Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
from the 3ABN Worship Center.
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The Great
Controversy with John Bradshaw.
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Welcome to the 3ABN Worship
Center for the fifth and final
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message of Pastor
John Bradshaw's series on
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The Great Controversy.
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We were tremendously
blessed last meeting as he spoke
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of the great controversy
and the context of how we're
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nearing the end.
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But this final meeting,
the message is entitled,
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The Great
Controversy Ended, Home At Last.
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Soon and very soon,
we're going to see the King.
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Can you say amen to that?
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You know, you may have heard
this story about a little boy
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who had become accustom to
listening to the Cuckoo Clock
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that his father had bought.
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He would always
listen as it chimed.
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And one night at midnight,
he counted every time the
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clock struck and he was hearing
the clings and the clangs.
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And he counted to twelve.
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And the clock was
broken and it kept on clanging.
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And it went to
thirteen and fourteen.
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And he ran to his
father's room and said,
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"Dad, it's later than
it has every been before."
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Well friends, it truly is later
than it has ever been before.
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We are nearing the end of our
great controversy in the world
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and we can look forward
soon to the coming of our
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Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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So stay tuned as Pastor Bradshaw
will bring the final message
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in this series.
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We're also going to
have some wonderful music by
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our Production
Manager, Pastor C.A. Murray;
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my good friend and
colleague in ministry.
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And the message that Pastor
Bradshaw is going to bring
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is going to tell
the world we're nearing
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the end of the controversy.
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And the song that
is going to be sung is,
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I Will Tell The World.
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I'll tell the world
that I am a Christian.
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I am not ashamed.
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And that's the message Pastor
C.A. is going to bring us.
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But before any of that,
let's go to the Lord in prayer.
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Our gracious Father in heaven,
thank You so much for the
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opportunity to come to
You, not only in prayer, but to
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receive the edict and
receive the instruction,
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and to follow it.
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And to know that as
these seeds are being planted,
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that hearts are being fertilized
for the reception of the gospel,
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for the acceptance of Jesus, for
the furtherance of Your work,
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for the closing of Your work.
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We do pray, Father, that there
be an anointing on this message,
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an anointing on the
speaker, and an anointing on
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he who will
minister to us through music,
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Pastor C.A. Murray.
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May these meetings
honor and glorify Your name.
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We pray in Christ's name, amen.
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Now I'd like to welcome
Pastor C.A. Murray to come
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and bless us with that song,
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I'll Tell The World
That I'm A Christian.
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Following this song,
the next voice you'll hear
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is that of Pastor John Bradshaw.
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I'll tell the world
that I'm a Christian;
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I'm not ashamed
His name to bear.
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I'll tell the world
that I'm a Christian;
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I'll take Him with me anywhere.
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I'll tell the
world how Jesus saved me,
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and how He gave
me a life brand new.
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And I know that
if you trust Him,
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that all He gave
me He'll give to you.
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I'll tell the world
that He's my Savior;
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no other one could love me so.
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My life, my all is His forever;
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and where He leads me I will go.
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I'll tell the
world Jesus is coming;
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and it may be
near or far, far away.
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But we've got to
live as if His coming
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could be tomorrow or today.
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For when He
comes and life is over,
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for those who love
Him there's more to be.
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Eyes have never seen the wonders
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that He's
preparing for you and me.
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Go tell the world
that you're a Christian;
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don't be ashamed
His name to bear.
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Just tell the world
that you are a Christian;
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and take Him
with you everywhere.
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I'll tell the
world how Jesus saved me,
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and how He gave
me a life brand new.
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And I know that
if you trust Him,
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that all He gave to
me He'll give to you.
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I'll tell the world
that I'm a Christian;
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I'm not ashamed
His name to bear.
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I'll tell the world
that I'm a Christian;
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I'll take Him with me anywhere.
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I'll take Him with me anywhere.
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Well thank you,
thank you so very much.
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Afternoon, everybody.
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I have to tell you, I
have a couple of CD's in my car
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that I'm fond of playing.
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One is by a fellow
named John Lomacang.
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And another is
by one C.A. Murray.
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And I've about worn them out.
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That's the reason I've
come to 3ABN this weekend.
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I need to get me some more CD's.
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Replace the worn out ones.
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Yea, thank you.
I appreciate that.
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I appreciate not only
the Bible centric nature of
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these gentlemen, but I
appreciate that they can sing.
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And they warm my heart.
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So I'm very, very thankful.
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Well, what a blessing to
be able to come back and share
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once again on this
series on the subject
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of the great controversy.
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What a blessing.
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You know, I made a mistake.
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I have it with me, but not here.
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I brought it all
the way from California.
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At my office at It Is
Written, I keep the copy of
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The Great Controversy that
I read that changed my life.
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Now understand, in
case you're catching this
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for the first time, when
I say we're talking about
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the great controversy,
this is not an exposé
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or whatever on the book.
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It's on the biblical theme.
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The great central
theme of Scripture is
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the great controversy.
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However, there was a book
written about this controversy
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many years ago.
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And I was fortunate
enough to come into possession
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of a copy of
that book three times.
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The third time, I read it.
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And I have the
book, I brought it.
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I wanted to show it to
you. I'm very fond of it.
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It changed my life.
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Then I forgot to
bring it out here.
00:09:06.92\00:09:08.12
Well, worse things could happen.
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It's a little beat up now
because I left it one place
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and there was a window
open and it rained on it.
00:09:13.42\00:09:15.82
It swelled up a little bit.
00:09:16.41\00:09:17.88
But that's alright.
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May of us have swelled up
a little bit over the years.
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And we're still okay.
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But it's still a
book that has moved me.
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I was living in London, England.
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I was just there temporarily,
I'm not from England.
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But I was living in
London, England and I came into
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possession of this book.
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And I read it in a bath
tub and it changed my...
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But the bath tub was full.
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I don't just go climbing
into bath tubs to read books.
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I was in there having a bath.
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And I read that
book while I bathed.
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And it helped me get clean.
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It's such a wonderful book.
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I would encourage you,
when we consider this subject of
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the great controversy,
to do everything you can
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to get your hands on the
book, The Great Controversy.
00:10:03.33\00:10:08.92
It's not that hard to find.
00:10:10.65\00:10:12.51
And if you want to get yourself
a copy of The Great Controversy,
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and read that book.
00:10:17.36\00:10:18.83
If you have read it but it's
been a while, read it again.
00:10:18.86\00:10:24.91
I learned
something reading that book.
00:10:25.35\00:10:26.79
The Great Controversy starts
back about the time of the
00:10:26.82\00:10:29.76
destruction of Jerusalem.
00:10:29.79\00:10:31.46
And then traces
history down through time
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beyond our time,
about to the time of the
00:10:34.47\00:10:36.86
second coming of Jesus.
00:10:36.87\00:10:38.25
Well, in fact, beyond that.
00:10:38.78\00:10:39.87
Because it goes through
the millennium and so on,
00:10:39.88\00:10:41.31
back to the time when
the earth is made new.
00:10:41.34\00:10:43.30
The first time I read that book,
I discovered the first half
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of it was history, the
second half of it was prophecy.
00:10:47.01\00:10:49.82
And then the
second time I read it,
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that history really came alive.
00:10:52.58\00:10:54.07
And about the third time
I read it, I realized that
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the history is prophecy.
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The history itself is
prophecy, because history
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has a habit of repeating.
00:11:02.01\00:11:03.02
That's all history can do.
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And as you read and you
learn some of the lessons
00:11:04.87\00:11:08.68
that are shared in the
history aspect of the book
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The Great Controversy,
you would see, I believe, that
00:11:12.50\00:11:14.97
God is looking forward and
saying, "If you want to know
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what's coming, look
at what's already been."
00:11:18.41\00:11:20.46
Now don't draw
too tight a bow there.
00:11:20.49\00:11:23.09
I'm not talking about
every syllable and every action.
00:11:23.10\00:11:25.42
But in general terms, you
will learn a lot from looking at
00:11:25.45\00:11:28.85
history that will
help you know where we're
00:11:28.88\00:11:30.75
going into the future.
00:11:30.78\00:11:32.55
Well that having
been said, I believe we're
00:11:33.62\00:11:35.73
going to pray here.
00:11:35.76\00:11:36.83
Well you are a
scholar and a gentleman.
00:11:39.74\00:11:41.35
How about that.
00:11:41.36\00:11:42.36
Thank you very much.
00:11:42.37\00:11:43.84
I meant to bring a Lamborghini
with me this weekend.
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I guess your luck
can only stretch so far.
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This is the book
that changed my life.
00:12:01.20\00:12:02.85
You know, it does look a little
battered by now, doesn't it.
00:12:02.88\00:12:05.66
In fact, it's one
called The Cosmic Conflict.
00:12:06.54\00:12:09.41
This book has appeared under
a number of different guises.
00:12:09.44\00:12:12.41
Shouldn't say guises,
but iterations, I guess.
00:12:12.79\00:12:15.33
I don't know if
this is the prettiest
00:12:15.91\00:12:17.29
cover that I've ever seen.
00:12:17.30\00:12:18.30
It's pretty enough, I guess.
00:12:18.33\00:12:19.89
The Cosmic Conflict; Good And
Evil Wage War For Planet Earth.
00:12:20.49\00:12:25.68
And that's what's
going on right now.
00:12:26.00\00:12:27.51
And this book here
absolutely changed my life.
00:12:27.91\00:12:30.79
I love to look through it
now and see where I underlined
00:12:30.82\00:12:36.43
and where I marked and
where I drew boxes around stuff.
00:12:36.46\00:12:39.17
You know, I was learning
these for the very first time.
00:12:39.47\00:12:41.78
And I read some of this
stuff and, wow, it amazed me.
00:12:42.55\00:12:47.71
It shocked me, it challenged me.
00:12:47.74\00:12:50.40
But as I read...
00:12:50.94\00:12:52.31
Oh, this chapter is
The Time Of Trouble.
00:12:52.34\00:12:53.60
Evidentially, that
made an impression on me.
00:12:53.61\00:12:55.60
What was that one
there? God's People Delivered.
00:12:56.65\00:12:59.82
Man, great stuff.
The Impending Conflict.
00:12:59.85\00:13:02.76
Great stuff.
00:13:03.29\00:13:04.58
Snares Of Satan, and so on.
00:13:04.61\00:13:06.78
Magnificent, magnificent book.
00:13:06.81\00:13:08.39
Thank you Elder Murray.
00:13:08.40\00:13:09.40
I appreciate you
bringing that out to me.
00:13:09.43\00:13:10.84
This is
especially special to me.
00:13:11.32\00:13:13.68
The very book I read that
God used to bring me to Jesus
00:13:14.10\00:13:18.04
as He helped me understand
that great big picture subject
00:13:18.07\00:13:22.42
called, the great controversy.
00:13:22.45\00:13:25.07
This afternoon; The Great
Controversy Ended, Home At Last.
