Good morning and happy Sabbath!
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I dare say those may be
the two most beautiful words
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in the world:
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Happy Sabbath!
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Exceeded only by Jesus coming.
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You look marvelous. We
welcome our in-house audience
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here in Thompsonville, Illinois,
and our viewers and listeners
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from around the world to
what we suspect will be...
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There is a term that we
tend to use in Adventism -
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perhaps we over-use it -
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we call great
spiritual experiences
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high days in Zion.
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Now that is...
that is Advent-speak.
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And when you say: "Oh,
we had a high day in Zion, "
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what was that?
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Or what is that? It
means an unusually blessed
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spiritual experience...
an experience that draws us
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closer to the Lord and closer
to the vision of Jesus coming.
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So I suspect that this
will be once it is done
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a high day in Zion
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and that the saints
will agree that we were drawn
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just a little closer to
the Lord through our worship,
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our prayer, and our praise
on this very, very fine day.
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God has blessed us throughout
the several days that we have
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been together and on last night
during our Pillars concert.
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What a blessing it was!
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You know, when I was
singing I saw someone crying
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and I said: "Boy, am
I singing that bad? "
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But then they were also crying
for Yvonne and crying for Reggie
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and Ladye and crying
for... And I said: "Oh, it's
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those kinds of
tears. Praise God! "
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But there are many who said
that they were moved to weep
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during some of that music.
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And we felt the same
power of God in this place
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and I know that that will be
resonant in this building again
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today. So we wish you a
happy and blessed Sabbath indeed
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and welcome you to our
final day of this encampment:
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the Pillars of our Faith
Camp Meeting here at 3ABN.
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And for those of you who
are in the Thompsonville area
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of southern Illinois it is
not too late for you to jump
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in your car and
come and be with us.
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It is good to watch it on TV
but there's a special experience
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when you're in the building
that you just can't get on TV.
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So we thank you for being here.
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Our first speaker
is... I don't quite know when
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I met Leslie Pollard.
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Seems like I have always known
him - he is that kind of person.
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Though he is a man of
letters - he is a Ph.D. -
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a teacher, a lecturer,
has taught at the seminary,
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was on the faculty of
Loma Linda for a while as...
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And I need to read this.
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I will yield to age
and put on my glasses...
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He was Community Partnership
and Diversity Vice President
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at Loma Linda University.
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That's where I... I remember
when I was working on the
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Loma Linda II Health Study
video we worked very closely
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with Loma Linda. We
got acquainted there.
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Um, interestingly enough,
when I was doing my research
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on the remnant and I was
looking through some of the
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Biblical Research Institute
material, I happened to glance
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down to see who had submitted
that particular article
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and it was Dr. Leslie Pollard.
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So he is a man of letters,
a writer, a preacher, and
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an evangelist
world-wide. He currently
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serves as the
president of Oakwood University.
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So we have a university
president to speak with us
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this very day.
But more than that
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when you get to know
him he is a godly man.
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He truly is a humble godly man.
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We were at Oakwood
when he was coming in
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and he gave one of
his very first speeches
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to the student body. And he
echoed many of the thoughts of
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our General
Conference president.
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He wanted the school
to be a spiritual place.
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A place where God is revered.
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He wanted revival and
reformation there at the school.
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And so we came to
understand that this is a man
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who by the grace of God
is going to do a great work
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for the Lord. And we
know that as he speaks
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on the crucial subject
of the Great Controversy
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he has much to tell
us. And so we ask that you
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give ear... lend ear and heart
to the Word of God this day
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for God has much to
tell us through His servant.
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His wife, Prudence, is also
on the staff at Oakwood College.
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She is also a Ph.D. so
they are also stereo-doctors...
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Doctor and Doctor Pollard...
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and doing a very, very fine job.
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We have music coming
in the next little bit
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but before that does
come I'm going to ask you
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to bow your heads
with me as we pray now
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and ask God's
blessing upon the day.
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Gracious Father, we
just praise You and thank You
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for Your love,
Your mercy, Your grace.
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We thank you for
keeping us during the night.
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We thank you for
the blessing of rest
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and now the blessing of worship.
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And we ask in Jesus' name that
You would be the honored guest.
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That You would speak through
each of these who have been
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called to give a word for You.
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And then open up our
hearts and our understanding
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so that we may hear
and do and be drawn closer,
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so much closer, to Jesus.
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We praise You and thank
You in Jesus' name, Amen.
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Our musical ministry
this morning is coming
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and I don't have it
listed on my... my sheet here.
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It's coming
from... It is Melody.
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I thought you
were the next hour.
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This is a face
I'm sure you know.
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Our own Melody Firestone.
Blessed with a beautiful voice
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and a beautiful
disposition for the Lord.
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What are you singing,
Melody? I Tremble. I Tremble.
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After Melody shall have sung
the next voice you'll be hearing
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will be that of
Dr. Leslie Pollard,
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President of Oakwood University.
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Lord, it's with
special reverence
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that I come into Your presence
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whispering the name
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that calms all fear.
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And I'm filled with such emotion
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at Your mercy and Your devotion
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to think that You
would come and meet
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me here.
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Lord, I tremble
00:08:00.09\00:08:04.78
at the very
thought of Calvary where
00:08:05.18\00:08:09.54
You chose me over life
00:08:09.74\00:08:13.22
as You suffered willingly.
00:08:13.52\00:08:16.77
Lord, I tremble
00:08:17.17\00:08:21.52
at the way I'm undeserving
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of the love You came to give
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and the blood
that makes me worthy.
00:08:30.01\00:08:34.17
Lord, I tremble.
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Let me not forget this temple
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is transformed
into a throne room...
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through Your name
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my soul is ushered in.
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Let me come to You in wonder,
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let my heart still
pound like thunder,
00:09:02.89\00:09:07.02
at the way Your
grace has found me
00:09:07.22\00:09:10.82
once again.
00:09:11.02\00:09:15.14
Lord, I tremble
00:09:15.44\00:09:19.36
at the very
thought of Calvary where
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You chose me over life
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as You suffered willingly.
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Lord, I tremble
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at the way I'm undeserving
00:09:35.93\00:09:39.90
of the love You came to give
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and the blood
that makes me worthy.
00:09:44.27\00:09:48.34
Lord, I tremble at the way
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Your love has saved me
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and Your
precious grace forgave me.
00:09:54.86\00:09:58.43
Let me never take for granted
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who You are!
00:10:03.06\00:10:06.83
Lord, I tremble
00:10:07.13\00:10:11.57
at the very
thought of Calvary where
00:10:11.87\00:10:16.02
You chose me over life
00:10:16.22\00:10:19.87
as You suffered willingly.
00:10:19.90\00:10:23.72
I tremble
00:10:24.02\00:10:28.46
at the way I'm undeserving of
00:10:28.76\00:10:33.15
the Love You came to give
00:10:33.35\00:10:36.53
and the blood
that makes me worthy.
00:10:36.83\00:10:41.19
Lord, I tremble.
00:10:41.49\00:10:46.59
Lord, I tremble.
00:10:53.36\00:10:59.31
Well, good morning everyone.
00:11:08.27\00:11:10.15
Good morning. Isn't it a
blessing to be in the house
00:11:10.45\00:11:12.59
of God this morning? Amen!
00:11:12.80\00:11:14.68
And to have the opportunity
to spend some concentrated time
00:11:14.88\00:11:18.06
when we are studying God's Word
00:11:18.26\00:11:20.17
and praying for revival
and reformation in our church.
00:11:20.37\00:11:23.40
Can you say "Amen? " Amen.
00:11:23.71\00:11:24.96
It's a pleasure to be
here with the 3ABN audience
00:11:25.26\00:11:27.93
not only locally
here in the Worship Center
00:11:28.13\00:11:29.85
but also around the world
00:11:30.05\00:11:31.59
and to bring you greetings
from Oakwood University:
00:11:31.89\00:11:34.66
your university
in the deep South.
