HSS_2022_Q4_EP08

♪ theme music ♪

(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,

an in-depth, interactive study

of the Word of God.

I'm excited today because we're

in the middle of a great series on Life,

Death, Resurrection, and Eternal Life.

It could be the most important series

that you study with us

as part of our Hope Sabbath School family
around the world.

And we're going to be looking today

at an encouraging topic.

The New Testament Hope.

So welcome to Hope Sabbath School

and welcome to the team.

Good to be together again

and good to see your smiling faces.

Jason, I'm excited you're going

to be teaching today.

What a great topic,

The New Testament Hope.

We want to also welcome

our team members joining us remotely.

Nicholas, good to see you from Georgia,

glad you're with us.

Shaina, good to see you from Maine again.

And, Tricia Lee, great to see you

from Virginia; we're glad you're part

of our study today.

We're always happy to hear

from our Hope Sabbath School members,
right, around the world.

We have them in about 200 countries.

You say, "Derek, how do you know that?"

Because they're using our app,

and we get the statistics

on how many countries

are using our Hope Channel app.

But we also get emails,

and they'll tell us where they're from.

This is from Michigan

in the United States.

Now, Travis, that's your territory, right,

and Brittany, homeland, so give a wave

to Gregory in Michigan.

Alright, he says, "Hope Sabbath School

is an authentic show where panelists

interpret Scripture from the perspective

of their own experience.

But also, it may be a force

that will bring the church

into a more unified, cohesive
worldwide whole."

(Team) Amen!

(Derek) Wow! "We are now so separated

from one another along the wall."

Well, Gregory, I'm not sure

what wall that is, but you're right;

the enemy wants to divide,

and God wants us to be unified. Amen?

But not just unified by some kind

of lowest common denominator

but unified in Christ. Amen?

So, thanks for writing to us,

Gregory, from Michigan.

Here is a note from Maureen in Guyana.

Now, Travis, you've worked
in Guyana, right,

so you know the folks there.

And Maureen writes and says,

"I appreciate the interactive nature

of Hope Sabbath School

and the wide cross-section of panelists.

Okay, let's take a look at the panelists.

Look at each other.

Do you notice that we

don't all look the same?

That we're not all ladies,

and we're not all men, right, and we're

not all from one part of the world.

That's because we represent

a global family, and Maureen

is saying, "I like that."

Thanks for writing to us, Maureen,
from Guyana.

By the way, that isn't by accident, is it?

We want the Hope Sabbath School team

to look like the world.

Here's a note from a donor
in New York State

in the United States of America,

and the donor writes, "Thank you,

Hope Sabbath School team,

for all you do with the Bible study.

My family has watched

the program for years,

and we have been blessed.

Here's a small donation

to help the ministry.

God bless you," and a donation

of a hundred and fifty dollars.

Thank you, Donor, in New York State.

We're glad you're part of the miracle.

And by the way, at this time of the year,

if you're thinking about, "How can I

make a difference to impact

the world for Christ?"

think about making a donation

to Hope Sabbath School.

Just go to hopetv.org/hopess,

click on the Donate button, and we

all smile because we're part of a team.

We're all volunteers here,

but it takes money to broadcast

around the world, so thank you

for being part of that ministry.

And one last note, from Alma in Texas.

Anybody here from Texas?

Nisha, are you from Texas?

Alright, Alma writes from Texas

in the United States; she says, "I love

everything about Hope Sabbath School

and everyone on the team.

I've never understood the Word of God

like I do since I started watching

Hope Sabbath School."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) "I feel like family,

and I know you all; be blessed."

Well, Alma, thanks for writing to us

from Texas here in the United States.

We'd love to hear from you.

You say, "Derek, I don't write to people."

Well, but we'd like to hear

how God's blessing your life

through a study of the Word of God.

Write to us at [e-mail].

And you say, "I'm not very skilled

on the computer," then ask your son

or daughter or your grandchild,

and they'll tell you how to do that:

[e-mail].

Maybe you're just a youngster,

and you say, "Can I write in
if I'm only 12?"

Absolutely, we'd love to hear from you

how God is blessing you as part

of the Hope Sabbath School family.

Oh, we've got a special gift, don't we?

We have a special gift for you

during this series on Life, Death,

Resurrection, and Eternal Life.

It's a digital book called

The Story of Jesus,

and I'm excited about that.

It's focusing specifically on the life,

death, resurrection of Jesus,

and His gift of eternal life to us.

And you can get a digital copy

of The Story of Jesus absolutely free

by going to our website,

hopetv.org/hopess;

you've learned that by now.

And in the middle of the screen

it says Free Gift;

just click on that button, and you can get

a free digital copy

of The Story of Jesus.

Well, right now we need you

to help us with our theme song.

Oh, theme songs are

always helpful, aren't they?

And, what's our theme song

for this series, anybody tell me?

(Team) "Do not be afraid."

(Derek) Oh, it's the Word
of Jesus, isn't it,

from Revelation, chapter 1.

"Do not be afraid;

I am the First and the Last.

I am He who lives, and was dead,

and behold, I am alive forevermore.

And I have the keys of Hades,"

that's the grave, "and of Death."

I'm so thankful for that Scripture

of Jesus; let's sing it together.

♪ music ♪

(Derek) What an amazing promise of Jesus.

Jason, I'm looking forward to the study

on The New Testament Hope.

(Jason) Amen. Thank you, Pastor Derek.

Please bow your heads as I pray.

