Doug Batchelor - Times of Loss (Sabbath School Study Hour)

[Music] every now and then the panorama of history we hear about individuals that go from the lowest depths to the highest pinnacles they emerge from the shackles of prison to lead and inspire a nation take Joseph for instance he sold by his brothers as a slave then falsely accused and thrust into prison yet through a series of divine circumstances he miraculously goes from the prison to the palace ruling the ones who once imprisoned him sound far-fetched it's happened in history more than you think South Africa is the home of just such a leader Nelson Mandela worked tirelessly to establish peace and freedom in his country and his influence was felt around the world before freedom there must be forgiveness like Joseph who was unjustly accused for a crime he did not commit Nelson Mandela was accused of terrorism and sentenced to life in prison on Robben Island he was often exposed to cruel punishment and abuse but even in the midst of apparent failure in discouragement he never lost heart he never gave him after years in prison a growing number of supporters rallied for his release and eventually took place and God used him so that he was instrumental in helping to abolish racial segregation in the country of South Africa incredibly he now was virtually the absolute leader in the country that had imprisoned him he had all of the tools and the power at his disposal to get even with the prison guards and others that had mistreated him instead Mandela chose forgiveness it reminds me of that verse in the Bible in the Fijians chapter 4 verse 32 let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and wailing be put away from you with all malice and be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving each other even as God also in Christ forgave you I'm so thankful the Nelson Mandela like Joseph chose to forgive those who are once his enemies and to serve his nation with love and you can find a number of examples of this happening in the Bible you have Daniel who is a captor from the land of Judah and yet God arranged things where he becomes a prime minister in the kingdom of Babylon you have Esther who is a poor orphan girl in Persia and yet God worked Kings out where she becomes the queen of that country the book of jeremiah ends with an incredible story of a young king named awakens who is in the babylonian dungeon for 37 years and then King evil Murdock has mercy on him and he has a new status going from the prison to the palace this is what the Lord wants to do for you and me friends he gives you the bread of life he gives you the robe of Jesus righteousness he gives you a seat at his table if you accept his forgiveness and you're willing to pass it on you and I can live and reign with Christ wouldn't you like that experience [Music] good morning friends welcome to Sabbath school study hour here at the Granite Bay seventh-day Adventist Church it's part of what we call Sabbath school and I'd like to welcome our online members our friends who are joining us across the country and around the world our extended study class as well as our regular members and visitors we're glad that you are with us today ready to study the next lesson in our series talking about the family for the last few weeks the last nine weeks we've been talking about family seasons that's our lesson quarterly today we find ourselves on lesson number nine entitled times of loss something that you know all families go through at one point or another and we'll be getting into our study in just a few moments we do have a free offer we'd like to let our friends know about a book that goes along with the theme of our study this morning it's entitled when the brook dries up why do Christians suffer this our free offer if you'd like to receive this book all you'll need to do is give us a call the number is 866 seven eight eight three nine six six and ask for offer number one seven one or you can send us a text and we'll be able to send you a digital copy of the book if you could text the code sh zero seven four two the number four zero five four four and then you'll be able to get a download of the book when the brook dries up and I think you'll find this encouraging I know every person every family goes through times of loss and that's a great encouragement well before we get to our study this morning we'd like to invite our song leaders to come forward and they'll be leading us in our worship music today [Music] you at home I invite you to pull out your hymnal so we are gonna sing hymn 474 take the name of Jesus with you we're gonna sing all four verses and I hope that that's what you are doing every single day is taking the name of Jesus to a dying world [Music] [Music] take the name of Jesus with child [Music] it will join up again [Music] precious me [Music] Oh if temptation [Music] freshest man Oh [Music] [Applause] ah sweet house [Music] precious man oh sweet oh thanks [Music] oh my god you see [Music] oh boy [Music] amen Thank You song Li this for opening our time of study with song let's bow hits for a word of Prayer your father wants to give me a grateful that we have this opportunity to gather to give in your house open up your word and study a topic that father we know you familiar with that of loss you gave your only begotten Son and as we talk about different experiences that families go through that individuals go through we ask for the Holy Spirit to come and guide us thank you that you've promised to be our comforter in whatever trial a person might be going through we asked us all in Jesus name Amen as mentioned little earlier before our song our topic today is dealing with loss when families go through loss and pastor Doug will be joining me I guess we gonna be doing this together pastor Doug studying together morning everyone how are you happy Sabbath that you mentioned the offer already I did you did okay I guess that wasn't paying attention well good to see each of you we're dealing with lesson number nine in our study on family seasons and it's talking about when you have times of loss in the family we have a memory verse that comes to us from Philippians chapter three verse eight this is in the New King James Version if you want to locate that you can