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00:12 ♪♪♪ 00:22 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Shawn Brummund: Good morning. 00:37 It's nice to be able to have you, for those of you who are 00:39 watching live, to join us here for the Sabbath School Study 00:42 Hour as we come together for another lesson study in one of 00:46 my favorite quarterlies that we've studied so far, which is 00:49 "Finding Rest in Christ." 00:52 I want to give you a special welcome. 00:53 My name is Pastor Shawn Brummund, a family life pastor 00:56 here in the Granite Bay Hilltop Seventh-day Adventist Church in 00:59 the Greater Sacramento area. 01:01 It is so good to be able to have you, again, for those of you 01:03 who are joining us live. 01:05 For those of you who are watching later on in the 01:06 different TV broadcasts, it's nice to have you as well, even 01:10 if it isn't the morning for you. 01:12 And a special welcome also to all those here 01:14 in our local church. 01:16 It's always good to be able to have those who are pouring into 01:18 our local church as we worship the Lord again today. 01:23 We are looking at Lesson Number 7 in our quarterly 01:25 which is "Rest in Christ": 01:27 "Rest, Relationships, and Healing." 01:30 And so I know that the time that you're going to spend with us 01:33 over the next hour is going to be a worthwhile investment as 01:36 you continue to grow in the knowledge and in the experience 01:40 of the person of Christ. 01:43 Now, for those of you who have been joining us from week to 01:45 week in the past, have already noticed on the camera screen, 01:48 I'm sure different shots have come up that reveal that things 01:51 just look a little bit different up here. 01:53 And so I just want to give credit and a special thanks to 01:56 all those in our local church here that have poured out 02:00 hundreds, literally, if you add them all up, hundreds of hours 02:03 of love and labor for our local children, both the church 02:06 members as well as local children in the community 02:10 here around us. 02:11 And so I think you can pick up pretty quickly 02:13 what the theme is. 02:15 It's sailing on the South Seas, "Adventures in the South Seas," 02:18 learning about Jesus. 02:19 So that's why you see things just a little bit different on 02:21 the platform here today. 02:24 Part of me wants to wish that we could have this up for a few 02:27 weeks and just enjoy all the labor. 02:29 It's been such a good project and I'm just 02:31 so impressed with them. 02:34 Don't forget to take advantage of our free gift offer that we 02:37 have every time we come together for Sabbath School Study Hour. 02:40 This particular week's free gift offer is entitled 02:43 "Life in the Spirit." 02:45 "Life in the Spirit." 02:47 This is a great little book that helps us to understand what does 02:49 it mean to be born again and be a Christian filled 02:52 with the Holy Spirit. 02:54 And so, friends, there's lots of positive truth in this. 02:58 All you have to do is dial the number 1-866-788-3966. 03:04 That's 1-866-Study-More. 03:07 Now, when you dial in, if you're in continental America, just ask 03:11 for Offer Number 155 and, actually, that's also available 03:17 in our US territories and our friends in the North, in Canada. 03:20 Now, if you're not in the continental USA, you can always 03:24 go to the website of "Amazing Facts," 03:26 find a free download of that. 03:28 If you're in continental USA, you'd like a digital download of 03:30 this, you just simply need to text the code and you want 03:33 to dial that to 40544. 03:36 So please take advantage of that free gift offer. 03:38 We're always happy to be able to help you grow, even outside of 03:41 our Sabbath School Study Hour here together. 03:44 So, again, thank you for joining us. 03:46 We have a special music as Aidan Barbuda* is going to be sharing 03:50 that with us and then we'll open with a prayer. 03:56 ♪♪♪ 04:06 ♪♪♪ 04:16 ♪♪♪ 04:26 ♪♪♪ 04:36 ♪♪♪ 04:46 ♪♪♪ 04:56 ♪♪♪ 05:06 ♪♪♪ 05:16 ♪♪♪ 05:26 ♪♪♪ 05:36 ♪♪♪ 05:46 ♪♪♪ 05:56 ♪♪♪ 06:06 ♪♪♪ 06:16 ♪♪♪ 06:26 ♪♪♪ 06:36 ♪♪♪ 06:46 ♪♪♪ 06:56 ♪♪♪ 07:12 Shawn: Father in heaven, as we come together we want to 07:14 thank You for the opportunity to be able to open Your Word so 07:18 freely once again. 07:19 We thank You for the opportunity to learn truth and to be able to 07:22 learn Your truth and Your love towards us that we might be able 07:24 to experience and give it to others as well. 07:27 We want to pray that You will help us to learn and experience 07:30 rest that much more as we look at this great theme of truth 07:33 and, God, that You also be with our pastor, Pastor Doug 07:36 Batchelor, as he teaches us again here today. 07:38 And so we pray it in Jesus's name, amen. 07:43 Doug Batchelor: I hope you're all not going to rest through 07:44 the lesson, hearing that harp music. 07:47 It's very relaxing. 07:49 Greetings. 07:51 And if anyone's joined us, I think Pastor Shawn mentioned it, 07:53 obviously, we've got a little bit different 07:55 of a background here. 07:56 It's because our church is in the midst of preparing for a 07:59 vacation Bible school that looks like it's going to 08:02 be a lot of fun. 08:04 And a lot of work went into that so any of the kids that are 08:06 within 100 miles, you want to be here, Monday, the 26th of July. 08:15 We'll have a great week together. 08:17 Anyway, we're continuing in our lesson dealing 08:19 with "Rest in Christ." 08:21 This lesson has been using sort of a kaleidoscope of different 08:24 stories in the Bible to teach principles of rest, 08:28 and last week, we were talking about Joseph. 08:31 Now, Joseph, the story of Joseph, I don't know if you 08:34 realize, takes up one-third of the book of Genesis. 08:38 There's about 12 chapters in Genesis that are dedicated to 08:41 the experience of Joseph. 08:44 And so--and obviously in all the intrigue of what happened with 08:48 Joseph and his brothers, there are a lot of lessons about 08:51 learning to have forgiveness and understanding and healing and 08:56 rest in relationships because if your family is one of those 09:02 unusual families that has people in it, 09:05 then there's going to be conflict. 09:07 Wherever you've got families with people in them, there's 09:11 usually going to be some conflict that needs resolution 09:14 in order for you to have rest in the home environment and rest in 09:17 the family. 09:19 So we're going to talk about that. 09:21 "Rest, Relationships, and Healing." 09:23 The memory verse is from Genesis chapter 45, verse 5, and if you 09:27 have your Bibles you can look at that with me. 09:29 Genesis 45, verse 5. 09:31 I'll say it out loud and you can read it from your lesson: "But 09:35 now do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because 09:41 you sold me here for God sent me before you to preserve life." 09:48 You know, the beginning of the lesson starts out with a rather 09:52 chilling story of a young lady that had been attacked 10:03 and I guess she didn't know--maybe it was dark-- 10:06 exactly who it was but in a lineup 10:08 she picked the person she thought was guilty 10:11 and they pled that they were not guilty, but they were convicted 10:14 because they didn't have an alibi and that she had pointed 10:17 this person out. 10:18 After they spent 14 years in jail, they did--DNA testing 10:23 became available and they found out that this man 10:26 was 100% innocent. 