The next project
highlights is one
00:00:19.98\00:00:22.31
that is actually--has
been tagged for our overflow.
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And it's the one day
church, the one day school,
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the one day hospital.
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And I just wanted to
take a little bit of time.
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So I'm going to
pass these gentlemen,
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just for a minute
because I want to do
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a little bit of
something with the school.
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So we're going to
take a field trip.
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We're going to go to the school.
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Come along with me gentlemen.
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We're going to
go to school today
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and I'm going to have Dick Hart,
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our president from
Loma Linda to be over here.
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Careful don't sit tooth,
00:00:56.37\00:00:57.97
okay, that's good.
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And Elder Ted Wilson
from our General Conference,
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thank you so much for
coming to school today.
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The school that we
have the one day school
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offers the
opportunity for us to reach
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and teach boys and girls not
just the education for this life
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but for an
education for life to come.
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I wanted-- I want
you to think about
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and look at a
couple of pictures,
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I just have three pictures.
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Actually, let's
hold on the pictures.
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I want to tell you little
bit more about the school.
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So this school when
you think about children
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who currently are in a
situation or in an environment--
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mud flooring not necessarily
leveled of mud walls.
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And if it rains it comes
through the thatched roof.
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They have to hurdle may be
ten children under one umbrella,
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they try and learn, is that
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the proper learning
environment for a child.
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Bare walls, no
chalkboard, how difficult,
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how many barriers
there are for them to learn,
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just about things for this life.
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But think about
the one day school
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and look at this environment.
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One that has a steel roof to
protect them from the elements.
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So they can focus and they
can learn what is being thought.
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But then look around the room--
so I'm going to ask the camera
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to kind of follow my hand
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and look at these
beautiful pictures.
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A picture of Christ
reaching down for the lost lamb
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and just imagine them thinking,
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Christ, is He
reaching down for me,
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think about the
second coming of Jesus.
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And how teachers would
reference God loves you so much,
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He's going to
come back just for you.
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What kind of hope
is inspired in children
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when they see
beautiful pictures like this?
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Then over here-- oh,
this is one of my favorites.
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When children look and say,
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you mean I can sit
at the feet of Jesus.
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I would be able to
touch one of the lions
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that we're so
fearful about today,
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that they'll be there
with me with the lamb?
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Look at Jesus
holding the little lambs.
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How precious it is to
know that there is a God,
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there is a-- Jesus is
there for our children.
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How many
children could be reached
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through one day experience,
one day school experience?
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Well class let's do the math.
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Okay, Elder Wilson I hope
you remember your timetables.
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A one day school will seat--
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will has 20 desks and
two children at each desk.
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So that's 40 children.
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So one school,
40 children, okay.
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Now, if we multiply that by 10,
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how many children are we
looking at then, Elder Wilson?
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400. 400, you get
an 'A' in my class.
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Thank you, thank you.
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Dick Hart, let's
look at 100 schools,
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how many children
could be reached then?
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It's 40,000. 4000.
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No, it's 40,000?
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Oh, is it 40,000?
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That's right.
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A 100 schools 40,000 and a 1000.
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Oh, hold on, the rest of
the class says you're wrong.
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A 100 schools, yeah times 40.
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Times 40, right.
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It's 4,000, okay.
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So a thousand
schools times 40 is 40,000.
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Thank you, class
you all get an A.
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Now I want you to
listen in and how exciting
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the one day structure is
really making life for people
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who need those this kind
of support or environment.
00:05:06.48\00:05:11.79
Dick Hart,
president from Loma Linda,
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tell us about the need
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and what kind of
people are sacrificing
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their time and energies around
the world in a one day hospital.
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Well, we're talking about
Barry Hospital in Southern Chad.
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I actually first visited
Barry probably 10 years ago now.
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And I have seen a
lot of rundown hospitals
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in my time all over the world.
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This one probably took the case.
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The main patient ward really
looks like a chicken coop--
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with it had not been maintained
for years and was in dire shape.
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When I went back
home we've been asked
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Adventist Health
International had been asked
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to take on this hospital
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by the Central
African Union Mission.
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And I went back home, he says,
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you know, what doctor
could we possibly find
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that wants to take on and
live in a place like this.
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But as we went through our ranks
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there was a name
that surfaced James Opelt,
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who had grown up and
as a missionary family
00:06:03.51\00:06:05.78
he traveled the world.
00:06:05.81\00:06:07.33
He'd told me repeatedly
00:06:07.36\00:06:08.45
"Dick I want to go where
no one else wants to go."
00:06:08.48\00:06:12.26
And so I said, "Okay,
James here's your spot."
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And he says "I'll take it."
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It was with a
little bit of anticipation
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a little bit of
guilt that we also assigned
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a Danish volunteer
nurse to the same hospital.
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And some of you
have seen the video
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done a few years
ago unto the ends,
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where James and Sarah
took on Barry Hospital
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within about a
year fell in love,
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got married, carried
their work on at Barry.
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And over that next couple years
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Sarah lost her
couple of pregnancies
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and so we're all
delighted in 2010
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to learn that she
was pregnant with twins.
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And they came back home
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at that time we had another
couple ready to go to Barry,
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old in Edinburgh
they picked up Barry.
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James and Sarah
came home and had twins.
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Went back and it's
about a year ago now.
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And started
another clinic in Mondo,
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another part of Chad
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while then
Edinburgh's carried on at Barry.
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Unfortunately tragedy
struck just before Christmas.
00:07:04.56\00:07:07.10
And both the twins
at about 8 months of age
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got malaria and Adam died.
00:07:09.47\00:07:12.69
Mariam survived but Adam died.
00:07:12.72\00:07:15.65
Last day ASI at this convention
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James and Sarah were
here with their twins,
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unfortunately Adam is now
lying in a small grave in Chad.
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I'm pleased to report
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probably for the first
time for most of you that
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Sarah is now
pregnant once again,
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and we're delighted with that
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and they will be coming
home have for her delivery
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and then going
back to carry on work.
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What kind of
challenges do they face
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working in these
kinds of conditions?
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Well, Barry sits at
the interface between
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black Africa in the south
and Arab Africa in the north.
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So it's a mixture
of Muslim cultures,
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animistic cultures,
some Christian cultres,
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tremendous need.
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Barry is one of the
poorest countries in the world.
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Inundated with patients,
Barry has gone in ten years
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from being almost
nothing to now being
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a second busiest
hospital in the entire country.
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And so as the needs have grown,
00:08:00.84\00:08:02.92
housing needs have
grown, school needs have grown,
00:08:02.95\00:08:05.39
hospital needs have grown.
00:08:05.42\00:08:06.93
And Edinburg have
invited Denis' father
00:08:06.96\00:08:09.01
Dr. Roland Bland
to join them as well.
00:08:09.04\00:08:10.73
So there're three
physicians there now.
00:08:10.76\00:08:12.63
And so we were
delighted recently
00:08:12.66\00:08:14.13
with a concept of can we
modify the one day school,
00:08:14.16\00:08:16.93
one day church
structure and use it for
00:08:16.96\00:08:19.11
one day hospitals. Amen.
00:08:19.14\00:08:21.31
And so working
with Garwin McNeilus,
00:08:21.34\00:08:23.32
we've moved down that plan
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and I'm pleased to say
that there is containers
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on the scene hours we speak
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on the way to Barry
to expand the hospital
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to provide housing for
student missionaries it becomes,
00:08:32.36\00:08:34.32
this will become a
destination for choice
00:08:34.35\00:08:36.43
for many student
missionaries to another school.
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Of course, when you
have a successful hospital
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then everything grows.
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And so there's
now a primary school,
00:08:43.91\00:08:45.29
a secondary school, a
new large church building,
00:08:45.32\00:08:48.08
all is grown as a result
of that hospital taking off.
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Amen, thank you very much for
giving that insight, Dick Hart.
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And, Elder
Wilson, we're referencing
00:08:55.34\00:08:58.27
as we are talking
about one day school.
00:08:58.30\00:08:59.96
We're talking
about one day hospitals
00:08:59.99\00:09:02.03
but it all originated with
the one day church concept.
00:09:02.06\00:09:05.48
Can you share with those
of us that are here listening
00:09:05.51\00:09:07.91
and our viewers
watching from home?
00:09:07.94\00:09:10.22
What kind of benefit,
00:09:10.25\00:09:11.36
what blessing has it
been to the world church?
00:09:11.39\00:09:14.50
We could talk about
classrooms and dormitories
00:09:14.53\00:09:18.26
and the hospitals
and all the things
00:09:18.29\00:09:20.17
that have developed
out of the one day church.
00:09:20.20\00:09:23.65
But let's talk
about that church.
00:09:23.68\00:09:25.58
Because that particular project
00:09:25.61\00:09:27.98
has been such an
incredible blessing
00:09:28.01\00:09:30.76
to many different
areas of the world.
00:09:30.79\00:09:34.06
The aspect of trying to provide
00:09:34.09\00:09:37.48
a church home for people
who don't have all the abilities
00:09:37.51\00:09:43.12
to accomplish that financially
00:09:43.15\00:09:45.51
and then to come along
and to see something go up
00:09:45.54\00:09:47.92
in one day
absolutely gives them incredible
00:09:47.95\00:09:52.88
spiritual hope in the brothers
and sisters around the world.
00:09:52.91\00:09:56.28
And it provides
them with the opportunity
00:09:56.31\00:09:58.94
to do something
about it themselves.
00:09:58.97\00:10:01.70
Because the
projects are not just left
00:10:01.73\00:10:04.54
to a group of
volunteers who come in.
00:10:04.57\00:10:06.77
The church members are asked
to be involved in the project
00:10:06.80\00:10:10.52
and it makes it their project.
00:10:10.55\00:10:12.89
Now yesterday I had
the great opportunity
00:10:12.92\00:10:14.77
of going through the
booths and looking at many
00:10:14.80\00:10:17.36
of the different
things that are being shared.
00:10:17.39\00:10:19.93
And I was thrilled
with so many of those.
00:10:19.96\00:10:23.02
But this particular
building was right there
00:10:23.05\00:10:27.35
in the one day church area
and in fact I found one of these
00:10:27.38\00:10:31.68
self starting and driving screws
00:10:31.71\00:10:35.29
there and picked it
up and took it with me.
00:10:35.32\00:10:37.71
Because it
reminds me of my wife's
00:10:37.74\00:10:40.67
and my experience in
Zambia when we were up there
00:10:40.70\00:10:44.38
trying to put one
day church together.