either read it right there out of your quarterly or in your Bibles Philippians 3 verse 8 are you ready like you to say it with me yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I might gain Christ you know if you live long enough you are going to experience some element of suffering or loss in your family and the Bible gives us some guidance on how we can cope with those times some of you chances are many who are listening now if not here certainly those who are joining us online have experienced different elements of loss now I'm actually gonna start with a verse you might be surprised in Matthew 25 verse 35 this isn't in the lesson but it kind of gives a a backdrop Matthew 25:35 Christ says in the great Judgment Day he'll separate the sheep from the goats and he'll say in essence I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you took me in I was naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me and in all of these passages he's basically describing some form of suffering and then he says in as much as he did it to the least of these my brethren you did it to me God wants us to care for those who are suffering around us and in those six categories that are mentioned you can sort of define all the suffering of life if you live long enough at some point you'll get sick I remember meeting one or two people in my life that said I have never been sick a day in my life I never missed a day of school I never missed a day of work because of sickness and I just really was angry with him that day they never had that but in most people's lives there's gonna be some sickness that will come there will be loss you know unfortunately in the course of life as time goes by you may have to bury your parents you may have to stand by the grave of a sibling you may have to god forbid stand by the grave of a child a spouse in it's sort of in the course of events that these things happen there's accidents or sickness how do we as Christians in our families deal with these different kinds of loss you know the Bible begins by describing a beautiful paradise God created the world was perfect he created a beautiful garden created Adam and Eve the garden was their home and then after Sun comes to the picture suddenly we begin to see loss Adam and Eve lost access to the Tree of Life they lost their robes of light they I ended up losing the garden they ended up losing a son as a result of murder and then eventually as time went on we don't know who died first but whether it was Adam only Eve we're not sure but they lost their spouse and so the Bible begins by revealing to us the consequences of sin or one of those consequences is that we live in a world where there is loss where there is sorrow and yet at the very beginning when we begin to read about loss we also read about hope and the promise of a redeemer and the promise that one day God is gonna make all things new yeah when man was evicted from the garden he lost access to the Tree of Life and then he lost his vitality and began to die I'm sure there are some herbalists out there that would love to find out what was that essence that was in The Tree of Life bottle it and sell it you'll make a lot of money a lot of people claim they found it but I've not really found any of them to be telling the truth but the Bible then tells us in a first three chapters they lose the Tree of Life they lose their life their vitality the last three chapters of the Bible that tree is restored and eternity and paradise are restored so the Bible talks about tremendous loss and then it ends with tremendous restoration which is the good news and then we have some examples maybe pastor Russell read the first one loss of health you have some examples and it takes one story from a mark five oh why don't you read 22 to 24 mark chapter 5 starting in verse 22 it's a familiar story it says behold one of the rulers of the synagogue came gyruss by name and when he saw him that's Jesus he fell at his feet and he begged him earnestly saying my little daughter lies at the point of death come and lay your hand on her that she might be healed and she shall live so Jesus went with him and a great multitude followed him and thronged him yeah that that's about the hardest thing that anyone could experience is to watch your children suffer and especially suffer at the point of breath you're wondering if one of those wrath is going to be their last you know Ellen White had four boys two did not survive to adulthood and she describes the incredible suffering I mean here's a believer I thought that believers you're not supposed to have those kind of experiences that God is gonna set angels about your children and I'll never get sick and they'll never have an accident but Bible doesn't teach it this is a leader of the synagogue and he seems to be a good man and he's got a daughter at the point of death and then on the way to resurrect are on the way to heal her daughter Jesus has stopped because he's being wronged by this crowd very quickly I'll throw in this story and then I'll have you read the remaining verses there you remember this woman who had been bleeding for 12 years she came and she stopped him and she touched him and Jesus paused and he explained that your faith has made you whole and she rehearses the story and it's you know a wonderful example of of healing but right after he heals that woman who had been bleeding for 12 years someone then comes to Jarius furious dryest that said both ways and says don't trouble the master anymore your daughter's dead so you can imagine his devastation and matter of fact I'm jumping into those verses I'll let you read him yes it starts in verse 35 still in mark chapter 5 it says while he was still speaking some came from the ruler synagogue the ruler of the synagogue's house and said your daughter is dead why trouble trouble the teacher any further as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken he said to the ruler of the synagogue do not be afraid only believe and he permitted no one to follow him except Peter James and John the brother of James then he came to the house of the rule of the synagogue he saw a tumult and this were those who wept and wailed loudly then he came in he said to them why make you this commotion and weep the child