Our dear heavenly Father,

as we open Your Word,

Lord, help us to find hope in You.

Lord, as we look through
the New Testament,

as we look through the Scriptures,

Lord, help us to have encouragement

no matter what we're going through
in this life.

Guide our hearts, guide our minds.

We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

(Derek, Team) Amen.

(Jason) We've been looking here

at this idea of life, death,

what happens after death.

We talked about resurrection

and eternal life, and today we're looking

at this from the perspective

of the New Testament.

And who was the most prolific author

of the New Testament?

Who wrote a large portion

of the New Testament?

(Team) Paul.

(Jason) Paul, yes!

And so, we're actually going to go

and start in the writings of Paul.

We're going to go to a letter he wrote

to the Corinthians,

1 Corinthians, chapter 15.

I'm going to ask Brittany

if you could start us out here.

We're in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15;

if you could read verses 12 through 19,

because as Brittany reads,

we're going to see here for Paul,

this is not just a light matter.

This is something very important.

And as she reads, listen.

Let's see why for Paul

is this so important, this idea

of eternal life, of resurrection.

Why is it so urgent for him?

(Brittany) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

1 Corinthians 15, verse 12, says:

(Jason) Ouch!

That's some pretty strong language there,

"We are of all men the most pitiable"?

Yikes. Alright, Jason, what do you
think of that?

What is Paul saying there?

(Jason) Wow, he's just saying,

for the most part,

that our hope, our faith,

relies on Jesus being resurrected.

Without that, like Paul said, it's futile,

and we would still be in our sins.

(Jason) We would still be
in our sins. Nisha.

(Nisha) While the dead have no hope,

we have hope for the dead that we are

going to be resurrected once again,

and it also removes that as well.

(Derek) I'm thinking of what Jesus said

in the theme song.

He has the keys of the grave and death,

so His victory over death

becomes our victory

when we have faith in Him.

(Jason) Amen. Yes. Travis,

you wanted to add here

to what you see here

of what Paul's talking about?

(Travis) Well, I'm trying to think

of the audience, who he's speaking to,

and I'm thinking he

must have been speaking to the Sadducees

because they didn't believe and taught

that there was no resurrection
from the dead.

So, this would have been a paradigm shift

for some who would have thought

that there was no resurrection.

(Derek) Well, I think it

wouldn't be Sadducees, though,
because we're in Corinth here.

(Jason) Greeks?

(Derek) Yeah, these would be Greeks

who maybe believed in some kind

of immortality of the soul,

that we float off;

flesh is bad; spirit is good,

which is not what Jesus taught, right?

Jesus taught a literal resurrection
from the dead.

But, you know, probably there in Corinth,

with the Greek philosophy,

there's this argument that really
a bodily resurrection

would not be even desirable.

(Jason) That's right, and Paul

makes it clear this is also important

in a spiritual sense.

What do you see there?

What does he [say] about how this

is important in a spiritual sense?

Brittany, what is he referencing there?

(Brittany) He says if Christ hasn't risen,

then we're still stuck in our sins.

We're trapped in our sins,

and there's no hope for us

to have eternal life, because sin,

the consequence of sin, is death.

(Jason) Harold.

(Harold) I was just going to add,

if there's no resurrection,

then what's the purpose of life?

What's the purpose of our existence?

Like, why are we here then?

Nothing matters at that point.

If our existence is just this,
anything goes.

(Jason) And Paul makes a hint to that.

I would like, Harold, actually,

if you could go in this chapter,

go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15,

go to verse 32 and just read

the second part there, part B,

if you will, of verse 32

because Paul literally basically says

almost that same idea, Harold.

So, if you could read that for us.

(Harold) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,
and it reads:

(Jason) Alright, so what does
that say, Travis?

What is the point of this life

if the dead do not rise?

(Travis) Well, I mean, I'm thinking here

in terms of how we live today,

and basically he's saying,

"If this isn't true,

and He hasn't been raised,

we might as well just live it up;
it's all we've got."

(Jason) There we go.

And this is actually, you guys notice,

is Paul quoting somewhere here?
Yes, Jason.

(Jason) He's quoting Solomon,

and it's interesting because he chose that

because, of course, in Ecclesiastes

we see that Solomon is basically doing

an overlook of life itself.

And so, he pulled this from that

to kind of make his point [stronger].

(Jason) Alright, so we should

probably read that then.

He's quoting from Ecclesiastes.

He's actually quoting from chapter 2,

Ecclesiastes, chapter 2, which we know

is written by Solomon,

the wisest man who ever lived,

we could say even one of the wealthiest.

I'm going to ask Laurel if you could read,

because we're going to read

about this man who tried to get pleasure,

who tried to get, shall we say, hope,

if you will, out of this world,

out of this world's existence.

We're going to go to Ecclesiastes,

chapter 2; Laurel, if you could read

verses 1 through 11.

Let's see here, and as she reads,

let's look at what is his attitude,

what are the actions he tries to do,

and then, of course,

what is his conclusion.

(Laurel) I'll be reading

from the New American Standard Bible:

(Jason) Wow!

That's quite, shall we say, a testimony.

So, I want to start, I want

to go through this passage.

Harold, what is the attitude of Solomon

at the beginning here?

What are his thoughts toward life?

(Harold) Well, I mean, at least the things

that he did on Earth, he just realized

after he enjoyed himself

he wasn't filled; it wasn't fulfilling

at the end of the day.

And he still wanted to do more.

(Jason) Travis.

