Longing for More

It is the "Amazing Facts" Study Guide Number 7, titled, "The Lost Day of History." And this is a free offer that you can get by calling 866-788-3966 and ask for Offer Number 113. If you're in the United States, you can also text to the number 40544 and you can ask for--or you can put in there "Sabbath Hour Number 082," and you'll be able to get that study. If you're outside of North America, then you can go study.aftv.org and you can get a digital download of that. Once again, that is "The Lost Day of History."

So I invite you to open up your Bibles to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. Actually, it's a good thing because I've got a lot to go over today and I was worried about having enough time. So praise the Lord for that. He answered that prayer. And we are looking at the Quarterly, "Rest in Christ," and we are continuing our study today in this week's lesson titled, "Longing for More." Let's begin with a word of prayer. O loving Father, You have pulled us out of the world. You've set us apart for Your good purpose. You've given us a hope and a future, and Lord, we have come this morning to the Sabbath School Study Hour and we've opened up the word of life because we're seeking wisdom. We're seeking understanding. We're seeking You. And Lord, we want to draw near to You, so our prayer is that the Holy Spirit would give us ears to hear, give us eyes to see, and, Lord, our prayer is that You would do in us those things that we cannot do in ourselves. We surrender our hearts to You and we pray for Your guidance now and we ask for it in Jesus's name, amen.

This morning, I want to talk to you about types, shadows, symbols, patterns, models, and examples. Those are all words that are used to describe the things that are happening in the Old Testament that are pointing to a greater reality in the New Testament. In the book of John, it tells us that the Jews were persecuting Jesus. They were giving Him a hard time. And it shows us there were two very important reasons.

The first was because He was doing some things on the Sabbath that they didn't like. It wasn't that He was breaking the commandments of God, it was that He was breaking their rules and traditions that they had added to the law of God. And He also was claiming to be equal with the Father, and so they were persecuting Him. And as a result of that, you have your Bibles open to John chapter 5, in verse 39, Jesus said to them, "You search the Scriptures daily because in them you think you have life but these are they that testify of Me."

Now, let me say it just a little bit different way. Jesus was hidden in the Old Testament but He is revealed in the New Testament. In other words, Jesus was hidden behind all of the types, the patterns, the symbols, the shadows, the models, the examples. He was hidden behind all of those things, but all of those things were brought out and brought to light in the New Testament.

I want to give to you this morning a definition of a type. This is a biblical definition. A type is a divinely purposed illustration of truth. Now, let me pause for a moment and let that just sink in. A type is a divinely purposed illustration of truth. And there are a lot of these divinely purposed illustrations that God gives to point to a greater reality, and so there's a lot of ways that He did this. There--one way is that a type can be a person. If you do a study of Joseph, you will discover that he was a type of Christ. The Bible also tells us that Adam was a type of Christ. In fact, in Romans chapter 5, verse 14, it says this: "Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who was a type of Him who was to come." And so here we see Adam was a type of Christ. He's the type but Christ is the anti-type. And he was pointing us to Christ. And so a type can be a person.

A type can also be an event. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the apostle Paul says that the Israelites in their wilderness wanderings, they were under the cloud, they passed through the sea, they were baptized into Moses, they ate spiritual food, and they drank spiritual drink. Those were all events that were pointing forward to a greater reality. And so a type can be a person, it can be an event, it can also be a thing. In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19 and 20, it says: "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh."

Here we see that the veil is a thing, and it is the curtain that separated the holy from the Most Holy Place, right? But it tells us that the veil symbolized, it was a pattern, it was as--it was a type of the flesh of Christ. You'll remember that Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," right? You had to go through the curtain to get into the Most Holy Place, just like you've got to go through Christ to get to heaven. So it was pointing to a greater reality.

And so, a type can be a person, it can be an event, it can be a thing. It could also be an institution. God had instituted the sacrificial system, and notice what it says in Hebrews 9, verse 11 and 12: "But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption."

The Jewish economy was built around the sacrificial system. It was an institution, and it was all designed to be a type. It was pointing us from that earthly tabernacle to a greater tabernacle, the heavenly, and it was pointing us from those priests who offered the sacrifices in that system to the greater priest, Jesus Christ, our high priest, in that heavenly temple.