is not dead but sleeping and they ridiculed him but when he had put them all outside he took the father and the mother of the child and those who were with him he entered into the child where the child was lying then he took the child by the hand and said to her tell us her Kumi which translated means little girl I say to you arise immediately the girl arose and walked for she was 12 years of age and they were overcome with great amazement but he commanded them strictly that no one should know it and said that something should be given to her to eat now I have to guard myself here that I just don't launch off into a sermon because this is a this is a sermon right here waiting to be preached but I should probably just say what does sleep represent biblically jesus said our friend Lazarus sleeps and what did he mean by that he's dead so this girl was dead Jesus called it asleep now if you are a believer and you lose a child especially if they die before the age of accountability how should you look upon that child's death are they dead or are they sleeping until the resurrection so that's one lesson we could learn and Jesus can raise those who are sleeping the other thing is that he was tempted to be discouraged by the friends and family at the funeral have you ever noticed sometimes friends at the funeral don't always say the most sensitive things and even family members and Jesus put them all out he said look you need to look to me in this time of grieving and have faith that I am still with you and of course he works in Marilyn he raises as a little girl I also think it's interesting that you have a woman who is bleeding for 12 years and in the same and she is embedded in the story of a young girl who is 12 years old and I've always seen in that story you've kind of got a overview of the plan of salvation the Old Testament you've got God's church with a continual flow of sacrificial blood but they're not healed by the blood of animals and then you've got this girl who's 12 years old 12 is a number for the church revelation 12 not that the chapter means anything you got a woman with 12 stars above her head she's a symbol for God's church new jerusalem 12 foundations 12 gates Tree of Life 12 times of fruit 12 times a year that's a church and so here you've got like the New Testament church is that girl he resurrects her it gives her something to eat the New Testament church is born with a resurrection of Christ and then he opens the word gives her somebody and so this story has got a much deeper meaning but I think it's also there just tell us that Jesus is there with us to comfort us he says do not weep he's trying to comfort them during this time of tremendous loss now again another story I don't know if you want to be another one also related to Jesus performing a miracle this time healing and this is not occurring with a Jew but it's rather interesting a woman that Jesus encounters when he leaves the territory that was occupied by the Jews and as far as we know he went up into this area and performed this one miracle and then returned back home it's the only thing that we know of that Jesus did when he went up there and you'll find the story in Matthew chapter 15 and it starts in verse 21 I'll just read a few of these verses and then pastor that you can expound on that a little bit it says then Jesus went out from there and he departed into the region of Tyre and Sidon or Sidon and behold a woman of Cana came from the region and cried unto him saying have mercy on me O Lord son of David my daughter severely demon-possessed but he answered her not a word and his disciples came and urged him saying send her away for she cries out after us but jesus answered and said I have not been sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel then she came and worshiped him saying yes Lord but she said even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table then jesus answered and said to her o woman great is your faith let it be to you as you desire and her daughter was healed from that very hour yeah now that's that's a difficult story because you know most of the time when Jesus someone asked Jesus for help he helps him here this woman is pleading behalf of her daughter who's terribly harassed by a devil and he said it's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs have you ever wondered sometimes why the Lord doesn't seem to answer your prayer right away why did he give such a harsh answer to her first of all I think that he's trying to teach the disciples a lesson because the disciples believe that Gentiles were dogs you remember that the the poor man was at the rich man's door begging to be fed with the crumbs that fell from his table and the dogs came and licked his sores and in New Jerusalem says outside of the dog say though he's thought that the unbelievers the the pagans the Gentiles were the dogs and and so Jesus is giving her an answer the way the religious leaders would have answered her and he wanted to show the disciples for one thing he's testing her faith he's also wanting to show the disciples how harsh their view is and he said no it's not appropriate to take the children's food and give it to the dogs I'm only sent to the house of Israel but one more thing I just got to interject here Jesus like Elijah do you know Elijah went and stayed with a widow in tyre and sidon and he worked a miracle of a resurrection here Jesus makes his one trip outside of the territory of Israel and he performs a miracle for this woman for her child as well so he's doing kind of the work Elijah did showing that his ministry also is going to go to the Gentiles but does the Lord always answer our prayers the first prayer he gave her an answer she could have thrown up her hands and said I'm going home but she persisted when you're interceding for your loved ones don't be discouraged don't lose faith you're praying for your children you may have to pray for years praying for a spouse or parent or sibling or somebody that doesn't know the Lord they seem to be spiritually harassed or maybe they're struggling persistent prayer plead after Jesus he she would not be discouraged by his answer she said yes Lord but even the little dogs here she says puppies eat the crumbs give us some crumbs and Jesus