00:13:25.10\00:13:29.24
I'm looking forward
to that. Aren't you?
00:13:29.27\00:13:30.83
Let's pray together and expect
God's blessing once again.
00:13:31.31\00:13:34.46
Father in heaven,
thank You we can gather
00:13:34.88\00:13:36.69
together around the Bible.
00:13:36.72\00:13:37.83
We do so
confident of Your blessing.
00:13:37.86\00:13:40.14
You have said that
we ought to come boldly
00:13:40.17\00:13:42.14
to the throne of grace.
00:13:42.17\00:13:43.56
And there we can find mercy.
00:13:44.01\00:13:45.83
And not just mercy, but grace
to help us in time of need.
00:13:45.86\00:13:49.04
And so, now we come to
You with hearts that are open.
00:13:49.81\00:13:52.67
If they're not
open, please open them up.
00:13:52.70\00:13:54.56
With minds that are given.
00:13:54.59\00:13:55.86
If they're not
given, please take them.
00:13:55.89\00:13:57.70
Bless this time that
You will be glorified.
00:13:58.42\00:14:00.83
We come at the subject
from many varied backgrounds.
00:14:01.32\00:14:04.82
Some scholars.
Some, not so much.
00:14:04.85\00:14:06.90
Some experienced,
some inexperienced.
00:14:06.93\00:14:08.93
Some in faith, some skeptical.
00:14:09.45\00:14:12.07
Lord, that's okay.
00:14:12.10\00:14:13.19
Your Spirit can
work with all of that.
00:14:13.22\00:14:14.63
So please do.
00:14:14.66\00:14:15.92
We ask You to be
honored and be lifted up.
00:14:17.55\00:14:20.65
Thank You that in
this great controversy
00:14:21.35\00:14:23.51
we can be confident
of victory through You.
00:14:23.54\00:14:26.63
We pray in Jesus' name.
And we said as one, amen.
00:14:27.02\00:14:31.37
Years ago, my wife, Melissa, and
I were traveling from one point
00:14:34.15\00:14:41.47
on the compass to another.
00:14:41.50\00:14:43.14
And our journey
took us across Utah.
00:14:44.28\00:14:47.89
We were coming out of
Colorado on interstate 70,
00:14:47.92\00:14:53.51
70 past Grand
Junction, interstate 70,
00:14:54.25\00:14:57.86
and we saw a sign post that said
"Arches National Park" that way.
00:14:58.91\00:15:04.58
And we said,
"Arches National Park?
00:15:05.11\00:15:07.74
We've got to go."
00:15:07.77\00:15:09.46
And so we turned off the
freeway I-70 and we went south
00:15:09.47\00:15:13.68
towards Moab, Utah.
00:15:13.71\00:15:15.87
That's about where
Arches National Park is.
00:15:16.25\00:15:18.25
Arches National
Park is beautiful.
00:15:18.28\00:15:21.77
I come from a place
where it's green and it's lush,
00:15:23.08\00:15:25.91
and there's plenty of rain
and there's ocean everywhere.
00:15:25.94\00:15:28.91
You can't get more
than 70 miles from the ocean
00:15:28.92\00:15:31.23
when you're in New Zealand.
00:15:31.24\00:15:32.24
It's a wonderful thing.
00:15:32.25\00:15:33.25
And there are
mountains covered in snow,
00:15:33.26\00:15:35.29
and there are
fields and glaciers,
00:15:35.32\00:15:37.33
and there are rolling hills.
00:15:37.36\00:15:39.88
We don't do desert.
00:15:39.91\00:15:41.41
Somebody told me once that the
desert can be very beautiful.
00:15:42.80\00:15:46.62
I thought, "Yes, anything can
be beautiful from 37,000 feet."
00:15:46.63\00:15:51.98
But they meant, "No,
when you're down there in it,
00:15:52.61\00:15:54.67
it can be beautiful."
00:15:54.70\00:15:55.76
And I thought,
"That's not possible.
00:15:55.79\00:15:57.41
It's desert.
What's there to like?"
00:15:57.44\00:16:00.30
Beautiful if you add
some water and some dirt
00:16:00.61\00:16:03.49
and some vegetation.
00:16:04.51\00:16:05.86
It was probably at Arches
National Park the first time
00:16:06.67\00:16:09.49
that I realized, "Wow, the
desert can be really beautiful."
00:16:09.52\00:16:12.35
Not long ago while we were
doing the It Is Written series
00:16:12.86\00:16:15.13
in Las Vegas, Revelation Today,
my kids took off to a place
00:16:15.16\00:16:19.26
called, I forget, The Valley
of Fire, or something like that.
00:16:19.29\00:16:22.96
Someone in Las Vegas remembers.
00:16:22.99\00:16:24.25
And then they convinced me that
we ought to go out to Red Rocks.
00:16:24.28\00:16:27.20
Oh, beautiful
out there. Gorgeous.
00:16:27.42\00:16:30.67
The desert, I
discovered, is gorgeous.
00:16:31.15\00:16:32.97
So we drove around a little bit,
we did not have a lot of time.
00:16:33.17\00:16:35.27
We had a shamefully
small amount of time.
00:16:35.28\00:16:36.78
But we saw a little bit of
this and a little bit of that.
00:16:36.81\00:16:38.58
And then we decided that
we would go and see one of the
00:16:39.25\00:16:41.13
very famous arches
in Arches National Park.
00:16:41.14\00:16:43.50
It is called the Delicate Arch.
00:16:43.53\00:16:45.43
And it's a very, sort of
a horse shoe shaped arch.
00:16:46.40\00:16:49.06
It's not like this landscape
arch that's longer and flatter.
00:16:49.09\00:16:52.58
But it's shorter and up righter.
00:16:52.59\00:16:55.54
It's really an
archy looking arch.
00:16:55.83\00:16:58.95
We decided we'd go and
see this Delicate Arch.
00:17:00.08\00:17:01.94
If you see the
license plates from Utah,
00:17:01.95\00:17:04.32
they either still do or
they certainly use to have
00:17:04.35\00:17:06.78
the Delicate Arch on them.
00:17:06.81\00:17:07.93
It's famous, it's beautiful.
00:17:07.96\00:17:09.32
Man, you ought to see it.
00:17:09.35\00:17:10.41
And so we decided
we would go there.
00:17:11.12\00:17:12.54
We followed the signs and
we came to the parking lot that
00:17:12.57\00:17:14.79
said we were close
to the Delicate Arch.
00:17:14.82\00:17:17.10
Then began the hike.
00:17:18.14\00:17:19.66
The sign said, "Make
sure you take water."
00:17:20.74\00:17:23.42
It was only a suggestion.
00:17:26.41\00:17:27.99
It also said about
how long it would take us
00:17:30.94\00:17:33.19
to get to the arch.
00:17:33.22\00:17:34.28
I don't remember how long.
00:17:34.56\00:17:35.88
It wasn't the
longest journey ever.
00:17:35.91\00:17:37.90
But I'm going to
tell you something.
00:17:37.93\00:17:39.32
It seemed like it.
00:17:39.69\00:17:41.21
It wasn't
blistering heat of summer.
00:17:41.66\00:17:43.48
It wasn't terribly
hot, but it was hot enough.
00:17:43.51\00:17:45.80
And it's not a
picturesque journey.
00:17:46.22\00:17:48.06
You're walking
uphill, as I remember.
00:17:48.09\00:17:51.69
And my memory is
subject to whatever.
00:17:51.72\00:17:55.28
It's subject to
something, but I forget what.
00:17:55.98\00:17:58.54
And so we were walking towards
the arch, uphill essentially,
00:17:58.57\00:18:02.24
over rock faces.
00:18:02.25\00:18:04.18
Really, you're walking over rock
and stone all the way there.
00:18:04.19\00:18:07.42
And the longer we walked,
the more we asked ourselves,
00:18:07.45\00:18:10.69
and each other as a matter of
fact, "Is this really worth it?
00:18:10.72\00:18:13.93
Do we really need
to see this thing?
00:18:14.52\00:18:16.36
Couldn't we just
look at a license plate?
00:18:16.39\00:18:18.54
Maybe we don't need to walk."
00:18:18.84\00:18:19.96
And the longer we
walked, the more tired we became
00:18:20.06\00:18:22.68
and the heavier our legs got.
00:18:22.71\00:18:24.03
And the more we
started to say to each other,
00:18:24.04\00:18:26.53
"Why did you
suggest we do this anyway?"
00:18:26.56\00:18:29.60
And we would see people coming
down the hill and we'd say,
00:18:30.04\00:18:33.34
"How much further
is it to this arch?"
00:18:33.35\00:18:35.71
And I remember this vividly,
this is absolutely gospel.
00:18:35.74\00:18:39.89
The first person we asked
that of said, "Five minutes."
00:18:40.20\00:18:43.43
"Five minutes."
00:18:43.73\00:18:44.92
So that was good.
00:18:44.93\00:18:45.96
Anybody can tough it out
for another five minutes.
00:18:45.99\00:18:48.12
We walked on, and
about ten minutes later
00:18:48.15\00:18:49.73
we saw somebody else
and we said to that person,
00:18:49.93\00:18:52.07
"How long until
we get to the arch."
00:18:52.10\00:18:53.94
What did they say?
00:18:53.95\00:18:54.99
"Five minutes."
00:18:55.22\00:18:56.24
It was like
there was a conspiracy.
00:18:56.27\00:18:57.90
And everyone we saw
said, "Five minutes."
00:18:57.93\00:19:00.11
We came up to the next
guy, or the next after the next,
00:19:00.14\00:19:02.91
we said, "Don't tell
us. Five minutes, right?"
00:19:02.94\00:19:04.69
He nodded and he
said, "How did you know?"
00:19:04.72\00:19:06.22
Seriously, five minutes.
00:19:07.10\00:19:08.74
And we walked, oh we walked.
00:19:09.00\00:19:11.13
I've walked
further and so have you.
00:19:11.16\00:19:13.03
There are some people
who's mailbox is further
00:19:13.06\00:19:15.47
away than this arch was.
00:19:15.50\00:19:16.48
But still it
felt like a long walk.
00:19:16.51\00:19:18.56
And we walked and we got there.
00:19:18.59\00:19:20.33
And we were wondering,
"Man, how dumb were we."
00:19:20.36\00:19:23.00
And then we got to, what
we didn't know at the time,
00:19:24.99\00:19:27.37
but what proved to be the
final approach to the arch.
00:19:27.40\00:19:29.68
Now if you've walked
up to the Delicate Arch,
00:19:29.71\00:19:31.73
you will recall that
as you get close to it,
00:19:32.19\00:19:35.34
you walk around
a bend like this.
00:19:35.35\00:19:37.22
It's around the side.
00:19:37.25\00:19:38.41
You don't see the arch.
