Participants: Shawn Boonstra
Series Code: 12ASIC
Program Code: 12ASIC000011
|
00:19 The next project highlights is one
00:22 that is actually--has been tagged for our overflow. 00:26 And it's the one day church, the one day school, 00:29 the one day hospital. 00:32 And I just wanted to take a little bit of time. 00:35 So I'm going to pass these gentlemen, 00:38 just for a minute because I want to do 00:40 a little bit of something with the school. 00:41 So we're going to take a field trip. 00:43 We're going to go to the school. 00:44 Come along with me gentlemen. 00:46 We're going to go to school today 00:49 and I'm going to have Dick Hart, 00:53 our president from Loma Linda to be over here. 00:56 Careful don't sit tooth, 00:58 okay, that's good. 00:59 And Elder Ted Wilson from our General Conference, 01:03 thank you so much for coming to school today. 01:05 The school that we have the one day school 01:07 offers the opportunity for us to reach 01:10 and teach boys and girls not just the education for this life 01:14 but for an education for life to come. 01:17 I wanted-- I want you to think about 01:18 and look at a couple of pictures, 01:20 I just have three pictures. 01:21 Actually, let's hold on the pictures. 01:24 I want to tell you little bit more about the school. 01:26 So this school when you think about children 01:29 who currently are in a situation or in an environment-- 01:35 mud flooring not necessarily leveled of mud walls. 01:41 And if it rains it comes through the thatched roof. 01:47 They have to hurdle may be ten children under one umbrella, 01:50 they try and learn, is that 01:52 the proper learning environment for a child. 01:55 Bare walls, no chalkboard, how difficult, 02:00 how many barriers there are for them to learn, 02:03 just about things for this life. 02:05 But think about the one day school 02:08 and look at this environment. 02:10 One that has a steel roof to protect them from the elements. 02:14 So they can focus and they can learn what is being thought. 02:19 But then look around the room-- so I'm going to ask the camera 02:23 to kind of follow my hand 02:26 and look at these beautiful pictures. 02:28 A picture of Christ reaching down for the lost lamb 02:32 and just imagine them thinking, 02:35 Christ, is He reaching down for me, 02:37 think about the second coming of Jesus. 02:40 And how teachers would reference God loves you so much, 02:44 He's going to come back just for you. 02:47 What kind of hope is inspired in children 02:50 when they see beautiful pictures like this? 02:52 Then over here-- oh, this is one of my favorites. 02:56 When children look and say, 02:58 you mean I can sit at the feet of Jesus. 03:00 I would be able to touch one of the lions 03:04 that we're so fearful about today, 03:06 that they'll be there with me with the lamb? 03:10 Look at Jesus holding the little lambs. 03:12 How precious it is to know that there is a God, 03:17 there is a-- Jesus is there for our children. 03:22 How many children could be reached 03:24 through one day experience, one day school experience? 03:27 Well class let's do the math. 03:34 Okay, Elder Wilson I hope you remember your timetables. 03:39 A one day school will seat-- 03:43 will has 20 desks and two children at each desk. 03:48 So that's 40 children. 03:50 So one school, 40 children, okay. 03:56 Now, if we multiply that by 10, 04:01 how many children are we looking at then, Elder Wilson? 04:05 400. 400, you get an 'A' in my class. 04:09 Thank you, thank you. 04:10 Dick Hart, let's look at 100 schools, 04:16 how many children could be reached then? 04:19 It's 40,000. 4000. 04:21 No, it's 40,000? 04:22 Oh, is it 40,000? 04:25 That's right. 04:27 A 100 schools 40,000 and a 1000. 04:33 Oh, hold on, the rest of the class says you're wrong. 04:40 A 100 schools, yeah times 40. 04:43 Times 40, right. 04:45 It's 4,000, okay. 04:48 So a thousand schools times 40 is 40,000. 04:54 Thank you, class you all get an A. 04:58 Now I want you to listen in and how exciting 05:03 the one day structure is really making life for people 05:06 who need those this kind of support or environment. 05:11 Dick Hart, president from Loma Linda, 05:14 tell us about the need 05:16 and what kind of people are sacrificing 05:18 their time and energies around the world in a one day hospital. 05:24 Well, we're talking about Barry Hospital in Southern Chad. 05:27 I actually first visited Barry probably 10 years ago now. 05:31 And I have seen a lot of rundown hospitals 05:33 in my time all over the world. 05:35 This one probably took the case. 05:38 The main patient ward really looks like a chicken coop-- 05:41 with it had not been maintained for years and was in dire shape. 05:46 When I went back home we've been asked 05:47 Adventist Health International had been asked 05:49 to take on this hospital 05:50 by the Central African Union Mission. 05:53 And I went back home, he says, 05:54 you know, what doctor could we possibly find 05:56 that wants to take on and live in a place like this. 05:59 But as we went through our ranks 06:01 there was a name that surfaced James Opelt, 06:03 who had grown up and as a missionary family 06:05 he traveled the world. 06:07 He'd told me repeatedly 06:08 "Dick I want to go where no one else wants to go." 06:12 And so I said, "Okay, James here's your spot." 06:15 And he says "I'll take it." 06:17 It was with a little bit of anticipation 06:19 a little bit of guilt that we also assigned 06:21 a Danish volunteer nurse to the same hospital. 06:26 And some of you have seen the video 06:28 done a few years ago unto the ends, 06:29 where James and Sarah took on Barry Hospital 06:33 within about a year fell in love, 06:35 got married, carried their work on at Barry. 06:39 And over that next couple years 06:40 Sarah lost her couple of pregnancies 06:42 and so we're all delighted in 2010 06:44 to learn that she was pregnant with twins. 06:47 And they came back home 06:49 at that time we had another couple ready to go to Barry, 06:51 old in Edinburgh they picked up Barry. 06:53 James and Sarah came home and had twins. 06:56 Went back and it's about a year ago now. 06:59 And started another clinic in Mondo, 07:00 another part of Chad 07:02 while then Edinburgh's carried on at Barry. 07:04 Unfortunately tragedy struck just before Christmas. 07:07 And both the twins at about 8 months of age 07:09 got malaria and Adam died. 07:12 Mariam survived but Adam died. 07:15 Last day ASI at this convention 07:18 James and Sarah were here with their twins, 07:20 unfortunately Adam is now lying in a small grave in Chad. 07:24 I'm pleased to report 07:25 probably for the first time for most of you that 07:27 Sarah is now pregnant once again, 07:31 and we're delighted with that 07:32 and they will be coming home have for her delivery 07:34 and then going back to carry on work. 07:36 What kind of challenges do they face 07:38 working in these kinds of conditions? 