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00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:21 ♪♪♪ 00:26 ♪♪♪ 00:32 Jean Ross: Hello, friends. 00:34 Welcome again to Sabbath School Study Hour, coming here from the 00:36 Amazing Facts offices in Sacramento, California. 00:39 I'd like to welcome all of those joining us online and on the 00:42 various television networks across the country and, 00:45 literally, around the world with social media. 00:48 And talking about social media, we're going to try and take some 00:50 Bible questions. 00:53 So if you're watching live and you'd like to post a question, 00:54 we're going to try and answer as many of them as we can during 00:57 our study this morning. 00:59 You can do so at the Doug Batchelor Facebook page or, I 01:03 believe, at the Amazing Facts Facebook page. 01:05 So in the comments you can just ask a question. 01:08 They're going to send it to me and we're going to try and take 01:10 as many questions as possible. 01:12 Our lesson today is lesson number 12 in the series that we 01:15 are doing, "Making Friends for God." 01:18 Just a very exciting and important study coming from the 01:20 very heart of the book of Revelation. 01:23 But before we get to our study this morning, we've got some 01:25 special music that we're going to be rolling in at this time. 01:29 ♪♪♪ 01:41 ♪ Someone is praying for you ♪ 01:50 ♪ Someone is praying for you ♪ 01:57 ♪ So when it seems you're all alone ♪ 02:02 ♪ And your heart will break in two ♪ 02:07 ♪ Remember someone is praying for you ♪ 02:18 ♪ Have the clouds round you ♪ 02:21 ♪ Gathered in the midst of the storm ♪ 02:27 ♪ Is your ship tossed and battered ♪ 02:32 ♪ Are you weary and worn ♪ 02:36 ♪ Don't lose hope: someone's praying for you ♪ 02:43 ♪ This very day ♪ 02:46 ♪ And peace be still is already on the way ♪ 02:56 ♪ Someone is praying for you ♪ 03:05 ♪ Someone is praying for you ♪ 03:13 ♪ So when it seems you're all alone ♪ 03:18 ♪ And your heart will break in two ♪ 03:22 ♪ Remember someone is praying for you ♪ 03:32 ♪ When it seems that you've prayed ♪ 03:37 ♪ 'Til your strength is all gone ♪ 03:42 ♪ And your tears fall like raindrops ♪ 03:47 ♪ All the day long ♪ 03:51 ♪ He cares and He knows just how much you can bear ♪ 04:00 ♪ He'll speak your name to someone in prayer ♪ 04:11 ♪ Someone is praying for you ♪ 04:20 ♪ Someone is praying for you ♪ 04:28 ♪ So when it seems you're all alone ♪ 04:33 ♪ And your heart will break in two ♪ 04:37 ♪ Remember someone is praying for you ♪ 04:48 ♪ Remember someone is praying for you ♪ 05:03 Jean: Thank you, Sylvia and Marcellus, for bringing us that 05:05 beautiful musical number. 05:08 We also want to mention to our friends who are joining us, we 05:11 do have a free offer. 05:12 It's one of the classic books written by Joe Crews. 05:15 It's entitled "Three Steps to Heaven," and we'll be happy to 05:17 send this out to anyone in North America. 05:20 The number to call is 866-788-3966 and just ask for 05:24 free offer number 102. 05:27 Again, that number is 866-788-3966, offer 102. 05:33 You can get a digital copy of the book by texting the code 05:37 "SH068" to the number 40544 and we'll send you a link where 05:44 you'll be able to download and read that free offer. 05:48 Again, we want to thank all of those who are joining us here 05:51 in--right here in California and also those joining us across 05:54 the country. 05:57 Well, Pastor Doug, before we get to our lesson, a very important 05:59 lesson, let's start with a word of prayer. 06:00 Doug Batchelor: Amen. 06:02 Jean: Dear Father in heaven, we thank You once again that 06:04 we're able to take some time to open up Your Word and study a 06:06 very important message, in particular to Your remnant 06:09 church in these last days. 06:11 And so, Father, we ask for the Holy Spirit to come and be with 06:13 us here as we open up the Word and be with those who are 06:16 joining us across the country, around the world, in Jesus' 06:19 name, amen. 06:21 Doug: Amen. 06:23 Well, Pastor Ross, we have a great lesson today. 06:25 We're going through, almost done with, our lesson talking about 06:27 "Making Friends for God." 06:30 In fact, this is lesson 12. 06:32 In two weeks, we're going to be introducing our new lesson 06:34 on education. 06:36 We'll probably hold one up for you next week so you can see 06:38 that and start getting ramped up for the next quarter's lessons. 06:42 But today, we're talking about "A Message Worth Sharing," and 06:46 there's a memory verse. 06:48 And the memory verse comes from the three angels' messages. 06:51 This is Revelation 14, verse 6 and 7, which says: "And I saw 06:55 another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the 06:58 everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth--to 07:02 every nation, tribe, tongue, and people--saying with a loud 07:06 voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His 07:10 judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, 07:15 the sea and springs of water.'" 07:19 Now, in this message, in this lesson, we're really focusing on 07:24 what is the message that we're to be sharing with our friends? 07:29 Is there something distinct or unique about the message now as 07:33 opposed to other times in history? 07:35 Now, there's a verse in the Bible under the first section 07:37 here where it talks about Peter's present truth message. 07:40 I want you to key in, especially on those words "present truth." 07:43 Let me read this to you from 2 Peter 1, verse 12: "For this 07:47 reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these 07:51 things, though you know and are established in the 07:55 present truth." 07:57 Now, truth is absolute. 07:59 Truth doesn't change. 08:01 At different points in history, there are different truths that 08:05 should be emphasized, that are more present or relevant for a 08:09 particular time. 08:12 An example: a prophetic message was given to Noah. 08:15 The message of Noah was really, you know, to build the ark, get 08:19 on the boat, and survive. 08:22 But when Moses came along, the message was not "Get on 08:24 the boat." 08:26 Moses was given a message and it said, "Get out of Egypt. 08:28 Follow me. 08:30 We're going through the Red Sea. 08:32 We're getting out of Egypt. 08:34 We're heading towards the Promised Land." 08:36 That was a special focus of that message. 08:38 And then again, the message of Joshua was, "We are going to 08:40 subdue and conquer the Promised Land." 08:42 And this was the message in how to establish in that land. 08:45 That was the message for that time. 08:48 And so, and the message when John the Baptist came was, 08:50 "Behold the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 08:53 What did Christ say? 08:55 "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." 08:57 That was the present truth. 08:59 So here we are now, living at the threshold of eternity. 09:01 We're in the last days. 09:03 What is the present truth for us? 09:06 Is our message today "There's a flood coming"? 09:09 No, God said He's never going to destroy the world with a flood. 09:12 It's not we need to flee Egypt for the Promised Land, 09:16 spiritually maybe. 09:18 But the present truth really is contained in the three angels' 09:21 messages and that'll end up being probably where we spend 09:24 most of our time today, Pastor Ross. 09:27 Jean: And you know, Pastor Doug, when it's talking about a 09:30 present truth message, it's often connected with the Coming 09:32 of Christ. 09:34 You have the present truth that John the Baptist preached. 09:36 It was a preparation for the First Coming of Jesus, the 09:38 Messiah, who came to redeem the world of sin and now we have a 09:42 present truth also connected with the Coming of Christ. 09:45 This is the Second Coming of Christ, the establishment of a 09:48 kingdom that is to last forever. 