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00:08 CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 aberdeen.io 00:15 ♪♪♪ 00:25 ♪♪♪ 00:29 ♪♪♪ 00:38 Doug Batchelor: Good morning, friends, and happy Sabbath. 00:40 I want to welcome you to the Granite Bay Hilltop Seventh-day 00:43 Adventist Church and a special welcome to any that 00:46 may be visiting with us this morning. 00:48 Also, always want to remember to welcome those who are joining us 00:53 on Facebook, Amazing Facts Television, YouTube, or one of 00:58 the other channels, and we also have a number of online members. 01:03 For several years now, the Granite Bay church has had 01:07 members, sort of a digital church. 01:10 Around the world, people that have no local church, they can 01:13 attend, and we want to welcome you as well. 01:16 We're continuing today with lesson number 12 in our study on 01:20 Hebrews, and the lesson today is a very important one. 01:24 It's going to be dealing with the subject of "Receiving an 01:27 Unshakeable Kingdom," and in a moment Pastor Brummund will come 01:31 out and be sharing with you in that lesson, 01:33 but we have a free offer as always. 01:36 And the offer today is designed to 01:37 help enhance your study of this subject. 01:40 It's called "The Final Verdict." "The Final Verdict." 01:43 It's a very important book that talks about 01:45 the culmination of the judgment subject. 01:49 And if you'd like to receive that, simply dial 866-788-3966. 01:55 That amounts to 866-Study-More. Ask for offer number 162. 02:01 Now, if you're in North America you can download this by texting 02:05 "SH078" and you text that to "40544." 02:13 And so, of course, you can also go to 02:15 aftv.org, and that's study.aftv.org. 02:21 Sometimes the lesson presenters also will post their notes 02:24 there, I know I do, if you're interested in any 02:27 of the notes related to the lesson. 02:29 Well, we're going to get into our study 02:31 so let's have a word of prayer. 02:32 Father in heaven, thank You so much for the Word of truth 02:35 that changes lives and sets us free. 02:38 We pray that Your Spirit will be present. 02:40 Be in a special way with Pastor Brummund as he shares, and we 02:44 pray we can gather insights to help us be more like our Savior. 02:47 We pray this in His name, amen. 02:51 Shawn Brummund: You know, I want to start our lesson, as we 02:53 look at lesson number 12 today, by sharing with you a bit of 02:58 a--couple of different experiences. 03:01 And the first one is when I was just moved to Toronto. 03:05 Some of you know that I was born and raised in Canada, and so I'm 03:08 an import here in Sacramento in the US and so I was just a-- 03:16 I think was, let me see now, grade 5 it would be. 03:19 And so it was grade 5. 03:20 My family had just moved from the West in British Columbia, 03:23 from our home town of Kelowna, all the way over to the 03:25 big city of Toronto towards the East. 03:28 And when we arrived in the big city of Toronto, I started going 03:31 to this new school right in more of the heart of 03:33 the city, and it was a very large school. 03:36 I was very intimidated. 03:38 I was always the smallest guy in every class, 03:41 going through grade school. 03:42 I was always the shortest. 03:44 Up until my later years in grade school, I was always the 03:47 smallest, the skinniest, and so I was an easy target. 03:52 I was a natural target for the bullies. 03:54 And so, not only was I intimidated by this large school 03:56 and this large city life that I'd never been exposed 03:58 to 'cause I was living in the country before 04:00 that, there was a couple of twins. 04:04 They were--I think they were Chinese and so there was these 04:08 two boys, these twins, that were in my class. 04:10 Maybe they were a grade before me. 04:13 This was grade 5. 04:14 And so, anyway, they were quite proud of the fact that they were 04:18 experts, in their mind at least, in judo or some kind of martial 04:21 arts, and they made it very clear to me that they intended 04:24 on beating me up on a regular basis. 04:27 And so I have to say, you know, when you combine all those 04:30 things together, I was, you know, I was shaking in my boots. 04:36 It was a very traumatic experience for a young boy. 04:39 But speaking of shaking in your boots, I want to share with you 04:42 another even more traumatic experience than that. 04:44 I had a friend of mine and he was a church member in my home 04:47 city, again in British Columbia, Canada, and this goes back about 04:51 20 years or so, but he was in one of those ATM rooms, you know 04:54 the ones that extend at the front of the bank? 04:56 Yeah, even when the bank is closed, you can approach that 04:59 first room late at night and make your withdrawal 05:03 or do your banking business and so on. 05:05 And so he was doing that at one of those ATM or automatic teller 05:10 machines and, when he was doing that late one night, 05:13 doing his withdrawal, whatever it was, 05:15 another man came in and joined him. 05:17 And the worst happened that night. 05:19 Fortunately--unfortunately, the man drew a gun and, to my 05:24 friend's horror, he put it to his head and he said, "You're 05:28 going to withdraw the maximum amount of cash that you 05:31 can from all your accounts and you're 05:33 going to give it to me here tonight." 05:35 Well, as you can imagine, he didn't hesitate. 05:37 He went ahead and just did exactly that. 05:39 And fortunately, that was all that the man was looking for. 05:43 Because he cooperated, the man with the gun disappeared into 05:45 the dark and, of course, my friend was shaking in his boots 05:50 during the whole experience, and throughout the rest of the night 05:53 he was very shaken up at the same time. 05:56 In fact, it took him several days, maybe even weeks, to be 06:01 able to shake that off because it was so traumatic. 06:05 And, in fact, I remember him sharing that he said 06:08 it was more traumatic than he would have 06:09 guessed before it actually took place. 06:12 And so, he definitely experienced something very 06:16 traumatic that shook him up, that caused him to shake in his 06:18 boots, and it took him long to shake it off. 06:22 You know, today we're talking about shaking. 06:23 Speaking about shaking, I want to talk a little bit about a 06:26 physical shaking, and I went and reviewed something that I knew 06:28 and studied in the past, but was relevant to our 06:32 key verse today in Hebrews chapter 12. 06:36 And so I'm going to read with you a couple different 06:40 excerpts from one of my favorite books. 06:41 It's entitled, "The Great Controversy," and it's written 06:44 by Ellen White, and I'm on page 304. 06:48 I forget what chapter. 06:50 It's called "Heralds of the Morning." 06:51 And so, this particular chapter was covering the different signs 06:54 that precedes just before, in the bigger picture, 06:58 just before Jesus comes again. 07:00 And so the first sentence I'm reading from says that the 07:03 Revelator, that is John who wrote the book of Revelation, 07:06 thus describes the first signs--the first 07:09 of the signs to precede the Second Advent. 