(Travis) It's as if he's trying

to take all his wisdom

and put it into this one idea,

"I want to get the most out of life."

That's what he's striving for.

So, it seems like this

isn't God-given wisdom,

"I'm going to, with all my wisdom, try

to get the most I can

out of this short period

of life that I have."

(Jason) And did you see, what are

the things he tries to do?

Nisha, what are examples?

What are some of the things

you see there that he actually tries

to do to get pleasure out of life?

(Nisha) So, monetarily he accrues

a lot of wealth, and so he then starts

building himself things.

There are vineyards, there are homes,

there are people to work in the homes.

There are wives, there is everything

that you could acquire,
possibly, with money.

(Jason) Yes, people to work

in the home, wives.

And is he getting these by free choice?

We get some hints here.

Apparently, he's also including

other people forcibly in this.

So, he's exploiting other people

to get his own pleasure

out of all these experiences.

And what is his conclusion?

What does he say it is, Brittany?

(Brittany) It's all vanity.

(Jason) It's vanity.

(Brittany) It's all empty.

(Jason) It's empty.

It's grasping the wind;

it's striving after the wind,

some even say chasing the wind.

Alright, so why is it

chasing the wind, Travis?

Why is it pointless

to go after these pleasurable experiences?

(Travis) I've actually never tried

to grab wind, but it seems like, you know,

if I was to go out in a windstorm

and try to grab or chase wind,

it's useless, right?

It's going to profit me nothing

because I'm not going to catch it.

And so, what Solomon is doing here is,

even after he's applied all his wisdom,

he said, "You know what?

Everything that I've done

is just absolutely useless.

It's actually profited me nothing."

(Jason) Nisha.

(Nisha) Within what he's saying,

what he doesn't seem to be saying

is that he was looking for something.

All of this didn't fulfill, in some way.

He's saying it's vanity, but he's saying,

"It meant nothing; I'm still empty."

And I think that's the problem.

(Jason) Yes, Derek.

(Derek) And what's really tragic

is that nowhere in this does he say,

"I earnestly sought the Lord

and asked Him how I could find

meaning and hope in my life."

Now, at the end of the book, he'll say,

"Reverence God and keep

His commandments," you know.

But here, God doesn't

seem to be in the picture at all,

but at least he gives a confession

to people who might try

to go down this same useless road

of finding hope in stuff

or in physical sensation.

(Jason) Eric.

(Eric) One of the things

that he alludes to here

is that life is brief, which means,

even after doing all these things,

when at the end of life,

everything that you have done,

you find that you can't take it with you.

It's meaningless at the end of the day.

You have fun and all that good stuff,

but at the end of the day

it is still meaningless;
you leave it right here.

(Harold) I was just going to add,

but it does say something

about human nature because the fact

that we're always trying

to seek and be filled,

seek and filled, and actually I believe

it's because, the next chapter,

it says that God has put eternity in us.

So, that eternity that He has put in us

in the sense of seeking,

like, for the best -

and actually God did create pleasure.

I mean, that is part of His creation.

He even made a garden

called "Pleasure" so we can enjoy.

And that eternity can only be filled

through God because God is eternal.

And we will always be satisfied

if we are at His feet every day

and seeking Him, and maybe that's
why we will...

(Jason) Kenneth, and then I have
a question for you guys.

(Kenneth) To me, it sounds like he was

speaking to present day, you know,

like the way we are living our lives.

And as a young person,

all the things that we think

bring fulfillment, bring joy,

every single one of them,

as you keep going up the ladder

which he described,

you become emptier and emptier.

So, I think if there is someone

who can share this experience,

a billionaire, and did all of this

and still say it's vanity,

I would take him seriously.

(Jason) Kenneth referenced present day,

and lest we be so hard on Solomon,

have we ourselves sometimes

possibly lived for pleasure?

I'm just curious, and I know

this is a personal, vulnerable moment,

but is there anyone here on the team

maybe where you've had some experiences?

Like Solomon, you wanted to try to get

what you could out of this life;

you wanted to live for pleasure.

Is there anyone here on the team?

Harold, you nodded your head?

(Harold) I mean, sure, I'll go.

I was not nodding my head, but I mean

I can start even at a younger age.

As a younger boy, actually I was

very ambitious; I always wanted toys.

Even when my mom and my father

never wanted to buy them

because of their means.

But I always found a way

of how to get them regardless.

So, I would come up with schemes

to steal and just keep them

in a way that I made it appear

as if my parents bought it.

So, like, one time I went to the store.

I stole this set of toys,

and I hid it in my father's closet.

And after he came from work,

he's like, "Oh, how did that get here?"

And I said, "Oh, thank you

for buying this for me.

It's in your closet."

And I was a young boy;

I was probably like six or five years old,

and it didn't end there.

I would go to the parks;

I would see the toys.

I would be waiting

until the children would go away,

and I would just steal them

and bring them home.

And I would do that for many years,

even to my teenage years.

I would still steal because I,
for some reason,

I always wanted something,

but I realized I was never satisfied,

but I kept doing it until, of course,

I understood more of Jesus,

and, like, "Oh, wait a minute; this is

my true fulfillment, not these things."

(Jason) So, even as a boy, you tried

to get your fulfillment out of toys,

out of pleasure, out of things,

and you found that it's not valuable.

It's doesn't help. Yes, Derek.

(Derek) I just want to affirm Harold

for having the courage

to share his testimony,

because sometimes people

watching Hope Sabbath School think,

"Well, you folks are all,

like, perfect people, and I'm struggling

because I've been addicted to something."

