¤[music ends]¤¤
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¤[reflective music]¤
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>>John Bradshaw: The
Bible is a rescue story.
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After Adam and Eve fell,
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they found
themselves held fast by sin.
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It's true they had
only themselves to blame
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for the mess that they were
in, but rather than leave them
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to the
consequences of their misdeeds,
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heaven swung into action,
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and the greatest rescue in the
history of the universe began.
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Now, together
we're going to look
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at another
remarkable rescue story.
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¤[music continues]¤
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This rescue took place
prior to the Civil War,
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and some say it paved
the way for the Civil War.
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Involved were a
group of Christians,
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a number of
university students, a fugitive,
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and a group of people
committed to returning
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the fugitive to
his home. [shouting]
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There was civil
disobedience and cooperation
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between people
of different races--
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no small thing considering
this rescue occurred in 1858.
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In defiance of federal law,
a town rallied to free a man
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who had been legally captured,
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but this group decided they
just weren't going to take it.
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And they didn't.
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¤[dramatic music]¤
[sound of leaves blown by wind]
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It's 1833. A new town is
created in northern Ohio.
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This community, called Oberlin,
would soon become the home
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of a missionary training school.
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It wouldn't take long before
Oberlin College was committed
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to the abolition of slavery.
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>>David Hill: Oberlin was
founded as a religious utopia.
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Uh, it was designed
to be a, a community
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where people of faith came.
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You actually
signed a faith covenant
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to be part of the
Oberlin community.
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And in the earliest
days of the Oberlin colony,
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the, um, church, the
faith community, the town,
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and the college were like this--
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they were all
interwoven together.
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There was no way
to separate them out.
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>>Kurt Russell: The idea
of this small, little town
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was really based upon making
sure that everyone had a voice,
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and that we'll be this
hot spots of abolitionism,
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this hot spot of freedom.
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>>Elizabeth
Schultz: It was very radical.
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This is a place
where black families
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really had opportunities,
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uh, business, educational,
and just safety at that time.
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¤[reflective music]¤
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>>John: Slavery was
abolished in Ohio in 1802.
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The town of Oberlin
was fully integrated.
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Blacks and whites
operated businesses
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right next to each other,
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and they worshiped
together in church.
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In fact, instead of
celebrating the Fourth of July,
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many Oberlin
residents dedicated that day
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to holding
anti-slavery meetings.
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Oberlin was considered
"an academic powder keg
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for abolitionism" and
"the most noted abolition town"
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in all of North America.
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At Oberlin, white
students and black students,
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males and females
studied alongside each other.
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Students worked in
agriculture or mechanics,
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as well as pursuing academics.
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And great numbers of
missionaries were sent out.
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The Oberlin church had
decided that slavery was a sin,
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and slave holders
were not welcome to attend.
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Charles Finney, a professor
of theology at Oberlin College
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before becoming
the school's president,
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denounced
slavery from the pulpit,
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calling it "a
great national sin."
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How did Oberlin become such
a stronghold of abolitionism?
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>>David: I think a good
part of that has to do with, um,
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the popularity of
Charles Finney, when this--
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he was the one
that designed this space
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that you and I are
sitting in today, which, um--
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his following was
so powerful that it,
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it actually reached the point
where they wouldn't all fit
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in this building,
and they had to build
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a second congregational church,
not because of the division
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but because they
just needed more space.
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So, I think Charles Finney
was really passionate about it.
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He looked at the members of the
community that had came here.
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Uh, if you were a
captive and managed to escape
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and came to Oberlin,
you didn't have to hide out;
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you could live
openly in this community.
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You were welcomed
in this community.
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So they were both black
and white abolitionist leaders
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that lived here.
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>>John: Ohio's anti-slavery
stance wasn't unusual.
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Pennsylvania
banned slavery in 1780.
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Massachusetts and Rhode Island
followed suit before 1785.
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Vermont banned
slavery on July 2, 1777,
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even before it was a state.
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The United States banned the
importation of slaves in 1808,
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but it would be another 55 years
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before the Emancipation
Proclamation would be signed.
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By the middle of the
19th century, life had become
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more complicated
for abolitionists
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living in the North.
00:05:07.77\00:05:09.37
While it had been illegal to
assist a fugitive from slavery
00:05:09.40\00:05:12.97
since 1793, the Fugitive Slave
Act of 1850 compelled people
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to assist in the capture
of a fugitive from slavery
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if it was deemed
necessary for them to do so.
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Those who refused
could be fined or imprisoned.
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Now, it was very difficult to
prove that any African American
00:05:27.72\00:05:31.83
was not a fugitive from slavery.