said a woman great as your faith you know a couple of times Christ commends people for their great faith and their Gentiles you remember the Centurion said you don't even need to come to my house he said he paused he marveled what great faith and this woman said yeah but you can at least give us some crumbs he says what great faith so sometimes the Lord tests us because he's looking for what strengthened our faith by delay don't be discouraged if your prayers are not answered right away sometimes your faith grows muscles don't grow overnight it usually takes time have anything to add to that I just can also add that it's interesting that you find in these examples is that you have the parent interceding on behalf of that child well how true that is in a spiritual sense I'm sure there's many times where parents intercede for the health of their children but how much more is that where parents are interceding for the spiritual health of the human and the lesson is we are not to give up right we are to be persistent in bringing our prayer requests before the Lord not that God is unwilling to answer it but our faith needs to grow we need to grasp a hold of that wonderful promise and cling to it some important lessons there well we have another story dealing with the subject of sickness and family loss and a miracle that Jesus performed this is in Luke chapter 4 verse 38 it says now he arose from the synagogue and he entered into Simon's house but Simon's wife's mother was sick with the fever and they made the request of him concerning her so he stood over her and rebuked the fever and a lifter and immediately she arose and served them you know I find it interesting in this story we have Jesus calling the first disciples this is right at the beginning of Christ's public ministry and here Peter is and Christ has called him to give up his fishing for fish and come be a Fisher of men Oh Peter might have thought well Lord what about my family how I'm gonna provide for those who are dependent upon him and I think in this miracle where jesus healed Peters mother-in-law crisis illustrating the truth that if God calls us to a special work or service for him he's very aware of the needs of our family and our those who are dependent upon us and he will provide for the needs not only for our needs but also for our loved ones and so there's comfort and encouragement I think in that story yeah this also is a reminder p-peter had invited Jesus to stay in his house if Jesus is in your house it's to Jesus advantage to heal the people in the house why did he heal her I shouldn't suggest why he held her but you notice after he healed her she served him as as soon as she was healed she got up and served why does God heal us so we can serve Him and so if you if you want healing then invite the Lord into your house into your heart your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and then be willing to use your healing to serve Him some people say Lord heal me heal me heal me I can't enjoy my sin anymore I'm sick I mean really that's the you know a lot of people that are out there when they're sick they're not serving the Lord they're sick and I want healing but why do they want healing so they can enjoy sin again and that's not why we should pray for healing we should say Lord I want to be healed so I can serve you now here's something tough would you ask Lord to make you sick if it would glorify him some people glorify God through their health some people glorify God through their sickness God told Peter Paul when he prayed so I've got this thorn that's tormenting me lord please heal me I mean your Paul prayed and other people were healed but he had something and three times God said no my strength is made perfect in weakness you're gonna glorify me better through your sickness or through your malady whatever it was and before we move on to the next section which is Monday's lesson talking about loss of trust just one additional point we need to keep him in perspective the suffering that we go through I know it's difficult when we go through suffering but we want to keep that in perspective I remember my father a number of years ago had a very serious illness and at the time it didn't look very promising we had a special anointing service for him and during this time we were praying and a church was praying and he had a dream and in the dream he saw himself standing on a DC Shore and he was holding in his hand a glass and it was filled with water but then he noticed to crack down the side of the glass and some of the water was coming out of the crack and in his mind he felt as though the water was his life and the crack was there and the water was running out as if his life is just you know going away and he's trying to stop somehow the water from coming from the glass and then he had an impression in his dream to look up and he looked up and he saw the ocean spread out before him and the conviction came to him you are so worried about this little bit of life that you have right here trying to protect it but God has an eternity in store for you and it brought a degree of peace knowing that yes God does have things in control this world and this life is not all we have but if our faith is in Jesus there is hope for something much better and I think it's Christians we need to keep that in mind it gives us perspective amen good point um next section is loss of trust and this is difficult but does the Bible tell us that sometimes there are there's loss in trust in families a sense of betrayal yeah you can look at a number of examples about this matter of fact you've got loss of trust part 1 a loss of trust part 2 I almost feel like I need to go to loss of trust part 2 start with that and go back to the solutions which are in part 1 what happened to Joseph not Joseph the mother or the father of Jesus I'm talking about Joseph the son of Jacob was he betrayed by his family and was there a loss of trust and can that be difficult you can read here in Genesis chapter 37 you wanna read that pastor Ross Genesis chapter 37 starting verse 27 it says come let us sell him this is his desire this is the Brothers of Joseph come later selling to the Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him for he is our brother in our flesh