07:39 Well, Barry sits at the interface between 07:41 black Africa in the south and Arab Africa in the north. 07:44 So it's a mixture of Muslim cultures, 07:46 animistic cultures, some Christian cultres, 07:49 tremendous need. 07:50 Barry is one of the poorest countries in the world. 07:52 Inundated with patients, Barry has gone in ten years 07:55 from being almost nothing to now being 07:57 a second busiest hospital in the entire country. 08:00 And so as the needs have grown, 08:02 housing needs have grown, school needs have grown, 08:05 hospital needs have grown. 08:06 And Edinburg have invited Denis' father 08:09 Dr. Roland Bland to join them as well. 08:10 So there're three physicians there now. 08:12 And so we were delighted recently 08:14 with a concept of can we modify the one day school, 08:16 one day church structure and use it for 08:19 one day hospitals. Amen. 08:21 And so working with Garwin McNeilus, 08:23 we've moved down that plan 08:25 and I'm pleased to say that there is containers 08:27 on the scene hours we speak 08:29 on the way to Barry to expand the hospital 08:32 to provide housing for student missionaries it becomes, 08:34 this will become a destination for choice 08:36 for many student missionaries to another school. 08:40 Of course, when you have a successful hospital 08:42 then everything grows. 08:43 And so there's now a primary school, 08:45 a secondary school, a new large church building, 08:48 all is grown as a result of that hospital taking off. 08:51 Amen, thank you very much for giving that insight, Dick Hart. 08:55 And, Elder Wilson, we're referencing 08:58 as we are talking about one day school. 08:59 We're talking about one day hospitals 09:02 but it all originated with the one day church concept. 09:05 Can you share with those of us that are here listening 09:07 and our viewers watching from home? 09:10 What kind of benefit, 09:11 what blessing has it been to the world church? 09:14 We could talk about classrooms and dormitories 09:18 and the hospitals and all the things 09:20 that have developed out of the one day church. 09:23 But let's talk about that church. 09:25 Because that particular project 09:28 has been such an incredible blessing 09:30 to many different areas of the world. 09:34 The aspect of trying to provide 09:37 a church home for people who don't have all the abilities 09:43 to accomplish that financially 09:45 and then to come along and to see something go up 09:47 in one day absolutely gives them incredible 09:52 spiritual hope in the brothers and sisters around the world. 09:56 And it provides them with the opportunity 09:58 to do something about it themselves. 10:01 Because the projects are not just left 10:04 to a group of volunteers who come in. 10:06 The church members are asked to be involved in the project 10:10 and it makes it their project. 10:12 Now yesterday I had the great opportunity 10:14 of going through the booths and looking at many 10:17 of the different things that are being shared. 10:19 And I was thrilled with so many of those. 10:23 But this particular building was right there 10:27 in the one day church area and in fact I found one of these 10:31 self starting and driving screws 10:35 there and picked it up and took it with me. 10:37 Because it reminds me of my wife's 10:40 and my experience in Zambia when we were up there 10:44 trying to put one day church together. 10:46 And unfortunately, you know, I didn't put all the holes 10:49 in the right place in the roofs and didn't hit the trusses right 10:52 but most of them I got, it was an exciting thing. 10:55 The one day church has been an enormous blessing 10:59 to the world church and it's only the beginning. 11:03 Because plans are now in development to even provide 11:06 a one day church to places with varying climates. 11:11 not just in tropical areas. 11:13 So I see this as just the beginning. 11:16 ASI has been such a tremendous help. 11:18 Maranatha of course, Garwin McNeilus 11:21 and his colleagues in working with us. 11:23 The best days of the one day church 11:26 and all of its derivatives is just to help. 11:30 Thank you, very much Elder Wilson, 11:32 Dick Hart for sharing with us this morning. 11:50 A one day church will last forever 11:57 When it brings God's family together 12:05 We can do our part 12:09 when we give from the heart 12:13 To build a one day church 12:22 We're no longer a people in this community-- 12:25 who have aggressed such church 12:28 for many, many years and finish the duty. 12:32 This church we muck in identity of confidence 12:38 in the God whom we worship. 12:41 Amen. That we worship a living God. 12:53 A one day church will last forever 13:00 When it brings God's family together 13:08 We can do our part 13:12 when we give from the heart 13:16 To build a one day church 13:24 A one day church will last forever 13:31 When it brings God's family together 13:39 We can do our part when we give from the heart 13:47 To build a one day church 13:55 A one day church will last forever 14:03 When we give our hearts all together 14:10 We can do our part 14:15 when we give from the heart 14:21 To build a one day church 14:29 We can do our part 14:34 when we give from the heart 14:39 To build the one day church 15:22 Because of the Lord's great love 15:26 We are not consumed 15:32 His compassions never fail 15:37 His compassions never fail 15:42 They are new every morning 15:47 New every morning 15:52 Great is your faithfulness 16:03 Because of the Lord's great love 16:07 We are not consumed 16:12 His compassions never fail 16:17 His compassions never fail 16:22 They are new every morning 16:27 New every morning 16:32 Great is your faithfulness 16:47 When Morning gilds the skies 16:52 My heart awakening cries 16:56 May Jesus Christ be praised 17:01 Alike at work and prayer 17:05 to Jesus I repair 17:10 May Jesus Christ be praised 17:21 The night becomes as day 17:26 when from the heart we say 17:30 May Jesus Christ be praised 17:35 The powers of darkness fear 17:38 Darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear 17:43 When this sweet chant they hear 17:45 May Jesus Christ be praised 18:00 Be this, while life is mine, 18:05 my canticle divine 18:10 May Jesus Christ be praised 18:13 We praise 18:14 Be this eternal song, through all the ages on 18:22 We'll sing the right eternal song 18:28 May Jesus Christ be praised 18:36 May Jesus Christ be praised 18:56 Choir gave me goosebumps. 19:03 You have no idea how good 19:07 it is to be at this convention. 19:12 Jean and I-- where is she. 19:16 I always have to check in case she left me. 19:21 Running for the exit somewhere. 19:24 We got a lot to be thankful for. 19:27 We've just come through 19:28 two of the toughest years of our lives together. 19:31 And it was the prayers of this crowd that held us together. 