Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000306B
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00:04 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider,
00:06 with guest, Ganoune Diop. 00:08 We've been talking about Daniel. 00:10 You've been giving a wonderfully positive outlook 00:14 on a book that covers a period of desperation 00:17 for the nation of Israel. 00:19 Yeah, but the good news as you know, 00:20 as you were mentioning earlier 00:22 is that God gives the good news, 00:25 universal and eternal in the midst of desperation. 00:30 And this is really the comprehensive gospel. 00:35 The Kingdom, you know, Jesus says, 00:38 "Seek ye first God's kingdom." 00:39 Of course the kingdom as Jesus outlined, 00:41 it really had two phases immediately within you 00:45 and finally a re-established new world kingdom 00:51 here on the earth that's remade. 00:53 Yeah. An eternal kingdom. 00:55 Yeah, but clearly the Book of Daniel insists 00:57 on one day there's a kingdom that will coming 00:59 that will not be succeeded by any other. 01:02 So that is our hope. 01:04 You see, and this is why when Jesus came, 01:06 He said, He came to preach the kingdom. 01:08 Interestingly, even the Apostle Paul. 01:11 When you look at the Book of Acts, 01:12 last chapter, 28, at the end 01:14 that he remained two years in Rome. 01:19 The text say, "Preaching about the kingdom of God." 01:21 So this was a very important. 01:23 Then second-- 01:25 Rome, of course, was the center of the earthly kingdom, 01:27 the greatest empire in some ways 01:30 that the world has known. 01:32 So this was very bold then really from God to share 01:38 with His people that I have a project, I have a purpose. 01:43 I will establish an everlasting kingdom 01:45 and that will bring you hope. 01:46 Second, there will be an everlasting King. 01:50 You see, when the Bible say 01:51 that "all knee will bow before Christ 01:54 and confess that he is Lord," 01:56 this is what he's prophesied in Daniel 7. 01:59 And then to know that God has a sanctuary, 02:04 you know, where a high priest is for God's people. 02:08 This in is not just about some theological technicalities. 02:11 No, it is about a person 02:13 who has every human being at heart. 02:16 It was interesting in the Old Testament 02:18 to see the priest had the name of Gods, 02:21 you know, God's people-- 02:22 On the breastplate. On the breastplate. 02:24 Now, so Christ, the priest is interceding, intervening, 02:31 encouraging, sustaining those who believe in him. 02:35 So everlasting-- 02:37 And Pope repeats that saying we have a High Priest 02:38 who is interceding for us. 02:40 Absolutely. 02:41 Picking up on that Old Testament. 02:43 This is so important, it's vital. 02:44 And by the way, this is part of the Reformation, 02:46 Christ alone, precisely. Absolutely. 02:49 You now, so eternal kingdom, eternal King, 02:54 everlasting priests, sacrifice once and for all, 03:00 this had the good news, the cross we're talking about 03:02 and the resurrection, of course. 03:04 You know emphasize in Daniel. 03:06 And then this wonderful idea of bringing 03:08 everlasting righteousness, meaning that I am not coming, 03:13 I don't deserve heaven, nobody does. 03:17 God gives us His righteousness freely. 03:20 And this is way by the way, is by grace alone. 03:23 Again, another reformation principle. 03:26 And then this wonderful thing to know 03:29 that death doesn't have the last word in spite of our-- 03:34 we lose our loved ones, you know. 03:37 There's tragedy, separation, it's not natural. 03:40 But God will put an end to that by saying, Daniel, sleep, 03:44 you will resurrect. 03:45 Since you talking about death 03:47 and of course, the state of the dead 03:49 is an important part of Adventist thinking, 03:53 to see it as the Bible seems to... 03:56 consistently portray it as asleep. 03:59 You're right, other than a few little quirky passages 04:03 like, Jesus and Lazarus and-- 04:08 you know, it's a parable any how, just a figure. 04:11 There's no evidence. 04:12 But it seems to me... 04:17 if you have a false idea of the state of the dead, 04:20 the faithfulness of the saints and religious liberty 04:24 put into action changes it's dynamic. 