And so a type can be a person, it can be an event, it can be a thing, it can be an institution. It can also be ceremonial in nature. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7, it says: "Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us." So you'll remember that in the Old Testament there were five festivals that the Jews kept every year, and one of those was the Passover. And it was a ceremony that they had every year to remind them of God bringing them out of bondage. But we see here that it was pointing us not to those lambs that were sacrificed every day, but rather, it was pointing us to a greater sacrifice. It was pointing us to the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world.

In other words, Jesus was hidden in the types, in the shadows, in the patterns, in the symbols, in the models, and in the examples. And that's why Jesus could say, in John chapter 5, verse 39, "You search the Scriptures daily because you think in them that you have life, but they testify of Me." So, let's look at a couple of scriptural examples of this. Turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, and I've got to move along quickly, so forgive me if I get ahead of you. Hebrews chapter 10, look with me in verse 1. The apostle Paul says to the Hebrews, he's saying to us, "For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices which they offer continually, year by year, make those who approach perfect."

What's Paul saying here? He's simply saying that all of those sacrifices that were accomplished day after day, year after year, they couldn't save anyone. They were simply a type pointing to the One who could. They're pointing to the Lamb of God that was slain from the foundations of the world. And so he's saying, simply, those things were a type pointing to a greater reality. Go one page back with me. Go to Hebrews chapter 8 and look with me, starting in verse 4. The Bible says: "For if He were on earth," that's talking about Jesus. "If He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, 'See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.' But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He also was the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises."

So here we see Paul telling us once again that earthly tabernacle was pointing to a greater reality, and those priests were pointing to a greater reality, and that is Christ. He is the Anti-type. He's the One that all of those were pointing to. But if He were here on earth, He could not be a priest. Why? Because the Levitical law required that they be Levites and He was from the tribe of Judah. And so, it wasn't pointing to them, but they were pointing to a greater ministry, and He came after the order of Melchizedek, a higher priesthood. And so they were pointing to those things.

Now, let me just point you to another one. You don't need to go there but just listen to 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 16. Paul says, "However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life." What's Paul saying here? He's simply saying, "I'm a blasphemer. I'm a murderer." In one place, he says, "I am the worst of all sinners," right? But he says, "I'm a pattern, I'm a type of those who were going to be saved." And who is that? Everyone, right? No one is beyond the reach of God. Paul says, "I'm the worst and if I can be saved, you can be saved too."

We must surrender our hearts to him and allow him to do in us those things that we can't do in ourself. In Colossians chapter 2, verse 16 and 17, it says: "So let no one judge you in food or drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths which are a shadow of the things to come but the substance is of Christ." Here, once again, Paul is saying that ceremonial service where oftentimes the priests ate and they drank of the sacrifices or the offerings that were given, he says those things were a shadow. Those things were a type. And he also adds in there, the new moons and the Sabbath and the festivities, those five festivals that they celebrated every year, often they had a Sabbath associated with them. And so there was sometimes a Sabbath rest in the middle of the week.

So this is not talking about the weekly seventh-day Sabbath, but it is talking about those festivals. And he says, "Those things are shadows of a better thing to come. And so, that's why we don't keep those anymore because those things were fulfilled. They were shadows, they were types that were pointing to something greater. And that's why in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 11, Paul says, "All of these things happened to them as examples and they were written for our admonition upon which the ends of the ages have come."

So let's think about this for a minute. The Old Testament saints couldn't understand how a reigning Messiah could also suffer the ignominious death that Isaiah and others were pointing to. And so, they couldn't get it. They couldn't understand it. And they couldn't understand the significance of that death. Let me give you an example of this. You remember when Jesus was walking with His disciples and He said to them, "Who do people say that I am?" And they said, "Elijah," and "Moses," and, you know, "the prophet who was to come." But Jesus said to them, "Who do you say I am?" And you'll remember what Peter said. Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven." He's essentially saying, "Peter, you've got it right."