00:10:44.41\00:10:46.85
And unfortunately, you
know, I didn't put all the holes
00:10:46.88\00:10:49.46
in the right place in the roofs
and didn't hit the trusses right
00:10:49.49\00:10:52.08
but most of them I got,
it was an exciting thing.
00:10:52.11\00:10:55.77
The one day church has
been an enormous blessing
00:10:55.80\00:10:59.29
to the world church and
it's only the beginning.
00:10:59.32\00:11:03.00
Because plans are now in
development to even provide
00:11:03.03\00:11:06.70
a one day church to
places with varying climates.
00:11:06.73\00:11:11.29
not just in tropical areas.
00:11:11.32\00:11:13.35
So I see this as
just the beginning.
00:11:13.38\00:11:16.06
ASI has been such
a tremendous help.
00:11:16.09\00:11:18.87
Maranatha of
course, Garwin McNeilus
00:11:18.90\00:11:21.23
and his colleagues
in working with us.
00:11:21.26\00:11:23.81
The best days of
the one day church
00:11:23.84\00:11:26.44
and all of its
derivatives is just to help.
00:11:26.47\00:11:30.36
Thank you, very
much Elder Wilson,
00:11:30.39\00:11:32.07
Dick Hart for
sharing with us this morning.
00:11:32.10\00:11:34.61
A one day church
will last forever
00:11:50.98\00:11:57.67
When it brings
God's family together
00:11:57.70\00:12:05.37
We can do our part
00:12:05.40\00:12:09.69
when we give from the heart
00:12:09.72\00:12:13.91
To build a one day church
00:12:13.94\00:12:18.07
We're no longer a
people in this community--
00:12:22.15\00:12:25.33
who have aggressed such church
00:12:25.36\00:12:28.54
for many, many
years and finish the duty.
00:12:28.57\00:12:32.80
This church we muck
in identity of confidence
00:12:32.83\00:12:38.47
in the God whom we worship.
00:12:38.50\00:12:41.02
Amen. That we
worship a living God.
00:12:41.05\00:12:44.45
A one day church
will last forever
00:12:53.00\00:13:00.31
When it brings
God's family together
00:13:00.34\00:13:08.25
We can do our part
00:13:08.28\00:13:12.36
when we give from the heart
00:13:12.39\00:13:16.45
To build a one day church
00:13:16.48\00:13:23.48
A one day church
will last forever
00:13:24.68\00:13:31.40
When it brings
God's family together
00:13:31.43\00:13:38.33
We can do our part
when we give from the heart
00:13:39.73\00:13:47.53
To build a one day church
00:13:47.56\00:13:55.39
A one day church
will last forever
00:13:55.42\00:14:03.16
When we give our
hearts all together
00:14:03.19\00:14:10.68
We can do our part
00:14:10.71\00:14:15.00
when we give from the heart
00:14:15.03\00:14:20.31
To build a one day church
00:14:21.68\00:14:26.20
We can do our part
00:14:29.80\00:14:33.97
when we give from the heart
00:14:34.00\00:14:37.53
To build the one day church
00:14:39.37\00:14:42.90
Because of the Lord's great love
00:15:22.43\00:15:26.93
We are not consumed
00:15:26.96\00:15:32.15
His compassions never fail
00:15:32.18\00:15:37.07
His compassions never fail
00:15:37.10\00:15:42.32
They are new every morning
00:15:42.35\00:15:47.61
New every morning
00:15:47.64\00:15:52.88
Great is your faithfulness
00:15:52.91\00:15:58.24
Because of the Lord's great love
00:16:03.05\00:16:07.16
We are not consumed
00:16:07.19\00:16:12.37
His compassions never fail
00:16:12.40\00:16:17.11
His compassions never fail
00:16:17.14\00:16:22.15
They are new every morning
00:16:22.18\00:16:27.11
New every morning
00:16:27.14\00:16:32.32
Great is your faithfulness
00:16:32.35\00:16:35.70
When Morning gilds the skies
00:16:47.60\00:16:52.11
My heart awakening cries
00:16:52.14\00:16:56.47
May Jesus Christ be praised
00:16:56.50\00:17:01.46
Alike at work and prayer
00:17:01.49\00:17:05.53
to Jesus I repair
00:17:05.56\00:17:10.17
May Jesus Christ be praised
00:17:10.20\00:17:16.78
The night becomes as day
00:17:21.68\00:17:26.38
when from the heart we say
00:17:26.41\00:17:30.73
May Jesus Christ be praised
00:17:30.76\00:17:35.10
The powers of darkness fear
00:17:35.13\00:17:38.26
Darkness fear when
this sweet chant they hear
00:17:38.29\00:17:43.08
When this sweet chant they hear
00:17:43.11\00:17:45.66
May Jesus Christ be praised
00:17:45.69\00:17:51.46
Be this, while life is mine,
00:18:00.82\00:18:05.58
my canticle divine
00:18:05.61\00:18:10.03
May Jesus Christ be praised
00:18:10.06\00:18:13.72
We praise
00:18:13.75\00:18:14.96
Be this eternal song,
through all the ages on
00:18:14.99\00:18:22.66
We'll sing the
right eternal song
00:18:22.69\00:18:28.32
May Jesus Christ be praised
00:18:28.35\00:18:34.26
May Jesus Christ be praised
00:18:36.76\00:18:43.86
Choir gave me goosebumps.
00:18:56.25\00:19:03.41
You have no idea how good
00:19:03.44\00:19:07.11
it is to be at this convention.
00:19:07.14\00:19:12.67
Jean and I-- where is she.
00:19:12.70\00:19:16.52
I always have to
check in case she left me.
00:19:16.55\00:19:21.45
Running for the exit somewhere.
00:19:21.48\00:19:24.57
We got a lot to be thankful for.
00:19:24.60\00:19:27.07
We've just come through
00:19:27.10\00:19:28.13
two of the toughest
years of our lives together.
00:19:28.16\00:19:31.76
And it was the prayers of this
crowd that held us together.
00:19:31.79\00:19:34.86
Thank you. Special
thank you to my family,
00:19:34.89\00:19:39.80
it is written and I know
how you prayed us through that.
00:19:39.83\00:19:43.72
And to the
folks in Eden Valley--
00:19:43.75\00:19:46.48
they actually
helped me bounce back.
00:19:46.51\00:19:50.18
It's really good to be here.
00:19:50.21\00:19:53.60
Really good.
00:19:53.63\00:19:55.84
Now this morning I was
going to preach a sermon
00:19:55.87\00:19:59.56
called whatever
happened to the lost
00:19:59.59\00:20:02.01
but as you came into
the auditorium this morning
00:20:02.04\00:20:05.09
it'd become an article
in the Adventist review
00:20:05.12\00:20:07.58
and so everybody
already has the sermon.
00:20:07.61\00:20:13.07
And so we could
probably take our time
00:20:13.10\00:20:14.87
and I could get
everybody to pull out
00:20:14.90\00:20:16.21
their copy of the review
00:20:16.24\00:20:17.59
and we could
quietly read the article
00:20:17.62\00:20:20.31
and when we are
done, I'll come back up
00:20:20.34\00:20:21.71
and have the closing prayer.
00:20:21.74\00:20:24.86
I could go sit with Jean.
00:20:24.89\00:20:27.97
But I suppose that
would make for bad television
00:20:28.00\00:20:30.05
unless I would hold up one
copy in front of the camera
00:20:30.08\00:20:32.96
and very slowly pan it
for the TV audience too.
00:20:32.99\00:20:37.90
Be like 3ABN reading
theatre, wouldn't that?
00:20:37.93\00:20:40.23
I'd like to take a
look at the Word of God,
00:20:45.42\00:20:48.50
we're going to read a passage,
00:20:48.53\00:20:49.59
I'm going to pray and
then a time we have together
00:20:49.62\00:20:52.44
I want to
explore it a little bit.
00:20:52.47\00:20:54.86
It's in the Book of Jude right
before the end of your Bible.
00:20:54.89\00:20:59.21
Just before the
Book of Revelation.
00:20:59.24\00:21:01.72
It's last few verses,
00:21:01.75\00:21:04.88
verse 22 of the Book of Jude.
00:21:04.91\00:21:10.91
"And on some have compassion
00:21:10.94\00:21:15.78
making a distinction
00:21:15.81\00:21:18.97
but others save with fear
00:21:19.00\00:21:23.12
pulling them out of the fire
00:21:23.15\00:21:25.92
hating even the
garment defiled by the flesh."
00:21:25.95\00:21:31.38
Father as we've
opened the Bible,
00:21:31.41\00:21:34.74
we know in our hearts
00:21:34.77\00:21:37.75
that we're not about to
listen to human opinion.
00:21:37.78\00:21:41.76
It's the voice
of our almighty God,
00:21:41.79\00:21:43.69
our Creator, our loving Savior
00:21:43.72\00:21:46.99
and hearts are
changed by the Word of God
00:21:47.02\00:21:49.78
and it's our prayer that
our hearts would be changed
00:21:49.81\00:21:52.62
by the Word of God this morning.
00:21:52.65\00:21:56.02
Forgive my sin.
00:21:56.05\00:21:59.36
I feel like a toddler
handling the fine chino
00:21:59.39\00:22:01.82
when I come out and preach.
00:22:01.85\00:22:04.49
I have no right
00:22:04.52\00:22:06.70
except that you
call us to tell the story
00:22:06.73\00:22:08.75
of what Jesus has done.
00:22:08.78\00:22:12.23
And so it's my
prayer that what I say
00:22:12.26\00:22:14.47
would not be human opinion
00:22:14.50\00:22:15.63
but that You'd bless
me from with thoughts
00:22:15.66\00:22:18.35
from the throne room.
00:22:18.38\00:22:20.85
And that above all else,
00:22:20.88\00:22:22.16
we would see Jesus more clearly.
00:22:22.19\00:22:24.69
That we will become
a little more like Him
00:22:24.72\00:22:27.59
and when He speaks to our
hearts today from the Word,
00:22:27.62\00:22:30.01
it is our covenant with
You that we'll follow Jesus.
00:22:30.04\00:22:35.28
So take this time,
bless it with Your presence
00:22:35.31\00:22:37.45
I ask in Jesus' name, amen.
00:22:37.48\00:22:43.26
I read the story the other
day about a very successful man
00:22:43.29\00:22:48.69
who worked very
hard for a very longtime.