00:11:34.96\00:11:37.61
Founded in 1896 AD
by Mrs. Ellen G. White
00:11:39.24\00:11:42.05
for a particular mission.
00:11:42.25\00:11:45.27
And on that 1,200
acres for more than 115 years
00:11:45.47\00:11:48.95
the mission of Jesus
Christ through the Seventh-day
00:11:49.15\00:11:51.82
Adventist Church
has been carried out.
00:11:52.02\00:11:53.74
Even people who have
never visited Oakwood University
00:11:54.04\00:11:57.36
have heard about
Oakwood University.
00:11:57.56\00:11:59.43
They've heard about it
because of the magnificent music
00:11:59.73\00:12:02.65
of our premier
singing group, the Aeolians,
00:12:02.85\00:12:05.45
or the dynamic ministers
that the university has put out
00:12:05.65\00:12:09.98
and has sent forth
to do the work of God.
00:12:10.18\00:12:12.55
So I'm grateful this
morning to bring you greetings
00:12:12.85\00:12:15.24
from that community of faith -
00:12:15.44\00:12:17.03
that Seventh-day
Adventist community of faith -
00:12:17.43\00:12:20.72
there in the deep
South in Huntsville, Alabama.
00:12:20.92\00:12:23.49
And if you've never visited,
please come by and see us
00:12:23.69\00:12:26.94
and I promise you
we'll treat you real good.
00:12:27.07\00:12:30.83
Amen. So please come down.
00:12:31.13\00:12:32.97
Um, I also wish to
thank 3ABN for the invitation
00:12:33.27\00:12:36.91
to talk to you on a subject
about which I am so deeply
00:12:37.02\00:12:40.38
passionate from
the book of Revelation.
00:12:40.58\00:12:43.28
Pastor Murray - and I thank
him for his warm introduction -
00:12:43.58\00:12:46.46
Pastor Murray mentioned that one
of the articles I had written
00:12:46.66\00:12:49.49
on the work called "The Remnant"
for our Seventh-day Adventist
00:12:49.69\00:12:52.50
Church that he had read.
00:12:52.70\00:12:55.11
Let me just say a little
bit about the whole idea of
00:12:55.31\00:12:57.87
the remnant. I spend
significant amounts of time -
00:12:57.90\00:13:01.59
I wrote 800 pages, actually -
00:13:01.79\00:13:03.65
on one word in the
book of Revelation.
00:13:03.86\00:13:06.37
That word is the "remnant. "
00:13:06.57\00:13:07.85
It was an
amazing, amazing journey.
00:13:08.92\00:13:11.67
Amazing experience.
00:13:11.98\00:13:13.22
We should have every confidence
that God is doing an extra
00:13:13.52\00:13:17.25
special work through
this, His end-time movement
00:13:17.45\00:13:20.25
in these last days. Amen.
00:13:20.55\00:13:23.00
Do you believe that? Amen!
00:13:23.23\00:13:24.93
I believe that
with all my heart.
00:13:25.23\00:13:26.57
And I tell you... if you
engage the book of Revelation
00:13:26.87\00:13:29.97
Mrs. Ellen White promises
that you will have a completely
00:13:30.17\00:13:33.64
different religious experience
00:13:33.84\00:13:35.94
simply from the study
of the book of Revelation.
00:13:36.25\00:13:39.94
Do you believe that? Amen!
00:13:40.24\00:13:41.96
This is what she said
in The Faith I Live By:
00:13:42.26\00:13:44.43
"One thing will
certainly be understood from
00:13:44.73\00:13:47.78
the study of Revelation:
00:13:47.98\00:13:49.50
that the connection
between God and His people
00:13:49.70\00:13:53.04
is close and decided. "
00:13:53.24\00:13:56.78
The Faith I Live By, page 345.
00:13:58.75\00:14:01.03
An amazing... an
amazing statement.
00:14:01.99\00:14:05.15
Once you study that book,
you get to see very clearly
00:14:05.45\00:14:09.08
that God is
working in these last days.
00:14:09.28\00:14:12.60
He's not far
away; He's not removed;
00:14:12.90\00:14:15.73
He's not distant...
00:14:15.83\00:14:17.19
but He is intimately involved
in the affairs of men and women
00:14:17.39\00:14:21.14
and He is moving
history toward its final climax.
00:14:21.45\00:14:25.07
And in the book of Revelation
00:14:25.37\00:14:27.08
we get to see the complete
symphony of salvation completed,
00:14:27.28\00:14:30.75
don't we?
00:14:30.95\00:14:31.97
It completes the
symphony of salvation.
00:14:32.38\00:14:34.86
Remember in Genesis
the earth is created
00:14:35.26\00:14:39.26
but in Revelation
the earth is re-created.
00:14:40.40\00:14:42.98
In Genesis the sun and
the moon and the stars appear
00:14:44.00\00:14:48.33
but in Revelation the
sun and the moon disappear.
00:14:48.63\00:14:51.24
In Genesis sin appears;
00:14:52.31\00:14:55.30
in Revelation sin disappears.
00:14:55.60\00:14:58.50
Amen. In Genesis death appears;
00:14:58.81\00:15:02.14
in Revelation
death disappears. Amen!
00:15:02.54\00:15:05.69
In Genesis Eden is lost;
00:15:05.99\00:15:08.10
in Revelation
Eden is restored. Amen!
00:15:08.40\00:15:11.45
In Genesis God blocks
the gates to the garden -
00:15:11.75\00:15:14.39
that's right - ah, but
in Revelation He opens wide
00:15:14.69\00:15:17.76
the gates to the city. Amen!
00:15:17.96\00:15:19.96
In Genesis the
curse is pronounced;
00:15:20.26\00:15:22.48
in Revelation the
curse is renounced. Amen!
00:15:22.78\00:15:26.46
Notice what it says: "For there
shall no longer be any curse. "
00:15:26.70\00:15:29.46
And certainly last but not least
00:15:30.57\00:15:32.41
in Genesis we meet
Satan's first temptation...
00:15:32.62\00:15:36.10
"you will be as gods, "
00:15:36.70\00:15:39.48
but in Revelation Satan
meets his final destination...
00:15:39.78\00:15:42.68
the lake of fire. Amen!
00:15:42.88\00:15:44.44
I'm telling you: you ought
to spend some time studying
00:15:44.74\00:15:47.28
the book of Revelation.
00:15:47.38\00:15:48.84
And that's why I want to
take you there this morning.
00:15:48.85\00:15:51.01
That's why I want
to take you there.
00:15:51.31\00:15:52.59
That's why I want to go directly
to the book of Revelation
00:15:52.69\00:15:55.30
for this reflection
on The Great Controversy.
00:15:55.50\00:15:59.41
So take your Bibles, please.
00:15:59.61\00:16:00.87
And I see a number of my friends
from Huntsville, Alabama,
00:16:02.16\00:16:04.82
who are here...
the Oakwood group.
00:16:05.02\00:16:06.36
Uh, I see a number of you.
00:16:06.66\00:16:08.62
Brothers and sisters, I know
you can't catch this on camera
00:16:08.92\00:16:10.99
but would you just raise
your hand if you are among the
00:16:11.09\00:16:12.70
campers from Oakwood University?
00:16:12.80\00:16:14.38
OK, now that your hand is
up would you stand, please?
00:16:14.68\00:16:16.82
Come on, don't stay in your
chair now that your hand is up.
00:16:17.02\00:16:19.08
All right, all right. Let's put
our hands together, everyone,
00:16:19.29\00:16:21.56
and welcome them.
Look, look, look, look,
00:16:21.77\00:16:25.43
look, look, look!
00:16:25.63\00:16:26.97
Amen! Oakwood
University supports 3ABN.
00:16:27.27\00:16:30.28
Amen.