00:19:38.44\00:19:39.86
It's not like
walking towards a mountain
00:19:39.89\00:19:41.41
that you see from way off.
00:19:41.42\00:19:42.53
You don't see it
until you get there.
00:19:42.56\00:19:44.90
And the final approach,
we walked around this thing
00:19:45.47\00:19:48.43
and around this
thing and around...
00:19:48.46\00:19:51.14
"Wow"
00:19:53.67\00:19:54.97
And there it was.
00:19:55.00\00:19:56.79
It looks better...
00:19:57.59\00:19:58.88
Well you can't call an
arch, "in person," can you.
00:19:59.37\00:20:01.62
It looks better in arch
than it does on a license plate.
00:20:01.65\00:20:06.32
You might have seen the
photographs or the pictures.
00:20:07.73\00:20:10.14
You can look at it on your
computer screen, I'm guessing.
00:20:10.17\00:20:12.87
But it doesn't look nearly
as good as when you see it,
00:20:12.90\00:20:18.28
when you see it face to arch.
00:20:19.19\00:20:22.41
Beautiful.
00:20:23.31\00:20:24.90
And here's what
was so interesting.
00:20:25.96\00:20:27.38
Suddenly, that long walk?
00:20:27.39\00:20:29.10
We just forgot all about it.
00:20:30.02\00:20:31.56
Suddenly, our legs didn't ache.
00:20:31.86\00:20:33.46
I got a spring in my
step, "Oh, let's run down there.
00:20:33.49\00:20:35.82
Let's get closer.
00:20:35.85\00:20:36.85
Oh, this is
just the best thing."
00:20:36.86\00:20:39.21
Suddenly, the long
journey wasn't even remembered.
00:20:39.24\00:20:43.01
Forgot all about it.
00:20:44.27\00:20:45.44
There's probably a
better example than that.
00:20:46.58\00:20:48.30
I need to talk about
this a little gingerly.
00:20:48.33\00:20:50.83
I talk about everything
gingerly in some senses.
00:20:51.23\00:20:53.57
But this I need to
talk about with respect.
00:20:53.60\00:20:56.11
It's a little
bit like childbirth.
00:20:56.14\00:20:57.90
I remember one of the great
marvels of childbirth to me.
00:20:58.32\00:21:02.92
I was present, of course, for
the birth of both my children.
00:21:03.92\00:21:06.63
And I remember the process.
00:21:07.49\00:21:11.80
You know, it's tough.
00:21:13.39\00:21:16.43
And you know, any man
that hasn't been there
00:21:16.46\00:21:22.96
for the birth of his children
has missed out on something.
00:21:22.99\00:21:27.69
Anyone who has been
present for the birth of a child
00:21:28.37\00:21:31.00
will never look at a
woman the same way again.
00:21:31.03\00:21:33.73
Well, will never look
at a woman as anything less
00:21:34.20\00:21:37.81
than a giant and a hero.
00:21:37.84\00:21:40.24
I tell you,
childbirth is woman's work.
00:21:40.77\00:21:43.14
I'm kind of glad about that.
00:21:43.17\00:21:45.21
It changed forever
the way I viewed my wife.
00:21:45.66\00:21:49.41
Now please don't think
I viewed her negatively.
00:21:49.44\00:21:51.31
But after that, "Wow,
you're something else."
00:21:52.09\00:21:56.13
I mean, we men, we
think we're something because
00:21:56.43\00:22:00.18
after you go grocery
shopping, "I'll take that
00:22:00.21\00:22:03.19
heavy sack of potatoes.
00:22:03.22\00:22:04.77
Leave it to me."
00:22:04.80\00:22:06.58
"The jars that you
can't unscrew the lids on?
00:22:08.79\00:22:11.24
Bring them over.
I'll take care of that."
00:22:11.27\00:22:13.53
Pop.
00:22:13.56\00:22:14.58
And you think
you're such a hero.
00:22:15.39\00:22:17.04
And then your wife gives birth.
00:22:19.05\00:22:21.03
And you're suddenly
not such a hero anymore.
00:22:21.73\00:22:23.92
You're kind of
small, kind of weak.
00:22:24.55\00:22:27.20
This was the remarkable
thing about childbirth.
00:22:27.82\00:22:30.32
I thought that process
was a difficult process.
00:22:31.26\00:22:35.67
But the second the midwife
took my son and brought him
00:22:36.79\00:22:43.53
right up here and popped him
right about on Melissa's chest,
00:22:43.56\00:22:45.92
somewhere like that,
suddenly all that difficulty,
00:22:45.93\00:22:51.82
it was forgotten.
00:22:51.85\00:22:53.43
And I'm not saying
that as an ignorant man.
00:22:53.46\00:22:56.06
It was just gone.
00:22:56.45\00:22:57.95
We went from...
00:22:57.98\00:22:59.00
to...
00:22:59.64\00:23:00.65
in moments.
00:23:02.53\00:23:04.86
It was a miracle.
00:23:05.65\00:23:08.08
I even said, "Have you forgotten
what you've been through?"
00:23:08.69\00:23:13.08
And it was like, "Don't
bother me with that now.
00:23:13.41\00:23:17.58
Here's the prize.
00:23:18.83\00:23:20.48
We've got what we worked for
and waited for and prayed for
00:23:20.51\00:23:23.89
and longed for and struggled for
and pushed for and strained for.
00:23:23.90\00:23:26.22
This is it."
00:23:26.43\00:23:27.94
In that moment of
arrival at the destination,
00:23:28.61\00:23:31.97
the difficulty experienced
along the way in the journey,
00:23:32.00\00:23:36.72
just forgotten, just gone.
00:23:37.18\00:23:40.93
Ladies and gentlemen,
we are engaged right now
00:23:42.42\00:23:46.57
in a titanic spiritual struggle.
00:23:46.60\00:23:49.80
Titanic.
00:23:50.20\00:23:51.37
It says in the Bible,
all who live godly in Christ
00:23:51.77\00:23:54.59
shall suffer persecution.
00:23:54.60\00:23:56.46
Paul said, "So fight I
not as one who beats the air."
00:23:56.80\00:24:02.29
Paul wrote about
having fought a good fight,
00:24:04.22\00:24:07.10
having run the course,
having finished the race.
00:24:07.13\00:24:10.34
We're involved in
something out here.
00:24:10.75\00:24:12.72
I've talked about this
before, I'll say it again.
00:24:12.75\00:24:14.83
It bears repeating.
00:24:14.86\00:24:16.31
"We wrestle not
with flesh and blood."
00:24:16.34\00:24:18.32
But we wrestle with
principalities and powers,
00:24:19.19\00:24:22.77
with spiritual wickedness
and very difficult places.
00:24:22.80\00:24:25.33
Friends, we are called
to go through some stuff
00:24:25.36\00:24:27.06
down here on this earth.
00:24:27.07\00:24:28.21
We just are.
00:24:28.22\00:24:29.23
And there are some
people who, at least it seems,
00:24:29.25\00:24:31.61
their lot is difficult
than the lot of others.
00:24:31.64\00:24:34.71
It seems.
00:24:34.74\00:24:36.57
But here's the good news.
00:24:36.72\00:24:38.55
One day the
controversy will have ended.
00:24:38.58\00:24:43.09
One day our strife will be over.
00:24:43.39\00:24:46.38
One day we will look up and
we will see Jesus coming back
00:24:46.41\00:24:53.38
in the clouds of heaven.
00:24:53.41\00:24:54.91
We will say,
"Lo, this is our God.
00:24:54.94\00:24:58.01
We have waited for Him.
00:24:58.04\00:24:59.89
And He will save us."
00:25:00.53\00:25:04.34
Satan, long ago, fell into sin.
00:25:04.35\00:25:06.99
He abandoned the privileges
that God had reserved for him.
00:25:07.02\00:25:11.89
This foolish foray
into rebellion plunged
00:25:11.92\00:25:17.40
this whole universe
headlong into a crisis.
00:25:17.43\00:25:19.60
And Satan wasn't just content
to go away and mind his own
00:25:19.90\00:25:23.44
business and hide in a corner.
00:25:23.47\00:25:24.79
Oh no, he couldn't do that.
00:25:24.82\00:25:26.14
He had to drag
everybody down with him
00:25:26.15\00:25:28.22
into the misery he was in.
00:25:28.25\00:25:29.95
After causing such turmoil,
you'd think that he would
00:25:30.54\00:25:33.23
skulk away and just be.
00:25:33.24\00:25:37.18
But no, he wasn't
content to do that.
00:25:37.21\00:25:40.24
He came to the place
where he openly challenged God
00:25:40.27\00:25:43.74
for the preeminent
place in existence.
00:25:43.77\00:25:45.94
And we are caught up in that.
00:25:45.97\00:25:47.78
You can be
resentful if you wish.
00:25:47.81\00:25:49.51
You can bemoan your
lot, you can complain to God.
00:25:49.93\00:25:52.25
And it's okay
to complain to God.
00:25:52.28\00:25:53.58
I had a friend and
he had been through some
00:25:53.59\00:25:55.79
difficult times in his life.
00:25:55.82\00:25:56.93
And here's what he would do.
00:25:56.96\00:25:57.99
He would take a
chair and pull it up.
00:25:58.00\00:26:00.39
Just put it
right there facing him.
00:26:00.42\00:26:02.46
And then he would sit down
in his chair and he would say,
00:26:02.49\00:26:04.84
"Jesus, please,
come and sit down.
00:26:04.87\00:26:06.89
I've got some questions
I would like to ask You."
00:26:06.90\00:26:09.22
And he told me
there'd be times that he would
00:26:10.09\00:26:11.77
look at this Jesus.
00:26:11.80\00:26:13.16
Of course, it wasn't Jesus.
00:26:13.17\00:26:14.24
But he would look
to the seat and say,
00:26:14.27\00:26:15.51
"Do You have
something against me?
00:26:15.54\00:26:17.36
It seems that You
don't like me very much."
00:26:17.39\00:26:19.66
Because he was going
through some difficulty.
00:26:19.69\00:26:21.57
You understand, sometimes we do.
00:26:22.33\00:26:24.51
And sometimes life is tough.
00:26:24.54\00:26:26.32
But one day soon, the good
news is, Jesus is coming back.
00:26:26.36\00:26:31.45
And we are going home.
00:26:31.48\00:26:33.41
We will be able to say,
in the words of John Bunyan,
00:26:33.44\00:26:35.57
who wrote Pilgrim's Progress,
"Heaven is cheap enough."
00:26:35.58\00:26:40.11
Thank God for that.
00:26:40.12\00:26:41.34
I wonder if you would
turn with me in your Bible
00:26:41.37\00:26:43.33
to Revelation chapter 19.
00:26:43.35\00:26:45.21
Revelation and the 19th chapter.
00:26:45.22\00:26:47.00
Here, if you're
familiar with your Bible,
00:26:47.03\00:26:48.92
you know what
we're going to read.