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Those accused of being
such were denied a trial
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and could not
testify in their own behalf.
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Making matters worse,
the commissioner deciding
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such cases was
paid $5 if he decided
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in behalf of the fugitive,
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$10 if he decided in
behalf of the slave owner.
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So, not only was the
law massively unjust,
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it was also open
to terrible abuse.
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[wind blowing]
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In the winter of
1856, three people
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decided to escape to freedom.
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Frank, Dinah, and a
man named John Price fled
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from slave owner John
Bacon in Mason County, Kentucky.
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Escaping as they did
was extraordinarily risky,
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especially given
the hostile weather.
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On foot they
crossed a frozen Ohio River,
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avoided main roads,
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traveling mainly at
night to avoid detection,
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before making it to
north-central Ohio in February.
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Price and his friends traveled
via the Underground Railroad,
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an informal 
network of routes taken
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by enslaved African
Americans out of the South
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and on to freedom, either in
Northern states or in Canada,
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where fugitives were welcomed
and even given citizenship.
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Most who escaped never made
it to freedom and were returned
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to the farms or plantations
from which they fled.
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John Price and his
fellow fugitive Frank
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were living in Oberlin,
Ohio, by early-to mid-1858.
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Price worked as he was able
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and was otherwise
supported by charity.
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But even in Oberlin,
he wasn't completely safe.
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Slave catchers might be
sent to retrieve the property
00:07:18.87\00:07:22.84
of Southern slave owners.
00:07:22.87\00:07:25.94
Someone like John Price
was worth around $1,000,
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which is about $40,000 today.
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He might have been worth as
much as $1,500--$60,000 today.
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So there was
real money to be lost
00:07:36.82\00:07:38.52
when a slave ran for freedom.
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Slave owners were highly
motivated to get them back.
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Slave catchers were
also well remunerated.
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For bringing in
somebody like John Price,
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a slave catcher might
earn as much as $1,000.
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Again, that's $40,000 today.
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The arrival of a certain
mysterious stranger in Oberlin
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set local residents on edge.
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Anderson Jennings was
the neighbor of John Bacon.
00:08:04.55\00:08:07.98
John Bacon was the owner of
John Price, Frank, and Dinah
00:08:08.02\00:08:14.09
back in Mason County, Kentucky.
00:08:14.12\00:08:16.69
On the pretext of
finding work for John,
00:08:16.73\00:08:18.66
certain associates
of Jennings lured him
00:08:18.69\00:08:20.63
into a horse-drawn carriage,
00:08:20.66\00:08:22.16
took him out to the edge
of town, and just like that,
00:08:22.20\00:08:25.87
John Price had been captured
without any fuss at all.
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He'd be taken out of
free Ohio back to the farm
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and the life
which he had escaped.
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And that might have
been the end of the story,
00:08:37.35\00:08:39.31
except that the slave catcher
Jennings didn't anticipate
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the resistance
he'd be up against
00:08:43.28\00:08:44.99
from the people of Oberlin.
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What transpired is said to
have paved the way, in part,
00:08:47.22\00:08:50.83
for the Civil War.
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¤[somber music]¤
[dramatic swoosh sound]
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After narrowly
avoiding having to go to war
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against his own people, David,
who at the time was a fugitive
00:08:58.63\00:09:02.77
from King Saul, returns to
his temporary home in Ziklag
00:09:02.80\00:09:06.64
to discover the city had
been burned to the ground,
00:09:06.68\00:09:09.48
and his
possessions and, far worse,
00:09:09.51\00:09:12.31
the women and
children had all been taken.
00:09:12.35\00:09:15.58
After inquiring of
God what he ought to do,
00:09:15.62\00:09:17.95
David and his men
pursued the Amalekite raiders.
00:09:17.99\00:09:21.86
After a day of
battle, they were triumphant,
00:09:21.89\00:09:25.23
and David and his
community were all reunited.
00:09:25.26\00:09:29.16
Now, while it didn't quite
rise to that level in this case,
00:09:29.20\00:09:32.20
the rescue of
John Price was dramatic
00:09:32.23\00:09:35.27
and its effects far reaching.
00:09:35.30\00:09:37.94
He was transported by his
captors here, to Wellington,
00:09:37.97\00:09:41.18
eight or nine
miles south of Oberlin.
00:09:41.21\00:09:43.48
Jennings, the slave
catcher, planned to have John
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on the 5:13 p.m. train
00:09:46.68\00:09:48.78
from Wellington
to Columbus, Ohio,
00:09:48.82\00:09:50.95
and back on the farm in Mason
County, Kentucky, within a day.