07:14 Jesus, during His ministry, it said that you will see signs in 07:16 the sun and the moon and the stars just before you see the 07:20 Coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven. 07:23 And so there's going to be different kinds of signs that 07:26 both Jesus taught as well as Jesus added in the book of 07:29 Revelation that I just read, different physical signs on the 07:32 earth that would be harbingers, that would be flags to be able 07:36 to get the attention of as many people as possible to study the 07:40 Scriptures and understand that Jesus is coming soon. 07:45 And then she quotes from Revelation, chapter 6 and verse 07:48 12, and says, "There was a great earthquake and the sun became 07:51 black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood." 07:56 And so, of these physical harbingers that we are to look 08:00 for, God says the first one would be this massive earthquake 08:03 that would get the attention of a great part of the world. 08:07 And thus it did. 08:08 It says, "In fulfillment," she goes on, "of this prophecy, 08:11 there occurred in the year 1755 the most terrible 08:16 earthquake that has ever been recorded." 08:19 Now, friends, this date, 1755, is no small date. 08:24 The reason being is that it is only 43 years before the 08:28 conclusion of one of the longest, most important time 08:31 prophecies that God revealed in prophecy, both in Daniel as well 08:35 as in the book of Revelation, the 1260 08:37 symbolic days that represent 1260 literal years, 08:42 that were to find a conclusion in 1798. 08:46 And, sadly, that time period was to represent, and God made it 08:52 clear represented, the reign and the influence and the power that 08:56 would be exercised in a very negative way towards God's 08:59 people by the papacy, represented by the little horn 09:02 of Daniel chapter 7, as well as the first beast, 09:05 symbolic beast, of Revelation chapter 13. 09:09 So coming back to that statement, she says, "In 09:11 fulfillment of the prophecy, there occurred in the year 1755 09:14 the most terrible earthquake that has ever been recorded. 09:17 The conclusion of the 1260 years in 1798." 09:20 And then we find ourselves just 46 more years into the future 09:23 and the last time prophecy of Daniel chapter 8 and verse 14 09:27 comes to its conclusion in 20--the 2300-year prophecy that 09:31 declares that the cleansing of the sanctuary has begun, which 09:35 symbolizes a--and points us to a judgment scene and process that 09:40 would take place in heaven as the final phase of God's work in 09:43 heaven before He comes back to earth in judgment. 09:46 And so again, this is a instrumental time in history in 09:49 which this greatest earthquake ever took place. 09:53 "Though commonly known as the earthquake of Lisbon, it is 09:56 extended to the greater part of Europe, Africa," now, we have 10:00 to remember that Lisbon is the largest city and it is a port 10:03 city on the Atlantic coastline of Portugal. 10:06 Portugal and Spain, which is the neighbor of Portugal, wraps 10:09 around Portugal, is just a stone's throw 10:11 north of the northern tip of Africa. 10:16 So she goes on and says, "Though it's commonly known as the 10:18 earthquake of Lisbon, it is extended to the 10:19 greater part of Europe, Africa, and America. 10:22 It was felt in Greenland, in the West Indies, in the island of 10:27 Madeira, in Norway, Sweden, Great Britain, Ireland." 10:32 Later, we're going to read about the great tsunami, massive 10:36 tsunami, that swept across the Atlantic Ocean and actually hit 10:39 the shores of Ireland, hit the shores of Great Britain, among 10:43 other places, the Caribbean islands. 10:45 Finland is also reported to have felt the effects of it. 10:49 The Caribbean islands, the Portuguese colony of Brazil also 10:53 has reports that came out of a tsunami and minor shocks 10:59 and so on from this massive earthquake. 11:02 It goes on and says, "It pervaded to an extent of not 11:05 less than 4 million square miles. 11:09 In Africa the shock was almost as severe as in Europe. 11:13 A great part of Algiers was destroyed, and a short 11:16 distance from Morocco, a village containing 8,000 11:19 or 10,000 inhabitants was swallowed up. 11:22 A vast wave swept over the coast of Spain and Africa, engulfing 11:27 cities, and causing great destruction." 11:30 Now, today we call that wave a tsunami, don't we? 11:34 Okay, back in Ellen White's day and when she wrote this book in 11:38 the late 1800s, this was not a word that they used. 11:43 "It was in Spain and Portugal that the shock 11:45 manifested its extreme violence." 11:48 So the most extreme violence was found in Spain and Portugal. 11:53 The actual spot of the earthquake, most earthquake 12:01 engineers and geologists and so on all agree that it was about 12:03 120 miles southeast or southwest of--yeah, 12:09 I should say southwest of Portugal. 12:15 Yeah, so that's where the most extreme violence took place. 12:17 "At Cadiz," the Spanish city, "the inflowing wave," the 12:21 tsunami, "was said to be 60 feet high. 12:25 Mountains, 'some of the largest,'" and now she's quoting 12:28 from Sir Charles Lyell from his book, "Principles of Geology," 12:31 and he says, "Some of the largest in Portugal," some of 12:33 the largest mountains in Portugal, "were impetuously 12:38 shaken," and again, this is a key word for our study today. 12:42 "Impetuously shaken as it were, from their very foundations," 12:46 and some of them opened up at their summits, 12:48 at the very peaks of those mountains. 12:50 There were split--they were split and rent in 12:53 a wonderful manner, huge masses of them being 12:56 thrown down into the adjacent valleys." 12:59 So, big chunks, massive chunks of these summits and large parts 13:03 of the top of these mountains in Portugal were breaking off and 13:06 rolling and falling down into the valleys. 13:09 Flames are related to have issued from these mountains. 13:13 And now we're quoting from the same author. 13:14 He says that "Lisbon, a sound of thunder was heard underground 13:18 and immediately afterwards, a violent shock threw 13:21 down the greater part of that city. 13:24 In the course of about six minutes, 13:26 60,000 persons perished. 13:29 The sea first retired and laid the bar dry." 13:32 Now, "and then it rolled in." 13:35 Now, friends, if you've seen any of the footage, the 13:37 descriptions, the remakes that different films and 13:40 documentaries have made concerning the more modern 13:44 recent tsunami, the one that hit Indonesia, the worst amongst-- 13:48 of their nations in that part of the world, there was this 13:51 uncanny kind of rapid, unexpected tide that kind of--as 13:56 they first interpreted it, the residents, the tourists, this 13:59 tide that just--kind of this unexpected tide and rapid tide 14:02 that just kind of sucked the ocean way out 14:04 further and faster than it normally did. 14:07 And this is exactly what happened just before the tsunami 14:10 then came back in full force against the Portugal seaside. 14:16 It is said that there was a number of--I've read different 14:18 sources and it talked about this uncanny kind of--this uncovering 14:23 of these different shipwrecks that were exposed on the ocean 14:25 bottom as the ocean kind of sucked back out into the ocean, 14:30 and exposed these shipwrecks that had never been seen since 14:33 they sunk and then there was all this cargo that had fallen off 14:36 ships by mistakes over the years that was exposed 14:39 on the sea bottom, on this dry land. 14:45 And so it says, "The sea first retired and laid 14:48 the bar dry, it then rolled in, rising 50 14:51 feet or more above its ordinary level. 