Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI210507A
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00:27 Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
00:28 This is a program that I've been working 00:31 on for nearly 20 years 00:34 in association with Liberty magazine 00:36 of which I edited for 22 years. 00:40 It's a program designed to bring you 00:42 up-to-date information and insights 00:44 on religious liberty in the US and around the world. 00:48 My name is Lincoln Steed. 00:49 And as I said, I have been editor of Liberty magazine 00:52 for 22 years. 00:54 Moving on from that, 00:55 but not moving on from sharing religious liberty 00:58 on this program. 01:00 As part of the association ,with 3ABN over the years 01:03 I was privileged on two occasions 01:06 to go to Israel as part of the Holy Land tour 01:11 that I think is still regularly sponsored by 3ABN, 01:15 certainly many Christian groups, 01:17 many Seventh-day Adventist groups 01:19 organize these tours, and many people are helped. 01:23 When you get to, 01:25 to Israel, in Jerusalem, it's very overwhelming. 01:29 And you find that there's sort of the, 01:31 the Holy Land sickness that comes over many people. 01:36 For some people, it's so overwhelming, 01:39 they almost take leave of their critical senses, 01:43 and you have to sort of keep grounded. 01:46 And to me, it was not very hard, 01:48 because I know history. 01:50 And I know that most of what you see there 01:53 doesn't date back quite to the period of the gospel, 01:58 certainly not too far earlier periods. 02:02 The so-called Tomb of David is a rumor at best. 02:08 And the Church of the Nativity, 02:11 something designated by the Crusaders, 02:14 many, many hundreds of years ago. 02:16 But still you are in the context, 02:19 you are in the environment of where all of those events, 02:24 particularly in the New Testament 02:26 took place. 02:27 And it's easy to empathize. 02:30 I remember, on a Friday evening, 02:32 on the second visit, 02:35 we were near the western called Wailing Wall, 02:39 the foundations 02:42 that are leftover of the old temple, 02:45 and to see the celebration, 02:47 the exaltation of any number of Jewish believers 02:51 as the sun dipped, and the Sabbath was brought in 02:54 and the shofar blew and young people 02:59 from the religious schools came surging out almost dancing 03:03 and joyous and happy. 03:05 You know, that's hard not to get caught up in it. 03:07 I was happy enough to have my son 03:09 fairly recently do two recordings with me 03:12 on this program, and it reminded me of him 03:15 there with us on that same tour. 03:17 And I can remember him linking arms 03:20 with the young Israeli citizens 03:23 as they happily celebrated the seventh day Sabbath. 03:26 And I thought, what a wonderful moment 03:28 when he can grasp that enthusiasm, 03:33 spiritual enthusiasm 03:35 that's so linked with that environment. 03:38 But I want to talk for the rest of this program 03:41 on something that took place on that same spot 03:45 in very different circumstances. 03:47 It's an incident that's inspired me periodically 03:52 as I've preached sermons on religious liberty 03:54 for over two decades, editing Liberty magazine. 03:59 And it relates to those who followed Jesus. 04:05 We don't know in total 04:06 how many men and women follow Jesus, 04:10 we do know that He had more followers 04:13 than just the 12, the inner circle. 04:17 There were at least 70 others 04:18 that He sent out in His lifetime. 04:20 We do know that there were many women 04:23 that cared for Jesus and His wandering band. 04:28 Herod's, the wife of Herod's steward 04:31 is named as one of the women that brought 04:34 food and sustenance and support to the, 04:37 to the wandering group as Jesus said, 04:39 "The Son of Man has, like, 04:40 you know, even the foxes have holes 04:43 to lay their heads or holes to hide in, 04:45 Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." 04:47 So they were itinerant, 04:49 religious teacher and pupils. 04:54 For most of people's figuring, 04:56 but a lot of what went on revolved around 04:59 coming to Jerusalem and in the temple precincts. 