09:51 So it is a message that is connected with judgment. 09:53 It's a message that calls for reformation. 09:56 It's a message that calls people back to the teachings of Christ, 10:00 the teachings of the Bible. 10:03 So a present truth message is not a passive message. 10:05 It's an active message. 10:07 It calls you to do something, just like Noah, he called people 10:10 into the ark, so the present truth message is a calling to 10:13 come out of religious Babylon into the truths of the remnant. 10:17 It's an active, powerful revival message. 10:22 Doug: Absolutely, now there's a passage here in the book of 10:25 Amos chapter 3, verse 7, where it says: "Surely the Lord God 10:29 does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants 10:33 the prophets." 10:35 And so whenever you see God doing anything significant in 10:38 history, when they came out of Egypt he had a prophet, Moses. 10:44 Before the Babylonian captivity, he had a couple of 10:47 primary prophets. 10:49 He had Jeremiah, Ezekiel. 10:51 Well, Jeremiah and then you had Isaiah, after the fall of 10:55 Babylon, then you ended up having Ezekiel. 10:58 Before Jesus' First Coming, John the Baptist. 11:02 In the days before the flood, before coming judgment, you 11:05 had Noah. 11:07 So whenever God is about to do something that is very 11:09 significant, there's a message and usually he sends a 11:11 prophetic message. 11:13 Of the 12 apostles, probably only one of the apostles would 11:17 be called an apocalyptic prophet. 11:20 Now when you think of the prophecies in the Old Testament, 11:22 you've got the major and the minor prophets. 11:25 The prophecies of Isaiah, they're often messianic but 11:29 they're not so apocalyptic as Ezekiel was or Daniel 11:33 or Zechariah. 11:35 And in the New Testament, the apostle John would be in that 11:37 category where he's really giving messages in--from heaven 11:42 in symbolic language that were preparing people for a great 11:46 work of God. 11:48 Jean: Now, we do have some Bible questions that are coming 11:50 in, Pastor Doug. 11:52 We have quite a few. 11:53 I want to thank you again. 11:55 If you have a Bible question, you can just post it on the Doug 11:58 Batchelor Facebook page. 12:00 Here's a question connected with the Second Coming. 12:01 It says: "Why does the Bible say that only God the Father knows 12:04 the time when Jesus will return and not Jesus Himself? 12:09 Doug: Yeah, in Matthew 24 when Jesus said, "No man knows 12:11 the day or the hour but the Father only, not even the Son," 12:14 Christ is not saying that He does not now know that time. 12:19 Jesus, in His humanity, he laid aside many aspects of divinity 12:24 so that He could live as a human among people and you think about 12:28 it, how would Jesus have even understood that date? 12:32 I mean, if the Lord's Coming was the year 2050, I'm just making 12:35 that up. 12:37 Don't write that down. 12:39 How would He communicate that? 12:41 They didn't even keep dates that time. 12:43 They dated everything by the reign of different priests and 12:46 kings back then. 12:48 And so when Jesus said, "The Son doesn't know either," He didn't 12:51 need to know and it wouldn't have made any sense for anyone 12:52 for Him to share it at that point. 12:56 But now He's at the right hand of the Father, Christ is 12:58 all-knowing, He's omniscient. 13:00 The Father is not holding a little piece of paper in heaven 13:03 where He's got the day and hour of Jesus' Coming and saying, 13:05 "Sorry, but I can't share this with You," you know. 13:08 Jesus knows now. 13:10 But on earth He did not know. 13:12 Jean: We have another question, Pastor Doug, that's 13:13 come from Victoria and is somewhat connected to the 13:15 Second Coming. 13:17 Practical question says: "My husband has passed away 13:19 last week." 13:21 We want to encourage her and pray for Victoria, but she asks, 13:24 "Can he see what I'm doing now? 13:26 Is he watching over me?" 13:29 Doug: Well, you know, the Bible's very clear: "The living 13:31 know they'll die," and this is Ecclesiastes chapter 9. 13:34 "The living know they'll die, but the dead don't 13:35 know anything." 13:38 And the Bible tells us that they're sleeping a dreamless 13:41 sleep until the Resurrection. 13:44 And so there are about 12 resurrections in the Bible, all 13:48 the New Testament, and in no case do those resurrected ever 13:52 comment on any consciousness or witnessing anything here on 13:56 earth during their death. 13:59 So the idea of spiritualism is that, you know, the dead 14:01 are--they go right to their rewards before the Resurrection 14:04 or the Judgment and they're watching what's happening on 14:06 earth or they're guiding and--or they're, you know, 14:11 meddling somehow. 14:14 Bible doesn't teach that. 14:15 Bible says that they're asleep. 14:17 The dead do not praise the Lord. 14:19 When Christ comes, 1 Thessalonians 4, that's when 14:21 the dead in Christ rise. 14:23 Paul said, "We don't sorrow as others which have no hope but we 14:25 know that those who sleep in Jesus will come back to life 14:29 when the Lord returns." 14:31 Jean: And those are encouraging words for anyone 14:33 that has lost a loved one. 14:35 We're looking forward to that reunion morning when Jesus 14:36 comes again. 14:39 Now, Pastor Doug, in our lesson, it's talking about 2 Peter 14:40 chapter 1, verse 16, and Peter says, "We didn't follow 14:43 cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power 14:47 and the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 14:50 So we have the certainty of the Second Coming. 14:52 It was a great theme that we find the apostles speaking of. 14:55 It's throughout the New Testament. 14:57 But we also see prophecies in the Old Testament talking about 15:00 the assurance of the Second Coming of Christ, coming with 15:02 power and glory to establish a kingdom here on this earth. 15:06 So when we talk about the Second Coming and that's closely 15:08 connected with the three angels' messages, Revelation 14, central 15:11 is that--to that is the truth, the fact, of the glorious Second 15:16 Coming of Christ. 15:18 It's not a cunningly devised fable. 15:20 People might say, "Well, you know, we've been talking about 15:22 the Second Coming for all of these years, can we still trust 15:25 that the Bible says Jesus will come?" 15:27 Well, I think one of the ways that our faith can grow is when 15:29 we see the signs that Jesus foretold being fulfilled all 15:33 around us in the world. 15:35 Here we're sitting in our studio at Amazing Facts, doing "Sabbath 15:37 School Study Hour." 15:40 We're not in front of our regular congregation because I 15:42 think, in one way, we see one of the signs of an increase of 15:46 pestilence and diseases before Jesus' Coming and we're right 15:50 in the midst of this pandemic which is a disease. 15:53 So just around us in the world today, we can see signs of the 15:56 Coming of Christ being fulfilled. 15:58 Doug: Absolutely, and this verse that you were sharing when 16:01 Peter said, "We did not make known to you cunningly devised 16:03 fables but we were eye witnesses," Peter's referring to 16:07 an experience where Jesus said to the disciples, "There are 16:11 some of you standing here who will not taste of death 'til you 16:13 see the kingdom of God come." 16:17 And you read in the book, "Desire of Ages," when they 16:19 went up the book--went up the Mount of Transfiguration, and 16:22 they saw Moses and Elijah and Christ glorified and heard the 16:25 voice of the Father, this was a miniature picture of the 16:29 Second Coming. 16:31 So Peter's saying, "We saw what the Second Coming's going to 16:33 look like. 16:35 We saw Him in His glory," and so that they could bear witness 16:37 of that. 16:39 And Christ said, "Don't talk about that until I rise from the 16:41 dead and you can remind them." 16:43 Then he goes on, He says in the same verse, said, "For He 16:45 received from God the Father honor and glory when such a 16:49 voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: 'This is My 16:52 beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' 16:54 We heard this voice which came from heaven. 