DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 1

human need in a way no one had ever done before Him—or has since!
Jesus’ final glorious revelation of what God is like happened at the cross.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
— John 3:16.
WE CAN BELIEVE IN GOD
When answering the questions below, you may refer back to your
DISCOVER Guide to find the correct answer. The number of each question
in your answer Sheet indicates the number of the section in Discover Guide
1 where the answer can be found.
DISCOVER Guide 1
Jesus died not to give us a happier life now, but also to give us
1. Read again section 1 of Discover Guide1, then place an X before each of
eternal life. For long ages people wondered, and hoped, and the two correct statements:
dreamed about God. They saw His handiwork in the sky and in the

J
beauties of nature. Then at the cross, Jesus broke the silence of the
ages, and people found themselves looking into the very face of The design of the human body is evidence of a Creator.
God, seeing Him as He really is —love, eternal and immortal love! im once asked an atheist
You can discover God right now as Jesus reveals Him. That The human body is a result of millions of years of evolution.
if he had ever wrestled, even for a
discovery will lead you to make a very personal affirmation: few moments, with the thought
“Father, I love you!” The design of the human body points to a skillful Designer. that maybe God does exist.

Read again each section of the Discover Guide identified by the number
in the left margin, then if a statement is True, circle the T; if False circle the
F.
We Can “Absolutely!” the atheist said, to
Jim's surprise. “Years ago when
our first child was born I almost
became a believer in God. As I
looked down at that miniature-
2. T F The starry heavens are the work of God’s hands.
but-perfect little human being in
the crib, as I watched the flexing

Believe
T F The universe resulted from an accidental explosion. of those tiny fingers and saw the
T F God is the Master Designer and Creator of the universe. dawning of recognition in those
T F Many great scientific minds believe in God. little eyes, I went through a
period of several months during
3. T F God comes into a personal relationship with us. which I almost ceased to be an
atheist. Looking at that child
4. T F God created people in His own image. almost convinced me there had to
T F God’s dominant trait is love.

5. T
T
F God is caring, sensitive Father.
F God came to our world as a Person.
in God be a God.”
1. EVERYTHING
DESIGNED HAS A
DESIGNER
T F Jesus was only man, not God. The design of the human body
T F Jesus was God made visible. demands the existence of a
T F Jesus died to give us eternal life. designer.
Scientists tell us that the brain
THOUGHT QUESTION: stores and remembers thousands
Has this Discover Guide helped you to understand and believe in God? of mental images, integrates and
solves problems, appreciates
beauty, comprehends self, and
desires to develop the best in
each person.
Electrical charges originating
from the brain control all the
muscular activity of our bodies.
Computers also function
through electrical impulses. But it
took a human mind to invent the
computer and a human being to
build the computer and tell it
Your Name: what to do.
No wonder the psalmist
Address: concluded that the human body
speaks loud and clear of a
wonderful Creator:
“I praise you because I am
Phone: fearfully and wonderfully
made; your works are
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House wonderful, I know that full
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe well.” Psalms 139:14.
Telephone 250681/2
Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptural texts in the Discover guides are from the
New International Version of the Bible [NIV].)
We don’t have to go far to find the “works” of God. The intricate design of
the human brain and the other organs of our body are the “works” of God,
and point to an infinitely skillful designer.
No pump built by man can compare with the human heart. No computer
“For myself, faith begins with a realization that a supreme intelligence
brought the universe into being and created man. It is not difficult for me to
have this faith, for it is plain that where there is a plan there is a divine
intelligence. An orderly, unfolding universe testifies to the truth of the most
majestic statement ever uttered —‘In the beginning God.’”
The Bible does not attempt to prove God —it declares His existence. Dr
DISCOVER
network can equal our nervous system. No television system is as efficient Arthur Conklin, a noted biologist, once wrote: “The probability of life Our Creator is “mindful” of each one of us. He takes as personal an interest
as the human voice, ear, and eye. No central air conditioning and heating originating from an accident is comparable to the probability of an in you as if you were the only being He had created.
system can match work done by our nose, lungs, and skin. The complexity unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a print shop.”
So we can believe in God: (1) Because of the intricate design in everything
of the human body suggests that someone designed it, and that Someone is We know that human beings can’t make something from nothing. We may He created about us. (2) Because of the longing for God within us that leaves
God. build things, but we have never brought into being from scratch even the us restless till we find our rest in Him. And, (3). Because when we seek and
The human body is a complete system of organs—all interrelated, all tiniest frog or the simplest flower. The things about us cry out that God find Him, God satisfies our every need and longing – to the full!
thoroughly designed. The lungs and heart, nerves and muscles, all perform designed, God created, God sustains. The only believable answer to the
incredibly complicated tasks that depend on other incredibly complicated origin of the universe, the world, and human beings—is God.
tasks. 4. WHAT KIND OF GOD IS HE?
If you were to mark ten coins from one to ten, put them in your pocket, It is only reasonable that a personal God would want t reveal Himself to
3. GOD COMES INTO PERSONAL
shake them around, and then pull them out and put them back in your His created beings just as a father desires that his children know him. And in
RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE
pocket one by one, what is the likelihood you could do so in exact numerical the Bible God tells us who He is and what He is like.
sequence? By mathematical law you have only one chance in ten billion of The God who designed the starry heavens, who created the universe,
What pattern did God use for creating men and women?
taking them out in order from one to ten. seeks a personal relationship with us. He had a personal relationship with
Moses: “The Lord would speak to Moses . . . as a man speaks with his “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
Now consider the chances of a stomach, brain, heart, liver, arteries, veins, him; male and female he created them.”
friend” (Exodus 33:11). And God will enter into a personal relationship with
kidneys, ears, eyes, and teeth all developing together and beginning to —Genesis 1:27.
you and become your Friend. Jesus promised those who follow Him: “You
function at the same moment in time.
are my friends” (John 15:14). Since we are made in God's image, our abilities to reflect and feel, to
What is the most reasonable explanation for the design of the human remember and hope, to ponder and analyze—all are derived from Him.
body? We have all wrestled with the idea of God, for humans are naturally
religious. No animal ever builds an altar for worship. Yet everywhere you What is God’s dominant trait?
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,’ . . . SO find men and women, you find worshiping. Deep within every human heart is a “God is love.” —1 John 4:8.
GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE, . . . male and female he natural desire to worship, an awareness of God, a desire to become a friend of God.
created them.” When we respond to our longing and find God, there is no longer a doubt about His God relates to human beings out of His own heart of love. There is
—Genesis 1:26, 27. existence and our need. nothing He has done or ever will do which is not motivated by a selfless,
sacrificial love.
The first man and woman could not just have happened. The Bible affirms During the 1990s millions of atheists in Russia renounced atheism and
that God designed us in His image. He thought us up and brought us into turned to God. A university professor in St. Petersburg made a statement
being. that typifies the comments made by many transformed atheists in the former 5. HOW JESUS REVEALS WHAT GOD IS LIKE
Soviet Union:
In the Bible God repeatedly speaks of Himself as a father.
2. Everything Made Has a Maker “I have searched for a meaning to life in my scientific research, but found
“Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?”
nothing to have confidence in. The scientists around me feel the same —Malachi 2:10.
But evidence for God is not confined to the design of our bodies; it's also vacuum. As I looked at the vastness of the universe in my study of
spread across the heavens. Leave the lights of the city and look up into the astronomy, and the emptiness of my soul, I felt there must be some Some of the father images we see today are anything but desirable. There
night sky. That milky cloud beyond the stars that we call the Milky Way is meaning. Then, when I received the Bible you gave me and began reading it, are neglectful dads, abusive dads. God is not like that. He is a caring,
really a galaxy of billions of blazing suns similar to our sun. In fact our sun the vacuum in my life was filled. I have found the Bible to be the only source sensitive Father.
and its planets are a part of the Milky Way. And our Milky Way is but one of confidence to my soul. I have accepted Jesus as my Savior and have found He is the kind of Dad who loves to play games with his son or daughter,
of an estimated more than one hundred billion galaxies that can be seen true peace, comfort, and satisfaction in life.” the kind of Dad who charms his kids by telling wonderful bedtime stories.
through the Hubble telescope in space. A Christian believes in God because he or she has met Him and discovers Our loving Father wanted to do more than reveal Himself through the
No wonder the psalmist concluded that the stars speak of a glorious that He satisfies the heart's deepest needs. The God whom Christians have words of Scripture. He knew that a person we live with is much more real to
Maker: joyfully found to exist, gives us a new perspective, new meaning, new us than someone we only hear about or read about in a book. So He came to
motives, new purposes, and new joys. our world as a real person—the person of Jesus.
‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his
hands,” —Psalms 19:1-3. God doesn’t promise a life free from trouble and conflict, but He does “[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God.” —Colossians 1:15.
assure us that He will guide and sustain us if we come into a personal So if you have seen Jesus, you have seen God. He came down on our
What may we reasonably conclude by looking at the intricate design and relationship with Him. And millions of Christians will testify that they level—He became like us—so He could teach how to live and be happy, so
vast size of the universe? would give up everything rather than go back to life without God. we could see what God is really like. Jesus is God made visible. He Himself
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.” —Genesis 1:1. This is the greatest wonder of all—that the Almighty God who designed, said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
“ [God] is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” created, and sustains the universe also desires a personal relationship with As you read the story of Jesus in the four Gospels, the first four books of
every man and woman, boy and girl. David marvelled at this, when he the New Testament, you will discover a fascinating portrait of our Heavenly
—Colossians 1:17. wrote: Father. Rough fishermen dropped their nets to follow Christ, and small
All creation testifies about God the Master Designer and Infinite Creator. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and children flocked to receive His blessing. He could comfort the most
In the simple words, “in the beginning God,” Dr. Arthur Compton, Nobel the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful devastated sinners and disarm the most self-righteous hypocrite. He healed
Prize-winning physicist, commenting on this verse of Scripture, once said: of him?” everything from blindness to leprosy. In all His actions Jesus demonstrated
—Psalm 8:3, 4. that God is love! He met.
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 2
mentally, morally, and spiritually.
The Bible speaks to the heart. It deals with the experiences of
humanity—birth, love, marriage, parenthood, and death. It heals the deepest
wound in human nature, sin and the misery resulting from it.
God’s Word is not a book of one race, one age, one nation, or one culture.
Although written in the East , it also appeals to men and women in the West.
WE CAN BELIEVE THE BIBLE
When answering the questions below, you may refer back to your
DISCOVER Guide to find the correct answer. The number of each question
in your Answer Sheet indicates the number of the section in Discover Guide
2 where the answer can be found.
DISCOVER Guide 2
It enters the homes of the humble and the mansions of the wealthy. Children
love its exciting stories. Its heroes inspire young people. The sick, the lonely, Read again section of Discover Guide 2 identified by the number in the
and the aged discover in it comfort and hope for a better life. left margin, then if a statement is True, circle the T; if False, circle the F

We Can T
Because God works through the Bible, it has great power. It breaks even
hearts hardened against all human emotion, softening and filling them with 1. T F Before sin came to our world God spoke face-to-face to Adam and
love. We have seen the Bible change a former bandit and opium smoker into Eve.
a zealous preacher. We have seen the Bible turn a liar and a cheat into an T F After sin came to our world God spoke to people through prophets. he famous mutineers who
honest and upright teacher. And we have seen this Book snatch people from
the brinks of suicide and give them a hopefully new beginning. The Bible 2. T F God’s messages spoken through prophets were gathered together sank the British ship Bounty ended up
awakens love among enemies. It makes the proud humble and the selfish in a book we call the Bible. settling with their native women on the
generous. The Bible strengthens us in weakness, cheers us in despondency,
comforts us in sorrow, guides us in uncertainty, and soothes us when weary.
It shows us how to live courageously and how to die without fear.
3. T F The Bible was written between A.D. 200 and A.D. 1500.
T F The unity of the Bible is the evidence that God inspired all the
prophets who wrote it.
Believe lonely island of Pitcairn in the South
Pacific. The group consisted of nine
British sailors, six Tahitian men, ten
God’s Book, the Bible, can change your life! You’ll see that more and more Tahitian women, and a girl of fifteen.
clearly as you continue studying the DISCOVER guides.
4. T F Bible history is not accurate. One of the sailors discovered how to
Why was the Bible written for us? Jesus answers:
“But these [Bible truths] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in his
name.” —John 20:31.
The greatest reason we should become acquainted with the Holy Scriptures
T F Fulfilled Bible predictions prove the accuracy of the Bible.

5. Read again section 5 of the DISCOVER guide 2, then place an X before

each of the four correct statements:
the Bible distill alcohol, and soon drunkenness
corrupted the island colony. Fighting
among the men and women grew into
violent exchanges.
is that it is full of pictures that reveal Jesus Christ and assure us of eternal life.
By looking at Christ throughout the Bible, we are changed and become more To understand the Bible we must study it prayerfully. After a while only one of the original
like him. So why not begin now to discover the power of God’s Word that can men who reached the island survived.
make you more like Jesus? By comparing all the Bible has to say on a subject, we gain a balanced But this man, Alexander Smith,
view. discovered a Bible in one of the chests
taken from the ship. He began to read it
The study of God’s work is our protection and defence against sin
and to teach the others what it said. As he
and temptation.
did so his own life changed, and finally
We should hold to our beliefs even if they contradict the Bible. the lives of all on the island.
The islanders were completely isolated
THOUGHT QUESTION: Since the Bible changes people’s lives and
from the outside world until the arrival
brings happiness, comfort, guidance, salvation, and eternal life through
Jesus Christ, do you desire to discover the new life a study of the Bible of the United States ship Topaz in 1808.
brings? Its crew found the island a thriving,
prosperous community with no whisky,
no jail, no crime. The Bible had changed
the island from a hell on earth to an
example of what God wants the world to
be. And so it remains today.
Does God still speak to people through
the pages of the Bible? He certainly does.
As I write this, I’m looking at the answer
Your Name: sheet sent to us by a student of one of our
Bible courses. A note at the bottom
Address:
states, “I am on death row in the Utah
State Prison. Before I took this Bible
Phone:
course, I was lost, but now I have
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House something to look forward to, and I have
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe found a new love.”
Telephone 250681/2
Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
 The Bible possesses a power that can actually transform people’s lives.
When people really begin to study the Bible, lives are dramatically changed.