and his brothers listened then the Midianite trade is passed by so the brothers pull Joseph up and lifted him up out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 12 shekels of silver and they took Joseph to Egypt wouldn't experience being first of all grabbed by your brother's thrown in the pit you hear them conspiring to put you to death and then you get dragged out and gets sold as a slave from your brothers talk about betrayal yeah and they took the money and probably wasted it you can spend it on something foolish and he lost his freedom not only did he end up becoming a slave he spent years in prison now how would you be feeling during those times would you be brooding over how to get even with your brothers would you be wishing bad things and wrath to come down upon them how did Joseph end up responding well he kind of tested his brothers but did he forgive them now Matthew chapter 6 now I'm going back to loss of trust part 1 Matthew 6:14 if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if you do not forgive men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses so one of the keys is we've got to practice forgiveness a this can be tough when Jacob stole his brothers birthright we were just talking about these things in our / meeting during the week what was he saw his initial reaction he was ready to take his brother's life wanted to kill him at first and he probably thought that for years but finally when Jacob came home and Jacob was wrestling with the angel and praying I think some angel went and talked to Esau and then Jacob sent all of these gifts to show he was sorry that he wasn't coming to take his father's inheritance he had plenty and it finally softened Esau his heart and they embraced each other you know pastor like I like the responses with and this I think he's just so powerful to give us a perspective of a person that has hope and faith in Christ after the death of Joseph father Jacob the brothers this is still in Egypt they began to think about what they're done and they got a little nervous thinking now that Jacob is gone probably if Joseph's gonna take revenge on us it's going to be now so they came very humbly before Joseph bowing before him and basically asking for mercy and Joseph says no you know they they say please don't take revenge and I'm paraphrasing and I like the response of Joseph he says you intended it for evil but God intended it for good to save life and of course it was through Joseph that his family's life was spared and that's Joseph's perspective he had given his life to God he trusted in God and that God would work things out and at the end there's no hostility between Joseph and his brothers but he genuinely forgives them I think that can only really happen if we genuinely understand God's forgiveness of us that we're able to forgive up this yeah Joseph even wept when they came to him he wept that they thought right that he would do something like that and that leads us to our gems 5 verse 16 confess your trespasses one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much and the word effective fervent is talking about ongoing prayer persistent prayer I won't ask you to raise your hands but have you known a family where people in the family don't talk to each other it's kind of sad isn't it my mother I can talk about them I guess respectfully now my mother and my grandmother did not talk for nine years I had an argument it's difficult to because my mom would send my brother and I to California from New York City to visit grandma and backing but she'd never communicate with her they had some argument about something yeah I didn't know what it was I really don't finally one day my brother got on the phone with Grandma and he said here talk to mom and he said he's like 11 years old and he thrust the phone over to my mother and she took the phone and they said a couple of grudging words and then all of a sudden it broke the ice they became good friends again but yeah you've probably known that family members they just can't forgive or you betrayed me or siblings they don't talk for years and now there may be cases let's suppose you're a believer and you got a family member that's not a believer and whenever you're with them they just to kill your faith and since almost impossible I've known cases where people have told me what the situation was they said you may need to just pray for them and decide that you've got to live a life without being involved in their life there are cases where it's just really hard to reconcile but you don't want to harbor any bitterness in your heart as far as possible especially if you're Christians you should try to be able to communicate and love each other you know past that I can remember we did a series of meetings it was Romania and you spoke on the subject of forgiveness if you remember that and afterwards somebody relayed the story that there was two brothers if I understand it correctly and a dad there and the father and one of the sons had not spoken for a very long time years they all claim to be Christians hadn't spoken for years went at the same church when at the same church you wonder how you could even do that but during this sermon on forgiveness their pastor was preaching somewhere along the line one of the brothers motioned to his brother and he said and he pointed to his father and he called dad and I guess I don't know yeah and there's an optimum how it worked out but I guess they finally decided to communicate finally yes and these are Christians so I mean I talk about Christians being loving and forgiveness forgiving that's that's something that I think especially needs to begin with families we need to be able to forgive and love our family what's the number one attribute of God God is love and we should have that love you're looking first John 4:18 it says there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment but he who fears has not been made perfect in love then you look in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32 and pastor Russell have you read a moment Colossians 3 verse 12 and 13 because they're similar Ephesians 4 verse 32 be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another just as God in Christ forgave you how do we forgive each other the way