CHRIST IN ALL THE BIBLE

A-    GENERAL REFERENCES TO CHRIST

1-      Of whom did Christ say the Scriptures testify?

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:39.

2-      Of whom did Moses and the prophets write?

“Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him. We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” John 1:45.

3-      From whose words did Christ say the disciples ought to have learned of His death and resurrection?

“O fools, and slow heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” Luke 24:25, 26.

4-      How did Christ make it clear to them that the Scriptures testify of Him?

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27.

5-      Where in the Bible do we find the first promise of a Redeemer?

“And the Lord God said unto the serpent…will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 2:14, 15.

6-      In what words was this promise renewed to Abraham?

“In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 22:18 – Genesis 26:4; 28:14.

7-      To whom did this promised seed refer?

“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not. And to seeds, as of many; but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Galatians 3:16.

B-    BIRTH, LIFE, SUFFERING, DEATH, RESURRECTION

8-      Where was the Saviour to be born?

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come froth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2.

9-      In what prophecy are Christ’s life, suffering, and death touchingly foretold?

In the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah.

10-  Where is the price of Christ’s betrayal foretold?

“So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.” Zachariah 11:12 – Matthew 26:15.

11-  Where in the Psalms are Christ’s dying words recorded?

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Psalm 22:1 – Matthew 27:46 – “Into thine hand I commit my spirit.” Psalm 31:5 – Luke 23:46.

12-  How is Christ’s resurrection foretold in the Psalms?

“For thou will not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” Psalm 16:10 – see Acts 2:25-31.

C-    CHRIST´S SECOND COMING AND KINGDOM

13-  In what words does Daniel foretell Christ’s receiving His kingdom?

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7: 13, 14.

14-  How is Christ’s second coming described in the Psalms?

“Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.” Psalm 98:8, 9.

“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.” Psalm 50:3, 4.

José Carlos Costa

FORGIVENESS

God’s act of forgiveness toward us is a one-time event. We ask once, he forgives, he forgets, and that’s the end of it. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Our forgiveness of others should be the same, but it’s not always easy. Sometimes forgiveness is a process that has to be repeated again and again.

Maybe as many as ten years ago—or even twenty—someone hurt you. You forgave them and, for all practical purposes, forgot about it…until something happened to re-open the wound. It could be a conversation, a circumstance, a chance event, or any number of other things that causes you to find yourself struggling again with unforgiveness. It’s not that you weren’t sincere in your first (or second, or third) attempt to forgive them, it’s just that the hurt will not go completely away.

A few years ago a business associate took advantage of me financially. I forgave him and made an effort to move on. Sometime last year, I was racing through an airport to make a connecting flight, and I saw him. He saw me, too, I’m sure, but he diverted his eyes and kept moving past me. All of a sudden the resentment from the past came rushing back. As I took my seat on the plane, I realized I would repeat the process of forgiving this person, or it would nag at me for the rest of the day—or maybe even the rest of the month.

I have no doubt I was sincere in my desire to forgive him completely. But sometimes the bonds of bitterness aren’t easily broken. Sometimes we have to forgive someone again and again before it is settled completely in our own mind.

Jesus told Peter that we are to forgive our brother “seventy-times-seven.” I always assumed he was referring to “seventy-times-seven” separate offenses. The fact is he could have been referring to a single event.

Don’t let past hurts hold you back. Reliving the pain from last month, or last year, or your previous church, or from junior high, isn’t worth the price you have to pay. It keeps you from focusing on what God has called you to do today: serve him with joy, and love him with all your heart.

TRUTH BY THE HAND OF GOD

The Exodus movement, during which the Israelites travelled from Egypt to Canaan, is a type of modern spiritual Israel, an is intended by God to teach us valuable lessons. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-10 Paul mentions some of the incidents of the journey. Then he draws this conclusion: “All these things that happened to them were symbolic, and were record for our benefit as a warning. For upon us the fulfilment of the ages has come” verse 11). The Advent Movement is a counterpart of the Exodus movement. It has a revelation of truth, by the hand of God, appropriate for this end-time.

Today it is easy to believe that God was in the Exodus movement. Anyone who accepts the Bible record is bound to admit this. We know that God led the Israelite by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. We know that that movement finally carried the people of God triumphantly into the Land of Promise.

Can we be sure that the present Advent Movement is as truly led of God as was the Exodus movement? Can we be certain that the God of heaven is leading this movement today and that it will complete its journey into the heavenly Canaan, as the Exodus movement ended in the earthly Canaan?

These are important questions. To answer them let us compare the two movements, and if we find the latter has parallels with the former we shall have ground for adherence to the Advent Movement.

Let us first compare the fundamental purpose of each movement. Why did God call Israel from Egypt to be a separate people?

“He brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: and gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws” (Ps. 105:43-45). God’s major desire was to develop an obedient people – a people through whom He could make known the principles of the truth to the rest of the world.

Similarly, He has called spiritual Israel to be obedient to His laws. The call of God is for His people to come out of Babylon, that we “be not partakers of her sins” (Rev. 18:4). “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). And, as previously noted, when, in the prophecies of Revelation, God refers to the last-day people, He points to them as keeping His commandments (Revelation 12:17; 14:12). So, on this point, we can drive down a stake to indicate that both movements began with the same divine objective.