1. HOW GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH THE BIBLE

After creating Adam and Eve, the first man and woman on earth, God
spoke to them face-to-face. But when God came to visit with Adam and Eve
3. THE UNITY OF THE BIBLE
The Bible is actually a library of 66 books. The 39 books of the Old Testament
were composed from 1450 B.C. to about 400 B.C.; the 27 books of the New
Testament between A.D. 50 and A.D. 100.
The prophet Moses began the first five books of the Bible sometime before
1400 B.C. The Apostle John penned the last book of the Bible, Revelation, about
DISCOVER
after they sinned, what did the couple do? A.D. 95. During the 1,500 years between the writing of the first and last books of places, and events previously known only from the Bible.
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was the Bible, at least 38 other prophets made their contributions. Some were For example, according to Genesis 11:31, Abraham and his family “set out
walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and THEY HID FROM THE businessmen or traders, others were shepherds, fishermen, soldiers, from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to [the land of] Canaan.” Because only the
LORD GOD among the trees of the garden.”—Genesis 3:8. (Unless otherwise physicians, preachers, kings—human beings from all walks of life. They served Bible spoke of Ur, certain scholars stated that no such city had ever existed.
noted, all Scriptural texts in the DISCOVER guides are from the New International Then archaeologists uncovered a temple tower in southern Iraq with a
under different governments, and lived within contrasting cultures and
Version of the Bible [NIV].) cylinder at the base written in cuneiform that contained the name Ur. Later
systems of philosophy. finds revealed Ur as the thriving metropolis of a highly developed
Sin interrupted face-to-face contact with God. But here is the wonder of it all: When the 66 books of the Bible with their 1,189 civilization. That city’s identity had been forgotten and lost to later
After sin came to our world, how did God communicate with people? chapters made up of 31,173 verses are brought together, we find perfect unity historians. Only the Bible preserved its name—until the spade of the
and harmony in the message they convey. archaeologist confirmed its authenticity. And Ur is only one of many
“Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his examples of archaeology confirming the accuracy of the Bible.
servants the prophets.” Suppose a man should knock at your door and, when invited in, place an (3) The accurate fulfilment of Bible predictions shows that you can trust the
—Amos 3:7. oddly shaped piece of marble on your living room floor, then leave without a Bible. Scripture contains many remarkable predictions of future events that
God has not left us in the dark concerning life and its meaning. Through His word. Other visitors follow in succession until about 40 individuals have each are now being fulfilled before our very eyes. We examine some of the
deposited their numbered marble piece into place. exciting prophecies in future lessons.
prophets—persons God called to speak and write for Him—He has revealed
His answers to life’s great questions. When the last one has gone, you see with surprise that a beautiful statue stands
2. WHO WROTE THE BIBLE? before you. Then you learn that most of the “sculptors” had never met each 5. HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE
other, coming, as they did, from South America, China, Russia, Africa, and As you explore God’s Word, here are seven important principles in mind:
The prophets gave God’s messages by voice and pen while they lived, and other parts of the world. What would you have to conclude? That someone had
when they died, their writings lived after them. These prophetic messages (1) Study the Bible with a prayerful heart. If you approach Scripture with a
planned the statue and had sent to each man accurate specifications for his
were then gathered together, under God’s leading, in the book we call the heart and mind opened through prayer, it becomes a personal contact with
particular piece of marble. Jesus (John 16:13-14).
Bible.
The Bible as a whole communicates one coherent message—just like a perfect “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. . . .
But how reliable are these writings? marble statue. One mind planned it all, the mind of God. Scripture’s he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking
“You must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the remarkable unity gives evidence that though human beings wrote down the from what is mine and making it known to you.”
prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of thoughts, they were inspired by God. —John 16:13-14. 2.
man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2) Read the Bible daily. Daily Bible study is a key to power in our lives, an
—2 Peter 1:20, 21. encounter with the mind of God (Romans 1:16).
4. YOU CAN TRUST THE BIBLE
The writers of the Bible wrote not according to their own will or desire, but only (3) As you read it, let the Bible speak for itself. Ask: what did the Bible writer
as they were moved, or controlled, by the Spirit of God. The Bible is God’s own (1) The preservation of the Bible is remarkable. All of the early manuscripts of intend to say? By grasping what a text means we can apply it intelligently to our
book! the Bible were copied by hand—long before there were printing presses. life today.
Scribes made copies of the original manuscripts and distributed them. (4) Study the Bible by subject. Compare scripture with scripture. Jesus used
In the Bible God tells us about Himself, and reveals His purposes for the human
Thousands of copies of such manuscripts or portions of them still survive. this method to prove that He was the Messiah:
race. It shows God’s view of the past, and also opens up the future, telling us
how the problem of evil will finally be resolved and how peace will finally Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament that go back 150 to 200 years before “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what
come to our world. Christ were found near the Dead Sea in 1947. It’s amazing that these two- was said in ALL the Scriptures concerning himself.”
thousand-year-old scrolls contain exactly the same truths as we find in the Old —Luke 24:27.
Is all the Bible a message from God?
Testament of Bibles printed today. This is powerful evidence of how reliable By putting together all that the Bible has to say on a certain subject we gain a
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, God’s Word is. balanced perspective.
correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may (5) Study the Bible to receive power to live for Christ. The Word of God is
be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The apostles first wrote much of the New Testament as letters they sent to
Christian churches established after the death and resurrection of Christ. More described in Hebrews 4:12 as a sharp, double-edged sword. It’s more than
—2 Timothy 3:16, 17. words on a page, it’s a living weapon that God uses to help us fight off the most
than 4,500 manuscripts of all or a part of the New Testament are on display in
The Holy Bible affects human beings so profoundly because “all” the Bible is persistent temptations.
the great museums and libraries of Europe and America. Some of them date
“God-breathed,” an inspired document, God’s Book. The prophets related back to the second century. By comparing these early manuscripts with today’s (6) Listen as God speaks to you through His Word. If a person is to know
what they saw and heard in human language, but their message came directly Bible, we can readily see that the New Testament has also remained essentially the Bible truth about a certain subject, he must be willing to follow what it
from God. So if you want to know what life is all about, honestly and teaches (John 7:17), not what some person thinks, or what some church
unchanged since it was first written.
prayerfully read the Holy Scriptures. Reading the Bible will transform your teaching asserts.
life. The more you prayerfully read it, the more peace of mind you’ll Today the Bible or portions of it have been translated into over 2,060 languages
experience. and dialects. God’s Word remains the world’s best-seller; over 150 million
6. THE BIBLE CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
Bibles and Bible portions are sold each year.
The same Holy Spirit who inspired the prophets to write the Bible, will make “ The unfolding of [God’s] words gives understanding to the simple.”
the Bible’s teachings, its gospel, effective in transforming your life if you invite (2) The historical accuracy of the Bible is remarkable. Many archaeological —Psalms 119:130.
the Spirit to be present as you read the Bible. discoveries have dramatically confirmed the accuracy of the Bible. Historians
Studying the Bible will strengthen your “understanding”, give you the strength to
have discovered clay tablets and stone monuments whichhave brought to light overcome destructive habits, and enable you to develop physically,
names,
2. SIX DAYS TO
MAKE
OUR WORLD
“In six days the LORD made
CREATION WEEK
Day One: light; sequence of day and night
Day Two: earth’s atmosphere
Day Three: dry land and vegetation
the heavens and the earth, the sea, Day Four: sun and moon appeared
and all that is in them, but he Day Five: birds and fish
Tragically Eve, and then Adam, who had known good, allowed the Devil to
con them, and they sampled the forbidden fruit—thus breaking their bond of
trust and obedience with God.
God planned for Adam and Eve to “rule” over our world as the stewards of
God’s created works (Genesis1:26). But because they broke faith with God and
chose the Devil as their new leader, the couple lost their jurisdiction. Today the
Devil claims the world as his and tries his best to enslave its people who fail
DISCOVER
rested on the seventh day. Day Six: land animals, man morally. Lucifer must have worked hard to persuade other heavenly beings. It’s easy to
Day Seven: the Sabbath As you read chapter 3 of Genesis, you will discover that sin caused Adam and imagine Satan arguing that God was holding something back from them, and
Therefore the LORD blessed the
Eve to hide from God in fear. Sin affected all of creation. Thorns appeared along that the divine law was too restrictive, and that God was an uncaring
Sabbath day and made it holy.” sovereign. He slandered the One whose character defines what love is.
with the flowers. the soil suffered from drought, and labor became a burden.
—Exodus 20:11.
Diseases began to strike at random. How was this conflict in heaven resolved?
The eternal, all-powerful Creator could have formed the world in a moment “Your heart became proud, . . . So I threw you to the earth.” —Ezekiel 28:17.
“by the breath of His mouth.” But God chose to take six days to do it —six Jealously, animosity, and greed multiplied human miseries. Most terrible of
minutes, or even six seconds would have been sufficient. The first chapter all, with sin came death! Pride changed the chief of angels into the Devil or Satan. And in order to
in the Bible, Genesis 1, describes what God created on each day of the preserve the peace and harmony of heaven, he and one third of heaven’s angels
creation week. who joined him in rebellion, had to be expelled (Revelation 12;4, 7-9).
4. WHO IS THIS DEVIL WHO INFECTED
What crowning masterpiece did God create on the sixth day? OUR WORLD WITH SIN?
“GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE, in the image of God he 7. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SIN?
“He was A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING, . . . there is no truth in
created him; MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM.”
—Genesis 1:26, 27. him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and THE Why didn’t God create beings incapable of sinning? If He had, there would be
God decided to create individuals like Himself who could reason and FATHER OF LIES.” —John 8:44. no problem of evil in our world. But God wanted people who could have
feel and love. Every person is made in God’s “image.” According to Jesus, the Devil is the originator of sin in the universe, the meaningful relationships. So “God created man in His own image”
By the sixth day, the world was filled with plants and animals, and then “father” of sin and thus of murder and lying. (Genesis1:27). This means we are free and responsible. We can decide to love
God was ready to introduce His masterpiece of creation; the Almighty God or turn our backs on Him.
formed Adam’s body from the dust of the ground. So when God breathed Thomas Carlyle, the great English philosopher, once took Ralph Waldo
Emerson through some of the worst streets of London’s East End. As they God gave the angels and human beings of every generation, a spiritual nature
“the breath of life” into his nostrils, man became “a living being”—that is, he and a capacity to make real choices.
came to life. God named the first man created in His image, Adam, a word walked along, silently observing the wretchedness and evil around them,
that simply means “man”, and the first woman, Eve, which means “living” Carlyle finally asked, “Do you believe in the Devil now?” “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” —Joshua 24:15.
(2:20, 3:20). A loving Creator saw the need for human companionship. God challenges the beings He created in His image to choose to do right
Fresh from the hand of God, Adam and Eve both reflected His image. God 5. DID GOD CREATE THE DEVIL because their reasoning powers tell them “God’s way is best.” And to turn from
could have programmed beings like robots to wander contentedly about the wrong because their reasoning powers warns against the results of
Garden of Eden and raise their voices in adoration to Him. But God wanted No! A good God would not create a devil. And yet the Bible states that the disobedience and sin.
more: real relationships. Robots can smile, speak, even do the dishes, but Devil, along with the angels he had deceived, lost their place in heaven and
they can’t came to our world. Only beings with powers to reason and choose can experience real love. God
longed to create individuals who could comprehend and appreciate his
God created us in His image, with the capacity to think and choose and to “And there was WAR IN HEAVEN. Michael and his angels fought against the
character, freely respond to Him in love, and be filled with love for others. God
remember, understand and love. Adam and Eve were God’s children, and dragon, and THE DRAGON AND HIS ANGELS fought back. But he was
wanted to share His love so much that He was willing to take the enormous risk
inexpressibly dear to Him. strong enough, and they LOST THEIR PLACE IN HEAVEN. The great dragon
was hurled down —that ancient serpent called the Devil or Satan, who leads of creating angels and people of choice. He knew it was possible that someday
the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” one of His created beings might choose not to serve Him. The Devil was the
3. EVIL COMES TO A PERFECT WORLD —Revelation 12:7-9. first being in the universe to make that terrible choice. The tragedy of sin began
Adam and Eve had everything to make them happy. They enjoyed perfect with him (John 8:44, 1 John 3:8).
How did the Devil get into heaven in the first place?
physical and mental health, living in a beautiful garden home in a flawless
world (Genesis 2:8; 1:28-31). “You were anointed as A GUARDIAN CHERUB, for so I ordained you. You
were on the holy mount of God; . . . YOU WERE BLAMELESS IN YOUR 8. THE CROSS MAKES POSSIBLE THE
God promised them children and the ability to do creative thinking, and to find WAYS from the day YOU WERE CREATED till WICKEDNESS WAS FOUND DESTRUCTION OF SIN
satisfaction in the work of their hands (Genesis 1:28; 2:15). They experienced IN YOU.” —Ezekiel 28:14, 15.
face-to-face fellowship with their Maker. No trace of worry, fear, or sickness Why didn’t God destroy Lucifer before his sin-disease could spread? Lucifer
marred their blissful days. God did not create the Devil, He created Lucifer a perfect angel, one of had challenged the fairness of God’s government. He had told lies about God.
heaven’s leading angels, standing next to God’s throne. But then he sinned— “ If God had destroyed Lucifer immediately, the angels would have began to
How did the world change so drastically into a place of suffering and tragedy? serve Him from fear rather than from love. This would have defeated the
The second and third chapters of Genesis tells the entire story of how sin wickedness was found in” him. Expelled from Heaven, and posing as Adam
and Eve’s friend, he became humanity’s deadliest enemy. purpose God had in creating beings with the power of choice in the first place.
entered our world. Read them at your leisure. Here is a brief summary of their
contents. How did anyone really know God’s way was best? God gave Satan a chance to
Some time after God established a perfect world, the Devil came to the Garden demonstrate his alternative system. That’s why he was given an opportunity to
6. WHY DID LUCIFER, THIS PERFECT ANGEL, SIN? tempt Adam and Eve.
of Eden to tempt Adam and Eve into disobeying their Creator. God limited the
Devil’s sphere of influence to one tree in the garden, the “tree of the knowledge “How YOU HAVE FALLEN FROM HEAVEN, O morning star, son of the
This planet has become a testing ground where the character of Satan and the
of good and evil.” And He warned the first human couple to stay clear of this dawn! YOU HAVE BEEN CAST DOWN TO THE EARTH . . . . You said in your
heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; . . . nature of his kingdom are contrasted with the character of God and the nature
tree and never to eat its fruit, or they would die. of His kingdom. Who is right? Whom can we ultimately trust? So deceptive
I WILL MAKE MYSELF LIKE THE MOST HIGH.’’’ —Isaiah 14:12-14.
But one day Eve wandered over by the forbidden tree. The Devil quickly was Lucifer, that it has taken time for the beings of the universe to be fully
launched into his sales pitch. He claimed God had lied to her and that if she ate The being who became the Devil was originally called Lucifer, meaning “day convinced of how disastrous Satan’s alternative actually is. But eventually
the tree’s fruit she wouldn’t die, but would become wise like God Himself, star” or “shining one”. In this angel’s heart, vanity and ambition began to take everyone will see that “the wages of sin is death” and that “the gift of God is
knowing good and evil. the place of devotion. The seed of pride grew into an obsession to take God’s eternal life in Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
place.
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 3
Every being in the universe will then agree that:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true
are your ways, King of the ages. . . . . All nations come and worship
before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” —Revelation 15:3
After everyone understands the deadly nature of sin and the destructive
nature of Satan’s philosophy, God can destroy Satan and sin. He will also
have to destroy those who stubbornly resist His grace and cling to Satan’s
DOES MY LIFE REALLY MATTER TO GOD?
The number of each question in your Answer Sheet indicates the number
of the section in Discover Guide 3 where the answer can be found.

Read again section 1 of Discover Guide 3, if the answer is True, circle the
T; if False, circle the F.
DISCOVER Guide 3
alternative.
1. T F At creation, God spoke and the heavens were made.
God is just as anxious to resolve the problem of sin and suffering as we In guide 3 read again the section identified by the number in the left

Does S
are to have Him do so. But He is waiting until He can do it on a permanent margin, then place X before the correct statements in each numbered
basis, and until He can both preserve our free will and prevent evil from section.
ever appearing again.
God created Adam and Eve on the 6th day of the creation week. ome mornings, the world
God has promised to destroy sin for ever by purifying the heavens and
this earth with fire. “ In keeping with the promise” we can look “forward seems a paradise. You wake up, take
Every human being is made in God’s image and likeness.

My Life
to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of the righteous” (2 Peter 3:10, a deep breath by the window, and
13). Sin will never again infect the universe. Sin’s tragic results will stand look out on golden sunshine
out so clearly that disobedience to God will seem repugnant for all God formed Adam’s body from water. spreading color on the trees, leaf by
eternity. leaf. Some moments make life seem
2. God placed Adam and Eve in a perfect world. so precious: the face of a beloved
Who makes possible the final destruction of the Devil and sin? friend as you say good-bye, a

Really
“Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Christ] too shared in God told Adam and Eve that eating of the tree of knowledge of sublime piece of music that perfectly
their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who good and evil would make them wise. matches your mood, the unexpected
holds the power of death—that is, the Devil—and free those who affection of a small child.
The Devil tempted Adam and Eve into disobeying their Creator. But other mornings, the world
all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
seems a place of horror. You wake
—Hebrews 2:14, 15. up to newspaper headlines
Adam ate of the forbidden fruit and gave it to Eve.

Matter
At the cross the angels and the unfallen worlds saw Satan for what he screaming about yet another
was—a deceiver, a liar, a murderer. There he revealed his true character by terrorist bombing that’s maimed or
By tempting Adam and Eve and causing them to sin, the Devil took blinded some child, yet another
moving men to murder the innocent Son of God. The inhabitants of the
the rule of the world away from them. serial killer claiming his tenth
entire universe saw how senseless and cruel sin really is. The cross fully
victim, yet another famine or war or
unmasked Satan’s motives, and when God destroys the devil and those In your Discover guide read again the section identified by the number in earthquake. There are moments
who persist in sin, all will acknowledge that God is just.

to God?
the left margin, then if a statement is True, circle the T; if false, circle the F. when nothing makes sense, nothing
Jesus’ death on the cross made the removal of sin from the universe a seems fair. You hear about young
certainty, because it exposed Satan’s real intent before all created beings 4. T F The Devil is the originator of sin. missionaries speared to death by the
(John 12:31, 32). The cross also revealed Christ for what He is—the Savior tribesmen they have come to help
of the world. At Golgotha the power of love stood out in stark contrast 5. T F God created a wicked devil. and at the same time learn of Mafia
against the love of power. It established beyond any question that it was T F God created Lucifer as a perfect angel, he became jealous of God, and by bosses enjoying their grand-children
self-sacrificing love that motivates God in all His dealings with Satan, sin, at their lavish estates.
choosing to sin Lucifer made a devil out of himself. What does it all mean? Can we
and sinful men and women.
make sense of our wonderful and
At the cross Christ’s eloquent demonstration of God’s unconditional love 6. T F The Devil was cast out of heaven and came to our newly created world. terrible world? Does God have a
overpowered the worst that men and Satan could do. The Devil was purpose for it? Why are we here?
decisively defeated. The battle had been over who should rule the world, 7. T F God created people with power to choose to sin, or to choose not to sin. Does my life really matter to God
Christ or Satan. But the cross settled it for all time. It must be Christ above or am I just a minor cog in some
8. T F At the cross Jesus revealed God’s character of love. vast cosmic machine?
all!
Have you discovered a relationship with the Savior who died to reveal His
THOUGHT QUESTION: Who is now ruling your life—Christ, the Prince
matchless, unchanging love? How do you feel about the One who came to
our world as a human being and died in your place to save you from the 1.GOD CREATED A
results of sin? Will you bow your head just now and thank Jesus, and then PERFECT WORLD
ask Him to come in and take possession of your life? God is the Creator, the architect
and designer of everything, from
supernovas to butterfly wings.
“By the word of the Lord were the
heavens made, their starry host by
the breath of his mouth. . . . For he
spoke, and it came to be; he
Your Name: commanded, and it stood firm.”
— Psalm 33:6-9. (Unless otherwise
Address: noted, all Scriptural texts in the
DISCOVER guides are from the New
International Version of the Bible
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House Phone: [NIV]).
God has only to speak and the
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe elements obey His will.
Telephone 250681/2 Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
details that Tacitus gives us match exactly the events, names, and places
given in the Bible.”
“Pastor, I never knew things like that were in secular history!” the visitor
exclaimed.
The minister added, “I want you to notice that about A.D. 180 Celsus
wrote a book attacking Christians, indicating that Christianity by that time
had become a force to reckon with.
The New Testament Fulfilment:
“Jesus was born in BETHLEHEM in Judea.” —Matthew 2.1.
HIS VIRGIN BIRTH
The Old Testament Prophecy:
“ The VIRGIN will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel [God with us].” —Isaiah 7:14.
DISCOVER
“If you are still in doubt, remember that the four Gospels are just as much The evidence is strong that Jesus didn’t just happen to fit a few predictions.
history as these secular books.” The New Testament Fulfilment: His biography was indeed written beforehand by supernatural means. Truly,
When this young man realized that both sacred and secular history agree “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, Jesus is the Son of God.
that Jesus did live as a man on earth, he went away convinced that Jesus because WHAT IS CONCEIVED IN HER IS FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT. She After looking at the evidence, we need to make a prayerful decision about
Christ was a real, historical figure. will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus [the Lord who is going to be the Lord in our lives. If you have not already done so, will
saves].” —Matthew 1:20-23. you place your life in Jesus’s hands?
1. CHRIST EXISTED FROM ETERNITY HIS LINEAGE FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH
Jesus was not merely a good man, He was also God. What claim did Jesus
Himself make concerning His divinity? 4. A GOD-PLANNED LIFE
“If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, The Old Testament Prophecy: Jesus lived a God-planned life, one outlined hundreds of years before His
you do know him and have seen him. . . . Anyone who has seen me has seen “This SCEPTRE WILL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH<, . . . until he comes to birth. Always conscious of this fact, He remained sensitive to God’s leading.
the Father.” —John 14:7-9. (Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptural texts in the whom it belongs.” —Genesis 49:10. Christ said:
DISCOVER guides are from the New International Version of the Bible [NIV].)
The New Testament Fulfilment: “I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me . . . for I
If you wish to know the answer to the questions, “Who is God? What is He always do what pleases him.” —John 8:28, 29.
like?” just look at Jesus who declared, “For it is clear that OUR LORD DESCENDED FROM JUDAH.” —Hebrews
“I and the Father are one.” —John 10:30. 7:14. God planned the human life of Jesus before his Birth, and God also has a plan
HIS REJECTION for every human being. He knows how each of us can fulfil our deepest desires
God the Father and Jesus the Son have existed together from eternity
(Hebrews 1:8). and find an abundant life.
The Old Testament Prophecy:
There never was a time when Jesus was not one with the Father. The Father Ray wasn’t always so sure he wanted to submit to God’s plan. But when he
shares the same love and care for each person that Jesus demonstrated “He was despised and REJECTED by men.” —Isaiah 53:3. faced a big decision about where to go to college, he decided for the first time in
during His human life on earth. The New Testament Fulfillment: his life to seek divine guidance on the subject. He prayed for several days and
tried to listen for some answer. After a while he seemed to get very clear
“He came to that which was his own, but HIS OWN DID NOT RECEIVE
2. CHRIST, THE HEART OF HISTORY AND PROPHECY reasons on why he should choose Options B: a less expensive, but huge and
HIM.” —John 1:11.
impersonal university. Soon after starting classes he got acquainted with some
Since Christ’s life story is a fulfilment of prophecy, His life story was HIS BETRAYAL AND THE FEE PAID HIS TRAITOR wonderful Christians who belonged to Campus Crusade for Christ. His
written before He was born. Old Testament prophecies present a clear
outline of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection in advance. The New The Old Testament Prophecy: experience with them during the next two years radically changed his life.
Testament in His life story told in fulfilment. “Even MY CLOSE FRIEND, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has When Ray looks back today, he notes that every time he has faced a major
Living from five hundred to fifteen hundred years before Christ’s birth, the lifted up his heel against me.” —Psalms 41:9. decision and sought divine guidance, “God opened up a whole new area of my
Old Testament prophets made scores of very specific predictions about the life.”
“I told them, ‘If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.’ So they
life of the Messiah. How can you know God’s plan for your life? God guides in several ways:
paid me THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER.” —Zechariah11:12.
And at the very beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry, as people compared
His life with Old Testament prophecies, what did they conclude? The New Testament Fulfilment: (1) THE BIBLE.
“We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom “Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot —went to the Chief According to the psalmist, what is life’s Guidebook?
the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give him if I hand him over to you?’ “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” —Psalms 119:105.
—John 1:45. So they counted out for him THIRTY SILVER COINS.” —Matthew 26:14, 15.
God’s Word renews our minds and gives us insight(Romans 12:2, Psalm
Our Savior appealed to fulfilled prophecies to establish His identity: HIS DEATH ON A CROSS 119:99). A regular time of prayerful study in Scripture is the best way to get our
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them priorities straight.
what was said in all the [Old Testament] Scriptures concerning himself.” The Old Testament Prophecy:
—Luke 24:25-27. “They have PIERCED MY HANDS and my feet.” —Psalms 22:16. (2) PROVIDENTIAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
Fulfilled prophecies give convincing evidence that Jesus is the promised The New Testament Fulfilment: God also guides us by divinely-directed circumstances. Psalm 23 pictures
Messiah. Him as the Good Shepherd. A shepherd leads his sheep through lush valleys as
“When they came to the place called the SKULL, there THEY CRUCIFIED
well as through rocky ravines. He is capable of helping his charges benefit and
him.” —Luke 23:33. (See also John 20:25.)
3. CHRIST”S LIFE A FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY learn from every experience. We have a Shepherd who sticks close by our side.
HIS ESCAPE FROM THE TOMB
(3) DIRECT COMMUNICATION OF GOD TO THE HEART.
Lets look at a few of these prophetic passages from the Old testament The Old Testament Prophecy:
God also guides us by speaking to our conscience. The Spirit can enlighten
—and their fulfilment in the New Testament record. “Because YOU WILL NOT ABANDON ME TO THE GRAVE, nor will you let “the eyes of your heart” (Ephesians 1: 18). The more consistently we practice
your Holy One see decay.”—Psalm 16:10. communicating with God, the more He is able to guide us. He molds both our
HIS PLACE OF BIRTH The New Testament Fulfillment: inner impressions an dour reasoning and judgement so we can see clearly the
The Old Testament Prophecy: next step we need to take.
“Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE
“But you, BETHLEHEM Ephrathah, . . . out of shall come forth to Me the One to be WAS NOT ABANDONED TO THE GRAVE, nor did his body see decay. God
Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”—Micah 5:2, has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.”—Acts 2:31,
NKJV. 32.
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 4
5. THE GUIDES MUST HARMONIZE
It’s possible, of course, to assume you are living a God-directed life when
you are merely following your own inclinations and impulses (Proverbs
16:25). Our feelings must harmonize with Bible teaching. It’s not safe to
conclude that God is leading us unless all three of the guides harmonize.
Take Jake, for example. He had a lovely wife and two children, but had an
affair with another woman. He told his friends: “I've prayed about it and I
A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE
The number of each question in your Answer Sheet indicates the number
of the section in DISCOVER Guide 4 where the answer can be found.
Read again the section of Discover Guide 4, identified by the number in the
left margin, Then place an X before the one statement that best completes each
of the sentences:
DISCOVER Guide 4
feel it’ God’s will”. 0. Jesus was
Jake’s emotions and “inner impressions” clearly sent him down the wrong
a real historical figure.
path. He imagined that it was “providential” that he’d met this other woman