God forgives us that's pretty complete forgiveness but he's saying that how merciful has God been with you sit on if you want to keep his forgiveness you got to pass it on we find something similar in Colossians chapter 3 verse 12 and 13 therefore as the elect of God he's talking to the church holy and beloved put on tender mercies kindness humility meekness long-suffering bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another even as Christ forgave you so you also must do now of course that can be a tall order especially if you've been deeply hurt by a family member or a close friend and it does require prayer and time of healing but that's what God wants us to do he wants to give us the Grace and the ability to forgive now when we talk about forgiving someone it doesn't mean that you've heard the saying forgive and forget well that's not always the case I mean sometimes things have been done that you just can't forget but in forgiving someone you're letting it go you're not brooding you're not thinking on it you're not allowing it to to eat you up in the inside you've you've turned it over to the Lord and you've forgiven them and then if they don't respond if they don't give back that forgiveness you leave with the Lord as far as you're concerned you want to have peace as far as possible yeah usually you're doing your part part of the reason you forgive them is not just for them it's for you because the bitterness hurts you he who practices vengeance digs two graves I you know one for your enemy and one for yourself and so can you think of some examples in the Bible of family feud's who is the man after God's own heart in the Bible David did he have any problems in the family did he have a son that wanted to kill him what was the what was the final attitude of David towards Absalom who wanted to kill him he said deal gently with a young man Absalom and when he died he wept for him he didn't say good riddance and so he had that love that look at that a patient love of a father for a son that wants to kill you I mean that's pretty it tells us something about the love of God just kind of add to that even though we fighting the Bible some terrible accounts of family feud's we can also see in the Bible opportunities of restoration and healing even through some very difficult experiences and times the one that I like particularly is the one we were already referenced with reference to Joseph forgiving his brothers I think that's a beautiful demonstration of God's love and his ability to restore and make whole and we have many other examples where yes a relationships were strained but God was still able to work through that experience yeah and then you've got another example going back to where it says loss of trust continued one of David's sons Amnon abused his half-sister Tamar which was the full sister of Absalom that caused all kinds of problems eventually Absalom killed Amnon and I you just look at some of it yeah I mean it doesn't get any more serious than that just some of the terrible things that you saw happen in families and I've had people I've preached on sermons the sermon I've got on forgiveness I I preached frequently if I go to a new place and do a revival because I find it's just it's such a sensitive in a necessary subject but then people come to me after when they said well pastor Doug I surely God doesn't expect me to forgive if you knew what my father and my mother did to me and then I'll hear these horrific stories and I'll say well look at Manasseh I don't know who's Manasseh in our lesson yeah you can read about M&S it says in verse 2nd Kings chapter 21 he made his son pass through the fire he practiced suits saying use witchcraft consulted spiritualist and mediums did much evil in sight of the Lord to anger sacrifice his children to pagan gods I mean that would be the unpardonable sin you'd think but was Manasseh forgiven that's inconceivable you and I we could never do that but you doesn't mean you need to ever submit to you know if you've got a parent or some somebody that was abusive you don't have to put yourself under that abuse anymore but you must say our Lord I'm gonna let it I mean didn't Jesus say Father forgive them when they were nailing him that's hard Stephen said Lord don't lay this sin to their charge when they were stoning him you know I remember there was a story and I was just a kid made an impression upon my mind there was an old man that was getting baptized one when Sabbath in church and just before the pass that did the baptism he said pastor could I just say something to the congregation and the pastor said yes and I remember he looked out and he's wife was sitting in the front and he said brethren I want you to know and the reason I'm getting baptized today is because of the godly example of my wife he said for all these years I have been such just a terror to live with he says i mocked oh I made fun of her I've verbally abused her but her devotion her faith her prayers the Lord got through to me and changed my heart and of course she's sitting there in tears running down her face he said the reason I am getting baptized is because of what my wife has done her godly example so I was impressed with that power of forgiveness even though it took a long time her faithful example and her prayers the Holy Spirit is able to change this hardened man's heart and there was a remarkable change that he went through and he was just a kind of loving person after that so yes God can change the hearts we want to be faithful in demonstrating his love and grace that's right it says I think it's first Peter chapter three that the unbelieving husband can be converted by the consistent Christian behavior of the wife that's a paraphrase and Verte works both ways by the way all right we're gonna jump down to the section under loss of freedom you know I started out saying I was in prison and you visited me some people you've got the family members and there's those who are imprisoned by habits and addiction and what if you've got someone in the family that struggles with an addiction second Peter chapter 2 verse 19 while they promise them Liberty they themselves are slaves of corruption by whom a person is overcome by him also he is brought into bondage I don't know if you