00:09:50.99\00:09:54.89
Except that, on
their way to Wellington,
00:09:54.92\00:09:57.89
the group passed a carriage
coming in the other direction
00:09:57.93\00:10:01.40
toward Oberlin.
00:10:01.43\00:10:03.03
In that
carriage was Ansel Lyman,
00:10:03.06\00:10:05.57
an Oberlin student and
a staunch abolitionist.
00:10:05.60\00:10:09.54
Within 15 minutes Tappan
Square was filled with people
00:10:09.57\00:10:13.81
who were armed
and ready for action.
00:10:13.84\00:10:16.31
Business owners,
students, city employees,
00:10:16.34\00:10:19.81
black people, white people--
between them they gathered
00:10:19.85\00:10:23.15
every vehicle they
could find, seizing some.
00:10:23.18\00:10:26.72
The people of Oberlin were
going after John Price, and they
00:10:26.76\00:10:30.43
would bring him back to
where they believed he belonged.
00:10:30.46\00:10:33.46
>>Elizabeth: Bells
started to ring throughout town.
00:10:33.50\00:10:36.56
People were
rushing out of their homes,
00:10:36.60\00:10:38.63
especially the, the
black business owners.
00:10:38.67\00:10:40.84
You know, they
were all congregating.
00:10:40.87\00:10:42.67
Many of them, uh,
met in Tappan Square,
00:10:42.70\00:10:45.04
and, uh, one of them
raised rifles in one hand
00:10:45.07\00:10:48.04
and kind of waved his
hat in the other and said,
00:10:48.08\00:10:49.94
"I'm going to
rescue John Price."
00:10:49.98\00:10:51.95
And the crowd just
gives this massive cheer.
00:10:51.98\00:10:54.62
>>John: Some
walked to Wellington.
00:10:54.65\00:10:56.48
Of those who didn't carry
guns, many carried sticks.
00:10:56.52\00:11:00.12
One woman loaned her horse
and carriage to the rescuers,
00:11:00.16\00:11:02.99
saying, "If necessary,
spare not the life of my beast,
00:11:03.02\00:11:07.13
but rescue the man."
00:11:07.20\00:11:09.10
It's said that the Anglo-Irish
statesman Edmund Burke
00:11:09.13\00:11:11.77
once said, "The only thing
necessary for evil to triumph
00:11:11.80\00:11:16.04
is for good men to do nothing."
00:11:16.07\00:11:18.91
Well, in this case, good
men and women did something,
00:11:18.94\00:11:23.95
but even then it looked
like evil might triumph.
00:11:23.98\00:11:27.18
¤[somber music]¤
00:11:27.22\00:11:28.52
While looking at the
rescue of John Price,
00:11:28.55\00:11:30.65
it's worth asking ourselves
why a slave would escape
00:11:30.69\00:11:34.49
in the first
place. Now, you might say,
00:11:34.52\00:11:36.09
"For obvious reasons," and I
think you'd be right about that.
00:11:36.12\00:11:39.13
As the property of another
person, no slave was free.
00:11:39.16\00:11:43.43
But while these
stories aren't pleasant,
00:11:43.47\00:11:45.20
we're going to look at one that
might give us an understanding
00:11:45.23\00:11:47.54
of the mindset of a fugitive.
00:11:47.57\00:11:50.01
While Margaret Garner was black,
00:11:50.04\00:11:52.14
her father was a
white plantation owner.
00:11:52.17\00:11:55.81
The father of her four children
00:11:55.84\00:11:58.65
was also a white
plantation owner.
00:11:58.68\00:12:02.12
Margaret, her husband, and
the four kids were arrested
00:12:02.15\00:12:05.52
under the Fugitive Slave Act
00:12:05.55\00:12:06.79
after fleeing
across a frozen Ohio River
00:12:06.82\00:12:09.99
during what was then the
coldest winter in 60 years.
00:12:10.03\00:12:14.73
But rather than see her
children returned to slavery
00:12:14.73\00:12:18.80
and have her own daughters
endure what she had endured,
00:12:18.83\00:12:23.84
Margaret took her
2-year-old daughter's life
00:12:23.87\00:12:27.11
and would have taken the lives
of her three other children
00:12:27.14\00:12:30.58
if she'd been able to do so.
00:12:30.61\00:12:33.11
She was driven to desperation
by the horrific abuses
00:12:33.15\00:12:37.15
of a system that
was simply accepted.
00:12:37.19\00:12:40.89
Those abuses were
tolerated and considered to be
00:12:40.92\00:12:44.06
simply part of the way of life.
00:12:44.09\00:12:47.96
So, what would the law
do with Margaret Garner,
00:12:48.00\00:12:50.77
who had taken the
life of her own child?