And it may not be even things
that are bad.

I may be addicted to being top

of my class, having the highest grade.

But even those things don't meet

the deepest longing of the heart.

Only God can meet that,

and I think Kenneth is right.

That's our culture today.

People are trying to find hope

in things apart from God.

(Jason) And as Harold shared there,

while he tried to find meaning and hope

out of toys, out of pleasure,

he said it wasn't valuable;

it was pointless; it was vanity,
meaninglessness.

Why is that, Travis?

Why do we get hopelessness,

even when we're trying to find

hope and pleasure out of this world?

(Travis) I'm just thinking

of Jeremiah 2:13 where it talks

about Israel pursuing wealth

that is without water.

And basically, these are just...

You know, we're hungering and thirsting,

but the real thing that God wants us

to hunger and thirst for is righteousness

because that's the one thing -

His righteousness - that's the one thing

that can bring us peace and joy

and happiness, is living a life

of service for God.

(Jason) Amen. Well, we need to continue.

We've shared a little bit of some things.

It may sound a little depressing,

what we've talked about,

which is true because hope

in this world is depressing.

It's vanity; it's pointlessness.

But there is good news, guys.

There is hope, and I'm going to ask Shaina

if you could read for us about this hope.

We're going to go to the Gospel,

to the book of John,

John, chapter 14, verses 1 through 3,

because, guys, while this world

is pointless, this world is hopeless -

the pleasures of it - there is hope.

The New Testament does talk
about this hope,

and I'm going to ask Shaina

if you could read about this hope

for us right now.

(Shaina) Sure, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Jason) Amen. Alright, so Jesus

is sharing this to His disciples,

and does anyone know, what is the context?

Why does He say, "Let not

your heart be troubled"?

Why does He say, "Don't worry"?

Brittany, what's the context

of when Jesus is saying these words?

(Brittany) This is right after they've had
the last supper,

and it talks about He's predicting

Peter's denial of Him

right before these verses.

And He's saying, "Even though all

these things are going to happen -

I'm going to die, you guys are

all going to leave Me -

don't give up hope because I'm preparing

a place for you, and I will come back."

(Jason) That's right,

because, is it possible the disciples

might have been tempted even to have

a little bit of pleasure

or a little bit of hope in this world?

We made reference, Pastor Derek shared

about pleasure and achievement,

and maybe the disciples had

some of that hope in Jesus. Yes, Kenneth.

(Kenneth) I think, when we look

at the life of the disciples,

their hope of Jesus was Jesus

establishing an eternal kingdom,

or a kingdom on earth to redeem them

from their temporary suffering.

They were not looking for an eternal hope,

so their hope was even limited,

something that Jesus could not fulfill.

And sometimes we see that today.

Some people hope in God.

It is for them to have

that kind of material wealth or something

that they need here and now,

not something bigger.

(Jason) Yes. Nisha.

(Nisha) What Kenneth was just saying
just made me think,

without God we don't understand.

God kept trying to break this notion

that you can get happiness here on Earth.

He was trying to expand their minds

in a way that they

just completely didn't understand,

in a hope that was just so much bigger

than what you can physically see.

And He's like, "You don't understand

how much happier you will be

or how much more hope

you can experience in something

that I am going to give you.

You have to take your eyes

off of what is in front of you."

But they were having trouble

doing that in that moment.

(Jason) That's right. Travis.

(Travis) I would just like to say

that they had already given up
at this point.

They had already given up their careers

to follow Jesus, and they were

about to suffer a great disappointment.

And so, here I see the love of God

in that He's sharing

with them, "I will return."

And they can't even comprehend

what's going to happen,

and when it happens, as a matter of fact,

when people come back to them

and say, "He's risen,"

they're like, "Uh, I don't know

if I believe that."

And so, here is the promise to them

and to us that Jesus will come again.

(Jason) That is the promise: Jesus
will come again. Jason.

(Jason) I would just like to add,
this is one

of my favorite Scriptures right here,

but I took notice of the latter part

of verse 2, and it says,

"If it were not so,

I would [have told you.]"

I just love that Jesus

kept it real with us,

kept it a hundred percent, you know,

laying it all out before us.

(Jason) Yes. And we also hear

this promise repeated again

by someone else here

also in the New Testament.

I'm going to ask Nisha if you can go

to the next book of the Bible,

right towards the very end

of Jesus' experience here on this earth,

if you could go to Acts, chapter 1,

and read for us verses 9 through 11,

because we're going to have

this promise repeated again.

And this time, maybe not
even just by Jesus.

Someone else is going
to share this promise.

(Nisha) Sure, and I will be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Jason) Alright, so we have
a promise here,

and who gave this promise?

Was this a promise from Jesus,

or who gave this promise, Nisha?

(Nisha) Two angels, we assume.

(Jason) Yeah, probably angels.

We know they are men in white,

heavenly messengers, alright.

And what is this promise, Brittany?

What is the promise that they share?

(Brittany) That the same way

Jesus went to Heaven,

He's going to come back again.

You have this hope that He told you,

that He's preparing a place for you,
and He will come back for you.

(Jason) Alright, what does
this mean, Travis?

We have this hope that Jesus will return

and have this place for us -

what does that mean?

What does that look like?

(Travis) I think for me, personally,

it's not just for me, but it's the fact

that He'll return is a blessing for...

You know, I'm thinking

about my mother and those

who have preceded me in death,

that when He returns

I'm going to meet them.