04:27 And yet, we have the encouragement, 04:29 the Bible says that figuratively, 04:32 there's a cry for justice under the altar of God. 04:36 But those that die in the Lord, defending their faith in Him 04:40 and their religious liberty, 04:42 they will be vindicated at the very end. 04:45 But if you just instantly go with God, 04:47 it's almost like the diluted Jihadists 04:50 fly into the buildings. 04:52 You know, get you virgins immediately, 04:54 you know, you get your paradise. 04:56 You got any comment on that? 04:57 Because I-- 04:59 it doesn't... 05:01 directly bear on the concept of religious liberty 05:03 but experientially, I think this makes a huge difference 05:06 on practicing the faith before God 05:09 and why you're remaining faithful. 05:11 Well, this is part of the hope and the trust in God. 05:17 There are two views, even within the Christian world 05:20 something of, you know... 05:24 and this tends to comes to even from the Greek philosophy, 05:30 also the same time the immortality of the soul. 05:32 I'm glad you're saying that 05:34 because it's very easy to track, isn't that, 05:35 as a historian not just a the theologian? 05:37 You can see where it came from. 05:39 But at the same time you have, 05:41 yes, Christians are divided in the understanding 05:44 of what is happening after death. 05:47 We believe that you know, with this word 05:52 people are sleeping, now God is powerful enough 05:55 to remember the formula of every person 05:57 he can resurrect, that's not a problem. 05:59 But the way-- 06:01 this is part of the good news, the hope, 06:02 the idea of resurrection precisely 06:05 because God has the power to resurrect the dead. 06:08 But if the dead aren't really dead 06:10 and they go into another place, 06:12 that some how challenges 06:14 the view of the resurrection in that sense but... 06:17 It makes it less important, less necessary, 06:20 less meaningful. 06:21 If they're already up in the disembodied, 06:26 glorious state with God. 06:29 This is the reason why this had to be shared with grace 06:33 and with conviction, of course, but with grace 06:36 so that people realize that this is part of the hope 06:40 in the power of God, you know, that God can resurrect people 06:45 as He did resurrect Jesus. 06:47 You know, Jesus did not just go to, 06:52 you know, heaven, he slept and be resurrected as a real-- 06:56 So we will be as Christ did. 06:58 That's why when we are baptized, 07:00 we die and we resurrect. 07:02 So all those things, but-- 07:03 It's more than just a ritual. 07:05 It's a figurative of a great reality. 07:07 But again, this is part of prophecy 07:09 that they will be a great resurrection. 07:11 Daniel said very clearly and the Book of Revelation 07:14 also expand on that in the sense 07:17 that God, you know, again-- 07:20 And remember, Paul says, behold, I show you a mystery. 07:22 We shall not all sleep. No question, no question. 07:25 Some will be translated as he say, 07:27 and that was his hope also that those of us who are alive 07:31 and so forth. 07:32 But again, this is part of the hope. It is beautiful. 07:36 That's part of the good news that God is going to fix it. 07:40 He will come and-- 07:43 Look at this wonderful statement from Paul, 07:46 our corruptible bodies will be transformed 07:50 and we will inherit uncorruptible bidies in, 07:54 you know, 1 Corinthian 15. 07:56 Again, this is not just the theological dispute. 07:59 Again, we with grace, 08:02 and we have to share this as part of the good news 08:05 that God is capable of resurrecting 08:08 those who are sleeping, those who died. 08:11 But to come back to our, you know, prophetic scenario... 08:15 Yeah, what is the prophetic underpinning 08:17 to an Adventist view of religious liberty 08:20 and fulfilling events and-- 08:22 where is that heading? 08:23 The Bible say that especially in the last days, 08:27 there would be great tribulation, okay. 08:30 Now, the people go on speculating 08:34 on the how this is going to be and so forth and so on so. 08:37 But I think there is a better route, 08:39 because, first of all, this is part of what is called 08:44 The Great Controversy. 