A
and didn’t step back to look at the Bible commands against adultery. And the an imaginary person invented by church historians.
Bible, “the law and the testimony,” is the authoritative guidebook, the final 1. Jesus was

A Plan
judge for determining a right course of action (Isaiah 8:20). We must never fter a minister had
allow any impression or apparently providential circumstance lead us away only God.
from a biblical principle. spoken on the subject, “Why I
both God and man.
Believe in Jesus,” a well-dressed
5. SUBMITTING TO GOD’S PLAN God the father and Jesus His Son have existed together young man paid him a visit in his
When the Devil came to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, he suggested, “If study and remarked, “Your talk
from eternity. tonight was interesting, but
you will only forego the painful sacrifices your Father has planned for you,
I’II give you the world in the palm of your hand—with fame, fortune and
comfortable lifestyle.” Satan even quoted Scripture in an attempt to lead
Jesus astray. But each time Jesus fought him off with the words,”It is written”
since the father created the Son.
2. Bible prophecies
concerning Christ have proved unreliable.
for everything you said about Christ
came out of your Bible. Tell me, if
Jesus ever lived on this earth, why
doesn’t history tell about Him?”
(Matthew 4:1-11).
One powerful lesson we can learn from the life of Jesus is submission to the present a clear outline of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. “That’s a fair question,” the minister
Father’s will. Even amid the terrible agony of Gethsemane He cried out, “My
Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as
you will” (Matthew 26:39). After three years of His ministry, living day by
day in harmony with the Father’s plan, Christ’s dying words were: “It is
3. Christ was born in Bethlehem
to the virgin Mary.
to a woman who already had several children.
Your answered as he turned and took down
several books. “But as a matter of fact,
history does tell about Jesus Christ.”
“That I’d like to see for myself,” the
finished “ (John 19:30). Jesus was really saying, “My God-planned life is now young man responded.
Jesus was

Life
complete and fulfilled.” “Well, here is Letter 97 of Book 10 of
As you begin to hear God’s voice speaking coherently through His Word, readily accepted as the Messiah by the nation of Israel. Letters of Pliny the Younger, Roman
providential circumstances, and direct impressions, you can learn to accept proconsul in Bithynia, a province of
His guidance wholeheartedly. You can discover the joy of a God-planned rejected by His own people and betrayed by a friend .
old Asia Minor. Pliny wrote to the
and a God-guided life. Hundreds of years before it happened, prophets predicted that Roman Emperor, Trajan, telling him
about events in his province. See, here
Jesus would die on the cross and be resurrected. he is asking counsel on how he should
Sources for the above historical material and more detailed history appear in Jesus would die on te cross and remain in the grave. handle a new sect, the Christians. He
the following books: Documents of the Christian Church, selected and 4. We can know God’s plan for our life tells of their rapid growth and of how
edited by Henry Bettenson ( London, Oxford university Press); Joseph
by examining our dream patterns. they sang hymns composed to their
Cullen Ayer, A Source Book for Ancient Church History (New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1931, 1941); Origen: Contra Celsum, translated by Bible study , divinely-directed circumstances, and God speaking leader, Christ. Pliny sent his letter
by Henry Chadwick (Cambridge: University Press, 1965); F.F. Bruce, The about A.D. 110. The letter by Pliny
directly to our hearts.
New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? 5th edition, revised offers historical evidence of the man,
5. God guides us through inner impressions Christ, and of the spread of His faith in
(Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960; and R. T.
France, The Evidence for Jesus (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity that are in harmony with the Bible truth. the days of His apostles.”
Press, 1986). The last two books come in expensive paperback editions and alone. Surprised, the young man said, “Tell
should be avilable through most religious bookstores. If the first three books HEART QUESTION: Will you accept God’s gracious invitation to me more!”
are not available in your local library, those in the United States can ask the guide your life just as He guided Christ’s life when he lived on earth?
librarian to order them through inter-library loan. As the minister thumbed through
another book, he added, “Another
historian, contemporary with Pliny,
was Tacitus. In his Annals (Book 15,
chapter 44) he tells of Nero’s hatred
for, and persecution of, the Christians
at the time of the burning of Rome.
Tacitus explains that the term
Your Name: ‘Christian’ comes from the name
‘Christ’. He mentions that Jesus Christ,
Address: the founder of the Christian religion,
had been put to death by Pontius Pilate,
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House Phone: Procurator of Judea, during the reign of
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe Emperor Tiberius. All these
Telephone 250681/2 Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
1. SATISFYING OUR HIDDEN HUNGER
Before sin spoiled the picture, Adam and Eve enjoyed intimacy with their
Creator in a beautiful Garden home in Eden. Tragically, they bought Satan’s
lie about becoming as wise as God and broke the bond of trust with their
maker (Genesis 3).
After being expelled from the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve found life a
lot tougher on the outside. Childbearing and tilling the soil now came with
Dwight L. Moody, the Billy Graham of the 19th century, once said of the
incarnation of Jesus, “It would have been a great sacrifice for Jesus to come and
be rocked in a silver cradle, be nursed by angel, and be fed with a golden spoon.
But the Creator of heaven and earth came and took man’s flesh, and was born
in a stable of poor parents in the worst possible environment.”
An angel told Joseph at the time of Jesus’s birth:
DISCOVER
blood, sweat, and tears. Their close bond with God broken, they found “She [Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha have presented to the world some great
themselves vulnerable to unsatisfied desires and painful yearnings—the because HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS.” —Matthew 1:21. philosophical truths. They have inspired the lives of millions of people, but
loneliness of sin. they have no supernatural power to give life since they still remain in their
Jesus, the Creator of the universe (John 1:1-3, 14), was willing to come to our
Since Adam and Eve’s first act of rebellion, “all” (the entire human race) graves.
world to rescue us from sin and death.
have fallen into the same sin pattern and are subject to death, sin’s ultimate Because Jesus rose from the tomb the third day after His death, what promise
penalty. (2) Jesus Lived a Sinless Life is He able to make us?
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death “Jesus the Son of God, . . . has been tempted in every way, just as we are
“Because I live, you also will live.” —John 14:19.
through sin, and in this way DEATH CAME TO ALL MEN, because ALL — yet was without sin.” —Hebrews 4:14, 15.
SINNED.” —Romans 5:12. God did more than try to talk us out of a life of sin and into a more Jesus is alive! Because He has power over death, He can deliver us from death
We all experience a great hunger of the heart for that which we’ve lost, a satisfying one. By living here as a Man, Jesus made a life free from sin more and offer us life that is both abundant and eternal. He will live in our hearts if
longing for a kind of security which only God can give. We often try to attractive than any sermon ever could. we invite Him in. The risen Christ is present to meet our needs today.
satisfy that hunger by a shopping binge, or a mad race for promotion at Satan, Christ’s adversary, plotted throughout Jesus’ earthly life to seduce “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” —Matthew 28:20.
work, or by simply drowning out the hunger with alcohol, drugs, or Him into sin. In the wilderness the Devil unleashed his fiercest assault
promiscuity. Men and women all over the world are sharing stories of how Christ has
against His integrity (Matthew 4:1-11). In Gethsemane before His delivered them from the worst addictions and the deepest emotional traumas.
But all our yearnings are symptoms of a loneliness for God. And there is no crucifixion, the pressure of temptation reached such intensity, Jesus sweat
cure except experiencing His love in our life. drops of blood (Luke 22:44). One of our former students wrote these words of gratitude on one of his
“You . . . will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at answer sheets: “I was an alcoholic. One day while drunk, I saw a card in the
But Christ stood firm against everything the Devil threw at Him—”yet gutter advertising your Bible course. I picked it up, filled it out, and received
your right hand.” —Psalm 16:11. without sin.”
Real satisfaction will only come when that gap between us and God is my first true knowledge of Christ. Shortly after taking the Bible course, I
Because Jesus experienced the full range of human problems and offered my heart to God and lost the taste for whiskey.”
bridged and we’re able to walk over into His presence.
temptations, He understands our struggles. He is able “to sympathize with
our weakness” (Hebrews 4:15). Why was it necessary for Jesus to live a When Jesus took possession of the man’s life, a new power gave him the
2. BRIDGING THE CHASM OF SIN AND DEATH sinless life? ability to overcome his addiction. Because Christ is the risen Savior, He can
save all who will come to Him for help.
“God made Jesus, who was sinless, to be sin for us; and in place of our
People are not the only ones made lonely by sin. God’s heart ached too on sinful life Jesus give us His sinless life, that we might be made sinless in (5) Jesus Ascended to Heaven
the day Adam and Eve turned their backs on Him. And He still grieves over Him.” —2 Corinthians 5:21, paraphrased. Before Jesus returned to the Father after His resurrection (Acts 1:9), He made
human sorrows and tragedies. God is eager to satisfy our hidden longings Jesus overcame temptation and lived a sinless life so He could pass it on to this promise to His followers:
and to heal our emotional wounds. He wasn’t content just to look us in exchange for our old life of sin.
sympathetically across the chasm of sin and death. “Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my
(3) Jesus Died to Take Away Sin Father’s house are many rooms; . . . I am going TO PREPARE A PLACE FO R
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did How many people have sinned? YOU. And . . . I will come back and take you with me . . . where I am.” —John
not send his Son into the world to condemn the world through him.” —John “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” —Romans 3:23. 14:1-3)
3:16,17. (6) Jesus Ministers as Heavenly Priest
What is the penalty for sin?
God gave His Son, and Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for sin, paying the Jesus constantly seeks to prepare us for a place in heaven.
“The wages of sin is DEATH ; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
death penalty Himself. His life, death, and resurrection made it possible to
Jesus our Lord.” —Romans 6:23. “He had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might
forgive and save sinners without trivializing sin, and gave the universe a
demonstration of the true character of Christ and Satan. The bridge of Why did Jesus die? become a merciful and faithful HIGH PRIEST in service to God, and that he
Christ’s broken, bleeding body draws people back from the trap of sin. Love “Look, the Lamb of God, who TAKES AWAY THE SIN of the world!”(John might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered
spans the chasm, enabling all who place their place their faith in Christ as 1:29). when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
Lord and Savior to walk over into eternal life. —Hebrews 2:17-18.
All of us have sinned and are subject to eternal death, but Jesus died in our
place. He became “sin for us”. He paid the death penalty for us. His dying is Jesus came into our world to”make atonement for the sins of the people,” and
3. SEVEN ESSENTIAL FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT JESUS a gift, and “the GIFT of GOD is ETERNAL LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord” rescue us from the misery of enslavement to sin. He died to save us so He can
(Romans 6:23). ultimately eradicate the cause of sin, suffering, and death by destroying the
These seven facts about Jesus are not true of any other man who has ever Jesus laid down His perfect, righteous life as a gift of love to us. Love like Devil.
lived: that is almost beyond human comprehension. And because of His death “we Jesus as our High Priest was “made like his brothers in every way.” And He
(1) Jesus Came From Heaven to Earth have PEACE with God” (Romans 5:1). now appears continually in the Father’s presence on our behalf as our
How long did Jesus claim to have existed? (4) Jesus Arose From the Dead Mediator. The same Jesus who blessed the children, rehabilitated the woman
“Before Abraham was born, I am!” —John 8:58. Jesus’ death on the cross wasn’t the end of His remarkable story. He caught in adultery, and forgave the dying thief on the cross, is working in
couldn’t very well remain dead and be our Savior. heaven right now to minister to our needs, “to help those who are being
Jesus notified the world: “I am!” I have always existed and always will.
tempted.”
Though Jesus was born of a human mother (Matthew 1:22, 23), He is “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your
God—God in human flesh. sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.” — 1 Corinthians (7) Jesus Will Return
15:17, 18. Before returning to heaven, what promise did Jesus make?
“If I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME BACK and take you to be
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 5
with me that you also may be where I am.” —John 14:3.
When Jesus returns, He will deliver us from the sin, sickness, tradegy, and
death that plague this planet. And He will welcome us into a new world of
eternal happiness and immortal life.

4. UNFAILING LOVE
The story is told of an arranged marriage in Taiwan between U Long and a
A BRIDGE TO A SATISFYING LIFE
The number in the left margin of your Answer Sheet is the number of the
section in DISCOVER Guide 5 where the answer can be found.
Read again the section identified by the number in the left margin, then place
X before all True statements.
DISCOVER Guide 5
1. Sin caused separation from God.
young woman named “Golden Flower”. When U Long lifted the veil from
his bride after the ceremony, he was shocked and disgusted. Her face had
been scarred by smallpox.
Death came to all as a result of sin.
We satisfy the heart hunger which sin has caused by seeking God’s
Bridge
T
After that, U Long had as little to do with his wife as possible. She tried her presence in our lives.
best to make him happy; she worked hard at home, hoping her husband
would eventually accept her. But he remained coldly indifferent to all her 2. Jesus came to pay the death penalty for our sins, to bridge the gap hey found his skeleton
between us and God, and to give us eternal life.
expressions of affection.
After twelve years of this sham marriage, U Long began to lose vision in
both eyes. A doctor told him he would go completely blind if he didn’t have a
cornea transplant. But the operation was expensive and there was a long
Place an X before the one statement that best completes each sentence:
3. Jesus came to our world
to a beside a makeshift shelter on a
desolate island in the mid-Atlantic.
The anonymous seaman kept a
waiting list. as God, who existed from the eternity, to save us from our sins. journal which detailed his four-
month ordeal. He’d been set ashore
Golden Flower began to work long hours in the evening making straw hats
as the Creator, out of obligation because He created us. on Ascension Island by the Dutch
for extra money. One day, U long was informed that someone’s cornea had