In connection with the call from Egypt, God tested His people on the point of the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath (Exodus 16:4, 5, 26). The test was given in connection with food, called manna that God miraculously provide for the Israelites in the wilderness. This manna was provided for the Israelites in the wilderness. This manna was provided daily but would not keep overnight. However, God instructed them to gather extra for the Sabbath each Friday. Then, on the Sabbath none came, and that which was held over did not spoil. The record tells us that they made the necessary preparations on Friday and kept the seventh day holy, proving they were obedient to God. (Exodus 16:22-25). Those who did not make the preparation on the sixth day broke God’s holy Sabbath by going out hoping to find manna on the seventh day (Exodus 16:27, 28).

So today God is calling a people out of Babylon and asking them to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. The Israelite had practically lost sight of God’s holy Sabbath during their stay in Egypt. So today nearly all the Lord’s professed people have lost sight of the true Sabbath.

Nearly all Christians acknowledge the validity of nine commandments of the Decalogue, but many find excuses to avoid keeping the seventh day required by the fourth commandment. Thus the fourth commandment becomes a test. It becomes a test because it is one of the Ten Commandments. God still requires it to be kept, and, therefore, when people understand this, they show their attitude to God by their attitude to the fourth commandment.

In the Revelation 14 prophesies God’s last invitation and warning for the world, found in a message borne by three symbolic angels, Revelation 14:9-11. carry the warning that anyone who receives the mark of the beast will “drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” Adventists understand the mark to be not a literal brand on the forehead or hand but some sign of allegiance to the power symbolized by the beast.

Because the prophesied struggle revolves around God’s law. Particularly the fourth commandment, Adventists understand that Sunday will be that sign. The Sabbath is the sign of allegiance to God (Eze. 20:12). The issue will be the keeping of the  Sabbath, or seal or mark of God, versus the receiving of the mark of the beast. The people of the world will decide their eternal destiny in the setting of this issue.

Ancient Israel was tested on the point of the Sabbath, and God’s last Israel, His church, will be tested on the same point. And as Israel was distinguished from the surrounding nations by the keeping of the Sabbath, so God’s faithful ones in the last days will be distinguished in the same manner.

Ancient Israel came out of Egypt at the time appointed by God. He appointed that 430 years from the time Abraham left Haran to go into Canaan his descendants, the Israelites, would leave Egypt to go into Canaan (see Gal. 3:16,17). Did this come true? The record says, “If came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12:41). The Exodus movement began at  the time appointed by the Lord.

The Advent Movement began in 1844 at the time God had previously appointed, as revealed to Daniel the prophet (see Daniel 8:13,14). In chapter six we say that this prophecy began in 457 a.c. and ended in A.D. 1844. This latter years was the very time the Advent Movement was born. And it came into being as a result of a group of Bible students examining the subject of the cleansing of the sanctuary prophesied in Daniel 8.

Seventh-day Adventists did not originate as an offshoot from some other religious body. They did not begin because some men wanted to start a new denomination. God raised up the Adventist people to proclaim His threefold message to all the people in the world in fulfilment of His last-day message of Revelation 14:6-12.

Note a number of ways in which the Advent movement is God’s counterpart to His Exodus movement:

1-      God unfolded to the Israelites the message of salvation as typified by the earthly sanctuary (see Ex. 25:8; Heb. 8:4,5). He raised up the Advent people and gave them an understanding of the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb.8:1-3).

2-      God gave Israel the Ten Commandments as His supreme law of righteousness (Ex. 20:1-17), based on love to God with all the heart (Deut. 6:5). This same law, as interpreted by the Lord Jesus (Matt. 22:36-40) and coupled with the true faith in Jesus (Rev. 14:12), is the foundation of Adventism.

3-      God gave the Israelite the tithing system as a means for supporting His ministers (Num. 18:21; Lev. 27:30-33). The same divine financial plan is followed in the Advent Movement.

4-      The Exodus movement had the spirit of prophecy connected with it: “By a prophet (Moses; Ps. 77:20) the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved” (Hosea 12:13). The remnant church that keeps God`s commandments has the same gift (Rev. 12:17; 19:10).

5-      The Exodus movement was an organized movement. It had companies of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands (Deut. 1:15). Then there were the seventy elders – a sort of Supreme Court for making decisions on important questions (Num. 11:16, 17, 24, 25). The Advent Movement is similarly organized. It has local churches, local conferences, union conferences, division conferences, and the General Conference.

6-      The Israelites had the seventh-day Sabbath as the sign of the only true God, the Creator of heaven an earth (Ex. 20:8-11; 31:16, 17; Eze. 20:20), and also as a sign of sanctification (Ex. 31:13; Eze. 20:12). Similarly, Adventist uphold the same Saturday Sabbath as the sign of Jesus as the Creator and Sanctifier (Col. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:2).

In this time of uncertainty many people are foundering in perplexity and confusion. But God has given us in His Word evidences by which we may know where to find a star and an anchor. He has His people who are following the Star, and who have the Anchor. That Star, that Anchor, is Jesus Christ and His truths revealed in the Word.

The Advent Movement is looking to that Star an is stabilized by that Anchor. Is you, reader, have not set your sights on the Star. If you, reader, have not set your sights on the Star, if you have not found that Anchor for your lives, we invite you to carefully study the Guiding Principles at the end of this book, comparing them with your Bible, prayerfully, with open heart and mind. And let the Holy Spirit lead you.

 

Why did God allow ADAM and EVE to be Tempted?

