities amazingfacts.org. |
Revised 2019-12-24