00:22:48.72\00:22:52.72
And he came to
the end of his long
00:22:52.75\00:22:54.75
and very successful career.
00:22:54.78\00:22:56.57
And the time had
come for him to sit back
00:22:56.60\00:22:58.47
and enjoy the fruits of
his labor, just a little bit.
00:22:58.50\00:23:01.41
Time to rest and it
was something he had earned
00:23:01.44\00:23:04.19
because he really
was very successful.
00:23:04.22\00:23:06.92
In fact this guy
was so successful
00:23:06.95\00:23:09.69
that when he got up in
the morning and looked out
00:23:09.72\00:23:11.43
of his bedroom window,
00:23:11.46\00:23:12.74
he literally owned
everything he could see.
00:23:12.77\00:23:15.68
He could not see past the
boundaries of his property.
00:23:15.71\00:23:19.35
And it's not because
he was on some large ranch
00:23:19.38\00:23:22.23
somewhere in
the state of Texas--
00:23:22.26\00:23:24.04
as impressive as
some of those ranches are.
00:23:24.07\00:23:29.07
It's because this guy had
something bigger than those.
00:23:29.10\00:23:34.24
Oh, yeah--the big
ranch is for small potatoes
00:23:34.27\00:23:36.87
compared to this
man, its matter of fact
00:23:36.90\00:23:38.69
he could get on a
horse and he could ride
00:23:38.72\00:23:41.27
in any direction for a week or
two and never leave his property
00:23:41.30\00:23:46.07
ever because this
man is Nebuchadnezzar
00:23:46.10\00:23:49.79
at the end of his
careers in Daniel 4.
00:23:49.82\00:23:53.11
"The man who quite literally
conquered the whole known world
00:23:53.14\00:23:56.24
and gave us the
Neo-Babylonian Empire."
00:23:56.27\00:23:59.03
His dad actually
got the empire started,
00:23:59.06\00:24:01.19
he managed to
conquer the Assyrians
00:24:01.22\00:24:02.88
and put an end
to their domination
00:24:02.91\00:24:05.28
of the Babylonian
people and then his son
00:24:05.31\00:24:07.29
Nebuchadnezzar took
it a little bit further
00:24:07.32\00:24:09.58
and before he
knew it he was down
00:24:09.61\00:24:10.92
to the south and to the west
00:24:10.95\00:24:12.21
and he was knocking on
Egypt's door and by the year 597
00:24:12.24\00:24:15.83
he'd been to
Jerusalem a couple of times
00:24:15.86\00:24:17.91
and utterly conquered it.
00:24:17.94\00:24:19.40
He was in Daniel 4
at the end of his career
00:24:19.43\00:24:22.36
the king of the world.
00:24:22.39\00:24:23.66
And everybody still
remembers him to this day.
00:24:23.69\00:24:26.65
In almost every
culture and in Daniel 4
00:24:26.68\00:24:29.68
after huge
success on the battlefield
00:24:29.71\00:24:31.86
and after a very impressive
reconstruction program
00:24:31.89\00:24:35.02
in the city of
Babylon-- fixing all the damaged
00:24:35.05\00:24:37.54
that have been caused
by the Assyrians hordes,
00:24:37.57\00:24:39.98
he was rightfully
proud of everything
00:24:40.01\00:24:41.79
that he'd accomplished and did
00:24:41.82\00:24:43.10
Nebuchadnezzar
accomplished stuff.
00:24:43.13\00:24:46.12
The old temples to
the Babylonian God's
00:24:46.15\00:24:48.75
that were in
disrepair, he rebuild those.
00:24:48.78\00:24:51.30
He created revival
of Babylonian religion.
00:24:51.33\00:24:54.10
He was a spiritual man
at the heart of things.
00:24:54.13\00:24:57.81
The royal palace, the one
his dad has started building,
00:24:57.84\00:25:00.48
he finished that
and according to history
00:25:00.51\00:25:02.90
he spared absolutely nothing.
00:25:02.93\00:25:04.82
He decked it out in a way
that nobody else could afford.
00:25:04.85\00:25:07.45
It was covered
with cedar and bronze
00:25:07.48\00:25:09.07
and gold and silver
and precious stones.
00:25:09.10\00:25:11.58
The average
population could not afford it
00:25:11.61\00:25:14.19
and the whole world
talked about this palace.
00:25:14.22\00:25:17.40
The city wall you've heard about
that in the prophecy seminars,
00:25:17.43\00:25:20.35
the triple wall to keep
the enemies out of Babylon.
00:25:20.38\00:25:23.26
Nobody could conquer her.
00:25:23.29\00:25:24.32
She literally sat as a queen.
00:25:24.35\00:25:25.86
A triple wall too high
for the enemies to go over,
00:25:25.89\00:25:28.57
too thick for the enemies
to dig their way through.
00:25:28.60\00:25:30.93
Nebuchadnezzar also
build an underground passage
00:25:30.96\00:25:33.97
that connected the
two-halves of that city.
00:25:34.00\00:25:36.24
If you remember maps of Babylon
00:25:36.27\00:25:37.90
and there might be one
on the back of some Bibles
00:25:37.93\00:25:40.34
if you remember it
the city was roughly
00:25:40.37\00:25:42.14
bisected by the Euphrates River.
00:25:42.17\00:25:45.01
And so he builds
a tunnel to connect
00:25:45.04\00:25:46.77
the two-halves of the
city, a real engineering feat
00:25:46.80\00:25:49.13
given the time period
that we are talking about.
00:25:49.16\00:25:51.88
They need also build
a bridge over the river
00:25:51.91\00:25:54.63
with specially
constructed pilings
00:25:54.66\00:25:57.12
that would not ware down
in the current of the river.
00:25:57.15\00:25:59.59
They were streamlined.
00:25:59.62\00:26:00.66
It was careful engineering.
00:26:00.69\00:26:01.89
And it was also engineered
00:26:01.92\00:26:03.13
so that when the river came
out the other end of that bridge
00:26:03.16\00:26:06.22
it slowed down
the current enough
00:26:06.25\00:26:07.92
that it would no longer erode
the foundations of the city.
00:26:07.95\00:26:11.17
Babylon was an
engineering marvel.
00:26:11.20\00:26:16.27
Then there was
the hanging gardens.
00:26:16.30\00:26:17.48
We've all heard of those.
00:26:17.51\00:26:18.87
That happened because one
day his wife came to see him.
00:26:18.90\00:26:21.51
"Nebe" she said
and only his wife
00:26:21.54\00:26:23.29
could call the
king of Babylon Nebe.
00:26:23.32\00:26:26.31
Nebe. Yes, honey.
00:26:26.34\00:26:28.35
"I've been
living here in Babylon
00:26:28.38\00:26:29.88
for quite a while
how do you like it."
00:26:29.91\00:26:31.43
"Well, its okay."
00:26:31.46\00:26:32.66
"But I've kind
of notice something
00:26:32.69\00:26:33.82
we're living out
here on the plains
00:26:33.85\00:26:35.41
and out here on
the plains last week
00:26:35.44\00:26:37.33
I watched our dog
runaway for five days.
00:26:37.36\00:26:40.08
I can still see him
out there on the horizon.
00:26:40.11\00:26:42.00
It's kind of
boring here in Babylon
00:26:42.03\00:26:43.77
and I'm from Persia
and we had mountains."
00:26:43.80\00:26:46.53
Now I can identify
with Nebuchadnezzar's wife.
00:26:46.56\00:26:48.94
I grew up where we had mountains
00:26:48.97\00:26:50.26
I'm living in Maryland
now they have something
00:26:50.29\00:26:51.81
there they call a mountain--
let me assure you Marylanders
00:26:51.84\00:26:54.43
that is not a
mountain, that's not a mountain.
00:26:54.46\00:26:57.18
She was lonely
for her mountains.
00:26:57.21\00:26:58.58
And so he builds the
hanging gardens of Babylon.
00:26:58.61\00:27:00.55
He gave her an artificial
mountain right in the city.
00:27:00.58\00:27:04.14
When Nebuchadnezzar was
finished building that town,
00:27:04.17\00:27:07.14
it was absolutely
stunning and it is no accident
00:27:07.17\00:27:10.23
that the world still
remembers that city to this day.
00:27:10.26\00:27:12.60
When people say
that ancient Babylon
00:27:12.63\00:27:14.57
was one of the
wonders of the world
00:27:14.60\00:27:15.97
that's almost an understatement.
00:27:16.00\00:27:18.30
It was so mind
boggling so beautiful,
00:27:18.33\00:27:21.93
so impressively engineered
that we really don't have much
00:27:21.96\00:27:25.39
that rivals it to this day.
00:27:25.42\00:27:27.16
Not when you compare
apples with apples, not at all.
00:27:27.19\00:27:30.43
And now at the end of
his career in Daniel 4,
00:27:30.46\00:27:32.65
it is time for the king to rest.
00:27:32.68\00:27:36.57
And he did what any
of us would probably do.
00:27:36.60\00:27:39.47
Took a look at what
he'd done with his life.
00:27:39.50\00:27:42.10
Patted himself on the back.
00:27:42.13\00:27:44.00
Job well done.
00:27:44.03\00:27:46.89
And honestly
what's wrong with that.
00:27:46.92\00:27:50.38
What's wrong with
knowing you did well?
00:27:50.41\00:27:52.74
Is it wrong to be proud
of your accomplishments?
00:27:52.77\00:27:55.91
Is it wrong to know
that your life was a success?
00:27:55.94\00:27:59.88
Well in many ways probably not.
00:27:59.91\00:28:01.33
I mean I have done it.
00:28:01.36\00:28:02.97
I have stood back from a project
00:28:03.00\00:28:04.22
and said that went
really well, good job.
00:28:04.25\00:28:06.48
What's wrong with
that, I mean it seems
00:28:06.51\00:28:08.29
like an okay thing to do.
00:28:08.32\00:28:11.55
Accept in this
case the Bible says,
00:28:11.58\00:28:14.13
"The moment that king uttered
a word of self congratulation,
00:28:14.16\00:28:17.83
he utterly looses his mind."
00:28:17.86\00:28:19.76
Daniel 4:29. Now,
I'm going to jump in
00:28:19.79\00:28:23.10
at the end of the story
which makes this bad chronology
00:28:23.13\00:28:25.75
and you're going to go
back and read the beginning
00:28:25.78\00:28:27.67
of the story later
to put all the pieces
00:28:27.70\00:28:29.48
together but that's good.
00:28:29.51\00:28:30.85
It means you will be doing
Bible homework this afternoon.