00:12:50.80\00:12:52.80
Well, she wasn't tried in Ohio.
00:12:52.83\00:12:55.97
If she was, she would
be tried as a free person.
00:12:56.00\00:12:58.64
Instead, she was
taken back to Kentucky,
00:12:58.67\00:13:01.41
where she was
considered property.
00:13:01.44\00:13:04.15
As property, she
couldn't be tried for murder,
00:13:04.18\00:13:07.98
but she could be
returned to slavery.
00:13:08.02\00:13:11.12
And she was.
00:13:11.15\00:13:12.49
>>Kurt: John Price was captured
under the Fugitive Slave Act.
00:13:13.49\00:13:18.69
And Oberlin said that "we
are going to break this law,
00:13:18.73\00:13:24.27
and we are going to make sure
that we protect John Price."
00:13:24.30\00:13:28.24
So, in a nutshell, when
John Price was captured,
00:13:28.27\00:13:30.71
when John Price was
taken to Wellington,
00:13:30.74\00:13:33.68
and when John Price
was going to be transported
00:13:33.71\00:13:36.68
back to Kentucky,
Oberlin said, "Enough is enough,
00:13:36.71\00:13:41.05
and we are finished
with this compromise."
00:13:41.08\00:13:42.78
¤[dramatic music]¤ [shouting]
00:13:42.82\00:13:44.45
>>John: John Price was
taken to the Wadsworth Hotel.
00:13:44.49\00:13:47.36
A group of armed
men held Price inside,
00:13:47.39\00:13:50.43
determined that he was
going south to Kentucky.
00:13:50.46\00:13:53.09
But by 3:00 that afternoon,
00:13:53.13\00:13:55.20
about 250 men and some women
gathered in front of the hotel,
00:13:55.23\00:14:00.17
determined that Price was going
nowhere except back to Oberlin.
00:14:00.20\00:14:06.17
The tension increased when
word spread that a local militia
00:14:06.21\00:14:09.84
was going to be
arriving in Wellington by train.
00:14:09.88\00:14:12.98
The locals knew that
if they were going to act,
00:14:13.01\00:14:15.58
they needed to act quickly.
00:14:15.62\00:14:18.39
After negotiations for
the release of John Price
00:14:18.42\00:14:20.86
broke down, two groups of men
broke into the Wadsworth Hotel,
00:14:20.89\00:14:25.26
wrestled him
away from his captors,
00:14:25.29\00:14:27.23
and Price was spirited away
in a carriage back to Oberlin.
00:14:27.23\00:14:31.97
[hooves
clopping, harness jingling]
00:14:32.00\00:14:33.37
>>Elizabeth: So
he safely gets away.
00:14:33.40\00:14:35.77
Uh, he's going to hide in the
home of a man named James Fitch.
00:14:35.80\00:14:39.34
He stays there for a few hours,
but everyone in town knows
00:14:39.37\00:14:42.98
James Fitch is an abolitionist
and Underground Railroad agent.
00:14:43.01\00:14:46.61
So, they quickly realized
that is not the safest house.
00:14:46.65\00:14:49.48
So, um, James Monroe, who
later lives in this house,
00:14:49.52\00:14:53.25
he and James Fitch escort
John Price to another home,
00:14:53.29\00:14:57.09
which was just
like up the block here,
00:14:57.13\00:14:58.79
uh, to James
Fairchild and his wife,
00:14:58.83\00:15:00.96
and they shelter John Price,
and nobody thinks to look there.
00:15:01.00\00:15:05.30
>>John: But the fact
remained that the rescuers
00:15:05.33\00:15:07.50
had broken the law.
00:15:07.54\00:15:09.64
The fact that it was an unjust
law did not lessen their guilt.
00:15:09.67\00:15:15.04
Thirty-seven men were
indicted by a grand jury
00:15:15.08\00:15:18.08
of the District
Court of Cleveland.
00:15:18.11\00:15:20.32
Twenty-five were from
Oberlin, including 12 black men,
00:15:20.35\00:15:24.25
some of whom were businessmen.
00:15:24.29\00:15:26.35
And 12 were from Wellington.
00:15:26.39\00:15:28.69
The "Cleveland Leader" newspaper
reported on January 13, 1859,
00:15:28.72\00:15:34.60
that a felons' feast
was held to celebrate
00:15:34.63\00:15:38.47
what they had done as rescuers
00:15:38.50\00:15:40.67
in defiance of what they
considered to be an unjust law.
00:15:40.70\00:15:45.47
State officials then
arrested the federal marshal
00:15:45.51\00:15:48.38
and others involved
in John Price's capture.