19:34 Thank you. Special thank you to my family, 19:39 it is written and I know how you prayed us through that. 19:43 And to the folks in Eden Valley-- 19:46 they actually helped me bounce back. 19:50 It's really good to be here. 19:53 Really good. 19:55 Now this morning I was going to preach a sermon 19:59 called whatever happened to the lost 20:02 but as you came into the auditorium this morning 20:05 it'd become an article in the Adventist review 20:07 and so everybody already has the sermon. 20:13 And so we could probably take our time 20:14 and I could get everybody to pull out 20:16 their copy of the review 20:17 and we could quietly read the article 20:20 and when we are done, I'll come back up 20:21 and have the closing prayer. 20:24 I could go sit with Jean. 20:28 But I suppose that would make for bad television 20:30 unless I would hold up one copy in front of the camera 20:32 and very slowly pan it for the TV audience too. 20:37 Be like 3ABN reading theatre, wouldn't that? 20:45 I'd like to take a look at the Word of God, 20:48 we're going to read a passage, 20:49 I'm going to pray and then a time we have together 20:52 I want to explore it a little bit. 20:54 It's in the Book of Jude right before the end of your Bible. 20:59 Just before the Book of Revelation. 21:01 It's last few verses, 21:04 verse 22 of the Book of Jude. 21:10 "And on some have compassion 21:15 making a distinction 21:19 but others save with fear 21:23 pulling them out of the fire 21:25 hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." 21:31 Father as we've opened the Bible, 21:34 we know in our hearts 21:37 that we're not about to listen to human opinion. 21:41 It's the voice of our almighty God, 21:43 our Creator, our loving Savior 21:47 and hearts are changed by the Word of God 21:49 and it's our prayer that our hearts would be changed 21:52 by the Word of God this morning. 21:56 Forgive my sin. 21:59 I feel like a toddler handling the fine chino 22:01 when I come out and preach. 22:04 I have no right 22:06 except that you call us to tell the story 22:08 of what Jesus has done. 22:12 And so it's my prayer that what I say 22:14 would not be human opinion 22:15 but that You'd bless me from with thoughts 22:18 from the throne room. 22:20 And that above all else, 22:22 we would see Jesus more clearly. 22:24 That we will become a little more like Him 22:27 and when He speaks to our hearts today from the Word, 22:30 it is our covenant with You that we'll follow Jesus. 22:35 So take this time, bless it with Your presence 22:37 I ask in Jesus' name, amen. 22:43 I read the story the other day about a very successful man 22:48 who worked very hard for a very longtime. 22:52 And he came to the end of his long 22:54 and very successful career. 22:56 And the time had come for him to sit back 22:58 and enjoy the fruits of his labor, just a little bit. 23:01 Time to rest and it was something he had earned 23:04 because he really was very successful. 23:06 In fact this guy was so successful 23:09 that when he got up in the morning and looked out 23:11 of his bedroom window, 23:12 he literally owned everything he could see. 23:15 He could not see past the boundaries of his property. 23:19 And it's not because he was on some large ranch 23:22 somewhere in the state of Texas-- 23:24 as impressive as some of those ranches are. 23:29 It's because this guy had something bigger than those. 23:34 Oh, yeah--the big ranch is for small potatoes 23:36 compared to this man, its matter of fact 23:38 he could get on a horse and he could ride 23:41 in any direction for a week or two and never leave his property 23:46 ever because this man is Nebuchadnezzar 23:49 at the end of his careers in Daniel 4. 23:53 "The man who quite literally conquered the whole known world 23:56 and gave us the Neo-Babylonian Empire." 23:59 His dad actually got the empire started, 24:01 he managed to conquer the Assyrians 24:02 and put an end to their domination 24:05 of the Babylonian people and then his son 24:07 Nebuchadnezzar took it a little bit further 24:09 and before he knew it he was down 24:10 to the south and to the west 24:12 and he was knocking on Egypt's door and by the year 597 24:15 he'd been to Jerusalem a couple of times 24:17 and utterly conquered it. 24:19 He was in Daniel 4 at the end of his career 24:22 the king of the world. 24:23 And everybody still remembers him to this day. 24:26 In almost every culture and in Daniel 4 24:29 after huge success on the battlefield 24:31 and after a very impressive reconstruction program 24:35 in the city of Babylon-- fixing all the damaged 24:37 that have been caused by the Assyrians hordes, 24:40 he was rightfully proud of everything 24:41 that he'd accomplished and did 24:43 Nebuchadnezzar accomplished stuff. 24:46 The old temples to the Babylonian God's 24:48 that were in disrepair, he rebuild those. 24:51 He created revival of Babylonian religion. 24:54 He was a spiritual man at the heart of things. 24:57 The royal palace, the one his dad has started building, 25:00 he finished that and according to history 25:02 he spared absolutely nothing. 25:04 He decked it out in a way that nobody else could afford. 25:07 It was covered with cedar and bronze 25:09 and gold and silver and precious stones. 25:11 The average population could not afford it 25:14 and the whole world talked about this palace. 25:17 The city wall you've heard about that in the prophecy seminars, 25:20 the triple wall to keep the enemies out of Babylon. 25:23 Nobody could conquer her. 25:24 She literally sat as a queen. 25:25 A triple wall too high for the enemies to go over, 25:28 too thick for the enemies to dig their way through. 25:30 Nebuchadnezzar also build an underground passage 25:34 that connected the two-halves of that city. 25:36 If you remember maps of Babylon 25:37 and there might be one on the back of some Bibles 25:40 if you remember it the city was roughly 25:42 bisected by the Euphrates River. 25:45 And so he builds a tunnel to connect 25:46 the two-halves of the city, a real engineering feat 25:49 given the time period that we are talking about. 25:51 They need also build a bridge over the river 25:54 with specially constructed pilings 25:57 that would not ware down in the current of the river. 25:59 They were streamlined. 26:00 It was careful engineering. 26:01 And it was also engineered 26:03 so that when the river came out the other end of that bridge 26:06 it slowed down the current enough 26:07 that it would no longer erode the foundations of the city. 26:11 Babylon was an engineering marvel. 26:16 Then there was the hanging gardens. 26:17 We've all heard of those. 26:18 That happened because one day his wife came to see him. 26:21 "Nebe" she said and only his wife 26:23 could call the king of Babylon Nebe. 26:26 Nebe. Yes, honey. 