00:28:30.88\00:28:33.59
What I'm about to
do is bad chronology
00:28:33.62\00:28:35.38
but hopefully it
makes a memorable point.
00:28:35.41\00:28:37.99
And I only have one
point to make this morning.
00:28:38.02\00:28:40.76
Now other preachers they can
have three points in a prayer,
00:28:40.79\00:28:43.06
I only ever have one point.
00:28:43.09\00:28:44.74
I'm not smart
enough to remember three.
00:28:44.77\00:28:47.30
Daniel 4:29, "At the
end of the twelve months."
00:28:47.33\00:28:52.12
I mean after Daniel
had already warned him
00:28:52.15\00:28:53.76
something was going to happen.
00:28:53.79\00:28:55.52
"At the end of the twelve months
00:28:55.55\00:28:57.12
he was walking about
the royal palace of Babylon.
00:28:57.15\00:28:59.44
The king spoke, saying,
"Is not this great Babylon,
00:28:59.47\00:29:02.93
that I have built for a royal
dwelling by my mighty power
00:29:02.96\00:29:06.36
and for the
honor of my majesty?"
00:29:06.39\00:29:09.95
He's justifiably proud.
00:29:09.98\00:29:12.09
He's thinking
back over his life.
00:29:12.12\00:29:13.48
Hey, Nebuchadnezzar remember
00:29:13.51\00:29:15.18
what your fourth grade
teacher said about you.
00:29:15.21\00:29:17.56
Do you remember that?
Oh, that Nebuchadnezzar,
00:29:17.59\00:29:19.41
that kid is as dumb
as a bag of potatoes.
00:29:19.44\00:29:21.44
He wouldn't be in this.
00:29:21.47\00:29:22.71
He wouldn't be in the school
if his dad wasn't the king.
00:29:22.74\00:29:24.72
He's never going
to roam out too much.
00:29:24.75\00:29:25.89
You sure showed
that teacher, didn't you.
00:29:25.92\00:29:28.39
Remember you're eleventh
grade homeroom teacher--
00:29:28.42\00:29:30.46
Nebuchadnezzar
remember what he said.
00:29:30.49\00:29:33.15
Pulled you
aside one day and said
00:29:33.18\00:29:34.36
I have got a
little phrase that I think
00:29:34.39\00:29:35.74
you're going to find
useful in life Nebuchadnezzar.
00:29:35.77\00:29:37.77
Well, what is it teacher?
00:29:37.80\00:29:38.96
It's would you
like fries with that,
00:29:38.99\00:29:40.58
you're going to be
using that a lot in your life.
00:29:40.61\00:29:44.42
Remember those
people Nebuchadnezzar,
00:29:44.45\00:29:45.99
look at what you've done.
00:29:46.02\00:29:47.24
Look, you showed them all.
00:29:47.27\00:29:48.54
You did a phenomenal job.
00:29:48.57\00:29:50.11
Look what you've accomplished.
00:29:50.14\00:29:53.14
What's wrong with that?
00:29:53.17\00:29:54.90
I mean doesn't he
deserve some kind of reward.
00:29:54.93\00:29:56.75
I mean don't we
still give out a gold watch
00:29:56.78\00:29:59.85
when somebody retires
or something equivalent.
00:29:59.88\00:30:03.68
He accomplished a lot
but he did not accomplished
00:30:03.71\00:30:09.64
what God wanted
him to accomplish.
00:30:09.67\00:30:12.65
And there is the big problem
and there is my one point.
00:30:12.68\00:30:16.95
What do you mean?
00:30:16.98\00:30:18.01
God wanted him to
accomplish something.
00:30:18.04\00:30:19.33
He is the bad guy in this story.
00:30:19.36\00:30:20.83
God's now, you
follow me carefully.
00:30:20.86\00:30:23.57
No sooner did the congratulatory
words fall out of his mouth
00:30:23.60\00:30:26.99
and he hears a voice from
heavens saying that is it.
00:30:27.02\00:30:31.03
I've had it Nebuchadnezzar,
you just lost it all.
00:30:31.06\00:30:35.71
Now there's only a handful
of examples in your Bible
00:30:35.74\00:30:38.18
where God actually speaks for
Himself with his audible voice,
00:30:38.21\00:30:42.18
only a handful of examples.
00:30:42.21\00:30:44.54
On some occasions God
doesn't speak through a prophet
00:30:44.57\00:30:47.64
and He doesn't pass
along the written word.
00:30:47.67\00:30:49.48
He just takes care of it
Himself and when God speaks,
00:30:49.51\00:30:52.16
it means that
everybody reading the story,
00:30:52.19\00:30:53.96
he needs to sit up
and pay attention because
00:30:53.99\00:30:55.72
He's going to say something
of universal application.
00:30:55.75\00:30:59.24
It only happens a few
times this is my beloved Son
00:30:59.27\00:31:02.53
in whom I'm well pleased.
00:31:02.56\00:31:04.13
God Himself announces
the beginning of Jesus'
00:31:04.16\00:31:07.07
earthly ministry at his
baptism and marks Himself
00:31:07.10\00:31:11.05
the moment when a passage
from Daniel 9 is coming to pass.
00:31:11.08\00:31:15.51
He personally lets
the whole world know.
00:31:15.54\00:31:17.30
The seed of the
woman has come to crush
00:31:17.33\00:31:19.16
the head of the serpent.
00:31:19.19\00:31:20.22
God speaks from the sky.
00:31:20.25\00:31:21.73
He did it with
the Ten Commandments.
00:31:21.76\00:31:23.45
God is reviewing
the moral law of God.
00:31:23.48\00:31:25.40
Out of heaven He
let you hear His voice.
00:31:25.43\00:31:27.49
When God Himself
speaks from heaven,
00:31:27.52\00:31:30.49
pay attention on what
He's going to say because
00:31:30.52\00:31:32.44
it is not a small thing and
there is an important lesson
00:31:32.47\00:31:35.16
for you and I to learn.
00:31:35.19\00:31:37.10
Verse 31, "While
the word was still
00:31:37.13\00:31:40.53
in the king's mouth, a
voice fell from heaven.
00:31:40.56\00:31:43.67
King Nebuchadnezzar,
to you it is spoken,
00:31:43.70\00:31:47.61
the kingdom has
departed from you." What?
00:31:47.64\00:31:55.22
I'm going to loose this kingdom.
00:31:55.25\00:31:58.07
Is this that
moment you told me about.
00:31:58.10\00:32:00.20
Is this when the head of
gold is going to give way
00:32:00.23\00:32:02.61
to the chest and arms of silver,
00:32:02.64\00:32:04.02
I can't believe
it's actually come.
00:32:04.05\00:32:05.49
Is this the moment, I'm
going to loose my kingdom.
00:32:05.52\00:32:07.22
Oh, Nebuchadnezzar
you're going to loose
00:32:07.25\00:32:09.14
so much more than your kingdom.
00:32:09.17\00:32:10.75
Verse 32, "They
shall drive you from men,
00:32:10.78\00:32:14.90
and your dwelling shall be
with the beasts of the field.
00:32:14.93\00:32:17.55
They shall make you to
eat grass like an oxen."
00:32:17.58\00:32:24.05
Don't you
understand Nebuchadnezzar?
00:32:24.08\00:32:26.97
Nobody loves you nor like I do?
00:32:27.00\00:32:30.23
You don't have
these peoples' heart.
00:32:30.26\00:32:31.55
You don't really
have their loyalty.
00:32:31.58\00:32:33.23
You're not as influential
as you think you are.
00:32:33.26\00:32:35.64
They don't care about you.
00:32:35.67\00:32:37.18
Once you've outlived your
usefulness to these people,
00:32:37.21\00:32:39.65
they're going to
put you in a field.
00:32:39.68\00:32:42.41
You're not going to
go to some hospital.
00:32:42.44\00:32:43.79
A nurse is not
going to spoon feed
00:32:43.82\00:32:45.47
you apple sauce
three times a day.
00:32:45.50\00:32:47.37
You're not gonna get
sponge bath twice a week.
00:32:47.40\00:32:49.50
You're not going
to have a private room
00:32:49.53\00:32:50.87
with a TV and a play station.
00:32:50.90\00:32:52.47
They're going to stick you
in a pasture like a animal.
00:32:52.50\00:32:57.01
You don't have their hearts
00:32:57.04\00:32:58.46
because you're
not the influenced
00:32:58.49\00:33:00.23
that I intended you to be.
00:33:00.26\00:33:02.07
Don't you get it Nebuchadnezzar?
00:33:02.10\00:33:03.68
I'm the reason you
even have a kingdom.
00:33:03.71\00:33:06.08
I'm the only thing you've got
00:33:06.11\00:33:07.71
and if you don't have want
me, you don't have anything.
00:33:07.74\00:33:10.71
Oh, Nebuchadnezzar I
wish it didn't play out
00:33:10.74\00:33:12.73
this way, it didn't have to.
00:33:12.76\00:33:14.11
I have knocked on your
door hundreds of times.
00:33:14.14\00:33:16.74
I spoke to you through
that statue in the dream
00:33:16.77\00:33:19.48
and you saw my son
in the fiery furnace.
00:33:19.51\00:33:22.28
But if you don't want me,
I'm not going to force it.
00:33:22.31\00:33:24.45
The only problem
is now without me,
00:33:24.48\00:33:26.93
you don't have any thing.
00:33:26.96\00:33:29.44
I'm going to prove it.
00:33:29.47\00:33:31.52
"They shall make you
eat grass like the oxen.
00:33:31.55\00:33:35.78
Seven times shall pass
over you, till you know
00:33:35.81\00:33:37.77
that the Most High
rules in the kingdom of men,
00:33:37.80\00:33:39.61
and he gives it to
whomsoever He chooses."
00:33:39.64\00:33:43.29
Oh, don't miss the
point in that final word.
00:33:43.32\00:33:46.43
He gives it to
whomever He chooses.
00:33:46.46\00:33:50.87
Nebuchadnezzar
was chosen by God.
00:33:50.90\00:33:56.72
Don't miss the point.
00:33:56.75\00:33:58.36
Now he's going to loose it all.
00:33:58.39\00:33:59.73
And why would God do that.
00:33:59.76\00:34:00.82
I mean it seems so
severe, doesn't it.
00:34:00.85\00:34:03.17
Going to loose everything
because he said job well done.
00:34:03.20\00:34:05.51
It seems so severe.