But then you'll remember that right after that, Jesus told him that He was going to be crucified. And you remember what Peter said? "Oh, no, not You, Lord. We won't let that happen," right? And you'll remember what Jesus said to him: "Get behind Me, Satan. You don't have the things of God in mind." Peter couldn't wrap his mind around how the King of kings and Lord of lords could be sacrificed. He couldn't see it. You see, they had the Levitical law of sacrifices, but they didn't realize that all of those sacrifices were a shadow of something greater to come, of a greater sacrifice that God had intended. But you and I today, in the light that is shed upon the cross, we can understand much more clearly what those Jewish sacrifices meant, what they were pointing to.

So let me see if I can try and explain this to you. This lectern is here, and I want you to imagine for a moment that there is light shining on it from here. But if I am standing over here, then I am standing in the shadow of the lectern, right? And as I look at the shadow and I'm trying to figure out what is that a shadow of, what does that mean, as I'm looking at the lectern, it's dark and dim. I can't tell exactly what it is. But if I come over here, and I look at it from the light, I can look at it and I can say, "Oh, I can see all the details. That's a lectern." And now, when I go back and I look at the shadow, now I can understand, "Oh, that's what--that's what that is."

But the Old Testament Christians, they didn't have that perspective. They were looking at it in the shadow of the cross, and so they couldn't understand it like we could today. Well, by now, friends, there might be someone here who's thinking to themselves, "That's great, Pastor Rod, but what does that have to do with rest in Christ, because that's what our study is about this quarter," right? And today, our topic is "Longing for More."

What does all of this have to do with it? Well, simply said, it's this: all of these things were shadows, types, patterns, models, of something greater, but all of these things represented something physical, but they also represented something spiritual, something better. And that's how models work. A model is not the original. It is a shadow, it is a pattern. But it functions as a symbol of the original. A model helps us grasp the essence of the original but it cannot replace it. Rather, it is there to help us to understand the original.

So as Scripture is full of these miniature models and these activities and these people and these institutions, all of these things are pointing to a greater heavenly reality, and the reality is that the rest that is being spoken of in the Old Testament is a type pointing to a greater rest that's going to be revealed in the New Testament.

So let's take a look at it. Turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 33. Second book of the Bible, Exodus, chapter 33. And I want you to notice what it says in verse 14. The Bible says, "And He," that is Jesus, "said, 'My presence will go with you and I will do,'" what? "I will give you rest." Now, let's put this in the proper perspective. God was bringing the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, and He had given them a land. It was the land of Canaan. It's referred to as what? As the Promised Land, right? Why? Because God promised to give it to them. And now we see in this passage that God is not only going to give them the physical land of Israel over there in the Middle East, but He also wants to give them physical rest. But these things are types pointing to something greater.

Now, let's go to Numbers chapter 14. You're in Exodus, go through Leviticus and then into Numbers, and we're going to look at chapter 14, and I want you to notice what it says in verse 34. It says, "According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, 40 days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely 40 years, and you shall know My rejection."

Now, let's put this in the proper perspective. God is bringing the children out of Egyptian bondage. He's bringing them to the Promised Land, the land that He promised to give them, that He can give them the rest that He promised them. They come to the borders of Canaan, and Moses sends 12 spies into the land, and you'll remember there were 10 spies that came back and they gave a bad report. They said, essentially, "It's rugged, there are fortifications, there are giants in the land. We are like grasshoppers in their sight. We can't do it." You remember that, right?

Now, I want you to put yourself in the place of God for a moment. Imagine God as He is listening to this report that's being given and they're saying, "We can't do it." I imagine God, at least in His mind, in His--and in His heart, saying, "But I promised to give it to you. I promised to give you the land. I promised to give you rest." But then, notice the last part of verse 34. He says, "And you shall know My rejection." That's the way it says it in the New King James. But I really like the way it says it in the King James. He says, "And you shall know My breach of promise." That word "breach" is a verb meaning to hinder, frustrate, or restrain, and it can also be translated as disallow, discourage, or make of no effect. And I want to focus on that last definition. To breach is to make of no effect.