05:02 And when I think about Jesus, 05:05 dealing with those men in the inner circle, 05:08 particularly the 12, 05:10 it strikes me over and over again 05:13 and has ever since as a young teenager, 05:16 I tried to nut through how am I going to serve the Lord, 05:19 it strikes me how, like me and you knew they were. 05:25 They were not so different, not so different. 05:28 And individually, 05:30 they might have had things different from me. 05:32 But together, they exemplified all of the fallibilities 05:35 and the weaknesses, and the daily human reminders 05:39 that each of us labor under. 05:43 Peter, of course, the Roman Catholic Church 05:45 make much of Peter, 05:47 not based on anything much more than what you see in Jerusalem, 05:51 where there's these different places 05:53 to make pilgrimage to their arbitrary 05:55 determinations that are well meant, 05:58 but can't be proven. 05:59 And there's no biblical evidence 06:01 that Peter was anything more than 06:05 apparently one of the older the group 06:08 and one favorite of Jesus, but whether he was formally 06:13 set up as a protopope, not likely. 06:16 And it also settles on, 06:20 I think, a misapprehension of Jesus charter to him 06:23 there in his risen state. 06:28 He went backwards and forwards to Peter to get him to profess, 06:32 again, his love and dedication to the Lord, 06:36 but in a way that would undo the past 06:39 because Peter had a checkered history. 06:42 And, you know, you think about Peter something that 06:44 people don't dwell on much, two occasions, 06:48 before the denial that everyone knows about. 06:52 Peter sort of showed a rather unspiritual attitude 06:56 toward all that was going on. 07:00 On one occasion, when Jesus started to reveal 07:04 who He really was, and Peter said, 07:08 "Oh, you know, you're the Christ." 07:10 And Jesus said, "Well, this wasn't given to you.: 07:13 You know, naturally, 07:15 this was given to you spiritually, 07:16 so he commended in there. 07:18 But Peter said, close to that moment, he says, 07:20 "You know, you're not gonna die, 07:22 you know, this shouldn't happen to you, 07:24 don't think about it." 07:26 And Jesus says, "Get behind Me, Satan." 07:31 I haven't had too many ministers 07:33 or parents or teachers ever call me Satan. 07:37 Obviously, Jesus was doing it for effect. 07:39 But Peter was showing a total tone 07:43 deafness about the ministry of Christ. 07:46 Then, on another occasion, 07:47 a great occasion when Jesus was transfigured 07:50 on the mount with Elijah and Moses. 07:54 I mean, you'd think that it'd be a heavy scene. 07:57 And most people don't make much of it. 07:59 But Peter was impressed. 08:00 He says, "Let's build a little house for you here." 08:04 He didn't understand. 08:06 And then in spite of his professions of loyalty, 08:10 you know, at the Last Supper, 08:12 I never will betray you, Lord, never. 08:16 Then that before it was all over 08:19 before the cock crew in the morning. 08:22 Three times he with profanity and vehemence said, 08:25 "I never knew the man. 08:26 I never knew him." 08:28 But it wasn't just Peter. 08:30 What about James and John, 08:33 the sons of Zebedee, sons of Thunder? 08:36 Impetuous guys, like nearly everyone in their teens 08:39 or perhaps early 20s has a taste of it. 08:42 You're not seasoned by experience or spirituality, 08:45 you know, move ahead before you think it 08:47 through with the energy and the testosterone 08:50 that comes with being young and energetic. 08:53 You know, they wanted the lot. 08:54 They wanted to bring the fire down 08:56 from heaven of God on those that rejected Jesus 08:58 on one occasion, and then in an infamous moment, 09:01 and you can bet your life, 09:03 mama was speaking for the boys. 09:05 Their mother went to Jesus and said, 09:07 "You know, I have a request. 09:08 Can my two boys be at Your right either side, 09:11 your left and your right hand when you sit in Your kingdom." 