00:34:05.54\00:34:06.64
Why does God do that?
00:34:06.67\00:34:07.70
Is it just because of his pride?
00:34:07.73\00:34:10.02
I mean that's the easy answer.
00:34:10.05\00:34:12.29
This is my kingdom, I built it.
00:34:12.32\00:34:15.56
Nebuchadnezzar speaking with
the voice of a fallen angel.
00:34:15.59\00:34:18.86
An angel kicked out of heaven
00:34:18.89\00:34:20.04
for saying the
same kinds of things.
00:34:20.07\00:34:22.26
"I will ascend it to heaven.
00:34:22.29\00:34:23.89
I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God.
00:34:23.92\00:34:26.36
I'll sit also upon the
mount of the congregation,
00:34:26.39\00:34:28.80
in the sides of the north.
00:34:28.83\00:34:29.88
I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds.
00:34:29.91\00:34:31.67
I'll be like the most high."
00:34:31.70\00:34:35.05
If Lucifer had
succeeded in his rebellion
00:34:35.08\00:34:36.98
which he wouldn't have.
00:34:37.01\00:34:38.04
But if he had, you
can kind of imagine him
00:34:38.07\00:34:39.95
walking around heaven
saying the same kinds of things.
00:34:39.98\00:34:42.29
Isn't this not the great
kingdom that I have built?
00:34:42.32\00:34:46.11
So yes,
Nebuchadnezzar is speaking
00:34:46.14\00:34:47.87
with the voice of Lucifer.
00:34:47.90\00:34:49.28
Obviously pride is an issue
but there is something else
00:34:49.31\00:34:51.86
in this story that
you and I should not miss.
00:34:51.89\00:34:55.37
There's actually
I believe a message
00:34:55.40\00:34:57.54
for God's last
day remnant church.
00:34:57.57\00:34:59.98
And there always is in
the big stories of the Bible.
00:35:00.01\00:35:02.36
There is always a message for
every generation in ever story
00:35:02.39\00:35:05.56
but in the big stories
there is usually a message
00:35:05.59\00:35:07.80
for God's last day people.
00:35:07.83\00:35:09.80
Almost always,
follow me carefully.
00:35:09.83\00:35:13.27
Back in Daniel 2
he meet Nebuchadnezzar
00:35:13.30\00:35:15.50
for the first time.
00:35:15.53\00:35:17.32
He's having a night terror.
00:35:17.35\00:35:18.67
He's woken up in
the middle of the night.
00:35:18.70\00:35:19.97
He's lying in
the puddle of swept,
00:35:20.00\00:35:21.38
his heart is pounding wildly
and he can't really remember
00:35:21.41\00:35:24.52
why he's so terrified.
00:35:24.55\00:35:26.83
Frightened in the
dark, the man who conquered
00:35:26.86\00:35:28.66
the world
frightened in the dark.
00:35:28.69\00:35:32.49
Daniel tells him
what the issue was.
00:35:32.52\00:35:33.90
He had a dream, a
dream that told him
00:35:33.93\00:35:35.58
his kingdom
would not last forever.
00:35:35.61\00:35:38.74
Then in the very next chapter
00:35:38.77\00:35:40.63
he builds an
image of solid gold.
00:35:40.66\00:35:42.35
You guys know this stuff.
00:35:42.38\00:35:43.68
He build an image of solid gold,
00:35:43.71\00:35:45.13
he's shaking his
fist at the God of Daniel
00:35:45.16\00:35:47.10
not believing that his
kingdom had to be temporary
00:35:47.13\00:35:49.74
and also not
really understanding
00:35:49.77\00:35:52.00
that he was given that kingdom
and chosen by God for a reason.
00:35:52.03\00:35:57.09
Follow the story
carefully, God allows Babylon.
00:35:57.12\00:36:01.75
He doesn't approve of everything
that happens in Babylon.
00:36:01.78\00:36:04.54
But he establishes Babylon.
00:36:04.57\00:36:06.98
When Daniel first
approaches him in Daniel 2
00:36:07.01\00:36:09.26
and tries to explain
the statue in the dream.
00:36:09.29\00:36:12.17
He says something
important that God of heaven
00:36:12.20\00:36:14.63
has given you a
kingdom Nebuchadnezzar.
00:36:14.66\00:36:16.74
The God of heaven has
given you this kingdom.
00:36:16.77\00:36:18.89
Wherever the
children of men dwell,
00:36:18.92\00:36:20.65
the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heaven,
00:36:20.68\00:36:22.57
he gave them into your
hand and he made you ruler.
00:36:22.60\00:36:26.76
You don't want to
underestimate this point.
00:36:26.79\00:36:30.12
Nebuchadnezzar
was chosen by God.
00:36:30.15\00:36:36.35
God gave him that kingdom
and He did it on purpose.
00:36:36.38\00:36:38.80
He intended that kingdom to
be for the benefit of the world.
00:36:38.83\00:36:41.83
He had a design, He had
a plan for that pagan king.
00:36:41.86\00:36:45.70
Nebuchadnezzar is
not just some pagan
00:36:45.73\00:36:47.49
who was a problem for the
children of the Israel turns out
00:36:47.52\00:36:50.19
he was supposed to
be a servant of God.
00:36:50.22\00:36:52.55
In a peculiar way mind you,
but he was a servant of God.
00:36:52.58\00:36:55.35
He's not some foreign
godless invader that got lucky
00:36:55.38\00:36:58.35
and somehow snuck passed
God's defenses in Jerusalem.
00:36:58.38\00:37:01.77
God allowed him to do that.
00:37:01.80\00:37:04.50
A pagan king
ruthlessly conquers the world,
00:37:04.53\00:37:06.90
burns down the temple,
kills the children of Zedekiah,
00:37:06.93\00:37:09.79
puts out the king's eyes.
00:37:09.82\00:37:11.56
Somehow that guy
is also chosen by God.
00:37:11.59\00:37:14.80
And I know that is
not a comfortable idea.
00:37:14.83\00:37:17.57
I know that
because Nebuchadnezzar
00:37:17.60\00:37:19.80
is the ultimate
bad guy in the Bible.
00:37:19.83\00:37:22.81
But it's not so easy in
this world to say those people
00:37:22.84\00:37:26.09
are God's people and those
people are not God's people.
00:37:26.12\00:37:30.00
After all in Revelation
18 before the final crisis
00:37:30.03\00:37:33.16
where are God's people.
00:37:33.19\00:37:34.46
They are in Babylon.
00:37:34.49\00:37:35.89
God is calling them out.
00:37:35.92\00:37:38.02
Look at the story.
00:37:38.05\00:37:40.05
The chosen people have
got to dragged away in chains
00:37:40.08\00:37:43.61
and a pagan idol worshipping
king is told by a Hebrew prophet
00:37:43.64\00:37:49.55
that God gave him his kingdom.
00:37:49.58\00:37:51.88
It's mind-boggling.
00:37:51.91\00:37:53.93
But God works with
whoever He needs to,
00:37:53.96\00:37:58.39
to save a world lost in sin.
00:37:58.42\00:38:01.00
God's will, will be
accomplished with or without us.
00:38:01.03\00:38:06.02
His message does get
out with or without us.
00:38:06.05\00:38:09.43
Nebuchadnezzar in his
own way as a servant of God,
00:38:09.46\00:38:12.16
at least he was supposed to be.
00:38:12.19\00:38:13.52
Read Ellen White's comments
Prophets and Kings, page 501.
00:38:13.55\00:38:17.38
If Babylon had been faithful,
00:38:17.41\00:38:19.63
God would have
prospered them longer.
00:38:19.66\00:38:22.79
Nebuchadnezzar in his
own way is servant of God.
00:38:22.82\00:38:24.80
Cyrus called
God's anointed servant.
00:38:24.83\00:38:27.16
He was hardly a
Hebrew, hardly a worshipper
00:38:27.19\00:38:29.65
of the true God at
that point in his life.
00:38:29.68\00:38:32.64
And then when you
first meet Nebuchadnezzar
00:38:32.67\00:38:34.44
its obvious he's not
ready for translation.
00:38:34.47\00:38:38.12
No way. Worshipping idols,
killing people, he's arrogant,
00:38:38.15\00:38:41.45
he's full of
pride, he's fighting God.
00:38:41.48\00:38:44.77
But God uses whoever He
wants to get the job done.
00:38:44.80\00:38:47.36
Because our God never
gives up on reaching the lost.
00:38:47.39\00:38:53.99
And you see the way God
patiently labors with this guy.
00:38:54.02\00:38:57.39
You see the way the
stubborn king softens
00:38:57.42\00:38:59.21
and eventually
gives his heart to Jesus
00:38:59.24\00:39:00.87
and then you find out God
actually gave him the kingdom
00:39:00.90\00:39:03.03
while you start to
see a pattern, a plan.
00:39:03.06\00:39:06.47
God's people are not
just to be found among
00:39:06.50\00:39:08.40
the genetic
descendents of Abraham.
00:39:08.43\00:39:10.13
God will use whoever He
wills to accomplish His purpose
00:39:10.16\00:39:14.47
and His people are found
all over the face of the globe
00:39:14.50\00:39:17.25
and they're
found in every nation,
00:39:17.28\00:39:18.53
tribe, tongue and
people and what He's told you
00:39:18.56\00:39:20.81
and I to do is go
out there and find
00:39:20.84\00:39:22.78
them and bring them home.
00:39:22.81\00:39:25.71
They are everywhere.
00:39:25.74\00:39:27.52
And some people say
because they're out there
00:39:27.55\00:39:29.02
and they're God's
people and they're out there.
00:39:29.05\00:39:30.68
We don't have to bring
them into the remnant church
00:39:30.71\00:39:32.59
and it's not important
to belong to God's church.
00:39:32.62\00:39:34.36
Nonsense, it is.
00:39:34.39\00:39:35.73
God calls everyday out
of Babylon and He raises up
00:39:35.76\00:39:38.37
a church in the last
days before Jesus comes.
00:39:38.40\00:39:40.86
Everybody is in
the remnant church
00:39:40.89\00:39:42.90
the day before Jesus comes.
00:39:42.93\00:39:45.17
Everybody is but
God uses who He will.
00:39:45.20\00:39:48.79
When you and I stand in
the kingdom of heaven one day,
00:39:48.82\00:39:50.78
we're going to be a
little shocked by who is there.
00:39:50.81\00:39:54.36
We will be. I mean
that's why God opens
00:39:54.39\00:39:56.55
the books for a thousand
years when you get there.