Satisfying
fleet in 1725 for some unmentioned
been made available after an accident. He rushed to the hospital to have the Jesus lived in our world crime. Soon he was reduced to
operation. drinking the blood of turtles just to
a sinless life in our place.
After he had recovered, he grudgingly decided to see his wife so he could quench his raging thirst. The man’s
thank her for raising the money. When he turned her bowed head so she a nearly perfect life, even though tempted by Satan to sin. physical suffering was intense, but
could look at him, U Long gasped. She started at him with sightless, blank an even greater pain stands out in
Jesus died
eyes, the cornea gone. Overcome with emotion, he sank at her feet and his journal: his over whelming
sobbed. And then for the first time he whispered her name: Golden Flower.
Jesus longs for a relationship with those who've been indifferent to Him for
so long. He longs for us to finally whisper His name as our Savior. He was
willing to sacrifice not only His eyes but His whole body in order to
for the sins of all the peoples of the world.
only for the sins of righteous people.
Jesus rose from the grave the third day
Life guilt.
He opened tormented words such
as: “What pangs do wretched
mortals feel who leave the paths of
demonstrate His unfailing love. His love is so powerful that Christ “came righteousness, pleased to increase
into the world to save sinners” (1Timothy 1:15). Just like Mohammed and Buddha. the numbers of the damned.” This
so he could give us a new life. seaman’s greatest isolation on that
Christ’s great sacrifice has
lonely island came from his sense
created a bridge that spans JESUS Jesus ascended to heaven of separation from God. That is
our indifference, that covers our to prepare a place for us in heaven. what proved unbearable in the end.
CAME as Good in human flesh.
alienation. Have you Human beings have been
LIVED a sinless life in our place and we will never see Him again.
personally discovered that He struggling with that isolation of the
wants to draw you over the DIED for our sins. heart ever since Adam and Eve
chasm and into His arms? AROSE to deliver us from death. Jesus is coming soon; He now ministers each day as our High Priest “hid from the Lord God among the
Will you respond and pray, to deliver us from being slaves to sin. trees of the garden” after eating the
ASCENDED to prepare a home forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:8).
“Jesus, I love You. Thank You by offering animal sacrifices to deliver us from sin
for Your incredible sacrifice. for us in heaven. The strange new emotions of shame
Come into your heart and save MINISTERS each day as our guilt, and fear compelled that first
HEART QUESTION: Since Jesus has done and is doing so much for us, couple to run away when God
me now—save me wholly, high priest. does your heart respond to Him by asking Him to forgive your sins and came calling. Those feelings are
save me completely, save me
IS COMING SOON to take us to come into your heart and save you? unfortunately quite familiar to us
eternally”?
be with Him forever. now.
What is it that causes a separation
between us and God?
“Your iniquities have separated
you from your God; your sins have
hidden his face from you.” —
Isaiah 59:2. (Unless otherwise noted,
all Scriptural texts in the DISCOVER
guides are from the New International
Version of the Bible [NIV]).
Your Name: This great gulf that isolates sinful
Address:
beings from God is not His doing.
God didn’t run from Adam and
Eve —they ran from Him.
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House Phone:
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe
Telephone 250681/2 Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
in their sins, and offers them a full and free deliverance from their predicament.
“But because f his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, MADE US ALIVE WITH
CHRIST EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN TRANSGRESSIONS . . . [to] show the
incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” —
Ephesians 2:4-7.
God loved us when we had nothing lovable about us. His grace created in us a new life
us. “Through the blood of Christ” our past life of sin is forgiven, and day-by-day He
gives us his acceptance, power over sin, and His perfect life. We know He’ll be there to
pick us up every time we fall. Our love for Him in turn produces a desire to live in a
way that pleases Him.
(3) Jesus can save us from eternal death, sin’s penalty.
“For the wages of sin is [eternal] death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” —Romans 6:23.
DISCOVER
in Christ. We can’t change ourselves, but God can. When we come to Him in faith and
We are lawbreakers sentenced to die. The penalty of sin is death. Jesus saves us from HOW WE RECEIVE A
submission, he gives us a second chance at life as a free gift.
eternal death and gives us eternal life. NEW LIFE FROM CHRIST
“God demonstrates his own love for us, in this: While we were still sinners, Christ 1. We believe in Him and receive Him as Savior and Lord.
2. FROM WHAT DO WE NEED TO BE SAVED? died for us.” —Romans 5:8.
(1) We need to be saved from sin. Because of His unfailing love, Jesus “died for us.” And because He died for us and 2. We establish a relationship with Him. (A regular time of prayer and Bible
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” —Romans 3:23. suffered the full results of sin, God can now forgive and accept sinners without reading is vital.)
trivializing sin.
To put it bluntly: we don’t live up to what we know is right. A parent under stress
3. Christ works through His Spirit to replace our bad habits with His good qualities.
may blow up and wound a child emotionally. A person may become incensed at (4) Jesus can save us from a sinful, unhappy life.
another driver and almost cause an accident. A student may grow resentful and “For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished
whisper unkind things about another student. A businessman may plan to “forget’ and gone, everything has become fresh and new.” —2 Corinthians 5:17, Philips.
about a certain source of income at tax time. “All have sinned”; that’s the human We can’t save ourselves from sin or change our nature on our own any more than a lion And when we repent, a loving Savior forgives our sins, cleanses us from sin, and throws
condition. can decide to become a lamb (Romans 7:18). Sin is simply stronger than our willpower. them into the depths of the sea.
How does the Bible define sin? But Christ is able to “strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner “IF WE CONFESS our sins, HE IS FAITHFUL and just AND WILL FORGIVE US our
“All wrongdoing is sin.”—1John 5:17. being” (Ephesians 3:16). He works to replace our destructive habits with His healthy sins and PURIFY US FROM all unrighteousness.” —1John 1:9. (See also Micah 7:18,19.)
We need to be rescued from all kinds of unhealthy habits and compulsions: lying, qualities; love, peace, joy, kindness, self-control (Galatians 5:22,23). Christ lives His Life
through us, and we receive spiritual healing, restoration, and a new life. There is no sin so terrible that the Savior who died for our sins on Calvary’s cross can’t
abusive anger, lust, bitterness, to name a few. forgive. A person who trusts in Jesus need only ask Him for His pardon. Christ’s dying
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” —1John 3:4. Harold Hughes had given up hope of ever changing. He’d tried desperately to stop
for us can’t pardon us unless we ask to be forgiven. It’s a sobering fact that our sins
drinking many times. He knew only too well that his battle with the bottle had put his
So we need to be saved from sin—breaking God’s commandments. helped drive those nails through Christ’s hands and feet. And yet Jesus is more eager
wife and two daughters through ten years of hell. And so he stepped into his bathtub
that we can imagine for us to accept His gift of pardon and reconciliation.
(2) We need to be saved from a broken relationship with God. one cold morning and pointed a shotgun muzzle into his mouth. Before pulling the
“Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face trigger, he decided he’d better explain things to God. That prayer turned into a long, Word reached a young man who’d run away from home that his mother was dying.
from you.” —Isaiah 59:2. sobbing appeal for help. The news filled him with remorse over their broken relationship. Hurrying home, he
And God came through. Harold Hughes made a commitment to Christ and found the rushed into the room and threw himself on his mother’s bed. In a flood of tears he
Unforgiven sin cuts off our relationship with God. Christ came to restore trust in God,
spiritual strength to persevere.. He quit drinking for good, became a loving, begged her to forgive him.
which Satan had undermined.
dependable husband and father, and went on to earn a seat in the U.S. Senate. Harold She drew him close and whispered, “Son, I would have forgiven you long ago if you’d
(3) We need to be saved from eternal death—sin’s penalty.
Hughes discovered the greatest transforming power in our world — Jesus! asked.”
“Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way
death came to all men, because all sinned.” —Romans 5:12. (5) Jesus can save us from a sinful world. If you have drifted away from God—or have not yet come to know Him—please think
The next four DISCOVER guides will explain how. about how eager your loving heavenly Father is to welcome you home. He wants more
(4) We need to be saved from a sinful, unhappy, empty life.
than anything else for you to accept His offer of pardon. Jesus loves you. He died for
For the sinner, life is a dead-end street.
you. He is always willing to forgive you. So respond to His gracious invitation to repent.
(5) We need to be saved from a sinful world 4. WE ARE SAVED BY TAKING THREE SIMPLE STEPS Confess your sins. Simply believe that God forgives you, and he does. Trust Him! Trust
We must be rescued from a world full of sin and its results—misery, heartache, S tep 1. Ask Christ to deal with the sin in your life. His promises.
loneliness, war, sickness, and death! What is our part in getting rid of our sinful life? Step 2. Receive a new life from Jesus.
“REPENT, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.” —Acts 3:19.
Your part in receiving a new life from Jesus is to believe that Jesus has really saved you.
3. WHO CAN SAVE US? What leads a person to repent?
Accept without question the fact that He has forgiven and cleansed you, taken away
Only Jesus can save us. “GOD’S KINDNESS LEADS YOU TOWARDS REPENTANCE.” —Romans 2:4. your old life of sin, and given you an entirely new and changed life.
“YOUR SORROW LED YOU TO REPENTANCE.” —2 Corinthians 7:9.
(1) Jesus can deliver us from sin. “To all . . . who believed in his name, he gave the right [power, authority, privilege] to
Repentance is simple being sorry for our past life of sin, and then turning away from
“You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their become children of God.” —John 1:12.
sins.” —Matthew 1:21. our sins, making a break with old habits, practices, and attitudes. It’s not sorrow just
because we fear punishment, but a response to “God’s kindness’ that led Jesus to die in As a child of God, you have “the right” to receive a new life from Jesus. As we have
A Hindu told a Christian friend, “I find many things in Hinduism not found in
our place for our sinfulness. We reject sin because it hurts God. said, you can’t achieve it on your own — it’s a gift from your heavenly Father! Jesus
Christianity, but there is one thing Christianity has that Hinduism does not have —a
Savior.” Christianity is the only world religion offering people a Savior. When we experience a new life in Christ, we should so far as possible make past gives such an absolute promise in order to remove our insecurities and doubts.
wrongs right (Ezekiel 33:14-16).
(2) Jesus can save us from our broken relationship with God. What is God’s part in giving us a new life?
What is God’s part in getting rid of our old life of sin?
“You were separate from Christ . . . without hope and without God in the world. But “Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is
now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the Both repentance and being forgiven are a gift to us from God.
born again.’” —John 3:3.
blood of Christ.” —Ephesians 2:12,13. “God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might GIVE
REPENTANCE and FORGIVENESS OF SINS.” —Acts 5:31.
Jesus is the perfect Friend to enjoy a relationship with. He loves to bring out the best in
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 6
According to Jesus, a believing, repentant sinner is actually born into new life.
It is a miracle that only God can perform. He promises:
“I will give you a NEW HEART and put a NEW SPIRIT in you; I will remove from
you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” —Ezekiel 36:26.
Jesus transforms our heart—our feelings and behavior—dwells “in us”
(Colossians1:27). This new life is not just a nice, spiritual idea; it’s a hard, solid fact, a
resurrection from spiritual death to an entirely new life and existence.
A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE
The number of each question your Answer Sheet is the number of the section in
DISCOVER Guide 6 where the answer can be found.
Read again the section IN DISCOVER Guide 6 identified by the number in the left
margin, then place X before all True statements.
1. A person can be
DISCOVER Guide 6
Step 3. Live for Jesus every day.
The Christian life involves a daily turning away from selfishness, and bonding with physically alive, but spiritually dead in sin.
Jesus as our loving Friend. We grow in this new life by strengthening our relationship
with Jesus. This means spending quality time with Him, building honest and open spiritually dead, and be made alive through faith in Buddha.
communication. God has given us five divine aids for spiritual growth: Bible study,
prayer, meditation, fellowship with other Christians, and sharing our experience
with others.
Living in Christ doesn’t mean we never mistakes. But when we stumble and sin, we
2. We need to be saved

3.
by our faith in Christ which is a gift from God.
from sin which is breaking God’s law.
A Second A fter living most of his life
claim Christ’s forgiveness, and keep going. We’re headed in a certain direction, and
we know Christ remains a living presence in our hearts. from sin which is a broken relationship with God. as a Buddhist, an elderly man in
from eternal death which is the penalty for sin. Singapore who had become a Christian
5. THE JOY OF THE SECOND CHANCE
Harold Hughes received many honors during his distinguished career as a U.S.
Senator, but the one that meant the most to him came shortly after his commitment to
Christ.
by doing good works for others.
4. Jesus saves us from our sins
Chance was asked, “Mr Lim, what difference
do you find between being a Buddhist
and being a Christian?”
Harold was studying the Bible alone in his living room one evening when he felt a and restores our relationship with God. “That’s easy,” he answered. “Since
nudge at his elbow. He looked up. It was his two small daughters, standing quietly in and delivers us from eternal death, the penalty of sin. I've found Jesus as my Savior, I have
their nightgowns. He stated at them for a moment; they had changed so much, and he such a peace in my heart.”

at Life
had missed so much during his devastating battle with the bottle. and we receive healing, restoration, and a new life.
That’s what happens when we centre
Then Carol, the younger said, “Daddy, we’ve come to kiss you good-night.” because we can overcome sin by strong willpower. our lives on CHRIST.
The father’s eyes blurred. It had been so long since the children had come for his
embrace. Now their beautiful clear eyes held no fear. Daddy had come home at last. 5. Our part in receiving salvation is “You [God] will keep him in perfect
Jesus does truly give people a second chance. He takes the most hopeless cases and to repent and turn to God for forgiveness.. peace, whose mind is stayed on You,
creates new beginnings. because he trusts in You”. —Isaiah
The Savior longs for each one of us to come at last. Have you accepted Christ’s loving to confess and renounce our past life sin.
26:3 NKJV. (Unless otherwise noted, all
invitation? Receiving God’s forgiveness and cleansing is a simple and profound as to try as hard as we can to be good. Scriptural texts are from the New
opening your arms for a child’s embrace. International Version of the Bible [NIV]).
If you have not yet trusted in Christ as your personal Savior, you can do so right now to as far as possible make past wrongs right.
Living the Christian Life results in
by praying something like this:
“Father, I am sorry for my old life of sin. Thank you for sending your Son to this God’s part in our receiving salvation is perfect peace— a perfect sense of
world to die in my place. Jesus, please forgive my sins and come into my life and save to give us the gift of repentance and forgiveness for our sins. security and well-being.
me. I want a second chance at life—I want to be born again. Even more, I want to Those who have made this discovery
to give us salvation even if we don’t ask for it.
establish a day-to-day relationship with you. Thank you for performing this miracle have found the only way to a second
in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Our part in receiving a new life from God is to accept the fact chance at life —Jesus!
Make this wonderful discovery: When we do the coming, Jesus does the saving.
that God has forgiven us, cleansed us from our past life of sin, and given us a
new life 1. WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE
that we can achieve this new life on our own. LOST TO BE SAVED
It’s possible for a physically alive
God’s part in our receiving a new life is person to be having what some call a
to perform the miracle of new birth, give us a new heart, dwell in us, and
good time, and still be dead—that is,
transform our behavior.
spiritually dead.
to overwhelm us with His grace and force us to be good.
“YOU WERE DEAD IN YOUR
Christ offers everyone the opportunity to be saved and receive a new life.
TRANSGRESSIONS AND SINS, in
which you used to live when you
Have you found the new life in Jesus?
followed the ways of this world and of
If not, are you willing to ask Christ to give you anew life now? the ruler of the kingdom of the air, THE
[EVIL] SPIRIT WHO IS NOW AT
Do you desire special prayer for help to live the new life? WORK in those who are disobedient.”
—Ephesians 2:1,2.
Satan leads a spiritually dead person
Your Name:
down a descending spiral of sin and
Address:
disobedience. But the wonderful truth
of the gospel is that God loves such
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House Phone: doomed people. He loves them while
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe they are dead
Telephone 250681/2 Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 7
inspires can serve as an anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:19).
The sixteenth-century scholar Erasmus related an incident during a sea voyage
that stayed with him the rest of his life. His sailing vessel ran aground in a storm.
As violent waves smashed against the ship and it began to break up, even the
sailors panicked. The passengers were near hysteria. Most shouted for help to
their patron saint, sang hymns, or pleaded loudly in prayer.
Erasmus noted one passenger, however, who acted very differently. “Of all of
ABOUT YOUR FUTURE
The number of each question in your Answer Sheet indicates the number of the
section in Discover Guide 7 where the answer can be found.

Read again the section in Discover Guide 7 identified by the number in the left
margin, then place an X before all the True statements.
DISCOVER Guide 7
us,” Erasmus wrote, “the one who remained most composed was a young woman
who was holding a baby whom she was nursing. She was the only one who did not
1. The prophecy of the great statue in Daniel, the second chapter,
shout, weep, or bargain with Heaven. She did nothing but pray quietly to herself
predicted 2,500 years of world history advance.
while clasping the baby tightly on her lap.”
reviewed the first 2,500 years of world History.

D
This prayer, Erasmus realized, was just a continuation of her regular prayer life.
She seemed to entrust herself to God.
As the ship began to sink, this young mother was placed on a plank, given a spar 2. The statue’s head of gold represents the world empire octors Patricia and David
to use as an oar, and sent out into the waves. She had to hold her baby with one Assyria, ruled over by the King Nabopolassar.
hand and attempt to row with other. Few thought she would survive the pounding Babylon, ruled over by the King Nebuchadnezzar. Mrazek saw a great deal of
surf. heartbreak in their work. As
But her faith and composure stood her in good stead. The woman and her child The statue’s chest and arms of silver represent pediatric specialists they dealt with
were the first to reach shore. The world empire of Medo-Persia (539 to 331 B.C.) many suffering children. But they
Hope in a trustworthy God can make all difference—even when our world seems the world empire of Egypt (539 B.C.). were struck by the fact that some
to be breaking up around us and holding us up.
kids bounced back from disaster
If you will come to Christ in full surrender, He will give you a faith that will see The statue’s thighs of bronze represent the world empire
you through every storm. Discover the supernatural peace that Jesus promises: while others were crushed by it.
of Greece (331 to 168 B.C.).
“Peace I leave with you. . . . Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be of Rome (168 B.C. to A.D. 476). Why? Why, for example, does one
afraid.”—John 14:27.
Do you have that peace? If you do, thank Jesus, your Savior. If you don’t, why not The statue’s legs of iron represent the world empire
of Macedonia (168 B.C. to A.D.476).
of Rome (168 B.C. to A.D. 476).
About child go to drugs, while another goes
to college?
Why do some abused children grow
up to become abusers themselves,
while others become good parents?

Your
The statue’s feet, made of iron mixed with clay which make up the feet of the The Mrazek conducted an extensive
statue survey to find answers to these
the divided empire of Rome (A.D. 476 to the present). questions. In their study, one
a fifth unnamed world empire still to come. overriding trait kept popping up
among those kids who survived
3. The iron mixed with clay which make up the feet of the statue
trauma and went on to build healthy

Future
mean that Europe “will again unite” and become a world power.
mean that modern Europe “will not remain united”.
lives. The secret? “A basic life view
of optimism and hope.”
4. The stone that strikes the statue on the feet and grinds it to powder Hope made difference. Hope, more
represents the soon coming of Christ to set up His Kingdom. than anything else, helps us beat the
represents World War III. odds when they’re stacked against
us.
If this statement is True, circle the T; if False, circle the F. Human beings desperately need
hope. But how do we get it? Hope is
5,6 T F if God can direct the movements of nations with such precision, surely He hard to find in our world—UNTIL
can guide each of our lives. we look at it from the perspectives of
Bible prophecy. This DISCOVER
HEART QUESTION: Is it your personal desire to ask Jesus to direct your life guide examines a remarkable
so you can be a citizen in the kingdom He is coming soon to set up?
prophecy that has inspired countless
individuals with a vibrant hope.

1. AN AMAZING BIBLE
PROPHECY

About five hundred years before

the birth of Christ, God gave the
world a startling glimpse into the
Your Name: future through the prophet Daniel.
Address: God presented an outline of world
history in advance for 2,500years,
from Daniel’s time to our own day.
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House Phone: This prophecy originated in a
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe
Telephone 250681/2 Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
dream God gave Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, some 2,500 years ago. The
dream deeply troubled this monarch—but he couldn’t remember the dream when he
woke up! After all of Babylon’s wise men failed to help the King recall his dream or
interpret it, a young Hebrew exile named Daniel arrived on the scene, claiming that
the God of Heaven could reveal all mysteries.
Standing before the king, Daniel boldly declared:
After the death of Alexander, his empire weakened and split into rival factions until
finally in 168 B.C., at the battle of Pydna, the “Iron Empire” of Rome crushed Greece.

Caesar Augustus ruled the Roman Empire when Jesus was born about two thousand
years ago (Luke 2:1). Christ and His apostles lived during the period represented by the
legs of iron. Gibbon, the eighteenth-century historian, no doubt had Daniel’s prophecy
in mind when wrote: “The images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to
DISCOVER
“You looked, O king, and there before you stood A LARGE STATUE —an represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of TEN TOES—TEN MAJOR TRIBES
enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. Rome.”—Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (John D. IN THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
“The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly Morris and Company), vol.4,p.89.
Anglo-Saxons (England)
and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of baked clay.
Think for a moment about this prediction from a human point of view. How could Franks (France)
“While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck
Daniel, living in the time of Babylon, have any idea of how many empires would Alamanni (Germany)
the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.
succeed each other hundred of years in the future? We have a hard time figuring out Lombards (Italy)
“Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at
what the stock market is going to do next week! And yet Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Ostrogoths (later destroyed)
the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind
swept them away without leaving a trace. But the ROCK THAT STRUCK THE and Rome followed each other exactly as predicted —like obedient schoolboys in a line. Visigoths (Spain)
STATUE became a huge mountain and FILLED THE WHOLE EARTH.” —Daniel Is God in control of the future? Can we have hope on the basis of His grand plan? The Burgundians (Switzerland)
2:31-35. (Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptural texts in the DISCOVER guides are from the Vandals (North Africa, later destroyed)
answer is a resounding, Yes!
New International Version of the Bible [NIV].) Suevi (Portugal)
This statue, at first glance, may seem to have little to do with findings hope in THE FEET AND TOES OF IRON MIXED WITH CLAY: Would a fifth world power
Heruli (Disappeared after a few centuries)
contemporary times, but hold on. follow Rome?

“Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly baked clay and partly of iron, so
THIS WILL BE A DIVIDED KINGDOM; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in
4. A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE
2. THE PROPHECY INTERPRETED
it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so Only one part of Daniel’s prophecy remains unfulfilled. What is the meaning of the
After telling a very impressed Nebuchadnezzar exactly what he’d seen in his
this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.”—Daniel 2:41,42. stone that strikes the statue on the feet, grinds it to powder, and becomes a great
vision, the prophet Daniel explained :
“This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.” —Daniel 2:36. The prophet predicted, not a fifth world empire, but a division of the iron monarchy of mountain which fills the whole earth?

THE HEAD OF GOLD: What world power did Daniel tell the king the head of gold Rome. Rome would fracture into ten kingdoms, as symbolized by the feet and toes of the “IN THE TIME OF THOSE KINGS [ the modern nations of Europe], THE GOD OF
symbolized? image. HEAVEN WILL SET UP A KINGDOM that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to
“You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion Did this actually happen? It certainly did. During the Fourth and fifth centuries of the another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but IT WILL
and power and might and glory. . . . YOU ARE THAT HEAD OF GOLD.” —Verses Christian Era barbaric invaders from the north poured down on the decaying Roman ITSELF ENDURE FOR EVER.” —Daniel 2:44.
37, 38.
Empire, delivering blow after blow. Finally ten of the tribes gained most of the territory “Those kings” could refer only to the kings symbolized by the feet and toes of the
Daniel was saying to the ruler of that world’s greatest empire: “Nebuchadnezzar, of Western Rome, and ten distinct, independent nations established themselves within statue—the rulers of modern Europe, pointing to our day. The stone that is cut out
God is telling you that your empire, Babylon, is represented by the statue’s golden
the boundaries of Europe. Thus the toes symbolized the modern nations of Europe without human hands is to strike the statue and break it into pieces, and will then fill the
head.”
today. whole earth (verses 34,35,45). Soon Jesus will descend from heaven to “set up a
THE CHEST AND ARMS OF SILVER: For a human perspective Babylon looked
like an empire that would last for ever. But what does the prophecy say would 3. OUR DAY IN BIBLE PROPHECY kingdom,” His Kingdom of happiness and peace. Then Christ, the Rock of Ages and the
happen next? King of Kings, will rule the world for ever!
Does Daniel’s prophecy predict that efforts would be made to unite these nations of
“After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours.” —Verse 39. Everything in the prediction of Daniel 2 has come to pass except the final act—the
Europe under one ruler?
In fulfilment of God’s prediction, Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom crumbled into ruins striking of the statue by the stone. According to God’s timetable, we are now
when Cyrus, the Persian general, overthrew the Babylonian empire in 539 B.C. So the “And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so THE PEOPLE will be a
approaching the grand climax, Christ’s return to our world. Jesus Christ, the Son of
chest and arms of silver represent Medo-Persia, another mighty empire. mixture and WILL NOT REMAIN UNITED, any more than iron mixes with clay.”
God, is about to end the long, bloody struggle of human history and establish His
THE BELLY AND THIGHS OF BRONZE: What does this part of the great metal —Daniel 2:43.
eternal kingdom of love and grace.
image represent? Over and over powerful men have tried to unite Europe, but they fall short of the goal
“Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.” —Verse 39. every time. Napoleon came nearer than any other man to uniting a divided Europe, but 5. THE KING’S DREAM AND YOU
The belly and thighs of bronze of the image symbolize the kingdom of Greece. probably thinking of this prophecy, as he fled defeated from the battlefield of Waterloo, This prophecy reveals the guiding hand of God in the rise and fall of nations.
Alexander the Great conquered the Medes and the Persians, turning Greece into the he cried,”God Almighty is too much for me!”
world’s third great empire. She ruled from 331 to 168 B.C. God knows the past, and this Bible prophecy clearly shows that He knows the future as
Kaiser Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler created the most powerful armed forces of their well. If God directs the movements of nations with such precision, surely He can guide
THE OF IRON:
day. But each failed to unite Europe under their rule. Why? Because God’s Word was at each individual’s life. Jesus assured us: “Even the very hairs of your head are all
“ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom [said the prophet], strong as iron—for
stake:”The people will be a mixture and will not remain united.” The outcome of two numbered. So don’t be afraid” (Matthew 10:30-31). God’s gift of faith can become the
iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will
world wars confirm that God holds the future in His hands; He is ultimately in control. antidote to all our worries and fears. The hope He
crush and break all the others.” —Verse 40.
Such a happy ending to the earth’s long, tragic history may appear just too good to
be true. But there’s one thing that can keep hope alive in our hearts. And that’s
simply Jesus’s promise to return. Just before departing from His disciples into
heaven, Jesus made this pledge:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s
house are many rooms; if I were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to
On the day of His departure from our world the angels assured the disciples that
the “same Jesus” taken up into heaven—not someone else—would come back in
person as King of Kings. The same Jesus who healed the sick and opened blind eyes.
The same Jesus who spoke gently to the woman taken in adultery. The same Jesus
who wiped away mourner’s tears and welcomed children into His lap. The same
Jesus who died on Calvary’s cross, rested in the grave, and rose from the dead the
third day.
DISCOVER
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME BACK (3) Will Jesus come so we can see Him? For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable. an the mortal with
and take you with me that you also may be where I am.” —John 14:1-3. (Unless otherwise immortality.” —1 Corinthians 15:51-53.
“Look, he is coming with the clouds, and EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM.”
noted, all Scriptural texts in the DISCOVER guides are from the New International Version of —Revelation 1:7 (first part). When Jesus comes “we will all be changed.” Just think: no more arthritis, paralysis, or
the Bible [NIV].)
All who are alive when Jesus comes again, both the righteous and the wicked, will cancer. Shut down the hospitals and close up the funeral homes. Christ has come!
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He assured His followers , “I WILL COME BACK!” witness His return.
He promised to return and take all who trust in Him to the special place He has (4) Jesus will take all the righteous people to heaven.
How many did Jesus Himself say would view His return?
prepared for us. Scripture speaks of His second coming approximately 2,500 times. The Jesus Himself made the promise,” I will come back and take you to be with me” in
At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and ALL THE
fact that Jesus is coming to the world a second time is as certain as the reality that He My father’s house (see John 14:1-3). Peter speaks of the inheritance of the redeemed
NATIONS OF THE EARTH will mourn. THEY WILL SEE the Son of man coming on
lived on earth two thousand years ago. the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” —Matthew 24:30. “kept in heaven for you” (1Peter 1:4). We can look forward to exploring the marvels
Long ago God promised that a Messiah would come, a Deliverer who would take on Every living person on our globe will see Jesus return. of God’s city, the New Jerusalem, and getting to know our heavenly Father.
Himself our iniquities and provide pardon for human sin. That promise seemed too
(4) Who will accompany Jesus when He comes? (5) Jesus will eliminate evil and suffering for all time.
good to be true to many in the ancient world who were slogging through their lives. But
Jesus did come and die on the cross. His promise to return will also come true. We can “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit The wicked—those who have persistently rejected all of Jesus’s offers of mercy—
on his throne in heavenly glory.” —Matthew 25:31.
rely on the One who loves us, to return and gather up those for whom He has paid an actually pass sentence on themselves. As they stare at Jesus’ face coming toward
infinite price. Imagine what I twill be like when Jesus returns in all His splendor surrounded by them from the clouds, a sudden awareness of their sins proves too painful to bear;
“all the angels.’
Throughout his imprisonment, Armando continued to smuggle poems, messages and they cry to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him
drawings to Martha. And she managed to publish some of these writings. Their (5) Can we predict the exact time of Jesus’ return? who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!” (Revelation 6:16). They
eloquence attracted world attention . Governments began pressuring Castro to release “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, prefer death to standing before Jesus’ all-seeing gaze.
prisoners of conscience. The French president intervened and at last in October of 1982 but only the Father. . . . So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come
at an hour when you do not expect him.” —Matthew 24:36,44. They know that the voice now thundering from the sky once tenderly implored
Armando was placed on a plane headed for Paris. He hardly dared believe he was
Everyone will see Jesus’ glorious arrival, but many will be unprepared fo it. Are them to accept divine grace. Those who lost themselves in the mad rush after money
free— even after the plane touched down. But then, after two decades of suffering and
you personally ready for Jesus to come? or pleasure or position now realize they’ve neglected the only really worthwhile
longing and waiting, Armando rushed into Martha’s arms.
thing in life.
A few months later the happy couple stood in Miami’s St. Kieran Church and repeated
their vows. At last their union was complete. The promise was fulfilled:”I will come to 3. WHAT WILL JESUS DO WHEN HE COMES AGAIN? It is a crushing revelation. After all, not one of them needed to be lost. God Himself
you.” finds “no pleasure in the death of the wicked’ (Ezekiel 33:11). He is “not wanting
(1) Jesus will gather all the saved (the elect).
Can you imagine what a wonderful reunion it will be when finally we are able to see anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2Peter 3:9). Jesus implores
“And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect
Christ face-to-face? His glorious appearing will swallow up all the sorrows and us, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”
from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” —Mtthew 24:31.
frustrations, wipe away all the pain that we’ve kept hidden in our hearts. Jesus’ return (Matthew 11:28). But, incredibly, some turn aside His gracious invitation.
If you have allowed Jesus to prepare you in heart and life, you will greet Him
will fulfil our deepest longings and most exciting expectations. And we’ll embark on an joyfully as your Savior.
eternity of intimate union with the most wonderful personality in the Universe.
(2) Jesus will awaken the righteous dead.
Jesus is coming soon! Are you eager to meet Him? 4. ARE YOU READY FOR JESUS TO COME?
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the
voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and THE DEAD IN CHRIST It cost Jesus a great deal to guarantee us a glorious future with Him “in my Father’s
WILL RISE FIRST.” —1 Thessalonians 4:16. house.” It cost Him His life!
2. HOW WILL JESUS COME?
Jesus descends from heaven with a shout. His mighty voice is heard around the
(1) Will Jesus come in secret? “CHRIST WAS SACRIFICED ONCE to take away the sins of many people; and HE
world. It breaks open graves in every cemetery and resurrects millions of people
who have accepted Jesus through the ages. What an exhilarating day that will be! WILL APPEAR A SECOND TIME, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those
“See, I [Jesus] have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out
who are waiting for him.” —Hebrews 9:28.
in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. (3) Jesus will transform all the righteous at His coming — not only the righteous
FOR AS LIGHTNING that comes from the east IS VISIBLE even in the west, SO dead, but also the righteous living. The Savior who died on the cross to take your sins will appear “a second time,’ and
WILL BE THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN.” —Matthew 24:25-27. “After that, we who are still alive and are left WILL BE CAUGHT UP WITH He will “bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Christ sacrificed Himself
Lightning flashes out very visible for great distances, so the coming of Jesus will not THEM in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for in order to offer salvation to each of us. But without the Second Coming, the cross
be some secret or subjective event. ever.” —Verse 17. would be a failure. Christ wants to give us an eternally secure home with Him. In
(2) Will Jesus come again as a real person? To prepare us for eternity, Christ changes our mortal bodies that are subject to order for that to happen, we must allow Him to rule in our hearts as Savior and Lord
“They [Jesus’ followers] were looking intently up into the sky as he [Jesus] was death into beautiful immortal bodies. right now.
going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but WE WILL ALL BE On the morning of August 16, 1945 a small boy ran through the Shantung
Galilee,’they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? THIS SAME JESUS, CHANGED —in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMPET. For
Compound in North China shouting that he’d spotted a plane in the sky. All the
who has been TAKEN from you INTO HEAVEN, WILL COME BACK IN THE SAME the trumpet will sound, THE DEAD WILL BE RAISED IMPERISHABLE, and WE
WILL BE CHANGED. able-bodied internees ran outside and looked up. These men and women had
WAY you have seen him go into heaven.” —Acts 1:10-11.
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 8
suffered through years of isolation, deprivation, and anxiety, imprisoned
by the Japanese as citizens of enemy nations. For many only one thing
had kept them
spiritually alive: the hope that someday the war would end.
An electric current shot through that crowd of 1500 surviving internees as
they realized this plane might be coming for THEM. As the hum of the
WHEN JESUS COMES FOR YOU
The number of each question in your Answer Sheet is the number of the section in
DISCOVER Guide 8 where the answer can be found.

Place an X before all True statements.

DISCOVER Guide 8
aircraft grew louder, someone yelled, “Look, there’s the AMERICAN 1. before Jesus ascended to heaven he promised,”I will come back.”
FLAG painted on the side! They know who we are. They’re coming to get
us.” Jesus’ second coming is mentioned at least 2,500 times in the Bible.
At this point6 the excitement was more than these ragged, weary,
homesick survivors could contain. Pandemonium broke loose. People
were running in circles, shouting at the top of their lungs, waving their
arms and weeping. 2.
Since the promise that Jesus would come a first time was fulfilled, we can be
certain that He will come a second time.

There will be nothing secret about Jesus’s second coming.

When A fter years of mistreatment,
Suddenly the crowd gasped and stared in silence. The underside of the
plane suddenly opened and men began floating down in parachutes. Their Jesus will come a second time as a real person. Armando Valladares was an emaciated,
rescuers weren’t just coming someday; they were coming today, NOW to crippled shadow of his former self. He

Jesus
Every living person will see Jesus when He returns.
be in their midst! was serving a 30 -year sentence in one
The crowd surged toward the compound gate. No one paused to think of The angels of heaven will accompany Jesus when He returns. of Castro’s prisons for praying in a
the machine guns pointed down from towers. After years of frustration church on Christmas Day. Prison
and loneliness, they broke through the gate and rushed to where the The Bible gives the exact date when Jesus will come again. officials starved, tortured, and
paratroopers were landing. humiliated the man, but he refused to
3. When Jesus comes again,
Soon this flood of humanity turned and poured back into camp—with the give up his faith.
soldiers on their shoulders. The camp commander surrendered without a
fight. The war was indeed over. Freedom had come. The world was brand-
new again.
He will gather all the saved who are waiting for Him.

He will awaken the righteous dead who are asleep in their graves.
Comes Something kept him going: a promise
he’d made to a young woman named
Martha. They had met and fallen in
Soon OUR God, OUR Savior, will descend from the clouds to rescue us. love while he was in prison.
The long horror story of man’s cruelty to man will finally cease. There will He will change the bodies of all the righteous so they will never get sick and
never die. She was deeply attracted to his
be jubilation on that day, shouts of joy as we finally understand: “He’s passionate faith. Shortly after the
coming close; I can see the angels blowing their trumpets.” The sound gets
louder, the cloud of glory brighter, until we can hardly endure it. But we
can’t stop looking as we realize: “He sees me. He knows who I am.” We’ll
He will gather the righteous and take them to heaven.

He will leave a few of the righteous to live on this earth..

for couple married in a civil ceremony in
the prison courtyard, Martha was
forced to emigrate to Miami.
know with indescribable joy: “This is my God. He’s coming for me, not Their separation was very painful.
someday, but today, right now.” The wicked who are alive on the earth will be destroyed.
But Armando managed to smuggle out
Are you ready to welcome the King in all His glory? If not, please invite
a promise to his beloved. On a tiny
Jesus personally into your life just now. Even as the coming of Jesus to our
world will solve the world’s problems, so His coming into your heart will
help you deal with your present daily problems. The great Problem Solver
can deliver you from the guilt and burden of sin and give you eternal life.
4. Read again section 4 of your DISCOVER Guide 8, then answer this HEART
QUESTION: How do you feel about Christ’s soon return?
You piece of discarded paper he scribbled
his pledge: “I will come to you. The
bayonets in the horizon beyond my
back will no longer matter.”
The coming of Jesus into a life can for ever change it as dramatically as
This prisoner determined that
the coming of Jesus to our world will transform it. You can depend on
Jesus. He will prepare you for His coming and give you the wonderful somehow he and Martha would make
assurance of life of eternal happiness. their vows in a church before God.
Someday their union would be
complete. “You are always with me,”he
told her.
Armando’s promise kept him going
through years of mistreatment that
would have destroyed the spirit of
most men. And it kept Martha going.
She worked tirelessly to bring public
attention to her husband’s plight. She
never gave up hope.
Your Name:
Address: 1. THE PROMISE
At times we may be tempted to
wonder, will Christ really descend

Zimbabwe Union Publishing House

Phone: someday from this blue sky above us
for a wonderful reunion? We’ve been
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe
Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy separated for so long.
Telephone 250681/2
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 9
6. WE MUST BE THERE!
Jesus longs for that face-to-face meeting. That’s why He was willing to rescue
you from sin at such great cost. You must personally take advantage of this gift.
You must make a commitment to Christ as Lord and Savior. You need the pardon
that is offered from the cross, because:
“Nothing impure will ever enter [the New Jerusalem], nor will anyone who does
YOUR HOME IN HEAVEN
The number of each question in your Answer Sheet indicates the number of the
section in Discover Guide 9 where the answer can be found.

If the answer is True, circle the T; if False, circle the F.

DISCOVER Guide 9
what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the
1. T F Jesus is now preparing a place for us in a very real heaven.
Lamb’s book of life.” —Revelation 21:27.
T F At Jesus’s second coming, He will take us to heaven.
Jesus delivers us from sin. We must come to Him through His power in us and
be separated from the impure and the unholy. Jesus is our password into His soon-
coming kingdom.
And that kingdom can have its beginning right now in your heart. When Christ
T F Eventually, saved people will return in the New Jerusalem to an entirely
new earth.
2. T F In heaven we will have real bodies like Christ’s resurrected body.
T F After His resurrection, Jesus did not have a real body.
Your W hen Marco Polo returned

delivers us from sin, He creates a little heaven within. He can help us deal with to his hometown of Venice after many
T F After his resurrection, Jesus’ followers recognized Him by His familiar
worry, anger, lust, fear, and guilt that plague us. The hope of heaven isn’t an
escape from life’s problems; it helps create more heaven on earth. A recently
conducted poll showed that “those who believe in life after death lead happier
lives and trust people more than those who don’t.”
features, His voice, and His manner.
T F We will form intimate friendships with our family and friends in heaven.

Place an X in front of each TRUE Bible fact which tells what the saved will do in
Home years in the Orient, his friends thought
his long journeys had driven him mad.
He had such incredible tales to tell.
Marco had travelled to a city full of
Nothing will have a more dramatic impact on your life right now than a trusting heaven.

in
silver and gold. He’d seen black stones
relationship with Jesus Christ. Listen to how Peter describes the impact of a living
that burned, but no one had ever heard
faith: 3. Build houses.
of coal. He’d seen cloth that refused to
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see Eat real food.
catch fire even when thrown into the
him now, you believe in him and are FILLED WITH AN INEXPRESSIBLE AND Kill and eat animals.
GLORIOUS JOY, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your flames, but no one had ever heard of

Heaven
Line on barren deserts.
souls.” —1 Peter 1:8,9. Plant vineyards. asbestos. He talked of huge serpents
All of this—and heaven too. Have you discovered the kind of abundant life Enjoy life. ten paces long with jaws wide enough
Christ wants you to experience? Please don’t turn away from His gracious Enjoy beauty. to swallow a man, nuts the size of a
invitation. Experience new things. man’s head and white as milk inside,
“The [Holy] Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!” And let him who hears say, and a substance spurting from the
‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the Place an X in front of each TRUE Bible fact which tells what heaven will be like
ground that actually set lamps alight.
free gift of the water of life.” —Revelation 22:17.
But no one had ever seen crocodiles,
Jesus is with you now, speaking to your heart as you read these lines. He invites 4. No sin. No suffering.
coconuts, or crude oil. They just
you to “Come!” “Come!” “Come!” He couldn’t be more eager, more insistent . If No sickness. Only occasional pain.
laughed at such stories. Years later,
you have not yet done so, this moment above all others is your opportunity to
explore His offer. 5. Worship at God’s throne. Jesus our Companion. when Marco lay dying, a devout man

Why not tell Him that you accept His gracious gift and want to spend eternity Heart-warning singing. Only limited impurities. at his bedside urged him to recant all
with Him? Tell Him that you love Him. Thank Him for all He has done for you the tall tales he’d told. But Marco
and all He is still planning for you. If there is something between you and God, ask HEART QUESTION: Do you wish to ask Christ to come into your life so refused: ”It’s all true—every bit of it. In
Him to make you willing to remove it. Today, while you hear His voice, while you can experience heaven in your heart now and be ready to live in the home Jesus fact, I have not told half of what I saw.”
your heart is still responsive, give yourself to Him without reserve. Bow your head is preparing for you in heaven?
The Bible writers who give us
at this moment and say, “Jesus, my Lord, I come. I give my all to You. I will be
glimpses of heaven seem to echo Marco
Yours for ever.”
Polo’s sentiment. In vision they looked
on a place so brilliant, so fantastic, that
they could describe only a fraction of
what they saw. And we face a
challenge similar to that of Marco
Polo’s friends. We must try to imagine
Your Name: the “crocodiles and coconuts” that

Address: we’ve never seen, because the glimpses

we do get in the Bible show us that
heaven is much more than sitting on
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House Phone:
clouds and playing on harps.
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe
Telephone 250681/2 Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
1. IS HEAVEN A REAL PLACE?
Jesus is preparing a very real place for us right now in a very real heaven.
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me [Jesus]. In
my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I GO
TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL
COME AGAIN, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
In heaven we “shall know fully.” We’ll understand and appreciate one another more
deeply than ever we have in this present world.