26:28 "I've been living here in Babylon 26:29 for quite a while how do you like it." 26:31 "Well, its okay." 26:32 "But I've kind of notice something 26:33 we're living out here on the plains 26:35 and out here on the plains last week 26:37 I watched our dog runaway for five days. 26:40 I can still see him out there on the horizon. 26:42 It's kind of boring here in Babylon 26:43 and I'm from Persia and we had mountains." 26:46 Now I can identify with Nebuchadnezzar's wife. 26:48 I grew up where we had mountains 26:50 I'm living in Maryland now they have something 26:51 there they call a mountain-- let me assure you Marylanders 26:54 that is not a mountain, that's not a mountain. 26:57 She was lonely for her mountains. 26:58 And so he builds the hanging gardens of Babylon. 27:00 He gave her an artificial mountain right in the city. 27:04 When Nebuchadnezzar was finished building that town, 27:07 it was absolutely stunning and it is no accident 27:10 that the world still remembers that city to this day. 27:12 When people say that ancient Babylon 27:14 was one of the wonders of the world 27:16 that's almost an understatement. 27:18 It was so mind boggling so beautiful, 27:21 so impressively engineered that we really don't have much 27:25 that rivals it to this day. 27:27 Not when you compare apples with apples, not at all. 27:30 And now at the end of his career in Daniel 4, 27:32 it is time for the king to rest. 27:36 And he did what any of us would probably do. 27:39 Took a look at what he'd done with his life. 27:42 Patted himself on the back. 27:44 Job well done. 27:46 And honestly what's wrong with that. 27:50 What's wrong with knowing you did well? 27:52 Is it wrong to be proud of your accomplishments? 27:55 Is it wrong to know that your life was a success? 27:59 Well in many ways probably not. 28:01 I mean I have done it. 28:03 I have stood back from a project 28:04 and said that went really well, good job. 28:06 What's wrong with that, I mean it seems 28:08 like an okay thing to do. 28:11 Accept in this case the Bible says, 28:14 "The moment that king uttered a word of self congratulation, 28:17 he utterly looses his mind." 28:19 Daniel 4:29. Now, I'm going to jump in 28:23 at the end of the story which makes this bad chronology 28:25 and you're going to go back and read the beginning 28:27 of the story later to put all the pieces 28:29 together but that's good. 28:30 It means you will be doing Bible homework this afternoon. 28:33 What I'm about to do is bad chronology 28:35 but hopefully it makes a memorable point. 28:38 And I only have one point to make this morning. 28:40 Now other preachers they can have three points in a prayer, 28:43 I only ever have one point. 28:44 I'm not smart enough to remember three. 28:47 Daniel 4:29, "At the end of the twelve months." 28:52 I mean after Daniel had already warned him 28:53 something was going to happen. 28:55 "At the end of the twelve months 28:57 he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 28:59 The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, 29:02 that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power 29:06 and for the honor of my majesty?" 29:09 He's justifiably proud. 29:12 He's thinking back over his life. 29:13 Hey, Nebuchadnezzar remember 29:15 what your fourth grade teacher said about you. 29:17 Do you remember that? Oh, that Nebuchadnezzar, 29:19 that kid is as dumb as a bag of potatoes. 29:21 He wouldn't be in this. 29:22 He wouldn't be in the school if his dad wasn't the king. 29:24 He's never going to roam out too much. 29:25 You sure showed that teacher, didn't you. 29:28 Remember you're eleventh grade homeroom teacher-- 29:30 Nebuchadnezzar remember what he said. 29:33 Pulled you aside one day and said 29:34 I have got a little phrase that I think 29:35 you're going to find useful in life Nebuchadnezzar. 29:37 Well, what is it teacher? 29:38 It's would you like fries with that, 29:40 you're going to be using that a lot in your life. 29:44 Remember those people Nebuchadnezzar, 29:46 look at what you've done. 29:47 Look, you showed them all. 29:48 You did a phenomenal job. 29:50 Look what you've accomplished. 29:53 What's wrong with that? 29:54 I mean doesn't he deserve some kind of reward. 29:56 I mean don't we still give out a gold watch 29:59 when somebody retires or something equivalent. 30:03 He accomplished a lot but he did not accomplished 30:09 what God wanted him to accomplish. 30:12 And there is the big problem and there is my one point. 30:16 What do you mean? 30:18 God wanted him to accomplish something. 30:19 He is the bad guy in this story. 30:20 God's now, you follow me carefully. 30:23 No sooner did the congratulatory words fall out of his mouth 30:27 and he hears a voice from heavens saying that is it. 30:31 I've had it Nebuchadnezzar, you just lost it all. 30:35 Now there's only a handful of examples in your Bible 30:38 where God actually speaks for Himself with his audible voice, 30:42 only a handful of examples. 30:44 On some occasions God doesn't speak through a prophet 30:47 and He doesn't pass along the written word. 30:49 He just takes care of it Himself and when God speaks, 30:52 it means that everybody reading the story, 30:53 he needs to sit up and pay attention because 30:55 He's going to say something of universal application. 30:59 It only happens a few times this is my beloved Son 31:02 in whom I'm well pleased. 31:04 God Himself announces the beginning of Jesus' 31:07 earthly ministry at his baptism and marks Himself 31:11 the moment when a passage from Daniel 9 is coming to pass. 31:15 He personally lets the whole world know. 31:17 The seed of the woman has come to crush 31:19 the head of the serpent. 31:20 God speaks from the sky. 31:21 He did it with the Ten Commandments. 31:23 God is reviewing the moral law of God. 31:25 Out of heaven He let you hear His voice. 31:27 When God Himself speaks from heaven, 31:30 pay attention on what He's going to say because 31:32 it is not a small thing and there is an important lesson 31:35 for you and I to learn. 31:37 Verse 31, "While the word was still 31:40 in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven. 31:43 King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken, 31:47 the kingdom has departed from you." What? 31:55 I'm going to loose this kingdom. 31:58 Is this that moment you told me about. 32:00 Is this when the head of gold is going to give way 32:02 to the chest and arms of silver, 32:04 I can't believe it's actually come. 32:05 Is this the moment, I'm going to loose my kingdom. 32:07 Oh, Nebuchadnezzar you're going to loose 32:09 so much more than your kingdom. 32:10 Verse 32, "They shall drive you from men, 32:14 and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. 32:17 They shall make you to eat grass like an oxen." 32:24 Don't you understand Nebuchadnezzar? 32:27 Nobody loves you nor like I do? 32:30 You don't have these peoples' heart. 32:31 You don't really have their loyalty. 