00:39:56.58\00:39:58.38
You're going to
have some questions.
00:39:58.41\00:39:59.71
I know my mother-in-law will be,
00:39:59.74\00:40:01.08
she will come out of her mansion
one morning look next door
00:40:01.11\00:40:03.53
and there I'm--
living right next to her
00:40:03.56\00:40:05.25
and she is going to be
distraught for a moment.
00:40:05.28\00:40:07.00
I have come up in
the wrong resurrection.
00:40:07.03\00:40:10.83
She want to see the books,
00:40:10.86\00:40:13.60
gonna be
shocked at who is there.
00:40:13.63\00:40:15.94
God uses Nebuchadnezzar
because Israel blew it.
00:40:15.97\00:40:21.10
She failed to be
alike to the world.
00:40:21.13\00:40:24.03
She couldn't care less
about the lost in the end.
00:40:24.06\00:40:26.67
She didn't care anymore.
00:40:26.70\00:40:28.06
And so God moves to a plan B.
00:40:28.09\00:40:29.91
He finds another person of
influence to get the word out.
00:40:29.94\00:40:33.03
God's work will never be
stopped by our in difference.
00:40:33.06\00:40:36.68
God's work will never be
stopped by our distractions.
00:40:36.71\00:40:39.96
God's work will never be stopped
00:40:39.99\00:40:41.95
by our debates or our busyness.
00:40:41.98\00:40:44.04
His work will not be stopped
if we don't find it important.
00:40:44.07\00:40:47.57
God's work goes through.
00:40:47.60\00:40:49.64
God never puts the lost on
the back burner ever, never.
00:40:49.67\00:40:56.35
In Ezekiel 16 we find
this heartbreaking story.
00:40:56.38\00:40:59.18
It breaks my heart.
00:40:59.21\00:41:01.27
God Himself tells this story
during the Babylonian captivity.
00:41:01.30\00:41:06.16
It's about an abandoned
baby that He finds in a field.
00:41:06.19\00:41:09.59
And of course,
the baby is Israel.
00:41:09.62\00:41:13.09
Ezekiel 16:4, "As
for your nativity,
00:41:13.12\00:41:17.29
on the day you were born
your navel cord was not cut,
00:41:17.32\00:41:21.22
nor were you washed
in water to cleanse you;
00:41:21.25\00:41:22.97
you were not rubbed with salt
nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.
00:41:23.00\00:41:26.53
No eye pitied you, to do
any of these things for you,
00:41:26.56\00:41:29.67
to have compassion on
you, but you were thrown out
00:41:29.70\00:41:32.10
into the open field,
when you yourself were loathed
00:41:32.13\00:41:35.27
on the day you were born.
00:41:35.30\00:41:38.84
Don't forget Israel.
00:41:38.87\00:41:41.46
Nobody wanted you but me.
00:41:41.49\00:41:44.57
You didn't amount too
much. Not when I found you."
00:41:44.60\00:41:47.56
Verse 6, "When I passed by you
00:41:47.59\00:41:50.50
and saw you
struggling in your own blood,
00:41:50.53\00:41:52.19
I said to you in your blood,
00:41:52.22\00:41:53.36
'Live!' Yes, I said
to you in your blood,
00:41:53.39\00:41:56.69
'Live!' I made you thrive
like a plant in the field.
00:41:56.72\00:42:03.05
Israel was the least of
all the people on the planet.
00:42:03.08\00:42:06.69
There was nothing
that made them special.
00:42:06.72\00:42:11.19
There were a baby
cast to side lying help us
00:42:11.22\00:42:13.28
in the field destined to die.
00:42:13.31\00:42:16.07
And God walks by and
he pities at the baby
00:42:16.10\00:42:18.20
and loves her and cloths
and raises her and spoils her
00:42:18.23\00:42:22.01
and makes to her
queen among the nations."
00:42:22.04\00:42:23.62
She is the pride of Christ.
00:42:23.65\00:42:27.27
But then shockingly someone
who is basking in God's favor
00:42:27.30\00:42:30.29
and dependent on God's
favor suddenly turns on Him.
00:42:30.32\00:42:35.63
Ezekiel 16:50 "But you
trusted in your own beauty."
00:42:35.66\00:42:42.34
As if any of us
have any of our own.
00:42:42.37\00:42:45.82
"You played the
harlot because of your fame,
00:42:45.85\00:42:47.56
poured out your
harlot around everyone
00:42:47.59\00:42:49.41
passing by who would have it."
00:42:49.44\00:42:52.30
How the unfaithfulness began
already in the days of Solomon
00:42:52.33\00:42:54.84
when the king started to figure,
00:42:54.87\00:42:56.90
he was smarter than God's plan.
00:42:56.93\00:43:00.97
They were supposed to
care about the lost Israel.
00:43:01.00\00:43:03.06
They were supposed
to win the world to God.
00:43:03.09\00:43:04.81
He put them
right in the crossroads
00:43:04.84\00:43:06.07
of the ancient world
so everybody could see,
00:43:06.10\00:43:07.99
everybody could see the
temple and the sacrifices.
00:43:08.02\00:43:10.33
They were supposed to
be a light to the Gentiles.
00:43:10.36\00:43:12.88
Reads Solomon's dedication.
00:43:12.91\00:43:14.31
He said so, as he is
praying over the temple
00:43:14.34\00:43:16.24
I pray all the
Gentiles would come here
00:43:16.27\00:43:18.04
and learn how to love you.
00:43:18.07\00:43:19.42
But that same people Israel
is so completely unfaithful.
00:43:19.45\00:43:22.62
They start putting their
children in the arms of Moloch,
00:43:22.65\00:43:25.45
God has to send them back home.
00:43:25.48\00:43:28.17
And where does He send them.
00:43:28.20\00:43:29.24
He sends them to Chaldea,
00:43:29.27\00:43:30.64
the home of
Abraham, their father.
00:43:30.67\00:43:33.13
He is sending them back home.
00:43:33.16\00:43:35.29
That had to be
very embarrassing.
00:43:35.32\00:43:36.76
It's not just any nation that
comes and conquers Jerusalem.
00:43:36.79\00:43:39.54
It's the nation
they originally left.
00:43:39.57\00:43:41.75
The baby is being
put back in the field.
00:43:41.78\00:43:43.96
The unfaithful bride is
being sent back home to dad.
00:43:43.99\00:43:46.80
And then God picks
another influential Chaldean,
00:43:46.83\00:43:50.49
who frankly is nothing
like Abraham to get the word out
00:43:50.52\00:43:54.39
about his love and
his gospel to the world.
00:43:54.42\00:43:57.40
He expects Nebuchadnezzar
to do something for Him.
00:43:57.43\00:43:59.59
That's why He tries so
hard to get so early on.
00:43:59.62\00:44:03.19
Nebuchadnezzar is
actually described in Daniel 4
00:44:03.22\00:44:05.99
as a tree that is
supposed to be a shade
00:44:06.02\00:44:08.84
to all the beasts of the
field, the nations of the world.
00:44:08.87\00:44:12.65
Tree became strong Daniel 4:11.
00:44:12.68\00:44:14.78
"It's height
reached to the heavens
00:44:14.81\00:44:16.16
it could be seen to
the ends of the earth.
00:44:16.19\00:44:17.61
Its leaves were lovely.
00:44:17.64\00:44:18.91
It's fruit abundant and
in it was food for all."
00:44:18.94\00:44:23.75
God brought the
world to Nebuchadnezzar.
00:44:23.78\00:44:25.55
I mean they weren't
getting the message in Canaan
00:44:25.58\00:44:27.64
so He establishes a
new center of influence.
00:44:27.67\00:44:30.01
He intends Nebuchadnezzar to
spark a new light in the world
00:44:30.04\00:44:32.86
that wasn't'
happening in Jerusalem.
00:44:32.89\00:44:34.31
So may be of all places,
it might happen in Babylon.
00:44:34.34\00:44:38.63
Nebuchadnezzar, you think I gave
you this kingdom by accident.
00:44:38.66\00:44:41.28
You think I was bored in heaven
one day and spun the globe
00:44:41.31\00:44:44.55
and closed my eyes
and plunked down my finger
00:44:44.58\00:44:46.57
and said who
shall I favor this week.
00:44:46.60\00:44:50.86
Don't you see I gave
you all this for a reason?
00:44:50.89\00:44:55.64
God always
bestows favor for reason.
00:44:55.67\00:45:01.06
And as the
remnant church of God,
00:45:01.09\00:45:02.69
we can never forget
that God has bestowed
00:45:02.72\00:45:04.96
favor on us for a reason.
00:45:04.99\00:45:09.47
God is not arbitrary.
00:45:09.50\00:45:11.20
He raised up this
movement for a reason.
00:45:11.23\00:45:13.31
There is something
we are supposed to do.
00:45:13.34\00:45:16.99
The children of
Israel were supposed
00:45:17.02\00:45:18.34
to be a light to the Gentiles.
00:45:18.37\00:45:19.69
They didn't do it.
00:45:19.72\00:45:20.75
They let the Gentiles
become a light to them.
00:45:20.78\00:45:22.62
So God sends them to Babylon.
00:45:22.65\00:45:24.26
They wanted to be
Babylonians anyway.
00:45:24.29\00:45:26.02
And when they get
there, He shows them
00:45:26.05\00:45:27.54
what it was they
were supposed to do.
00:45:27.57\00:45:28.93
He actually shows them
in Babylon how possible
00:45:28.96\00:45:31.66
their assignment actually was.
00:45:31.69\00:45:33.54
Because while they are
out working in the fields
00:45:33.57\00:45:35.31
and digging in the mines
and laboring like common slave
00:45:35.34\00:45:38.25
for Babylonian overlords,
the most unlikely men on earth
00:45:38.28\00:45:44.33
suddenly becomes a
believer in the one true God.
00:45:44.36\00:45:48.39
A ruthless
pagan now does the job
00:45:48.42\00:45:51.00
Israel is supposed to do.
00:45:51.03\00:45:52.95
Nebuchadnezzar, read it
carefully in his final words,
00:45:52.98\00:45:57.16
sings the song of
Moses and the lamp.
00:45:57.19\00:46:00.43
He does. Verse 34 of Daniel 4
00:46:00.46\00:46:02.56
"I bless the Most High,
00:46:02.59\00:46:03.68
praise and honor
him who lives for ever.
00:46:03.71\00:46:05.23
His dominion is an
everlasting dominion.