Jesus’ disciples recognized Him in His heavenly body, apparently because of His
familiar features(Luke 24:36-43). Mary knew Him at the tomb because of the familiar
sound of His voice when He called her by name (John 20:14-16). The two disciples at
Emmaus identified Him because of certain familiar gestures. When they noticed the
DISCOVER
way their guest blessed the food, they recognized Him as the Lord by His manner
4. WILL EVIL THREATEN HEAVEN AGAIN?
—John 14:1-3, KJV. (Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptural texts in the DISCOVER guides
(Luke 24:13-35). “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or
are from the New International Version of The Bible [NIV].)
deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book Life.” —
Jesus is coming to our world a second time to take us to a custom-made mansion The redeemed are certain to experience thrilling “face-to-face” reunions in heaven.
Revelation 21:27.
in a heavenly city that is glorious beyond our wildest dreams: the New Jerusalem. Imagine the joy of recognizing your spouse’s special smile, or the familiar call of a
child you laid to rest long ago, or the endearing gestures of some beloved friend. God is going to completely eliminate sin and its terrible results; they will never
After we’ve lived there for a thousand years, Christ intends to bring this heavenly
We’ll have an eternity to deepen life’s most precious bonds and to develop intimate appear again. When Jesus appears, “we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2). Instead of
home down to planet Earth. As the New Jerusalem descends, fire will purify the
friendships with the most fascinating personalities in the universe. resisting impulses to kill, steal, lie, or rape, we’ll pursue heavenly graces.
entire world. Our renewed planet then becomes the permanent home of the saved.
(Revelation 20:7-15. More about this in Guide 22.) “[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or
3. WHAT WILL WE DO IN HEAVEN?
mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
What does John, who wrote Revelation, picture next?
We’ll have plenty of activities to challenge us in heaven. How about designing —Revelation 21:4.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first your own dream house?
Even the ultimate enemy, death will vanish. In heaven’s land of eternal youth the
heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw
“Behold, I will create heavens and a new earth. . . . I will rejoice over Jerusalem redeemed are ‘’immortal’’ (1 Corinthians 15:53); no inhabitant will ever suffer the
the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as
and take delight in my people. . . . . They will build houses and dwell in them; they ravages of old age.
a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. . . . My chosen ones will long enjoy the
Heaven not only destroys the results of sin, it also reverses them. Imagine what it
be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’’’ —Revelation works of their hands.” —Isaiah 65:17-22.
will be like for those who’ve struggled with lifelong handicaps:
21:1-3. Jesus is already preparing personalized homes for us in the Holy City, the New
“Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. then
After its transformation by fire, who does Jesus promise will occupy the new Jerusalem (John 14:1-3; Revelation 21). These verses suggest we’ll also design and will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.” —Isaiah 35:5,6.
earth? construct other houses —perhaps beautiful country estates, landscaping them with
“Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth.” —Matthew 5:5. (See also heaven’s rich variety of plant life. And who knows what high-tech adventures await
Revelation 21:7.) us in God’s advanced civilization? Our present scientific breakthroughs and space 5. WHAT IS HEAVEN’S GREATEST THRILL?
odysseys will seem like child’s play when we begin exploring in our “Father’s
Christ promises to restore His once perfect world t its original Edenic beauty, and Imagine seeing the Lord of the universe face-to-face.
house.”
the meek “will inherit the earth.” “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be
Do you love the beauty of thundering waterfalls, quiet meadows, teeming rain
his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” —Revelation 21:3.
forests, and delicate blossoms?
2. WILL WE HAVE REAL BODIES IN HEAVEN? God Almighty promises to be our companion and tutor. What a joy to sit at His
“The Lord will surely comfort Zion;. . . he will make her deserts like Eden, her feet! Think what a musician might give to be able to spend a few moments with
When Jesus appeared to His disciples in His resurrected and glorified body, how wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her,
did He describe it? Beethoven or Mozart. Imagine how much a physicist would treasure the chance to sit
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.” —Isaiah 51:3.
down with Albert Einstein, or how much it would mean for a painter to talk with
“Look at my hands and feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not
God will transform the earth into a pristine Garden of Eden. No more oil spills or Michelangelo or Rembrandt.
have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” —Luke 24:39.
smog or drought; the lakes stay crystal clear, the trees majestic, and the Just think, the redeemed will have an infinitely greater privilege. They will
Jesus had a real body; He invited Thomas to touch Him (John 20:27). On this mountainsides unscarred. converse with the Author of all music , science, and art. They will be on intimate
occasion Jesus walked into a real house, talked to real people, and ate real food (Luke
Not only the beauties of the world, but also our capacity to absorb them will be terms with the greatest Mind and deepest Heart in the universe. And this
24:43).
greatly intensified. It will seem like that first day outdoors after a very long illness. relationship will overflow into worship.
Heaven isn’t inhabited by ghosts, but real people who enjoy a spiritual life, and
And the first ‘twenty minutes of reality’ will extend into a magical eternity. Do you “From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind
who have a “glorious body.”
enjoy experiencing new things? Learning? Creating? will come and bow down before me,’ says the Lord.” — Isaiah 66:23.
“But our citizenship is heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his “There, immortal minds will contemplate with never failing delight the wonders In the centre of the heavenly city stands the great white throne of God. Encircled
control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. . . . Every faculty will developed, by an emerald rainbow, His face shines like a blazing sun. Below His feet a glassy sea
—Philippians 3:20,21. every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or extends in all directions. On this crystal surface reflecting God’s glory, the redeemed
exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the gather to pour out their exultant praise.
We can be assured that our heavenly bodies will be as solid and real as Christ’s
loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized; and still there will arise “And the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing;
resurrected body.
new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and
Will we recognize our family and friends in heaven?
objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body. All the treasures of the sorrow and sighing will flee away.” —Isaiah 35:10.
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror ; then we shall see face to face. universe will be open to the study of God’s redeemed.” —Ellen G. White, The Great
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”—1 Here is Someone whose goodness never misses a beat. His faithfulness and
Controversy (Nampa, Idaho; Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1950), page 677.
Corinthians 13:12. patience and compassion just keep rolling on. Praise His holy name!!
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 10
Our Savior created a way out of our crumbling world by sacrificing His own
flesh and blood. And the same Jesus, who will someday cure all the world’s ills by
destroying sin, offers right now to erase the guilt of sin from your life. You don’t
have to wait for the Second Coming to find release from guilt, and from anxiety
and destructive behavior. Jesus is quite willing to give you His kind of peace this
very moment.
HOW SOON WILL JESUS RETURN?
The number of each question in your Answer Sheet indicates the number of the
section in Discover Guide 10 where the answer can be found.

1. Read section 1 again in DISCOVER Guide 10, then place an X before the EIGHT
DISCOVER Guide 10
While attending a religious meeting a young woman felt strangely moved by the
correct answers to this question:

How
gospel presentation. As she heard the story of a soon-coming Savior unfold, all the
pieces began to fit into place. This made sense. She decided that she’d been looking
for love, happiness, and peace in all the wrong places. Jesus had to be the answer.
The next day when the evangelist and his associate went to see her, she poured
What signs did Jesus give to let people know when His coming and the end of
the world are near? M ost of us have an almost

People being fearful of what is coming on the world. instinctive urge to peek into the future.
out the story of a bitter and broken life. She’d sunk to the bottom as an alcoholic,
People being troubled by famine, hunger, earthquakes. We want to know what lies beyond the
and was supporting herself through prostitution. After describing her problems,

Soon
she sobbed out, “You were really speaking to me last night.” The world getting better and better and becoming Utopia. horizon. But accurate predictions
People hoarding great wealth. remain terribly elusive. We have a
But the voice that had reached her heart was the voice of God. And He was
difficult enough time forecasting
speaking tenderly. She decided to lay it all on the line. She invited Christ to come Discontent and unrest among employees.
into her heart as Savior and Lord, and fastened onto the hope of His soon return. tomorrow’s weather!
Almost no crimes will be committed.
There is Someone, however, whose
In the weeks that followed, she began to notice that her many fears and
A moral decay pervading society. prophecies have proven remarkably
insecurities, which she’d always tried to drown in drink, now found release as she

Will
spent time communicating with Jesus. He began to deliver her from the Counterfeit signs and miracles such as New Age occultists. accurate. Jesus Christ, through His
compulsions that had been wrecking her life. The awakening of Asia and Africa to world consciousness. Word, can take us into the future; He’s

Growth in knowledge resulting in the spread of the gospel to all world. a reliable guide. In this lesson we’re
She had done a lot of things she wasn’t proud of. But Christ’s grace and
forgiveness proved stronger than her shame. The experience of the thief on the going to look at what He had to say
2. Read again section 2 of DISCOVER Guide 10, then place an X before the ONE
cross meant a lot to her. In his last, desperate hours he turned to the Innocent about His second coming. After all,
correct answer to this question:
Sufferer beside him and asked,”Jesus, remember me when you come into your who could know more about the end of
kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
Jesus immediately answered by promising the thief a place with Him in paradise
(verse 43). The same Jesus who graciously offered forgiveness to that dying thief,
now offers you salvation, complete pardon, and peace of mind.
How near is the second coming of Christ?
It is impossible for anyone to have the slightest idea.
Signs foretold in the Bible tell us Jesus’ coming is very near.
Jesus the world that the One who created it
in the beginning?

1. SIGNS THAT CHRIST

Discover it for yourself today WILL RETURN IN OUR DAY
3. Read again section 3 of your Discover Guide 10. The great signs of Bible

Return?
You too can pray with the dying thief: “Jesus, remember me when you come into After Jesus assured His disciples that
prophecy being fulfilled in our day declared that Christ’s coming is near, and
your kingdom.” And Jesus will answer, “I will come again, and you will be with He would come back to our world a
Me in paradise.” Jesus died for you for you to prepare you for His coming.
second time (Matthew 23:39), what
Is it your sincere purpose to be ready for Jesus to come and take you to question did they ask Him?
heaven? “Tell us,’ they said , ‘when will this
happen, and what will be the SIGN of
the end of the age?’’’ — Matthew 24:3.
IMPORTANT: If you feel inclined to do so: share some information about
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptural
yourself with us. We like to become personally acquainted with all of our students. texts in the DISCOVER Guides are from
the New International Version of the Bible
[NIV].)
Jesus answered clearly and
positively. In Chapter 24 of Matthew
and Chapter 21 of Luke He personally
gave several “signs”, or evidences, by
which we can know when His coming
is near. Other Bible prophecies help fill
out the picture, detailing world
Your Name: conditions just before Christ’s return.
Address: As we’ll see, these prophecies are being
fulfilled before our very eyes ; they
indicate that Christ’s coming back to
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House Phone: earth is near at hand.
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe Lets’s look at ten signposts of Bible
Telephone 250681/2 Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
prophecy along the highway to heaven, and examine the questions that a modern-day
traveller might ask as he reads them.
Signpost 1—Anguish! Terror! Perplexity!
Over nineteen hundred years ago Jesus gave a prophetic description of
contemporary life that sounds as if it could been taken from the evening news:
After predicting an unparalleled piling up of wealth in our day, James foresaw civil
unrest arising from discontented workers. The tension between the “haves” and the
“have -not’s” continues to increase. Another sign that “the Lord’s coming is near.”
Signpost 5—Moral Decay
Why does the moral fiber of society seem to be shredding?
“But mark this: There will be TERRIBLE TIMES IN THE LAST DAYS. People will
DISCOVER
“There will be SIGNS in the sun, moon and stars. ON the earth, NATIONS WILL Daniel here indicates that knowledge of his prophecies would increases “in” (KJV),
BE IN ANGUISH AND PERPLEXITY at the roaring and tossing of the sea. MEN be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to or “until the time of the end.” But this prediction also seems to point straight to our
WILL FAINT FROM TERROR, APPREHENSIVE OF WHAT IS COMING ON THE their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self- computerized information age. Knowledge of all kinds has increased at lightning
WORLD, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. AT THAT TIME THEY WILL SEE control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure speed these past few years. There have been more changes in the past fifty years than
THE SON OF MAN COMING in a cloud with power and great glory. When these rather than lovers of god — having a form of godliness but denying its power. . . . in the previous two thousand.
things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption EVIL MEN AND IMPOSTORS WILL GO FROM BAD TO WORSE, deceiving and
“MANY WILL GO HERE AND THERE to increase knowledge.” Before 1850,
is drawing near.” — Luke 21:25-28. being deceived.”—2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13.
people moved around by horse and buggy, pretty much as they had from the
No more accurate description of today’s world could be penned than: “Men will Could anyone think of a more accurate description of our world? Point a camera in beginning of time. Now we break the sound barrier and span the globe in everything
faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world.” Stockpiled weapons any direction these days and you’ll catch a picture of arrogant materialism. You’ll from Concorde airplanes to space shuttles.
are capable of destroying the entire planet. What if some terrorist gets a nuclear capture a shocking epidemic of child abuse and molestation. You’ll get countless Increased travel and the recent flood of inventions give further evidence that we’re
warhead? scenes of youth out of control, kids in their early teens killing and maiming at living in “the time of the end.”
random. All these things form a gallery of pictures loudly proclaiming that Jesus’
Jesus gives us a basis for hope in a calamitous age. The current crisis of global Signpost 10—Gospel to All the World.
“anguish and perplexity” only reinforces the truth that Christ’s coming really is coming is very near.
Jesus predicted that just before His coming the gospel would reach the whole
“drawing near.” People today often moan in frustration, “Look what the world has Signpost 6—Spread of the Occult. world:
come to!” But the student of the Bible prophecy can exclaim with hopeful voice,
Why are we seeing an explosion of interest in the occult? “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a
“Look WHO is coming to our world.”
“For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” —Matthew 24:14.
Signpost 2—World Calamities.
miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.” —Matthew 24:24. For decades almost half the globe was locked behind an iron curtain, shut away
How do natural disasters fit into last-day events? from the Good News. But then almost overnight Eastern Europe slipped from the
These passages predict that the time of the end will feature all kinds of miracles
“There will be great EARTHQUAKES, FAMINES and PESTILENCES in various and signs, a counterfeit manifestation of the supernatural. Witches and warlocks iron grip of communism. The Berlin Wall came crashing down, and the mighty
places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. . . . When you see these things Soviet Empire fell apart. Suddenly roughly half the planet was opening its arms to
appear on talk shows. New Agers are everywhere, selling magic crystals and
happening, you know that THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR.” —Luke 21:11,31. the gospel.
channeling departed spirits. Counterfeits signs and wonders are booming. All this
Think about famines for a moment. Images of starving kids with distended bellies makes it even clearer that just as Jesus predicted, we are living in the time of ‘the The gospel is truly going to the “whole world” as never before. By satellite the
persist on the news. Isn’t it rather amazing that a world which can send men to the coming of the Son of Man” (verse 27). Christian message is simultaneously being broadcast to almost every nation. We are
moon, CANNOT feed all its people? Jesus knew that famines would persist, that living in the very day Jesus spoke of when He declared: “This gospel will be
Signpost 7—An Awakened World. preached in the whole world” and “then the end will come.”
selfish human nature would grow worse toward the end of time.
What is the meaning of the awakening to world-consciousness of Africa, the
But what about earthquakes? According to the World Almanac of 1999, in century
Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the nations of the Far East?
after century of the Christian era there has been a striking increase in major 2.HOW SOON WILL JESUS COME?
earthquakes: 18th century 6 major earthquakes, 19th century 7, 20th century more “LET THE NATIONS BE ROUSED; . . . Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe . . .
so great is their wickedness!’ Multitudes , multitudes in the valley of decision! For After describing the events that were to characterize the time just preceding His
than 100. So the evidence grows more dramatic as we get nearer and nearer to our
THE DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR in the valley of decision.” —Joel 3:12-14. second coming, Jesus concludes His remarks by saying,
present day.
Today in Asia and Africa, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Middle “I tell you the truths, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these
These figures confirm Jesus’ prophecy. Famine and major earthquakes are reaching things have happened.” —Matthew 24:35.
a crescendo— “the kingdom of God is near!” Will our 21st century bring hundreds Eastern countries, we are witnessing perhaps the most widespread awakening of
more major earthquakes, or the coming of the King of Kings? individual nations in all of recorded history, “for the day of the Lord is near.” The conclusion is obvious—the generation portrayed by these signposts of
prophecy will see Jesus return to earth a second time. It won’t be long until He’ll
Signpost 3—Accumulating Wealth. Signpost 8—Peace Plan sand War Preparations
sweep away sin and suffering, and establish His everlasting kingdom. Jesus
What is the meaning of wealth slipping into the hands of fewer and fewer while We live in a strange world. Everyone agrees that we should give peace a chance. cautions, “No one knows . . . that day or hour” (verse 36).
more and more fall into poverty? We talk peace; yet pent up hostilities, some centuries old, flare into open conflict. the And Jesus continues:
prophets Micah and Joel predicted that at the very time the nations talk about their
“You have hoarded wealth in the last days.” —James 5:3. “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you
desire for peace (Micah 4:1-3), distrust for their neighbors compels them to prepare
Despite all our economic insights, the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer. do not expect him.” —Matthew 24:44.
for war (Joel 3:9-13).
The multi-million dollar fortunes are another signpost that show us “the Lord’
coming is near” (verse 8). Long ago the Bible pictured our present peace-war dilemma, and declared that
permanent peace will reign on earth only when Jesus comes. 3. JESUS, THE WORLD’S ONLY HOPE
Signpost 4—Civil Unrest.
Signpost 9—Modern Progress. Christ is the last, best hope for our world because only He can deal with the very
Why have discontent and unrest among employees risen so dramatically? thing that is destroying it—sin. Jesus died on Calvary to make possible the defeat of
Why, after centuries of human history have transportation and communication
“Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who moved your fields are crying evil and deliverance for all who respond to His offer of salvation.
brought the world so close together?
out against you. THE CRIES OF THE HARVESTERS [WORKERS] have reached the “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning
ears of the Lord Almighty. Be patient and stand firm, because THE LORD’S “UNTIL THE TIME OF THE END, many will go here and there to increase from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s
COMING IS NEAR.” —James 5:4, 8. knowledge.” —Daniel 12:4. work.” 1 John 3:8.
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 11
8. THE SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE
Before leaving the world, Jesus instructed his followers:
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the Gift my Father promised . . . For John
BAPTIZED WITH WATER, but in a few days you will be BAPTIZED WITH THE
HOLY SPIRIT.” —Acts 1:4, 5.
Over and over Scripture indicates that the Christian is to be “filled with the
MYSTERIOUS POWER IN MY LIFE
The number of each question in your Answer Sheet indicates the number of the
section in Discover Guide 11 where the answer can be found.
Place an X before the one statement that best completes each sentence:
1. The Holy Spirit came
DISCOVER Guide 11