00:16:30.58\00:16:31.55
OK. Revelation
chapter 5 verse 1.
00:16:31.72\00:16:35.63
Did I pray? No. Let's pray.
00:16:35.73\00:16:37.93
Let's. pray. Mrs. White
says we should always pray
00:16:38.13\00:16:40.08
before opening
the Word of God. Amen.
00:16:40.28\00:16:41.77
Now, Lord, we pray that
You would bless us today.
00:16:42.07\00:16:45.28
And as we open Your
Word may we be blessed.
00:16:45.48\00:16:47.97
In Jesus' name, Amen.
00:16:48.17\00:16:50.09
Revelation chapter 5 verse 1.
00:16:50.39\00:16:52.52
"And I saw in the right hand
of Him that sat on the throne
00:16:52.82\00:16:57.21
a book, written
within and on the back side,
00:16:57.41\00:17:01.22
sealed with seven seals.
00:17:01.42\00:17:03.70
And I saw a strong angel
proclaiming with a loud voice
00:17:04.10\00:17:07.95
'Who is worthy to open the book
00:17:08.15\00:17:10.85
and to loose
the seals thereof? '
00:17:11.15\00:17:13.68
And no man in
heaven nor in earth
00:17:14.08\00:17:17.55
neither under the earth
was able to open the book
00:17:17.75\00:17:19.87
neither to look thereon.
00:17:20.07\00:17:22.17
And I wept much
because no man was found worthy
00:17:22.47\00:17:26.29
to open and to read the
book neither to look thereon.
00:17:26.49\00:17:29.96
And one of the
elders said unto me:
00:17:30.26\00:17:33.73
'Weep not. Behold, the
lion of the tribe of Judah,
00:17:33.93\00:17:39.01
the root of David, has
prevailed to open the book
00:17:39.21\00:17:43.25
and to loose the
seals thereof. ' "
00:17:43.45\00:17:47.89
Amen.
00:17:48.09\00:17:49.33
The year is 2001.
00:17:49.43\00:17:51.55
The date is September 9.
00:17:51.85\00:17:53.86
The place is
Durbin, South Africa,
00:17:54.16\00:17:56.30
and I am attending a
United Nations world congress
00:17:56.51\00:17:59.99
against racism.
00:18:00.09\00:18:01.70
I'm bright-eyed
because of jet lag.
00:18:02.00\00:18:04.10
It's about 2 AM in the
morning so I pop out of bed,
00:18:04.20\00:18:07.05
I pick up the remote control,
00:18:07.25\00:18:08.95
I point it at the television,
00:18:09.15\00:18:10.75
push the power
button, and all of a sudden
00:18:10.95\00:18:13.61
the screen lights
up. It's channel 3
00:18:13.81\00:18:17.30
of the South African
Broadcast Corporation.
00:18:17.50\00:18:20.10
And there I witness, all
the way broadcast from America,
00:18:20.30\00:18:23.56
an American sports
spectacle called Battle Dome.
00:18:23.76\00:18:28.11
Battle Dome.
00:18:29.23\00:18:30.69
It's a World Wrestling
Federation-like extravaganza
00:18:32.03\00:18:35.81
sports entertainment.
Packed auditorium.
00:18:36.01\00:18:39.13
Cheering crowds.
Competitors on the field.
00:18:39.33\00:18:42.57
The contest was
simple... is simple.
00:18:42.87\00:18:45.88
As I watch, I notice
that Battle Dome pits a team
00:18:46.08\00:18:49.49
of 4 amateur
athletes called challengers
00:18:49.69\00:18:52.22
against a team of super
athletes called warriors.
00:18:52.42\00:18:55.35
And the Battle Dome
challengers must fight their way
00:18:55.65\00:19:00.05
through a series of
contests only to be stopped...
00:19:00.25\00:19:03.35
if they can... only to be
stopped by these warriors.
00:19:03.55\00:19:07.02
And this Battle Dome,
as I continued watching,
00:19:07.32\00:19:09.65
boasts a colorful
cast of characters.
00:19:09.85\00:19:12.19
I see one gentleman come
in. His name is Mike O'Dell.
00:19:12.49\00:19:15.69
He's a former Mr. Olympia.
00:19:15.89\00:19:17.65
This man has muscles
on muscles on muscles.
00:19:17.75\00:19:20.54
Uh, he's dressed in all white.
He has a white fighting cape
00:19:21.62\00:19:24.55
that hangs from
that thick neck of his.
00:19:24.75\00:19:26.50
He has on white fighting
trunks and white fighting boots.
00:19:26.80\00:19:29.39
And as he comes
into the auditorium
00:19:29.69\00:19:31.65
high from atop the arena
he's accompanied by triplets.
00:19:31.85\00:19:35.54
And there's flashing strobe
lights and pounding stage music.
00:19:35.74\00:19:39.93
And all of this, now,
is intended to give effect
00:19:40.13\00:19:42.92
to show that this Mike
O'Dell is a larger-than-life
00:19:43.12\00:19:47.03
prototype of the
perfectly arrogant warrior.
00:19:47.23\00:19:50.48
And as soon as
they finish with him
00:19:50.68\00:19:53.31
then the camera pans left
and now we see another one
00:19:53.51\00:19:56.49
rolling in from the
back of the auditorium.
00:19:56.69\00:19:59.09
He's in a black Chevy SUV.
00:19:59.29\00:20:01.54
Gangster-rap music is
rattling every window.
00:20:02.83\00:20:06.42
And as he steps out, he's
now... he's dressed in black
00:20:06.62\00:20:10.51
and he has now a
solid-gold dollar sign
00:20:10.65\00:20:13.80
draped around his neck.
It's encrusted with diamonds.
00:20:14.00\00:20:16.43
He's called T-Money, and
he's the character who shows
00:20:16.63\00:20:20.01
that all he's interested
in is money and power.
00:20:20.11\00:20:22.80
And then last but
certainly not least
00:20:23.10\00:20:24.87
there's a third
character. His name is Cuda.
00:20:24.97\00:20:27.88
Now he's supposed to
be a Jamaican character.
00:20:28.09\00:20:31.06
Any Jamaicans in
the house this morning?
00:20:31.16\00:20:32.79
He's supposed to be
a Jamaican character.
00:20:33.09\00:20:35.25
He's got long dread-locks
that reach down to the middle
00:20:35.45\00:20:38.38
of his back and he's
dressed in cargo pants
00:20:38.48\00:20:41.32
and he has a so-called
barracuda-tooth necklace.
00:20:41.53\00:20:43.83
You know all of
this is entertainment.
00:20:44.03\00:20:45.24
A barracuda-tooth
necklace around his neck.
00:20:45.44\00:20:47.43
And he's supposed to be
in touch with the voodoo gods
00:20:47.63\00:20:50.00
and that's going
to give him power
00:20:50.10\00:20:51.22
over all of the challengers.
00:20:51.32\00:20:52.98
These
characters were interesting
00:20:53.18\00:20:55.64
but it was the
contest... the contest...
00:20:55.74\00:20:59.29
that was so compelling.
00:20:59.39\00:21:00.87
The first contest was
called Battle Dome kick boxing.
00:21:02.04\00:21:06.70
And in this contest
there was a 10x20 metal grid
00:21:07.00\00:21:10.81
that was suspended from
the ceiling about 10 feet
00:21:11.01\00:21:13.47
above the air. And there
one warrior and one challenger
00:21:13.67\00:21:17.27
would jump up, grab
onto the metal grid.
00:21:17.47\00:21:20.35
And they would meet in the
middle and they would engage
00:21:20.56\00:21:23.11
in a bout of
vicious kick boxing.
00:21:23.31\00:21:25.29
And then there
was a second contest.
00:21:26.56\00:21:28.53
This was called the
Battle Dome spinning mountain.