14:53 Among other extraordinary events related to having occurred at 14:58 Lisbon during the catastrophe was the subsidence of a new 15:03 quay, built entirely of marble at an immense expense, a great 15:08 concourse of people had collected there for safety as a 15:11 spot where they might be beyond the reach of falling ruins, but 15:15 suddenly the quay sank down with all the people on it and not one 15:18 of the dead bodies ever floated to the surface." 15:22 And then she quotes from another source, the 15:24 "Encyclopedia Americana," the edition of 1831. 15:28 So this source is not very far removed from the actual event, 15:32 and goes on and says, "The shock of the earthquake was instantly 15:35 followed by the fall of every church and convent, 15:38 almost all the large public buildings and 15:40 more than one-fourth of the houses. 15:43 In about two hours after the shock, fires broke out in 15:46 different quarters and raged with such violence for the space 15:49 of nearly three days that the city was completely desolated. 15:55 The earthquake happened on a holy day, when the churches and 15:59 convents were full of people, very few of whom escaped." 16:03 Now, as it turns out, that holy day was called "All Saints Day" 16:07 by the Catholics which was the predominant population of the 16:10 people there and, because it was All Saints Day, in honor of the 16:14 saints, many of the homes and all the convents, the churches, 16:17 and so on, were full of different worshipers and so on, 16:21 and they had lit candles and so, when the earthquake came, it was 16:25 the worst scenario that you can imagine 'cause all those candles 16:27 went flying while they were still lit and they started to 16:30 light all these buildings on fire, and so what the earthquake 16:33 didn't get, what the tsunami didn't destroy, the fires had 16:36 destroyed during that same period. 16:39 And so it was catastrophic. 16:42 And it is by far, one of the largest shaking. 16:45 Now, they didn't have instruments that was able to 16:47 measure the size of it, you know? 16:49 And of course, the million-dollar question is, 16:50 "What was the Richter scale rating of that earthquake?" 16:55 And we don't know. 16:57 Now, the seismologists tell us that they estimate--the 17:00 estimates range anywhere from 7.7 to 9. 17:04 Now, the largest earthquakes that have ever been recorded 17:08 since we've been able to record on the Richter scale with our 17:11 instruments is 9.1 and so, seeing it in the light of 17:15 prophecy, when you look at the actual original sources, 17:18 including the great controversy that quotes some of those as 17:20 well as give some inspired information on this, we find 17:24 that I would estimate that 9 is probably the minimum. 17:27 It could be more like a 9.2, 9.3 or something to that effect. 17:32 Just reading the effects and the reports from all over the world 17:35 and almost every continent in the world 17:37 that was affected by that earthquake. 17:40 Massive prophetic harbinger of Jesus's soon Coming. 17:44 Massive shaking, the most far-reaching shaking in history. 17:51 Well, the bottom line is that life involves a 17:52 lot of different kinds of shaking. 17:54 That comes from living in a broken world, doesn't it? 17:57 You know, these are just some examples that I'm shared and I'm 18:00 sure if we open the floor, you could share some different ways 18:02 in which we can think about negative shaking that takes 18:05 place in this planet, in this world, and this life. 18:09 The memory text for this week's study of the book of Hebrews 18:12 brings us to something that we can look forward 18:16 to, which is a shake-free world. 18:18 One day, Jesus says, we can live in a day where we will never be 18:21 shaking in our boots, we will never be shaken up, we will 18:24 never have to shake something negative off, we will never 18:27 experience the earth shaking beneath our feet. 18:32 All these different negative shakings will disappear. 18:35 Let's go to our lesson number 12 and 18:36 it's Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 28. 18:41 In Hebrews 12, verse 28, it says, "Therefore, since we are 18:44 receiving a kingdom which cannot be--cannot be shaken, let us 18:50 have grace, by which we may serve God 18:52 acceptably with reverence and godly fear." 18:57 So in response of this good news, in response of the 18:59 promise, in response of this life of peace and shake-free 19:04 existence that God has for us, God says that we should approach 19:08 God with great reverence and with godly fear. 19:12 And we should remember that God is the God that 19:15 can shake the heavens and the earth. 19:17 He is the one that made it, He is the one that 19:18 lifts up kings and brings down kings. 19:20 He is the one that gives life, 19:21 He is the one that takes away life. 19:23 And we are to worship Him even as He is our King 19:27 and our Lord and our Savior. 19:31 Well, as it turns out, the memory verse is 19:33 at the end of our passage that we're studying 19:35 this week in Hebrews 12--chapter 12. 19:38 And so let's go back to the beginning of that passage 19:40 and read, starting with verse 12. 19:43 So we're going to read the first seven verses of the passage 19:46 and so we're going to Hebrews, the 12th chapter. 19:52 And in Hebrews the chapter--the 12th chapter, 19:53 we're going to pick it up with verse 18. 19:57 Okay, Hebrews, the 12th chapter, picking it up at verse 18, it 20:01 says, "For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched 20:05 and that burned with fire, into the tempest--and to the 20:09 blackness and the darkness and the tempest, and the sound of a 20:13 trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it 20:17 begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20:21 (For they could not endure what was commanded." 20:23 And then quoting from the book of Exodus, is--and is, "'And if 20:27 so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or 20:30 shot through with an arrow.' 20:34 And so terrifying was the sight that 20:35 Moses said, 'I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.')" 20:41 In verse 22, it goes on and says, "But you have come to 20:43 Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly 20:48 Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the 20:52 general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered 20:56 in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men 21:00 made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, 21:04 and to the blood of the sprinkling that 21:06 speaks better things than that of Abel." 21:10 And so as we look at the first seven verses of 21:11 our passage of study this week, we want to ask 21:14 ourselves what is Paul trying to say? 21:16 I have to confess that the first time that I read this, years 21:19 ago, and even coming back to it, you know, it's one of those ones 21:22 where you have to stop and think a little bit carefully, 21:24 a little bit more carefully. 21:26 You have to kind of ask yourself, "What in the world is 21:28 God and Paul trying to tell us here in this particular book?" 21:32 Well, as it turns out, these first few verses is actually 21:36 doing what the rest of Hebrews has been doing all along, as a 21:39 pattern, and that is that God is comparing the Old Testament and 21:44 the functions and the elements that are found in the Old 21:46 Testament to that of the newer, fuller, and more 21:49 superior New Testament that Jesus Himself 21:53 is the mediator and the initiator of. 22:01 And so we have in the New Testament and the New Covenant, 22:06 it tells us of a person of Jesus that is a new 22:08 and better mediator and He is a new and 22:11 better sacrifice at the same time. 22:15 And that's why we find in verse 24 that God here is, again, 22:19 pointing us to the better part of the New Testament, 22:22 which is in the person of Jesus Christ. 