16:57 We were with Him on the holy Mount and we have a prophetic 17:00 word confirmed, which you do well that you take heed as a 17:04 light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn and 17:07 the morning star arises in your heart; knowing that no prophecy 17:10 of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy 17:14 never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as 17:18 they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 17:21 So he's pointing back to this experience. 17:23 He says, "Even more vivid and more powerful and dependable 17:25 than what we envisioned is the Word of God." 17:28 So Word of God's more powerful than any vision or dream a 17:31 person might have. 17:33 He said, "We know He's coming." 17:35 Jean: And central to this present truth that we're talking 17:37 about is the message of Jesus. 17:40 If somebody's preaching a present truth message but it 17:42 leaves Jesus in the back, that's not present truth. 17:46 Matter of fact, we find in Revelation chapter 1, verse 1, a 17:48 book that is filled with symbols and imagery, the very first 17:51 verse of Revelation 1:1 says it's the revelation of Jesus 17:54 Christ which God gave to Him to show unto His servants things 17:58 that must shortly take place and He sent and signified it by His 18:02 angel unto His servant John." 18:04 Right at the very beginning, this is a revealing of Jesus. 18:07 Now, that phrase could probably be understood two ways. 18:09 The one is that Jesus is the one revealing something but it could 18:12 also be understood and correctly that that which is revealed 18:17 is Jesus. 18:18 The revelation of Jesus, it's the revelation of Jesus. 18:22 So both ways, you can understand that as the prophecies contained 18:25 in the book of Revelation reveal to us what Jesus does and what 18:28 His work is in man's salvation, that culminates in this great 18:33 Second Coming theme that you find throughout the book 18:36 of Revelation. 18:38 Doug: So it's facts about Jesus and it's facts of who He 18:41 is that's--it's--really, the book of Revelation is a--it's 18:47 almost three-dimensional image of the gospel and Christ working 18:50 through history Himself. 18:53 Jean: So we have Jesus found throughout Revelation and then, 18:55 of course, the plan of redemption is found throughout 18:57 the book of Revelation and you find that in the next few verses 19:00 in Revelation chapter 1. 19:02 It's interesting in Revelation 1, Pastor Doug, you've got 19:04 greetings that John who wrote the book from God the Father and 19:09 then typically, if you're reading the Gospels, you have a 19:11 greeting from the Father followed by the Son and then the 19:14 Holy Spirit. 19:16 But here in Revelation chapter 1, John writes it a 19:17 little different. 19:20 He says, "Greetings from--grace and peace from God the Father," 19:22 and then he says, "From the Spirit," and then he takes quite 19:26 a bit longer to talk about the Son. 19:29 And that's the passage here in verse 4. 19:31 It says, "John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, 19:34 Grace and peace from Him who is, who was and who is to come," 19:36 that would be God the Father, "and from the seven Spirits 19:39 before His throne," that would be the Holy Spirit. 19:42 Then it says: "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness," 19:45 and then he goes on to talk about Jesus, "the firstborn from 19:48 the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. 19:51 To Him who loved us, washed us from our sins in His own blood, 19:55 and has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father, 19:58 to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever." 20:01 So I find it interesting that the apostle John, we believe the 20:04 youngest of the 12, he wrote the book of Revelation somewhere 20:07 around the early AD 90 and, of course, he was on the Island of 20:10 Patmos, but it seems as though John really came to appreciate 20:14 and understand the love of Christ in a very real way. 20:18 John can't just pass over by briefly mentioning Jesus. 20:22 He's going to have to talk about what Jesus has done. 20:24 And so you have that beautiful introduction about Christ who's 20:26 washed us and cleansed us, made us priests and kings and it's 20:30 just a great, great verse there. 20:33 Doug: Yeah, I think the apostle John uses the word 20:35 love 50 times in his gospel and the letters. 20:41 So he's--that's why they call him the apostle of love. 20:44 You know, we might need to move on to the second section here 20:46 because I know when we get into the three angels' message we're 20:48 going to have a lot and you may have another question 20:50 coming soon. 20:52 Oh, by the way, you know, I see our next section is 20:54 "Revelation's End-Time Focus." 20:57 I just remembered, Amazing Facts is going to be doing a special 21:00 Revelation presentation that will be coming live, probably 21:05 just a few weeks after this broadcast, and it's called 21:09 "Revelation Now." 21:11 And every church for free can get involved in doing evangelism 21:13 and sharing. 21:16 Whole lesson has been about "Making Friends for God." 21:18 We're going to give you a chance to do that at the conclusion of 21:20 the lesson. 21:22 So from October 23, through November 14, we're going to be 21:25 sending out live from these facilities, an evangelistic 21:28 program that you can invite your friends to. 21:30 You can meet in your home, you can meet in your churches for 21:33 those where the churches are free to meet. 21:36 You can even have online Zoom meetings or YouTube groups, and 21:41 just go to revelationnow.com. 21:44 It's a very easy title. 21:45 "Revelation Now." 21:47 Revelation is happening now. 21:49 So it's called revelationnow.com and join us in this event. 21:52 A free program and everybody can participate. 21:55 Oh, okay, so back to the first section. 21:58 That was my commercial. 21:59 First section here is talking about "Revelation's End-Time 22:02 Focus." 22:04 It seems as you go through the major prophecies in Revelation, 22:06 you got the seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, 22:09 seven plagues, each one of those concludes by talking about Jesus 22:14 is going to be the ultimate King and Savior and His Coming. 22:20 Talks about His Kingship and His Coming, right there in the very 22:22 first section. 22:24 Pastor Ross, do you want to read Revelation 1:7? 22:27 Jean: It's a great verse of hope and encouragement. 22:29 It says: "Behold He," Jesus, "is coming with clouds, and every 22:32 eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him. 22:35 And all the tribes of the earth shall mourn because of Him. 22:38 Even so, Amen." 22:40 So in Revelation chapter 1, the very first chapter in the book, 22:43 we're introduced to the Second Coming of Christ. 22:47 Doug: Yup, then you'll have after that, you've got 22:49 Revelation chapter 2 and 3. 22:52 You've got the seven messages to the seven churches. 22:54 And then in Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at 22:58 the door and knock. 23:01 If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into 23:03 him and dine with him and he with Me." 23:06 And so He's standing at the door and declaring Himself to be 23:08 the Amen. 23:11 There's also an emphasis on the culmination of the plan of 23:13 salvation in those passages. 23:16 And then, Pastor, "following the seven seals." 23:19 Jean: Yes, we've got the seven seals again. 23:21 It culminates in this promise of the Second Coming and earth 23:23 made new. 23:25 This is verse--chapter 7, verse 15 says: "Therefore they are 23:28 before the throne of God, and will serve Him day and night in 23:30 His temple. 