00:21:28.83\00:21:31.24
In this contest one challenger
would then move forward
00:21:31.44\00:21:35.68
to attack a warrior who
was crouched on the diagonal
00:21:35.78\00:21:40.80
face of the 25-mile-an-hour
spinning mountain.
00:21:41.00\00:21:43.87
And if the little challenger
could overthrow this warrior
00:21:44.17\00:21:48.43
then at the top of the
mountain stood the mighty Cuda.
00:21:48.63\00:21:52.76
And the last contest.
00:21:55.16\00:21:56.33
That was the one that was
simply just unbelievable...
00:21:56.53\00:21:58.94
the last contest.
00:21:59.04\00:22:00.13
The last contest.
Now, in this contest
00:22:00.23\00:22:02.71
the warriors and the challengers
stopped fighting each other
00:22:02.91\00:22:06.15
and the
challengers now go into a cage
00:22:06.35\00:22:08.90
and they turn and they
begin fighting with each other.
00:22:09.10\00:22:12.88
There's no more
focus on the warriors.
00:22:13.08\00:22:15.45
Now the challengers turn, and
they begin fighting each other
00:22:15.65\00:22:18.96
and for 60 seconds. And
at the end, whoever is left
00:22:19.16\00:22:22.43
standing is declared the
champion of the Battle Dome.
00:22:22.53\00:22:26.85
Now, follow me
backwards in time.
00:22:28.76\00:22:34.23
Two thousand years
before Columbia TriStar Pictures
00:22:39.48\00:22:44.44
ever imagined a sports
spectacular called Battle Dome
00:22:44.48\00:22:49.41
we meet an old man by the sea.
00:22:49.61\00:22:53.21
He is the last and lone survivor
00:22:53.51\00:22:57.21
of the original twelve
who have walked with Jesus.
00:22:57.41\00:23:00.29
This old man - banished to a...
00:23:01.39\00:23:05.99
to a mountain...
banished to a mountainous
00:23:06.29\00:23:10.10
island in the middle of Aegean -
00:23:10.20\00:23:13.16
sent there because
of the Word of God,
00:23:13.46\00:23:16.78
he says, and the
testimony of Jesus.
00:23:16.99\00:23:19.97
This old man on
this island prison
00:23:20.28\00:23:23.84
receives visions that
will forever transform
00:23:24.04\00:23:28.12
the way the people
of God see themselves
00:23:28.32\00:23:31.03
and the way they
understand the workings of God
00:23:31.23\00:23:34.20
in the world. Amen.
00:23:34.40\00:23:35.81
This old man as he sits there
00:23:36.01\00:23:38.92
he begins to receive
cosmic visions that show
00:23:39.12\00:23:42.90
the journey of the church
and the course of human history.
00:23:43.10\00:23:46.25
And more importantly, the
salvific work of Jesus Christ.
00:23:46.55\00:23:51.04
But he also
receives another revelation.
00:23:51.34\00:23:54.36
He receives another revelation
that reminds all of us
00:23:54.66\00:23:59.15
that this earth - though
once an idyllic paradise -
00:23:59.35\00:24:03.34
this earth has now become
the universe's Battle Dome.
00:24:03.54\00:24:07.53
Listen to what he says
in Revelation chapter 12.
00:24:09.51\00:24:13.55
Listen to what he says as
you listen to him. He says,
00:24:13.85\00:24:17.82
now, he says: "Woe to
the inhabitants of the earth
00:24:17.92\00:24:22.48
for the devil has
come down among you. "
00:24:22.68\00:24:25.08
In Revelation chapter
12: "The devil has come down
00:24:25.18\00:24:27.85
among you having great wrath
00:24:28.05\00:24:31.53
because he knows that
he has but a short time. "
00:24:31.64\00:24:35.58
What is the old man saying?
00:24:36.71\00:24:38.76
What is the old man saying?
00:24:39.06\00:24:40.40
He is saying to those of
us who thought our course
00:24:40.60\00:24:43.98
would be easy, he says: "No, no.
00:24:44.19\00:24:46.10
Welcome to Planet Battle Dome...
00:24:46.30\00:24:48.67
a place where bad things
often happen to good people. "
00:24:49.57\00:24:53.30
"Welcome to Planet Battle
Dome, a place where the innocent
00:24:53.61\00:24:56.89
suffer and often the
guilty are elevated. "
00:24:57.09\00:24:59.62
"Welcome to Plant
Battle Dome, a place ravaged
00:24:59.82\00:25:03.09
by disease and
death and disaster. "
00:25:03.29\00:25:07.70
"Welcome, " he says,
"to Planet Battle Dome,
00:25:08.00\00:25:11.70
where for 6,000
years the people of God
00:25:11.91\00:25:15.08
have stood as
front-line combatants
00:25:15.29\00:25:18.43
in a battle that
began in the courts of glory
00:25:18.63\00:25:23.28
but spilled over
the balconies of heaven
00:25:23.48\00:25:26.70
and found its way
down to planet earth. "
00:25:26.90\00:25:29.62
"Welcome, " he says,
"to Planet Battle Dome,
00:25:29.82\00:25:32.88
where our
struggles began at a tree
00:25:33.08\00:25:38.27
over a fruit
00:25:41.84\00:25:44.17
with a proposition:
00:25:46.04\00:25:48.07
'Would you be as God? ' "
00:25:50.44\00:25:53.97
This fundamental premise
00:25:56.40\00:25:58.57
that somehow creatures
can displace the Creator
00:25:58.77\00:26:03.12
and be god of their
own lives and destinies
00:26:03.42\00:26:07.47
and futures.
00:26:07.68\00:26:08.75
"Would you be as God? " he says.
00:26:10.43\00:26:12.74
And you know what
happens, don't you?
00:26:13.04\00:26:14.92
We accept the
proposition and we bite.
00:26:15.22\00:26:19.76
And as soon as we
take the first bite
00:26:21.62\00:26:25.37
a chill sweeps over our
first mother and father...
00:26:25.77\00:26:31.55
the same chill that
still bites the conscience
00:26:31.75\00:26:35.23
in the
aftermath of disobedience.
00:26:35.43\00:26:37.53
We bite...
00:26:39.71\00:26:41.64
and suddenly
everything is changed.
00:26:42.68\00:26:46.42
Now God conducts
an investigation.
00:26:46.62\00:26:50.11
I don't know if
you have noticed it
00:26:50.41\00:26:53.16
but before any
judgment sentence is pronounced
00:26:53.36\00:26:57.24
the pattern of Biblical
witness is that God will allow
00:26:57.44\00:27:02.51
and launch an investigation.
00:27:02.71\00:27:05.05
Even if the
place is called Sodom
00:27:06.67\00:27:09.69
He's going to send
three inspectors in
00:27:09.99\00:27:13.02
to see that maybe
there might be 50,
00:27:13.32\00:27:15.56
or maybe there might be 40,
00:27:15.66\00:27:17.29
or maybe there might be 30,
00:27:17.49\00:27:19.05
or maybe there might be 20.
00:27:19.26\00:27:21.85
There is no
judgment in scripture
00:27:23.18\00:27:25.69
without an investigation
AND a period of probation
00:27:25.90\00:27:31.04
in which men and women will
have the opportunity to turn.
00:27:31.25\00:27:35.96
So God steps in
00:27:42.21\00:27:46.06
and no longer is it
the idyllic Garden of Eden
00:27:46.36\00:27:50.32
but now it qualifies for CSI.
00:27:50.63\00:27:55.01
It's a crime
scene investigation.
00:27:56.81\00:27:59.56
And now He
interrogates the witnesses.
00:28:01.58\00:28:04.69
"Adam... where are you? "
00:28:04.89\00:28:07.93
And listen to Adam's answer.
00:28:09.31\00:28:11.96
He says: "I was afraid
00:28:12.26\00:28:15.68
and I was ashamed
because I was naked
00:28:15.98\00:28:19.65
and I hid myself. " Oh!