00:46:05.26\00:46:07.19
His kingdom is from
generation to generation."
00:46:07.22\00:46:09.63
There is the
verdict to the judgment.
00:46:09.66\00:46:10.91
He is giving it before
Daniel 7 is even written down.
00:46:10.94\00:46:14.39
Verse 37, "Now I
Nebuchadnezzar praise
00:46:14.42\00:46:16.81
and extol and
honor the King of heaven,
00:46:16.84\00:46:18.46
all of whose works are
truth and his ways are justice."
00:46:18.49\00:46:22.69
Compare that
statement to Revelation 15,
00:46:22.72\00:46:25.20
the song of Moses and the lamb.
00:46:25.23\00:46:26.50
All of his
judgments are made manifest.
00:46:26.53\00:46:30.03
A pagan king is fulfilling
the gospel commission.
00:46:30.06\00:46:33.13
He's delivering the
verdict of the judgment
00:46:33.16\00:46:35.15
and the lesson for us is
nothing we'll start God's work.
00:46:35.18\00:46:39.58
Jesus said "Do not
think to say to yourselves
00:46:39.61\00:46:41.78
we have Abraham as a father
00:46:41.81\00:46:43.71
for I said to you, God
is able to raise up children
00:46:43.74\00:46:46.40
to Abraham from these stones."
00:46:46.43\00:46:49.30
One way or another God's
going to get the message out.
00:46:49.33\00:46:51.89
And I don't about you
00:46:51.92\00:46:53.12
but I want to be
there when it happens.
00:46:53.15\00:46:55.07
I want to be one of the
people who sings that song.
00:46:55.10\00:46:57.72
I want to sing it now
and I want to sing it then.
00:46:57.75\00:47:01.53
We can't afford to loose our
focus ever as a people of God.
00:47:01.56\00:47:04.31
We cannot loose
our simple focus.
00:47:04.34\00:47:06.26
We cannot afford to
trying out guess God's plan.
00:47:06.29\00:47:10.06
God raised this church up
00:47:10.09\00:47:12.22
for a simple reason,
it's not complicated.
00:47:12.25\00:47:15.80
We're not just
another denomination.
00:47:15.83\00:47:18.20
We're a gathering of
believers from every nation,
00:47:18.23\00:47:20.46
tribe, race,
tongue and people that God
00:47:20.49\00:47:22.20
is raising up
to finish the work.
00:47:22.23\00:47:23.73
We are not just
one more expression
00:47:23.76\00:47:25.69
of Christianity among thousands.
00:47:25.72\00:47:27.36
We're not just a side
note, an item of interest
00:47:27.39\00:47:30.34
in the long
development of Christianity.
00:47:30.37\00:47:32.51
The Seventh-day Adventist
church has been raised up by God
00:47:32.54\00:47:36.36
to do something very specific
00:47:36.39\00:47:38.51
and to say
something very specific
00:47:38.54\00:47:40.54
and to be
something very specific.
00:47:40.57\00:47:42.73
And if we loose our way,
00:47:42.76\00:47:44.48
if we loose sight of the fact
00:47:44.51\00:47:45.82
that this is a
prophetic movement.
00:47:45.85\00:47:47.28
If we loose sight of fact that
the world is supposed to find
00:47:47.31\00:47:50.32
very specific
spiritual food in this tree.
00:47:50.35\00:47:54.11
If we forget the
mission and the message that God
00:47:54.14\00:47:56.61
gave us when He raised this up.
00:47:56.64\00:47:57.96
Then we too are in
danger of loosing our minds.
00:47:57.99\00:48:02.43
Because we will have
let go of the one reason
00:48:02.46\00:48:04.83
that God raised us up.
00:48:04.86\00:48:08.74
Are we in danger
of loosing our minds?
00:48:08.77\00:48:11.86
Let me ask a question.
00:48:11.89\00:48:13.43
It's not an easy one.
00:48:13.46\00:48:15.99
If a stranger stood outside
your church board meeting
00:48:16.02\00:48:18.35
with a glass to the door.
00:48:18.38\00:48:21.94
Would he able to tell
what the God given mandate
00:48:21.97\00:48:24.14
of the Seventh-day
Adventist church is?
00:48:24.17\00:48:27.92
If you gave the agenda for
your church business meeting
00:48:27.95\00:48:30.21
to an outsider and
maybe a copy of the minutes,
00:48:30.24\00:48:36.68
would that person be able to
tell what the number priority
00:48:36.71\00:48:38.95
the church is supposed to be.
00:48:38.98\00:48:41.72
Would it be
obvious that we believe
00:48:41.75\00:48:43.26
Jesus is just about here?
00:48:43.29\00:48:44.65
Would it be obvious that we
have a burden for lost people
00:48:44.68\00:48:47.08
that we're
disparate to save them
00:48:47.11\00:48:48.64
and that we lay
awake worrying about them?
00:48:48.67\00:48:50.55
Is our number burden
still for God's lost children?
00:48:50.58\00:48:56.88
Now I'm not a fan of poetry.
00:48:56.91\00:49:00.10
I know that's
surprising to those of you
00:49:00.13\00:49:01.54
who know how sensitive I'm.
00:49:01.57\00:49:05.62
There's one poem I like.
00:49:05.65\00:49:07.88
Lord Byron wrote
it, figures right
00:49:07.91\00:49:09.37
the Adventist
preachers likes one poem
00:49:09.40\00:49:11.05
and its written by a hedonist.
00:49:11.08\00:49:13.40
"She walks in
beauty, like the night.
00:49:13.43\00:49:14.82
Of cloudless
climes and starry skies."
00:49:14.85\00:49:16.57
The only reason I like that
one because I used it on Jean
00:49:16.60\00:49:18.85
when we first started dating.
00:49:18.88\00:49:20.00
And now we've been
married from almost 20 years.
00:49:20.03\00:49:22.42
That poem worked.
00:49:22.45\00:49:25.47
But as a rule I
don't' like poems.
00:49:25.50\00:49:28.05
I do remember though my first
exposure to the English poet,
00:49:28.08\00:49:30.70
John Donne, it
happened in school.
00:49:30.73\00:49:33.05
English literature class,
00:49:33.08\00:49:34.18
I hated English
literature class.
00:49:34.21\00:49:36.05
We're as usual all
staring up the windows,
00:49:36.08\00:49:38.07
the teacher droned
on, and on, and on,
00:49:38.10\00:49:41.78
and on, and in my imagination
I was visiting some other place.
00:49:41.81\00:49:46.10
Few of you are
nodding your head.
00:49:46.13\00:49:47.16
Yeah, I remember that.
00:49:47.19\00:49:49.79
And all of a sudden by 40
minutes into that lecture,
00:49:49.82\00:49:52.90
a siren breaks the
monotony an ambulance.
00:49:52.93\00:49:56.60
That's more of a European siren.
00:49:56.63\00:49:57.94
I won't try to do an
American one for you.
00:49:57.97\00:50:02.53
And everything stops
and the teacher walks over
00:50:02.56\00:50:04.18
the window and he looks outside.
00:50:04.21\00:50:06.49
And he's quiet for a moment.
00:50:06.52\00:50:07.55
We are watching
him and then he notices
00:50:07.58\00:50:09.27
we're suddenly paying attention
and he sees a teachable moment.
00:50:09.30\00:50:14.23
"Ask not for whom
the bells tolls" he says.
00:50:14.26\00:50:16.60
It tolls for thee.
00:50:16.63\00:50:19.24
Well that made us curious.
00:50:19.27\00:50:22.71
Its poem by John Donne he said.
00:50:22.74\00:50:25.20
He wrote that right after
surviving a terrible disease,
00:50:25.23\00:50:27.87
threatened his life.
00:50:27.90\00:50:29.08
It's actually a
poem about death.
00:50:29.11\00:50:30.60
Well, now we
were paying attention
00:50:30.63\00:50:32.01
because high school
boys not interested in poetry
00:50:32.04\00:50:34.41
unless it's about death.
00:50:34.44\00:50:35.57
Especially, if it might be
about the death of the poet.
00:50:35.60\00:50:42.74
So he started to
recite the whole thing.
00:50:42.77\00:50:45.61
"Each man's
death diminishes me."
00:50:45.64\00:50:47.46
Don't think
I've got to memorize,
00:50:47.49\00:50:48.80
I have it right here.
00:50:48.83\00:50:50.98
"Each man death diminishes
me for I'm involved in mankind.
00:50:51.01\00:50:54.15
Therefore, sin not to
know for whom the bell tolls.
00:50:54.18\00:50:58.71
It tolled for thee."
00:50:58.74\00:51:00.78
Then he
explained, he said every time
00:51:00.81\00:51:02.21
somebody died, they
used to ring the bell
00:51:02.24\00:51:03.89
in the church, village, church.
00:51:03.92\00:51:06.50
And everybody
wondered, I wonder who died.
00:51:06.53\00:51:07.92
So don't ask that because
every time somebody dies,
00:51:07.95\00:51:09.84
we all loose
something. It's really you.
00:51:09.87\00:51:12.44
So don't ask who is
riding in that ambulance today
00:51:12.47\00:51:14.05
because it's you in a way.
00:51:14.08\00:51:15.29
Every time you
hear that sound its you.
00:51:15.32\00:51:16.95
It's the whole human
race take another hit.
00:51:16.98\00:51:20.86
And 30 years later I
remember what he said next.
00:51:20.89\00:51:25.36
"We're all in this together.
00:51:25.39\00:51:27.39
When somebody
dies you can't say oh,
00:51:27.42\00:51:28.86
I'm glad it's not me
because in a way it is you."
00:51:28.89\00:51:33.98
When a sinner
dies without Jesus,
00:51:34.01\00:51:38.79
we all loose
something... heaven looses.
00:51:38.82\00:51:45.59
We're all in this together.
00:51:45.63\00:51:48.62
Some people
don't get that concept,
00:51:48.65\00:51:50.31
Pharisee
praying, I thank you God,
00:51:50.34\00:51:52.30
I'm not like this
other guy. He doesn't get it.
00:51:52.33\00:51:56.17
If someone dies in
their sins, we all loose.
00:51:56.20\00:52:00.11
Have you ever
noticed how Daniel lumps
00:52:00.14\00:52:01.35
himself in with
sinners when he praise.
00:52:01.38\00:52:03.14
Daniel 9 and he
didn't commit those sins
00:52:03.17\00:52:06.79
but he prayed it anyway.