00:26:48.95\00:26:50.23
Revelation chapter 19,
we'll start in verse 11.
00:26:50.26\00:26:53.70
Revelation 19:11, the Bible
says, "I saw heaven opened,
00:26:54.60\00:26:57.89
and behold a white horse; and
He that sat upon him was called
00:26:57.92\00:27:00.64
Faithful and True, and
in righteousness He doth
00:27:00.67\00:27:02.87
judge and make..." What?
00:27:02.90\00:27:03.98
"...war."
00:27:04.29\00:27:05.29
This war is going to
end once and for all.
00:27:05.30\00:27:07.38
"His eyes were as a flame
of fire, and on His head were
00:27:07.59\00:27:10.03
many crowns; and
He had a name written
00:27:10.06\00:27:11.78
that no man knew but He himself.
00:27:12.29\00:27:14.21
He was clothed with a
vesture dipped in blood.
00:27:14.24\00:27:16.74
And His name is
called, The Word of God.
00:27:16.77\00:27:21.11
And the armies which
were in heaven followed Him
00:27:21.59\00:27:23.72
upon white horses, clothed
in fine linen, white and clean.
00:27:23.75\00:27:28.77
And out of His mouth goeth
a sharp sword, that with it
00:27:29.55\00:27:31.79
He should smite the nations:
and He shall rule them with a
00:27:31.80\00:27:34.49
rod of iron: and He
treadeth the winepress of the
00:27:34.52\00:27:36.92
fierceness and
wrath of Almighty God.
00:27:36.93\00:27:38.52
And He hath on His vesture and
on His thigh a name written."
00:27:38.53\00:27:42.66
What's the
name? Read it with me.
00:27:42.67\00:27:44.12
"King Of kings, and..."
00:27:44.15\00:27:45.95
Thank the Lord.
00:27:46.45\00:27:48.20
Jesus is coming back.
00:27:48.23\00:27:49.85
We're not talking about
a two-bit dictator here.
00:27:49.88\00:27:52.40
We're not talking about someone
in which we have a little hope.
00:27:52.41\00:27:55.25
We are talking about
someone in whom we can trust,
00:27:55.28\00:27:57.90
on whom we can rest our lives.
00:27:57.93\00:27:59.89
Jesus is soon to return.
00:27:59.92\00:28:03.69
Friend, the
challenges and the difficulties
00:28:03.72\00:28:06.01
of this earth are
going to pass away.
00:28:06.04\00:28:07.37
Now not
everything is bad down here.
00:28:07.40\00:28:09.03
Now I don't mean to
intimate that it is.
00:28:09.06\00:28:10.64
As long as we draw
breath, we have life.
00:28:10.94\00:28:13.02
As long as we
have life, we can hope.
00:28:13.05\00:28:15.29
Oh, I wish people
wouldn't give up hope.
00:28:15.32\00:28:17.94
You know what I'm talking about.
00:28:20.96\00:28:22.16
We read about people who
say, or you talk to them and
00:28:23.46\00:28:26.33
they say, "I just
don't have hope anymore."
00:28:26.36\00:28:28.38
And why would you
not have hope, my friend?
00:28:29.83\00:28:31.33
Because your
circumstances change.
00:28:31.36\00:28:33.52
The minute God changes,
then you can give up hope.
00:28:35.34\00:28:38.59
The minute God gives up on you,
then you can give up on hope.
00:28:39.52\00:28:44.07
Whether you've been
hurt or injured, betrayed,
00:28:44.74\00:28:46.80
or otherwise harmed,
God will never hurt you,
00:28:46.83\00:28:51.31
God will never injure
you, God will never betray you,
00:28:51.34\00:28:53.76
and God will never
otherwise harm you.
00:28:53.79\00:28:55.88
God will never let you down.
00:28:55.91\00:28:57.71
And I could wish that
we would remember that.
00:28:58.24\00:29:00.22
That even in our
darkest moments, we have hope.
00:29:00.25\00:29:03.04
Because our hope is,
and can always be, in an
00:29:03.35\00:29:07.63
unchangeable God who is good.
00:29:07.66\00:29:10.85
There is hope.
Jesus is coming back soon.
00:29:12.09\00:29:14.89
I just have to read
this passage of Scripture.
00:29:14.92\00:29:16.86
It's another familiar one.
00:29:16.89\00:29:18.55
It's in the Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
00:29:18.85\00:29:22.36
The Bible says, "For the
Lord Himself shall descend
00:29:22.39\00:29:26.67
from heaven with a..." What?
00:29:26.70\00:29:28.19
"with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel,
00:29:28.91\00:29:31.60
and with the trump of God.
00:29:31.63\00:29:33.48
And the dead in
Christ shall..." What?
00:29:33.51\00:29:36.85
"...rise first.
00:29:36.86\00:29:38.35
Then we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up
00:29:38.38\00:29:42.21
together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
00:29:42.24\00:29:46.59
And so shall we
ever be with the Lord."
00:29:46.62\00:29:50.31
The Bible says,
"Wherefore comfort one another
00:29:50.34\00:29:53.39
with these words."
00:29:53.42\00:29:54.72
These words might
not change your lot,
00:29:54.75\00:29:57.55
but they can bring
you comfort in the midst
00:29:57.58\00:29:59.53
of what you're going through.
00:29:59.54\00:30:00.54
Jesus is coming back
soon. Our lives are short.
00:30:00.63\00:30:03.65
If you live a long
time, your life is short.
00:30:03.68\00:30:05.81
If you make it to about 90 years
old, you're not longer elderly.
00:30:06.92\00:30:09.36
You are old.
00:30:09.39\00:30:10.50
And you've earned the right.
00:30:14.38\00:30:15.79
And even at 90, in
God's scheme of things,
00:30:16.71\00:30:21.46
you're just
barely getting started.
00:30:21.49\00:30:25.49
There were some folks on this
earth, and there are some people
00:30:26.23\00:30:28.13
who have a hard time
believing, that Methuselah
00:30:28.16\00:30:29.88
lived to be 969 years
old and Adam lived to be 930.
00:30:29.91\00:30:33.38
And so forth.
00:30:33.41\00:30:34.50
I have a hard time believing
that too, when they were
00:30:34.53\00:30:36.50
created to live forever.
00:30:36.53\00:30:37.88
What a sad thing.
00:30:37.89\00:30:38.89
I don't want to
believe that they only lived
00:30:38.90\00:30:40.43
to be a thousand years old.
00:30:40.46\00:30:41.61
I want to believe
they lived forever.
00:30:41.64\00:30:43.08
But forever is coming.
00:30:43.11\00:30:44.67
And what we missed out
down here because of sin
00:30:45.21\00:30:48.92
and its terrible
affects, we will gain up there.
00:30:48.95\00:30:52.74
When there will never
even be a fading flower.
00:30:52.77\00:30:56.37
The good news is,
Jesus is coming back.
00:30:56.40\00:30:59.14
And the
controversy is going to end.
00:30:59.17\00:31:01.51
Thank the Lord.
00:31:01.54\00:31:02.82
Down through time,
God has had a people
00:31:03.26\00:31:05.53
who have labored faithfully,
toiled on, not knowing when
00:31:05.56\00:31:09.19
and perhaps doubting at times
if this battle would ever end.
00:31:09.20\00:31:12.64
I wonder if you
remember the story.
00:31:12.67\00:31:14.07
World War II ended in what year?
00:31:14.92\00:31:16.55
1945, that's right.
00:31:16.58\00:31:18.89
But there was one Japanese
soldier for whom the war
00:31:18.92\00:31:21.00
did not end for
another 29 years.
00:31:21.01\00:31:24.26
His name was Hiroo Onoda
00:31:25.06\00:31:27.82
And he was on the island...
No, he was in the Philippines.
00:31:28.54\00:31:31.34
And he was on Lubang Island.
00:31:32.11\00:31:33.67
Which, as the crow flies,
is about 100 miles from Manila.
00:31:33.70\00:31:36.52
And there he was, a
second lieutenant in the
00:31:37.35\00:31:40.32
Japanese Imperial Army.
00:31:40.35\00:31:41.78
He is there in the
Philippines and he was a...
00:31:42.70\00:31:47.05
What do you call those?
He was a guerrilla, really.
00:31:47.08\00:31:49.24
Really, he was a
bit of a guerrilla.
00:31:49.27\00:31:50.44
Guerrilla.
00:31:50.77\00:31:51.83
And he and a couple of his
friends found a leaflet one day
00:31:52.31\00:31:55.89
that had been
dropped from a plane
00:31:55.90\00:31:57.09
saying that the war was over.
00:31:57.10\00:31:58.20
He said, "I don't believe it.
00:31:58.23\00:31:59.48
And I won't believe it
until somebody comes and
00:32:00.40\00:32:02.25
relieves me of my duty."
00:32:02.26\00:32:03.84
So he carried on there in
the war for another 29 years.
00:32:04.69\00:32:07.26
He didn't realize it was over.
00:32:07.29\00:32:08.58
29 years.
00:32:08.97\00:32:10.07
He was found one day
by a Japanese man who came
00:32:10.10\00:32:12.46
specifically to track him down.
00:32:12.49\00:32:13.96
He said, "It's time
for you to come home, man."
00:32:14.29\00:32:16.32
"No, I won't come home
until a superior officer
00:32:16.35\00:32:18.61
comes and relieve me."
00:32:18.64\00:32:19.69
His commanding officer during
the war was back there in Tokyo.
00:32:19.72\00:32:22.56
He was a book seller now.
00:32:22.59\00:32:24.47
He wasn't a soldier of any
kind. He was a book seller.
00:32:24.50\00:32:26.80
But he agreed to get on a
plane and go to the Philippines
00:32:27.09\00:32:29.46
and go to this island, Lubang
Island, and find Onoda and say,
00:32:29.49\00:32:32.98
"Onoda, you're
relieved of your duty, man.
00:32:33.01\00:32:34.94
You can come back now."
00:32:35.41\00:32:36.57
And he did, he came back.
00:32:37.09\00:32:38.41
The war hadn't ended for him.
00:32:38.44\00:32:41.09
It was over,
but it hadn't ended.
00:32:41.12\00:32:42.62
I am glad, one day it's
going to be over down here
00:32:42.65\00:32:45.01
and it will have ended.
00:32:45.04\00:32:46.76
And we won't have
to labor on wondering.
00:32:47.37\00:32:49.27
We won't have
to labor on hiding.
00:32:49.30\00:32:50.71
We won't have to labor on hoping
Jesus is going to come back.
00:32:50.74\00:32:53.92
You will know, because the
heavens will depart as a scroll.
00:32:53.95\00:32:56.40
You will know,
because the angels in heaven
00:32:56.43\00:32:58.48
will be with Him.
00:32:58.49\00:32:59.49
You will know, because you
will hear Him enter the earth's
00:32:59.50\00:33:01.65
cosmos with a
sonic boom of some kind.