So what's God saying? He's saying I want you to know, I want you to understand, what it means to make of no effect My promise. You see, God didn't take away His promise, but rather, He said, "I want you to understand what you've done. The children of Israel had alienated themselves from God and they were in opposition to God and in order that they might learn to cooperate with God, He ordained that they should experience opposition, that they should have their plans frustrated, and so He says, "You are going to go back out into the wilderness and you're going to learn what it means to make of no effect My promise."

Now, I want to show this to you, so turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3, and I want you to know what the apostle Paul says to us starting in verse 7. He says, "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of the trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works 40 years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, "They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways." So I swore in My wrath that "they shall not,"'" what? "They shall not enter into My rest," right? Because they didn't put their trust in God, He was not going to take them into the land that He had promised. He was not going to give them the rest that He promised. That's the physical rest. And if they didn't receive the physical rest, then they wouldn't receive the anti-type, that spiritual rest that God had intended.

Let's keep going. Look with me, here, still in chapter 3 of Hebrews, verse 16: "For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." It was because they didn't have faith. They didn't trust God. God promised, "I'm going to give you the land. I'm going to give you rest," but because they didn't trust Him, they were looking to their own abilities, their own power, and they said, "We can't do it." And so they were not allowed to go into the land that God had promised and the rest that God had promised. But those were just the physical, those were just the type, that were pointing to something else. And so they couldn't enter into that either.

But you do remember that 40 years later, that Joshua did take the children of Israel into the land, didn't he? He took them in and so they were given the physical land and they were given physical rest, but God couldn't give them the spiritual rest that He intended because there was still unbelief. And you'll remember that there were times when they fell into apostasy and God had to allow their enemies to come in and harass them, so they couldn't have that spiritual rest.

Now, look with me in this. Go to chapter 4 of Hebrews and look at starting in verse 1: "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, lest--let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: 'So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest,"' although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: 'And God rested on the seventh day from all of His works'; and again in this place: 'They shall not enter My rest.'"

So here we see that they were not able to totally enter into the rest that God had offered them. Yes, they went into the physical land, yes, they went into physical rest, at least for a time, but they couldn't enter into the spiritual rest that God was trying to lead them into. And notice verse 6 and 7: "Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, 'Today,' after such a long time, as it has been seen: 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.'"

Here we see that in the days of David, God once again renewed His invitation to the nation of Israel to enter into that spiritual rest that He had promised. And why is it still available, even in spite of the failures of the nation of Israel? Simply this: because God said it. And God is not a liar, right? And those things were just types pointing to a greater reality. And so there was still a spiritual rest to be entered into. And He invites David and that--the people of that time, to enter in. Notice verse 8: "For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterwards have spoken of another day."

So here we see, it wasn't just a physical rest that God was promising, but He was promising a spiritual rest, and the nation of Israel had still not entered into it. Look at verse 9: "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." Let me say it another way: "There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God." In spite of Israel's failure, the invitation was still there because God is eternal. God, when He sets something in motion, He doesn't retract it. He--it's still available to everyone today. And so, since God's people have not entered into that rest, it therefore is evident that that rest remains still available.

Let's take a look at it. Couple of verses here. Go with me to Hebrews chapter 3, and verse 1. The Bible says: "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ." Paul is simply saying here think about Christ. Think about the anti-type who is in the heavenly sanctuary and He is our heavenly high priest and He is ministering on our behalf. Now go with me to chapter 4 and look at verse 16. Paul says, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Go back to the verse before that, verse 15: "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."

Now, let's put this all together. What's Paul saying? He's simply saying those types were pointing to a greater reality. There is a heavenly sanctuary, there is a heavenly high priest, Jesus Christ, who is able to sympathize with us. He was tempted just like we are, He knows our infirmities, He knows our weaknesses, and we can come to Him and receive mercy and grace and pardon from sin. And as we surrender our hearts to God and ask Him to come into our life, be our Lord and Savior, forgive us of our sins, He not only cleanses us of that sin, but He also gives us the power to not sin anymore. And we can rest from sinning.

But we also rest in the merits of the blood of Christ. His death on the cross was our substitute. He paid our penalty for us and so we can rest in the work that He has done on our behalf, no longer trying to earn our salvation, trying to, by our own merits and our own goodness, get ourselves into heaven.