32:33 You're not as influential as you think you are. 32:35 They don't care about you. 32:37 Once you've outlived your usefulness to these people, 32:39 they're going to put you in a field. 32:42 You're not going to go to some hospital. 32:43 A nurse is not going to spoon feed 32:45 you apple sauce three times a day. 32:47 You're not gonna get sponge bath twice a week. 32:49 You're not going to have a private room 32:50 with a TV and a play station. 32:52 They're going to stick you in a pasture like a animal. 32:57 You don't have their hearts 32:58 because you're not the influenced 33:00 that I intended you to be. 33:02 Don't you get it Nebuchadnezzar? 33:03 I'm the reason you even have a kingdom. 33:06 I'm the only thing you've got 33:07 and if you don't have want me, you don't have anything. 33:10 Oh, Nebuchadnezzar I wish it didn't play out 33:12 this way, it didn't have to. 33:14 I have knocked on your door hundreds of times. 33:16 I spoke to you through that statue in the dream 33:19 and you saw my son in the fiery furnace. 33:22 But if you don't want me, I'm not going to force it. 33:24 The only problem is now without me, 33:26 you don't have any thing. 33:29 I'm going to prove it. 33:31 "They shall make you eat grass like the oxen. 33:35 Seven times shall pass over you, till you know 33:37 that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, 33:39 and he gives it to whomsoever He chooses." 33:43 Oh, don't miss the point in that final word. 33:46 He gives it to whomever He chooses. 33:50 Nebuchadnezzar was chosen by God. 33:56 Don't miss the point. 33:58 Now he's going to loose it all. 33:59 And why would God do that. 34:00 I mean it seems so severe, doesn't it. 34:03 Going to loose everything because he said job well done. 34:05 It seems so severe. 34:06 Why does God do that? 34:07 Is it just because of his pride? 34:10 I mean that's the easy answer. 34:12 This is my kingdom, I built it. 34:15 Nebuchadnezzar speaking with the voice of a fallen angel. 34:18 An angel kicked out of heaven 34:20 for saying the same kinds of things. 34:22 "I will ascend it to heaven. 34:23 I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. 34:26 I'll sit also upon the mount of the congregation, 34:28 in the sides of the north. 34:29 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. 34:31 I'll be like the most high." 34:35 If Lucifer had succeeded in his rebellion 34:37 which he wouldn't have. 34:38 But if he had, you can kind of imagine him 34:39 walking around heaven saying the same kinds of things. 34:42 Isn't this not the great kingdom that I have built? 34:46 So yes, Nebuchadnezzar is speaking 34:47 with the voice of Lucifer. 34:49 Obviously pride is an issue but there is something else 34:51 in this story that you and I should not miss. 34:55 There's actually I believe a message 34:57 for God's last day remnant church. 35:00 And there always is in the big stories of the Bible. 35:02 There is always a message for every generation in ever story 35:05 but in the big stories there is usually a message 35:07 for God's last day people. 35:09 Almost always, follow me carefully. 35:13 Back in Daniel 2 he meet Nebuchadnezzar 35:15 for the first time. 35:17 He's having a night terror. 35:18 He's woken up in the middle of the night. 35:20 He's lying in the puddle of swept, 35:21 his heart is pounding wildly and he can't really remember 35:24 why he's so terrified. 35:26 Frightened in the dark, the man who conquered 35:28 the world frightened in the dark. 35:32 Daniel tells him what the issue was. 35:33 He had a dream, a dream that told him 35:35 his kingdom would not last forever. 35:38 Then in the very next chapter 35:40 he builds an image of solid gold. 35:42 You guys know this stuff. 35:43 He build an image of solid gold, 35:45 he's shaking his fist at the God of Daniel 35:47 not believing that his kingdom had to be temporary 35:49 and also not really understanding 35:52 that he was given that kingdom and chosen by God for a reason. 35:57 Follow the story carefully, God allows Babylon. 36:01 He doesn't approve of everything that happens in Babylon. 36:04 But he establishes Babylon. 36:07 When Daniel first approaches him in Daniel 2 36:09 and tries to explain the statue in the dream. 36:12 He says something important that God of heaven 36:14 has given you a kingdom Nebuchadnezzar. 36:16 The God of heaven has given you this kingdom. 36:18 Wherever the children of men dwell, 36:20 the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, 36:22 he gave them into your hand and he made you ruler. 36:26 You don't want to underestimate this point. 36:30 Nebuchadnezzar was chosen by God. 36:36 God gave him that kingdom and He did it on purpose. 36:38 He intended that kingdom to be for the benefit of the world. 36:41 He had a design, He had a plan for that pagan king. 36:45 Nebuchadnezzar is not just some pagan 36:47 who was a problem for the children of the Israel turns out 36:50 he was supposed to be a servant of God. 36:52 In a peculiar way mind you, but he was a servant of God. 36:55 He's not some foreign godless invader that got lucky 36:58 and somehow snuck passed God's defenses in Jerusalem. 37:01 God allowed him to do that. 37:04 A pagan king ruthlessly conquers the world, 37:06 burns down the temple, kills the children of Zedekiah, 37:09 puts out the king's eyes. 37:11 Somehow that guy is also chosen by God. 37:14 And I know that is not a comfortable idea. 37:17 I know that because Nebuchadnezzar 37:19 is the ultimate bad guy in the Bible. 37:22 But it's not so easy in this world to say those people 37:26 are God's people and those people are not God's people. 37:30 After all in Revelation 18 before the final crisis 37:33 where are God's people. 37:34 They are in Babylon. 37:35 God is calling them out. 37:38 Look at the story. 37:40 The chosen people have got to dragged away in chains 37:43 and a pagan idol worshipping king is told by a Hebrew prophet 37:49 that God gave him his kingdom. 37:51 It's mind-boggling. 37:53 But God works with whoever He needs to, 37:58 to save a world lost in sin. 38:01 God's will, will be accomplished with or without us. 38:06 His message does get out with or without us. 38:09 Nebuchadnezzar in his own way as a servant of God, 38:12 at least he was supposed to be. 38:13 Read Ellen White's comments Prophets and Kings, page 501. 38:17 If Babylon had been faithful, 38:19 God would have prospered them longer. 38:22 Nebuchadnezzar in his own way is servant of God. 38:24 Cyrus called God's anointed servant. 38:27 He was hardly a Hebrew, hardly a worshipper 38:29 of the true God at that point in his life. 38:32 And then when you first meet Nebuchadnezzar 38:34 its obvious he's not ready for translation. 