10:29 And so, this gal, when she realized that she had identified 10:32 the wrong person and was responsible for them losing 10:36 14 years of their life, not to mention their reputation, 10:40 she just was overcome with remorse, not to mention 10:44 how he probably felt. 10:46 And--but there was a day when she came to meet him. 10:49 She said she wanted to meet him and ask his forgiveness. 10:53 And he said, "I freely forgive you." 10:56 And that just so overwhelmed her and told her something about 10:59 God's grace, how forgiving and loving God can be. 11:03 And so, the story of Joseph has something similar. 11:08 Joseph actually spent time in prison 11:10 and he was falsely accused. 11:13 Matter of fact, that's where our study takes up today, is we're 11:16 going to be talking about Joseph. 11:18 Now, this is after his brothers have sold him and he has been a 11:22 slave for several years in the house of Potiphar and I think 11:25 most of us remember that the wife of Potiphar, Bible doesn't 11:29 say much about people's appearance, 11:31 with a few exceptions. 11:33 It tells us that Moses was a good-looking baby 11:36 but it always sounds strange. 11:37 It says: "He was a good-looking baby and so his mother decided 11:41 not to throw him in the river." 11:43 That's just how it kind of sounds, you know? 11:45 She decided to save him. 11:47 I think it just is basically saying the mother's love when 11:49 she looked at him, she just--her heart yearned for him 11:52 and she couldn't do it. 11:53 Bible says that David was handsome. 11:56 Says Rebecca and that Rachel were beautiful, and then it 12:00 mentions Joseph as being handsome. 12:03 Otherwise, Bible doesn't ever tell us how good-looking or 12:06 bad-looking any of the apostles are. 12:08 There's almost nothing said in the New Testament about people's 12:11 personal appearance because everyone has equal value 12:14 before God, amen? 12:17 But it mentions it in the story of Joseph because of his 12:22 handsome appearance, Potiphar's wife cast her eyes upon him 12:25 and she tried to entice him. 12:29 He refused: a great example for Christians through history. 12:35 Then he was falsely accused of attacking her, and Potiphar 12:39 probably had questions about whether his wife was telling the 12:42 truth because Joseph had been such a good worker, 12:45 that rather than kill Joseph, he simply put him in prison. 12:49 And he spent years in prison. 12:53 And while he's in prison, you'll remember that the Pharaoh 12:59 evidently had a party and someone tried to poison him. 13:04 They weren't sure who it was and the two who were the prime 13:08 suspects, was either the butler or the baker. 13:12 He left out the candlestick maker. 13:14 But it talks about the butler and the baker and they were in 13:18 prison with Joseph and they both had dreams and they didn't know 13:22 what their dreams meant. 13:24 And Joseph gave them some time and attention, interpreted their 13:27 dreams for them and everything happened exactly as Joseph 13:30 foretold. 13:32 He said that the baker was going to be executed after three days, 13:34 and after three days, they must have had some investigation in 13:37 the palace and found out that it was the baker that tried to 13:39 poison the Pharaoh. 13:41 And the butler was absolved and restored to his position. 13:43 And Joseph said to the butler, "I know this is what's going to 13:46 happen," he says. 13:47 "When you get back to the palace, please intercede for me. 13:50 I was falsely accused and I'm an innocent man. 13:53 The very fact that my interpretation's coming true 13:56 will show you that God is with me and I'm not lying. 13:58 And remember me." 14:01 He said, "Remember me." 14:03 You remember when Jesus hung on the cross that a thief said, 14:06 "Lord, remember me." 14:08 Did Jesus remember him? 14:11 Well, but it starts out by saying, you read in Genesis 14:13 40:23: "Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph." 14:20 You know, it's often true when people are in prison together 14:22 that when one of them gets released and they--you become 14:25 very close friends with people in jail or in prison, you're 14:27 with them day after day, they say, "When you get on 14:30 the outside, my whole family's forgotten me. 14:33 Will you remember me, send a little something once a month. 14:37 You know what it's like in here." 14:39 "Hey, guys, I'm going to work. 14:40 I'm going to start sending you money. 14:41 I'm going to take care of you. I'm going to try and 14:43 go see your attorney, try and do this, 14:44 try and do that." 14:46 And it's often true once they get out and they get involved in 14:47 their own lives, they forget their comrades in prison. 14:52 But Joseph was forgotten. 14:55 Now, how do you feel when somebody forgets about you 15:00 and you're in great need? 15:02 Is it easy to be resentful? 15:06 And you start thinking, "They didn't think about me 15:08 and the great need I have. 15:09 I've been totally neglected." 15:11 How does Jesus picture this? 15:13 You look in Matthew 25, verse 41, there's a parable that talks 15:17 about this very thing: "And He will say to those on the left 15:21 hand," these are the goats, "'Depart from Me, ye cursed, 15:24 into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 15:28 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you 15:32 gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me 15:35 in; naked, you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison,'" that's 15:40 where Joseph was, "'and you did not visit Me.' 15:44 Then they'll say to the Lord, 'Lord, when did we see You 15:47 hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, 15:50 and did not minister to You?' 15:53 And He'll answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to 15:56 you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, 15:59 you did not do it to Me.'" And so when we forget that those 16:03 that are in need, whether it's someone in prison or someone 16:06 that needs a hospital visit and we--the Lord puts them on our 16:08 heart and we just--we don't think of them, 16:11 who are we forgetting to visit? 16:15 Jesus, right? 16:16 And you know, one of the strongest types of Christ in 16:18 the Bible, there are three really powerful types 16:20 of Christ in the Bible characters. 16:23 One is David is a type of Christ. 16:26 Jesus is called the Son of David. 16:28 One is Moses, the great mediator, the deliverer, 16:33 the prophet, the judge, the law-giver. 16:35 And the other's Joseph. 16:37 Joseph, sold by his brothers for the price of a slave, for 16:42 silver, and then he feeds the world is all fed this bread 16:47 of life by Joseph. 16:50 He's separated from the father for the purpose 16:52 of saving his people. 16:54 I mean, there's a number of allegories of Jesus 16:57 in the life of Joseph. 16:59 And so he was forgotten, in prison. 17:03 All the disciples forsook Jesus and fled. 17:07 So while Joseph is continuing to languish in prison, something 17:10 else is happening in the palace. 