23:32 And He who sits upon the throne will dwell amongst them. 23:34 And they shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the 23:37 sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb is in the 23:41 midst of them--in the midst of the throne will shepherd them 23:45 and lead them to living fountains of waters." 23:48 Here's this wonderful promise: "And God shall wipe away every 23:50 tear from their eyes." 23:54 So at the end of the seven seals, again, it culminates in 23:57 the Second Coming of Christ and all things being made new. 24:00 Doug: Yeah, it talks about the throne of Christ and that He 24:03 is with us and it just all these conflicts that come out, the 24:06 different aspects, whether it's the seven trumpets or the seven 24:09 seals or the seven churches or the seven plagues, it always 24:13 comforts at the end saying that Jesus wins in the end. 24:17 Then you've got the seven trumpets and you read in 24:19 Revelation 15 then, "The seventh angel sounded: And there were 24:23 loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have 24:27 become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will 24:32 reign forever and ever!'" 24:36 And then we've got those sections in Revelation chapter 24:38 13 and 14 talks about this war against the saints. 24:42 Actually, Revelation 12, 13, and 14 talks about the dragon makes 24:45 war against a woman and then you get the mark of the beast in 24:48 chapter 13, and in chapter 14 you've got the judgments. 24:52 We're going to spend more time there in just a moment. 24:55 And there we've got another promise about the Second Coming. 24:58 Jean: Right after the proclamation of the three 25:00 angels' messages, you have Revelation 14:14: "Then I 25:03 looked, and behold, a white cloud, and one who sat upon the 25:05 cloud like unto the Son of Man, having upon His head a golden 25:08 crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle." 25:12 So again, we have a picture of the Second Coming of Christ 25:15 immediately following the proclamation of this present 25:18 truth message for the last days. 25:21 Doug: That's right. 25:24 "Coming in the clouds," there. 25:25 And then you have several sections in Revelation 16, 17, 25:27 18, 19, talks about the work of Babylon in the fall and this 25:33 culminates then, when you get to chapter 19: "I saw heaven 25:36 opened, and behold, a white horse." 25:39 And this is a conquering Christ who's coming. 25:42 "He who sat upon him is Faithful and True, and in righteousness 25:45 He makes war and He judges." 25:48 And it gives you several visions there or pictures that give us 25:51 allegories of Christ coming and conquering Babylon in 25:57 that section. 25:59 And then, of course, the Bible culminates, Pastor Ross, if you 26:01 want to read Revelation 22 at the conclusion of 26:02 the Millennium. 26:05 Jean: A wonderful promise that says: "Behold I 26:07 come quickly. 26:09 Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of 26:10 this book." 26:12 And if you have one of those Bibles that have the red letter 26:14 edition, you'll notice that Revelation 22, verse 7, is 26:16 written in red; these are the words of Jesus. 26:19 The Bible sort of wraps up not only the book of Revelation but 26:22 the whole Bible, wraps up with the promise, "I am coming 26:25 quickly," the great hope of the Christian: the Second Coming 26:27 of Christ. 26:29 Doug: The book of Revelation, you can see, is bookend. 26:32 You've got chapter 1, He says, "I'm coming," chapter 22: 26:35 "I'm coming." 26:38 And so it is certainly a central theme and now we're going to go 26:40 to the core of that in the very middle. 26:45 The authors call it the epicenter of Revelation in 26:48 chapter 14. 26:50 Jean: Now, maybe, Pastor Doug, just before we dive into 26:52 the three angels' messages, I know we're keeping an eye on the 26:54 clock, we want to make sure we have time for that, we do have 26:56 some questions that's come in and so let's try and put a few 26:58 of them in here. 27:00 One connected somewhat with the Second Coming is the theme of 27:04 the 144,000 and this question is fairly simple. 27:08 It says: "Who are the 144,000?" 27:12 And you read about them in Revelation chapter 7. 27:15 Doug: Yeah, that's good, and it does tie in with our lesson 27:17 because you read in chapter 7 and chapter 14, it talks about 27:19 the 144,000. 27:21 And it says they have their Father's name written in 27:23 their forehead. 27:25 Who are they? 27:27 Are there only 144,000 saved in the last days? 27:30 No, I don't think so. 27:32 The 144,000 is 12 times 12,000, and when you look at the number 27:37 12 in the Gospels, remember you understand Revelation based on 27:40 reading other passages in the Bible. 27:43 Twelve is the symbol for God's leadership. 27:47 You have 12 judges in the Old Testament, 12 patriarchs. 27:50 The sons of Jacob were the 12 tribes. 27:53 You've got the 12 apostles in the New Testament. 27:56 And it's basically telling us that God is going to pour out 27:59 His Spirit on this special group in the last days, not just 12 28:02 apostles that are going to the lost sheep of the tribe of 28:05 Israel, but it's 12 times 12,000 that's going to the whole world. 28:09 And through the influence of these 144,000, it says they 28:14 follow the Lamb wherever He goes just like the apostles followed 28:16 Jesus wherever He went. 28:18 Says in their mouth there's no guile. 28:20 Jesus said to one of the apostles, Nathanael, "Behold an 28:22 Israelite in whom there is no guile." 28:25 You look at the definitions of the 144,000 and it meets the 28:28 definitions of the apostles who then do this great work and in 28:31 Revelation chapter 7 it says: "And there's a great multitude 28:36 that no man can number converted through the influence of 28:39 the 144,000." 28:42 Jean: Okay, another question connected with that and the 28:44 question the person asked--is asking is: "Do you think that 28:47 God'll send another prophet in the last days or before the 28:51 Second Coming of Christ?" 28:54 Doug: Yeah, I think so. 28:56 I don't know who that'll be but the Bible tells us in the last 28:58 days: "I'll pour out My Spirit on all flesh. 29:00 Your sons and daughters will prophesy." 29:02 And it's--you can read in the last prophecy in Malachi: 29:07 "Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet." 29:10 Now Jesus said, "Elijah has come," and "Elijah will come." 29:14 Elijah has come in John the Baptist and He said Elijah will 29:17 come, meaning future tense, you read in Malachi, and it says: 29:21 "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the 29:23 children to the fathers," and it says, "before the great and 29:26 terrible day of the Lord, lest I come and smite the earth with 29:29 a curse." 29:31 So I believe we need to be open to all the gifts of the Spirit 29:33 right up to the end. 29:35 Jean: Another question we have connected with Revelation 29:37 and maybe this will be the last one, Pastor Doug, before we dive 29:40 into Revelation 14. 29:42 It says: "Who are the two witnesses that you read about in 29:44 Revelation 11?" 29:46 Doug: Yeah, good question. 29:49 And, you know, the last prophecy in the Old Testament says: 29:52 "Remember the law of Moses. 29:55 Behold, I send you Elijah." 29:58 And then when you get to the New Testament, Jesus goes up the 30:00 mountain with Peter, James, and John, and Moses and 30:03 Elijah appear. 30:06 Moses represents the law, Elijah represents the prophets. 30:10 They are two principal characters that represent the 30:12 epitome of the Word of God. 30:15 Moses, of course, was a great law-giver, a lot of the Bible 30:17 comes from Moses, and Elijah was the greatest of the prophets in 30:21 that he actually was translated along with--he and Enoch. 