38:38 No way. Worshipping idols, killing people, he's arrogant, 38:41 he's full of pride, he's fighting God. 38:44 But God uses whoever He wants to get the job done. 38:47 Because our God never gives up on reaching the lost. 38:54 And you see the way God patiently labors with this guy. 38:57 You see the way the stubborn king softens 38:59 and eventually gives his heart to Jesus 39:00 and then you find out God actually gave him the kingdom 39:03 while you start to see a pattern, a plan. 39:06 God's people are not just to be found among 39:08 the genetic descendents of Abraham. 39:10 God will use whoever He wills to accomplish His purpose 39:14 and His people are found all over the face of the globe 39:17 and they're found in every nation, 39:18 tribe, tongue and people and what He's told you 39:20 and I to do is go out there and find 39:22 them and bring them home. 39:25 They are everywhere. 39:27 And some people say because they're out there 39:29 and they're God's people and they're out there. 39:30 We don't have to bring them into the remnant church 39:32 and it's not important to belong to God's church. 39:34 Nonsense, it is. 39:35 God calls everyday out of Babylon and He raises up 39:38 a church in the last days before Jesus comes. 39:40 Everybody is in the remnant church 39:42 the day before Jesus comes. 39:45 Everybody is but God uses who He will. 39:48 When you and I stand in the kingdom of heaven one day, 39:50 we're going to be a little shocked by who is there. 39:54 We will be. I mean that's why God opens 39:56 the books for a thousand years when you get there. 39:58 You're going to have some questions. 39:59 I know my mother-in-law will be, 40:01 she will come out of her mansion one morning look next door 40:03 and there I'm-- living right next to her 40:05 and she is going to be distraught for a moment. 40:07 I have come up in the wrong resurrection. 40:10 She want to see the books, 40:13 gonna be shocked at who is there. 40:15 God uses Nebuchadnezzar because Israel blew it. 40:21 She failed to be alike to the world. 40:24 She couldn't care less about the lost in the end. 40:26 She didn't care anymore. 40:28 And so God moves to a plan B. 40:29 He finds another person of influence to get the word out. 40:33 God's work will never be stopped by our in difference. 40:36 God's work will never be stopped by our distractions. 40:39 God's work will never be stopped 40:41 by our debates or our busyness. 40:44 His work will not be stopped if we don't find it important. 40:47 God's work goes through. 40:49 God never puts the lost on the back burner ever, never. 40:56 In Ezekiel 16 we find this heartbreaking story. 40:59 It breaks my heart. 41:01 God Himself tells this story during the Babylonian captivity. 41:06 It's about an abandoned baby that He finds in a field. 41:09 And of course, the baby is Israel. 41:13 Ezekiel 16:4, "As for your nativity, 41:17 on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, 41:21 nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; 41:23 you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 41:26 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, 41:29 to have compassion on you, but you were thrown out 41:32 into the open field, when you yourself were loathed 41:35 on the day you were born. 41:38 Don't forget Israel. 41:41 Nobody wanted you but me. 41:44 You didn't amount too much. Not when I found you." 41:47 Verse 6, "When I passed by you 41:50 and saw you struggling in your own blood, 41:52 I said to you in your blood, 41:53 'Live!' Yes, I said to you in your blood, 41:56 'Live!' I made you thrive like a plant in the field. 42:03 Israel was the least of all the people on the planet. 42:06 There was nothing that made them special. 42:11 There were a baby cast to side lying help us 42:13 in the field destined to die. 42:16 And God walks by and he pities at the baby 42:18 and loves her and cloths and raises her and spoils her 42:22 and makes to her queen among the nations." 42:23 She is the pride of Christ. 42:27 But then shockingly someone who is basking in God's favor 42:30 and dependent on God's favor suddenly turns on Him. 42:35 Ezekiel 16:50 "But you trusted in your own beauty." 42:42 As if any of us have any of our own. 42:45 "You played the harlot because of your fame, 42:47 poured out your harlot around everyone 42:49 passing by who would have it." 42:52 How the unfaithfulness began already in the days of Solomon 42:54 when the king started to figure, 42:56 he was smarter than God's plan. 43:01 They were supposed to care about the lost Israel. 43:03 They were supposed to win the world to God. 43:04 He put them right in the crossroads 43:06 of the ancient world so everybody could see, 43:08 everybody could see the temple and the sacrifices. 43:10 They were supposed to be a light to the Gentiles. 43:12 Reads Solomon's dedication. 43:14 He said so, as he is praying over the temple 43:16 I pray all the Gentiles would come here 43:18 and learn how to love you. 43:19 But that same people Israel is so completely unfaithful. 43:22 They start putting their children in the arms of Moloch, 43:25 God has to send them back home. 43:28 And where does He send them. 43:29 He sends them to Chaldea, 43:30 the home of Abraham, their father. 43:33 He is sending them back home. 43:35 That had to be very embarrassing. 43:36 It's not just any nation that comes and conquers Jerusalem. 43:39 It's the nation they originally left. 43:41 The baby is being put back in the field. 43:43 The unfaithful bride is being sent back home to dad. 43:46 And then God picks another influential Chaldean, 43:50 who frankly is nothing like Abraham to get the word out 43:54 about his love and his gospel to the world. 43:57 He expects Nebuchadnezzar to do something for Him. 43:59 That's why He tries so hard to get so early on. 44:03 Nebuchadnezzar is actually described in Daniel 4 44:06 as a tree that is supposed to be a shade 44:08 to all the beasts of the field, the nations of the world. 44:12 Tree became strong Daniel 4:11. 44:14 "It's height reached to the heavens 44:16 it could be seen to the ends of the earth. 44:17 Its leaves were lovely. 44:18 It's fruit abundant and in it was food for all." 44:23 God brought the world to Nebuchadnezzar. 44:25 I mean they weren't getting the message in Canaan 44:27 so He establishes a new center of influence. 44:30 He intends Nebuchadnezzar to spark a new light in the world 44:32 that wasn't' happening in Jerusalem. 44:34 So may be of all places, it might happen in Babylon. 44:38 Nebuchadnezzar, you think I gave you this kingdom by accident. 44:41 You think I was bored in heaven one day and spun the globe 44:44 and closed my eyes and plunked down my finger 44:46 and said who shall I favor this week. 44:50 Don't you see I gave you all this for a reason? 44:55 God always bestows favor for reason. 45:01 And as the remnant church of God, 45:02 we can never forget that God has bestowed 45:04 favor on us for a reason. 45:09 God is not arbitrary. 45:11 He raised up this movement for a reason. 45:13 There is something we are supposed to do. 45:17 The children of Israel were supposed 45:18 to be a light to the Gentiles. 