Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000376A
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00:26 Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
00:29 This is the program bringing you news, 00:30 views, discussion, insights, and up-to-date information 00:34 on religious liberty developments 00:36 in the US and around the world. 00:38 My name is Lincoln Steed, Editor of Liberty Magazine. 00:42 And my guest on this program Ed Woods III. 00:46 That III is very important. 00:47 You're the real McCoy at the moment. 00:51 I want to talk about something that's near and dear 00:53 certainly to Seventh-day Adventists 00:54 and anybody that's been 00:56 on the end of our wide-ranging publishing program 00:59 for 100 plus years, 01:01 the concept in a book of that name, 01:04 The Great Controversy. 01:05 Okay. 01:08 Ellen White who wrote that, claimed to... 01:12 well, she was a visionary 01:13 and claimed to have some insights 01:15 that were prophetically important. 01:18 But when I read that, 01:20 I see that history features large, 01:24 Bible prophecy features very large, 01:26 and contemporary events. 01:27 At least when I look at the news, 01:29 I might as well be reading Great Controversy. 01:31 Do you get that same feeling? I do. 01:32 We are living in the middle of a turmoil 01:35 that's unexplainable unless you see it 01:38 as a battle between two forces. 01:39 Two forces. 01:41 And, you know, 01:42 if we look at our theology as Seventh-day Adventists, 01:44 you know, and talk about Revelation 12:7-9, 01:47 "Then war broke out in heaven. 01:49 Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, 01:50 and the dragon and his angels fought back. 01:52 But he was not strong enough, 01:54 and they lost their place in heaven. 01:55 The great dragon was hurled down." 01:57 And when I really studied 01:59 and tried to do an exegesis of the text 02:02 for the sermon war on earth, 02:03 I realized that polemos was what war meant. 02:07 And when you're thinking about war, 02:09 you're thinking about combat, 02:10 you're thinking about fighting and warfare, 02:13 and that's not what it was. 02:15 It was a propaganda campaign 02:17 between Satan and God regarding Michael's role, 02:20 but it's also looked upon, 02:22 when you look at the Greek word, 02:23 it was like a character assassination scheme. 02:26 And I was like... 02:28 You know, I just thought about it like that, 02:29 you know, propaganda campaign, 02:31 character assassination scheme, and you... 02:32 So you don't think there was a literal war? 02:33 It wasn't literal war combat and I was like, 02:35 it's the battle of the wills. 02:36 I tend to look at the universe and all the asteroids 02:39 and the bits and pieces floating, 02:41 I think there might have been a blow up. 02:43 Yeah, but I guess what I'm saying is 02:45 in terms of how the hurled down... 02:47 The real dynamic that was driving it, absolutely. 02:48 The real dynamic was the battle of the will 02:52 and the deception 02:54 because, you know, we look at Isaiah and Ezekiel, 02:56 and it talks about the pride that was at Lucifer's heart 02:59 that caused him to sin and take a third of the angels. 03:01 And when you really look at that, 03:04 you know, in terms of pride comes before destruction 03:08 and what happened in heaven, 03:10 you know, with the downfall of Lucifer, 03:13 you're like, "Hmm." 03:14 Going back to what you're saying 03:15 with regards to the paper, reading the newspaper, 03:18 you know, we are in a war, 03:19 we are in a great controversy, we see... 03:21 Well, it doesn't make any sense 03:22 unless you recognize this dynamic. 03:25 This whole dynamic. It's chaos. 03:27 And what I see 03:28 when I think about the war on earth 03:31 related to the war in heaven, I see three things. 03:34 I think it begins in the mind, I think it impacts your faith, 03:39 and I go with the third angel's message, 03:41 the worship. 03:43 And when I say the worship in terms of 03:45 we worship the Creator not the Sabbath 03:47 but we worship the Creator. 03:49 John Milton said that a mind 03:50 can make of itself heaven of hell. 03:52 It can, it can. So it's all in the thoughts. 03:56 United Negro College Fund says, 03:57 "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." 03:58 Terrible thing to waste. 04:00 As a graduate of Oakwood... 04:01 Or not to have at all according to the president. 04:03 At Oakwood University. Misquoting it badly. 04:06 President Bush it was. The President Bush. 04:08 But we said that, you know, when I went to Oakwood 04:10 when Dr. Reaves was our president, 04:11 you know, "Enter to learn, depart to serve," 04:13 you know, how are we using our minds. 04:15 And this really caught me 04:17 because, you know, 04:18 it was found in his heart and his mind, 04:20 he was thinking, he was speculating, 04:21 "Why can't I get the same worship 04:23 and honor as Michael? 04:25 Why can't I have the same, you know, place, 04:28 go to the councils of God like Michael? 04:30 You know, why am I being discriminated against?" 04:32 Well, jealousy and ambition all mixed in together. 04:37 But let me link to something contemporary 04:39 before you slide on by. 04:40 Okay. 04:41 You know, we've seen a number of disasters recently 04:44 and I don't know when this will be shown, 04:45 I hope sooner rather than later, 04:47 but in Puerto Rico, disaster, right? 