But there is a spiritual rest that is at play there. And He's saying you can have that spiritual rest. Here we see that the experience that the nation of Israel failed to obtain is still available to us today. Why? Because God said it. Because God doesn't lie. God promised, "I'm going to give you a heavenly Canaan. I'm going to give you spiritual rest." Look at with me in Hebrews chapter 4 at verse 1 again: "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it."

I like that word "fear" there. It reminds me of that proverb that says, "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom," amen? You see, brothers and sisters, the problem that Israel had, the problem that many people have today, is we look to the types and the symbols and the patterns and the shadows and the models and the examples. We look to those things to save us, but they can't. They can only point us to the One who can. And we can't enter into that spiritual rest until we recognize that.

Now, let me take you to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11 is referred to by many people as the Hall of Faith. That's because it talks about the faith of Abel and it talks about the faith of Enoch. It talks about the faith of Noah. It talks about the faith of Abraham. It talks about the faith of Isaac and Jacob and Sarah. And then notice what it says, Hebrews 11, verse 13. It says: "These all died in faith, not receiving the promise."

Now, hold on a minute. At least Isaac and Jacob, they had lived in the Promised Land, right? So obviously, the promise is not referring to the type, but it's referring to the anti-type. It's referring to a heavenly Canaan and it's referring to a spiritual rest that God is offering to us. Let's keep reading. "They all died in faith, not having received the promise, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed them that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind the country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."

You see, all of those types and shadows and symbols and patterns, all of those things were pointing to a greater reality. They were pointing to a heavenly Canaan. They were pointing to a spiritual rest that God intends for all of us. And brothers and sisters, I don't know about you, but when I look at the shadows and the patterns and the types and the symbols, I long for something more. And isn't that the title of our study this week? "Longing for Something More."

Do you long for the heavenly Canaan? Do you long for that spiritual rest that God has intended for us? Not trying to earn our own salvation but resting in the work that Christ has done on our behalf. And all we have to do is surrender ourselves to him and allow him to do those things that we cannot do in ourselves. Brothers and sisters, do you long for more? Well, you know what? You and I are not the only ones longing for something more. Let me show it to you.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, and I want you to notice what it says, starting in verse 18. Romans 8:18. Paul says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of Israel."

Here we see the earth itself longs for something more. It was subject to the curse. God said to Adam, "Because of you, I'm going to curse the earth. It's for your good." And the earth itself is groaning, it is desiring something better. Let me show you another one. Go with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. You're in Romans, just go to the right, through 1 Corinthians, then into 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and notice what it says in verse 1 and 2. "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven."

Here we see that Paul is telling us we groan, we desire something better, and you'll remember in Thessalonians, it says that when Christ comes, that this mortal must put on immortality, that this corruption must put on incorruption. And we long for that, don't we? We long for more. We want more than what this world filled with sin has to offer us. We're looking for a heavenly Canaan and we're looking for a spiritual rest.

Brothers and sisters, do you want that? So think about this for a moment. The true Sabbath, that true Sabbath rest, is the rest of grace in the loving arms of the One who created us, the One who redeemed us, the One who is coming again, I believe very quickly, very shortly, to receive us unto His self.

Now, let's think about this for a moment. Back in Genesis chapter 2, you have the story of creation. And on the seventh day, it says this, Genesis 2, verse 3: "In it," that is in the Sabbath, "He rested from all His work which God had created and made." And we just read in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 9 and 10, that it likens God's rest at the end of creation that He ceased from all His works. And it likens it to that for us. We are to cease from all of our works. Stop trying to earn our salvation. Stop trying by our own merits to get to heaven.

So many times, I've seen Christians who are trying to live the Christian life in their own power. And it's miserable. We can't do it. But we can rest in the work that Christ has done for us. The Sabbath is God's rest. He rested on the seventh day as a divine acknowledgement of the work that He had completed. And those verses put it this way. That's Hebrews 4, verse 9 and 10. "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His." And so, according to the Scriptures, our Sabbath rest that we celebrate every single week is also a type of a greater rest that God intends for us, a Sabbath rest for all eternity.