45:19 They didn't do it. 45:20 They let the Gentiles become a light to them. 45:22 So God sends them to Babylon. 45:24 They wanted to be Babylonians anyway. 45:26 And when they get there, He shows them 45:27 what it was they were supposed to do. 45:28 He actually shows them in Babylon how possible 45:31 their assignment actually was. 45:33 Because while they are out working in the fields 45:35 and digging in the mines and laboring like common slave 45:38 for Babylonian overlords, the most unlikely men on earth 45:44 suddenly becomes a believer in the one true God. 45:48 A ruthless pagan now does the job 45:51 Israel is supposed to do. 45:52 Nebuchadnezzar, read it carefully in his final words, 45:57 sings the song of Moses and the lamp. 46:00 He does. Verse 34 of Daniel 4 46:02 "I bless the Most High, 46:03 praise and honor him who lives for ever. 46:05 His dominion is an everlasting dominion. 46:07 His kingdom is from generation to generation." 46:09 There is the verdict to the judgment. 46:10 He is giving it before Daniel 7 is even written down. 46:14 Verse 37, "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise 46:16 and extol and honor the King of heaven, 46:18 all of whose works are truth and his ways are justice." 46:22 Compare that statement to Revelation 15, 46:25 the song of Moses and the lamb. 46:26 All of his judgments are made manifest. 46:30 A pagan king is fulfilling the gospel commission. 46:33 He's delivering the verdict of the judgment 46:35 and the lesson for us is nothing we'll start God's work. 46:39 Jesus said "Do not think to say to yourselves 46:41 we have Abraham as a father 46:43 for I said to you, God is able to raise up children 46:46 to Abraham from these stones." 46:49 One way or another God's going to get the message out. 46:51 And I don't about you 46:53 but I want to be there when it happens. 46:55 I want to be one of the people who sings that song. 46:57 I want to sing it now and I want to sing it then. 47:01 We can't afford to loose our focus ever as a people of God. 47:04 We cannot loose our simple focus. 47:06 We cannot afford to trying out guess God's plan. 47:10 God raised this church up 47:12 for a simple reason, it's not complicated. 47:15 We're not just another denomination. 47:18 We're a gathering of believers from every nation, 47:20 tribe, race, tongue and people that God 47:22 is raising up to finish the work. 47:23 We are not just one more expression 47:25 of Christianity among thousands. 47:27 We're not just a side note, an item of interest 47:30 in the long development of Christianity. 47:32 The Seventh-day Adventist church has been raised up by God 47:36 to do something very specific 47:38 and to say something very specific 47:40 and to be something very specific. 47:42 And if we loose our way, 47:44 if we loose sight of the fact 47:45 that this is a prophetic movement. 47:47 If we loose sight of fact that the world is supposed to find 47:50 very specific spiritual food in this tree. 47:54 If we forget the mission and the message that God 47:56 gave us when He raised this up. 47:57 Then we too are in danger of loosing our minds. 48:02 Because we will have let go of the one reason 48:04 that God raised us up. 48:08 Are we in danger of loosing our minds? 48:11 Let me ask a question. 48:13 It's not an easy one. 48:16 If a stranger stood outside your church board meeting 48:18 with a glass to the door. 48:21 Would he able to tell what the God given mandate 48:24 of the Seventh-day Adventist church is? 48:27 If you gave the agenda for your church business meeting 48:30 to an outsider and maybe a copy of the minutes, 48:36 would that person be able to tell what the number priority 48:38 the church is supposed to be. 48:41 Would it be obvious that we believe 48:43 Jesus is just about here? 48:44 Would it be obvious that we have a burden for lost people 48:47 that we're disparate to save them 48:48 and that we lay awake worrying about them? 48:50 Is our number burden still for God's lost children? 48:56 Now I'm not a fan of poetry. 49:00 I know that's surprising to those of you 49:01 who know how sensitive I'm. 49:05 There's one poem I like. 49:07 Lord Byron wrote it, figures right 49:09 the Adventist preachers likes one poem 49:11 and its written by a hedonist. 49:13 "She walks in beauty, like the night. 49:14 Of cloudless climes and starry skies." 49:16 The only reason I like that one because I used it on Jean 49:18 when we first started dating. 49:20 And now we've been married from almost 20 years. 49:22 That poem worked. 49:25 But as a rule I don't' like poems. 49:28 I do remember though my first exposure to the English poet, 49:30 John Donne, it happened in school. 49:33 English literature class, 49:34 I hated English literature class. 49:36 We're as usual all staring up the windows, 49:38 the teacher droned on, and on, and on, 49:41 and on, and in my imagination I was visiting some other place. 49:46 Few of you are nodding your head. 49:47 Yeah, I remember that. 49:49 And all of a sudden by 40 minutes into that lecture, 49:52 a siren breaks the monotony an ambulance. 49:56 That's more of a European siren. 49:57 I won't try to do an American one for you. 50:02 And everything stops and the teacher walks over 50:04 the window and he looks outside. 50:06 And he's quiet for a moment. 50:07 We are watching him and then he notices 50:09 we're suddenly paying attention and he sees a teachable moment. 50:14 "Ask not for whom the bells tolls" he says. 50:16 It tolls for thee. 50:19 Well that made us curious. 50:22 Its poem by John Donne he said. 50:25 He wrote that right after surviving a terrible disease, 50:27 threatened his life. 50:29 It's actually a poem about death. 50:30 Well, now we were paying attention 50:32 because high school boys not interested in poetry 50:34 unless it's about death. 50:35 Especially, if it might be about the death of the poet. 50:42 So he started to recite the whole thing. 50:45 "Each man's death diminishes me." 50:47 Don't think I've got to memorize, 50:48 I have it right here. 50:51 "Each man death diminishes me for I'm involved in mankind. 50:54 Therefore, sin not to know for whom the bell tolls. 50:58 It tolled for thee." 51:00 Then he explained, he said every time 51:02 somebody died, they used to ring the bell 51:03 in the church, village, church. 51:06 And everybody wondered, I wonder who died. 51:07 So don't ask that because every time somebody dies, 51:09 we all loose something. It's really you. 51:12 So don't ask who is riding in that ambulance today 51:14 because it's you in a way. 51:15 Every time you hear that sound its you. 51:16 It's the whole human race take another hit. 51:20 And 30 years later I remember what he said next. 51:25 "We're all in this together. 51:27 When somebody dies you can't say oh, 51:28 I'm glad it's not me because in a way it is you." 51:34 When a sinner dies without Jesus, 51:38 we all loose something... heaven looses. 