04:50 And I heard a comment that came from the community there. 04:53 It was, not one person said it 04:55 but it was on behalf of the community, 04:56 it says, "How come this is happening to us? 04:59 We're Roman Catholic Christians, 05:00 why is this happening to us?" 05:02 And, you know, often Christians and people of faith, 05:05 of any faith, not just Christians say that, 05:07 but in this regard, 05:08 why would they say it after reading Great Controversy? 05:11 They've forgotten about the bipolar universe. 05:14 That's right, that's right. 05:15 They think if bad comes, it's from God. It doesn't. 05:18 Absolutely not. This is the antagonistic force. 05:19 You know, we all go through trials and tribulations. 05:21 We all go through persecution, 05:23 but it's our faith that cannot fail. 05:26 And that's why I was 05:27 when we talk about Revelation 12:7-9, 05:29 it's not only the war in the mind 05:30 but it's also the war on faith. 05:32 Can you believe God 05:34 when you go through trials and tribulation? 05:35 I mean, I think the same thing 05:37 when I lost my grandfather, when I lost my dad. 05:39 Do I believe "Weeping may endure for the night 05:41 and joy cometh in the morning"? 05:42 Do I believe that the Lord's is going to descend from heaven 05:45 with a shout and the dead in Christ are gonna rise? 05:47 I mean, do I believe what I'm reading, 05:50 what I'm preaching, what I'm talking about, 05:52 what I've learned in family worship? 05:54 You know, you talk about the three-legged school, 05:56 the home, the school, and the church, 05:57 do I actually believe 05:59 what I've been hearing or reciting 06:01 whether it's 13 Sabbath school and they paraded us in front, 06:04 we quote these things in school, do I believe? 06:07 That whole thing about faith... 06:08 That's the nitty-gritty of each of us. 06:09 Is really, really important, 06:11 we hit it on our previous show 06:12 when we talked "Is my faith 'what if' or is it 'even if'?" 06:16 Yeah. And we need these challenges. 06:21 We need these trials and tribulations, 06:23 as Paul calls it, "A thorn in my side," 06:26 you know, in terms of to keep us awake 06:29 'cause it's so easy that we could just drift to sleep 06:31 and salvation is passing us by. 06:34 We need these wakeup calls. Right. 06:36 And also the issue 06:38 is in its overall sense is very plain, 06:40 but the argument is very subtle. 06:43 Otherwise, a third of the angels 06:45 wouldn't have got out on this. 06:46 Absolutely. 06:48 So people need to really figure out 06:50 and analyze The Great Controversy, 06:52 what it's about and what role they'll play in it. 06:55 And the Bible is very clear to study 06:57 to show ourselves approved. 06:59 We've got to understand deception and slander. 07:02 It happens at our constituency meetings. 07:04 It happens at our board meetings. 07:06 We've got to pay attention and you've got to listen. 07:08 Even at the voting booth. At the voting booth, yeah. 07:11 You've got to pay attention. 07:13 And the problem we're having is 07:14 when people come to church and they're seeing things, 07:17 they're always quoting what the preacher said. 07:19 I'm like, "What did the Bible say?" 07:21 Yeah, good point. 07:22 I mean, the Bible is the inspired Word of God. 07:25 The Bible is responsible for rebuke, 07:27 instruction to righteousness, and correction. 07:29 What does the Bible say? 07:31 And we have too many people quoting preachers 07:35 instead of knowing the Bible for themselves. 07:36 Right, they need to know it. 07:38 On religious liberty, especially in the US, 07:39 I have to throw in a little, 07:40 you know, a lot of it is based on 07:42 the constitution models, right? 07:43 That is true. 07:44 And even that sort of troubles me 07:46 because more and more I've come to believe 07:48 very few people know what's in the constitution 07:51 and what they think they know nearly always 07:53 is the Declaration of Independence. 07:55 And the same thing applies to the Bible truth. 07:57 We need to know what the Bible says 07:59 not what people say about the Bible. 08:02 And then you also need to also study. 08:04 I mean, I invite people to give commentaries, 08:06 I invite people to read 08:08 different translations of the Bible, 08:11 you know, NIV, New King James, you know, what have you. 08:14 And to know... 08:15 Now you're getting onto my hobby-horse, 08:16 to know that some are not translations 08:19 but they're paraphrases. 08:21 Paraphrases. 08:22 There's definitely the clear word Bible 08:23 and the message Bible. 08:25 You're on that. 08:26 I think that NJKV... 08:27 But more than that to know what bias might be 08:29 with a certain translation like the King James Version. 08:32 Most people don't know that 08:33 that was designed to uphold 08:35 the authority of the king at a time 08:36 when his divine authority was being challenged. 08:40 That's why we had to have a new one. 08:41 Right. The New King James Version. 08:43 It's a pretty good version. Right. 08:44 I like King James for the point of language, 08:46 but there was a built in bias to the translation, 08:48 there's no question. 08:49 And, you know, NIV is known as our study Bible 08:51 in terms of the accurate depiction of the Greek 08:54 as related to the Greek and the Hebrew versions. 08:55 Now I want to throw something in though. 08:57 You gave me the perfect opportunity. 