00:33:01.68\00:33:03.75
You will know, because
the trumpet will sound.
00:33:04.05\00:33:06.19
You will know, because
the dead in Christ shall rise
00:33:06.22\00:33:10.81
and we will go up to meet them.
00:33:10.84\00:33:12.17
What's it going to be like
when gravity loses its power
00:33:12.20\00:33:15.25
on the soles of your feet?
00:33:15.28\00:33:16.84
Can you imagine?
00:33:18.19\00:33:19.37
One day we are going to go.
00:33:19.67\00:33:22.27
Think, friends, of what
it has taken us to get here.
00:33:22.28\00:33:25.53
It was all okay
back in the beginning.
00:33:26.92\00:33:28.59
There were Adam
and Eve in the garden.
00:33:28.62\00:33:30.30
And they were pure,
and they were healthy,
00:33:30.33\00:33:33.34
and they were well, and they
were happy, and they were holy.
00:33:33.37\00:33:36.40
And they had
everything, they had everything.
00:33:36.43\00:33:37.96
But sin came. They
were separated from God.
00:33:39.31\00:33:41.74
The next minute, there
was a murderer in the family.
00:33:41.77\00:33:44.04
The next minute,
next minute, next minute.
00:33:44.07\00:33:46.19
And things were ruined. Ruined.
00:33:47.40\00:33:50.01
Satan was working.
00:33:50.81\00:33:52.77
What was he determined to do?
00:33:53.25\00:33:54.78
He was determine to
eradicate from this earth
00:33:54.81\00:33:57.59
any of the light of the gospel.
00:33:58.30\00:34:00.21
Determined.
00:34:00.22\00:34:01.24
As a matter of fact, he
would about had this thing won
00:34:01.25\00:34:03.65
except God came and said to him,
"I will put enmity between thee
00:34:03.68\00:34:09.07
and the woman, and
between thy seed and her Seed.
00:34:09.10\00:34:10.99
It shall bruise thy head,
you shall bruise His heel."
00:34:11.02\00:34:14.46
"There's going to be a
way out for these people.
00:34:15.03\00:34:16.88
There's going to be a way out.
00:34:17.22\00:34:18.69
I have devised it already."
00:34:18.70\00:34:20.43
There is a plan of
salvation that had been devised
00:34:20.46\00:34:23.23
before the
foundation of the world.
00:34:23.24\00:34:24.75
Maybe Lucifer didn't know that.
00:34:24.78\00:34:26.12
Now he knew.
00:34:26.15\00:34:27.16
He was going to have to
work even hard to eradicate
00:34:27.76\00:34:29.91
from this earth even the
hope, even the possibility of
00:34:29.94\00:34:32.61
salvation for
anyone at any time.
00:34:32.64\00:34:34.89
And work he did.
00:34:34.92\00:34:36.03
It didn't take too long
and God's people were a mess.
00:34:36.33\00:34:38.96
We'll fast forward a
little bit, and what did he do?
00:34:39.19\00:34:42.02
He got God's people
hung up in slavery down there
00:34:42.24\00:34:44.38
in Egypt, hung up.
00:34:44.41\00:34:45.46
But what did God do?
00:34:45.56\00:34:46.89
God sent His man. He
send a man, a deliverer.
00:34:46.92\00:34:49.19
He sent a man, Moses.
00:34:49.22\00:34:50.67
He sent a man who
would face off with Pharaoh,
00:34:50.70\00:34:53.92
look him in the eye and
say, "Let my people go."
00:34:53.95\00:34:56.16
Pharaoh said, "No."
God worked miracles.
00:34:56.19\00:34:58.17
Plagues came.
00:34:58.20\00:34:59.36
The Red Sea opened up and
out they went walking along
00:34:59.39\00:35:03.15
the bottom of the sea.
00:35:03.18\00:35:05.27
You know, sometimes when
things seem the most hopeless,
00:35:09.16\00:35:14.29
that's when God is getting ready
to work the most spectacularly.
00:35:14.77\00:35:18.58
What would it have been
like to stand there and see the
00:35:19.53\00:35:22.16
Red Sea open up.
00:35:22.19\00:35:23.56
I imagine that some of the
people said, "Wait a minute,"
00:35:23.59\00:35:26.22
while some of the
others said, "Let's go."
00:35:26.78\00:35:29.29
I imagine the kids would
have been playing in the water,
00:35:29.32\00:35:31.96
"No, there's no
time for this. Let's go."
00:35:31.99\00:35:33.70
And off they
went. But what happened?
00:35:34.44\00:35:36.44
They got out
into the wilderness.
00:35:36.48\00:35:37.68
They'd been there
days... ...days...
00:35:37.71\00:35:41.01
not years, days, "Why
did you bring us out in this
00:35:41.90\00:35:45.17
wilderness to die?"
00:35:45.20\00:35:46.50
Oh, lucky it was Moses
leading those people and not me.
00:35:46.53\00:35:50.07
I mean, not you.
00:35:50.09\00:35:51.09
I mean, not somebody else.
00:35:51.10\00:35:52.35
Moses was the
meekest man that ever lived,
00:35:54.38\00:35:56.49
according to the Bible.
00:35:56.50\00:35:57.57
So when they got riled
up and came against him,
00:35:57.74\00:36:02.36
he fell down on his
face before God and he said,
00:36:02.39\00:36:04.26
"I need your help
with these people."
00:36:04.29\00:36:05.57
And he wouldn't let them go.
00:36:05.60\00:36:06.70
When God said, "I'm
going to blot them out,"
00:36:06.73\00:36:08.19
Moses got in the way
and said, "No, no, no don't.
00:36:08.22\00:36:10.38
Blot me out instead."
00:36:10.39\00:36:11.60
Imagine that.
00:36:11.63\00:36:12.80
Moses stood for the people.
00:36:15.49\00:36:16.71
He led them on, he led them on.
00:36:16.74\00:36:18.18
And what I mean is,
he led them forward.
00:36:18.21\00:36:19.74
He interceded
between them and God.
00:36:20.33\00:36:22.33
Satan was trying to
get them doomed out there.
00:36:22.36\00:36:25.87
God had signaled His intentions;
00:36:26.45\00:36:28.55
the Messiah would come.
00:36:28.89\00:36:30.62
Now imagine you are Satan.
00:36:30.65\00:36:32.40
Imagine you are the devil
and you're trying to win the
00:36:32.83\00:36:34.75
loyalty of the world,
perhaps that of the universe.
00:36:34.76\00:36:36.76
Now you are told there's
coming a Deliverer, a Messiah.
00:36:37.06\00:36:39.89
That Genesis 3
and verse 15 thing.
00:36:39.92\00:36:42.77
"Wait.
00:36:42.80\00:36:43.85
Someone's going to come?
00:36:43.88\00:36:45.15
What?"
00:36:45.18\00:36:46.18
Now he knew he had to work
with great fury and great venom
00:36:46.28\00:36:50.62
and tremendous urgency.
00:36:50.63\00:36:53.06
The Messiah must fail,
else Satan be defeated.
00:36:53.09\00:36:56.10
There is a great
controversy here.
00:36:56.11\00:36:57.66
This was war.
00:36:57.67\00:36:58.67
"It's me or Him," Satan said.
00:36:58.68\00:37:00.42
"If the Messiah
succeeds, I lose.
00:37:00.45\00:37:02.83
If I succeed, He loses.
00:37:02.86\00:37:05.59
Or if He fails, I succeed."
00:37:05.62\00:37:08.13
He moved upon those Israelites
to bicker and complain,
00:37:08.79\00:37:11.55
and complain and bicker.
00:37:11.56\00:37:13.12
He was trying to keep them from
getting to the Promised Land.
00:37:13.42\00:37:16.19
If somehow he could snuff them
out or prevent their survival,
00:37:16.22\00:37:19.55
he would win.
00:37:19.56\00:37:20.56
There was a controversy raging.
00:37:20.59\00:37:23.03
God then said,
"Alright, alright, alright.
00:37:23.04\00:37:24.87
I'm going to help you
understand the issues.
00:37:24.90\00:37:26.38
Let them make Me a sanctuary
so that I may dwell among them."
00:37:26.41\00:37:29.00
And they made a sanctuary.
00:37:29.16\00:37:30.54
God said, "Follow
the plans, Moses."
00:37:31.45\00:37:33.36
We read that in the Bible.
00:37:33.39\00:37:34.51
He built the thing after
the plans that God showed him.
00:37:34.52\00:37:36.87
"Two rooms, Moses.
00:37:36.90\00:37:38.36
It's like the
sanctuary in heaven, tell them.
00:37:38.39\00:37:40.22
Here's the Holy Place
and the Most Holy Place.
00:37:40.58\00:37:43.10
All these
animal sacrifices, yes.
00:37:43.13\00:37:45.24
That's how we'll
deal with the sin problem,
00:37:45.27\00:37:47.74
you are right.
00:37:47.75\00:37:48.75
Seven branch candlestick; Jesus.
00:37:48.77\00:37:50.50
This Lamb will be
the light of the world.
00:37:50.53\00:37:52.19
Table of showbread; He
will be the Bread of Life.
00:37:52.51\00:37:54.91
Altar of incense; yes pray.
00:37:54.94\00:37:56.95
Your prayers will ascend
to God up there in heaven."
00:37:56.98\00:38:00.54
The sanctuary was given so
that they could understand.
00:38:00.57\00:38:03.54
But what happened?
00:38:03.55\00:38:04.55
Ultimately when
Jesus died on the cross,
00:38:04.56\00:38:06.35
the veil was torn in
two from top to bottom.
00:38:06.38\00:38:08.98
The sanctuary was empty.
00:38:09.01\00:38:10.25
God's presence wasn't there.
00:38:10.28\00:38:11.83
Everything God
did, Satan countered.
00:38:13.21\00:38:15.09
Satan had something on his side.
00:38:15.73\00:38:17.09
Fallen humanity.
00:38:17.12\00:38:18.24
And he can
manipulate. He does it today.
00:38:18.91\00:38:20.76
He manipulates us.
00:38:20.77\00:38:22.26
God had something on His side.
00:38:22.95\00:38:24.56
Love and truth.
00:38:24.90\00:38:27.21
And the power
of the Holy Spirit.
00:38:27.54\00:38:28.91
That sanctuary revealed
what kind of God God was.
00:38:28.94\00:38:32.23
There was the
ark of the covenant.
00:38:32.26\00:38:34.14
Up on top of the ark
was the throne of God.
00:38:34.17\00:38:36.79
The throne was
on the mercy seat.
00:38:36.80\00:38:38.58
God's throne was
established in mercy.
00:38:38.61\00:38:41.04
Yes, He had people wandering
through that wilderness
00:38:41.07\00:38:43.43
that were knuckleheads,
and they were stiff necked.