00:28:19.95\00:28:25.13
We thought the proposal was
that you would have a greater
00:28:25.43\00:28:29.58
sense of freedom and liberation.
00:28:29.68\00:28:32.11
Ah, but we begin to see now the
first fruits of our fallenness.
00:28:33.63\00:28:38.86
Not liberty... but shame
00:28:40.80\00:28:43.97
and moral irresponsibility.
00:28:49.24\00:28:53.47
Because remember
now, when God says:
00:28:53.87\00:28:56.84
"What have you done?
Have you eaten of the fruit? "
00:28:57.05\00:29:01.27
what does Adam say? Adam says:
00:29:01.58\00:29:04.39
"Lord, the sister. "
00:29:04.70\00:29:07.10
Now I wasn't invited here to
do this, but I feel so tempted
00:29:12.69\00:29:16.16
to preach about the way some
men still blame their wives...
00:29:16.36\00:29:19.10
That's a different sermon. I'll
do that one when I come back.
00:29:24.39\00:29:26.77
Moral irresponsibility.
"It wasn't me! "
00:29:30.21\00:29:33.07
He turns to Eve.
"Eve... " "The serpent
00:29:33.27\00:29:38.41
that You made. "
00:29:38.61\00:29:43.07
See the subtlety?
00:29:43.57\00:29:45.50
"It's your fault. "
00:29:45.80\00:29:47.49
"You gave us this
freedom... it's Your fault. "
00:29:47.89\00:29:52.15
But look at the
mercy of God. Amen.
00:29:53.97\00:29:56.87
He recognizes now
that they no longer qualify
00:29:57.17\00:30:01.07
to stay in the paradise
that He has prepared for them.
00:30:01.27\00:30:04.78
But what does He do?
00:30:04.98\00:30:06.66
He now must do something
that's foreign to His nature.
00:30:06.96\00:30:10.00
He banishes them from
the climate-controlled garden
00:30:10.20\00:30:13.81
called Eden
00:30:14.01\00:30:15.90
into the chill of
Planet Battle Dome.
00:30:16.20\00:30:19.50
Ah, but He doesn't
send them out empty-handed.
00:30:20.82\00:30:23.81
He plants a
promise in their bosoms
00:30:24.11\00:30:27.03
that one day someone will come
00:30:27.33\00:30:31.09
who will redeem and
retrieve and reclaim
00:30:31.29\00:30:36.01
the title deed to the
planet that we had lost.
00:30:36.21\00:30:39.70
In Genesis chapter 4
verse 1 Adam believes
00:30:41.09\00:30:45.34
and Eve believes
that it's her first-born.
00:30:45.64\00:30:49.15
For if you read
Genesis 4:1 very carefully
00:30:49.45\00:30:52.48
in the Hebrew it
says Eve cries out
00:30:52.68\00:30:55.60
after she
conceives: "I have gotten
00:30:55.81\00:30:59.66
a man... the Lord. "
00:30:59.86\00:31:02.42
Ah, but time and experience
00:31:05.54\00:31:08.89
will reveal that Eve's
first-born is not Messiah...
00:31:09.19\00:31:14.82
he's a murderer.
00:31:15.02\00:31:17.07
And on the day of Abel's funeral
00:31:18.13\00:31:21.56
Satan plants the moldy banner
00:31:21.76\00:31:24.33
of his victory in
the still-moist earth
00:31:24.54\00:31:27.25
of Abel's freshly-dug grave
00:31:27.45\00:31:29.77
and he
declares: "Abel is mine. "
00:31:30.17\00:31:35.02
"Cain is mine. "
00:31:36.04\00:31:38.55
"Adam, Eve... they're mine. "
00:31:38.95\00:31:43.58
"The entire earth is mine
00:31:43.88\00:31:46.65
and I am king of
Planet Battle Dome. "
00:31:46.95\00:31:50.32
Now the contest begins.
00:31:55.66\00:31:59.24
And the contest is simple:
00:32:00.62\00:32:03.43
who can survive,
much less succeed,
00:32:04.61\00:32:09.46
in Plant Battle Dome?
00:32:10.84\00:32:13.49
Noah? Noah.
00:32:16.84\00:32:20.72
I said Noah.
00:32:21.92\00:32:24.50
Step into the Battle Dome, Noah.
00:32:25.60\00:32:28.58
Here comes Noah.
00:32:29.94\00:32:32.05
Called to be a
preacher in mid-life.
00:32:32.55\00:32:36.84
He's only 480 years old.
00:32:37.14\00:32:40.63
Ah, but he preaches the
longest evangelistic meeting
00:32:43.33\00:32:48.14
in recorded history: 120 years.
00:32:48.34\00:32:52.89
Noah builds and preaches;
he preaches and builds.
00:32:53.19\00:32:56.96
And then the day comes
when he finishes his project.
00:32:57.16\00:33:01.35
It's as long as
a football field.
00:33:03.55\00:33:06.51
It's three stories high.
00:33:06.72\00:33:08.56
It's got a single
door and a single window.
00:33:08.96\00:33:12.94
And as that
drawbridge-like door is let down
00:33:13.14\00:33:16.72
mysteriously, magnetically
from all across terra firma
00:33:16.92\00:33:21.47
animals in two's and seven's
00:33:21.77\00:33:24.39
begin mysteriously
marching in staccato-like,
00:33:24.59\00:33:29.78
army-like precision
into the door of that ark.
00:33:29.98\00:33:33.70
Now saints, right there - if I
never listened to Noah before -
00:33:35.11\00:33:39.84
about right here is a
good time to begin listening.
00:33:42.36\00:33:45.18
As I begin watching
these animals now begin to move
00:33:46.57\00:33:50.32
as if they are all domesticated.
00:33:50.52\00:33:53.07
Heretofore - the day
before - they had been ferocious
00:33:53.37\00:33:57.25
and predatory and rapacious.
00:33:57.45\00:34:00.38
But now they are
marching in like little lambs
00:34:00.68\00:34:04.50
in two's and seven's.
00:34:04.60\00:34:05.75
If I never
listened to Noah before,
00:34:05.95\00:34:08.24
right now I want
to listen to him.
00:34:08.44\00:34:10.40
And now here begins
marching these animals in.
00:34:11.56\00:34:14.80
Animals - two's and seven's -
and they begin making their way
00:34:15.10\00:34:17.74
into the ark. And
then just as mysteriously
00:34:17.94\00:34:21.74
Ellen G. White says...
00:34:22.04\00:34:24.12
Ya'll still believe in
Ellen G. White, don't you? Amen!
00:34:24.32\00:34:26.76
she says... she
says an unseen hand
00:34:27.06\00:34:31.37
closes that huge door.
00:34:31.57\00:34:33.68
A small cloud appears
in the once azure blue sky
00:34:35.25\00:34:40.62
about the size of a human hand.
00:34:40.92\00:34:43.93
But it begins multiplying itself
00:34:44.03\00:34:47.13
so that the once
blue sky is now filled
00:34:47.43\00:34:51.34
with battalions of
black thunderheads.
00:34:51.54\00:34:55.75
One drop. One hundred drops.
00:34:56.05\00:35:01.11
Now a cascade of
destruction begins to pour
00:35:01.41\00:35:05.28
across the balconies of heaven
00:35:05.48\00:35:07.26
but the earth in
sympathy is heaving in labor.
00:35:07.46\00:35:11.65
It can stand it no
more so its water breaks
00:35:11.85\00:35:15.17
as the fountains
of the deep erupt.
00:35:15.48\00:35:18.51
Listen, listen, listen, listen.
00:35:18.71\00:35:20.56
Listen as every living
thing gurgles and gasps
00:35:21.76\00:35:27.36
for its last breath.
00:35:27.46\00:35:30.31
It's quiet.
00:35:30.61\00:35:33.11
Forty days later the ark now
rests atop a peaceful mountain.