30:27 And so, they represent the law and the prophets, the New and 30:30 the Old Testament, the Word of God is often in a dual nature. 30:34 Ten Commandments on two tables of stone. 30:36 The Word of God is called a sword with two edges, a 30:39 double-edged sword. 30:41 And so, those two witnesses are the Word of God that was at a 30:46 certain point in history the devil makes a real effort to 30:49 annihilate and eliminate and eradicate the Scriptures. 30:53 But at the end of that time, they are exalted up to heaven. 30:58 And so, I don't have time to go through the whole chapter but 31:01 it's the Word of God. 31:02 Jean: You know, we do have a book, Pastor Doug. 31:04 It's entitled, "The Two Witnesses." 31:06 It's one of our sermon books and it's available to anyone to read 31:08 for free at the Amazing Facts website. 31:11 Just go to amazingfacts.com and our free library. 31:15 Look up "The Two Witnesses" and I think you'll be blessed by 31:17 that book. 31:18 Well, Pastor Doug, diving in, in Revelation chapter 14, maybe 31:21 before we get into the heart of the three angels' messages, just 31:23 to get a little context to the chapter, there's really three 31:27 parts to Revelation chapter 14. 31:29 You've got from verse 1 through 5 which talks about the 144,000. 31:33 The heading there is "The Lamb and the 144,000," so it 31:37 describes those victorious who have gotten the victory over the 31:40 beast's power and they're pictured in heaven but then it 31:44 backs up a little bit and it describes a message that this 31:48 group is taking to the world and that's the three angels' 31:51 messages and you find that in verse 6 through to verse 13 and 31:56 then starting in verse 14 you have what we call the Harvest of 31:59 the Earth and it's really a symbolic picture of the Second 32:02 Coming of Christ. 32:04 There are two harvests: the harvest of the wheat 32:06 representing the righteous; the harvest of the grapes 32:08 representing the wicked. 32:10 So the message that goes to all the world to prepare for the 32:13 harvest is the three angels' messages that we find in 32:16 Revelation chapter 14. 32:19 Doug: Yeah, absolutely. 32:21 And so, you know, there is a quote from the book 32:22 "Evangelism," that's in the lesson I thought we 32:24 should share. 32:26 It says: "In a special sense, Seventh-day Adventists have been 32:28 set in the world as watchmen and lightbearers. 32:31 To them has been entrusted the last warning for a 32:33 perishing world. 32:35 On them is shining wonderful light from the Word of God. 32:37 They've been given the work of the most solemn import: the 32:40 proclamation of the first, second, and third 32:43 angels' messages. 32:45 There is no other work of so great importance and they are to 32:49 allow nothing else to absorb their attention." 32:52 So these are the messages that go to the world and then in 32:55 chapter 14, verse 14, it says: "Then you see Jesus coming." 32:59 And so, we need to take a look carefully at what is the present 33:03 truth message for us to be giving to the world right now. 33:07 Jean: It begins in verse 6 so if you have your Bibles and 33:09 you're following along with us, we'll just read through these 33:11 verses and talk about them. 33:14 Revelation chapter 14, beginning verse 6, says: "Then I saw 33:17 another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the 33:20 everlasting gospel to preach to those that dwell upon the 33:23 earth--to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people." 33:27 So just a few things we want to highlight in this verse. 33:30 First of all, we see an angel flying in the midst of heaven. 33:33 The word "angel" in the Greek is angelos which literally means 33:36 messenger and, for sure, they could represent angelic beings 33:40 as we think of angels. 33:42 But it can also represent someone who has a God-given 33:46 message to take to the world. 33:48 So in a very real sense, these three angels represent God's 33:52 people in the last days who have this message that has to go to 33:55 every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. 33:58 Why to all the world? 34:00 Well, because the next part of the chapter talks about the 34:02 Second Coming of Christ and that's going to affect every 34:04 nation, kindred, tongue, and people. 34:07 So a message of warning needs to go to all the world and, 34:10 connected with that, you have the everlasting gospel. 34:14 The centrality of the three angels' message is the fact that 34:17 Jesus saves. 34:19 He can save to the uttermost those who come to Him by faith. 34:21 So the--right at the very intro to the three angels' messages 34:25 you have the everlasting gospel being preached to all the world 34:28 and I think this verse, Pastor Doug, has really helped motivate 34:31 the expansion of mission work that we see going on around 34:33 the world. 34:35 Not only people traveling to different places around, you 34:38 know, the globe, preaching the gospel, but just printing the 34:41 Bibles in different languages. 34:44 I know here at Amazing Facts, we have our statement of focus or 34:49 our belief statement or our mission, I should say, mission 34:52 statement, that's what it is. 34:55 And our mission statement actually comes right from the 34:57 three angels' messages that's taking the gospel to every 35:00 nation, kindred, tongue, and people. 35:03 Doug: Yup, and so when we talk about these angels, first, 35:05 second, and third angel, I believe they're all flying in 35:08 the midst of heaven, and we're not talking about people looking 35:11 up someday and seeing an apparition in the sky. 35:14 Revelation is a symbolic book. 35:17 But I do think it's interesting that in the last days the 35:20 message is going with great light and it's going with great 35:23 speed, with technology that is very new. 35:28 Through radio waves, the message is going through the heavens. 35:32 Through satellite transmissions, through fiber-optic cables, the 35:36 message is going through pulses of light around the world. 35:40 And so it is going at the speed of flight, you might say. 35:45 Where before, it seemed like it had to crawl, the message is 35:47 really flying now. 35:50 Jean: And the first angel's message begins in verse 7 and 35:53 for some of us I think we know this by heart. 35:56 It says: "Saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God, give Him 36:00 glory, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship 36:04 Him that made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs 36:07 of water.'" 36:09 So a couple of things that we see in the first 36:11 angel's message. 36:13 First of all, Pastor Doug, it says he's speaking with a 36:14 loud voice. 36:16 The message needs to go everywhere. 36:18 People need to hear this message and it's a call to fear God and 36:21 give Him glory. 36:23 Now, sometimes people wonder about that phrase, "Fear God." 36:25 They think, "Well, doesn't the Bible say: 'Perfect love casts 36:27 out fear'?" 36:29 Should we be afraid of God? 36:31 Doug: No, you know, I just want to jump back. 36:33 That word "loud voice" if you've ever heard the expression 36:35 "megaphone," megaphone, the Greek word is very similar 36:38 there, talking about megaphonos. 36:42 It means it's an amplified voice. 36:45 Now, on your question about fearing God, yeah, there is a 36:48 time for us to fear God. 36:51 Let's look at it. 36:52 Ecclesiastes 12, verse 13 says: "Let us hear the conclusion of 36:55 the whole matter. 36:57 Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the 36:59 whole duty of man." 37:01 So part of fearing God would be keeping His commandments so that 37:03 would be all ten. 37:05 So part of this message is remembering to keep all ten 37:07 commandments and, of course, one of those would be--that's often 37:12 neglected, would be the Sabbath and notice in the last part of 37:15 this first message it says: "Worship Him that made the 37:19 heaven and the earth and the seas and the fountains 37:21 of water." 