Short Description: Why does God allow temptation? Dwight Nelson: Do you ever suspect that life is a one-sided game run by some invisible mastermind? That you're merely a pawn on His chess board, moved around by His will and His whim, without any real choice of your own? Do we really have free choice? Are we merely passive little puppets with God pulling all the strings? Today we're going to take a closer look at that matter of our free will and see if we can get off this chess board. Welcome to The Evidence. I'm Dwight Nelson. Okay, here's the picture from the first chapter of Genesis. God creates Adam and Eve, He puts them in the Garden of Eden, and He forbids them to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then He allows them to be tempted. As a God who sees the end from the beginning, He had to know what would happen. Did He purposely set them up for a fall? Were they bound to eat the forbidden fruit? Did they have a choice? Did they have free will or were they being manipulated by God's sovereign will? Theologians have devoted entire books to questions like these, and we've got only a half hour in The Evidence to wrestle with that question. But I'm grateful that joining me to help us think through this issue is Dr. Jean Sheldon from Pacific Union College up in northern California. Jean, nice to have you here. Dr. Jean Sheldon: Thank you, Dwight. Dwight Nelson: This is the six-million-dollar question. God, all-knowing as He is, sees the future, knows that Adam and Eveare going to crash and burn, why did He even bother creating them? Dr. Jean Sheldon: Well, it seems to me in order to understand that question -- and it is the most important and probably the most difficult question to answer in the universe, but in order to do that we need to lay everything out on the table, because God is more than just foreknowledge. He has power, foreknowledge, and moral character. Now, power is something that's very important and we tend to think about God in terms of being all-powerful. Dwight Nelson: He can do it all. Dr. Jean Sheldon: He can do it all. Dwight Nelson: Yeah, everything. Dr. Jean Sheldon: And He knows it all, the idea that He knows it all, and then moral character. But when we talk-- Dwight Nelson: When you say moral character, what do you mean? Dr. Jean Sheldon: Moral character -- meaning that what drives God may not be power, may not be foreknowledge-- Dwight Nelson: But some ideal? Dr. Jean Sheldon: But may be the way He is, and in terms of love, in terms of truth, honesty, and in terms of freedom. Dwight Nelson: Okay. Dr. Jean Sheldon: And if that's the case, maybe it complicates the picture somewhat. Dwight Nelson: So God has all those three, power-- Dr. Jean Sheldon: Foreknowledge. Dwight Nelson: Foreknowledge, moral character, and He still creates Adam and Eve knowing they're going to crash and burn? Dr. Jean Sheldon: Right. Dwight Nelson: So what's going on? Dr. Jean Sheldon: Well, it seems to me that if His ultimate goal is to not have beings that are programmed but freely love Him, then perhaps what drives Him then, as I said, is His character and that controls His power and His foreknowledge. Dwight Nelson: So, what part of His character is controlling this? I mean, what's at work here? He has a tree. I mean,we have the story. He has a tree. He says, don't go to the tree. What's He doing? It's like telling a child, you know, I have two kids, and when they were young, stay away and the moment you say stay away, the child goes.So God has set them up for failure. What's going on here? Dr. Jean Sheldon: He's also set them up for choice. Dwight Nelson: So it's the issue of choice? Dr. Jean Sheldon: Um-hum. Dwight Nelson: The tree's there for choice. In what way? Dr. Jean Sheldon: To give us the privilege of saying no to God. Dwight Nelson: So it's like a voting booth? Dr. Jean Sheldon: Yeah. Dwight Nelson: Yeah. You go to the tree, no; stay away from the tree, you're saying yes to me. Dr. Jean Sheldon: Um-hum. And that is all driven by a sense that true morality cannot exist apart from freedom of choice. That is, if I love someone simply because I'm controlled, then I cannot be totally--it is not totally genuine. Dwight Nelson: And, Jean, this isn't only a theological concept, it's a political concept. We talk about democracy where you have choices. We're big on choices. Yeah. So God apparently is big on choices, too. Dr. Jean Sheldon: But I wonder how many who go to the voting booths are really making a freely given, thoughtful choice, or are they just following the crowd? Dwight Nelson: And would that be true morally as well? Dr. Jean Sheldon: Exactly. Dwight Nelson: Yeah. This whole issue of human freedom and choice. I want to come back to that and I want to invite somebody to join us. When we come back, we'll have Dr. Frank Gonzales joining us with Dr. Jean Sheldon. Stay right there, we'll be right back. [break] My next guest is Dr. Frank Gonzales, a theologian whose voice is heard in many parts of North America and throughout much of South and Central America as well. He is the speaker of La Voz de la Esperanza, Voice of Hope. Dr. Frank Gonzales: That was very well said. Dwight Nelson: Frank, good to have you at our table. Dr. Frank Gonzales: Thank you. Dwight Nelson: We've been having a conversation here, Jean Sheldon and I, about God's foreknowledge. So He makes this pair in the garden, knowing that they're going to fall. God's faced with an ethical choice. Jean, let's just pick up where we left off. What's that ethical choice for God? Dr. Jean Sheldon: It's power versus moral character, in my opinion. In other words, I have the power to do something, but is it the right thing to do? And can I limit my power for the sake of some greater purpose, or must I act a certain way just because I have the power to do it? Dwight Nelson: But then, Frank, knowing the future, foreknowledge, God's foreknowledge, does that make the future have to be, because God knows it? Is He causing the future by knowing it? Dr. Frank Gonzales: This is a question that many theologians have debated. God is trying, remember, to do things in His image. And He is trying to produce humans, not robots. He is trying to bring heaven to earth and He is trying to create real individuals. And we as parents know that--I mean, we would prefer to program our kids activities from the morning to the evening. We would like