God is doing away with sin and He has promised us a heavenly Canaan and he has promised us an eternal rest from sin. Oh, praise God, amen? God has promised us something better. So think about the type and the anti-type. For Israel, imagine as they were wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, there would have been a longing in their heart that would not have been fulfilled until they went into the Promised Land. And the same is true for us today. We long for something better. And we are not going to truly be at rest until we get the eternal rest that God has promised. But we can begin to enjoy it now, every week, as we rest in Him on the weekly Sabbath which is pointing us to that eternal rest. Whew, amen.

So let me close with a poem by an unknown author: "Just let me rest in Thee, O Lord, nor strive, nor fret, nor strain against the burdens of the day that bring me tears and pain. Let me remember that Thy hand can lighten every load. And in Thy presence, I shall be safe on life's dark road. For Thou hast said that Thou art near to all who need Thy aid. Then, foolish mortal man that I am, why should I be afraid?"

Brothers and sisters, we have nothing to fear if we are resting in Christ. And all of those types and shadows, all of those things were designed to point us to that heavenly Canaan and that eternal rest. God promised it, and He will deliver. Every single one who has a hunger and a desire and surrenders their heart to Him, He is going to take to that eternal home in heaven, the city made without hands, that he has promised, but like Israel, are we going to learn to make of no effect God's promise? Or are we going to enter into that rest?

Is that the desire of your heart? Do you want to know that eternal city? Do you want to have that eternal rest? If you do, why don't you pray with me now.

O loving Father, Lord, thank You for opening our eyes. Thank You for giving us ears to hear. Thank You for revealing to us in the blazing light of the cross that all of Scripture points to Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. We must come through Him and He promises to give us an eternal Canaan and He promises to give us rest through You. And Father, we pray that You would continue the work that You've begun in each of us. Lord, we don't have anything to fear if we surrender our will to You, and allow You to do in us those things that we cannot do in ourselves.

And so, Lord, our prayer today is that You would do a work in us. Lord, if we're not willing, help us to be willing to surrender it all to You, because we know, Lord, every single person who arrives in heaven is going to arrive there with their free will still intact. Because we, of our own volition, surrendered our will to You, and You can do a work in us that we cannot do. We want a rest from sin. Lord, I look at what's happening in the world today and I'm sick of sin. I see what it's doing to this world, and it's driving us apart.

And Lord, it's driving us away from You. But we want to draw nearer to You. We want to enter into a physical Canaan and we want to enter into a physical rest, but more than that, Lord, we want that heavenly Canaan. We want that eternal rest that You have promised. And we celebrate it today as we keep the Sabbath holy. And it is a reminder to us of the eternal rest that You want to give to us from sin. You are going to make sure that sin never rises up again. We're going to be able to rest from the affects of it. And, Lord, we long for it. We long for more. And so we pray You would fill us, empower us, enable us, Lord, watch over us and protect us and guide us to that heavenly Canaan and that heavenly rest. And we pray in Jesus's name, amen.

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Announcer: Amazing Facts: Changed Lives.

Female: You know, I wasn't raised to be a methamphetamine manufacturer. I wasn't raised to be a drug dealer. I was raised in the church. I wanted to fit in, I wanted to be in the "in" crowd. I wanted to feel accepted, so I got in to all the things that my friend was in to. She was an avid drinker and, by the time I was 16, I was drinking quite a bit. And pretty soon, someone asked me if I wanted to have some cocaine. And one thing led to another, that I--pretty soon, I started to sell cocaine. And I thought, you know, I can quit any time I want. That this really doesn't have a hold on me.

And one day, my friend, she was driving. A train went by, and somehow she didn't see the other train coming. And she didn't make it. And that, right there, just devastated me. It was at that point that I just cried out to God and I said, "God, you know, do whatever You have to do. I don't care what it is. Intervene in my life."

My parents, in the meantime, had been praying for me that I would come back to the Lord. They actually had invited me to a prophecy seminar. I decided to come but I went there high. And I'm not proud of it. Why I even mention it today is because I just want you to know the Holy Spirit is much more powerful. And He started working in my heart. It's like I knew that the Holy Spirit was convicting me, but yet it wasn't even like it was me. Literally, I was picked up and taken down to the front.