22:26 Yes, the Old Testament holy priesthood, the 22:29 descendants of Aaron, was holy, was sacred. 22:31 It was God-given, it was important. 22:33 But there is something that is so much better, and that is in 22:36 the person of Jesus, the priesthood, the ultimate 22:39 priesthood, in the ultimate place which is the 22:42 headquarters of the universe called heaven. 22:46 And He does this, as he compares the Old Testament and the 22:49 elements of the Old Testament to that of the New Testament. 22:52 In that comparison, he's using two symbolic mountains. 22:55 Did you pick that up? The first symbolic mountain is? 22:58 Now, they're literal mountains but they symbolize 23:00 something very deep, and what is that? 23:02 It's Mount Sinai. 23:04 So the first mountain that Paul here 23:06 is speaking about is Mount Sinai. 23:07 The second mountain is Mount Zion. 23:11 Okay, now they're in two different places, aren't they? 23:14 Okay, so the Old Testament was cut. 23:17 God cut the Old Testament. 23:18 He had sealed it with the symbolic blood 23:21 of the sacrifices through the leadership of Moses 23:23 and Aaron at a place at the foot of Mount Sinai. 23:29 And in the midst of cutting that New--that Old Testament with the 23:33 Israelites, with that generation of Moses and the Jews, 23:37 Israelites, and generations that were to follow, He was doing 23:41 that through some very dramatic exhibitions of His power. 23:47 He wanted to be able to demonstrate 23:49 to the Israelites not only He was real. 23:51 He already gave them more than abundant evidence to be able to 23:53 see that, but He just wanted to really impact with them that He 23:56 was the one that can shake heaven and earth. 23:58 He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords. 24:02 And they would do well to be able to give their 24:06 worship to Him and that He is the only true God 24:09 in which they can believe in and trust. 24:14 So let's go back to verse 18 and we'll just carefully 24:17 unpack that just a little bit more. 24:19 In verse 18 it says, "For you have not come to the mountain 24:23 that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to the 24:27 blackness and darkness and tempests, and the sound of a 24:31 trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard and 24:34 begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore." 24:41 And again, this is reflecting what we're going to look at in 24:44 Exodus in just a moment, the events that surrounded Mount 24:47 Sinai on that very powerful morning on a very powerful day 24:51 when God spoke with His own voice the Ten Commandments 24:56 of God, when God demonstrated His power with 25:00 lightnings and thunder and smoke and fire. 25:03 And not only that, but as we're going to discover 25:05 in Exodus, there was also a great shaking 25:09 that took place that morning as well. 25:11 And so, all of nature, God was demonstrating that He is the God 25:15 of nature, He is the God of all things, and that He was there to 25:19 make His presence known in a very dramatic way. 25:23 And so, because of that, He had instructed the Israelites. 25:26 He said, "Do not touch the mountain. 25:28 This is a holy consecrated place, the very presence 25:31 and glory of God is going to be exposing 25:33 Himself in a very powerful way. 25:36 For your own benefit and for your self-preservation, make 25:39 sure that no one touches the mountain." 25:43 And so there was very specific instruction. 25:46 Now that can almost seem confusing, at least it was for 25:48 me when I came to verse 18, says, "For you have not 25:50 come to a mountain that may be touched." 25:52 And I said, "Well, wait a minute. 25:53 Didn't God say not to touch the mountain?" 25:55 But then it dawned on me, "Wait a minute. 25:57 God is talking about in the--when He said 'A mountain 25:59 that can be touched,' He's talking about earthly, present, 26:01 physical, you know, a mountain that you can actually physically 26:04 see and touch on a day-to-day basis, outside that one day 26:09 where God consecrated it for demonstrating His power and 26:12 giving the testimony of His law and His government 26:14 that day through the Ten Commandments." 26:18 And so the Bible's not contradicting himself when he 26:20 later on, Paul here, quotes in verse 20 that God did instruct 26:23 the Israelites, "Don't touch the mountain," 26:25 on that particular one very special powerful day. 26:31 And by the way, it says in verse 20 that "they 26:33 could not endure what was commanded." 26:35 And again, we can take away, if we don't know the larger 26:37 context, and this is why the context of the original scene 26:40 that Paul here is talking about and quoting from, is important 26:43 to see in its full--in its full picture. 26:46 Now Paul, of course, can't take the time and the words to 26:50 describe and re-write the entire record of Exodus but he's 26:53 assuming that you know that very well because, of course, Paul 26:57 knows and he assumes that you know, that God not only 26:59 commanded them not to touch the mountain, lest they be killed, 27:03 but He also had told them that you shall not kill. 27:07 You shall have no other gods before Me. 27:09 You shall not bow down and worship idols, nor make anything 27:12 of the likeness of heaven or earth. 27:14 You shall not use My name in vain. 27:15 You shall remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 27:18 You shall honor your father and your mother. 27:20 You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. 27:23 You shall not steal. You shall not lie. 27:25 You shall not covet. 27:27 And so these were the things that intimidated and revealed 27:30 the hearts of the Israelites and which they said, "Tell Him not 27:33 to speak to us directly anymore, lest we die." 27:40 In verse 21, it says, "And so terrifying was the sight that 27:43 Moses said, 'I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.'" 27:49 Now, some scholars, and even the marginal references here, try to 27:52 point us to Deuteronomy where Moses was afraid of the anger of 27:56 the Lord that was to burst out against the Israelites after 27:59 they had failed God so miserably when they had made this golden 28:03 calf and began to worship it and engage in all these immoral, 28:07 sexually immoral, idolatrous practices around that calf, and 28:12 so on, but it just doesn't even come close in Deuteronomy in 28:16 some of the attempts to be able to quote Moses here as if Paul 28:19 is quoting from Moses as some words that Moses spoke and were 28:24 recorded in the books of Moses in the beginning of the Bible. 