So, it's not just a personal happiness

that I get or a selfish happiness

because it's about me,

but it's because everybody

is included in this promise.

(Jason) Tricia Lee.

(Tricia Lee) I think it's really important

what the angels shared,

because what it really means

is that there is no confusion

as to Jesus coming back.

We don't have to think

that we'll miss His return.

He said, the same way He went

is the same way He's coming.

So, if someone is looking for hope,

they don't have to be anxious

that they're going to miss this big hope,

they're going to miss Jesus' return.

I think that's why it was really important

for them to specify, "The same way

you see Him go is the same way

He's going to return."

Because, if you're looking

for hope in Jesus, and you're not sure,

"Did I miss Him? Did He come back?

Did somebody else...," you know.

No, He's going to come

in a very visible way,

and that's really important

when we're thinking about what that means

for us that are expecting

and looking forward to Him with that hope.

(Jason) Amen. Shaina,

you want to add to that?

(Shaina) Yes, and this hope that we have

in Jesus' return is not like anything

that we hope for here on Earth, that we'll

attain whatever we're hoping for,

and then we get it,

and then, okay, the hope dies.

Then, okay, what's next?

What else can I pursue?

What else can I get?

This hope that we have in Jesus,

it's everlasting because once He comes,

all the pain and the suffering

and all the bad things that we are

associated with on this earth will end.

And what we'll have in Jesus

will be everlasting and forever.

(Jason) Amen. Yes, Derek.

(Derek) I just want to share,

those two verses in John 14

and Acts 1 are really important, Jesus

Himself and then these two messengers.

And if it just said "two men," you'd say,

"Well, I guess some people living there."

But dressed in white

is kind of a cryptic clue

to the tomb where two people

in shining garments appear and say,

"He's not here; He's risen."

So, these are clearly heavenly messengers.

But not long after these words
were recorded,

this false teaching comes that Jesus

is not going to come back literally.

Even religious people say,

"Well, He will come in your heart."

Well, that's not what Jesus said,

as Tricia Lee pointed out.

The same way, personal, visible,

audible going up into heaven,

that's how He's going to come back.

And I think we need

to really hold fast to that hope

and not let people explain it away

in some kind of mystical way.

(Jason) Amen. Kenneth.

(Kenneth) The little thing

I want to add is this:

The angel says, "This same Jesus."

You know, in the Bible,

"this same" is supplied,

but the original Word says "this Jesus."

We see in our world, for the little time

I've lived on this earth,

there have been so many types

of false Christs coming,

bringing different kinds of hope.

But the good news is that this same Jesus,

not a different Jesus,

not a counterfeit Jesus.

And it's very important

that it is the Jesus of the Bible,

not a Jesus people have created for us.

(Jason) The Jesus of the Bible.

And these disciples, if you

think about it, when did they imagine

that Jesus would return?

What timeline do you think

they were thinking of, Brittany?

(Brittany) Maybe weeks, months,

maybe a year at the most.

They certainly weren't thinking
after their death.

(Jason) Certainly not after their death.
Harold.

(Harold) At the beginning

of chapter 1 of Acts, it does say

that, "Will You restore Your kingdom?"

Before Jesus even ascends, they ask Him,

and Jesus said, "No, it's not the time.

Right now, your job

is to spread the gospel, the good news."

(Jason) And they go out and do that.

And Matthew tells us, "And this gospel,

the kingdom, shall be preached

to all the world,

and then the end will come."

They take that very literally.

They go out, and almost all of them lose

their lives for the sake of the gospel.

And there is, though, one

that is still remaining at the very end.

Who was the last person

that would have had this experience,

the last disciple, to still be alive?

Who was the last person, Brittany?

(Brittany) John.

(Jason) John, and the Apostle John,

he received one last message from Jesus

at the very end of the book here,

and this is in the book of Revelation.

And I'm going to ask Nicholas

if you could actually read for us here,

because the last book of the Bible,

and it's referenced in Revelation,

chapter 3, but also the last chapter

of the last book of the Bible.

Revelation, chapter 22, Jesus

reiterates something to the Apostle John,
very important.

And I'm going to ask Nicholas

if you could actually read for us

in Revelation, chapter 22, so last book,

last chapter, if you could read

verses 7, 12 and 20.

And as Nicholas reads, I want us to hear,

what do we hear repeated over and over?

What is the common theme

that we are told here.

(Nicholas) Absolutely, I'll be reading

from the New King James Version;
verse 7 says:

And verse 12:

And then again in verse 20:

(Derek, Jason, Team) Amen.

(Jason) Alright, so, what is the theme?

Kenneth, what do we hear

repeated over and over there?

(Kenneth) "Behold, I am coming quickly."

(Jason) "I am coming quickly." Travis.

(Travis) It says that He is
coming quickly,

but one of the things

I just want to point out is that this

could be relative, even to our lives.

I mean, let's say I live 80 years;

I've only been alive for 80 years.

My next conscious thought

is Jesus coming in the clouds.

That's going to be quite quickly.

I'm not going to know

that however many years have passed.

But there's also a promise,

or an explanation, in 2 Peter 3 that says,

actually, the reason there is a delay

isn't because He's not keeping
His promise.

It's that He's actually "not willing

that any should perish."

And I think that that's a beautiful thing

to remember when we wonder

why it's taking so long.

(Jason) Tricia Lee, you have
a thought here?

(Tricia Lee) Yeah, I appreciate

Travis' comments that none of us

have to wait 2,000 years.