37:23 Right there in the Sabbath commandment: "Six days the Lord 37:25 made the heaven and the earth and the seas and the fountains 37:26 of waters." 37:28 So you have an excerpt from the fourth commandment right there 37:31 in the three angels' messages. 37:36 Jean: And you also find that the message really divided up 37:38 into three parts. 37:41 It's fearing and giving glory to God, it's talking about the hour 37:43 of His judgment, and then worshiping the Creator. 37:47 Now, when you talk about the hour of God's judgment, it's in 37:50 the present tense. 37:51 It says: "The hour of His judgment has come." 37:54 In other places in the Old Testament or even in the New 37:56 Testament, we read about a coming judgment yet in the 37:59 future, but here in Revelation 14 we find that it's present 38:02 tense and it's a special judgment message that goes to 38:05 all the world just before we enter into these final moments 38:10 or history of the world and we find that--we call that the 38:14 investigative judgment or the pre-advent judgment. 38:17 A special work of judgment that goes to all, that Christ does 38:20 before the Second Coming. 38:23 And, Pastor Doug, according to this, we are living in that time 38:25 of judgment, even now. 38:28 Thus the urgency in worshiping God as the Creator, remembering 38:30 the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath, which is a sign of His 38:33 creative power, and give God glory. 38:36 The Bible says when you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it 38:39 to the glory of God. 38:42 Doug: Right, and so, yeah, this message is something that 38:45 is to be taken to the whole world, giving glory to God, and 38:49 the Bible tells us that judgment must begin at the house of God. 38:55 Now, if we know that Christ is coming and rewards are being 38:57 distributed--He says, "Behold, I come. 39:00 My reward is with Me to give to every man." 39:03 That means if He's coming and He's giving rewards when He 39:05 comes, some aspect of judgment must take place before He comes. 39:09 And that would be this time in which we're living now. 39:14 Jean: Now, the next angel's message and we could say a lot 39:16 more about this but time won't allow, but the next angel's 39:19 message you find in verse 8 and it says: "And another angel 39:23 followed, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great 39:26 city, because she has made all nations drink the wine of the 39:29 wrath of her fornication.'" 39:31 Now, the first thing I want to point out here is you notice the 39:34 first angel's message in Revelation chapter 7--Revelation 39:37 14:7, it says: "The angel has a loud voice" and you find the 39:41 third angel's message which is in verse 9 and he has a loud 39:46 voice, but the second angel's message in verse 8, it simply 39:50 says: "The angel says, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen.'" 39:55 Now, what's interesting about that is you find a repeat of the 39:58 second angel's message in Revelation chapter 18. 40:01 Pretty much the same message, a few more details are added. 40:04 But in Revelation 18, we call this the fourth angel, he is 40:07 preaching with a "mighty strong voice, 'Babylon is fallen, 40:12 is fallen.'" 40:14 Now, when we're talking about Babylon, it's interesting to 40:16 note the Bible is sometimes described as a history--the Old 40:18 Testament as a history of two cities: one would be the city of 40:22 God, Jerusalem, and the other would be the city of falsehood 40:26 and error, described as Babylon. 40:30 And in the history of Israel you find Israel being taken captive 40:32 by Babylon but then a call, a message, for the Jews after the 40:36 seven years of Babylonian captivity, to come out of 40:39 Babylon and come back to Jerusalem. 40:42 And so that sign of Babylon represents religious confusion. 40:45 In prophecy it represents the confusion of false doctrine and 40:49 teaching in the last days. 40:52 God is calling His people to come out of religious confusion, 40:55 make their stand upon the truths of His Word. 40:58 Babylon was also connected with pagan practices and pagan 41:01 traditions that were claiming to have truth. 41:05 And so in the last days we find churches that have adopted pagan 41:08 practices and they claim to have the truth but God is calling His 41:12 people to come out of these institutions. 41:16 Doug: Yeah, and it goes back even before Abraham because, you 41:18 know, way back in the tower of Babel it tells us that they were 41:22 making a name for themself. 41:24 It was a city that God had cursed. 41:27 Nimrod went to build his first city which the beginning of it 41:29 was Babylon or Babel. 41:32 And when Abraham came out, he came out of the idolatry that 41:35 had begun there. 41:37 He brought his wife out of Babylon, into the Promised Land. 41:40 Then later, Isaac brought his wife, Rebekah, out of 41:43 Mesopotamia into the Promised Land. 41:45 Then Jacob went back to Heron, Mesopotamia, across Euphrates, 41:49 to bring his wife--wives out of Babylon into the Promised Land. 41:53 And then you have, after the Babylonian captivity, God is 41:55 calling His bride out of Babylon back to the Promised Land. 42:00 That's all symbolic of what's happening in the last days. 42:04 The world is filled with idolatry and God has His sheep 42:08 and He's calling them out of Babylon into the Promised Land 42:11 'cause He says, "Babylon is fallen," and those that don't 42:14 come out, they'll receive of the plagues. 42:17 Now, in this case, it's the seven last plagues that end up 42:19 falling on Babylon and, you know, so it's a life and death 42:23 question about getting out of Babylon. 42:26 He calls them His people. 42:29 So especially just before the Second Coming there's going to 42:32 be, I think, a very powerful message for sincere Christians 42:35 from many different denominations to come back to 42:38 scriptural truth and be part of this remnant movement in the 42:42 last days. 42:44 Jean: Jesus said, "Other sheep I have that are not of 42:46 this fold," He said, "they will hear My voice and they will come 42:49 and then it will be one fold and one Shepherd." 42:51 In Revelation chapter 18 after the message is given by the 42:54 fourth angel, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen," and then it 42:57 goes on: "And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come 43:00 out of her, My people.'" 43:03 So who do you suppose that voice from heaven is? 43:05 Well, it will be the voice of Jesus. 43:07 Jesus said, "I have sheep that are not of this fold but they 43:09 will hear My voice and they will come." 43:11 And so there's this gathering together in the last days of 43:13 those who are seeking truth. 43:16 Those who are wanting to worship God according to the 43:18 commandments, they come out of this religious confusion, and 43:21 they make their stand with God's commandment-keeping people. 43:24 Doug: Now, why does it say, "Babylon fallen, fallen"? 43:27 Jean: Why does it repeat it twice? 43:29 Well, if you look at the word, at least what Babylon is in the 43:32 Bible, you find that Revelation 17 says there is a woman, her 43:36 name is Babylon, and she has daughters. 43:38 Her daughters would share those same traditions as the mother 43:42 and we have a fall of the mother church, being the Roman church, 43:46 but we also have a fall of her daughter churches, being those 43:49 protestant churches that are still holding to the truths and 43:52 the traditions of the mother church. 43:55 And so there is a falling of the mother, there is a falling of 43:59 the daughters. 44:01 And when this message goes out, which we believe is happening 44:03 even now, many of the protestant churches, they receive some of 44:06 the truth but they still clung to some of the false doctrines 44:09 and teachings. 