08:59 We're... 09:00 I hate to give away the time of this filming, 09:02 but we're at the tail end of 2017, 09:06 which is among other disasters... 09:08 well, not other, 09:10 among disasters had a wonderful moment of remembrance, 09:13 the Reformation as defined as it could be, 09:17 but it's not the only event 09:19 of Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses. 09:22 But, you know, 09:24 what was the central point of that at least, 09:25 the calling card of the Reformation, 09:27 sola scriptura? 09:28 That's right. 09:29 It was about... Read the work. 09:31 And I was very taken with a few years ago, 09:34 Pope Benedict brought out a... 09:36 well, not a document, 09:38 he gave a speech at Regensburg University. 09:40 Okay. 09:42 I'll repeat this as often as I can. 09:43 No one reads these speeches or these documents. 09:46 He gave a speech, 09:47 he got into trouble with the Muslims 09:48 because he used an old example 09:50 that apparently connected Islam with violence, 09:54 but then he said 09:55 there Christianity used to be nonviolent... 09:59 Sorry, used to be violent 10:02 until it adopted Hellenistic rationality. 10:05 You and I can say paganism, right? 10:08 Although his premise was wrong. 10:09 But then he said there are three threats 10:11 to this nonviolent Christianity. 10:13 And you know what the first one was? 10:14 What was that? 10:16 He said the reformers 10:17 by their insistence on sola scriptura 10:19 exposed Christianity again to violence. 10:22 But you and I know and our listeners must know 10:25 that it's a protection to know God's Word. 10:27 Absolutely. 10:28 But, you know, it's interesting when you said to read these, 10:30 it's the same thing with the simplica, 10:31 everybody got excited 10:33 because it was talking about the environment, and recycling, 10:35 impact the environment, but they didn't read it. 10:37 There was two things that that simplica could call for 10:40 but they refused to read it because they wanted to say 10:42 what was in the paper, the mainstream media, 10:45 it called for true world order 10:47 and then said there's no difference 10:49 between worshipping on Sabbath and Sunday. 10:52 And it upheld the Seventh-day Sabbath, 10:54 but then it flipped it to the Eucharistic Sunday. 10:57 It was said there's no difference, 10:58 what they're saying. 10:59 And people are understanding, you know, what that means. 11:02 You know, the Sabbath is the only day, 11:04 not only He blessed it, but He hallowed it, 11:06 that means He sanctified it and set it apart. 11:08 We can worship God every day of the week. 11:09 I would encourage everybody 11:11 to worship God every day of the week. 11:12 And I don't see that as a Catholic issue. 11:14 No. No, no. 11:15 We're not Catholic, 11:16 but it's respect to this Great Controversy. 11:18 God's way or what I think might be fun, 11:21 you know, beside the Lucifer or Cain, 11:25 man is tried at many different ways 11:27 without going back to the reference point of 11:28 what God is requiring in heaven's order. 11:31 And then our people are feeling comfortable. 11:32 Well, we know we did take a survey 11:34 and, you know, the majority people don't think 11:37 we have to follow the Bible. 11:38 You can't vote away a theocracy. 11:40 And we have to be... I know. 11:42 And I say this all the time, 11:43 we have to be conservative with our doctrines 11:46 but liberal with our love 11:48 and that's just something you can't waver on. 11:50 Now having said that though, 11:52 we are known as Christians for our love, 11:55 and therefore, we can expect people... 11:56 We should be. We should be. 11:57 It says, "They will know we are Christians by our..." 11:59 So if there is a love in our Christians, 12:02 even though we take the name, the name could be taken easy 12:04 but that is showing by your behavior. 12:06 And that's what makes 12:08 Public Affairs and Religious Liberty 12:10 so exciting in the 21st century where we can hasten the... 12:14 I believe Public Affairs and Religious Liberty ministry 12:16 is the ministry that will hasten 12:18 the second coming of Christ, 12:19 but we have to show it in our behavior. 12:22 And then through our behavior, 12:24 we can educate people 12:26 how to have relationships with Christ, 12:27 then we could go into Daniel and Revelation 12:30 and talk about the beast and what those represent 12:32 and where we are as it relates to the end of time 12:35 because I'm all for Daniel and Revelation, 12:37 but let's get people to have a relationship with God first. 12:40 Well, the beast has been a teaching mechanism to some, 12:43 but if you focus on the beast, you forget the real issue. 12:46 And we need to do that 12:47 and I'm seeing that over and over and over again, 12:49 and I'm all for Daniel and Revelation seminars, 12:52 but people need to know God first. 12:54 They need to have that thing. 12:55 And that might mean you have to create 12:57 your own evangelistic pieces, and that's okay 12:59 because everything doesn't have to be prepackaged 13:00 in order for it to be taught. 13:02 But meet the needs of your local community 13:04 by, what, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty 13:06 and you can make a difference. 13:08 Good breakpoint. 13:10 We'll be back after a short break 13:11 to continue this discussion of The Great Controversy, 13:14 the bipolar world. |
Revised 2018-01-18