28:28 The fact of the matter, it's not. 28:30 But just like we find in a classic example is in Hebrews 28:33 chapter 11 that we reviewed last week, where we find here that 28:37 there's some very important information that is given to us 28:40 concerning the thought process of Abraham when God had told him 28:45 to take his son, his only begotten son, 28:47 and take him to the top of Mount Moriah and take 28:48 his life as a sacrifice before the Lord. 28:52 Now Genesis's record doesn't record the thought process that 28:55 went through Adam--Abraham's mind. 28:57 Doesn't record all the words that Abraham certainly would 28:59 have shared with his wife and his household as he was 29:02 wrestling with this command from the Lord. 29:07 And so it records in Hebrews chapter 11 that, indeed, Abraham 29:12 in thought process thought, "Okay, wait a minute, God has 29:14 always promised that through my promised miraculous son, 29:17 my only begotten son, I will have as many 29:20 descendants as the sand of the sea. 29:22 If God indeed has called me to sacrifice him, He will 29:25 inevitably bring him back to life and, indeed, Isaac will not 29:29 only live, he will be married, he will have children, 29:31 and his children will have children, 29:33 and the promises of God will be fulfilled." 29:35 And again, that information is not found in Genesis. 29:38 Is it true? Yes. 29:39 Was it orally passed on through the 29:41 centuries of the Israelite generations? 29:44 Almost for certain. 29:46 And then when we come back to our passage here in Hebrews 29:49 chapter 12, where it says in verse 21, "And so terrifying was 29:52 the sight that Moses himself even said, 'I am exceedingly 29:55 afraid and trembling.'" 29:57 It tells us that this demonstration of God's power 30:00 was so overwhelming that even the very friend of 30:03 God, the one that was the only one that spoke to God face to 30:08 face, even Moses himself, was exceedingly 30:11 terrified and afraid of this great grand exhibition 30:14 that was taking place before him. 30:18 This is why when we come back to verse 28 in the same passage, it 30:21 says, "Therefore, since we have received a kingdom which cannot 30:24 be shaken," our memory text, "let us have grace, 30:26 which we may serve God acceptably," with? 30:30 "With reverence and with godly fear." 30:35 You see, that demonstration that God gave both to the Israelites 30:38 and to Moses, and we're going to talk a little bit if we have 30:41 time here, about why Moses also needed to be found--find himself 30:47 overwhelmed by this demonstration of God and as we 30:50 go to Exodus, it will reveal to us why God did this in 30:54 this manner, and why even Moses needed it. 30:57 And all of it was to point the Israelites and now also to the 31:00 Jew--no, to the Christian generations including you and 31:03 me, as it says in verse 28 at the end, "Serve God acceptably 31:07 with reverence and with godly fear." 31:12 And so let's go back to Exodus. 31:14 Before we go on to the second mountain in verse 31:15 22 of Mount Zion, and which is being contrasted 31:18 here, let's go back to Exodus. 31:20 Exodus chapter 19 and verse 16. 31:24 Exodus chapter 19 and verse 16, and we're just going 31:29 to quickly read through four verses there. 31:32 So, Exodus 19 and verse 16, it says, "And then it came to pass 31:35 on the third day, in the morning, that there were 31:37 thunderings and lightnings, a thick cloud on the mountain; and 31:40 the sound of a trump that was very loud, so that all the 31:43 people that were in the camp trembled. 31:47 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, 31:50 and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 31:52 Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke," 31:56 it was engulfed in this great cloud of smoke, 31:59 "because the Lord descended upon it in fire. 32:02 Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the 32:05 whole mountain quaked," it shook. 32:09 There was a shaking that took place, "and it shook greatly. 32:15 And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became 32:18 louder and louder," it kept blasting long, long blasts, and 32:23 the volume kept increasing, "Moses spoke, 32:26 and God answered him by voice." 32:29 And then of course, this is leading to the climax of that 32:32 encounter that God had with the Israelites including Moses, 32:35 and revealing the Ten Commandments. 32:37 And then we come to chapter 20 and verse 18, and so as we come 32:42 to the next chapter, in verse 18 it says, "Now all the people 32:44 witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of 32:47 the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw 32:50 it, they trembled and stood afar. 32:54 And then they said to Moses, 'You speak with us, and we will 32:57 hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.' 33:03 And Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear.'" 33:08 Now, Moses, it says in Hebrews we just read, he was overwhelmed 33:11 and he was afraid exceedingly, but he was not afraid of God. 33:16 He was just afraid of the overwhelming exhibition of 33:19 nature and its powerful way around him. 33:22 But Moses, unlike the Israelites, 33:24 was not afraid of God Himself. 33:27 The Israelites, on the other hand, were afraid both of the 33:29 exhibition and of God, and so Moses here is 33:33 giving them advice, giving them counsel. 33:36 He says, "Don't--do not fear." 33:37 Don't fear God, don't be afraid of God. 33:40 "For God has come to test you, and that His fear may 33:44 be before you, so that you may not sin." 33:50 And so God is doing this for their character sanctification. 33:54 God is doing this to be able to impact upon him that He is the 33:58 true God, He is the all-powerful God, He is 34:00 the one that can shake heaven and earth. 34:03 And you would do well, it would be to your benefit, to be able 34:05 to give your heart and your life to Jesus. 34:09 And not only that, but then this would also be 34:11 a great motivation that we may not sin. 34:15 You see, to fear God is to do the opposite of sinning. 34:19 To fear God is to reverence Him and to submit to Him and to 34:21 worship Him and to make Him the King and the Master 34:24 of your life, your Lord and your Savior. 34:29 And so, in so doing that, of course, you want to avoid sin. 34:32 You do not want to displease and you 34:34 do not want to disappoint our Maker. 34:38 And so the question is did Moses even need this? 34:41 Is it important that day for Moses also to 34:44 be overcome as it says in Hebrews. 34:46 Hebrews is confirming that even Moses had a moment 34:48 in which he was shaking in his boots. 34:51 He also experienced a shaking. 34:53 He also was traumatized in a very helpful and beneficial way. 34:57 Did Moses need this? 34:58 Was Moses a sinner? Sure, he was. 35:02 Did Moses have a battle with his carnal nature 35:04 in the same way that you and I have? 35:06 Sure, he did. 35:08 Now, he was the most humble man that ever lived. 35:09 He was one that was able to speak--he had a tremendous 35:13 privileged experience and position in history 35:16 and in God's plan and with God's people. 35:20 But he was still a sinner. 35:22 He still had that battle, didn't he? 35:24 He still also needed to be reminded how 35:27 important it was for Moses to fear God 35:29 and to give Him godly fear and reverence. 35:34 And we see that demonstrated in Numbers chapter 20. 35:36 We have that sad moment in Moses. 35:38 He was at his wit's end. 35:39 He had it up to here with the Israelites. 35:41 He'd been dealing with them for 40 years now, 35:44 their whining, their complaining, their mumbling, 35:46 their slandering, their false accusations. 35:49 He had it up to here. 35:51 And when he and his brother stood before the Israelites 35:53 that were complaining again and said, "Why is 35:54 it that you brought us out here?" 35:56 And "You promised all these presents and goodies 35:58 and everything else, and here we are, 36:00 40 years later, and still nothing." 