to tell them everything that they should say and they should do-- Dwight Nelson: And make that bed every single day. Dr. Frank Gonzales: Yeah. And you know what, it would probably work, to some extent, but we would have something other than real children. We would develop something that is akin to ourselves, but something that's not real and true. For a person to be true, that person has to make through choices, and-- Dwight Nelson: So the fact that God knows that you're going to make that choice, in advance, is not making you make that choice? Dr. Frank Gonzales: Absolutely not. Dr. Jean Sheldon: I think that's very true and it seems to me that the choices that we make, if in any way they are programmed or manipulated, they're not real, genuine choices. Dwight Nelson: How so? Dr. Jean Sheldon: Well, if I'm told to love my mom, for example. Say I'm a child and I'm told to love my mom, and I say, I love you, Mom, but that isn't my free, voluntary response, it's simply I've been told to do it, then I'm not actually morally responding in love. I'm simply doing what I've been told to do. So, if God, by his foreknowledge, actually controls me, something like the law of command where He's actually setting it down, you have to stop at that stoplight and cross the road there and turn left, whether you want to or not. If that's predetermined and I make that move, it's not free and it's not real. I've simply been put there. Likewise, if I'm told, because I've chosen for you to love me, therefore you must, and I do, it's not real love. Dwight Nelson: But then, let's go to the barrio, Frank, okay, we'll go to the street, because maybe I'm still in the gene, five generations behind me, all alcoholics, I'm an alcoholic, I didn't have a choice. I got forced into this. Dr. Frank Gonzales: Yes. Look, in the barrio we want God to pull some strings, because too many things, too many entities are pulling all the wrong ones, and what we have is a situation where people are seemingly enslaved to environment in which they find themselves and they can't break out of that shell. All of the studies demonstrate that if you are the son of an alcoholic you have the proclivity, not only in terms of having watched the model--modeling of the father doing it, but actually genetically you have a proclivity, you don't even-- Dwight Nelson: So, am I really free to choose then? Because I'm bound by my genes? Dr. Frank Gonzales: The son of an alcoholic does not have the choice of being a social drinker, if there is such a thing. Some people say that that exists. If that exists, that is not a choice that the son of an alcoholic can make, because one drop of alcoholic will make him an addict. Dwight Nelson: Then I'm not as free as Adam and Eve. God has me in a box. I'm bound by the past. So how do I get out of this box? Dr. Frank Gonzales: I think there's a danger in projecting back to Adam and Eve with things that hamper us today. We can talk about that, but, clearly, they came from a non-dysfunctional father, and a non-dysfunctional background, and they weren't hampered with the things that we are hampered with, and they didn't have the pulls and the tugs in their soul and in their system that the kids have today. Dr. Jean Sheldon: And it seems to me that, given that God gave us the freedom of choice as part of His image, then we have the freedom to create our children with all kinds of problems and, thus, limit their freedom, and actually short-change them in terms of the image of God. And it seems to me that that's what has happened generation after generation is that, instead of creating our children in the image of God, we have actually had the freedom to degenerate them. Dr. Frank Gonzales: And freedom to do what? Because our moral priority is impaired. You know, when I came to this country,one of the sayings that took my attention was that one that says, and it's very American, it's "American as apple pie". You won't find it any place else in the world. There but for the grace of God go I. It is an acclamation because our instinct when we see bad people doing bad things and atrocities being committed, is to say with a tone of moral arrogance, I'm glad I'm not like them. So when we watch the Kosovo massacres and the Serbs or the Albanians at each other's throats. Dwight Nelson: Or in Iraq. Dr. Frank Gonzales: Burning the villages or this or that, we say, uh, we're not like them. But see, no one burned the homes in our village. No one killed our parents. No one violated our women. We did not grow up with being fed stories of atrocities from the time of the Ottoman Empire, and so when you have been subjected to certain situations, that becomes part of your moral vision. Dwight Nelson: It does and it's a part of the baggage that you carry into the future, and I want to come back to the moral implications, Jean and Frank, of that baggage. We need to take a break right now. But, if we've really lost moral freedom because of the sins of our parents, we're talking about the genetic code, our grandparents, great-great-grandparents, whoever, is there any way to regain that free human choice? That's going to be our question when The Evidence continues in just one moment. [break] Dwight Nelson: I'm here with Dr. Jean Sheldon and Dr. Frank Gonzales. We're talking about temptation and free choice. All right. You both agree that we've been programmed with this ability to choose within our human system. God values--Jean, I think you said, it's an ethical value, He cannot live without it. Let's talk about moral choices, Frank. With all the genetics behind me, once I heard you talk about a room, I like that metaphor. Share that with me again. Dr. Frank Gonzales: It's not original with me. It's Professor--I don't know which professor I had, but I think it's a classic illustration. To show that even though we have this free will, it is severely impaired by what we've talked about, heredity, things that happen to us and so forth. And it is akin to telling a person, go into this room, and this room it's pitch dark, but you will find that there are these bottles and all of the bottles have venom but one, which is clearly labeled. We want you to drink, of course, the non-poisonous one. Now the person has a choice, you know, somewhat of a choice. The bottles are there, they're clearly marked. But there's a problem that is impairing that choice, which is the lack