You can be raised in the church and do all kinds of things and the devil will make you think that you don't--that God won't accept you back. But God is merciful. He is loving and He--it doesn't matter what you've done. He just wants you to come back home.

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Announcer: Amazing Facts: Changed Lives.

Jason: We were going to church every other week. About 19 years old, things really started to make sense for me. I started to go to church for myself, and the pastor wanted to study with me. Well, we came to the study about baptism, and I kind of just shrugged, put my head down, and said, "I'm not ready." He looked me in the eye and said, "Jason, you'll never make yourself ready. You know, this is something you have to do."

I put a lot of things behind me, the drinking and smoking and all that stuff stopped. All throughout the time I'd been learning about God, it was just me and God. Comes around, up to about August, and I meet this girl. About two years into the relationship, we're talking about marriage and everything. We didn't pray, we didn't study together. We were arguing a lot, but we were engaged. I started drinking again. And that was a slow downward spiral in different things and my devotional life started really weaseling away.

We broke up in 2008. It was heavy for me because, again, being with somebody for that long, it's almost like a divorce. I started to fall back away even more. I remember looking in the mirror, just looking at myself, and saying, "What are you doing? How can you do this to God? He brought you so far." And, you know, God really heard my cry.

There was a testimony telling at my church, and there was a call, and kids started getting up. Bunch of high school kids started getting up for calls of baptism. I'm back doing the P.A. system at this time and I feel just like this urge, just my heart just started ripping out of my chest. And I just had this feeling just to go up. I get up to the front and I meet the pastor in open arms. I realized that there's so much more to life than just living life for myself. And, you know, falling away, it's not a necessity, but God can work through anything in the bad to make it the good. That's a promise He makes.

Announcer: Together, we have spread the gospel much farther than ever before. Thank you for your support.

Announcer: Amazing Facts: Changed Lives.

Jennifer: So as a teenager growing up, I was getting into all sorts of trouble. I was drinking, smoking. I would look for love in all the wrong places. I thought that those were ways that could make me happy, and it didn't, it just made everything worse. I was very confused. I didn't know who I was. I had no identity whatsoever and just, I had such a hole in me, such hurt, that I would do anything and everything just to try to fill that void. I was making a lot of bad decisions, a lot of bad choices. I got pregnant when I was 19 years old and I was a single mother. And to try to prove to myself and the world that I can make it on my own, I became an exotic dancer.

My mom, she started sending me links to Amazing Facts Ministry, just sermons and seminars and Bible studies and YouTube videos with Doug Batchelor. And I started watching it, and beforehand I would delete them, but now here I am watching and I couldn't get enough of it. My heart was on fire, I wanted more and more. So instead of going to the club, I would go to the website, the Amazing Facts website, and then I would go to the Bible studies and I would go after one, study one, which would make me want to study another one. So I'd study another one and another one and I went through the whole set, and that wasn't enough for me. I wanted more.

So I just--I would do it again. I would read the whole set over again. And I was learning so much, and I just couldn't get enough of it. And this made me where I didn't even want to go to work, I just had this fire in my heart. And then it got to where I was on the interstate to go to work and I pulled over and God, He just--He told me, like, He's like, "Jennifer, we can't do this no--anymore." And so I told Him, I said, "God, I know this is You. I know that You're speaking to me right now."

And for the first time ever, my eyes were opened to the whole situation and how I was living my life. And I went home and I got down on my knees and I fell before God. I started to beg Him, "God, please take me out of this lifestyle, and if You do, I promise You I will serve You for the rest of my life." And so, for the first time in my life, I was healing and I was learning and I was coming to a knowledge of the truth, and that truth was Jesus Christ Himself and that He loved me.

So, as I'm going about these studies, Amazing Facts comes to my local church, and Pastor Wyatt Allen, he puts on this evangelistic series and he makes a call for baptisms, and I'm impressed, you know, that I need to do this, and I want to make this decision for Christ to rededicate my life to Him. My life has been completely changed in so many ways, just seeing where God has taken me on this journey where He took me from this, to this lost confused girl, to this woman He knows who she is, her identity in Christ.

My name is Jennifer. Thank you for changing my life.