36:03 So Moses had it up to here, and so God said, 36:04 "Go and give them water. 36:06 Go and speak reverently before the rock. 36:08 In the name of Jesus Christ, tell the rock to produce water." 36:13 Moses let them have it. He ripped into the Israelites. 36:16 He said, "You bunch of shysters. 36:18 You're nothing but a bunch of stiff-necked rebels," 36:21 and then he took his rod, and he didn't do it reverently. 36:24 He lost his temper, and he took that rod 36:27 and he just smack, whack, whack. 36:31 He hit the rock. He'd lost his temper. 36:36 Did Moses sin against the Lord that day? 36:39 Sure, he did. 36:41 He had done the opposite of what he had just told--40 years later 36:45 at Mount Sinai, he had done the opposite of what God had told 36:48 him to tell the Israelites, "Do not fear for God 36:50 has done these things that you might fear 36:52 and reverence Him, that you may not sin." 36:58 And so, did Moses need to be impacted 37:00 in a powerful way at Mount Sinai? 37:02 Yes, yes, Moses was a sinner as well. 37:06 He also had that battle. 37:09 And he also sometimes had to come before the Lord, as you and 37:11 I did, and say, "Lord, please forgive me for the irreverent 37:14 way in which I acted or way I've disappointed. 37:17 I've sinned against heaven and earth 37:18 in this manner or this way." 37:20 And just like Moses, we also can have that assurance 37:23 that God knows the heart and He forgives us 37:25 and cleanses us by the blood of Jesus Christ. 37:31 So let's go to mountain number two before we run out of time. 37:33 We're just wrapping up. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 22. 37:37 So we're coming back to the key passage 37:39 of Hebrews chapter 12, and we come to verse 22. 37:43 We come to the second mountain. 37:44 The second mountain represents the New Testament. 37:46 The Old Testament mountain is Mount Sinai 37:48 that we looked at in some detail. 37:50 Now we come to verse 22. 37:51 In verse 22 it says, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to 37:56 the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," 37:59 we want to underline "heavenly." 38:00 "The heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels." 38:07 And so when we come to Mount Zion, the location, of course, 38:10 of the original Mount Zion was the Jerusalem that we think of 38:13 in the Middle East that exists even today. 38:16 But this is not the Jerusalem that 38:17 is being spoken of here, is it? 38:19 The Jerusalem that we are being pointed to here is not the one 38:22 that's in the Middle East, but it's in heaven, isn't it? 38:25 It's the heavenly Jerusalem. 38:27 It is the ultimate eternal capital 38:29 that God has built for you and I. 38:31 This is the Holy City in which Jesus, in John chapter 14 in 38:34 those first verses, where He gives the promise that--to His 38:37 disciples and says, "Listen, I am going to My Father but where 38:40 I'm going, I am going to prepare a place for you. 38:44 In My Father's house are many mansions." 38:49 Those mansions were already built, by the way. 38:51 Sometimes we think Jesus went to heaven after He ascended, after 38:55 He resurrected and ascended to His Father, then He went 38:57 and began to build those mansions. 38:58 No, He says, "In My Father's house already 39:01 are mansions-- are many mansions. 39:04 And I am going to prepare a place in those 39:06 mansions for you as your High Priest." 39:09 This is the heavenly Jerusalem that we are pointed to 39:12 and that Paul is pointing to his generation 39:14 of believers and Christians as well. 39:15 "But you have come to Mount Zion." 39:17 Mount Zion was a very special hill. 39:20 Now we have to remember, in North American terms, a mountain 39:23 here is much different in the mind of a mountain when 39:26 you use the word "mountain" in Israel. 39:28 And I discovered that very quickly when I did a tour in 39:30 Israel about 15 years ago, 10 years ago. 39:33 And they said, "Well, we're going to go--" Now, they do have 39:36 some bigger mountains in the North, you know, and so on. 39:41 So they do have some larger 39:42 mountains, what we would call a mountain. 39:44 But what they call a mountain in most places 39:46 of Israel, we would call a little hill. 39:48 And so when you get to Israel and you get to Jerusalem and you 39:50 say, "Well, where are these mountains? 39:52 Where's Mount Zion?" 39:53 And they say, "Well, that's that tiny little hill over there." 39:55 "That's a mountain?" 39:56 You know, Mount Moriah where Abraham brought, 39:59 you know, his son for the sacrifice and so on. 40:04 Mount Moriah where the temple of God and the Jews were built, 40:08 again it's just a small hill in our perspective compared to the 40:11 Rockies and some of these other mountains. 40:15 But Mount Zion originally was the city that King David and the 40:19 Israelites took over from the Jebusites. 40:21 Now we call it the City of David. 40:23 Once the Jews had built a permanent temple 40:25 on top of Mount Moriah, then that became 40:28 recognized and was called Mount Zion. 40:31 And so there's a little bit of shifting that took place 40:33 concerning which hill in which--there is a number of 40:36 hills in which Jerusalem is built on, but you have just to 40:40 the south of what is now called Mount Zion--well, no, now they 40:44 call Mount Zion back at the City of David, so it started as Mount 40:47 Zion at the City of David, then it was shifted later and the 40:50 New--Old Testament prophets called Mount Moriah where the 40:52 temple was now existing as Mount Zion because it was the ultimate 40:56 of Zionism and the Judaic religion. 41:00 And then it shifted back in modern times, 41:03 back to the ancient tel, or archeological site 41:06 of King David, the City of David. 41:09 But the Mount Zion that is being pointed to here is symbolized by 41:14 the temple in Jerusalem, the City of God's ancient earthly 41:19 kingdom, but is representing now the ultimate kingdom in which 41:22 all believers enter, including the Hebrews of Paul's generation 41:26 that accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, 41:29 and that is Mount Moriah, or Mount Zion I 41:31 should say, the City of the Living God. 41:33 And then he points us to angels. 41:34 The general assembly of the church 41:36 of the firstborn who are registered in heaven. 41:38 All of you are firstborn in the eyes of God. 41:40 We are all equal in the eyes of God, whether 41:42 you're male or female, as Paul said. 41:45 Whether you're a Greek or Jewish. 41:46 Whether you're rich or poor. 41:48 All of us are equal, and so all of us in God's eyes are 41:50 firstborn in our registration in the books of heaven. 41:56 And Jesus is our mediator as we looked at as well. 42:00 Well, friends, this is a very powerful 42:03 passage that God has given to us. 42:05 Of course, we could spend a whole 42:06 lot more time looking at that. 42:08 There's a few other verses there that, if we had time, we'd be 42:11 able to look at, but I trust that you looked at the Quarterly 42:14 over the week and, if you haven't, go back and spend some 42:16 time going through the rest of that chapter. 42:20 It's a powerful chapter. 42:21 It's one that will continue to build your 42:24 understanding of the hope that God gives to us, that we 42:26 have received a kingdom that will not be shaken. 42:31 And so all these negative shakings that we experience in 42:34 different measures today, will not take place any longer. 