17:13 The Pharaoh has these troubling dreams, and you remember them, 17:15 you know. 17:17 He has these two dreams that are sort of in stereo. 17:19 He has one of the seven fat cows and seven skinny cows and the 17:24 skinny cows end up eating the fat cows, and then he has one of 17:27 the seven ears of grain that are plump and several--seven that 17:32 are shriveled and, in the dream, the shriveled ones gobble up 17:35 the plump ones. 17:37 And the Pharaoh wakes up from this very vivid dream. 17:39 He knows that this is some divine revelation. 17:41 He calls in all of his wise men and says, "Help me understand 17:45 what this dream is." 17:47 And they cannot. 17:48 You know, there are several times in the Bible when kings 17:50 had dreams and they could not understand 17:52 and they had to call a Jew. 17:55 And Daniel, remember, on a couple of occasions, 17:59 and then Joseph. 18:01 And then the butler says, when no one could understand, the 18:04 butler says, "Oh yeah, someone with the gift of interpreting 18:08 dreams, Pharaoh, this day I remember my faults. 18:11 I was in prison with a Hebrew and he interpreted the dreams of 18:16 myself and the baker and they came true, exactly as he said." 18:20 Well, the Pharaoh's desperate. 18:21 He said, "I'll even bring a prisoner in if it's a chance 18:23 that he can tell me." 18:25 So they clean up Joseph, and Joseph shaves and one of the few 18:29 times it talks about shaving in the Bible, in case you're 18:30 wondering. 18:32 And comes before the Pharaoh and he, not only interprets the 18:37 dream, then he says, "Pharaoh, you're going to have these seven 18:42 years of plenty and seven years of famine. 18:44 I advise you that during the years of plenty that you take 18:46 20%, you set it aside so that it will be a reserve to sustain 18:50 the country during the time of famine." 18:52 And the court of Pharaoh's listening to this guy who's come 18:56 out of prison, who obviously is very intelligent. 18:58 Now, keep in mind, he's very bright. 19:03 He's the son of Rachel and Jacob. 19:06 Potiphar said he was so bright he put him in charge of 19:08 everything that he did. 19:10 The prisoner said he was so bright he put him in charge of 19:13 everything in the prison. 19:15 You ever meet people like this? 19:17 Just whatever you do, they're extremely efficient, they're 19:19 easy to get along with, and they're--they get things done. 19:23 And so the Pharaoh and his court, they look at Joseph and 19:26 they see the same thing that Potiphar 19:27 and the prison guard said. 19:29 They said, "This guy is really on top of it. 19:33 Since the Spirit of God is obviously with him to understand 19:36 the dream, let's put him in charge." 19:41 And the Pharaoh says, this is Genesis chapter 41:41. 19:46 The Pharaoh says to Joseph: "See, I have set you over 19:48 the land of Egypt." 19:51 So you've got this Pharaoh's dream 19:52 and then Joseph's exultation. 19:55 Joseph is, again, a type of Christ in that in one day 19:57 he goes from the prison to the palace. 19:59 You know, in one day Jesus went from the tomb 20:01 to the courts of God. 20:03 Isn't that right? 20:05 And in the same way, Joseph went from the prison to the court 20:08 of the Pharaoh. 20:10 That happens with several Bible characters. 20:12 Daniel goes from being a captive to being prime minister. 20:16 Esther goes from being a captive orphan to being queen 20:21 in one day. 20:22 Happens to several in the Bible. 20:23 Mordecai goes from sitting in the king's gate 20:26 to prime minister. 20:28 And I'm leaving one out, but there's others. 20:31 Anyway, oh yeah, Moses goes from being a baby in the river 20:35 to being adopted prince. 20:38 So the Bible's full of these stories of radical change. 20:42 And it's a story of salvation. 20:43 When you come to Jesus, you go from the prison to the palace 20:45 in one day. 20:47 You go from being a captive to living and reigning with Christ. 20:51 Now, if you're Joseph and you suddenly come into power, and 20:56 you were falsely accused, you spent years in prisons because 20:59 Potiphar's wife--now you've got power over Potiphar and 21:03 his wife, what would you do? 21:07 Would you retaliate? 21:10 Well, there's no record in the Bible of what happened 21:11 but I don't think Joseph did. 21:14 I think Joseph said, "God has been leading my life." 21:17 Had God told Joseph early that He was going to do something 21:20 great with him? 21:22 You know, the dreams that he had when he was a young man, he may 21:24 not have wisely shared with all of his siblings. 21:27 "Yeah, you're all going to bow to me one day, I had a dream." 21:29 They didn't like that. 21:31 But, so I don't think that he was shocked 21:35 by this turn of events. 21:36 He saw that God had always promised that He had big things 21:39 planned for him. 21:40 So I don't think he retaliates. 21:42 But now let's go to Genesis chapter 42 and, after several 21:48 years of plenty, and Joseph directs and all these silos are 21:53 built all around Egypt, and they fill the silos. 21:57 He's, you know, instructed all the people to--Pharaoh gets a 22:00 tax of, like, 20% and they take that and they store it away and 22:03 it says they stored grain so they left off numbering it, they 22:06 just got silos and silos filled with grain. 22:10 And Joseph marries. 22:12 He marries the daughter of the high priest and he has two 22:16 children named Ephraim and Manasseh. 22:19 So several years have gone by and then you not only have the 22:22 seven years of plenty that have gone by, then you've got your 22:25 one or two years into the years of famine and finally the famine 22:28 gets so intense in the land of Canaan that Jacob says, "You 22:31 know, we've heard that there's plenty of bread in the land of 22:33 Egypt, you better go down there and buy some of the basics." 22:37 And so, Joseph now--last time they saw his brother, their 22:41 brother, he's 17 years old. 22:44 You know, he's kind of gangly and strapling, he's begging for 22:48 his life, and now he's--he goes out over Egypt when he's 30, 22:55 that's what the Bible says. 22:57 Spent several years as a servant for Potiphar 22:59 and years in prison. 23:00 He finally goes out over Egypt when he's 30. 23:02 By the way, when did Jesus begin his ministry? 23:05 Thirty years of age. 23:06 What about David? 23:08 He's also 30 years of age. 23:09 And how old did a high--did a priest need to be 23:11 before he could serve? 23:13 Thirty. 23:14 So I think that's significant. 23:16 And so, then after he goes out over Egypt, you've got 7, 23:19 so he's 37. 23:21 Then you've got 2 or 3 years, so he's almost 40. 23:24 Does a person change much between 17 and 40? 23:28 Just get your old photo album out and, yeah, you wouldn't 23:35 recognize me at 17. 23:37 Well, you might because you've seen pictures but, ha. 23:40 Anyway, so, and not only that, now, you know, Joseph, he's 23:44 got--he's wearing the Egyptian attire. 23:46 He speaks fluent Egyptian after all those years in Egypt. 23:49 Has no accent. 23:52 And as the people come, one by one, they make appeals for, you 23:54 know, small grain. 23:56 They probably sold in the streets but if anyone wanted, 23:58 you know, a large quota of grain, 24:01 they had to come to Joseph. 