of light. Dwight Nelson: There's no light. Dr. Frank Gonzales: There's no light in the room. Dwight Nelson: You have to choose in the dark that one bottle that is life. Dr. Frank Gonzales: Yeah. Dwight Nelson: Now, how does that illustrate a moral dilemma? Dr. Frank Gonzales: Well, the way that that hits me is that, hey, we need something that will turn the switch on. So that that choice will be truly free, because if I can see things clearly, if I can have the moral clarity, if I can see those bottles for what they are, then and only then am I in a position to make a real free and empowered decision. Dwight Nelson: That's a fascinating point, because that would suggest that actually, Jean and Frank, God's intervention in the human experience is an act of freeing rather than binding. He's actually enabling us to make a free choice. Dr. Jean Sheldon: It's also enlightening. Dwight Nelson: Yeah. How has God intervened in the human situation? Where does that take us to? Dr. Frank Gonzales: You know what just came to me? Dwight Nelson: What? Dr. Frank Gonzales: Free will is not only--free is not only a adjective, it's a verb. Free the will. Dwight Nelson: That's good. Dr. Frank Gonzales: So God gave us free will, adjective at the beginning, but as this will became impaired through the realities of a corrupt world and all of the things have had happened, now we need God to free-- Dwight Nelson: Free the will. Dr. Frank Gonzales: The will, and the statement of the Bible, the good news is that God has done that, that He has taken responsibility, that He did send His son, that something cosmic, something for every person happened there. Dwight Nelson: And that had some--and all of that somehow contributes to my human freedom to choose. Dr. Frank Gonzales: Yes. In fact, John, the gospel writer, uses--going back to our light metaphor, the room, he uses that where he says, He is the light, talking about Jesus, which lighteneth every man that cometh into this world, and, consequently, something happened with the coming of Jesus that is meant to liberate us from even our free will, which is no longer free to make the right or the moral or the clear choices as it was for Adam and Eve. Dwight Nelson: So, Jean, how do I -- as a human creature -- respond to that God-act that Frank has just described and what do I do? Dr. Jean Sheldon: First of all, I think that Jesus talked about being drawn by the light. And Jesus is the light. And as the revelation of the character of God, He draws us to the Father, actually, through Himself. So, His words, you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free, means that our focus, then, has to be on Him as the light of the world. Dwight Nelson: Is that drawing that God is exerting on me, is that still honoring my free choice? Dr. Jean Sheldon: Well, certainly light can shine on you, you may reject it. And it seems to me that we need to go back a little bit maybe to the fall, and to recognize that what happened in the Garden of Eden wasn't just about an apple or a fruit, but it was about the ingestation, actually, of certain concepts about God and about personal value, that set us up for all the addictive behaviors and all of the blaming and the guilt that we have gone through, and that by Jesus coming and enlightening us regarding those very basic concepts about ourselves and about God that we have bought into, then we can be set free, and once we value ourselves, we're less likely to take those bottles of poison, because I think God can even shine light in the room of those bottles and we still choose-- Dwight Nelson: Still grab for the-- Dr. Jean Sheldon: Still grab the poison. Dwight Nelson: XXX on the bottle. Yeah. So, Frank, what do I do? Okay, so I'm the one seeking this ultimate freedom,what do I need to do? Dr. Frank Gonzales: There's something you need to look at. I mean, the Bible is the only book that I know that says that something can happen to you by just looking. Dwight Nelson: Look at what? What should I look at? Dr. Frank Gonzales: And I say God says, look at me, and you say, but in the New Testament it's more specific, it has to do with the cross. Dwight Nelson: Yeah, how do I look at the cross? Dr. Frank Gonzales: Behold the image of God. Dwight Nelson: So how do I do that though? Come on, I'm a skeptic and you're enticing me. I want to do something, what do I do? Dr. Frank Gonzales: Look at what happened there, the claims of the gospel, the claim of the gospel is that God did something for you there, while you were an enemy, while you were hostile or indifferent. God is not waiting for you to do something in order for Him to do something for you. That's the good news of the gospel. He has liberated you. He has lifted you from condemnation to freedom. He has put you from being a slave to the things of your heredity and the things that cost you bondage. He has given you freedom. And so it comes with believing that something has happened already, not that you need to do something. Dwight Nelson: In that God gift, my ultimate freedom can be experienced. Dr. Frank Gonzales: Yes. Yes. And within that, we are promised the Holy Spirit, which is sent to us to help us with this vision, this light, this moral clarity. Dwight Nelson: Frank and Jean, thank you for helping us tackle -- really it's a gut issue -- of the human journey. Thank you very much for being here. I'm going to be right back with some final thoughts. Stay with us. [break] Dwight Nelson: Have you ever wished there were no such things as free will? Maybe you think you'd be better off if God would simply take over your life and run it for you. Kind of like a benevolent dictator. That way you'd have no temptations, no alternatives, and no wrong choices to make. Of course, that would also mean you'd have no mistakes to learn from, no lessons from experience, no way to develop moral qualities that differentiate human from beast, and no way to grow in a personal relationship with your creator. But here's great news. There's a positive alternative for everyone of us. By believing in Jesus Christ and depending on his saving grace to free us from bondage to our sinful nature, we can find the kind of liberty God intended for human beings to have when He created our first parents. This is truth and this truth will set us free. I'm Dwight Nelson and that's what I believe. Join us next time for more of The Evidence.