00:52:06.82\00:52:08.23
We have sinned and
committed iniquity,
00:52:08.26\00:52:10.22
we have done wickedly.
00:52:10.25\00:52:11.28
He understands
we're in this together
00:52:11.31\00:52:13.11
and we all loose
some of the thing
00:52:13.14\00:52:14.65
if somebody dies without Jesus.
00:52:14.68\00:52:16.74
If somebody dies in
their sins, they're lost.
00:52:16.77\00:52:20.07
Heaven looses something.
00:52:20.10\00:52:21.13
There is a piece ripped
right out of the God's heart.
00:52:21.16\00:52:24.62
Don't go asking for
whom the bells tolls,
00:52:24.65\00:52:26.54
it tolls for you.
00:52:26.57\00:52:27.91
So how often do we
think about those people?
00:52:27.94\00:52:31.51
How often do we
still think about the lost?
00:52:31.54\00:52:35.09
I mean what would
happen if we actually
00:52:35.12\00:52:36.86
could hear a
bell ring every time
00:52:36.89\00:52:38.24
somebody died without Jesus.
00:52:38.27\00:52:40.77
What if you
could hear it happened.
00:52:40.80\00:52:42.30
A promise your heaven
hears it and they feel it.
00:52:42.33\00:52:44.55
And they know what
Jesus paid for that person.
00:52:44.58\00:52:46.65
They know exactly what's
been lost at that moment.
00:52:46.68\00:52:50.85
I wish there was a
bell but there's not.
00:52:50.88\00:52:56.71
Most days we don't even
think about those people.
00:52:56.74\00:53:00.65
Let's be honest.
I'm guilty of it.
00:53:00.68\00:53:05.52
We even sanitize the
way we talk about it.
00:53:05.55\00:53:07.50
We don't talk about
people as being lost
00:53:07.53\00:53:09.42
because that just
seems so negative.
00:53:09.45\00:53:12.41
No, no, they are
just poorly informed,
00:53:12.44\00:53:14.40
maybe spiritually impoverished.
00:53:14.43\00:53:16.68
They might be
happier and better adjusted
00:53:16.71\00:53:18.35
if they came to the church but
it's really not that critical.
00:53:18.38\00:53:23.01
That's not what the Bible says.
00:53:23.04\00:53:26.03
The Bible says they're lost.
00:53:26.06\00:53:30.05
If they just
needed more information,
00:53:30.08\00:53:31.54
God could have only sent a guru,
00:53:31.57\00:53:33.31
a positive
thinking guru that God saw
00:53:33.34\00:53:35.39
we were dying in our sins
00:53:35.42\00:53:36.64
and we would be lost
to his kingdom forever.
00:53:36.67\00:53:38.65
And so he didn't send
a guru, He sent a Savior.
00:53:38.68\00:53:42.69
Don't ever underestimate
00:53:42.72\00:53:44.33
what it will mean
for somebody to be lost.
00:53:44.36\00:53:46.32
Do not misjudge for a second
how expensive that will be.
00:53:46.35\00:53:50.09
Sister White writes,
you cannot comprehend
00:53:50.12\00:53:52.82
what a terrible
thing it is to be lost.
00:53:52.85\00:53:58.31
We don't want to say it anymore.
00:53:58.34\00:53:59.38
We don't want to say that
there is one way to heaven.
00:53:59.41\00:54:02.81
That is what the Bible teaches.
00:54:02.84\00:54:05.61
The Christless grave
is a human being lost.
00:54:05.64\00:54:11.13
There is a spot in the
General Conference building.
00:54:11.16\00:54:12.98
You stand on the
west side of the atrium,
00:54:13.01\00:54:14.59
look across the atrium.
00:54:14.62\00:54:16.10
They got all these meeting rooms
00:54:16.13\00:54:17.27
are stacked three
high and four across.
00:54:17.30\00:54:19.62
It looks like the
cages at the pet store.
00:54:19.65\00:54:22.95
Well, it does, that's what I
see when I'm looking at them.
00:54:22.98\00:54:26.42
And they are very busy.
00:54:26.45\00:54:28.19
Your church is
very busy, praise God.
00:54:28.22\00:54:31.89
But as I stand there I
think about the all the meetings
00:54:31.92\00:54:33.26
it happened all
over in our church.
00:54:33.29\00:54:36.13
Union committees,
conference committees,
00:54:36.16\00:54:37.63
church boards,
Sabbath school class,
00:54:37.66\00:54:39.95
you're Sabbath
school teacher...class.
00:54:39.98\00:54:47.73
How often do we
mention the lost?
00:54:47.76\00:54:52.12
How often? How
often do they come up?
00:54:52.15\00:54:55.51
Twenty five years ago I lived
in this terrible apartment.
00:55:01.20\00:55:06.07
It was pretty bad.
00:55:06.10\00:55:07.68
It's all I could afford.
00:55:07.71\00:55:09.97
I remember looking out
the window one morning,
00:55:10.00\00:55:11.62
it was so bad I
look out in the morning,
00:55:11.65\00:55:13.21
there was a guy who
slept in the dumpster
00:55:13.24\00:55:14.70
just outside my bedroom window.
00:55:14.73\00:55:17.30
And I will get up in the
morning and look at him sleeping
00:55:17.33\00:55:18.86
there and thinking that
at least he's not dumb enough
00:55:18.89\00:55:20.47
to pay rent for this place.
00:55:20.50\00:55:23.93
It was that bad.
00:55:23.96\00:55:27.48
And a year after I
moved out of there,
00:55:27.51\00:55:30.46
this little kid was
abducted from the playground
00:55:30.49\00:55:32.37
next to that apartment.
00:55:32.40\00:55:34.83
His mom was playing
soccer and he just disappeared
00:55:34.86\00:55:36.88
and it made national
news, international news.
00:55:36.91\00:55:38.83
It was on Americas most wanted.
00:55:38.86\00:55:41.09
The FBI took up the
case for some reason.
00:55:41.12\00:55:42.71
Obviously, it was a big deal.
00:55:42.74\00:55:45.44
I noticed something,
25 years have gone by
00:55:45.47\00:55:49.14
and everybody
quite talking about it.
00:55:49.17\00:55:50.23
About ten years out
somebody mentioned it again
00:55:50.26\00:55:52.19
they thought they found a
clue and his name came out.
00:55:52.22\00:55:54.18
For three minutes in the evening
news we all thought about him.
00:55:54.21\00:55:59.44
But his mother
will never forget.
00:55:59.47\00:56:05.06
Can a woman forget her
nursing child, God says.
00:56:05.09\00:56:08.61
They might forget but
I haven't forgotten you.
00:56:08.64\00:56:13.28
I have you inscribed
on the palms of my hands.
00:56:13.31\00:56:20.44
What if we could
hear a bell every time
00:56:20.47\00:56:21.95
somebody died without Jesus?
00:56:21.98\00:56:25.19
What if we could hear it?
00:56:25.22\00:56:27.56
Maybe we can't do that.
00:56:27.59\00:56:28.65
But what if we had
just a moment of silence
00:56:28.68\00:56:31.47
in every meeting to remind us,
00:56:31.50\00:56:34.13
why we exist and
who is not there yet.
00:56:34.16\00:56:36.93
Just a minute of silence.
00:56:36.96\00:56:41.19
That might prove to be a
iron band around the stump
00:56:41.22\00:56:43.87
that brings our
tree back to life.
00:56:43.90\00:56:48.42
Very successful
and influential man
00:56:48.45\00:56:50.42
who came to the
end of his long career,
00:56:50.45\00:56:52.04
was a very successful one.
00:56:52.07\00:56:56.56
Now it was time to sit back
00:56:56.59\00:56:57.92
and enjoy the
fruits of his labor.
00:56:57.95\00:57:00.77
He earned it.
00:57:00.80\00:57:03.12
He's so successful when
he gets up in the morning
00:57:03.15\00:57:07.13
and he looks out
the window everything
00:57:07.16\00:57:08.57
he sees in every direction
actually belongs to him.
00:57:08.60\00:57:10.98
As far as the eye can see,
he can't see past his property.
00:57:11.01\00:57:14.54
Not because he's living on mass
of ranch in the state of Texas
00:57:14.57\00:57:17.24
as impressive as that would be.
00:57:17.27\00:57:19.92
Hmm, this is bigger.
00:57:19.95\00:57:21.83
This guy could get on his
white horse and travel for ever
00:57:21.86\00:57:25.19
in any direction and
never leave his property
00:57:25.22\00:57:27.72
and that's because it's Jesus.
00:57:27.75\00:57:31.28
The man who
conquered the universe
00:57:31.31\00:57:32.73
with his unbeatable love
and a rough roman cross--
00:57:32.76\00:57:35.61
and on one particular morning
at some point in the future,
00:57:35.64\00:57:39.05
He goes looking for
someone He knows very well
00:57:39.08\00:57:41.68
and He finds him walking
on the roof of His palace,
00:57:41.71\00:57:45.75
His mansion
marveling at what He sees.
00:57:45.78\00:57:50.28
And that man
says in a half whisper
00:57:50.31\00:57:53.70
"is this not great
Jerusalem that God has built."
00:57:53.73\00:58:00.58
And then he feels
a hand on a shoulder.
00:58:00.61\00:58:01.99
He doesn't even need to look.
00:58:02.02\00:58:03.29
He knows who it is.
00:58:03.32\00:58:05.62
Lord, it's good to see you.
00:58:05.65\00:58:08.49
It's good to see
you too Nebuchadnezzar.
00:58:08.52\00:58:11.73
You're enjoying it here.
00:58:11.76\00:58:15.73
Oh, I can't believe I
thought Babylon was great.
00:58:15.76\00:58:20.21
How did you know?
00:58:20.24\00:58:23.71
Why didn't you give up on me
00:58:23.74\00:58:26.55
because I knew Nebuchadnezzar
from the moment you were born?
00:58:26.58\00:58:29.28
I knew I could save you.
00:58:29.31\00:58:31.82
And that's why I
said the whole nation,
00:58:31.85\00:58:34.65
all my people to come
get you when you were lost.
00:58:34.68\00:58:38.81
And do you know to me it
sure seems like it was worth it.
00:58:38.84\00:58:43.72
You're the salt of the earth.
00:58:43.75\00:58:46.74
But if the salt
looses its flavor,
00:58:46.77\00:58:50.23
how will it be seasoned.
00:58:50.26\00:58:52.65
There's one thing Jesus
asked us to do, just one.
00:58:52.68\00:58:57.28