51:45 We're all in this together. 51:48 Some people don't get that concept, 51:50 Pharisee praying, I thank you God, 51:52 I'm not like this other guy. He doesn't get it. 51:56 If someone dies in their sins, we all loose. 52:00 Have you ever noticed how Daniel lumps 52:01 himself in with sinners when he praise. 52:03 Daniel 9 and he didn't commit those sins 52:06 but he prayed it anyway. 52:08 We have sinned and committed iniquity, 52:10 we have done wickedly. 52:11 He understands we're in this together 52:13 and we all loose some of the thing 52:14 if somebody dies without Jesus. 52:16 If somebody dies in their sins, they're lost. 52:20 Heaven looses something. 52:21 There is a piece ripped right out of the God's heart. 52:24 Don't go asking for whom the bells tolls, 52:26 it tolls for you. 52:27 So how often do we think about those people? 52:31 How often do we still think about the lost? 52:35 I mean what would happen if we actually 52:36 could hear a bell ring every time 52:38 somebody died without Jesus. 52:40 What if you could hear it happened. 52:42 A promise your heaven hears it and they feel it. 52:44 And they know what Jesus paid for that person. 52:46 They know exactly what's been lost at that moment. 52:50 I wish there was a bell but there's not. 52:56 Most days we don't even think about those people. 53:00 Let's be honest. I'm guilty of it. 53:05 We even sanitize the way we talk about it. 53:07 We don't talk about people as being lost 53:09 because that just seems so negative. 53:12 No, no, they are just poorly informed, 53:14 maybe spiritually impoverished. 53:16 They might be happier and better adjusted 53:18 if they came to the church but it's really not that critical. 53:23 That's not what the Bible says. 53:26 The Bible says they're lost. 53:30 If they just needed more information, 53:31 God could have only sent a guru, 53:33 a positive thinking guru that God saw 53:35 we were dying in our sins 53:36 and we would be lost to his kingdom forever. 53:38 And so he didn't send a guru, He sent a Savior. 53:42 Don't ever underestimate 53:44 what it will mean for somebody to be lost. 53:46 Do not misjudge for a second how expensive that will be. 53:50 Sister White writes, you cannot comprehend 53:52 what a terrible thing it is to be lost. 53:58 We don't want to say it anymore. 53:59 We don't want to say that there is one way to heaven. 54:02 That is what the Bible teaches. 54:05 The Christless grave is a human being lost. 54:11 There is a spot in the General Conference building. 54:13 You stand on the west side of the atrium, 54:14 look across the atrium. 54:16 They got all these meeting rooms 54:17 are stacked three high and four across. 54:19 It looks like the cages at the pet store. 54:22 Well, it does, that's what I see when I'm looking at them. 54:26 And they are very busy. 54:28 Your church is very busy, praise God. 54:31 But as I stand there I think about the all the meetings 54:33 it happened all over in our church. 54:36 Union committees, conference committees, 54:37 church boards, Sabbath school class, 54:39 you're Sabbath school teacher...class. 54:47 How often do we mention the lost? 54:52 How often? How often do they come up? 55:01 Twenty five years ago I lived in this terrible apartment. 55:06 It was pretty bad. 55:07 It's all I could afford. 55:10 I remember looking out the window one morning, 55:11 it was so bad I look out in the morning, 55:13 there was a guy who slept in the dumpster 55:14 just outside my bedroom window. 55:17 And I will get up in the morning and look at him sleeping 55:18 there and thinking that at least he's not dumb enough 55:20 to pay rent for this place. 55:23 It was that bad. 55:27 And a year after I moved out of there, 55:30 this little kid was abducted from the playground 55:32 next to that apartment. 55:34 His mom was playing soccer and he just disappeared 55:36 and it made national news, international news. 55:38 It was on Americas most wanted. 55:41 The FBI took up the case for some reason. 55:42 Obviously, it was a big deal. 55:45 I noticed something, 25 years have gone by 55:49 and everybody quite talking about it. 55:50 About ten years out somebody mentioned it again 55:52 they thought they found a clue and his name came out. 55:54 For three minutes in the evening news we all thought about him. 55:59 But his mother will never forget. 56:05 Can a woman forget her nursing child, God says. 56:08 They might forget but I haven't forgotten you. 56:13 I have you inscribed on the palms of my hands. 56:20 What if we could hear a bell every time 56:21 somebody died without Jesus? 56:25 What if we could hear it? 56:27 Maybe we can't do that. 56:28 But what if we had just a moment of silence 56:31 in every meeting to remind us, 56:34 why we exist and who is not there yet. 56:36 Just a minute of silence. 56:41 That might prove to be a iron band around the stump 56:43 that brings our tree back to life. 56:48 Very successful and influential man 56:50 who came to the end of his long career, 56:52 was a very successful one. 56:56 Now it was time to sit back 56:57 and enjoy the fruits of his labor. 57:00 He earned it. 57:03 He's so successful when he gets up in the morning 57:07 and he looks out the window everything 57:08 he sees in every direction actually belongs to him. 57:11 As far as the eye can see, he can't see past his property. 57:14 Not because he's living on mass of ranch in the state of Texas 57:17 as impressive as that would be. 57:19 Hmm, this is bigger. 57:21 This guy could get on his white horse and travel for ever 57:25 in any direction and never leave his property 57:27 and that's because it's Jesus. 57:31 The man who conquered the universe 57:32 with his unbeatable love and a rough roman cross-- 57:35 and on one particular morning at some point in the future, 57:39 He goes looking for someone He knows very well 57:41 and He finds him walking on the roof of His palace, 57:45 His mansion marveling at what He sees. 57:50 And that man says in a half whisper 57:53 "is this not great Jerusalem that God has built." 58:00 And then he feels a hand on a shoulder. 58:02 He doesn't even need to look. 58:03 He knows who it is. 58:05 Lord, it's good to see you. 58:08 It's good to see you too Nebuchadnezzar. 58:11 You're enjoying it here. 58:15 Oh, I can't believe I thought Babylon was great. 58:20 How did you know? 58:23 Why didn't you give up on me 58:26 because I knew Nebuchadnezzar from the moment you were born? 58:29 I knew I could save you. 58:31 And that's why I said the whole nation, 58:34 all my people to come get you when you were lost. 58:38 And do you know to me it sure seems like it was worth it. 58:43 You're the salt of the earth. 58:46 But if the salt looses its flavor, 58:50 how will it be seasoned. 58:52 There's one thing Jesus asked us to do, just one. |
Revised 2014-12-17