00:15:48.41\00:15:51.88
Eventually, the marshal
and his men were released
00:15:51.91\00:15:54.88
in exchange for 35 of the 37
men facing federal indictment.
00:15:54.92\00:16:00.59
The two who were not
released were convicted
00:16:00.62\00:16:02.92
and had to
serve their sentences.
00:16:02.96\00:16:05.06
Simeon Bushnell served 88 days
in the Cuyahoga County jail.
00:16:05.09\00:16:10.30
The other was African American
Charles Langston, who said
00:16:10.33\00:16:14.34
as he addressed the court...
00:16:14.37\00:16:16.47
>>Charles Langston: I know
that the courts of this country,
00:16:16.50\00:16:19.81
that the laws of this country,
00:16:19.84\00:16:22.61
that the government and
machinery of this country
00:16:22.64\00:16:25.18
are so constituted as to
oppress and outrage colored men,
00:16:25.21\00:16:30.65
men of my complexion. I
cannot then, of course, expect,
00:16:30.69\00:16:35.86
judging from the past
history of the country,
00:16:35.89\00:16:38.63
any mercy from the
laws, from the Constitution,
00:16:38.66\00:16:42.93
or from the
courts of the country.
00:16:42.96\00:16:45.70
>>John: It was said his address
before the court was masterly,
00:16:45.73\00:16:49.40
spellbinding, powerful,
but it didn't prevent him
00:16:49.44\00:16:52.91
from being sentenced to 20
days in prison and $100 fine,
00:16:52.94\00:16:57.81
which,
disappointing to the government
00:16:57.85\00:16:59.95
of President James Buchanan,
00:17:00.05\00:17:02.18
was about the lightest
punishment he could receive.
00:17:02.22\00:17:06.35
So what became of John Price?
00:17:06.39\00:17:09.62
It's believed he made it
to Canada and to freedom.
00:17:09.66\00:17:13.40
The second best-selling
book in the United States
00:17:15.53\00:17:18.30
in the 19th century
was "Uncle Tom's Cabin,"
00:17:18.33\00:17:22.04
Harriet Beecher
Stowe's classic novel
00:17:22.07\00:17:24.54
dealing with the
injustices of slavery.
00:17:24.57\00:17:28.68
Published in 1852,
"Uncle Tom's Cabin"
00:17:28.71\00:17:32.08
was addressed to Southern whites
00:17:32.11\00:17:34.08
and skewered Christians who
believed that slavery was just.
00:17:34.12\00:17:39.02
Although she
relied on stereotypes
00:17:39.05\00:17:41.09
and, from our vantage point,
00:17:41.12\00:17:42.59
might not always have
got her tone quite right,
00:17:42.62\00:17:45.73
there's no question
that "Uncle Tom's Cabin"
00:17:45.76\00:17:47.73
created a groundswell of
opposition against slavery
00:17:47.76\00:17:51.07
and, and opened eyes to
the horrors of the institution
00:17:51.10\00:17:55.74
all around the world.
00:17:55.77\00:17:57.94
The number one selling
book in the United States
00:17:57.97\00:18:00.88
in the 19th century was
the Bible, which, simply put,
00:18:00.91\00:18:05.51
is a collection
of rescue stories.
00:18:05.55\00:18:07.82
¤[soft music]¤
00:18:07.85\00:18:09.02
Adam and Eve were offered a
way out of the slavery of sin
00:18:09.05\00:18:12.45
through the promise of a Savior.
00:18:12.49\00:18:14.62
Noah and his family
rescued from a global flood,
00:18:14.66\00:18:18.36
the Israelites
were rescued from Egypt.
00:18:18.39\00:18:20.96
Daniel was
rescued from hungry lions,
00:18:21.00\00:18:23.37
and his friends were
rescued in a fiery furnace.
00:18:23.40\00:18:26.87
Peter was rescued from prison.
00:18:26.90\00:18:29.30
Bartimaeus, the 10 lepers, the
man let down through the roof
00:18:29.34\00:18:33.88
of Peter's home in
Capernaum, and many more rescued
00:18:33.91\00:18:37.78
from the power of
sickness and disease.
00:18:37.81\00:18:41.28
But those aren't the
greatest rescue stories.
00:18:41.32\00:18:43.89
The Bible says that
Jesus would "save His people
00:18:43.92\00:18:46.65
from their sins," and that's
the greatest rescue of all.
00:18:46.69\00:18:50.83
We could think of
the demon-possessed,
00:18:50.86\00:18:53.73
the woman taken in
adultery, the woman at the well,
00:18:53.76\00:18:56.60
Zacchaeus, and others who were
rescued from the power of sin.