24:02 So the next, you know, Joseph's interviewing the people 24:06 that want to buy grain, "Next, next, next." 24:08 And all of a sudden, he looks up and he sees, lo and behold, 24:11 they've changed too. 24:12 But he hears them speak in Hebrew and he counts these ten 24:16 men and he said, "That's my brothers. 24:20 There's Reuben and Judah and Simeon and Issachar and Zebulun 24:25 and Naphtali. 24:27 All are there except--he looks and look, Benjamin's missing. 24:31 And they come to buy grain, and a translator comes to represent 24:35 them who speaks Egyptian. 24:38 So they spoke, you know, the Semitic Aramaic language, and so 24:42 Joseph's speaking to them through a translator. 24:44 Let me just--that sets the stage. 24:47 Genesis 42:7: "Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, 24:51 but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. 24:55 He said to them, 'Where do you come from?' 24:57 They said, 'From the land of Canaan to buy food.' 25:01 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him." 25:05 Bible says about Jesus, "He came to His own 25:06 and His own received Him not. 25:08 They knew Him not." 25:12 And it says: "His brothers did not recognize him. 25:14 Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed." 25:18 You know, when they came to Joseph, they bowed before him, 25:21 and that's exactly what he had dreamed as a young man. 25:24 God's prophecies always come true. 25:29 "And he said to them, 'You're spies! 25:31 You're come to see the nakedness of the land!'" 25:33 Because of the famine, everyone had been weakened. 25:36 "And they said--" They're shocked by this. 25:38 They're going, "'No, my lord, your servants have come 25:40 to buy food. 25:42 We are all one man's sons,'" we're all from the same family, 25:45 "'we're honest men; your servants are not spies.' 25:49 But he said to them, 'No, but you've come to see the nakedness 25:52 of the land.' And they said, 'Your servants are 12 brothers, 25:56 the son of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the 25:59 youngest is with our father today,'" and then they realized, 26:02 we've got to figure out how to make it add up to 12. 26:05 There's only 10 of us here. 26:07 They said "And one is not." 26:09 Now, who are they looking at when they say that? 26:13 They're saying, "One of them is no more." 26:16 They figure that he had died off in these years, working as a 26:19 slave, being sold by the--a lot of slaves were sold to work in 26:21 mines or they worked in boats, rowing, and they didn't live 26:25 very long. 26:27 Now, what had those brothers been doing to themselves during 26:30 those years of Joseph's absence? 26:32 For one thing, they're watching their father continually grieve. 26:37 Bible says they tried to comfort Jacob, and Jacob said, "I'll not 26:39 be comforted. 26:41 I will go down to my grave grieving for my son." 26:44 And then they were grieving. 26:48 They thought, "What selfish, immature, cruel young men we 26:54 were that we would sell our brother, break our father's 26:57 heart, and sell our own brother just because of our pride." 27:00 That's all it was. 27:02 Their pride was bothered because the father seemed 27:04 to favor Joseph. 27:07 He didn't just seem to; he did. 27:09 It wasn't Joseph's fault. 27:11 And so they had been torturing their souls for years now. 27:16 They were different men. 27:18 But Joseph doesn't know that yet. 27:19 So he tests them and, you know, you've got to think Joseph's 27:22 thinking, you know, "You guys have no idea what I've been 27:24 through, but I'm going to give you a little taste of prison. 27:28 I'm not going to make you go through what I went through, but 27:30 I'm going to give you a taste." 27:31 Now, by the way, did Jesus suffer for all of your sins? 27:36 Does that mean He won't let you suffer for anything? 27:41 Does the Lord in His love for us sometimes allow us to experience 27:44 some suffering? 27:46 You will never suffer like Jesus suffered. 27:50 Joseph, he spent years in prison. 27:53 He made his brothers spend a few days in prison. 27:56 And so, whatever we go through, just remember it's a blessing 27:59 that we get to share in the sufferings of Christ, but you 28:01 will never suffer like Jesus suffered for your sins and the 28:04 sins of the world. 28:06 So Joseph, he says--"'One is no one--no more,' 28:11 and Joseph said, 'It is as I spoke to you, you're spies. 28:14 In this manner you'll be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, 28:17 you shall not leave this place until 28:18 your youngest brother comes here. 28:20 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you'll 28:23 be kept in prison, that your words might be tested to see 28:26 whether there's any truth in you; or else, by the life of 28:28 Pharaoh,'" he's trying to talk like an Egyptian, "'surely you 28:31 are spies!' And he put them all together in prison three days." 28:36 How long was Jesus in the tomb? 28:40 "Then Joseph said to them the third day, 'Do this and live, 28:43 for I fear God: If you're honest men, let one of your brothers be 28:48 confined,'" sort of as a hostage. 28:54 "'Let one of your brothers be confined and you go 28:59 and you carry grain. 29:01 I'll give you some grain. 29:02 Take it back to your house.'" He began to worry about Benjamin, 29:04 his father, and his mothers. 29:06 You know, he had four mothers. 29:09 And so, he's worried about the family back at home. 29:12 All the men are locked up. 29:14 He said, "All right, I'm going to keep Simeon and I'll verify 29:16 if your words are true. 29:18 But you're not buying any more grain unless you come back. 29:20 You're not getting Simeon unless you come back, let me see the 29:21 younger brother you talked about." 29:24 Now, why does Joseph do this? 29:28 Seems so bizarre. 29:29 Is he getting even with them? 29:31 He's wondering, you know, think about it. 29:34 Rachel had two sons: Joseph and Benjamin. 29:39 Because of the jealousy that the firstborn right was going to go 29:42 to Joseph, they sold him, they were going to kill him. 29:47 But now the next one in line is not Reuben. 29:51 Jacob is wanting the children of Rachel to receive the blessing 29:55 of the firstborn because that was the only wife 29:57 he ever wanted. 29:58 The next child in line is Benjamin. 30:02 And he's thinking, "What have they done to Benjamin?" 30:04 All these years, they have no telephone or Internet. 30:06 He can't text him or send him a tweet and say, "How are you 30:09 doing, Benjamin?" 30:11 He doesn't know what's happened. 30:12 He doesn't know if he's alive. 30:14 He said, "I want to see him." 30:15 And so, he's playing a test and, you know, he's kind of running 30:20 the civilized world back then in Egypt. 30:22 He can't just say, "I'm leaving town on a family vacation." 30:26 And so, he worked for Pharaoh. 30:29 And so he says, "You got to go bring your brother." 30:33 So, he's allowing them to go through a test. 30:35 What he's aiming for is reconciliation but first, 30:38 there's going to be a test. 30:41 And while he's saying this to them, 30:44 they're talking to each other. 