08:46 There is a struggle between-- 08:48 Well, it's called by-- 08:49 Between good and evil. 08:51 The term is not in the Bible, 08:53 all though the dynamic 08:55 is clearly what it's talking about. 08:56 That's a term that the-- 08:58 but then Adventism it's being called that. 09:00 And I'd make it a little larger for those at least remember 09:04 the education of SDA, John Milton's Paradise Lost, 09:08 very much dramatically puts it as a controversy. 09:12 A literal war in heaven and between Satan and God, 09:15 and there's a victory to be won. 09:18 And even on Earth, right here, 09:20 when you think about all the martyrs, 09:23 you know, we are talking about serious things here. 09:26 As we speak, you know-- 09:28 Well, people are dying right now. That's a good point. 09:30 And not only that-- 09:31 In the United States and the West, 09:33 we think of the tribulation in the future, 09:34 Christians often. 09:36 But it's now. 09:37 In the Middle East, right now 09:38 you had this dramatic exodus of Christians persecuted, 09:43 killed, and so forth. 09:44 And not just there but everywhere else also. 09:46 Just in the city of Mosul alone, 09:47 remember, not one Christian left. 09:49 Second largest city in Iraq. 09:51 Yeah, but here's my point, 09:53 when we talk about end time events and all those things, 09:57 this is not just for some time-- 10:00 And I tell these people, they smile when I say this, 10:04 but people are more preoccupied by the beast 10:08 and by than following the lamb because the Book of Revelation 10:14 is the revelation of Jesus Christ. 10:16 So first, this is about Jesus. 10:19 How He, His lordship-- 10:21 and it is so wonderful 10:23 when you think about, precisely, the martyrs. 10:26 They are in Revelation Chapter 12-- 10:32 Chapter 11 already when it is said that, 10:35 they did not love their lives to death. 10:38 Why? 10:39 Because they love God more importantly 10:41 than their own life. 10:42 Now, of course, in a world view 10:44 where everything is anthropocentric meaning, 10:46 centered on human beings we forget-- 10:50 And I need to insert something too, 10:51 before you get further. 10:53 This is not to be equated with Osama Bin Laden, 10:55 who I thought in a bizarre twist told the West 10:59 and the Christian West, he says, trouble is, 11:01 he says, "you love life, we love death." 11:04 The martyrs didn't love death, they loved Christ. 11:06 If it meant dying-- 11:08 As Paul says, "I count it as gain to lose my life." 11:12 So it is very, very important 11:14 that we realize what is happening in prophecy. 11:17 It's like God's encouragement. 11:20 Prophecy is really got encouragement to His people 11:24 to say, things may seem completely disordered, 11:27 you may be persecuted, you may be discriminated, 11:30 you may be killed, martyred, in other words. 11:34 But I control the destiny of nations, 11:38 I control the destiny of every human being. 11:41 Of course, that doesn't mean you have a choice. 11:45 That doesn't mean you didn't have a choice. 11:47 No, no, no, you have a choice but as we trust God 11:51 who gives this prophecy, these prophecies of Daniel 11:54 and then further on Revelation, 11:56 He encourages us to continue in hope. 12:02 It will not do to describe religious liberty 12:06 without Jesus Christ. 12:09 When Jesus began His earthly ministry, 12:10 it was by no accident 12:12 that when he stood up in Nazareth 12:15 and read from the book, Isaiah, 12:17 that he applied that message of liberation and freedom 12:21 from captivity, captivity to sin. 12:24 He described that in a way that of course, is evocative 12:28 and demonstrative of religious liberty 12:31 because the Gospel is nothing more 12:33 than the proclamation of liberation. 12:37 So in our day, we discuss religious liberty, 12:40 we can of course, invoke constitutions 12:42 and history and social norms. 12:45 But unless we invoke Christ, 12:48 unless we look to His principles, 12:51 look to His kingdom, it's an empty discussion. 12:55 Liberty must have Christ. 12:58 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2015-10-15