42:38 I want to invite you again to take 42:39 advantage of our free gift offer. 42:41 For those of you who are watching, we have a little 42:44 booklet and it's entitled, "The Final Verdict." 42:47 And so please take advantage of that. 42:49 All you have to do is call into 1-866-788-3966 and ask for free 42:54 offer number 162, and we'll be happy to send that out to you if 42:58 you're in the United States or any of the US territories, and 43:02 also in Canada and North America. 43:05 If you want a digital copy of that, all you have to do is text 43:08 the code "SH078" and you want to dial that to 40544. 43:15 And that will hook you up to a link that 43:16 will give you a free digital download. 43:18 Again, if you're in North America, 43:20 the US territories, that's available. 43:22 And then as you see on the screen, there's also a website 43:25 there for anybody anywhere in the world can get a free 43:28 download on the Amazing Facts website and you 43:32 can continue to study in the Word of God. 43:35 So until we come together the next week, I want to wish you a 43:37 blessing throughout the rest of your day, your week, 43:40 and we look forward to having you join us 43:42 again in our next Sabbath School. 43:47 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 43:49 life-changing free resource. 43:51 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 43:53 you can download a digital copy straight 43:54 to your computer or mobile device. 43:57 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 44:00 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 44:05 shown on your screen and be sure to select the 44:07 digital download option on the request page. 44:10 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 44:13 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want. 44:17 And most important, to share it with others. 44:25 announcer: "Amazing Facts" Changed Lives. 44:28 ♪♪♪ 44:33 Roy: I grew up here in New York City, I guess, dealing with 44:36 all the temptations that you would have in a big city. 44:40 Everything that you could imagine that you could 44:42 run into, drugs, crime, was always here. 44:47 When I was at a young age, I actually got into trouble with 44:50 the law and my only out was to join the military 44:54 at the time in order to not do time. 44:57 So I left New York and traveled the world a 45:00 little bit while I was in the military. 45:03 Eventually, I came back. 45:06 Having grown up as a hip hop kid, I eventually found myself 45:10 working in the music business actually. 45:12 I worked at a couple of major radio stations, hip hop, reggae. 45:15 I was in all the big reggae shows, working them. 45:17 No matter what I did to try and satisfy myself, 45:20 nothing really worked. 45:23 I remember I used to play at this one club in Manhattan. 45:27 We used to play there every Friday night. 45:29 So I came home one Saturday morning after leaving the club 45:33 and I turned on the video channel like I usually do. 45:37 So there was this guy in the video channel talking 45:39 and he was definitely out of place, but the things 45:41 that he was saying just totally amazed me. 45:46 I had never heard anyone speak 45:47 about the Bible like this before. 45:49 So I started coming home early on 45:51 Saturday mornings just to catch this show. 45:54 I found the things that he was saying absolutely amazing, to 45:58 the point where it literally made me stop 46:01 and start to think about how I was living my life. 46:05 So I found that all of these things that I had 46:07 been doing to try and find happiness were 46:10 actually not making me happy at all. 46:12 But were really just leaving me empty inside. 46:15 When I started reading the Bible and it started 46:18 to make sense, I started to make changes. 46:21 I even tried to keep the Sabbath which I failed at miserably. 46:26 So I was actually invited by Amazing Facts to go to see a 46:29 live series at one of the local churches but after going the 46:34 first night, I ended up going another night and another night. 46:37 I stayed for the entire series. 46:39 That was the day I made a decision that 46:41 changed the rest of my life forever. 46:43 I gave my life to Christ and everything 46:45 was different after that. 46:47 I made a decision to give up the music business, 46:49 stop hanging out at all of the clubs. 46:51 I made a decision that was eternal 46:53 for me and for my family. 46:56 I started going to church. 47:00 I got a position in church where I was actually in charge 47:02 of the personal ministries department. 47:05 And the same Amazing Facts studies that changed my life, I 47:09 actually got to share them with people and sit down 47:12 with them and tell them about Jesus. 47:15 ♪♪♪ 47:23 ♪♪♪ 47:26 announcer: "Amazing Facts" Changed Lives. 47:35 Reuben: You know, we grew up in a neighborhood up in the Mid 47:37 West that was a pretty bad neighborhood. 47:40 And when I became a teenager, I started using drugs. 47:44 I was on--I started using meth when I was, like, 47:46 I think 16, 15, something like that. 47:49 I was having some problems in my life I 47:51 really didn't know how to deal with. 47:54 The only thing I really knew was violence. 47:58 So, this night here I was going to inflict violence on myself. 48:02 I was really high and really depressed, so I took, you know, 48:06 I had this .40 caliber so I remember, I put one in the 48:08 chamber and I stuck it to the side of my head like this. 48:13 And that gun had a hair trigger, you know? 48:17 I remember I was tapping it, 'cause a part 48:20 of me said, "No, I don't want to do this." 48:24 But there was something very evil 48:25 present there saying, "Do it." 48:27 I just said to myself, I said, "God, 48:30 if You're real, show Yourself to me." 48:36 My mother took me to church when I was a little kid and we used 48:40 to sing, "Jesus loves me," and I remembered that song. 48:44 It started playing in my mind. 48:47 And I almost had, like, a vision of me as a little kid, you know, 48:53 and in Sabbath School we used to bang those 48:57 sticks together and sing, "Jesus loves me." 49:03 And I heard that in my mind. So I said, "Wow." 49:12 So I just kind of like, put the gun down and I kind of fell on 49:15 my bedside there and I said, "Lord." 49:19 I just basically, just prayed this crazy prayer. 49:22 I says, you know, I told Him everything 49:23 that was wrong with me. 49:25 And I remember one day I was driving around, 49:27 I kind of felt lost and I drove by this church. 49:30 And I seen Tom out there. 49:31 Tom was just out there, watering the flowers, you know? 49:35 Tom: So I caught a vision out of the side of my eye, this big 49:39 husky guy with a tattoo, walking up and he's saying, "Hello," and 49:45 I said--so I asked him if I can help him. 49:49 He told me that he drives by the church on occasion and every 49:55 time he goes by, he's thinking if he should stop in. 49:59 Reuben: After he showed me around the church, you know, I 50:03 was like, "Okay, man, it's nice meeting you," and this and that. 50:07 So I jumped in my car and I started heading down the 50:10 driveway and the next thing you know in, like, my peripheral 50:15 vision, I see him coming around the corner 50:18 like Jerry Rice running a football. 50:21 No, not that fast but, you know, he was taking off after me, and 50:26 he says, "Hey, hey, hey, hold on, hold on." 50:28 Tom: I asked if he would like to have some 50:29 Bible studies and he said, "Yeah." 50:32 Reuben: He would come by the house. 