00:38:43.46\00:38:45.95
But God was merciful.
00:38:45.98\00:38:48.68
And what God is really
like is seen as He demonstrates
00:38:48.71\00:38:53.24
His mercy, you understand.
00:38:53.27\00:38:55.25
Satan would have
said, "Destroy them."
00:38:56.26\00:38:59.09
It was Satan
who said that God is
00:38:59.10\00:39:00.48
not good, God is not love.
00:39:00.49\00:39:01.62
But God demonstrated
again and again and again how
00:39:01.66\00:39:03.90
merciful He really is.
00:39:03.91\00:39:05.62
Mercy and truth
have met together,
00:39:05.65\00:39:07.57
righteousness and
peace have kissed each other,
00:39:07.60\00:39:10.08
right there in the
sanctuary as the mercy seat
00:39:10.11\00:39:12.48
rested upon the
ark of the covenant.
00:39:12.51\00:39:14.66
There were the cherubim,
the statues of the cherubim,
00:39:14.69\00:39:17.03
gazing intently upon
the ark of the covenant.
00:39:17.04\00:39:19.10
helping us to see that
the angels look intently upon
00:39:19.13\00:39:21.95
what's taking place here
with this work of redemption.
00:39:21.98\00:39:24.19
A mystery; God is just
while justifying the sinner.
00:39:24.39\00:39:27.97
The great controversy
demonstrates that to us.
00:39:28.00\00:39:30.74
The sanctuary service showed
then and now, God can take a
00:39:31.60\00:39:34.80
sinner and separate the
sinner from the his or her sins,
00:39:34.82\00:39:38.27
and return that sinner to
oneness with Almighty God.
00:39:38.54\00:39:42.34
Oh, thank God.
This thing can end well.
00:39:42.37\00:39:44.41
You can be lost as lost,
00:39:44.44\00:39:46.87
you can be running from
God, you can be spitting on
00:39:49.04\00:39:51.78
Christ's grave, and
Jesus says, "But wait,
00:39:51.79\00:39:54.23
I'm not done with you."
00:39:54.24\00:39:55.46
Aren't you glad Jesus says, "But
wait, I'm not done with you."
00:39:57.01\00:39:59.96
Aren't you glad?
00:40:00.66\00:40:01.81
Aren't you glad that
God does suffers long?
00:40:02.36\00:40:04.61
Aren't you glad about the health
series of meetings, you know,
00:40:04.64\00:40:07.89
and people have
come in and someone said,
00:40:07.92\00:40:10.08
"Well, that person will never
make a decision for Jesus."
00:40:10.11\00:40:12.22
And that's when I
say, "Lord, oh please."
00:40:12.25\00:40:15.58
And God just loves it when
He can take the unlikely ones
00:40:15.61\00:40:19.03
and transform the unlikely.
00:40:20.22\00:40:22.30
We're all unlikely,
but you know what I mean.
00:40:22.33\00:40:24.35
There are some you see
coming, you say, "Well, maybe."
00:40:24.66\00:40:26.69
Others, you say,
"Oh, there's no way."
00:40:26.72\00:40:28.15
And God will take the "no
way" ones and say, "Yes way.
00:40:28.76\00:40:31.31
Look what grace can
do in a person's life."
00:40:31.34\00:40:34.64
It was a long journey
through that wilderness,
00:40:34.67\00:40:36.32
but here's what
I want to tell you.
00:40:36.35\00:40:37.41
It was a journey worth making.
00:40:37.44\00:40:39.13
There were people who died
on the left and on the right.
00:40:39.48\00:40:41.68
You can imagine Joshua and Caleb
battling their way through that
00:40:41.71\00:40:46.84
wilderness, if that's
the right term to use.
00:40:46.87\00:40:48.78
And then when they
get to the Promised Land,
00:40:49.71\00:40:51.10
maybe it's like my wife
when the children arrived.
00:40:51.11\00:40:52.91
Maybe you just
forget the wondering.
00:40:52.94\00:40:54.57
Maybe you forget the trials.
00:40:55.13\00:40:56.43
Maybe when you're in the land
that flows with milk and honey,
00:40:56.46\00:40:58.94
now you say, "Deliverance.
00:40:58.97\00:41:01.56
Thank the Lord, it was
worth the 40 year walk."
00:41:01.59\00:41:05.50
Maybe that's what you say.
00:41:05.53\00:41:06.96
But no sooner had Joshua died,
here's what the Bible says,
00:41:07.59\00:41:10.44
"The children of Israel did
evil in the sight of the Lord
00:41:10.47\00:41:13.07
and served Baalim."
00:41:13.10\00:41:14.31
Incredible but true.
00:41:14.34\00:41:15.95
There was this seesaw existence.
00:41:15.98\00:41:18.24
We're in the time
of the judges now.
00:41:18.53\00:41:20.10
And a good judge would
lead God's people God's way.
00:41:20.13\00:41:23.00
Gideon was raised
up as a deliverer.
00:41:23.03\00:41:24.86
There was hope.
00:41:24.89\00:41:26.59
And then there were others.
00:41:27.52\00:41:28.98
The plan being that God's
people would be okay if they
00:41:29.01\00:41:31.83
leaned relentlessly on God.
00:41:31.86\00:41:34.56
But they wanted a king.
00:41:34.59\00:41:35.76
"What do you want a king for?
I'll be your King," God said.
00:41:35.79\00:41:38.61
"We want a king because we
want to be like the others."
00:41:38.64\00:41:40.82
It's that people?
00:41:40.85\00:41:42.10
Isn't that what folks are like?
00:41:42.68\00:41:44.09
"We want to be like the others."
00:41:44.10\00:41:45.17
You see it even in church,
"We want to be like the others."
00:41:45.20\00:41:47.34
"We want to be like them, we
want to do what they're doing.
00:41:48.07\00:41:50.06
Because what they're doing..."
00:41:50.09\00:41:51.09
Oh, you know what I'm saying.
00:41:51.12\00:41:52.86
"We want to be like them."
00:41:53.68\00:41:55.46
They wanted to be
like them and have a king.
00:41:55.89\00:41:57.94
It worked for a while.
00:41:57.95\00:41:58.95
Saul was okay
until he went nuts.
00:41:58.97\00:42:01.91
And then along came
David. And David was okay.
00:42:03.38\00:42:06.12
Okay... Okay is the right word.
00:42:08.78\00:42:10.49
He had his moments, didn't he.
00:42:10.52\00:42:11.71
He was okay
when he was faithful.
00:42:12.67\00:42:13.91
Not okay when he was
walking on the roof top
00:42:13.94\00:42:15.63
and should have
covered his eyes.
00:42:15.66\00:42:17.05
David was okay in places.
00:42:17.06\00:42:19.06
And then along came Solomon.
00:42:19.10\00:42:21.07
The man wiser than any
other man who had ever lived.
00:42:21.10\00:42:24.04
But not so wise as
to put his foot down.
00:42:24.07\00:42:27.86
And he succumbed to the
influence of his heathen wives.
00:42:29.12\00:42:31.63
Wives... That
wasn't a wise move either.
00:42:31.66\00:42:33.66
And before long, the
kingdom was in grave trouble.
00:42:34.72\00:42:38.84
Why? Satan was relentless.
00:42:38.87\00:42:42.53
He won't stop working.
00:42:43.76\00:42:45.71
He aren't safe for a moment
if we're not yielded to God.
00:42:46.10\00:42:51.65
You've heard that phrase, "Give
him an inch, he'll take a mile."
00:42:51.96\00:42:54.84
That's Satan.
00:42:54.87\00:42:55.91
If you just give him a toe hold,
you let him grab hold of your
00:42:55.94\00:42:59.43
little toe, he'll keep
on clawing and scratching
00:42:59.46\00:43:02.07
and grabbing until
he's got all of you.
00:43:02.10\00:43:04.14
That's what happened back there.
00:43:05.58\00:43:06.98
Give him an inch,
he'll take a mile.
00:43:07.01\00:43:09.52
The ten tribes were
taken into captivity and
00:43:10.17\00:43:12.34
absorbed into the
ranks of the enemy.
00:43:12.37\00:43:13.79
Satan was exalted,
"I've almost got them.
00:43:13.82\00:43:16.61
Just two more
tribes to go and this whole
00:43:16.64\00:43:19.65
Messiah business will be done."
00:43:19.68\00:43:21.78
Judah then went into
captivity to Babylon.
00:43:21.81\00:43:24.46
About the worse place
you could possibly go.
00:43:24.49\00:43:26.35
They were there
for seven decades.
00:43:26.38\00:43:28.28
And what hope was there?
00:43:30.34\00:43:31.84
The writer of the Chronicles
said this in 2 Chronicles 36:16,
00:43:32.41\00:43:35.68
"Israel has mocked
the messengers of God,
00:43:35.71\00:43:38.47
despised His words,
and misused His prophets."
00:43:38.50\00:43:42.59
So what hope was there for
these poor struggling souls?
00:43:43.84\00:43:46.17
There was a battle raging.
00:43:46.20\00:43:47.27
God doing all He
could to bring salvation,
00:43:47.30\00:43:50.25
to bring into the
world the Messiah.
00:43:50.28\00:43:51.87
When the Messiah came,
He was going to have to
00:43:51.90\00:43:53.41
live a righteous life.
00:43:53.44\00:43:54.63
And that was not a slam dunk.
00:43:54.66\00:43:56.40
He came and lived as
a man, you understand.
00:43:56.80\00:43:58.58
It wasn't going to
be the easiest thing.
00:43:58.61\00:44:00.67
It wasn't a walk in the park.
00:44:00.70\00:44:02.10
But God was not finished.
00:44:02.11\00:44:04.48
Satan had done
everything he could to
00:44:05.37\00:44:07.21
frustrate the plans of God.
00:44:07.24\00:44:08.35
Remember, Herod even...
00:44:08.38\00:44:09.95
The devil, man,
how desperate was he.
00:44:10.25\00:44:12.11
"Kill all the
baby boys," Herod said.
00:44:12.14\00:44:15.26
Satan was just rubbing
his hands, "I'm going to
00:44:16.02\00:44:17.69
get that Messiah now.
00:44:17.72\00:44:18.86
We'll just kill Him
and it'll be all over.
00:44:19.43\00:44:22.00
It will be all over."
00:44:22.03\00:44:23.16
Satan was
attempting to destroy Jesus.
00:44:23.19\00:44:25.13
Then he would
triumph in this thing called
00:44:25.16\00:44:27.01
the great controversy.
00:44:27.02\00:44:28.02
But it wasn't to be.
00:44:28.03\00:44:29.03
Jesus lived. So
Satan dogged His steps.
00:44:29.04\00:44:31.09
Can you imagine what
it was like to be Jesus
00:44:31.12\00:44:33.17
when everywhere He
went, there were people
00:44:33.20\00:44:35.33
trying trip Him up?