00:35:34.60\00:35:39.00
Now what does Noah do?
00:35:39.30\00:35:42.66
Your Bible says
in Genesis chapter 9
00:35:42.97\00:35:46.04
beginning at verse 20 through 21
00:35:46.24\00:35:48.92
your Bible says that
Noah decides to celebrate.
00:35:49.12\00:35:53.65
And he reaches for a Budweiser.
00:35:54.05\00:35:59.26
Notice what your Bible says.
00:36:01.09\00:36:03.14
Noah gets fall
down, sloppy drunk.
00:36:03.44\00:36:07.05
Noah is disqualified.
00:36:07.25\00:36:11.10
Samson? Samson. I said Samson.
00:36:12.71\00:36:17.96
Step into the
Battle Dome, Samson.
00:36:19.14\00:36:21.49
Now if anybody can do
it, surely it's Samson.
00:36:21.69\00:36:24.63
Look at him. He's
raised in a Christian home.
00:36:24.93\00:36:27.42
He's afforded every opportunity,
a Christian education.
00:36:27.72\00:36:30.40
He's taken a Nazarite vow.
00:36:30.63\00:36:32.39
He will never cut his head,
00:36:32.60\00:36:33.89
he will never
touch... cut his hair,
00:36:34.09\00:36:35.65
he will never
touch any unclean thing.
00:36:35.85\00:36:37.66
He will never
drink any strong drink.
00:36:37.96\00:36:39.59
If anybody can do it, surely
- young people - it's Samson.
00:36:39.79\00:36:44.44
Surely it's Samson.
00:36:44.74\00:36:46.43
Ah, but when you read
his biography in Judges
00:36:47.43\00:36:51.33
chapter 13 through 16
00:36:51.53\00:36:53.37
it's very clear that
there are three weaknesses
00:36:53.57\00:36:57.67
that derail Samson.
And if we are not careful
00:36:57.87\00:37:00.74
those weaknesses will
also derail you and me.
00:37:00.77\00:37:03.70
Here is the first one.
00:37:05.16\00:37:07.12
And you can't help but
notice as you read his story -
00:37:07.42\00:37:10.26
I've read it over and over -
00:37:10.46\00:37:12.12
the first weakness
that you see in Samson
00:37:12.32\00:37:14.56
is that first and foremost
he's allergic to authority.
00:37:14.76\00:37:19.30
Nobody can tell Samson anything.
00:37:22.61\00:37:27.01
Not his mother. Not his father.
00:37:27.31\00:37:30.14
Not the other judges.
He's allergic to authority.
00:37:30.34\00:37:34.35
You want to see a young
person who will be blessed?
00:37:34.65\00:37:37.61
Submit yourselves, young
people, to godly authority.
00:37:37.91\00:37:42.61
God will bless your
life and anoint it in ways
00:37:42.81\00:37:45.53
that you cannot
even imagine. Amen!
00:37:45.73\00:37:49.14
Samson is allergic to
authority. Here's the second.
00:37:49.44\00:37:51.89
Samson loves to fraternize
00:37:53.53\00:37:59.16
with the enemy.
00:37:59.46\00:38:01.41
Uh-huh. Go back
and read his story.
00:38:01.71\00:38:04.69
What are the places
you see him frequenting?
00:38:04.99\00:38:08.00
Ashkelon, Timnah, Gaza.
00:38:09.08\00:38:14.12
Now to you and me
that may not mean anything
00:38:14.42\00:38:16.38
but to the first
readers of the book of Judges
00:38:16.58\00:38:19.15
they would ask the
question: why is Samson always
00:38:19.35\00:38:22.60
in Philistine territory?
00:38:22.80\00:38:24.45
It's because Samson loves
the excitement of fraternizing
00:38:24.75\00:38:29.17
with the enemy.
00:38:29.27\00:38:30.64
You know these church
girls don't appeal to Samson.
00:38:30.84\00:38:33.42
Samson wants a girl like
the ones he sees on the videos.
00:38:34.33\00:38:37.77
That's what Samson wants.
00:38:38.07\00:38:39.58
Samson... these girls who like,
you know, belong to Pathfinders,
00:38:39.78\00:38:43.14
Junior deaconesses wearing
those long white dresses,
00:38:46.06\00:38:51.27
Samson doesn't like that type.
00:38:51.57\00:38:53.13
Samson wants more excitement.
00:38:53.33\00:38:55.37
He wants the ones he
sees on the red carpet.
00:38:55.57\00:38:58.39
Samson loves
enemy fraternization.
00:38:59.91\00:39:03.18
And watch him, watch
him, because ultimately
00:39:03.38\00:39:06.31
the thing that undoes him
is his love for association
00:39:06.51\00:39:11.32
with the enemy. I said there
were three weaknesses, didn't I?
00:39:11.52\00:39:14.10
The third one is Samson
has low impulse control.
00:39:14.40\00:39:18.60
Samson wants what he
wants when he wants it.
00:39:20.38\00:39:23.52
And so he tells his
parents: "Get her for me.
00:39:23.82\00:39:27.97
She pleases me well. "
00:39:28.17\00:39:30.91
It doesn't matter
what God's Word has said.
00:39:31.21\00:39:33.04
None of that matters.
"She pleases me well. "
00:39:33.24\00:39:38.33
Hmmm. Hmmm.
00:39:40.18\00:39:43.98
And he gets her.
00:39:45.81\00:39:47.56
Uh, she's 36-24-36.
00:39:49.91\00:39:53.45
Straight out of Philistia.
00:39:58.68\00:40:00.60
A cover girl.
00:40:00.80\00:40:02.88
You see how beautiful she is.
00:40:04.30\00:40:06.60
That sprayed on chocolate
skin. I had to get that in.
00:40:06.90\00:40:10.95
You see how beautiful she is.
00:40:18.00\00:40:19.92
He gets it.
00:40:20.12\00:40:21.38
He gets it... but it gets him.
00:40:21.68\00:40:26.45
Watch him now.
He's almost bald headed.
00:40:27.86\00:40:32.41
He's stumbling around
in a Philistine stadium.
00:40:32.71\00:40:37.40
Hooting, jeering
Philistines mock and jeer him.
00:40:38.62\00:40:41.65
"Dance for us,
Samson. Dance for us. "
00:40:42.70\00:40:45.68
Watch him now as he
dances his hopeless jig
00:40:45.88\00:40:48.88
in an effort to
forestall some of the ridicule
00:40:49.08\00:40:53.93
and derision.
Remember ladies and gentlemen
00:40:54.13\00:40:56.36
these are honor
vs. shame societies
00:40:56.56\00:40:59.65
and so he would feel
the ridicule most keenly.
00:41:00.97\00:41:04.70
But now listen as
somehow in Samson's mind
00:41:07.59\00:41:12.11
like the
Prodigal Son, a switch...
00:41:12.32\00:41:17.49
a switch flips in his mind.
00:41:17.69\00:41:20.42
And he begins to
remember all the little ladies
00:41:20.93\00:41:24.55
who taught him Bible
verses in Sabbath School.
00:41:24.75\00:41:27.05
He begins to remember
all of the lessons he learned
00:41:27.35\00:41:30.32
in church school.
He begins to remember
00:41:30.42\00:41:32.25
the morning and evening worship
that the old man and his wife
00:41:32.35\00:41:35.43
had with him. He
begins to remember
00:41:35.63\00:41:37.76
all of that...
and he begins to pray.
00:41:37.96\00:41:42.29
Aren't you glad that
God is a God of grace?
00:41:42.59\00:41:45.81
And that it doesn't matter
how far your young people,
00:41:46.11\00:41:49.48
your child, may have wandered.
00:41:49.68\00:41:51.63
You'd better know
while they're out in Babylon
00:41:51.83\00:41:54.84
or in Philistia, if
you taught them to pray
00:41:55.04\00:41:58.15
there are time
when they will never...