50:34 We'd all start--we'd start hiding the beer cans and trying 50:37 to air out the weed smell and there was a presence that came 50:41 with Tom that was comforting, you know what I mean? 50:46 Even though I wasn't taking the Bible studies as serious as I 50:49 should have, looking back, there was just a presence about him 50:53 being there in the house that was comforting. 50:57 I told Tom, I said, "Tom, you know you can't win everybody." 51:01 Tom: I looked at him and I knew. 51:02 I said to him, "Reuben, I never get anybody." 51:07 I says, "The Holy Spirit will do that," and I kind of, in my 51:13 heart knew that the Holy Spirit was going to work on Reuben. 51:16 Reuben: So then Tom kind of left the picture for a while and 51:20 then I think one day at my mother's house they were 51:22 watching "The Final Events of Bible Prophecy." 51:25 So I watched that and I remember the scene where they had the 51:32 hellfire and stuff, you know, they're outside the city and it 51:36 showed the hellfire coming down and burning people 51:41 and stuff and I remember saying to myself, 51:45 "That's where I would be, right there." 51:48 After the hellfire scene, I saw the saints in the city, in the 51:54 New Jerusalem and Jesus recreating the earth. 51:59 And I said, "I want that to be my--me and my family." 52:06 There was something about the way Doug preached 52:08 and things that I felt that touched me because 52:13 he's kind of like myself, you know? 52:15 He's--he didn't grow up like that, you know? 52:18 He done drugs and things, so I kind of found these common 52:23 grounds that I had with him and I liked how he just kind of like 52:27 kept it real with his preaching and then Pastor Rodney came to 52:30 the church and I got to know him very well 52:35 and we started doing some finishing studies. 52:38 He wanted to make sure I understand 52:39 what I was doing and things. 52:42 And he baptized me, my wife, my brother. 52:46 No matter what you've done, where 52:49 you come from, where you've been. 52:52 No matter how bad of a sinner you think you are, the Lord 52:57 Jesus loves you no matter what you've done. 53:00 Doug Batchelor: Friends, it's because of God's blessing and 53:03 your support, thousands of others, just like Reuben, 53:06 have found Jesus and eternal life. 53:09 ♪♪♪ 53:19 ♪♪♪ 53:24 ♪♪♪ 53:30 Heather Shurtliff: We can do nothing without God, and 53:33 sometimes He lets you get to that place where you realize 53:36 there is nothing left and you're just wondering if you even want 53:39 to live because it hurts and life is dark. 53:42 When He lets you get to that place and that's when He can 53:45 break through to you and let you know He's there. 53:47 And then He can work with you to bring beauty 53:51 out of ashes, and hope out of darkness. 53:53 My mom, when she was pregnant with me, was diagnosed with 53:58 bipolar and the times when my mom would be struggling, they 54:03 might be trying her on different medications 54:06 to help her with the mood swings. 54:08 I kind of had a savior complex and had like a guilt complex 54:11 that somehow that my family's problems were my own fault or 54:15 I'm the one that was supposed to try to help her fix it, 54:18 which is impossible for any human to do. 54:20 Only Jesus can do that. 54:22 But I believe stuffing all of those emotions and for so long, 54:26 my world had started to crumble around me. 54:27 I started having a nervous breakdown. 54:28 I could not stuff any longer 54:30 everything that I'd grown up with. 54:31 I just slowly but surely, just started to withdraw completely 54:35 and it got to the extent where I was like a prisoner of my own 54:39 house, of my own affairs, and if it wasn't for my mom making me 54:42 come out of the basement, and sometimes, you know, making me 54:45 eat, I would just stay down in my room in the basement. 54:47 And I remember how awful the darkness was 54:52 and how terrible it is to live without hope. 54:56 I can still feel that in my throat, in my heart. 54:59 I remember what that feels like. 55:03 I had been still contemplating suicide on and off for several 55:07 months and I knew it was getting worse and I was going to be 55:11 successful unless something happened. 55:13 And, you know, just trying to talk to yourself out of it every 55:16 day but still just--it just always being there, haunting me. 55:20 And I just went to bed feeling really, really sick and just 55:24 told myself, in counseling they'll tell you, you know, it 55:26 always--don't do it, make any impulsive decisions. 55:30 It'll always be brighter in the morning. 55:32 You know, just see it through the night. 55:34 Sometimes the night are the longest, darkest hours. 55:36 And I just went to sleep, telling myself that. 55:39 And when I woke up in the morning, there was no relief. 55:42 It was worse than it was. 55:43 I--it was just like I knew it was waiting for 55:45 me when I woke up in the morning. 55:47 And so then I went to class and as soon as the class was getting 55:52 going, I asked the teacher if I could go get a drink of water, 55:55 and I went into the kitchen and I started 55:57 drinking some of the different cleaners. 55:59 And as I was there drinking the cleaners, choking on the 56:02 cleaners, just such an awful place to be in, 56:09 the chaplain--we have a very kind chaplain. 56:11 He flipped on the kitchen lights and he comes in 56:14 with his bright smile and he's like, "Heather." 56:16 He's like, "How are you doing today?" 56:18 And I'm like, you know, I'm killing myself. 56:22 And I look at his face and I can't 56:24 lie to him, such a kind man. 56:26 I just look at him and I just start sobbing. 56:29 And he just--he doesn't make a big deal. 56:32 He just kindly and sweetly helps pick me up off the floor and 56:36 walks me to his office and so he just--he talked to me. 56:40 I told him what I drank, and he called the ambulance. 56:42 After that hospital stay, you know, everybody was so scared 56:44 for me 'cause it was not expected at all. 56:47 But after that, somehow I knew that suicide was not an option 56:51 anymore, that I had closed that door. 56:53 Even though I still had that same pain and fear and I had no 56:55 idea how God's going to pick up the pieces, 56:57 and I still had to be honest with God. 56:58 I was like, "Okay, God, obviously You care, obviously. 57:01 I know that You spared my life. 57:03 And I don't have any idea how You're going 57:05 to help me fix this mess in my life." 57:07 But it was the beginning of me trusting Him again 57:10 and just shutting that door to suicide. 57:13 It's not ever been an option again. 57:16 God used Amazing Facts and Pastor Doug in a powerful way to 57:22 make His love for me, His soon Coming for me, and that He was 57:26 calling me to share that with others, real. 57:29 And it was making it personal, God's love for me, and that 57:33 was--really, that's a seed that I will--I'll never forget and 57:36 that I'm so grateful that my family didn't have to go through 57:39 the pain and the tragedy of me taking my life and that I have 57:43 the joy of being able to encourage 57:44 other people that there's always hope. 57:48 Amazing Facts just changed my life. 57:50 I am so grateful for their ministry. 57:53 It's a precious blessing. 57:55 ♪♪♪ 58:05 ♪♪♪ 58:13 ♪♪♪ 58:23 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2022-03-10