00:44:35.36\00:44:36.48
Saying things to rile Him
up and ruffle His feathers.
00:44:36.51\00:44:38.99
Trying to get Him to
slip here are slip there.
00:44:39.02\00:44:41.15
And for three and a half
years, He never even put so much
00:44:41.18\00:44:44.05
as a thought...
00:44:44.15\00:44:45.46
...because He was connected.
00:44:48.01\00:44:49.55
What a Savior, what a Savior.
00:44:49.58\00:44:51.80
Jesus was nailed
to a cross, though.
00:44:51.83\00:44:53.87
"Ah," Satan
wondered, "have I succeeded?
00:44:53.90\00:44:56.70
Have I?"
00:44:56.73\00:44:57.78
But, no.
00:44:57.81\00:44:59.67
Sunday morning, the
rock was rolled away
00:45:00.85\00:45:05.52
and Jesus came forth.
00:45:05.55\00:45:07.32
I just wonder what
Satan thought then.
00:45:07.35\00:45:12.02
He must have
gone screaming away.
00:45:12.97\00:45:14.96
He is alive. He lives.
00:45:14.99\00:45:18.70
Satan was on his
way to defeat now.
00:45:18.73\00:45:20.68
But what did
Jesus have to work with?
00:45:20.71\00:45:22.24
Just twelve. No,
wait. Just eleven, eleven.
00:45:22.27\00:45:24.40
I'll take Peter out; ten.
00:45:24.50\00:45:26.06
All of them
forsook Him and fled.
00:45:26.83\00:45:28.37
Zero. What did He have?
00:45:28.40\00:45:30.33
But Jesus said,
"Wait, get together and pray.
00:45:30.36\00:45:35.34
Because the
Promise is going to come.
00:45:35.37\00:45:37.65
The Holy Spirit
will rest upon you."
00:45:37.68\00:45:40.50
And by the time Pentecost
came, the seeds that Jesus sowed
00:45:40.51\00:45:44.21
were watered by the Holy Spirit
and were raised up to do a
00:45:44.24\00:45:46.63
great work for God's glory.
00:45:46.66\00:45:48.00
The light shown bright.
00:45:48.03\00:45:50.22
God's people had
endured sufferings and torment
00:45:50.52\00:45:53.67
and afflictions
and tremendous things.
00:45:53.70\00:45:55.57
But the light shown bright.
00:45:55.65\00:45:57.85
Friend, there was light
at the end of the tunnel.
00:45:57.86\00:45:59.73
God was going to win this thing.
00:45:59.76\00:46:01.15
And there's a reason
I'm saying this several.
00:46:02.33\00:46:04.18
But you think back over time
at what God, against the odds...
00:46:04.21\00:46:07.51
If you don't mind
me putting it that way.
00:46:07.54\00:46:09.27
Then take a look at
where you are in your life now,
00:46:09.64\00:46:11.86
and wonder if God can
ever bring you through.
00:46:11.89\00:46:14.25
If God could bring
Israel through the wilderness,
00:46:14.81\00:46:16.91
He can bring you
through your wilderness.
00:46:16.92\00:46:18.69
If God could bring Israel
out of hardship and difficulty,
00:46:19.46\00:46:22.04
God can bring you out of
your hardship and difficulty.
00:46:22.05\00:46:25.11
There was David on the run
being hunted like a wild animal.
00:46:26.29\00:46:32.66
What hope was
there? Maybe he just...
00:46:32.69\00:46:34.48
Maybe he
wondered if he should just
00:46:35.54\00:46:36.84
surrender and get
the thing over with.
00:46:36.85\00:46:38.05
But he didn't.
00:46:38.07\00:46:39.07
And who delivered David?
00:46:39.08\00:46:40.60
God delivered David.
00:46:40.63\00:46:41.71
David wasn't delivered
through his craft and his might
00:46:41.74\00:46:43.90
and his guile and his skill.
00:46:43.93\00:46:45.11
He was delivered
through the power of God.
00:46:45.14\00:46:46.89
Listen friend, don't
give up. Don't give up.
00:46:46.92\00:46:48.71
Don't give up.
00:46:48.74\00:46:50.17
God will deliver
you if you'll let Him.
00:46:50.20\00:46:51.76
Whatever your circumstance.
00:46:52.47\00:46:53.61
Some relationship falling apart;
you don't have to fall apart.
00:46:53.64\00:46:56.07
Kids going off the rail; you
don't have to go off the rails.
00:46:56.11\00:46:58.61
Finances melting;
you don't have to melt.
00:46:58.64\00:47:01.71
God is able to hold you up.
00:47:01.74\00:47:03.62
It says in the book of Hebrews
that God upholds all things
00:47:03.65\00:47:06.21
by the word of His power.
00:47:06.24\00:47:07.47
If He keeps the sun in
the sky, He can keep you
00:47:07.50\00:47:09.34
where you ought to be.
00:47:09.37\00:47:10.49
If He keeps the stars in
their course, He can keep
00:47:10.52\00:47:12.70
you in your course.
00:47:12.71\00:47:13.85
God is able to do this because
He is God, that's His job.
00:47:13.88\00:47:18.62
There was an
early Christian church,
00:47:19.28\00:47:20.50
eventually it lost its fire.
00:47:20.53\00:47:22.14
Love for Jesus degenerated
into formalism and tradition.
00:47:22.15\00:47:25.69
What was left? Idolatry came in.
00:47:26.83\00:47:28.87
Eventually, the
medieval church came in.
00:47:28.90\00:47:31.22
And what once
looked like Christianity,
00:47:31.59\00:47:33.33
now looked like paganism.
00:47:33.36\00:47:34.59
Because essentially it was.
00:47:34.62\00:47:36.30
What was God going to do?
00:47:37.77\00:47:39.01
You know, have you ever...
00:47:39.04\00:47:40.94
My most vivid
memory of this is the one
00:47:43.52\00:47:45.36
I shouldn't tell you about.
00:47:45.39\00:47:46.38
Now my son is a good boy.
00:47:51.00\00:47:52.11
So even though he's watching me
right now, he wouldn't try this.
00:47:52.14\00:47:55.49
Right?
00:47:59.24\00:48:00.32
I guess I was too
easily influenced as a child.
00:48:04.28\00:48:06.40
It's funny what you did as a kid
00:48:06.43\00:48:08.17
that now you'd
never let your kids do.
00:48:08.88\00:48:10.49
It's funny what
society kind of let go that now
00:48:12.99\00:48:15.60
you'd never let go.
00:48:15.63\00:48:16.71
I grew up on a river bank.
00:48:16.74\00:48:17.89
Big, big river.
00:48:18.25\00:48:19.34
Has a big river bank too.
00:48:19.37\00:48:20.56
Room for horses to
run around down there on.
00:48:22.53\00:48:24.70
And the Ryan boys and I
would take a box of matches
00:48:25.47\00:48:27.67
down the river.
00:48:27.70\00:48:28.77
For the purpose of lighting a
fire, as big a fire as we could.
00:48:30.75\00:48:33.89
I'm not saying it was
a sensible thing to do.
00:48:34.44\00:48:36.38
It was a dumb
boyish thing to do.
00:48:36.41\00:48:38.34
And I remember
getting down to our last match
00:48:38.37\00:48:41.58
and our last little piece of
the striker off the match box.
00:48:42.75\00:48:45.92
Because we'd done
burned up everything else.
00:48:45.95\00:48:47.59
And saying "This is it."
00:48:48.46\00:48:49.54
And getting up a
little glow and blowing.
00:48:50.05\00:48:53.74
All you needed
was a little glow.
00:48:53.75\00:48:56.45
It's remarkable, we would
build some beautiful fires.
00:48:57.20\00:48:59.61
And the neighbors would
look down, "Oh, that's just
00:48:59.64\00:49:01.25
the kids lighting a fire."
00:49:01.28\00:49:02.74
Times have changed.
00:49:06.36\00:49:07.51
But all you needed
was the faintest glow.
00:49:09.18\00:49:12.69
And if there was
just a little bit of fire,
00:49:13.42\00:49:15.92
and you tended that
thing, and you blew on that,
00:49:15.95\00:49:19.03
eventually you
could have an inferno.
00:49:19.41\00:49:21.38
All God needed was
the smallest flicker.
00:49:24.32\00:49:28.00
That's all He needed.
00:49:28.90\00:49:30.07
And He had it.
00:49:30.10\00:49:31.44
The Waldenses in Europe.
00:49:32.25\00:49:33.87
They wouldn't bow down.
00:49:35.08\00:49:36.42
They wouldn't be
crushed before the might
00:49:36.45\00:49:38.29
of the medieval church.
00:49:38.32\00:49:39.95
And so God was able
to preserve the truth.
00:49:40.72\00:49:43.52
Maybe in that one little
pocket, but He preserved it.
00:49:44.22\00:49:48.11
What then?
00:49:49.08\00:49:50.08
Their faithfulness
paved the way for others.
00:49:50.09\00:49:52.81
A Catholic priest who
was disturbed at the state of
00:49:53.92\00:49:56.22
the church, a man
named John Wycliffe,
00:49:56.25\00:49:58.82
became known as the
Morning Star of the Reformation.
00:49:59.42\00:50:02.43
He protested about
what the friars were doing;
00:50:03.11\00:50:05.56
these good for
nothing, lazy-boned, scoundrels.
00:50:05.59\00:50:08.64
They'd been given permission
by the church to forgive sin.
00:50:09.35\00:50:11.96
And so they would hear
confession and they would
00:50:12.51\00:50:14.36
take money, and they would
bludge, and they would whatever.
00:50:14.39\00:50:18.15
And they were corrupt.
00:50:19.01\00:50:20.81
Wycliffe railed against them.
00:50:21.67\00:50:23.49
He said they're
keeping the people in bondage.
00:50:24.00\00:50:25.77
He said the
mass was blasphemous.
00:50:26.07\00:50:27.67
He said the Eucharist,
that's not the real presence.
00:50:27.70\00:50:30.72
That's an
emblem, you understand.
00:50:30.75\00:50:33.06
He was against confession,
and all of these things.
00:50:33.34\00:50:35.93
He taught, and he preached,
and he would go down to a place
00:50:36.71\00:50:39.02
called Saint Paul's Steps
at St. Paul's in the churchyard
00:50:39.05\00:50:45.45
of St. Paul's Cathedral.
00:50:45.48\00:50:46.62
Not the one that's there now.
00:50:46.63\00:50:47.63
That was built by
Sir Christopher Wren.
00:50:47.64\00:50:49.15
Or designed by Wren and built
after the great fire in 1666.
00:50:49.18\00:50:52.90
But going back,
the old St. Paul's.
00:50:52.91\00:50:54.82
And he'd go there and he'd
preach and he'd tell the people
00:50:55.36\00:50:57.22
about God's grace
and God's goodness.