want to read the next verse pastor oh yes Luke chapter 16 verse 13 Jesus put this wases no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God and Mammon all right well some people are addicted to money some are addicted to drugs you can't have two masters story you just told a minute ago about that that husband and wife made me think of one there was a woman missus years ago in the Midwest somewhere and she had a husband with a terrible drinking problem and he would frequently come home drunk he bring his friends over he'd say woman make us some food and she'd get up and she'd cook for me she's very kind very patient very loving and she put up with this behavior that you know nobody would expect a wife to put up with him and he would always wake her up and bring his friends home and he was drunk and he was yelling and and one day after his friends left and she was cleaning up because he had woken her up in the middle of the night to fix him something to eat he started crying and she said why he said well why are you she said to her husband why are you crying and he said why are you so good to me he says I'm so mean to you I'm so bad and make fun of your religion I come over with my friends they make a mess of the place you clean it up you never complain and she put her hand on her husband's shoulder and she said look she says I'm a Christian I have eternal life she says you're not you don't she's the only happiness you're gonna have is in this life I'm trying to make you as happy as I can for the little time you've got and he was so moved by that that he gave up his drinking and became a Christian you know there's hope even if you are in a situation where maybe there is a family member that is striving with some kind of addiction with its alcohol or whatever it might be the bible does promise that in Christ we can have freedom of course there's a choice involved we have to choose Romans chapter 6 starting verse 16 says do you not know that to whom you present yourself slaves to obey you are that one slave whom you obey whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness and then verse 17 goes like this but God be thanked that though you were the slaves of sin yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which you have which words delivered to you and having been set free from sin you have become the slaves of righteousness so here Paul he's speaking to believers and he says you were slaves of sin but by faith you received the doctrine the truth the gospel now you have become slaves of righteousness God has given you the victory and of course that verse which is so precious Jesus says if the son sets you free you shall be what free indeed in Christ we are a new creation I mean I think for family members that might have somebody else in the family struggling with addiction let's never give up right let's keep praying let's be the best example we can be because God's arm is not shortened that he cannot save as the Bible says amen on that same theme Romans 6 said for he who has died has been freed from sin in other words when we are crucified with Christ he breaks the chains of slavery you've never seen a dead person be offended so many things that caused problems an offense and a family if we were crucified with Christ if you're dead you're freed then we're gonna we just got a few minutes we want to jump into the last section here loss of life and this is really a big thing that people struggle with you know I know in our midst today knowing the church family a lot of people here are lost loved ones some have lost of course siblings parents spouses and how do we deal with loss and you know that's especially painful when there's loss like this in a family and in John chapter 11 we read about Jesus had some dear friends a brother and two sisters Lazarus Mary Martha and it tells us that they send to Jesus had come our brother is sick heal him and Jesus got there too late and he died and they said Lord why did you let this happen you read where Mary is asking in verse 32 she came to where Jesus was and she saw him and fell down at his feet and said Lord if you'd been here my brother would not have died sometimes it's it's not you know the natural course maybe there's an accident or some unexpected sickness and you think why me why my family member why did this have to happen and we think does God still love us and it wounds our faith but how did Jesus restore the faith of Mary and Martha he perform a miracle and there's a resurrection you know the Bible says as Christians we do not sorrow as those that have no hope but what do you do I'm gonna ask something very difficult what do you do if you have loss of a family member and you question whether they were a believer or maybe they said they weren't how do you cope with that you know I think the only way you can is you identify with God who loves them even more than you do who is experiencing that loss with you and then you focus your attention on those who are saved who can be saved King David lost the son you know when Absalom I mentioned earlier killed Amnon David grieved for Amnon I mean here he's got the son that died at a feast drinking he had abused his sister Amnon did not die with a lot of promise that he would have eternal life and David wept and he wept and then finally he got up and he dusted himself off and he said he realized that Amnon was gone he decided to focus his attention on the ones who are alive and you know that's really the only thing you can do is just say this is a terrible loss well I agree forever or am I now gonna do what God doesn't direct my attention on reaching the ones for life now nobody knows another person's fate only God knows their heart right so there's that promise here and says we have this hope we hope as others we have hope unlike others the Bible says is this blessed hope we may be surprised so when you don't know you just have to put it in God's hands and say that you know there's a day coming when God's gonna dry the tears in the meantime we've got a work to do the Bible tells us in first Corinthians chapter 15 verse 26 that the last enemy that shall be destroyed is that death death of course is never God part of God's plan it's the consequences of sin yet we do have a promise that one day when