30:46 They don't know that he understands everything he's 30:48 saying because he's using a translator. 30:51 And you read in Genesis 42, go to verse 21. 30:54 I'm hoping your Bibles are open to Genesis. 30:57 "Then they said to one another, 'We are truly guilty 31:00 concerning our brother.'" 31:02 Now, what brother are they talking about? Joseph. 31:06 "For we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, 31:10 and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us." 31:14 I imagine that for the last 17 to 40, you've got, what? 31:21 Twenty-three years? 31:24 Is that right? 31:26 During all those years, every time anything bad happened 31:29 to them, they said, "God is punishing us 31:32 for what we did to Joseph." 31:34 Their consciences were tormenting them. 31:36 So they say this again: "We heard him crying and we didn't 31:41 have mercy on him." 31:42 The cries of Joseph, the last pleading of Joseph, as he was 31:45 being carried off. 31:47 When he was in the pit, he pleaded with them. 31:48 When he was being carried off by the Ishmaelites, he pleaded with 31:50 them, "Please don't do this." And they stopped their ears. 31:55 "And Reuben answered and said, 'Did I not speak to you, saying, 31:58 "Do not sin against the boy"; and you would not listen?'" 32:01 They're still reprimanding each other, 20 years later, for what 32:05 they'd done to Joseph. 32:07 So how much peace is in the family? 32:09 They're not--they're not feeling too good about it. 32:13 "'And you would not listen. 32:15 Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.'" 32:19 You remember what happened at the Crucifixion? 32:22 Pilate washed his hands and he said, "I will not be guilty of 32:25 the blood of this innocent man." 32:27 And you know what some of the religious leaders said? 32:30 "His blood be upon us and our children." 32:33 And the whole idea of the blood of Joseph is a type of the blood 32:37 of Christ that washes away our sin. 32:41 "And he said, 'I told you, now his blood is required of us.' 32:44 But they did not know that Joseph understood them." 32:47 Does Jesus hear everything we say? 32:51 The Lord knows everything. 32:53 He understands our hearts. 32:56 And, see, he spoke to them. 32:58 Jesus--Joseph spoke to them through a translator. 33:01 Jesus speaks to us through others, but He doesn't need to. 33:05 He understands everything we say. 33:10 And it says that when they said this, Joseph understood them for 33:13 he spoke to them through an interpreter. 33:14 And he turned himself away from them and wept." 33:17 When he heard how they had been grieved and how they admonished 33:23 one another for what they had done, it broke his heart. 33:27 He had to just--you ever get where someone's overcome 33:29 with tears and they kind of have to turn away 33:31 and get their act together? 33:33 Joseph had a breakdown. 33:35 I mean, this is the culmination of years of wondering what's 33:37 going on, and he sees the anguish in his brothers 33:40 and it touched his heart. 33:42 Does the Lord see our anguish when we repent? 33:48 And it says: "He returned--he turned to himself again--and 33:50 then he returned to them again, and he talked with them. 33:52 And he took Simeon from them." 33:53 Now, why do you think he took Simeon? 33:56 Who do you think was the ringleader 33:57 at wanting him killed? 34:00 Judah is the one who suggested they sell him as a slave. 34:04 Isn't that interesting? 34:06 Judah is the one who said, "Sell him for 20 pieces of silver." 34:10 Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver 'cause there was 34:12 inflation by the time Jesus came along for the price of a slave. 34:17 But it was Judas that sold Jesus; it was Judah that 34:21 suggested that Joseph be sold. 34:25 Simeon is probably the one who said, "Kill him." 34:28 When they--Joseph was coming, looking for his brothers, 34:31 he said, "Behold, here comes this dreamer. 34:33 Let's kill him and throw him in a pit." 34:36 Who are the two violent sons of Jacob that killed all the people 34:39 of Shechem? 34:41 Simeon and Levi. 34:43 Simeon was a hothead. 34:46 So Joseph took Simeon and he says, "Simeon's going 34:48 to taste prison. 34:51 He's the one who threw me in that pit." 34:54 And Simeon was put in jail, "and he bound him before their eyes." 35:00 And then he gave them some food, says, 35:03 "Go back to your father's house." 35:05 So they disappear and we don't know how long Simeon was in jail 35:08 but Jacob said--they told Jacob when they got home, everything 35:12 that had happened, and he said--they said, 35:15 "We've got to go back. 35:17 We've got to take Benjamin if you want to see Simeon, and show 35:19 this man that he is our brother and that we were telling 35:22 the truth." 35:23 And Jacob says, "Not on your life." 35:26 He said, "Joseph went out from me and he never returned." 35:29 He says, "Now you want to take Benjamin?" 35:31 He says, "No, I'm not going to allow it to happen." 35:35 Simeon may have spent eight months, a year in jail while 35:39 they ate up all the food they bought from Joseph. 35:41 We don't know but they had bought several--a whole 35:43 caravan worth of grain. 35:44 They brought it back. 35:46 So it took at least months to eat all that. 35:47 Are you with me? 35:49 And all the time that they're eating that food, they're 35:51 thinking, "Poor Simeon now. 35:53 He's in jail, and it's all because of our--what 35:57 we had done to Joseph." 35:59 Finally, they start running out of food and they're all looking 36:01 at each other like, "What next? 36:03 The famine's as bad as ever." 36:05 And Jacob says, "Go down to Egypt. 36:07 Buy some more grain." 36:08 They said, "Dad, we told you. We cannot go back. 36:10 The man will not see our face unless we bring Benjamin." 36:14 Finally, Jacob relents. 36:16 He says, "If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. 36:19 Take him. 36:20 Take some almonds, take some honey." 36:22 They had a few things. 36:23 And he said, "Take a gift to the man. 36:25 Let's do everything we can to soften him up." 36:27 So then they take Benjamin and the ten of them go back now 36:32 because Simeon's there. 36:35 And Joseph sees them coming again to buy more grain. 36:38 He's been wondering how long it would take. 36:41 And he sees his young brother and he said, "Is this the young 36:44 man of who you spoke?" 36:45 And they said, "He is." 36:47 And he broke down again and he cried. 36:48 How badly did Joseph want to run up and embrace Benjamin? 36:53 He did, but he restrained himself 'cause 36:55 they had a lesson to learn. 36:56 He had to test them. 36:58 How much does Jesus want to end this problem with sin 37:00 and be with us? 37:02 He yearns, more than you do. 37:04 God yearns to be reconciled to the human race and 37:08 to be at--see us face to face. 37:12 But He restrains Himself because there's things 37:14 we still have to learn. 37:16 We're not ready yet. 37:18 He says, "We're all going to have dinner at my house." 37:20 They're thinking, "Wow, that's a switch. 37:21 You go from calling us spies to inviting us over for dinner." 37:25 And so, he then gets Simeon out of jail. 37:29 I don't think Simeon had too hard a time in jail. 37:31 He probably fed him well. 37:33 He gets Simeon out of jail and all the brothers are together 37:36 and you have this interesting supper where Joseph sits and 37:41 you've got the 12 brothers. 