00:18:56.63\00:19:02.94
Paul, in Romans 7, describes
the experience of the person
00:19:02.97\00:19:06.84
stuck in sin, someone he calls
"carnal," a person who wants
00:19:06.88\00:19:11.58
to do right but can't
00:19:11.61\00:19:13.38
and doesn't want
to do wrong but does.
00:19:13.42\00:19:15.62
He cries out,
00:19:15.65\00:19:17.15
"Who [shall] deliver me
from this body of death?"
00:19:17.19\00:19:20.49
The answer is, "I thank God--
through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
00:19:20.52\00:19:25.96
Jesus, with power to rescue
you from the strongest chains
00:19:25.99\00:19:30.53
that bind you, He's
able to break addictions.
00:19:30.57\00:19:34.40
He can make an
angry person calm,
00:19:34.44\00:19:36.64
a bitter person sweet,
00:19:36.67\00:19:38.31
an unforgiving person gracious.
00:19:38.34\00:19:40.91
The power of God can make an
honest person out of a thief,
00:19:40.94\00:19:44.38
a moral person out
of an immoral person.
00:19:44.41\00:19:47.32
It can change a
violent person's heart
00:19:47.35\00:19:49.48
and make that person gentle.
00:19:49.52\00:19:51.49
Jesus can bring peace into your
marriage and joy into your home.
00:19:51.52\00:19:56.76
God can make you what you
could never make yourself.
00:19:56.79\00:19:59.29
God can make you what you
know you really want to be.
00:19:59.33\00:20:03.20
You know, even in the church
there are far too many people
00:20:03.23\00:20:06.67
who've never
experienced God's power to save.
00:20:06.70\00:20:09.60
They're calling
themselves Christians
00:20:09.64\00:20:12.47
while they've
never been impacted
00:20:12.51\00:20:14.38
by the
transforming power of God.
00:20:14.41\00:20:18.48
Too many people outside
the church are distracted
00:20:18.51\00:20:21.08
by side issues without
ever considering the real issue,
00:20:21.12\00:20:25.89
and that is there's only
one power in the universe
00:20:25.92\00:20:29.49
that can save you from sin,
00:20:29.52\00:20:31.66
only one power in the
universe that can save you
00:20:31.69\00:20:34.36
from yourself, give you peace in
your life, give you a new heart.
00:20:34.36\00:20:38.97
Only the power of God can
do that, only God Himself.
00:20:39.00\00:20:44.44
The ultimate
rescue is still to come.
00:20:44.47\00:20:47.78
That's what Paul was talking
about when he wrote to Titus
00:20:47.81\00:20:50.31
about "the blessed
hope." Jesus spoke of it.
00:20:50.35\00:20:53.82
Revelation refers to
it. Daniel wrote about it.
00:20:53.85\00:20:57.22
It's the apogee--it's
the high point of the Bible.
00:20:57.25\00:21:01.86
Jesus said, "I go to
prepare a place for you.
00:21:01.89\00:21:05.69
"And if I go and
prepare a place for you,
00:21:05.73\00:21:08.40
"I will come again, and
receive you unto myself,
00:21:08.43\00:21:12.23
that where I am,
there ye may be also."
00:21:12.27\00:21:16.30
In the book of Revelation,
00:21:16.34\00:21:17.61
the same event, the
return of Jesus, is portrayed
00:21:17.64\00:21:21.38
as Jesus riding down
the great corridors of space
00:21:21.41\00:21:24.98
on a white horse, all the
angels of heaven following Him.
00:21:25.01\00:21:29.25
"And He hath on His vesture
and on His thigh a name written,
00:21:29.28\00:21:33.02
'KING OF KINGS,
AND LORD OF LORDS.'"
00:21:33.05\00:21:36.12
Paul wrote that "the
Lord Himself shall descend
00:21:36.16\00:21:39.16
"from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel,
00:21:39.19\00:21:42.46
"and with the trump of God:
00:21:42.50\00:21:44.23
"and the dead in
Christ shall rise first:
00:21:44.27\00:21:47.70
"then we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up
00:21:47.74\00:21:50.47
"together with them in
the clouds, to meet the Lord
00:21:50.51\00:21:53.27
in the air: and so shall
we ever be with the Lord."
00:21:53.31\00:21:57.88
That's the return of Jesus.
00:21:57.91\00:22:00.25
Now, you and I both know that
this world doesn't really have
00:22:00.28\00:22:02.45
anything to offer, and we know
there can't be much time left.
00:22:02.48\00:22:06.42
Where are you
going to be on that day?