IF GOD LOVES ME, WHY DOESN´T ANSWER MY PRAYER?

Short Description: Are all prayers answered? Or just a select few?            Dwight Nelson: U.S. News and World Report recently conducted a survey on prayer. In this survey, 68% of Christians, 37% of Jews, and 92% of Muslims reported praying more than once a day. The same survey also asked how many of these prayers were answered. Fascinating! Only 28% of Christians, 13% of Jews, and 30% of Muslims said their prayers were always answered. Isn't God powerful enough to answer all my prayers? And if He is, why doesn't He? In just a moment, we'll talk to best-selling author of numerous books on prayer, Stormie Omartian. I'm Dwight Nelson, and welcome to The Evidence. Stormie Omartian's books on prayer have sold more than six million copies. She's a well-know public speaker, a popular author and a song writer. Stormie, we're delighted that you're joining us today from your home in Nashville. Stormie Omartian: My pleasure. Thank you for asking me. Dwight Nelson: Stormie, in your book, and I have it right here, you talk about times when you've prayed for healing and you admit you weren't healed. Those must have been very discouraging times. How did you handle all of that? Stormie Omartian: Well, one specific time when I wasn't healed, I not only wasn't healed, but I almost died, and I was sick for about six months. And I kept praying, my husband and I kept praying for healing. We didn't know what was wrong with me. And the doctors couldn't find anything, and I was in emergency hospitals so many times, and they could never find anything. And I never got healed. And finally my appendix ruptured and I almost died. And they still couldn't find what was wrong for me for about eight hours before they operated. But during that time, you know, you wonder why doesn't God heal me, I mean why didn't He hear me, you know, and I trust God enough to know that when I pray, I'm not telling Him what to do, you know, I'm not just giving Him a list and telling him what to do. I'm, you know, sharing my heart and sharing my longings and my needs. And if He doesn't answer in a way I want Him to, then I know that He has a purpose for it. Dwight Nelson: You suggested that sometimes God may be holding off on answering our prayers. Why would He do that, especially when we're praying for something so important? Stormie Omartian: Well, you know, I know how hard it is when prayer is not answered, especially something that's so important to you. It's just agonizing and it makes us angry and sad and frustrated, and all those things. But I believe that God has a deep purpose in that and that sometimes He delays the answer to our prayers. A certain amount of time,sometimes He probably has to accomplish a certain amount of things before He answers it, but I think often He wants to get our attention. He wants our attention to be totally focused on Him, and He wants us to depend on Him. He's really almost in a way testing our faith. Will we continue to have faith? We will continue to believe in Him? Will we continue to trust in Him? Will we continue to depend on Him until we see the answers to our prayers? So,He'll let us go so often until just all hope is gone and until we know there's no way that this could happen unless God does it. And He has done that so often in my life, where I'll pray for something and here's no other way that it could have happened other than God answered that prayer. So I can never get too cocky in thinking, well, I did it myself, or things just turned out that way, or what a coincidence, you know, this all worked out. It's where I know that God did it. And I think that's often why He delays in answering our prayers. Dwight Nelson: Why do people sometimes have trouble recognizing that answers to their prayers? Stormie Omartian: You know, so often we pray for something and we pray specifically. This is what we want God to do, we want Him to answer in this way. And God answers in His way, and He answers in His timing. And so often we don't recognize the answers to our own prayers because they're not answered the way we prayed them. You know? We're thinking that He's not listening and here He's answered it in another way. You know, and there are so many examples of that in my own life. I remember thinking how I really would love to live in a place where the air was clear and there wasn't as much crime, and all of these things, and where I thought would be a better place to raise my kids. And I brought these requests for God about that. And God ended up moving us from one state to another.And at the time, I was very ungrateful about that. I didn't want to move. You know, I just wanted God to clear up the air where I was. Ha, ha. And I wanted Him to take away all the crime. You know? But He moved me to another place where the air was clear and there was no crime, and I did not recognize the answers to my own prayers. And so here I'm grumbling and complaining. I'm surprised I didn't get struck with lightening at the time, because I was so grumbling about it. And you think, God, "why did you take me here? I don't want to be here." And, then realizing later that God was answering my prayers. So many prayers, not just those. So many Prayers that I'd prayed. Dwight Nelson: You say that praise is the prayer that changes everything. What do you mean by that phrase? Stormie Omartian: Well, my definition of prayer is communicating with God. And the ultimate communication with God is praise, because it's pure in that it takes the focus entirely off of ourselves and places it entirely upon God. And, when you do that, when you place your entire focus on God in worship and praise, His presence comes to dwell with you. And it says in the Bible that He inhabits the places of His people, which is so exciting, because that means His presence is there every time you worship Him. And when you're in the presence of God, I'm telling you, things change. Your mind changes, your attitude, your circumstances, your heart, all of those things begin to change. And the reason for that is as you praise Him, He pours of Himself into you. It's like a funnel, you know, it's like this open funnel and when you open up to God in that way in that pure praise and worship, He pours His love and His peace and His joy,all of the aspects of Him, into your life. And that's why things begin to change in your life. The more you praise God, the more things change. And that's why praise is the prayer that changes everything. Dwight Nelson: Stormy, thanks so much for taking the time to share with us on "The Evidence." God bless you. Stormie Omartian: Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity. Dwight Nelson: SIn the movie, "Bruce Almighty," God, who was played by Morgan Freeman, makes the point that most people don't know what they really want when they pray. It shows how a yes answer to a prayer can really mess up a person's life. And when Jim Carrey uses his new-found God powers to answer yes to everyone's prayers, it leads to chaos and riots in the streets. The