No one has waited 2,000 years.

You know, you're really only waiting

as long as your own lifetime.

But, just thinking, if my husband

says he's on his way

to pick me up, "Get ready."

Alright, I get ready, but if I call,

and I'm like, "Where are you?

Are you passing the gas station?

Are you passing the school?

Are you around the corner?" you know,

if I ask those kinds of questions,

I'm trying to gauge how close or how far.

And if I know where he is,

I probably won't be ready

when he gets here.

If he says, "Be ready, I'm on my way,"

because I don't know

where he is on the road,

I'm going to be rushing

and hurrying up, right?

But as soon as I know

he's at the school, "Oh, okay,

I have a little bit more time,"

and may be a little bit more relaxed.

So, I think God gives us things

to look for, signs throughout the Bible,

but no man knows the day,

the hour or the time

because He wants us to just be ready.

He doesn't want us to be getting ready;

He wants us to be ready.

And so, in many ways it's just like that.

He's not going to tell us that He's,

you know, however many months

or years or weeks away,

that He says to be ready.

And that's just human nature;

if we think we have an idea

that He's at the stop sign

or at the gas station, we might slow down,

or we might get a little bit complacent

and not take that promise

as earnestly or as urgently.

(Jason) Yes. Nicholas, you wanted
to add to that.

(Nicholas) Yeah, of course, this

being in the book of Revelation, too,

there are other prophecies

that have to do with the end of time.

And looking at these prophecies,

we can know that there would have

to be some time that would pass

before Jesus would be able to come.

But I think one reason, too, that He says

He's coming quickly is, again, He wants

to give each individual believer that hope

and expectancy that He is coming quickly.

Because on the scope

for the onlooking universe,

Christ's coming is going to be soon,

and He is going to be coming again soon.

And I think He wants to, you know,

after He described

the whole apocalyptic book

with kind of some things

that may be scary,

at the end He wants to say,

"I'm coming quickly."

It's kind of like a surgery

or medical operation;

it's going to be over soon.

Even if you fall asleep for part of it,

when you wake up, Christ is come again.

(Jason) Amen. That's encouragement.

Thank you, Nicholas.

I do have to ask, though,

because there are people

who especially come to us who believe

in the soon coming of Jesus and say,

"You say Jesus is coming soon.

Why has it taken so long?"

Why has it taken so long,

Brittany, Harold, Travis?

Why has it taken so long?

Kenneth, why has it taken so long?

(Kenneth) One of the things

that Jesus says is that we should send

the gospel message to all the world.

He never said everyone

is going to believe.

And I know there are still people groups

who still haven't heard the gospel.

It is for you and me to take this message

to these people to be their witness,

and then, just as the Bible says,

then the end will come.

(Jason) Amen. Now, there is a parable

that might give us a hint

and help us reference this.

For the sake of time, I'm not going

to have us read it all,

but I'm going to ask for a volunteer

that can give me a quick summary
of this parable.

I do encourage you to read it, though.

Go to the book of Matthew 25,

read verses 1 through 13,
read this parable.

And I'm going to ask if someone

on the team here very quickly

can give me a 30-second summary.

What is this parable?

What does it tell us?

And then we can talk about what lessons

it might teach us about this idea

of waiting for Jesus

and the soon coming and the delay.

Brittany, do you want to give us
a quick summary of this parable?

(Brittany) Sure, so there was a wedding

that was going to happen.

And there were 10 virgins,

and each of them had a lamp,

and each of them put some oil in the lamp.

But five of them were called wise,

and five of them were called foolish.

And the only difference between them

is that the wise ones took extra oil

while the foolish ones

only had enough for a short time.

Well, everyone fell asleep,

and at midnight a cry went out,

"The Bridegroom is here

and come join Him and His feast."

And so, they wake up,

and the five wise ones had extra oil,

so their lamps were

still shining brightly,

and they went in to this wedding feast.

But the five foolish ones,

their lights had gone out.

They didn't have the extra oil,

and they said to the wise ones,

"Give us some of your oil.

We want to be able to go

into this wedding feast."

And they said, "No, we

can't share our oil.

You have to go buy it,"

but it was too late.

When they went to buy it,

and they came back to the feast,

they knocked on the door,

and the Bridegroom said,

"Nope, it's too late. You can't come in."

(Jason) Alright, thank you, Brittany.

I appreciate that summary.

So, what lessons does this teach us?

What lesson does this tell us, Travis?

What can we gain from this parable

about this idea of the delay
of Jesus' coming?

(Travis) Well, one of the things

that we learn from the parable

is that none of us are perfect;

they were all sleeping, right?

But one of the things

I think that we can learn from this

is to be ready every day.

Apparently, some of them were ready

for the wrong reasons, right?

And so, we aren't to be ready

just so we don't miss out on eternity,

but actually I was thinking

of the woman at the well

when Jesus said that true worshippers

will worship in spirit and truth.

God actually wants people

who love Him, right,

and so, we're not just waiting

because we want to get into Heaven;

we're waiting because we

actually look forward

to seeing our Redeemer.

(Derek) And I think that's

really important what Travis is saying,

because at the end of this narrative,

He says to the foolish, "I don't know you;

we don't have a relationship."

So, it's much more than just, "Well,

couldn't you share some oil?"

In another portion of Scripture, it says

there's a form of godliness,

and tragically that's what I

think we're saying here.

But in terms of the delay, because we're

talking about the hope, right,

there's nowhere in that story that says

the Bridegroom came at any time

other than when He intended to come.