09:15 And it gave Jesus the occasion to remind everyone, 09:19 you don't know what you're asking for? 09:21 That you don't know idea, 09:22 what you have no idea what's ahead for us. 09:25 And, of course, Judas, his betrayal 09:29 didn't turn out so well, 09:31 but I'm not so sure Judas was any weaker 09:34 or worse than the others. 09:35 But he failed to come back in tears to the Lord 09:40 and ask for forgiveness and try for redemption. 09:44 But one way or another, even John, 09:47 the beloved disciple fled naked into the night. 09:53 Not even ready to go back and get his clothes 09:56 when they were ripped off by the bushes, hid. 10:00 Although it appears he was at the cross there 10:02 when Jesus passed his mother over into his care. 10:06 But they were not men of inherent bravery, 10:09 intelligence, or perception. 10:14 And Jesus sure took the time with them. 10:17 It says in the New Testament 10:19 that Jesus often spoke in parables 10:22 and we all love those parables, 10:23 and I've heard many are well meaning preachers say, 10:26 you know, these parables are deep, 10:27 and they explain things clearly. 10:30 I don't think so it myself, because it does say that Jesus, 10:35 in the words of Jesus, 10:37 He spoke in parables to essentially hide 10:42 some hard things from people, 10:43 only those that thought long and hard on it 10:46 would understand what the parable stood for. 10:48 But it says to His own disciples, 10:51 to His apostles, He spoke plainly. 10:56 And even speaking plainly to them, 10:58 as He prayed His incredible long prayer 11:02 for oneness with the Father and with His followers. 11:06 They said, "What's He talking about, 11:07 going away coming at once? 11:09 What does this all mean?" 11:11 They didn't understand. 11:13 So to me, what I want to share with you 11:15 in the few minutes left of this program 11:18 has deeper meaning 11:19 when you understand the back story, 11:21 the type of men we were dealing with, 11:24 and yet changes by the type of men 11:27 that Jesus was the god man. 11:29 There's a story that's told in Acts Chapter 3, 11:32 and the verses that follow 11:34 and runs over into Acts Chapter 4, 11:37 but it takes place at that temple. 11:40 Now only a foundational remainder 11:43 with a foreign or an alien form of religion 11:47 packed on top of it. 11:50 It's sort of the festering sore religious animosity 11:55 in the Holy Land where the, 11:57 that sacred precinct for the Jews 12:00 now so laterally come back to David's city. 12:06 And they find that sitting atop is the Al-Aqsa Mosque, 12:10 erected by the conquering Muslim groups, 12:14 the Muslim, the Bedouin successors 12:19 hundreds and hundreds of years ago, 12:21 but on purpose, 12:22 and Christians have done it too. 12:24 Often when one religion and the society 12:27 and the political power that goes with it 12:29 when they deposed another, 12:30 they purposely erect their temple, 12:33 their holy place on the top of the other, 12:36 not even by accident. 12:37 The Christian missionaries in the South Pacific 12:39 nearly always built their mission compound 12:43 on top of the ancient burial grounds 12:45 in the spirit temples of the ancient gods. 12:48 It's a way to show neither that you fear them, 12:52 nor are they dominant anymore, that you have superseded them. 12:56 And, but in those precincts, 12:58 remember where Jesus fatally came in conflict 13:02 with the authorities. 13:04 It was what led to the cross. 13:06 He stayed back till His time had come. 13:10 Then at the time of the Passover, 13:11 He went down and spoke powerfully, 13:14 cleansed the temple, spoke powerfully and openly, 13:17 and there was a visitation 13:19 or manifestation of God's power. 13:21 And He says, "Now is the kingdom of this earth, 13:23 or the prince of this earth cast down." 13:25 He announced victory and upgraded everyone. 13:29 And the next night or in the night, 13:32 shortly following that He was taken 13:34 by the temple authorities condemned before Pilate, 13:37 was unwilling on the whole event, 13:41 and crucified. 13:43 And then the disciples fled. 13:45 But in Acts Chapter 3, 13:46 a story is told that inspires me powerfully. 13:51 Let's take a break and we'll pick up the story 13:54 in Acts Chapter 3. 13:55 Stay with us. |
Revised 2021-10-07