Jesus comes there'll be no more pain no more sorrow no more death he'll make all things new often at a funeral at a graveside service we're standing there in the cemetery and me laying a loved one to rest and the family are weeping and yes it's a place of sadness without a doubt but I try to encourage believers that even though the cemetery is a place of sadness today one day when Jesus comes it's probably going to be one of the happiest places around because the dating Christ will rise first and we get to meet them in the air so even though there is sorrow and pain and death the Bible gives us hope and comfort and that of course is found in Jesus amen there's a good quote in a lesson it's from desire of Ages page 787 - the believer death is but a small matter to the Christian death is but asleep in a moment of silence and darkness the life is hid with Christ in God and when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory so I tell our friends that if they lose a loved one that's a believer you just have to look upon it as you've gone on a trip and you're gonna be you're reunited it's just longer than you had hoped but you will meet again and you'll meet again in much better circumstances and so that of course is that great blessed hope well I think we're about out of time pass for us you want to mention that yes we've got a great offer especially for those who are facing grief and all of us at some point go through loss or sorrow it is a book entitled when the brook dried up and the question is why do Christians suffer this is gonna be a free gift to anyone who will call and ask the number is eight six six seven eight eight three nine six six and you can ask for offer number 171 or you can send us a text you can text the code sh zero seven four two the number four zero five four four and we'll be able to send you a link is the way you can download the book when the brook dries up why do Christians suffer amen thank you very much friends we're glad you joined us those who are watching online god bless you we look forward to studying his word together again next week don't forget to request today's life-changing free resource not only can you receive this free gift in the mail you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or mobile device to get your digital copy of today's free gift simply text the keyword on your screen to four zero five four four or visit the web address shown on your screen and be sure to select a digital download option on the request page it's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with amazing facts wherever and whenever you want and most important to share it with others amazing facts change lives [Music] growing up as a kid my mother was on drugs and alcohol lots of fighting in the home my mom would be abused mentally verbally physically went from California to Oregon spent some time in Oregon and it was just the same cycle of drugs alcohol violence my mom's boyfriend would go to jail at times I should wait until he get out of jail and it was back to square one the drugs and alcohol escalated to a lot harder drugs crystal meth cocaine and lots and lots of alcohol so I started using the alcohol to as a medication it was like a to the misery and the fear that I had I wanted to drown all that misery time so I would just grab you know a bottle of beer and go out into the desert and just drink and sometimes I just passed out in the desert somewhere and wake up the next morning and you know and I just couldn't find rest my stepdad had got me a motorcycle and so I started riding motorcycles that drink a lot of beer get on the motorcycle ride into the desert do donuts and just throughout you know just ride on private property people had chased me off and I was just causing stirring up dust and rocks and just causing chaos and the adrenaline rush that I had was so exciting and the feeling of it was so intense that I loved it I forgot about all my problems you know at the moment and I thought that material things would make me feel feel so good you know and so I started working started making money had a responsibility but as time went by I had more money so I would you know use my money that I made to buy drugs and alcohol got pulled over drinking and driving ended up going to jail for a couple of days I lost my job because I missed work for a few days lost my girlfriend lost all the money that I had so once again I was empty no money no drugs no alcohol and that was a turning point in my life at this time I was living with my grandfather and as I was flipping through the channels on the satellite system I found amazing facts pastor Doug Batchelor was telling his sharing his testimony about how he was living in a cave and he was he struggled the same struggles of alcohol and drugs and I continued to read the book the richest caveman and it really impacted my life and really related to the things he was struggling with and all the events that took place in his life and when I started reading the Bible Philippians 4:13 says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me I recognized that I had no strength I was weak I was wretched and I needed help so I just asked the Lord I said just help me Lord and the Holy Spirit convicted me and I decided to be baptized to give my life to Jesus Christ a few years after the Lord took the temptation of drinking and doing drugs he gave me a beautiful wife I met at church now I have a beautiful baby boy 2 year old baby boy it's just exciting to see you know what God is doing in my life and and my family I met with some friends from my local church that I was attending and they had told me about amazing fact center of the evangelism training seminar the opcodes ago program really inspired me and motivated me to tell young people about you know the same struggles that I was struggling with to help these kids give your life to Jesus Christ and there's nothing else that you can ask I'm Justin and God use you to change my life [Music] you [Music]

Channel: SDA Burgas

Views: 17,039

Rating: 4.6222224 out of 5

Keywords: doug, batchelor, times, of, loss, sabbath, school, study, hour, sda, burgas, seventh, day, adventist, amazing, facts

Id: _PA6ixhht84

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Fri May 17 2019