37:44 Does Jesus have a special supper? 37:47 And in the supper, a cup comes up. 37:52 Is there a cup at the supper that Jesus has 37:54 with His 12 apostles? 37:56 And the cup becomes a test. 37:59 Doesn't Jesus say, "Take this cup and drink it. 38:01 It is My blood"? 38:02 So he tests his brothers and I, you know, the whole story, 38:05 I'm looking at the clock. 38:07 I can't go through the whole story. 38:08 It's one of the greatest stories in the Bible. 38:10 It's better than any fiction. 38:12 Finally, in the story, he puts the cup in Benjamin's sack. 38:16 He sends them all away. 38:18 They're all on their way home. 38:19 He sends the highway patrol. 38:20 They pick him up. 38:22 They arrest him and say, "How dare you steal from us?" 38:24 "We didn't steal. We would never do such a thing." 38:26 And they're not knowing why all this bad stuff 38:27 is happening to them. 38:29 They're going, "It's 'cause we--what we did to Joseph." 38:32 And Joseph hears them, they're saying all that. 38:35 Finally, Judah comes. Judah who sold him. 38:38 Judah, by the way, Christ comes through Judah. 38:41 Judah goes to Joseph. 38:42 He says, "I swore to my father that I would protect the lad. 38:45 My life for his life. Let him go. 38:48 You'll bring his father's gray hairs down to the grave with 38:51 sorrow if the boy does not come. 38:53 He will die because the life of our father is bound up 38:56 with the son." 38:58 Isn't that the Father and the Son, "God so loved the world 39:00 He gave His Son." 39:02 Judah says to Joseph, "The life of the father is bound up 39:04 with the life of the lad." 39:05 He said, "Take me. Let me be his substitute." 39:10 Don't you see the whole gospel in that story? 39:13 When Judah says that, Joseph can't keep it together, and he 39:16 tells all the servants that are serving the meal, he said, 39:18 "Get out of here." 39:20 He chases everyone out. 39:21 All of a sudden, Joseph breaks down and he goes to pieces. 39:23 He's crying out loud. He's wailing. 39:25 He's rocking back and forth and sobbing. 39:28 And it says Pharaoh's house hears him crying. 39:30 They're going, "What's the matter with Joseph?" 39:33 Now, the brothers, they're wondering, "What happened? 39:35 The prime minister's having a meltdown." 39:38 They don't know what's going on. 39:39 "This is the guy who put us in prison. 39:40 The guy is, you know, he's seriously mental. 39:43 What's happened to him?" 39:45 And then he shocks them by suddenly being able 39:47 to speak Aramaic. 39:51 And he says, "I am." 39:53 Now, how does Jesus identify Himself? 39:57 He says, "I am Joseph. 40:02 Does my father live?" 40:04 Can you imagine the silence in the room? 40:06 There are several videos I want when I get to heaven 40:08 I want to replay. 40:10 And that's one of them. 40:12 I want the angel to take me to the library and I say, 40:13 "I want--I want to see that scene. 40:16 I want to see the brothers' face when Joseph says, 40:19 'I am Joseph.'" 40:21 Can you imagine how they process all that? 40:23 "The one we sold is the prime minister of Egypt?" 40:28 "Oh yeah, he told us that was going to happen in his dreams." 40:32 And it all came true. Boy, talk about an ah-ha moment. 40:35 And they were afraid and finally he says, "Come to me." 40:37 And Benjamin's the first. And he embraces Benjamin. 40:41 Then he embraces his brothers one by one. 40:43 So does he forgive them? 40:47 He sees that they have been transformed 40:49 and he freely forgives them. 40:51 Now, in the next section here it talks about, I read the part 40:53 about setting the stage. 40:55 Forgive and forget. 40:56 That's easier said than done, isn't it? 40:59 Once you forgive a person and, the Bible says, forget it, well, 41:02 God can take our sins and cast them into the depths of the sea. 41:05 Sometimes, it's a little harder for us, right? 41:08 What does it mean to forget? 41:10 Does that mean you literally do not remember, I mean, without 41:13 having a lobotomy or some mental procedure, I mean, 41:15 how do you really forget? 41:18 Really, it's talking about choosing not to dwell upon it. 41:21 It's that old adage, "You cannot prevent the birds from flying 41:24 over your head, but you can prevent them from making a nest 41:27 in your hair." 41:29 And so those memories might come but you might have to choose to 41:32 forget many times. 41:34 Every time the devil reminds you about what that person did to 41:36 hurt you and you've forgiven them, you have to remind the 41:38 devil that you've forgotten it. 41:41 Clara Barton, the famous founder of the Red Cross, she got into a 41:45 dispute with another employee that was saying terrible things 41:47 about her. 41:49 She was being accused of robbing money from the Red Cross which 41:51 she would never do. 41:53 And she just decided not to make it an issue. 41:57 She thought, "I'll let her accuse and I'm not going 41:58 to retaliate. 42:00 I'm not going to defend myself." 42:01 And one of her gossiping friends said, "Clara, you know what 42:03 so-and-so's saying about you, and aren't you upset? 42:06 Aren't you mad at her?" 42:08 She said, "No, I clearly remember forgiving her." 42:13 And that's what we need to remember. 42:16 So when you do not forgive another person, you are 42:21 basically burning the bridge over which you must pass. 42:24 You know, in the Lord's Prayer Jesus has one comment. 42:28 He says, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," and 42:30 the one comment that Jesus makes at the end of the Lord's Prayer, 42:33 He says, "So if you do not forgive your brother his 42:37 trespasses, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you." 42:41 And then He repeats that in Matthew 18, and it can't--it's 42:45 not ambiguous. 42:47 It's something that cannot be misunderstood, that if we 42:48 cherish an unforgiving spirit, God cannot forgive us. 42:53 Now, don't misunderstand this part. 42:55 You've got to get this right, and I want to highlight, 42:57 underscore, alert, alert, notice this. 43:00 God is not saying, "I'll make a deal with you. 43:02 You forgive everyone that's wronged you and then 43:05 I'll forgive you." 43:06 God is saying, "I first forgive you. 43:10 Now that you've received My forgiveness, how's that feel? 43:14 Pass that on to others." 43:17 After we've received the forgiveness of Christ, like the 43:20 parable of the unmerciful debtor, the king forgives him 43:23 first, this servant, he owes this incredible debt. 43:27 After the king is forgiven--I'm sorry, after the king forgives 43:29 the man, he doesn't then pass it on. 43:32 Then he loses his forgiveness. 43:35 The mercy of Christ, once you receive it, will not stay alive 43:38 in a heart that will not share it with others. 43:41 A lot of people have been stifled, a lot of professed 43:43 Christians, have been stifled in their experience for years 43:45 because they are still angry and bitter against someone else that 43:50 has hurt them. 43:51 They don't know how to forgive and to let it go. 43:54 And if you don't learn that lesson, Jesus said, "Do unto 43:58 others as you would have God do unto you." 44:01 If we refuse to forgive, it tells us in Matthew 18, that 44:05 unmerciful servant? 