movie is fiction, of course, but it raises an interesting point. If God answered all of your prayers with a yes, would you have what you really want? Stay with us. [break] Dwight Nelson: Welcome back. Mike Tucker, a chaplain who has worked in both hospitals and hospices, a pastor and the executive director of this show, now joins me. Also joining us is Andrea Bartoli, professor of International Conflict Resolution at Columbia University and a member of the Comunita de Sant'Egidio centered in Rome, Italy. Dwight Nelson: Gentleman, good to have you both. You know we're thinking prayer. Our conversation is prayer. So let me say that I have this friend. I pray for her. She has cancer. I ask God, please heal her. She dies. What's happening? My prayers obviously are a failure. Andrea Bartoli: They're not a failure. Dwight Nelson: They're not a failure? Andrea Bartoli: No, a failure, first of all, because if you are calling that person a friend, that's coming from God. So I think that to have somebody praying for a friend is already a gift, a gift of life that many do not have. Loneliness is a terrible sickness these days, and prayer is actually a moment in which we are together in the ways that is difficult for many to understand. Death is a passage. And that friend of yours was actually probably blessed of having somebody close, somebody that was able to think beyond what we can see, the body alone, or what we can see as material things. Dwight Nelson: And Mike, as a chaplain, you have lived and moved in and around death. Have you prayed for people? Mike Tucker: Oh, absolutely. In fact, I had to struggle with this, to tell you the truth, when I worked as a pastor and as a chaplain, in particular. I've attended probably 500 deaths. Four hundred of those within a span of four to five years, when I was working as a chaplain. And it seemed to me that every time they called me, it was for someone who was dying and I would pray for them and they would die. And I began to wonder what, what is up with this? I mean, is this just a formality that we're going through? Finally, when I went back to pastoral work, there was a 16-year-old girl, who came down with viral spinal meningitis. Doctors gave her a 15% chance to live two hours. A zero percent to live the night. I went in and capped and gowned up and had a prayer for her and prayed for healing. Her classmates were in the chapel of the hospital praying for her, as well. After I prayed for her, I went to tell the young people, to let them know that maybe, you know, we need to get ready for this girl's death. And they wouldn't hear of it. They prayed all night long. Six weeks later that girl walked out of the hospital. Dwight Nelson: Incredible. Mike Tucker: And I, all of a sudden, had to re-access my understanding of prayer. What I've come to know through that process is that prayer, first and foremost, is an opportunity to seek the face of God. It is not so much a "name it,claim it" kind of a deal. That's not where I... Andrea Bartoli: Not demanding... Mike Tucker: Precisely. Andrea Bartoli: That I need this gift and I need it now. Mike Tucker: Although we can ask for things, but the primary purpose of prayer is to know God, to know His will, and to do His will in your life. That's the purpose. And when I pray, and I know God better, or I know His will better, and I'm able to do that will, my prayer has been answered, whether or not I've gotten the specific thing that I've asked for or not is not really the issue. Do I know God better and can I do His will now? Andrea Bartoli: And I do believe that there is a reduction when we equate prayer with demanding things. Mike Tucker: Yes Andrea Bartoli: I think that prayer is much more than that. It's a moment which we open up to life. We open to God. We open up to something we do not know necessarily. And I think it's important not to force prayer into something that we control, that we know exactly what we think we want. Dwight Nelson: You take a classic illustration, Mel Gibson's global hit movie, "The Passion of the Christ." The film actually opens, as you men remember, with Christ, with this Jesus of Nazareth in the Garden of Gethsemane, agonizing for something, and yet the irony is or the enigma what He asks for actually doesn't come to pass. So, the skeptics,yeah, yeah, you're questioning, Andrea? Andrea Bartoli: Well, I'm just responding that what He's asking doesn't come to pass in Jesus' terms. Actually what He wanted was to have God's will done, not what He wanted. So in a way, there is an interesting paradox in Jesus' life, which is clearly crucial to the experience of faith because... Dwight Nelson: So apparently your own will for an individual praying, as Jesus was, your own will may not necessarily be the same as the will of God. And you can clash. You can be a saint. You can be a person in perfection and still have a will that they counter, if it's allowed to progress to the want of God. Andrea Bartoli: When I look at my two-year-old child, who is trying to get the book, you know, he may want to have the book,but may not get the book that way that I would probably suggest him to get it. And I think that we have too much of a sense of position when we think about my will and God's will. I think, on the contrary, there is an expectation of God that in growing in the understanding we will actually find the harmony that is momentarily lost. Dwight Nelson: In fact, a model prayer, gentlemen, that Jesus taught, we call it The Lord's Prayer, there's something in there, isn't there, about Your will be done? Mike Tucker: Sure. Dwight Nelson: What does it mean to submit to the will of someone outside of yourself? Mike Tucker: What it means is that as a preacher, such as myself, I may think that I want something, but it may not be the best thing either for me or for my family or for the greater plan, the greater, the world. It might not be the best thing, but God knows what the best thing is. And if I am truly going to live according to His will, and if I'm going to be His follower, then I have to ask that my leader's will take supremacy over my will, because His will is always best. And that was the prayer of Jesus at Gethsemane. He said, "I don't want to go through this. I don't want to face this. But, more importantly, I want Your will to be done, and that is that man be reconciled to myself. And so, I'm willing to put my will aside and accept Yours." Dwight Nelson: Hold that thought. With a pause button, we want to find out what happened when a group of high school students took that idea to heart. And we'll find out right after this. [break] Dwight Nelson: We're talking about prayer in this episode of "The Evidence." I'm here with Mike Tucker and Andrea Bartoli, the American representative at a most unusual community headquartered in Rome, Italy, Sant'Egidio, the community of Sant'Egidio. What's that community about? Andrea Bartoli: The community of Sant'Egidio started in Rome in 1968 by a young man who was eighteen, a high school student. He read the Gospel, gathered a few