00:50:57.25\00:50:59.55
And he said, "What
they need is the Bible."
00:50:59.58\00:51:01.89
So he went back
and he spearheaded
00:51:01.92\00:51:03.47
a translation project.
00:51:03.48\00:51:04.57
He didn't do it all on his own.
00:51:04.60\00:51:05.90
But he spearheaded the
Bible translation project.
00:51:05.93\00:51:08.21
And now, now there was a
light that shown in the dark.
00:51:08.24\00:51:12.10
It wasn't just
somebody preaching,
00:51:12.13\00:51:13.32
but they had in their
possession the Word of God.
00:51:13.33\00:51:15.99
They had the Scriptures.
00:51:16.02\00:51:17.41
Oh, what God
could do with that now.
00:51:17.44\00:51:19.49
And what Wycliffe did was this.
00:51:19.50\00:51:21.69
Interesting, they
tried to kill Wycliffe.
00:51:22.04\00:51:23.78
They didn't succeed.
00:51:23.81\00:51:24.83
After he died, though,
the Council of Constance
00:51:24.85\00:51:26.82
in Southern Germany
decreed that Wycliffe's bones
00:51:26.85\00:51:29.50
be dug up and burned.
00:51:29.53\00:51:30.83
They burned his bones.
00:51:31.81\00:51:33.22
Threw the ashes
into the River Swift.
00:51:33.84\00:51:36.28
The River Swift
isn't even a river.
00:51:36.31\00:51:37.72
You'd call it a creek.
00:51:37.75\00:51:39.21
You might call it a
creek, but it's a creek.
00:51:39.24\00:51:41.48
It's a clear stream.
00:51:41.51\00:51:43.16
They threw it into the
stream and the Swift took his
00:51:43.19\00:51:46.07
ashes to the Avon.
00:51:46.08\00:51:47.08
And the Avon took
his ashes to the Severn.
00:51:47.10\00:51:49.89
And the Severn took his
ashes to the Bristol Channel,
00:51:49.90\00:51:52.53
then out in the
ocean, and around the world.
00:51:52.56\00:51:54.48
The light went around
the world, you understand.
00:51:54.51\00:51:56.71
The light did go
around the world.
00:51:57.96\00:51:59.25
Because some students at
Oxford listened to Wycliffe
00:51:59.26\00:52:02.28
and they took his writings
back to a man named John Huss
00:52:02.31\00:52:04.97
in what we would now
call the Czech Republic.
00:52:05.14\00:52:08.74
We would now call it that.
00:52:09.11\00:52:10.29
And John Huss
said, "Ah, this I like."
00:52:10.80\00:52:12.89
John Huss started to protest.
John Huss started to preach.
00:52:13.30\00:52:15.68
John Huss
shared the Word of God.
00:52:15.71\00:52:17.91
John Huss...
00:52:17.94\00:52:19.57
Satan wasn't happy.
00:52:19.60\00:52:20.81
Satan said, "I'm losing ground
in the great controversy."
00:52:21.26\00:52:23.99
And he inspired the church
leaders to murder John Huss.
00:52:24.02\00:52:28.03
They burned him at the stake.
00:52:28.06\00:52:29.73
The same council that
said "Dig up Wycliffe's bones,"
00:52:29.76\00:52:32.29
was the same council
that said, "Burn John Huss."
00:52:32.32\00:52:35.03
I've stood at the
place where they reckon
00:52:35.81\00:52:37.65
John Huss and
Gerome were burned.
00:52:37.68\00:52:40.13
You stand there and you
breath the air, and you think,
00:52:41.37\00:52:44.50
"Ah, men of God.
00:52:44.53\00:52:46.48
What was it they did?"
00:52:47.45\00:52:49.00
You know, you
could kill John Huss,
00:52:50.19\00:52:51.49
but you can't silence truth.
00:52:51.52\00:52:52.75
You can't blot it out, man.
00:52:52.78\00:52:54.02
And along came Martin Luther;
that great man who taught us
00:52:54.79\00:52:57.52
that the just
shall life by... What?
00:52:57.55\00:52:59.32
You mean, without
paying a cent to the church
00:52:59.76\00:53:03.00
we can be justified?
00:53:03.03\00:53:04.35
Without going on a pilgrimage,
without doing penance,
00:53:05.17\00:53:07.88
without the performance
of any good works at all,
00:53:07.98\00:53:11.55
we could receive
justification from God?
00:53:11.58\00:53:14.16
Luther changed the world.
00:53:14.46\00:53:17.72
The light was shining brighter.
The light was shining brighter.
00:53:19.26\00:53:23.06
Satan was losing ground.
00:53:23.09\00:53:24.46
He tried to have Luther
killed as well, but he failed.
00:53:24.49\00:53:27.02
And there was Melanchthon
and there was Zwingli.
00:53:27.05\00:53:29.66
And there were Tyndale
and Farel and Calvin and Knox,
00:53:29.69\00:53:32.37
and the
Anabaptist and Menno Simons.
00:53:32.40\00:53:34.46
You know, today is
Saint Patrick's Day.
00:53:34.56\00:53:36.63
So we ought to talk about Saint
Patrick, who was a Protestant.
00:53:37.18\00:53:39.98
Now this is even
long before these fellows.
00:53:40.01\00:53:42.08
He was a Protestant and
he was a Sabbath keeper.
00:53:42.94\00:53:45.59
And he shed the
light in Ireland.
00:53:46.94\00:53:48.53
Thank God he did.
00:53:48.55\00:53:49.83
And then there was John Wesley.
00:53:49.85\00:53:51.49
John Wesley who said,
"The church needs reforming."
00:53:51.50\00:53:53.74
And he followed a method.
00:53:53.77\00:53:54.92
His method
couldn't bring him holiness.
00:53:54.95\00:53:57.09
But he discovered
that a change of heart
00:53:57.12\00:53:58.76
could bring him holiness.
00:53:58.79\00:54:00.30
And he founded
the Methodist Church.
00:54:00.92\00:54:02.83
He traveled 250,000
miles by horse mainly,
00:54:03.56\00:54:06.14
preached 40,000 sermons,
gave away 30,000 pounds,
00:54:06.17\00:54:09.89
and changed the world.
00:54:09.90\00:54:12.42
And the light
was shining bright.
00:54:12.45\00:54:14.05
And Satan, who has
read the Bible, knew that
00:54:14.08\00:54:16.30
his days were numbered.
00:54:16.33\00:54:17.62
Wesley died, and what
he said was, "Best of all,
00:54:17.65\00:54:20.75
God is with us."
00:54:20.78\00:54:22.28
The light is
shining brighter, friends.
00:54:23.80\00:54:25.30
This is an inevitability now.
00:54:25.33\00:54:26.63
Jesus is coming back soon.
00:54:26.66\00:54:28.50
And the
difficulties we might have
00:54:29.73\00:54:31.00
been through are all going to...
00:54:31.03\00:54:32.50
What does it say, "And the
things of this world will grow
00:54:32.53\00:54:34.25
strangely dim in the
light of His glory and grace."
00:54:34.28\00:54:37.94
We are almost home.
00:54:38.50\00:54:40.26
We are almost home.
00:54:40.66\00:54:42.14
Hold on now. Hold on to Jesus.
00:54:42.17\00:54:44.30
Take hold of His hand
now and just don't let go.
00:54:44.49\00:54:47.11
Just let God be God.
00:54:47.14\00:54:49.29
It's not a
matter of trying harder.
00:54:49.99\00:54:51.46
It's a matter of being
surrendered and letting Jesus
00:54:51.48\00:54:53.48
do what Jesus, and
only Jesus, can do.
00:54:53.51\00:54:56.75
Standing on the steps
of the Lincoln Memorial
00:54:57.42\00:54:59.58
one summers day in 1964,
00:54:59.61\00:55:02.85
Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. spoke a message;
00:55:04.07\00:55:09.81
one of the greatest speeches,
you can call it a sermon
00:55:09.84\00:55:13.39
if you will, one of
the greatest speeches
00:55:13.42\00:55:15.73
that the world had ever heard.
00:55:16.16\00:55:17.92
He talked about the
day he longed to see.
00:55:18.97\00:55:21.17
When his four little children
would be judged, and not by the
00:55:21.20\00:55:24.15
color of their skin, but by
the content of their character.
00:55:24.16\00:55:27.39
"A day," he said, "when little
boys and little girls will be
00:55:28.36\00:55:31.29
able to join hand with
each other and, irrespective of
00:55:31.30\00:55:34.14
their race, walk together
as sisters and brothers.
00:55:34.17\00:55:39.46
Dr. King dared to dream.
00:55:39.49\00:55:43.07
And he told the
world about his dream.
00:55:45.11\00:55:47.81
He spoke of a day when all
God's children will be able to
00:55:48.89\00:55:52.04
sing with new meaning,
"My country 'tis of thee,
00:55:52.07\00:55:55.28
sweet land of
liberty, of thee I sing.
00:55:55.31\00:55:58.14
Land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
00:55:58.17\00:56:02.71
from every mountainside,"
he said, "let..." What?
00:56:02.74\00:56:07.04
"...let freedom ring."
00:56:07.51\00:56:09.67
Martin Luther King
Jr. mobilized thousands.
00:56:09.70\00:56:12.23
He mobilized
hundreds of thousands.
00:56:12.26\00:56:14.94
People came to Washington D.C.
from all over the United States.
00:56:14.97\00:56:18.84
These United States
that was still oozing racism.
00:56:18.87\00:56:23.41
When Jim Crow laws treated
people, that were supposed to be
00:56:23.42\00:56:27.05
equal, as less than human.
00:56:27.08\00:56:29.07
And people were
moved by his message.
00:56:30.63\00:56:32.79
A message of hope,
a message of freedom.
00:56:33.52\00:56:36.32
A message that, one
day, oppression would not be.
00:56:36.35\00:56:38.66
A message that, one
day, we all could be treated
00:56:38.69\00:56:42.74
as we ought to be treated;
truly as God's children.
00:56:42.77\00:56:47.33
Dr. Martin Luther King
looked forward to a day when we
00:56:50.02\00:56:52.37
would be able to say,
"Free at last, free at last.
00:56:52.40\00:56:57.26
Thank God Almighty,
we are free at last."
00:56:57.76\00:57:01.52
That day is
coming in its fullness.
00:57:01.96\00:57:05.45
Because Jesus is coming
back to this earth soon.
00:57:05.76\00:57:09.90
He's going to set the
captives free once and for all.
00:57:10.20\00:57:14.09
We're getting out
of here and going home.
00:57:14.23\00:57:16.49
The hardships of our
journey will be forgotten.
00:57:16.52\00:57:19.51
For we will be in a
land that is fairer than day.
00:57:19.97\00:57:22.98
The great controversy will
be over finally and forever.
00:57:23.37\00:57:27.27
We'll be home at last.
00:57:27.79\00:57:30.01