44:07 It says he was handed over to the tormentors 'til he should 44:09 pay his entire debt. 44:11 The forgiveness of Christ for his sins had been cancelled 44:15 and he had to pay his own debt. 44:17 That's a pretty sobering thought. 44:18 So how important is it that we forgive each other? 44:21 There's a general that once said to John Wesley, "I never forgive 44:25 and I never forget," and Wesley responded, 44:28 "Then sir, I hope you never sin." 44:33 We need to learn how to be forgiving. 44:36 If anyone had a right to be bitter, did Joseph have a right? 44:40 He had done nothing to deserve the slavery 44:44 and the imprisonment. 44:48 Now, having said that, does forgiveness mean that there are 44:52 no consequences for a person's actions? 44:56 When Jesus forgave the thief on the cross, did the nails pop out 44:59 and he walked free? 45:02 No, there may still be consequences. 45:05 There are people who have mistreated me and I forgave 45:07 them, but I'm never going to do business with them again, you 45:12 know what I mean? 45:13 So, you can forgive people but it doesn't mean you need to 45:17 continue to expose yourself to abuse. 45:21 And I think we all need to understand that. 45:22 If some people have just got some serious problems, they've 45:24 got anger issues or whatever it is, and you just say, "Look, I 45:26 forgive you because by my not forgiving you, it hurts me." 45:31 Unforgiveness is like an acid that will destroy its container. 45:37 I've got a little jug of hydrochloric acid up in the 45:40 hills, a very powerful stuff. 45:43 You don't put that in any container 'cause it'll burn 45:45 through all kinds of containers. 45:47 You have to have it in a special container. 45:49 Unforgiveness in the human heart will burn through its own 45:51 container. 45:53 Someone says that if you're trying to dig a grave for your 45:55 neighbor--if you don't forgive your neighbor, you're digging 45:57 two graves. 46:00 Some people think, "If I forgive them, who will punish them? 46:04 I've got to stay mad at them so that God will be mad at them," 46:07 and all you're doing is hurting yourself. 46:09 I know people that are still mad at their parents and they've 46:11 been dead for years. 46:14 I say, "Now, what are you waiting for them to apologize? 46:16 They're not going to do it now; they're dead." 46:18 So you're just hurting yourself by retaining that unforgiveness. 46:23 How do we forgive? 46:24 This is a tall order. 46:26 Ephesians 4:32: "Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, 46:31 forgiving one another just as God in Christ forgave you." 46:37 How can we forgive like God? 46:40 Only if we have the Spirit of God. 46:43 But through Christ, how much can we do? 46:46 All things. 46:47 Colossians 3:12: "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and 46:51 beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, 46:54 longsuffering; bearing with one another, forgiving one another, 46:59 if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ 47:02 forgave you, so you must do." 47:05 Forgive as Christ forgave us. 47:07 1 John 4:11: "Beloved, if God so loved us, 47:10 we ought to love one another." 47:13 So I'm making it practical. 47:16 How do we forgive? 47:17 What did Jesus say when He was on the cross? 47:20 "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do." 47:23 What about if they do know what they do? 47:27 Did Paul know that he s persecuting Christians? 47:33 Yeah, and God forgave him. 47:36 Did David know that he was killing an innocent man and 47:39 taking his wife? 47:41 I think so. 47:42 Did God forgive him? 47:45 And so, sometimes we need to forgive even if people don't 47:47 ask, even if they're--it's premeditated. 47:51 Because your unforgiveness actually hurts you. 47:56 And once you do that, they find that's where the rest comes. 48:00 There's a great liberation, great rest, when you realize, 48:03 you know, people may have done unkind things to me, but it's a 48:06 sinful world and the devil's out there influencing people and the 48:11 devil's just doing his job. 48:12 You can't blame him for being a good devil, can you? 48:15 And so, if people act diabolical, it's because maybe 48:18 they're not saved and sometimes even saved people misbehave. 48:23 And so you've got to learn to forgive. 48:25 And you know where it starts? 48:27 Beginning in Jerusalem, in the family, and then Judea, in your 48:31 neighbors, and then Samaria and the uttermost parts 48:34 of the earth. 48:35 Biggest place you've got to start with forgiveness 48:37 is at home. 48:39 So much of the conflict in the Bible was what they 48:41 called friendly fire. 48:43 It happened from the family. 48:45 And did the disciples argue among themselves? 48:48 They did. Does it happen today? 48:51 Has the devil changed? 48:53 God's Word hasn't changed either. 48:55 Christ's object lessons: nothing can justify 48:58 an unforgiving spirit. 49:00 He who is unmerciful towards others, shows that he himself is 49:04 not a partaker of God's grace. 49:07 Well, we're out of time for our lesson, but we want to thank 49:09 everybody that has been tuning in and, God willing, we'll study 49:12 with you again next week. 49:13 Don't forget, there's a free offer called "Life in the 49:16 Spirit." 49:17 Talks about how we get that Holy Spirit that helps us to love and 49:20 forgive others the way that Christ forgave us. 49:23 God bless. 49:28 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 49:30 free resource. 49:32 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 49:34 download a digital copy straight to your computer or mobile 49:37 device. 49:38 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 49:41 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 49:46 shown on your screen and be sure to select the digital download 49:49 option on the request page. 49:51 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 49:54 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want. 49:57 And most important, to share it with others. 50:06 announcer: "Amazing Facts" Changed Lives. 50:13 Jennifer: So as a teenager growing up, I was getting into 50:16 all sorts of trouble. 50:18 I was drinking, smoking. 50:21 I would look for love in all the wrong places. 50:24 I thought that those were ways that could make me happy 50:26 and it didn't. 50:28 It just made everything worse. 50:30 I was very confused. 50:31 I didn't know who I was. 50:32 I had no identity whatsoever and just, I had such a hole in me, 50:36 such hurt, that I would do anything and everything just to 50:40 try to fill that void. 50:42 I was making a lot of bad decisions, a lot of bad choices. 50:46 I got pregnant when I was 19 years old 50:48 and I was a single mother. 50:50 And to try to prove to myself and the world that I can make it 50:53 on my own, I became an exotic dancer. 50:56 My mom, she started sending me links to Amazing Facts Ministry 50:59 just sermons and seminars and Bible studies and YouTube videos 51:06 with Doug Batchelor. 