00:22:06.45\00:22:08.09
Through faith in
Jesus you can be ready
00:22:08.12\00:22:09.92
for the return of Jesus and
for the eternity that follows.
00:22:09.96\00:22:14.46
You know, we
learned several things
00:22:14.50\00:22:15.63
from the rescue of John Price.
00:22:15.66\00:22:17.37
One of them is there are
times that people need to act.
00:22:17.40\00:22:22.37
If that one
university student, Ansel Lyman,
00:22:22.40\00:22:25.61
had come back here to Oberlin,
right here to Tappan Square,
00:22:25.64\00:22:29.38
and said nothing, the story
of the rescue of John Price
00:22:29.41\00:22:33.82
would not have happened.
00:22:33.85\00:22:35.35
He couldn't have
rescued John on his own,
00:22:35.38\00:22:37.65
but he raised the
alarm, and then people said,
00:22:37.69\00:22:40.66
"We're going to
dare to be different.
00:22:40.69\00:22:42.29
"We're going to dare to step
forward and make a difference.
00:22:42.32\00:22:45.63
"We're going to dare to stand
up for what we know is right,
00:22:45.66\00:22:48.80
"even though others
don't agree with us.
00:22:48.83\00:22:50.80
We're going to do the
right thing because it's right."
00:22:50.83\00:22:53.97
And these dedicated
Christian people committed
00:22:54.00\00:22:56.81
to doing the right thing
altered the course of history.
00:22:56.84\00:23:01.81
¤[reflective music]¤
00:23:01.84\00:23:03.85
John Price
didn't have to go free.
00:23:03.88\00:23:07.12
He needed to be
rescued in order to go free.
00:23:07.15\00:23:10.95
But when the rescuers came,
00:23:10.99\00:23:12.82
Price didn't
have to go with them.
00:23:12.85\00:23:15.49
He could have
said, "Don't rescue me.
00:23:15.52\00:23:18.96
I'm going to go back to
Kentucky and back to the farm."
00:23:18.99\00:23:22.80
Now, that might not sound
like a very smart thing to do,
00:23:22.83\00:23:24.87
but there are people
who do that all the time,
00:23:24.90\00:23:26.57
and you might be one of them.
00:23:26.60\00:23:28.24
How? Well, you might be
one of the people who say,
00:23:28.27\00:23:31.24
"I could never go to
heaven because I'm too bad."
00:23:31.27\00:23:34.28
Or, "My heart is too hard."
00:23:34.31\00:23:36.31
Or, "I'm too wicked."
Or, "I'm just too far gone."
00:23:36.34\00:23:40.35
None of that is true.
00:23:40.38\00:23:41.92
What you're really saying is,
00:23:41.95\00:23:43.75
"I don't want the
Savior to save me."
00:23:43.79\00:23:46.82
It's like you're on the second
floor of the Washington Hotel,
00:23:46.86\00:23:49.46
and the gang of guys
breaks in through the back door,
00:23:49.49\00:23:51.73
and one goes through the front
door. They rush up the stairs,
00:23:51.76\00:23:53.40
and you say, "You
made a mistake--not me.
00:23:53.43\00:23:55.96
I don't want to be freed.
Let me go back to Kentucky."
00:23:56.00\00:24:00.87
That's what you're saying
to God when you're saying,
00:24:00.90\00:24:03.17
"I'm too hard. I'm too
far gone. I'm not worthy."
00:24:03.20\00:24:08.08
So, how about today we
look in the direction of heaven
00:24:08.11\00:24:10.41
and we say, "Thank You."
00:24:10.45\00:24:12.31
¤[music ends]¤¤
00:24:12.35\00:24:14.02
>>John: Question for you: Do you
think most believers in Jesus
00:24:15.28\00:24:19.62
are experiencing
the power of the gospel?
00:24:19.65\00:24:23.19
Second question, a
more important question:
00:24:23.22\00:24:25.46
Are you experiencing the
power of God in your life?
00:24:25.49\00:24:30.20
Well, you may,
and I'll tell you how.
00:24:30.23\00:24:32.83
I want you to get
today's free offer,
00:24:32.87\00:24:34.40
something I
wrote with you in mind.
00:24:34.44\00:24:36.10
It's called "The
Power of the Cross."
00:24:36.14\00:24:39.24
Discover how you can experience
00:24:39.27\00:24:40.74
the unbridled power
of God in your life.
00:24:40.78\00:24:43.65
To get your free copy of
"The Power of the Cross,"
00:24:43.68\00:24:45.98
call 800-253-3000.
00:24:46.01\00:24:48.65
That's 800-253-3000.