44:11 God is calling His people to come all the way out of error, 44:14 make their stand with Bible truth. 44:17 Doug: Amen, you know, we probably ought to get people 44:19 into the third angel's message now because I see we've got 44:21 limited time and it's a big subject. 44:24 So would you like to read that? 44:26 Jean: Yes, you'll find that starting here in verse 9. 44:28 It says: "A third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 44:31 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his 44:33 mark in the forehead or on the hand, he himself shall also 44:37 drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full 44:40 strength into the cup of His indignation. 44:43 He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of 44:46 the holy angels, in the presence of the Lamb.'" 44:49 And verse 11 says: "'And the smoke of their torment ascends 44:51 up forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who 44:54 worship the beast and his image, whoever receives the mark of 44:57 his name.'" 44:59 Verse 12: "Here is the patience," or endurance, "of the 45:01 saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and they 45:04 have the faith of Jesus." 45:07 So probably the most fearful warning, Pastor Doug, that you 45:09 can find anywhere in the Bible is this, right here. 45:13 It says: "Don't worship the beast, don't receive his mark. 45:17 If you choose to worship the beast, you will experience the 45:21 wrath of God." 45:23 The wrath of God is the seven last plagues that we read about 45:25 in Revelation. 45:27 Doug: Yeah, this is the most serious warning that you find in 45:29 Scripture is "Do not worship the beast and his image," but, you 45:35 know, it says that those that worship the beast have no rest 45:38 and they're contrasted with the ones who do have rest and the 45:44 Sabbath being a sign of that. 45:47 And then it also contrasts them, in the end here it says that 45:50 you've got, on one hand, those who worship the beast and the 45:53 other hand, who worship Christ. 45:56 These are the ones who keep the commandments of God and have the 45:59 faith not just in Jesus, the faith of Jesus. 46:02 And so it's contrasting those who come out of Babylon, that 46:07 worship the Lord, receive the seal of God, with those who 46:10 worship the beast and receive the mark of the beast. 46:13 So people need to know what the mark of the beast and the seal 46:15 of God is because if you get that wrong, it's the most 46:18 serious consequences the Bible outlines anywhere in 46:20 this passage. 46:22 Jean: And the key to understanding what the mark of 46:24 the beast is, is in verse 12 where it says: "The true 46:28 worshipers will keep the commandments of God." 46:31 So something related to the beast or worshiping the beast 46:33 would violate at least one or more of God's commandments. 46:38 So here you find the mark of the beast as being manmade 46:40 commandments or manmade traditions and you have the true 46:43 worshipers who keep God's commandments. 46:46 So the key issue at the end of time, Pastor Doug, revolves 46:48 around worship. 46:50 Who do we worship? 46:52 Do we worship God and keep His commandments? 46:54 Or do we worship this religious power in the last days by 46:57 choosing to obey its commandments which are contrary 47:02 to God's commandments? 47:04 That becomes the key issue in the last days. 47:06 Doug: And you see this same thing is highlighted in 47:09 Revelation chapter 12 at the end where it says in verse 17: "The 47:12 dragon was wroth with the woman and he goes to make war with the 47:16 remnant of her seed that keep the commandments of God and have 47:20 the testimony of Jesus." 47:22 And then you go to the very last book in Revelation, 47:24 chapter 22:14. 47:26 It says: "Blessed are those that do His commandments that they 47:29 might have a right to the tree of life and enter through the 47:31 gates of the city." 47:33 And so this is a special emphasis that you find that 47:36 separates the two groups. 47:38 Jean: So the key issue that we find in the three angels' 47:40 message is who are we worshiping? 47:42 Are we going to worship God and keep His commandments or are we 47:44 going to worship this manmade power? 47:46 I think the point that we want to take from here is not every 47:49 church in the last days, not every building that has a cross 47:52 on its roof, is necessarily God's true church. 47:55 There is a remnant. 47:57 Now, God might have true people in all of these different 47:59 churches but the institution or the organization, if it has left 48:03 the commandments of God, if it's substituted manmade traditions 48:06 for a "Thus saith the Lord," now God is calling His people to 48:11 come out of this confusion, make their stand with the 48:14 commandment-keepers. 48:17 So it's a message that's calling for action. 48:19 It's a message that calls for revival in the last days. 48:22 Doug: Yeah, and as you mentioned earlier, Jesus is 48:25 saying, "I've got other sheep that are not of this fold. 48:28 They will hear My voice," through His Word, this 48:29 proclamation, "and they'll come out and there'll be one fold, 48:34 one Shepherd." 48:36 In order for them to be part of His fold, they've got to come 48:38 out of the other folds. 48:40 And so this is a special message and then the daughters of 48:43 Babylon, so they're the second group that falls. 48:45 You've got the mother falls, you have the daughter falls. 48:48 And in the Old Testament, you've got the tower of Babylon fell, 48:52 the kingdom of Babylon fell, and so Babylon's going to fall and 48:56 not rise again, friends. 48:58 You want to make sure you read in Isaiah 13 that prophecy. 49:01 Babylon, ancient Babylon's, never going to be rebuilt. 49:04 But the--Jerusalem has been rebuilt 27 times and, 49:08 ultimately, Jesus is going to rebuild a new Jerusalem and He 49:10 wants you in that city. 49:12 Now, we've got a closing offer. 49:14 Jean: Yes, we want to remind our friends about our free offer 49:15 today, it's a book entitled, "Three Steps to Heaven." 49:18 And we're excited to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 49:20 The number is 866-788-3966 and you ask for offer number 102. 49:25 Again, that number is 866-788-3966. 49:29 Or you can get a digital download by just texting the 49:32 code "SH068" to the number 40544. 49:39 Until we get to study again next week, God bless. 49:45 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 49:46 free resource. 49:48 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 49:50 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 49:53 mobile device. 49:55 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 49:57 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 50:02 shown on your screen and be sure to select the digital download 50:06 option on the request page. 50:08 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 50:11 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want. 50:14 And most important, to share it with others. 50:17 announcer: Multi-millions have been infected and thousands 50:20 have died. 50:22 Race riots are rampant. 50:24 Is this what the end of the world looks like? 50:27 Doug: Hi, friends, this is Pastor Doug Batchelor. 50:30 You know, the Bible talks about a global crisis at the end of 50:32 time, and the book of Revelation clearly describes what's ahead. 50:37 I'd like to invite you to watch "Revelation Now" where I'll be 50:40 explaining the relevance of Bible prophecy for today. 50:44 announcer: Beginning October 23, visit revelationnow.com. 50:52 announcer: Amazing Facts, Changed Lives. 51:00 Gary: Early in 1980 all the baby boomers were turning 21 and 51:03 the nightclub scenes were exploding and I started a 51:06 entertainment lighting company. 51:08 female: I was the president and there were six divisions. 