00:41:58.35\00:41:59.89
I'm saying stuff that's going
to help a parent right now.
00:42:00.09\00:42:02.24
There are time when you may not
know it but they are praying.
00:42:02.54\00:42:06.30
Now they may never come
back and say: "Mommy, Daddy,
00:42:06.60\00:42:08.95
I prayed today. " Ah,
but if you put it in them
00:42:08.98\00:42:11.70
it's in them. And one
day - I said one day -
00:42:11.90\00:42:14.47
God is going to
bring it to fruition. Amen.
00:42:14.67\00:42:18.06
It's Samson's moment
now. He begins to push.
00:42:19.42\00:42:21.93
He begins to
push; he begins to push.
00:42:22.13\00:42:24.43
He says to the little slave:
"Lean me against the pillars. "
00:42:24.63\00:42:27.09
Can't you hear him
now groaning and pushing
00:42:27.29\00:42:29.91
and now... now, all of a sudden,
you hear the first crack.
00:42:30.11\00:42:33.73
And the hooting,
jeering Philistines
00:42:35.38\00:42:37.63
who had been
mocking him moments before
00:42:37.83\00:42:40.43
now all of a sudden
their hoots and their jeers
00:42:40.73\00:42:44.49
turn to wails and
shrieks as the whole temple now
00:42:44.69\00:42:48.23
begins to collapse
and fall down upon them.
00:42:48.43\00:42:52.24
Come with me.
Let's go find Samson.
00:42:52.54\00:42:56.64
We plow through the
rubble and there he is.
00:42:57.04\00:43:01.32
His eyeless sockets
stare upward lifelessly
00:43:02.45\00:43:08.44
as Samson dies a
shell of the witness
00:43:08.74\00:43:13.14
that he could have been.
00:43:13.24\00:43:15.59
Samson is disqualified.
00:43:15.60\00:43:17.89
David? David. I said David.
00:43:18.09\00:43:21.71
Step into the
Battle Dome, David.
00:43:22.57\00:43:24.52
Now here comes
David. If anybody can do it,
00:43:24.82\00:43:27.55
surely it's David.
I mean, look at him.
00:43:27.75\00:43:29.90
He looks so good he
ought to be in Hollywood.
00:43:30.10\00:43:32.78
The ladies love David.
You remember, when he left the
00:43:36.54\00:43:39.41
battlefield fighting
the titan called Goliath
00:43:39.51\00:43:41.91
the sisters -
swooning sisters - sang.
00:43:42.11\00:43:44.49
"Saul has slain his
thousands but David has slain
00:43:44.69\00:43:48.48
his tens of thousands. "
00:43:48.68\00:43:51.59
Ah but watch him now
in the spring of the year
00:43:51.89\00:43:54.60
when he has come into his...
he has come into his calling.
00:43:54.70\00:43:58.67
Walking across his balcony
he beholds a bathing beauty
00:43:58.97\00:44:04.28
called Bathsheba.
00:44:04.58\00:44:05.95
"Get her for me. " Now
David doesn't need Bathsheba.
00:44:08.46\00:44:10.84
David has many wives already.
00:44:12.53\00:44:15.68
But if he's the king,
he gets what he wants...
00:44:16.97\00:44:21.02
and he does.
00:44:22.56\00:44:24.43
Except for one little glitch.
00:44:25.60\00:44:28.13
Thirty days later
David gets a text message.
00:44:30.54\00:44:35.55
"I'm expecting. "
00:44:38.39\00:44:42.52
Watch this now.
His mind is a whirr
00:44:43.54\00:44:45.81
because he's got
to now cover this up.
00:44:46.01\00:44:48.20
And you know the
rest of the story.
00:44:48.40\00:44:50.15
He calls for Uriah the Hittite.
00:44:50.45\00:44:53.74
Uriah the
Hittite. Uriah the Hittite.
00:44:53.94\00:44:58.89
Not Uriah the Israelite.
00:44:59.29\00:45:02.34
Uriah is an immigrant
00:45:02.55\00:45:05.47
who has made his way
into the armies of Israel.
00:45:05.78\00:45:08.99
I don't know what immigration
laws were like back then
00:45:10.45\00:45:14.02
but he has immigrated
and he has identified himself
00:45:14.22\00:45:17.55
with the covenant people.
So much so that he joins the
00:45:17.75\00:45:20.38
army and now he goes out to war.
00:45:20.58\00:45:23.62
You know the rest of the story.
He betrays Uriah's loyalty
00:45:23.92\00:45:27.86
and he writes a note to
Uriah... I mean to Joab.
00:45:28.06\00:45:32.17
He takes that quill
and he begins to write
00:45:32.47\00:45:35.78
a note to Joab. Now understand,
this is that same hand
00:45:36.08\00:45:40.07
that wrote "The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want. "
00:45:40.27\00:45:43.14
This is that same hand that
wrote "The earth is the Lord's
00:45:44.27\00:45:48.16
and the fullness
thereof. " Psalm 24 verse 1.
00:45:48.26\00:45:50.42
This is that same
hand that wrote Psalm 1:1.
00:45:50.73\00:45:53.56
"Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the
00:45:53.70\00:45:56.29
ungodly nor standeth
in the way of sinners
00:45:56.39\00:45:58.08
nor sitteth in the seat...
" This is that same hand.
00:45:58.28\00:46:01.37
But this time he
writes: "Put Uriah
00:46:01.67\00:46:06.04
in the front of the lines
00:46:06.24\00:46:08.25
and when the battle waxes
hottest pull back from him. "
00:46:08.45\00:46:12.11
Oh, it's a great plan.
00:46:13.75\00:46:15.60
But notice the
irony. Uriah the Hittite
00:46:17.00\00:46:20.69
dies fighting in loyalty to
a king who has betrayed him.
00:46:20.89\00:46:26.20
Let me tell you something I
believe about the millennium.
00:46:26.60\00:46:29.42
I believe that when
people like Uriah are saved
00:46:31.12\00:46:34.29
and David is saved, David's
going to have to tell the story.
00:46:34.49\00:46:39.11
Oh, y'all are
not listening to me.
00:46:40.38\00:46:42.03
They're going to have
to tell that story and say:
00:46:42.43\00:46:44.38
"Uriah, I'm so
sorry for what I did
00:46:44.48\00:46:46.38
but God forgave me
and... " I don't know.
00:46:46.58\00:46:50.10
We're not told much about what
happens during that 1,000 years
00:46:50.94\00:46:54.24
when we are going through
the books, but Uriah will see
00:46:54.44\00:46:56.78
what happened to him.
But above it he will see
00:46:56.98\00:46:59.57
the word forgiven. Come
on, say "Amen" somebody.
00:46:59.67\00:47:02.53
So now there it is.
00:47:02.83\00:47:05.56
David thinks he gets away
00:47:07.79\00:47:09.72
except for one pesky
little passage in II Samuel.
00:47:09.82\00:47:12.89
II Samuel chapter 11 verse 27.
00:47:15.83\00:47:19.53
"But the thing David did
00:47:19.83\00:47:24.08
displeased the Lord. "
00:47:24.38\00:47:27.37
David is disqualified.
00:47:28.17\00:47:29.99
Well, it's no wonder
then when you see the old man
00:47:30.09\00:47:33.26
seated beside the sea
and he's on the witness stand
00:47:33.47\00:47:36.19
of history and he looks over
humanity's best and brightest
00:47:36.39\00:47:39.66
and the text that we
read. Now I'm circling back
00:47:39.86\00:47:41.78
to the text. And
looking at that passage now
00:47:41.88\00:47:44.15
when the angel comes down
to begin to interrogate him
00:47:44.35\00:47:47.00
and the angel
sees now in this vision
00:47:47.20\00:47:49.84
I mean John sees in this vision,
he sees upon the open hand
00:47:50.04\00:47:53.93
of God a book
sealed with seven seals.