For them it seemed like a delay,

and I think we need to see the return

of Jesus from God's perspective.

You know, "I'm coming quickly

in terms of eternity,"

versus my little life.

But the key that we've been hearing

is that we need to be ready

in a relationship with Jesus every day.

(Jason) Eric.

(Eric) I was going to say the same thing.

Tricia Lee mentioned the same thing,

that is, always be ready.

And one of the things

that the wise ones had

was they were ready.

They were ready at the time;

they had even extra just in case

the Bridegroom was (quote/unquote)
"delayed,"

because like Derek just said,

there was not a set time

when He was supposed to get there.

It's just they had to be ready
for when He gets there.

(Jason) Right, being ready.

Alright, well, we need to continue on

because what are we getting ready for?

What are we wanting to experience?

It's eternal life, and so is eternal life

only a future experience?

Kenneth, I would like if you

could read for us also another book

written by the Apostle John

because there's an interesting testimony

from the Apostle John in the book

of 1 John, chapter 5,

verses 11 through 13.

And this testimony might give us

a little hint, if we will -

let's look at some of the language -

about when do we get eternal life.

Is it simply a future experience?

Let's see what the testimony

of the Apostle John is,

related to his experience

with Jesus Christ.

(Kenneth) And I will be reading

from the New King James Version,
and it reads:

Amen.

(Jason) Amen. Alright, so if we have

anyone who knows a little bit

about English grammar here,

what tense are these words?

Is this talking about a future experience?

What words do we see here?

Laurel, what words do we see here

that tell us about what tense

these words are in?

(Laurel) So, like, "He who has the Son

has life," that's present,

so presently you need to have God

in your life right now.

(Jason) "Has," present, so is it possible,

Travis, to have eternal life right now?

(Travis) Well, if the Word of God is true,

yes, because it says "that you may know

that you have eternal life,"
present tense.

Yeah, I mean, I believe

that the Word of God is inspired

and is true, so, yeah, I believe

that it is possible.

(Jason) Alright, so it is possible.
Yes, Eric.

(Eric) It may be a little confusing

saying that you have eternal life

right now, and someone

might take it literally and say,

"Because I have Christ,

and I believe in Christ, I am

not going to die," but I don't think

that is what it references.

I think it references,

like, because I have Christ,

there is a promise of eternal life

once I am transformed

from this body of sin, and I'm transformed

into what really God intended for me.

(Derek) I think it's both.

I think Jesus says, "I've come

that you might have life and have it

more abundantly," or in fullness.

I think eternal life is not

just length of life.

I think it's quality of life.

And that's why, as we've been sharing,

if I experience the fullness

of life with Christ, and I happen

to fall asleep in death

and be raised at His resurrection,

really my life with Him is not stopped.

I'm experiencing that eternal life

and the certainty of that hope every day.

(Jason) Yes. Tricia Lee.

(Tricia Lee) Yeah, just building off

of Eric and Pastor Derek's comments,

if we go to sleep,

you wake up the next day;

you don't say your life stopped.

And the Bible says that death is a sleep,

and so from a physical perspective,

at the end of our lives, we fall asleep,

and our next thought we wake up,

and we are in eternity.

You know, our eternity has begun

or continued for us.

The short period of time that we lived

compared to forever,

it's really not a big difference,

so physically that eternity,

the promise is there.

We're just continuing in that.

But also, it's a mindset,

and that's that perspective that, yes,

we can have eternal life,

but the mindset is that,

despite the bad things

that are still happening around,

I can still have hope because I know

I have Jesus Christ.

I realize those bad things

that are happening, sin is temporary,

and I'm looking forward to the eternity

where it's all gone.

And so, I think that's

the dual aspects of it.

There is this physical life

that at one point I will fall asleep

and wake up to continue eternity,

but also I can have that eternal mindset

right now, and that's the hope

that despite the negative things

happening around me, I know that

Jesus is coming back,

and those things will pass away.

So, I can still have that joy

and that happiness that can

only come from Jesus

because I can see and have

the mindset of Christ,

that the bad things are not forever.

They will pass away.

(Jason) Amen. They will pass away.
Yes, Nicholas.

(Nicholas) I think also, one of the things

that kind of ties the resurrection

together with this hope

and this eternal life

is really when we are living life in sin,

it's not life at all; it's death.

Ephesians 2:1 says,

"And you were made alive,

who were dead in trespasses and sins."

So, we're kind of already,

although we're living physically,

when we're in sin, we're

really living in death.

And so, when Christ is resurrected in us,

and He lives in us, then we have

true life, which is what continues on
for eternity.

So, I think that's how, you know,

His resurrection gives us assurance

that He can resurrect in us

and gives us a hope

for the actual, real eternal life

that He is promising

because He's already risen in us,

so why can't He resurrect

our physical form as well.

(Jason) Yes, so eternal life

is not just a physical body,

physical experience, it's also

a spiritual one as well.

And Pastor Derek referenced

actually John 10:10, "I have come

[that they] may have life...

and life more abundantly."

And when we think of the word "abundance,"

oftentimes we think of it in terms

of numerical, in terms of accounting,

but how do you have

a numerical greater eternity,
eternal life?

So, apparently here, abundantly may also

relate to the quality of experience.

Yes, it's the time

but also the quality as well.

But we need to also look at this gift.

We've talked about this change

that will happen, and so I want us

to understand when it happens,

because we know there's

going to be a change.

We know there's going to be a process.