51:07 And I started watching it and beforehand I would delete them 51:11 but now here I am watching and I couldn't get enough of it. 51:13 My heart was on fire, I wanted more and more. 51:16 So instead of going to the club, I would go to the website, the 51:19 Amazing Facts website, and then I would go to the Bible studies 51:23 and I would go after one, study one, which would make me want to 51:27 study another one. 51:28 So I'd study another one and another one and I went through 51:30 the whole set and that wasn't enough for me. 51:34 I wanted more. 51:35 So I just--I would do it again. 51:37 I would read the whole set over again. 51:39 And I was learning so much and I just couldn't get enough of it. 51:41 And this made me where I didn't even want to go to work, I just 51:44 had this fire in my heart. 51:46 And then it got to where I was on the interstate to go to work 51:48 and I pulled over and God, He just--He told me, like, 51:56 He's, like, "Jennifer, we can't do this no--anymore." 51:59 And so I told Him, I said, "God, I know this is You. 52:03 I know that You're speaking to me right now." 52:06 And for the first time ever my eyes were opened to the whole 52:09 situation and how I was living my life. 52:11 And I went home and I got down on my knees 52:14 and I fell before God. 52:16 I started to beg Him, "God, please take me out of this 52:19 lifestyle and if You do, I promise You I will serve You 52:22 for the rest of my life." 52:24 And so, for the first time in my life I was healing and I was 52:28 learning and I was coming to a knowledge of the truth, and that 52:31 truth was Jesus Christ Himself and that He loved me. 52:34 So, as I'm going about these studies, Amazing Facts comes to 52:37 my local church and Pastor Wyatt Allen, he puts on this 52:42 evangelistic series and he makes a call for baptisms and I'm 52:49 impressed, you know, that I need to do this, and I want to make 52:52 this decision for Christ to rededicate my life to Him. 52:57 My life has been completely changed in so many ways, just 53:00 seeing where God has taken me on this journey where He took me 53:07 from this to this lost confused girl, to this woman He knows who 53:14 she is, her identity in Christ. 53:20 Jennifer: My name is Jennifer. Thank you for changing my life. 53:37 announcer: "Amazing Facts" Changed Lives. 53:45 Josh: My family was Christian to begin with. 53:47 Mom and Dad were involved at the church at times. 53:50 On the inside, our family wasn't really Christian, I guess. 53:53 It was just--it was a front that we put on. 53:56 My dad suffered from bipolar disorder. 53:59 Instead of taking his medication, 54:00 he turned to alcohol. 54:02 He could be mad one second and the next second he'd be happy 54:04 and it was so confusing for us. 54:07 Most of the time, we'd be upstairs to try to avoid him. 54:12 I made good grades all the way up until high school. 54:14 High school, I started struggling because my mom was a 54:17 single parent at the time. 54:19 And I had to get a job. 54:20 I was working every day after school. 54:23 I didn't have many friends to talk to, so I was getting 54:25 depressed. 54:27 I was always tired. 54:29 I started failing my assignments because I would fall asleep 54:30 during class and I couldn't listen to the teachers, I 54:32 couldn't comprehend what they were saying. 54:35 By my 11th grade year, I dropped out and I tried home schooling. 54:40 I just ended up working full-time. 54:43 I had lots of girlfriends growing up but I was always 54:45 terrified of talking to guys. 54:47 Like, my hands would start to sweat, I would tense up, 54:50 I just--I couldn't talk. 54:51 I guess that's when I started developing an attraction. 54:54 Gay guys weren't scary to talk to. 54:56 So I started talking to them and then I started meeting them and 54:59 then it just went from there and then I started having 55:01 relationships with them. 55:04 I just wanted to find someone who would care. 55:07 After high school, most of my friends were gone but there were 55:10 a few left home. 55:12 We all started getting into drugs and smoking weed 55:14 and drinking. 55:16 I was able to leave my depression behind and I wasn't 55:18 shy anymore. 55:20 I was able to talk to anyone I wanted to. 55:21 It wasn't real, but it felt real at the time. 55:25 During this time, I felt like God had left me. 55:28 I'd hear conversations at church talking about gays and people on 55:32 drugs and stuff, and, you know, they talked so bad about them it 55:35 drove me to leave church. 55:37 I eventually just left church. I left God. 55:39 I just didn't care anymore. 55:40 I didn't care what God thought, because I didn't think 55:42 He cared about me. 55:45 At the beginning of this year, I'd moved in with my boyfriend. 55:48 I still felt empty. I still wasn't happy. 55:49 I thought I had what I wanted. 55:51 I had a guy that I can love and I thought he loves me. 55:53 But I was still empty. 55:55 I still felt like if I die today, I wasn't sure where I was 55:57 going to go and I wasn't sure if I'd be a disappointment 56:00 to everyone. 56:04 My grandma texted me. 56:06 She told me that an Amazing Facts evangelist was coming to 56:09 our church to do a prophecy seminar. 56:11 I didn't really want to go because I'd been to those before 56:13 and they were normally pretty boring and I'd fall asleep. 56:16 I was planning on making excuses for every night 56:18 but she was dedicated. 56:19 She really wanted me to go and so did my mom. 56:21 So I ended up going to church and the evangelist that was 56:24 speaking, he was speaking on the sanctuary that morning. 56:27 It made sense to me that there was someone up in heaven 56:30 pleading my cause. 56:32 I'd never heard Jesus this way before. 56:34 I went back all the nights 56:36 that I could except the nights that I worked. 56:37 At the end of it, I ended up getting rebaptized. 56:40 I made a decision to leave this life behind. 56:42 I was still attracted to men but I wanted to leave the lifestyle. 56:46 I didn't want to live in it anymore, any longer, 56:48 because I knew it was wrong. 56:50 The evangelist that was at our church that did the prophecy 56:53 seminar, became my mentor. 56:54 He told me about this school called AFCOE. 56:56 It stands for Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism. 56:59 And I was like, "Well, I want that, because I want to learn 57:01 how to share Jesus. 57:03 I want to learn how to be able to help others." 57:05 I prayed about it. I applied online. 57:07 They accepted my application but I still had 57:09 the money problem left. 57:10 That night, right before I left, He provided over $3000 57:15 and He's been providing for me ever since. 57:17 The tools that I've learned here are tools that will stick with 57:19 me forever, and it was life-changing, to be able to 57:22 come here, to AFCOE. 57:24 I would love to help other people in my situation because a 57:27 lot of people had prayed that God would take this stuff away 57:31 and then they get discouraged when He doesn't. 57:33 But what they don't know is that Jesus is there. 57:35 He'll help you through it. 57:37 My name's Josh and Amazing Facts has helped change my life. 57:43 CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 aberdeen.io 57:53 ♪♪♪ 58:03 ♪♪♪ 58:13 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2021-08-06