00:47:54.13\00:47:57.16
And the angel asks: "Who
is worthy to open this book
00:47:57.36\00:48:01.01
and to loose the
seals? " it's no wonder
00:48:01.21\00:48:03.86
that the old man, when he
looks across the landscape
00:48:04.06\00:48:07.67
of human history -
our best, our brightest,
00:48:07.87\00:48:12.55
our fittest, our finest -
00:48:12.75\00:48:14.76
when he begins to look across
the landscape of human history
00:48:14.96\00:48:18.69
it's no wonder that the
old man when he has to mount
00:48:18.89\00:48:22.62
the witness stand of history
that the old man collapses
00:48:22.82\00:48:27.17
into a fountain of tears
00:48:27.37\00:48:29.71
because he realizes
that no one is worthy.
00:48:30.02\00:48:34.44
He says: "I looked in
heaven and there was no one.
00:48:34.74\00:48:37.50
I looked on earth
and there was no one.
00:48:37.70\00:48:39.77
I looked under the earth...
talking about the dead...
00:48:40.07\00:48:44.44
and there was no one.
" And the old man said:
00:48:44.85\00:48:48.72
"I wept much! "
00:48:48.92\00:48:51.32
But then he says, in
the middle of his weeping,
00:48:53.43\00:48:58.75
he says... look
at it... he says:
00:48:59.05\00:49:02.82
"And one of the
elders said to me... "
00:49:03.12\00:49:07.52
Stop right there. Now I
could preach right here.
00:49:07.82\00:49:11.43
I could preach on
that one word: the elders.
00:49:11.74\00:49:13.99
Notice what he doesn't say.
00:49:14.19\00:49:15.60
He doesn't say: "One of
the angels said to me... "
00:49:15.80\00:49:18.73
Ah, because as John
is bowed over in agony
00:49:19.79\00:49:24.37
he needs someone who can
identify with a suffering
00:49:24.67\00:49:28.61
and finite
humanity. He doesn't say
00:49:28.71\00:49:31.38
one of the angels because
an angel has never had to weep
00:49:31.48\00:49:35.13
in the midnight
hour over a lost child.
00:49:35.33\00:49:37.60
An angel has never had to
offer worship that was tinged
00:49:37.70\00:49:41.80
with blood and pain.
00:49:42.10\00:49:45.48
An angel has never had
to stand up in a vicious
00:49:45.88\00:49:49.74
Seventh-day
Adventist business meeting.
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An angel has never known
what it's like to suffer,
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to be afflicted, to
be disease embodied,
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to hear fatal diagnoses.
To hear the doctor say
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"You've got something but I
don't think we can cure it. "
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They've never had to
deal with any of that.
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Ah, he says: "But
one of the elders. "
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These elders are human witnesses
in the book of Revelation.
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Uh, Matthew... I
shouldn't have to say this
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but Matthew
chapter 27 verse 51...
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because Seventh-day Adventists
used to study their Bible
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and used to know these things...
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So, Matthew 27:51
says that when Jesus was
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resurrected He brought forth
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a whole column of witnesses.
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And Ephesians chapter 4
verse 8 says that as He ascended
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back to glory He
had them in His train
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as trophies of the first
fruits who would be to follow.
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That's you and me.
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And now they are
seated around the throne.
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So one of the angels says to me:
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"Stop weeping,
John. There is someone:
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the Lion, the Lion, the Lion. "
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May I throw this in?
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Satan may be like a lion.
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That's a simile.
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He may be like a lion but
thank God, Jesus IS a lion!
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Amen!
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"The Lion, the Lion, the
Lion of the tribe of Judah
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He has conquered
and He is worthy. "
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Jesus. Jesus. I
said Jesus. Amen!
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Step into the
Battle Dome, Jesus.
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Here comes Jesus. I
said here comes Jesus.
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Here comes Jesus
now... here comes Jesus.
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He doesn't need strobe
lights and billowing stage smoke
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and to be
accompanied by triplets. Oh, no.
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Jesus backs into the
Battle Dome through a back door
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called Bethlehem. Amen!
Oh, I feel like preaching now.
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Jesus steps
into the Battle Dome.
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And as He steps
into the Battle Dome
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He now stands
where Adam stumbled.
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He goes over the same ground.
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He fights the battle of appetite
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and the resistance to self-
glorification in the wilderness.
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Jesus fights the
battle on our behalf
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and thank God that the text says
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He has triumphed! Amen!
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I've written another book,
but nobody will buy the book.
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Nobody will publish the book.
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I checked with Review. They
don't want to publish the book.
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I checked with Pacific Press.
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They don't want
to publish the book.
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I checked with
Our Firm Foundation.
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They don't want
to publish the book.
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I checked with
the Shepherd's Rods.
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They don't want
to publish the book.
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Nobody wants to publish my book.
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They say the problem is
the book has a long title.
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That's the problem: they
say that the title is too long.
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That's it... long title.
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But I keep... I come
back whenever they say that
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"Yeah, the title is
long but the book is short. "
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Here's the title...
tell me what you think.
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The title is this: I
think I've written it down...
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OK, um, here's the title:
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Um... A philosophical,
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existential, historical
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and analytical assessment
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of the life and times of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth:
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a diachronic and
a synchronic study
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of the Christ event.
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Long title, huh?
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But it's a very short book
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because in the book, you
know, there's only one chapter.
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And in the chapter
there's only one page.
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Um, and, uh, um...
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on the one page
there are only two words.
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Uh-huh. Um...
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A philosophical,
existential, historical
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and analytical
assessment of the life and times
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of Jesus Christ of Nazareth:
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a diachronic and
a synchronic study.
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And then when you open the
book there are only two words:
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He won! Hay!
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Oh, I said He won.
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I said He won.
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I said He won.
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You know, I know Seventh-day
Adventists aren't supposed to
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get too happy in
worship, but HE WON!
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Amen! I said He won.
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Didn't He win? I said He won.
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I said He won. Amen!
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And because He won
the battle is over.
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Look at how He won. He
won the battle of Bethlehem.
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When Pilate attacked
Him with all of the force
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of the Roman government, He won.
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He won when He
rolled into Bethany
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straddled atop the
tank of the Holy Ghost.
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Lowered His mouth like a
shotgun at the tomb of Lazarus
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and shouted out:
"Lazarus, come forth. "
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I said He won.
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Lazarus who left life
limping came back leaping.
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I said He won.
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He won when He
rolled into the temple
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and there He triumphed over
the rabbis and the Pharisees
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and the scribes by saying:
"I must be about My Father's
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business. " He won.
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He won when He
wrestled in Gethsemane,
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when He grappled in
Gethsemane, fighting there
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inwardly what later
He would fight outwardly
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at Calvary. I said He won!
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He won that day when He
stretched His arms wide,
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looked up to the heavens, and
cried out: "It is finished. "
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Now the disciples misheard Him.
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They thought He said: "We
are finished, " and they ran.
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Satan thought He said: "I
am finished," and he rejoiced.
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Ah, but Sunday
morning was coming!
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Sunday morning was coming.
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when a blistering object seen
streaking across the heavens
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landed on planet earth and
there stepped up to the tomb
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slipped away the sepulcher
stone as one would a pebble
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and then shouted into
the darkness of death:
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"Son of God, Thy
Father calls Thee. "
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And Jesus Christ stood up
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took off their clothes of
death, disaster, and defeat.
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Stepped outside the
open mouth of the gaping tomb
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and declared: "I am the
resurrection and I am the life.
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He that believeth on
Me though he were dead
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yet shall he live. " Amen.
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I said He won.
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I said He won.
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I said He won.
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And because He won, I wish
to leave you with the good news
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of the gospel:
because He won we won.
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Amen. I said we won.
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We won! Yes! May God bless you.
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