Mysterious I
Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4, ,4:8, 4:31, 6:3, 7:55; 9:17; 13:52; 19:6). The Holy Spirit makes To represent Jesus on earth.
the life of a Christian fulfilling and beautiful because a Spirit-filled life achieves To set up an earthly kingdom. n 1929 Frank Morris boarded a
Christ’s ideal for us. 2. The Holy Spirit
While describing the Spirit-filled Christian life, Paul offered this prayer for Is an angel of God. ship for Switzerland. He’d looked
forward to this voyage for some time.
every believer: Is an member of Godhead.
But it turned into a humiliating
“I pray that out of his glorious riches HE MAY STRENGTHEN YOU WITH
POWER THROUGH HIS SPIRIT IN YOUR INNER BEING, so that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith. . . Now to Him who is able to do
The Spirit of God
Did not exist at creation.
Took an active part in creation.
Power in experience. A steward put in charge of
his care locked Frank in his cabin each
night. After a quick breakfast Frank
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, ACCORDING TO HIS POWER could exercise a bit, but felt foolish
3. What is the Holy Spirit’s work?
THAT IS AT WORK WITHIN US”. —Ephesians 3:16, 17, 20. being led around the deck, like an
To change the human heart through a new birth experience.
Like Frank Morris with his faithful guide dog Buddy, we can, with the Holy
Spirit guide inside us, do immeasurably more than we could before. With new
desires and new abilities we are enabled to move forward confidently instead of
To convict us of sin.
To guide us into truth.
My Life animal on a leash. Then the steward
deposited Frank in a steamer chair.
Whenever he met a friendly passenger
who invited him for a stroll, the
just trying to cope with life’s problems. To keep us in constant contact with Jesus.
steward objected, saying he had to keep
The Spirit-filled experience is renewed each day through prayer and Bible To develop in us the fruit of love, patience, self-control.
an eye on him.
study. Prayer keeps us in close contact with Christ, and studying the Word of God To assists us when we pray. Frank was an adult, with the normal
keeps us focused on His resources. They break down any barrier between us and To give us power to witness. curiosities and desires of an adult. But
Christ that might prevent Him from pouring out His priceless Gift of the Spirit. 4. What are the gifts of the Spirit? he was also blind. The steward
This is how we grow and replace bad habits and attitudes with healthy qualities. assumed he couldn’t take care of
The ability to be evangelists, pastors, teachers.
Romans 8 gives an exciting description of the Spirit-filled life. Read it when you himself. Frank was treated like a parcel
Character qualities of love, joy, peace. that had to be lugged around.
can, and note how many times Paul points to the “Spirit” as the power behind the
Which gifts does a Christian receive? But in Switzerland Frank’s life
Christian life.
All the gifts of the Spirit. dramatically changed. While there he
Have you made the wonderful discovery of the Spirit-filled life? Are you learned about dogs which had been
Only the gifts the Spirit chooses to give a person.
conscious of the presence of the Spirit in your life? Are you experiencing His life- trained to guide the blind. Bringing a
5,6. When is the Holy Spirit poured out?
giving power? Open your life to the greatest power in the universe. German shepherd named Buddy back
In the last days to prepare people for Christ’s coming. to the United States, Frank started
Only in apostolic times at Pentecost. Seeing Eye, now a worldwide
7. How do we receive the Holy Spirit as a gift? organization.
Now, with Buddy at his side, Frank
By trying as hard as we can to be good.
could go anywhere, anytime, with
By repenting and committing our lives to Christ as is symbolized by baptism. anyone. He felt free at last. During one
HEART QUESTION: Since the Holy Spirit strengthens us through His power demonstration to a group of reporters
within us and makes our lives fulfilling and beautiful , do you desire to see the at a busy cross street in New York
evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life? City, Buddy guided his master expertly
from one lane to the other while cars
whizzed past. Because he trusted
Buddy, Frank made it a cross with ease.
The sighted reporters had a much more
difficult time; one actually took a cab to
get to the other side.
In the next few pages we’re going to
Your Name:
learn about the Holy Spirit, a Guide
Address: who wants us to place our lives in His
hands. All of us are handicapped by the
same human nature, the same
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House Phone: blindness to what’s really most
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe important. Life rushes by us at such a
Telephone 250681/2 Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
frantic pace that we often find ourselves just coping instead of going anywhere. Still,
we’re hesitant to trust our lives completely to this Guide. But the discovery that
awaits each of us is this: we’ll find real freedom and power by depending on the Holy
Spirit to guide us through life.

1. CHRIST’S REPRESENTATIVE IN THE WORLD

When Christ was about to ascend into heaven, He promised His disciples a
“When he [the Holy Spirit] comes, HE WILL CONVICT the world of guilt in regard
to SIN and RIGHTEOUSNESS and judgement.” —John 16:8.
When you hear the dramatic story of someone turning from an immoral lifestyle to
God and becoming a faithful spouse and nurturing parent, remember that every step
toward wholeness came as a result of the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
(3) Guiding us in our Christian life. Christ speaks to us directly through the “still
DISCOVER
small voice” of the Spirit. Paul urges us to “eagerly desire the greater gifts, “then adds, “now I will show you
priceless gift: the most excellent way.” (1 Corinthians 12:31). The love chapter (1 Corinthians 13)
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind
“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’’’ —Isaiah 30:21. that follows this verse emphasizes that “the most excellent way ‘ is the way of love.
away, THE COUNSELLOR will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. . And love is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
Through satellite transmission, our TVs regularly bring images and faces from a
. When he, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH, comes, HE WILL GUIDE YOU into all truth. . . . continent away into our living-room. The Holy Spirit functions a little like God’s Our concern should be to seek the fruit of the Spirit and then let the Spirit
HE WILL BRING GLORY TO ME by taking from what is mine and making it known satellite, bringing the presence of Christ from heaven to earth, making Him close distribute His gifts to us as “he determines” (1 Corinthians 12:11).
to you.” —John 16:7, 13, 14. (Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptural texts in the when we need Him most (John 14:15-20).
DISCOVER guides are from the New International Version of the Bible [NIV].) (4) Aiding our prayer life.
In the divine plan, Jesus needed to return to heaven as our representative before 5.THE FULLNESS OF THE SPIRIT AT PENTECOST
“We do not know what we ought to pray for, BUT THE SPIRIT HIMSELF
God’s throne and “appear for us in God’s presence” (Hebrews 9:24). While our INTERCEDES FOR US with groans that words cannot express . . . in accordance On the Day of Pentecost, the Spirit was poured out in unlimited measure, fulfilling
crucified Lord represents us in heaven, we also have the Holy Spirit as our with God’s will.” —Romans 8:26, 27. Jesus’ promise:
COUNSELLOR and GUIDE right here on earth. He is Jesus’ direct representative. When we are struggling to find the words, the Spirit is praying in our behalf. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be
While here Jesus ministered within the confines of a human body, and couldn’t be When we are so discouraged we can only groan toward God, the Spirit amplifies our my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth.” —Acts 1:8.
present everywhere. But the Holy Spirit has no such limitations; He can serve as a faint cry for help into a powerful prayer before the very throne of God where Jesus is At Pentecost the Spirit enabled the apostles to communicate the gospel clearly in
personal Counsellor and Guide to countless individuals in many places at the same now ministering. the languages of people “from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:3-6).
time. Christ meets our needs through the Holy Spirit. (5) Developing Christian qualities and character. The Spirit makes spiritually barren Some Bible students compare the coming of the Spirit to the falling of the early
individuals as fertile as a tree bearing all kinds of fruit: autumn and the late spring rains of Palestine (Joel 2:23). The Spirit falling at
“BUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, Pentecost was like the “early rain” of autumn which caused the seeds to sprout and
2. WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” —Galatians 5:22-23.
Most of us can relate to God the Father if we imagine the most caring, nurturing provided vital nourishment for the Christian church in its infancy.
Having the fruit of the Spirit demonstrates that we are grafted into the true vine,
parent we have ever known. And we can picture Jesus the Son, because He lived
Jesus (John 15:5). Jesus can actually live His abundant life through us by the power of
among us as a person. But the Holy Spirit is harder to picture and relate to. We have the Spirit.
6. THE LATTER RAIN OF THE SPIRIT
no easy human comparisons. The Bible, however, does give us specific information Bible prophecy tells of a day coming when the Spirit of God will be poured out like
(6) Preparing us as witnesses. Jesus promises:
about the Holy Spirit: a shower on the church, energizing the church’s members as witnesses (Joel 2:28, 29).
“YOU WILL RECEIVE POWER when the HOLY SPIRIT comes on you; and you
A Personality. Jesus referred to the Holy spirit as a person, a member of the Centuries have now passed and the story of salvation has spread over a large part of
will be MY WITNESSES . . . to the ends of the earth.” —Acts 1:8.
Godhead, along with God the Father and God the Son: earth. It’s now time for the “latter rain” to ripen the grain, making it ready to harvest.
All who are willing can be made witnesses by the Spirit. We may not have all the
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the name of the FATHER As history moves to a climax just before Christ’s second coming, God will prepare
answers, but the Spirit can give us a story to tell that moves heart and minds. The
and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT.” —Matthew 28:19. every sincere believer for heaven through a great outpouring of his Spirit. Are you
apostle had trouble communicating before Pentecost, but after the Spirit came they
The Spirit has personal characteristics: a mind (Romans 8:27); wisdom proclaimed Christ with such power that they “turned the world upside down” (Acts now experiencing the “early rain” that is preparing the church for the “latter rain” of
(1 Corinthians 2:10); feelings of love toward us (Romans 15:30); feelings of grief when 17:6, KJV). the Spirit? Are you living a Spirit-filled life? As you are empowered by the Spirit,
we sin (Ephesians 4:30); the ability to teach us (Nehemiah 9:20); and power to guide will you let God use you to communicate the news of his incredible love and soon
us. return?
Involvement in Creation. The Holy Spirit participated in the forming of our world
4. THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT
Scripture makes a distinction between God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to every
with the Father and the Son.
believer for victorious Christian living, and the various gifts of the Spirit provided to 7. CONDITIONS FOR RECEIVING THE HOLY SPIRIT
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. . . . And the SPIRIT OF
believers for effective ministry in different ways. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit moved those who heard the gospel to cry out,
GOD moved upon the face of waters.” —Genesis 1:1, 2, KJV.
“When he [Christ] ascended on high, he led captives in his train and GAVE GIFTS “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).
to men.’ . . . It was he who gave SOME to be APOSTLES, some to be PROPHETS, “Peter replied, ‘REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED, every one of you, in the name of
3. THE ACTIVITIES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT some to be EVANGELISTS, and some to be PASTORS and TEACHERS, to prepare Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. AND YOU WILL RECEIVE THE GIFT
(1) Changing the human heart. In His encounter with Nicodemus, Jesus emphasized God’s people for works of service.” —Ephesians 4:8, 11-12. OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.’’’ —Acts 2:38.
the role of the Holy Spirit in changing the human heart: Each Christian does not receive all gifts, some may receive more gifts than others;
Repentance—turning away from a sinful way of life and turning to Christ—is a
“I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is BORN OF the Spirit “gives them to each one, just as he determines” (1 Corinthians 12:11). The
condition for receiving the gift of the Spirit. To have the Spirit poured out on us, we
water and THE SPIRIT.” —John 3:5. Spirit equips each believer for his or her special role in God’s plan. God knows when
must first repent and commit our lives to Christ. Jesus also emphasized the
To be “born of the Spirit’ means that the Spirit give us a new beginning. It’s more and where to provide the gifts that will best bless His people and His church.
willingness to follow Him and obey Him as a condition for receiving the gift of the
than a matter of modifying our behavior a bit. The Spirit changes us from the inside Another list of spiritual gifts found in 1Corinthians 12:8-10 includes wisdom,
knowledge, faith, healing, prophecy, speaking in different kind of tongues Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17).
out, fulfilling the promise: “I will give you a new heart” (Ezekiel 36:26).
[languages, margin], and the interpretation of languages (verses 8-10).
(2) Making us aware of wrongdoing and giving us a desire for holiness:
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 12
and to demonstrate how tragic wrongdoing really is. He could then forgive sinners
without trivializing sin. Christ made “peace through his blood, shed on the cross”
(Colossians 1:20).

6. A REVELATION OF JESUS LIVING TO SAVE US

AN EVER-PRESENT SAVIOR
The number of each question in your Answer Sheet indicates the number of the
section in Discover Guide 12 where the answer can be found.
Place an X before the one statement in each section. (Here’s a hint: There is only 1
wrong statement in each section.)
DISCOVER Guide 12
What is Jesus’ day-by-day work in the heavenly temple?
“Therefore he is able also to save completely [for ever, margin] those who come
to God through him, because he ALWAYS LIVES TO INTERCEDE for them.”
—Hebrews 7:25.
1. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is more accessible to us now than if He lived
on earth.
Jesus is near to guide the life of every wiling person.
W hen a Scottish lad named

Jesus now “lives” to present His blood, His sacrifice, on our behalf. He is now As our High Priest, Jesus is our personal representative in heaven at the right Peter got lost in a grassy wasteland on

working diligently to save every human being from the tragedy of sin. Some hand of God. an inky black night, God called him by

An
name: “Peter!” When the heavenly
mistakenly assume that, as our Intercessor, Jesus is in heaven begging a reluctant Because Jesus was tempted as a Man, He is able to help us.
voice called out again, Peter stopped in
God to forgive us. In fact, it is God who joyfully accepts His Son’s sacrifice on our Jesus died only for a chosen few.
his tracks, looked down, and
behalf.
discovered he was a step away from
As our High priest in Heaven, Christ also pleads with humanity. He works to 2. The Old Testament temple was a place where God met with Israel. plunging into an abandoned limestone
help the indifferent take a second look at grace, to help despairing sinners grasp

Ever-
The Old Testament temple had little to do with worship. quarry.
hope in the gospel, and to help believers find more riches in the Word of God and
The Old Testament temple taught the same gospel that the New Testament Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we
more power in prayer. Jesus is molding our lives in harmony with God’s could each hear God calling us by
teaches.
commandments and helping us develop characters that will stand the test of time. name? Wouldn’t it be great if He were
God laid down His life for every person who has ever lived in this world. And that close a companion—if we could
3. The service conducted in the temple taught people about Christ’s death for
now, as High Priest or Mediator, “He always lives” to lead people to accept His actually sit down together and have a
death for their sins. Although He reconciled the whole fallen world to Himself on
the cross, He still can’t save us unless we accept His grace. People will not be lost
because they refuse to accept the pardon Jesus offers.
our sins and His ministry as our High Priest.
The temple services have no meaning to Christians. Present long chat about our struggles and
dreams?

Sin destroyed the intimate relationship Adam and Eve once enjoyed with God. 4. The sacrifices offered in the temple pointed forward to the cross. 1. UNLIMITED ACCESS TO
But Jesus, as the Lamb of God, died to free all humanity from sin and restore this The temple had no provision for Israel to find forgiveness for sin.