00:24:48.68\00:24:51.75
Send a text message;
00:24:51.79\00:24:52.85
the message is "freecross."
00:24:52.89\00:24:54.56
Send it to 71392.
00:24:54.59\00:24:56.56
Text "freecross" to 71392.
00:24:56.59\00:24:59.79
Go online to iiwoffer.com,
00:24:59.83\00:25:02.06
iiwoffer.com,
00:25:02.10\00:25:03.57
or write to the
address on your screen.
00:25:03.60\00:25:05.67
Experience the
power of God in your life.
00:25:05.70\00:25:08.67
Get "The Power of the Cross."
00:25:08.70\00:25:10.94
Call us or text us right now.
00:25:10.97\00:25:12.71
We'll send it to you
00:25:12.74\00:25:14.04
absolutely free.
00:25:14.08\00:25:15.08
>>announcer: Loving
well is a way of life.
00:25:16.54\00:25:18.98
¤[soft music]¤
00:25:19.01\00:25:20.48
And loving well means wanting
the very best for others.
00:25:20.52\00:25:23.85
"Go ye therefore"
becomes "I'll go, send me.
00:25:24.85\00:25:28.39
"Send me across the
world or across town.
00:25:29.36\00:25:32.46
"Work in me to impact
lives for such a time as this.
00:25:33.46\00:25:36.77
"And if I can't go
myself, I want to send others
00:25:38.10\00:25:40.87
who can take the everlasting
gospel to the world."
00:25:40.90\00:25:44.14
It Is Written's office
of planned giving gives you
00:25:45.14\00:25:47.98
the opportunity
to leave a legacy,
00:25:48.01\00:25:51.11
to make a major
impact for Christ,
00:25:51.15\00:25:54.42
to lead others to faith in Jesus
in preparation for eternity.
00:25:54.45\00:25:57.82
Let God use you to
enable others to go.
00:25:59.89\00:26:04.19
To learn more,
visit hislegacy.com.
00:26:04.23\00:26:07.03
That's hislegacy.com.
00:26:07.03\00:26:09.16
¤[music ends]¤¤
00:26:09.20\00:26:14.20
>>John: Thank you for
remembering that It Is Written
00:26:16.27\00:26:18.31
exists because of the kindness
of people just like you.
00:26:18.34\00:26:22.11
To support this international
life-changing ministry,
00:26:22.14\00:26:24.68
please call us
now at 800-253-3000.
00:26:24.71\00:26:29.08
You can send your
tax-deductible gift
00:26:29.12\00:26:30.75
to the address on your screen,
00:26:30.79\00:26:32.19
or you can visit us
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00:26:32.22\00:26:36.29
Thank you for your prayers
and your financial support.
00:26:36.32\00:26:38.46
Our number
again is 800-253-3000,
00:26:38.49\00:26:42.16
or you can visit us
online at itiswritten.com.
00:26:42.20\00:26:45.87
>>John: John Price experienced
new life in a new land.
00:26:47.14\00:26:52.11
God wants you to do the same.
00:26:52.14\00:26:55.78
Let me pray with you now.
00:26:55.81\00:26:57.45
Father in heaven, in
Jesus' name we thank You.
00:26:57.48\00:27:00.78
We thank You that Jesus died so
that we might be free from sin,
00:27:00.82\00:27:04.69
ultimately from this world,
00:27:04.72\00:27:06.19
free to experience everlasting
life in Your presence.
00:27:06.22\00:27:10.16
Our Father in heaven,
we remember the Bible says,
00:27:10.19\00:27:12.29
"If the Son [of
God]... shall make you free,
00:27:12.33\00:27:14.66
[you] shall be free indeed."
00:27:14.73\00:27:17.50
We thank You for what
Jesus did on the cross.
00:27:17.53\00:27:19.63
We thank You for the ultimate
rescue that will take place soon
00:27:19.67\00:27:23.00
when Jesus comes back to gather
His people and take them home.
00:27:23.04\00:27:26.68
Through faith in Jesus we say
to You now, we want to be there.
00:27:26.71\00:27:30.15
We plan to be
there. We will be there.
00:27:30.18\00:27:34.38
And we pray in
Jesus' name, amen.
00:27:34.42\00:27:37.99
Thanks so much for joining me.
00:27:38.02\00:27:39.49
I'm looking forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:27:39.52\00:27:41.66
Until then, remember:
00:27:41.69\00:27:43.46
"It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:27:43.49\00:27:47.13
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:27:47.13\00:27:50.93
¤[dramatic,
triumphant theme music]¤
00:27:50.97\00:27:53.97
¤[music ends]¤¤
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