51:11 Doing the raves in the '80s and '90s, you know, in some 51:13 warehouse where you're setting up lighting and fog and, you 51:16 know, who knows what's going on in there and 51:19 nightclub--nightclub installations. 51:22 I loved it and it was who I was. 51:25 Gary: Bought a new house out of town and we moved about two 51:27 or three times. 51:29 But we were always going into different churches. 51:31 We were in a Lutheran church and then we were in a Methodist 51:33 church, I think we were in three different Baptist churches. 51:36 My wife was raised Catholic. 51:38 I was raised Methodist. 51:40 Currently, I've been out reading all the Hal Lindsey books and 51:42 watching all the "Left Behind" movies and so I really wanted to 51:44 understand what the book of Revelation was all about. 51:47 But nothing really ever made sense to me. 51:49 female: One day, Pastor Lloyd Logan came knocking and he had 51:52 that '99 flyer. 51:55 Lloyd Logan: We were preparing for an evangelistic 51:58 series and different people were going different directions with 52:02 handbills to invite people to the meetings. 52:06 female: I saw that coming at me, you know, all the colors and 52:09 I thought, "Oh no, this is some kind of cult thing." 52:12 Lloyd: And she said, "Thank you very much and I'm not much 52:14 interested myself but my husband likes that kind of thing." 52:18 female: And Lloyd said, "Would you give it to 52:20 him please?" 52:22 And I said, "Okay, I will." 52:24 So I took the pamphlet and I put it on the counter. 52:26 Gary came home and he walked by it. 52:29 Gary: Ran through the kitchen to quickly eat and take a shower 52:31 and go back out and work a show. 52:34 female: Two or three days went by like this and I moved 52:36 that brochure from the counter, put it on the dining room table, 52:41 put it back on the counter. 52:43 And I actually threw it in the garbage. 52:45 As I threw it in that garbage can, I could hear him and see 52:48 his face saying, "Would you give it to him please?" 52:52 And I actually took the garbage out. 52:54 Then--and that night, lying in bed, I kept seeing his face and 52:56 hearing his voice and thinking, "Oh boy, I've got to get that 52:59 brochure out of the garbage." 53:02 And I took that and I put it right underneath the 53:05 remote control. 53:07 Bright colors, he'll see it. 53:09 Gary: I finally sat down in my living room and I picked up 53:11 the remote and I saw that angel holding out that scroll. 53:14 female: "Whoa, cool. 53:16 What is this?" 53:18 And I was in the kitchen, cooking, and I thought, "Oh no." 53:20 Gary: And I looked at it and I turned it over and then I saw 53:23 a little building, a little church building, and it wasn't 53:25 too far away. 53:27 It was about six houses down and it said, "Friday night." 53:30 female: And I certainly wasn't going. 53:32 I mean, it wasn't my intention to go. 53:34 Gary: I didn't have any shows going on that night and so I 53:37 thought it was a one-night deal. 53:39 I went and as I heard about the Millennium, man, I was just 53:42 blown away. 53:44 I didn't want it to end. 53:45 I knew what I was hearing was all from the Scripture and it 53:47 wasn't based on Hollywood movies or other books that 53:49 were written. 53:51 They said, "Come again tomorrow night," and I thought, "Wow, 53:53 great, two nights." 53:55 So I tried to tell my wife about it and she still wasn't 53:57 interested and then she decided to come. 54:00 female: I started to hear the truth, you know, and I started 54:02 to get fed. 54:04 Gary: Every night after the seminar, they would hand us an 54:06 Amazing Facts study guide. 54:08 I couldn't do those fast enough. 54:10 female: The business kept us going seven days a week and it 54:13 was night and day. 54:15 Gary: Crews working all around the clock and so when we 54:17 finally heard the Sabbath message, you know, so far 54:20 everything's been true, right from the Bible. 54:22 female: Church on Saturday, no work. 54:25 Anyway, it all clicked. 54:27 Gary: Both our heads turned at each other, our jaws 54:28 dropped open. 54:30 female: I said, "We can't do that." 54:33 Gary: And the first thing that came out of my mouth was, 54:35 "We have to." 54:36 female: I knew that it would be a sacrifice and I was in fear 54:39 about it. 54:41 Gary: We didn't know how we were going to do it but we 54:43 talked to the pastor about it and the pastor said, "Well, just 54:46 pray about it and God will open doors." 54:49 female: I didn't want to give up all the connections I had 54:51 made, all the networking, all the money, all the investment. 54:55 Gary: We went to the board and asked them if they would 54:57 consider closing on Saturday and they agreed to. 55:00 So we closed the storefront on Saturday but we were still doing 55:03 productions and that kind of bothered us. 55:06 So a couple of months later, God opened a door for my wife. 55:09 She exited the company. 55:11 I prayed about it and God opened a door for me too. 55:14 female: Gary, shortly after, was offered a job being paid 55:17 more money than he made as an owner of the company. 55:21 Gary: He said, "I'll give you a $1000 raise and you will never 55:24 work another weekend." 55:27 female: And we were able to keep the Sabbath and enjoy the 55:30 wonderful blessings that God had for us on the Sabbath day. 55:34 Gary: My kids never again had to say, "Quit talking 55:36 about work." 55:38 After the seminar was over, my wife and I and my children were 55:40 all baptized in the Seventh-day Adventist church. 55:43 Even if I gave up everything, I knew that God would have 55:45 something better. 55:47 female: I have much more understanding and there's much 55:50 more depth in my Christian walk with the Lord. 55:54 Gary: We started an Amazing Facts Bible School at 55:56 our church. 55:59 It allows anybody to understand the Scriptures and to understand 56:01 the end-times. 56:03 Church changed my life dramatically, and I'm very happy 56:05 and excited to be a part of it. 56:07 ♪♪♪ 56:23 Doug: On several occasions, scientists have demonstrated 56:25 that people, and even creatures, can struggle with depression 56:29 when exposed to continual darkness. 56:32 This can be seen every year in the winter months in the 56:34 Arctic regions. 56:37 The beautiful village of Rjukan, Norway, is situated in a deep 56:40 valley where mountains block the sun's rays for about six months 56:43 every year. 56:45 This, of course, keeps the 3400 residents in a state of shade 56:48 and sometimes depressive darkness throughout the winter. 56:52 Then the town leaders got a bright idea, to help illuminate 56:55 their village during the murky months. 56:58 In October 2013, Rjukan installed an array of three 57:02 gigantic 550-square-foot mirrors on a nearby mountain 1000 feet 57:08 above the town. 57:10 The computer-controlled and solar-powered mirrors track the 57:14 sun through the winter months and reflect a giant beam of 57:17 sunshine down to the town square, brightening their lives. 57:22 If you visit Rjukan in the winter months today, you can 57:25 often see the people gathered or sitting on benches around the 57:28 town square bathing in the reflected sunshine. 57:32 Like those mirrors on the mountain, the Bible says that 57:35 Christians are to reflect the light of Jesus who is the light 57:38 of the world into this dark planet. 57:41 Matthew 5:14 says: "You are the light of the world. 57:43 A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 57:47 Nor do we light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a 57:49 lampstand, and it illuminates everybody in the house. 57:54 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good 57:57 works and glorify your Father in heaven." 58:00 So friends, use today to brighten the life of someone 58:03 else by reflecting Jesus. 58:06 ♪♪♪ 58:12 ♪♪♪ 58:22 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-09-10