friends, and started a life of prayers, service and friendship. Now it's 16,000 people strong around the world, all living this simple life of prayer... Dwight Nelson: Are they all... Andrea Bartoli: Service and... Dwight Nelson: Sorry to interrupt you. Are they all young like 18, 19, 20 year olds? Andrea Bartoli: Well, many, well, many of us grew up. I was 13 when I joined. Dwight Nelson: (laughter) Oh, I see. Andrea Bartoli: But I'm definitely older now. Dwight Nelson: Yeah, okay. Andrea Bartoli: But you have people who are 84. In New York, we have a wonderful lady, Margie, who is 84 years old and is a member of the community. Dwight Nelson: Okay. Andrea Bartoli: All ages, all races, all countries, and it's just based on prayer. Dwight Nelson: I was going to say, what's the purpose of the community? What do you do? Andrea Bartoli: We just try to live the Gospel. We do believe that the Gospel is given to us as a whole. And that in prayer, friendship and service we can try to live by it, to try to make our life the gospel, the Good News, today. Dwight Nelson: I like that: prayer, friendship, and service. You, Mike, is this, is this something of: Your Kingdom come, on earth as it is in Heaven-kind of a... Mike Tucker: Absolutely. Absolutely. Who was it? It was Oswald Chamber who said that prayer does not prepare us for some greater work. Prayer is the greater work. Basically the work of Christians is to pray. It is to be together, to love one another, to love those around us, to administer to their needs, but also to pray. Because it's through prayer that we discover who God is. We discover what His will is. And, a very important part of His will that we meet the needs of one another -- that we respond to each other in love. So, absolutely. This is the Kingdom of God on earth. Dwight Nelson: Now, Andrea, you've been involved in some major hot spots on this earth as a negotiator, as a peacemaker. But... Andrea Bartoli: Sure. But that actually happened through the community. Dwight Nelson: Through your community. So, prayer is a part of your negotiating strategy? Andrea Bartoli: Well, it's more than that. I would say that prayer is the source of the desire for peace. Dwight Nelson: Uh, huh. Andrea Bartoli: But it's frequently lost in people's loneliness and fear. And in prayer we find the source of that peace that is given to us. And it's very important to remember that, because very often we believe that peace is a product of a political sentiment or is something that has to do with our own decision. And we do believe that peace is actually received. Peace be with you, is the word that was given to the Disciples. And very often we do not pray enough, and we do not receive peace enough. And prayer is perceived as this place in which we demand things instead of receiving things. And I think that actually for (indecipherable). Prayer is a moment when a vocation is given a meaning is given, a sense of dream is given, and peace is part of it. Dwight Nelson: So, gentlemen, I'm listening to you and you have said prayer is not just about getting and receiving. Prayer is also about responding and acting in the human journey. So, let's say I'm a skeptic and I'm listening to you and I'm saying, ah, very interesting. And, Stormie was on just a moment ago, and so we're talking to Stormie about answered prayers. So, as a skeptic I'm thinking, you know, maybe I could try this routine to God. What would you say to me to get me on this journey of moving into the experience of prayer? Mike Tucker: I'd say, first of all, keep it simple. Don't try to make prayer something very complicated. Attempt to talk to God just like you and I are talking to one another. Talk to Him as you would talk to a friend and tell Him the truth. Tell Him what's on your heart. Tell Him what you need, what you desire, and the fact that you're a little bit skeptical about this. I would start with that. Dwight Nelson: So, no fancy language. I mean, we hear people who say Thee and Thou and all that. Mike Tucker: No, the Old Kind James English, no. We need to talk to God in the language that we're comfortable with. Dwight Nelson: Okay. Mike Tucker: Whatever language that might be. Dwight Nelson: Right. Mike Tucker: And truthfully, if you really don't have any words for prayer, if you don't even know where to start, a wonderful place to do that is to simply get a modern translation of the Book of Psalms, and pray those words from the Psalms as though they were your own words. Dwight Nelson: Those ancient prayers. Mike Tucker: Those ancient prayers, because they were written as prayers. They were songs and they were also prayers.Sometimes sung by the entire congregation as an act of worship. So take those prayers, change the personal pronouns, and pray those, and you will find something interesting happening. Not only will you find yourself learning the process of prayer, but you will also discover something of God's will in those ancient prayers. Dwight Nelson: Uh Huh. Andrea, you would add something to that. Andrea Bartoli: Well, I would say take your heart seriously. Dwight Nelson: Take your heart seriously? What do you mean by that? Andrea Bartoli: Well, I think that God is within us. I think that Jesus is very clear that the Kingdom is within. And I think that you need to believe that God is speaking to you. Dwight Nelson: So does God draw on me here? Is there some sort of reciprocal movement? Mike Tucker: Absolutely. It was Eugene H. Peterson who said "prayer is answering language." So, God speaks to us first. He puts it in our heart to praise. The Kingdom of God within you, what you were talking about. He puts it in my heart, even before I believed in Him, even before I wanted to know Him, He put it in my heart to pray. And so I answered Him. And that's what prayer is. It's answering God. Dwight Nelson: Andrea and Michael, thank you so much for sharing out of your own prayer journey, your faith journey. The earth now holds six billion people. The Community of Sant'Egidio, started by a high school student, has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people. One person, or maybe one small group of people who are committed to an idea, can transform a city, a country, the world. We'll be right back for a final thought. [break] Dwight Nelson: I don't know what disappointments you've had in your life. I don't know what you've concluded about what prayer can do or can't do. But may I ask you to do this, give conversation with God an honest try? No connection you can make is more important. At first it may be just a stumbling step. "God help me." It may be just a tentative attempt to extend your trust. And even if you have given prayer a shot and didn't feel you were getting anywhere, believe me, God's listening. Remember, prayer is opening up your heart to God just like you would to your very best friend. The friendship that can develop, the trust that can grow is worth the investment. I know. And you can, too. I'm Dwight Nelson. And that's what I believe. Join us next time for more of The Evidence.