We know we're going to be having

a new heaven and a new earth

where righteousness dwells.

There's going to be a better quality
experience,

salvation from sin as Nicholas referenced.

And I'm going to ask Travis

if you could actually read -

because it's important for us

to understand when this happens -

so, Travis, if you could take us,

we're going back here to the Apostle Paul,

to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4,

verses 13 through 15,

because it's important for us

to understand when this happens,

and also let's look a little bit

about what this is that's

going to happen for us.

(Travis) And I'll b reading

from the New King James Version:

(Jason) Alright, so this experience,

this change that's going to happen,

we said eternal life is now,

but apparently there's also some kind

of change that happens

related to this idea of death.

When does this happen, Brittany?

(Brittany) Well, according to Paul,

it happens at the Second Coming of Christ.

(Jason) The Second Coming of Christ.

So, what does this mean, Jason?

What is this experience

we're talking about here?

(Jason) Well, it's just after everything

takes place as far as the earth

and its condition now

when Christ comes back.

Therefore, the reward that we

talked about in Revelation 22

is going to be given

to those who sought Him,

you know, their whole life.

(Jason) Alright, Travis.

(Travis) Well, I think it's important

that we remember that God wants us

all, you know, the dead and the living...

This is going to be like
a huge celebration.

This is as exciting for God

as it is for us, you know,

because we're the treasures,

and so He's as excited to come

and gather His people at that time

as we are excited

to sit here and wait for Him.

So, I think it's important to remember

that this event is going to be amazing.

(Jason) Amen. Nisha, and then I'm

also going to have you read in a second.

(Nisha) And we spoke about it,

I think, in previous lessons this quarter

just about the two resurrections

that we're going to have.

And this one, we're specifically talking
about the first resurrection

when Jesus returns again.

The promise that we read
earlier in this lesson,

He's gone up, "I'm going

to come back the same way," we're talking
about that second time that He's coming.

And at that point, the dead will rise
as will those who believe in God;

both sets will be raised into Heaven;
that's the first resurrection.

(Jason) Now, Paul describes this

as a mystery, Nisha, and so I'm going

to ask actually if you can read

about this mystery.

We're going to go back to where we began,

to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15,

and, Nisha, if you could read for us

verses 51 through 55.

Let's see, because Nisha shared with us

about this first resurrection.

Let's see, because Paul gives us

a little bit of more clues,

a little bit of detail.

He calls it a mystery,

but he gives us some hints,

so let's see what we can pick up here

from the Word of Christ,

from the Scriptures here

about what's happening.

(Nisha) And I'm reading

from the New King James Version:

(Jason) Alright, what is this?

What are we talking about here, Travis?
What is this?

(Travis) Well, this is the mystery that's

being talked about, us being changed

both physically, spiritually.

I mean, we'll have immortality, finally,

you know, and that is something

that I don't think we understand, right?

Because everything to us,

there's always an end,

and here we're going to experience life,

life and a change, without end.

(Jason) Tricia Lee, a comment
very quickly here.

(Tricia Lee) Yeah, our hearts

and our characters have

already been made like Jesus.

When He shows up, we know Him.

But we're not entering Heaven

and eternity with aches and pains

or anything like that.

He's going to physically give us

new bodies, our eternal immortal bodies,

and we just continue living

with that new frame,

the one that we were intended to have.

(Derek, Team) Amen.

(Jason) The one that we were

intended to have, yes.

Jason, what do you think about this?

(Jason) This is just a great crescendo

of the whole Christian experience.

I mean, this is, like Travis said,

a celebration, what we look forward to.

And if this was the only passage

of Scripture right here, hey,

we can close the Book. Praise God.

(Jason) Kenneth, very quickly.

(Kenneth) And then, tying it together,

it says that, in Titus 1, verse 2,

it says that, "In hope of eternal life

which God, who cannot lie,

promised before time began."

So, this is the hope I believe in.

(Derek) Amen.

(Jason) This is the hope we
believe in. Amen.

And I want to challenge you,

maybe you've tried to find hope

from the pleasures of the world.

Maybe you've had some experiences

like Solomon, and you found out that life

was pointless, meaningless,

without this hope in Jesus.

I ask you, throw yourself

into the hands of God.

Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you

so that all together we will be ready

on that day when our soon-coming King

comes to take us home

with Him forever. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) I was smiling while Jason

was closing up our discussion today,

because that's our hope.

And when the dead in Christ rise -

those who loved Jesus

in their lives who are sleeping -

when they're raised and those living,

maybe you'll be one of them,

are changed in that moment,

a twinkling of an eye,

it's going to be a great celebration.

But we're not going to be saying so much,

"Oh, I did it! I did it!"

We're going to be saying,

"Praise Jesus our awesome Savior,"

and what a time of rejoicing that will be.

Friend, Jesus wants you to be there.

He wants you even today to say,

"Jesus, save me so that I can

be with you for eternity."

Let's pray; Father in Heaven,

we see so clearly in the New Testament

the blessed hope, that death

has been defeated through the death

and resurrection of Jesus.

Our Savior can provide

that eternal life for us,
that we can enjoy

that new life today and forever.

And I pray for each one

that we would trust Jesus

as our beautiful Savior.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Thanks for joining us

for Hope Sabbath School.

We're not even done yet.

This is an important series, Life, Death,

Resurrection, and Eternal Life,

but not just information,
friend, transformation.

Accept what Jesus has done for you,

and then go out and be a blessing

to those around you.

♪ theme music ♪