Savior
JESUS
lost friendship. Have you discovered Him as your High Priest, the One who ever Israel’s temple was patterned after the temple in heaven. Believe it or not, we can come nearer
lives to keep that relationship close and vibrant?
to Jesus now than we could if He
Christ’s sacrificial death is utterly unique. Christ’s heavenly ministry is 5,6. The temple in Jerusalem still has curtains from Christ’s time. actually lived here with us as a visible
incomparable. Only Christ brings God close beside us. Only Christ makes it The priest’s work in the temple represented what Christ does for us.. person. Having Christ in the flesh in
possible for the divine Spirit to actually dwell in our hearts. He emptied Himself
As our High Priest, Jesus is now cleansing us from sin by His blood. our town would be wonderful of
in order to make us full. He deserves a similar commitment from us. Let’s accept
course, but think of the enormous
Him fully as the Savior and Master of our lives.
HEART QUESTION: As the Lamb of God, Jesus died for our sins; as our High crowds pressing for a closer look.
Priest, Jesus draws us into an intimate relationship with God. Because of what Think of the demands on His time. We
Jesus has done and is doing for you, how do you feel about Jesus? would do well to get a few minutes of
direct conversation in a lifetime.
Christ wishes to cultivate a personal
relationship with every one for us.
That’s one reason why He left this earth
for a special ministry in heaven that
would allow Him to come near to each
of us every day. Because Jesus is not
limited to one place like He was when
He was on earth, through the Holy
Your Name: Spirit He is now near to guide the life
Address: of every willing person individually.
What encouraging promise did Jesus
Zimbabwe Union Publishing House give just before He ascended to
Phone:
P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe heaven?
Telephone 250681/2 Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
 “I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, to the very end of the age.” —Matthew 28:20. (Unless
otherwise noted, all Scriptural texts in the DISCOVER guides are from the New International
Version of the Bible [NIV].)
What is Christ doing in heaven that makes it possible for Him to be “with you
always”?
“Therefore, since WE HAVE A GREAT HIGH PRIEST who has gone through the
purpose did He have in mind?
“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I WILL DWELL AMONG THEM.”
—Exodus 25:8.
Sin caused a tragic separation between human beings and their Creator. The
sanctuary was God’s way of showing how He can again live among us. The
sanctuary, and later the temple, became the centre of religious life and worship in Old
Testament times. Each morning and evening the people could gather around the
DISCOVER
them in the courtyard. A second curtain in front of the Most Holy Place blocked this
heavens, JESUS THE SON OF GOD, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we sanctuary and establish contact with God in prayer (Luke 1:9, 10). claiming God’s inner room from the priests who entered the sanctuary’s first room.
do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we promise: I will meet with you” (Exodus 30:6).
When Jesus died on the cross, what happened to the curtain?
have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. The Old Testament teaches the same gospel of salvation as does the New
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive Testament. Both portray Jesus dying for us and ministering to us as our High Priest in “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” —Hebrews 4: 14-16. the heavenly sanctuary. —Matthew 27:51.
Note the assurances of having Jesus as our personal representative in heaven: The Most Holy Place was exposed when Jesus died. After the death of Jesus no
“Tempted in every way, just as we are.” “Sympathize with our weaknesses.” “Help 3. JESUS’ MINISTRY FOR US REVEALED IN THE SANCTUARY curtain can come between a holy God and a sincere believer; Jesus, our High Priest,
us in our time of need.” With Jesus as our High Priest we’re no longer cut off from a ushers us into the very presence of God (Hebrews 10:19-22). We have access to the
The sanctuary and its services reveal what Jesus is doing now in the temple in
distant heaven; Christ can usher us into the very presence of God. No wonder we’re throne room of heaven because Jesus is our High Priest at God’s right hand. Jesus
urged to “approach the throne of grace with confidence.” heaven, and what He is doing now on earth to enrich and guide each of us in our enables us to come into God’s presence—into the Father’s heart of love. So “let us
daily lives. draw near.”
What place does Jesus occupy in heaven?
Since the earthly sanctuary was patterned after the temple in heaven, it reflects the
“But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat
down AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD.” —Hebrews 10:12. heavenly sanctuary where Christ now ministers. Exodus 25-40 describes the services
and ceremonies of the wilderness sanctuary in great detail. A brief summary of the 4. A REVELATION OF CHRIST DYING TO SAVE US
The living Christ—someone who understands—is our personal representative on
sanctuary furnishings appears in the New Testament: Just as the earthly sanctuary served as a miniature reproduction of the heavenly
the throne “at the right hand of God.”
“Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. temple where Jesus now ministers for us, the services carried on in the earthly
How did the life of Jesus prepare Him to be our priest?
. . . In its first room were the lampstand, the table and consecrated bread; this was sanctuary were “a copy and shadow of what is in heaven” (Hebrews 8:5). But there is
“For this reason he had to be made like his BROTHERS in every way, in order that a striking difference: The priests who served in the earthly temple could not
called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy
he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service of God, and that he
Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the themselves forgive sin, but at the cross Jesus “appeared once for all at the end of the
might make atonement for the sins of the people. because he himself suffered when he
was tempted, HE IS ABLE TO HELP those who are being tempted.” —Hebrews 2:17, covenant. This ark contained . . . the stone tablets of the covenant [on which God ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26).
18. wrote the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 10:1-5)]. Above the ark were the The Old Testament book of Leviticus describes in detail the services carried on in
Our “brother” who shares our humanity and was “tempted” like we are, is now cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover [mercy seat].” —Hebrews the sanctuary. The ceremonial rituals were divided into two parts: the daily services
our High Priest at the Father’s right hand. “Made like” us, He knows what we’re 9:1-5. and the yearly services (Guide 13 deals with the yearly services).
going through. He’s been hungry, thirsty, tempted, and exhausted. He’s felt the need The sanctuary had two rooms, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. A courtyard In the daily services, the priests offered sacrifices for the individual and for the
for sympathy and understanding. was laid out in front of the sanctuary. In the court stood the brass altar on which the entire congregation. When a person sinned, he would bring an unblemished animal
But above all, Jesus is qualified to be our High Priest because He died to “make priests offered sacrifices, and the laver in which they washed. as a sin offering, “lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the
atonement” for our sins. He paid the price for our sins by dying in our place. This is The sacrifices offered on the brass altar symbolized Jesus, who through His death place of the burnt offering” (Leviticus 4:29). The guilt of the sinner must be
the Gospel, the Good News for all human beings everywhere and for all time.
on the cross became “the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” (John transferred to the guiltiless animal by confession of sin and the laying on of hands.
One of our Bible School directors shares this experience: “When our youngest 1:29). When the repentant sinner came to the altar with his sacrifice and confessed his This symbolized Christ taking on our guilt at Calvary; the sinless One became “sin
daughter was three, she caught her finger in a folding chair, splintering the bone. As
sins, he received forgiveness and cleansing. In the same way, the sinner today obtains for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The sacrificial animal had to be killed and its blood shed
we rushed her to a doctor, her loud cries of pain really tore at our hearts. And they
touched our five-year-old in a special way. I’ll never forget her words after the doctor forgiveness and cleansing through the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:9). because it pointed forward to the supreme penalty that Christ suffered on the cross.
had cared for her sister’s injury. She sobbed, ‘Oh, Daddy, I wish it could have been In the first room, or Holy Place, the seven-branched lampstand burned continually,
my finger!” representing Jesus as the never-failing “light of the world” (John 8:12). The table of 5. WHY THE BLOOD?
When all humanity were crushed by sin and condemned to die eternally, Jesus concecrated bread symbolized His satisfying our physical and spiritual hunger as the Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). What
said, “Oh, Father, I wish it could have been Me.” And the Father gave Jesus His wish ever-present “Bread of Life” (John 6:35). The golden altar of incense represented happened in the Old Testament sanctuary pointed forward to Christ’s one great
at the cross. Our Savior has experienced every agony we have suffered—and more! Jesus’ prayer ministry fo us in the very presence of God (Revelation 8:3,4). saving act. Having died for our sins, He entered the holy places “once for all by his
The second room, or Most Holy Place, contained the gold-covered ark of the own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” for us (verse 12). When Jesus’
covenant. It symbolized the throne of God. Its atonement cover, or mercy seat, blood was shed on the cross for our sins, “the curtain of the temple [in Jerusalem]
2. THE GOSPEL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
represented the intercession of Christ, our High Priest, interceding on behalf of sinful was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51). Because of Jesus’s sacrifice on
When the people of Israel camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, God instructed
human beings who have broken God’s moral law. The two tablets of stone on which the cross, animal sacrifices were no longer necessary.
Moses to build a portable sanctuary for worship “according to the pattern shown you
God wrote the Ten Commandments were kept below the mercy seat. Golden When Jesus spilled His blood from the cross, He was offering up His perfectly
[Moses] on the mountain” (Exodus 25:40). Nearly 500years later, King Solomon’s cherubim of glory hovered over the mercy seat. Golden cherubim of glory hovered obedient life as a substitute for our failures. When the Father and Son were torn
great stone temple replaced the portable sanctuary. And the temple was built on over the mercy seat on each end of the ark. A glorious light shone between these two apart at Calvary, the Father turned away in anguish and the Son died of a broken
precisely the same plan as the portable sanctuary. cherubim, a symbol of the presence of God Himself. heart. God the Son stepped into history to take on Himself the full results of sin
When God gave Moses the directions for building the sanctuary, what specific A curtain hid the Holy Place from the view of the people as the priests ministered to
 DISCOVER — Answer Sheet 13
the head of another goat, which was led out into the wilderness to die (Leviticus
16:20-22).
This ceremony on the yearly Day of Atonement cleansed the sanctuary from sin.
The People regarded it as a day of judgement because those who refused to confess
their sins were considered unrighteous and were “cut off from [God’s] people”
(23:29).
FROM GUILTY SINNER TO
FORGIVEN SAINT
The number of each question in your Answer Sheet indicates the number of the
section in Discover Guide 13 where the answer can be found.
DISCOVER Guide 13
Place an X before each statement in the section that is TRUE.
What the High Priest did symbolically once a year, Jesus does once for all time
as our High Priest (Hebrews 9:6-12). In the great judgement day He removes from
the sanctuary the confessed our sins, He will forever blot out the record of our sins
at that time (Acts 3:19). This ministry is the work of judgement that Jesus began in
1. Christ’s death on the cross enables Him
To be a just judge.
To be a gracious justifier.
T here were no fingerprints. No

weapon was ever discovered. No one

1844. To declare a unrepentant guilty person forgiven.
saw the murderer enter the office of the
In 1844 when the hour of God’s judgement began in heaven, a judgement hour To declare a repentant guilty person forgiven. .
doctor. No one even heard the shots
message began to be preached throughout the world (Revelation 14:6-7). A future To exchange our life of sin for His life of righteousness.
ring out. But the doctor was found
DISCOVER guide will deal with this message.
sprawled behind his desk. Five bullets
2. At Jesus’ baptism in A.D. 27, He was had pierced his shirt.
6. FACING YOUR LIFE RECORD IN THE JUDGEMENT declared to be the Son of God. It seemed the perfect crime. The
Since 1844 Christ, as a judge, has been investigating the record of each person

From
declared to be the Messiah. police at first could find no clues. But
who has ever lived to confirm who will be among the saved when Jesus comes. As
declared to have come several years late. then they noticed a tiny wire attached
our Judge, Jesus “wipes out” all of the sins of the righteous from their life record in
declared to have come on time. to a pencil holder on the doctor’s desk.
heaven (Acts 3:19).
The wire led to a tape recorder in a
When your name comes up in judgement, it will be easy to face your life
desk drawer. The pencil holder, they
record—IF you’ve accepted Christ as your Substitute. And when the judgement of Three-and-one-half years later in A.D. 31

Guilty
realized, actually concealed a
the righteous is finished, Jesus returns to earth to reward them (Revelation 22:12, Jesus was crucified as the Lamb of God.
microphone that the doctor used to
14). Jesus’ death ended the need for further animal sacrifices.
record his conversation with the
Are you ready for Jesus to come? Or is there something you’ve been hiding from
patients he was counseling.
Him? Do you have an open and honest relationship with the One who promises:
3. Justification means that because of our faith in Christ, The investigators quickly rewound
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
He cleanses us from sin, and God declares us not guilty. the tape and, to their amazement,
purify us from all unrighteousness.” —1 John 1:9.
Confession simple means agreeing to face our sins, accept God’s forgiveness,
and acknowledge our need of His power and grace.
He covers our sin with His blood, and God declares us righteous.

4,5.In 1844.
Sinner to began to listen to a replay of the actual
crime. A man named Anthony had
entered the office and began a heated
While visiting a prison in Potsdam, King Frederick William 1 listened to a
number of pleas for pardon. All the inmate swore that prejudiced judges, perjured The hour of God’s judgement began in heaven. argument with the doctor. Shots rang
out. The tape ended with the terrible

Forgiven
witnesses, or unscrupulous lawyers were responsible for their imprisonment. From Jesus began the work of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary which is a work of
cell to cell the same story of wronged innocence continued. moans of the doctor, dying on the
judgement.
But at one cell the inmate had nothing to say. Surprised, Frederick joked, “I carpet.
suppose you are innocent too.” Every awful detail had been
6,7. THINK OF THIS: Through His death on the cross and His work as our Judge,
“No your Majesty,” the man answered, “I am guilty and richly deserve all that I recorded. The murderer thought his
Jesus can forgive our sins and blot out the very record of our sins. There is only crime would forever remain a secret.
get.”
The king turned to the guard and called out loudly, “Come and release this
rascal quickly, before he corrupts this fine lot of innocent people.”
How do we prepare for the judgement? How do we get ready for Christ to
one condition: That we ask forgiveness for our sins and receive a new heart and
a new spirit from Jesus. Is your case in the hands of Jesus, the One who loved
you enough to die in your place?
Saint He’d been so careful to leave no clues.
But the tape told the whole story.
In this guide we’re going to learn
come? Simply by an honest confession of the truth: I richly deserve the penalty of about God’s final judgement when
death for my sins, but Another has taken my place and given me a wonderful human beings are “judged according to
pardon. what they had done as recorded in the
Make a commitment right one that whatever happens, you’ll keep your books” (Revelation 20:12). For those
relationship with Christ eye-to -eye honest and heart-to-heart sincere. who have not accepted Christ as their
Savior, it will be bad news. But the
Your Name: judgement is wonderfully good news
for those who’ve found security in
Address:
Christ.

Zimbabwe Union Publishing House Phone:

P.O. Box 573 Bulawayo - Zimbabwe
Telephone 250681/2 Copyright © 2005 by The Voice of Prophecy The Voice of Prophecy
1. HOW YOU CAN FACE THE JUDGEMENT UNAFRAID
Who will judge the world?
“The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgement to the Son.” —John
5:22. (Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptural texts in the DISCOVER guides are from the New
International Version of the Bible [NIV].)
How did the cross prepare Christ to become our Judge?
time would be 483 years.)
At the very time appointed, in A.D.27, Jesus appeared with the message: “The time
has come” (Mark 1:15). The accurate fulfillment of this Bible prophecy is impressive
confirmation that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Messiah, God in human flesh.
How long was Jesus to confirm the promise?
“He will confirm a covenant [a promise] with many for one ‘seven’ [week,
Hebrew]” —Daniel 9:27, last part.
DISCOVER
Daniel fainted before the angel could explain the 2,300-day part of the prophecy,
“God presented him [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. When we apply the year-day principle, this “week” would be seven years. So, for and the eighth chapter closes with no interpretation of it. But later the angel
He did this to demonstrate his justice, . . . so as to be JUST AND THE ONE WHO seven years—from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34—Jesus would “confirm a covenant,” or reappeared and stated:
JUSTIFIES those who have faith in Jesus.” —Romans 3:25, 26. promise, He had made to Adam and Eve shortly after they sinned. God made a “Understand the vision: seventy ‘seven’ [weeks, Hebrew] are decreed [cut off,
Christ’ death as our substitute enables Him to act both a just Judge and gracious covenant, a promise, that He would save the human race from sin through the death Hebrew] for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to
Justifier who can forgive the repentant sinner. When the watching universe asks the of Someone He would send to die for our sins (Genesis 3:15). sin, to atone for wickedness.” —Daniel 9:22-24.
question, “How can an impartial judge declare a guilty person not guilty?” Christ can What was to happen in the middle of this seventieth week?
answer by pointing to the scars in His hands. He has received the just penalty for our “In the middle of the ‘seven’ [week, Hebrew] he will put an end to sacrifice and The 2,300 days are, of course, 2,300 years, each day standing for a year (Ezekiel
sins in His own body. offering.”—Daniel 9:27, last part. 4:6). Seventy weeks, or 490 years, constituted the first section of longer period of
The books of heaven preserve a record of every individual life, and these records Jesus was crucified in A.D.31, in “the middle of the week.” At the moment of 2,300 years. Both time periods started in 457 B.C. when Persia issued the decree “to
are utilized in the judgement (Revelation 20:12). That’s the bad news for those who Christ’s death, God tore “the curtain of the temple . . . in two from top to bottom” restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” Subtracting 490 years from the 2,300 years, leaves
imagine their secret sins and crimes will never return to haunt them. But there is (Matthew 27:51). The sacrificial offering about to be slain (a symbol of Jesus “the 1,810. Adding 1,810 years to A.D 34, when the 490 years ended, brings us to A.D.
wonderfully good news for all who’ve sincerely accepted Christ as their Advocate in Lamb of God”) escaped from the priest’s hands. This was a sign that God no longer 1844.
heaven: “The blood of Jesus . . . purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). wanted humanity to offer animal sacrifices. Fulfilling prophecy down to the letter,
What does Jesus offer in exchange for our life of sin? Jesus “put an end to” any need for further sacrifices to be offered. Since Christ’s
“God made him [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might death, people gain access to God not through animal sacrifices and human priests, 5. THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY CLEANSED — A JUDGEMENT
become the righteousness of God.” —2 Corinthians 5:21. but through the Messiah, the Lamb of God and our High Priest. The angel told Daniel that in 1844, at the end of the 2,300 years, “the sanctuary
Our life of sin is exchanged for Christ’s perfect life of righteousness. Because of will be cleansed” (Daniel 8:14, KJV). But what does that mean? Since A.D. 70 when
Jesus’ sinless life and death, God can forgive us and treat us as if we’d never sinned. 3. THE ASSURANCE OF SINS FORGIVEN the Romans destroyed the temple at Jerusalem, God’s people have had no temple on
What qualifies Jesus to be our Advocate and Judge? According to Daniel’s prophecy, why did Jesus die? earth. So the sanctuary to be cleansed, beginning in 1844, has to be the heavenly
“The Anointed One will be cut off but not for himself.” —Daniel 9:26, margin. sanctuary of which the earthly temple was a replica.
2. CHRIST CAME ON TIME At his death on the cross, Jesus was “cut off.” He died, “but not for himself,” not to Now, what does the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary mean? Ancient Israel
At His baptism, Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit: pay a penalty for His own sin, but to pay the penalty for sins of the entire world. called the day for cleansing the earthly sanctuary Yom Kippur, the Day of
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment How can we know that God has forgiven all our sins?
Atonement. It was really a day of judgement.
heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and “Righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. . .
As we discovered in Guide 12, Christ’s activity for us in the sanctuary has two
.ALL HAVE SINNED . . . , and are JUSTIFIED freely BY HIS GRACE through the
lightning on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with phases: (1) The daily sacrifices focus on the priest’s ministry in the first room of the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus . . . THROUGH FAITH IN HIS BLOOD.”
him I am well pleased.’’’ —Matthew 3:16,17. sanctuary, the Holy Place. (2) The yearly sacrifice concentrates on the High Priest’s
—Roman 3:22-25.
Following Christ’s anointing by the Holy Spirit at His baptism, the disciples ministry in the second room, the Holy Place (Leviticus 16).
The key points in these verses are: We “all have sinned,” but because of God’s
announced: In the earthly sanctuary, as people confessed their sins day by day, the blood of
“grace,” all “are justified” who have “faith” in the cleansing power of Christ’s
“We have found the Messiah’ [the Christ].” —John 1:41.
“blood.” When we are justified, God declares us not guilty, taking away the guilt of the slaughtered animals was sprinkled on the corner of the altar, then transferred to
The disciples knew that the Hebrew word “Messiah” and the Greek word “Christ”
our past sins. And God declares us righteous; “righteousness from God comes the Holy Place (Leviticus 4 and 6). Thus, in symbol, day after day the confessed sins
both mean “the Anointed One.”
through faith in Jesus Christ.” were brought into sanctuary and laid up there.
Luke, a disciple of Jesus, recorded the date of Jesus’ anointing as the Messiah as
All of us who are worn out by the struggle to be good enough, to measure up on Then each year, on the day of Atonement, the sanctuary was cleansed from all sins
the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1). To us that would be the year A.D.27.
our own, can find real rest in Christ’s gracious acceptance. He promises, “Come to confessed during the past year (Leviticus 16). To effect this cleansing, the High Priest
More than 500 years before Jesus came the prophet Daniel predicted that Jesus
me, all you who are weary and burdened, I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). All of made a special sacrifice of a consecrated goat. He then carried its blood into the Most
would be anointed as the Messiah in A.D.27: us who are burdened by scars from the past and by an aching sense of inadequacy Holy Place and sprinkled this cleansing blood before the atonement cover to show
“From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed and shame, can find peace and wholeness in Christ. that the blood of Jesus, the coming Redeemer, would pay the penalty for sin. The
One, . . . will be seven ‘sevens’ [weeks, Hebrew] and sixty-two ‘sevens’ [weeks].”
—Daniel 9:25. High Priest then symbolically removed the confessed sins from the sanctuary and
4. THE TIME FOR THE JUDGEMENT TO BEGIN placed them on
Seven weeks and sixty-two weeks total sixty-nine weeks or 483 days (7 x 69 =483
In the eighth chapter of Daniel an angel showed the prophet a great panorama of
days). In symbolic Bible prophecy each day equals one year (Ezekiel 4:6; Numbers
the future. Daniel saw (1) a ram, (2) a he-goat, and (3) out of one of the horns of the
14:34), so the 483 days equal 483 years. Daniel predicted that a command would go At the end of the 2,300 years, “the sanctuary will be cleansed.”
he-goat, “another horn which started small and grew in power” (Daniel 9:8,9);
forth t restore and rebuild Jerusalem, exactly 483 years after this command, the
symbols representing (1) Medo-persian, (2) Greece, and (3) Rome (Daniel 8:1-12, 20-
Messiah would appear.
26). 7 times 70 weeks, equals 490 years, “cut off” for the Jewish People.
Did Jesus appear as the Messiah at the appointed time? Artaxerxes issued the What is the fourth part of the prophecy? B.C. A.D. A.D. A.D. A.D.
457 27 31 34 1844
decree to rebuild Jerusalem in 457 B.C. (Ezra 7:7-26). The 483 years, then, ended in “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the
A.D.27. (457 B.C. + A.D.27 = 484.) The decree went forth during the year 457 and daily sacrifice . . . ?’ He said to me, ‘It will take. 2,300 evenings and mornings [or
7 times 69 weeks, equals 483 years, until Messiah 7 weeks or 7 years
Christ was anointed during A.D. 27, making them both partial years, so the correct days, Hebrews]; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated [cleansed].”—Daniel 8:13,14.