We invite the congregation
to stand once again with us
00:00:15.88\00:00:18.21
as we sing our next song.
00:00:18.25\00:00:19.58
I searched the world
00:00:29.39\00:00:33.73
But it couldn't fill me
00:00:33.76\00:00:38.23
Man's empty praise
00:00:38.27\00:00:40.44
And treasures that fade
00:00:40.47\00:00:42.70
Are never enough
00:00:42.74\00:00:47.11
Then You came along
00:00:47.14\00:00:51.75
And put me back together
00:00:51.78\00:00:56.25
And every desire
00:00:56.28\00:00:58.55
Is now satisfied
00:00:58.59\00:01:00.86
Here in Your love
00:01:00.89\00:01:05.93
Oh, there's
nothing better than You
00:01:05.96\00:01:10.57
Lord, there's
nothing better than You
00:01:10.60\00:01:15.24
Lord, there's nothing
00:01:15.27\00:01:18.17
Nothing is better than You
00:01:18.21\00:01:24.41
Oh, there's
nothing better than You
00:01:24.45\00:01:29.02
Lord there's
nothing better than You
00:01:29.05\00:01:33.56
Lord, there's nothing
00:01:33.59\00:01:36.39
Nothing is better than You
00:01:36.42\00:01:40.30
You turn mourning to dancing
00:01:43.60\00:01:48.04
You give beauty for ashes
00:01:48.07\00:01:52.41
You turn shame into glory
00:01:52.44\00:01:55.94
You're the only one who can
00:01:55.98\00:02:01.65
You turn graves into garden
00:02:01.68\00:02:06.02
You turn bones into armies
00:02:06.05\00:02:10.43
You turn seas into highways
00:02:10.46\00:02:14.00
You're the only one who can
00:02:14.03\00:02:18.47
You're the only one who can
00:02:18.50\00:02:21.60
Oh, there's
nothing better than You
00:02:25.14\00:02:29.64
Lord, there's
nothing better than You
00:02:29.68\00:02:34.12
Lord, there's nothing
00:02:34.15\00:02:37.09
Nothing is better than You
00:02:37.12\00:02:41.36
You call me out upon the waters
00:02:57.84\00:03:02.98
The great unknown
00:03:03.01\00:03:06.41
Where feet may fail
00:03:06.45\00:03:11.52
And there I find
You in the mystery
00:03:11.55\00:03:16.73
In oceans deep
00:03:16.76\00:03:20.13
My faith will stand
00:03:20.16\00:03:25.17
And I will call upon Your name
00:03:25.20\00:03:31.97
And keep my eyes above the waves
00:03:32.01\00:03:37.05
When oceans rise
00:03:37.08\00:03:38.85
My soul will
rest in Your embrace
00:03:38.88\00:03:43.15
For I am Yours
00:03:43.18\00:03:47.46
And You are mine
00:03:47.49\00:03:51.39
Your grace
abounds in deepest waters
00:04:02.34\00:04:07.51
Your sovereign hand
00:04:07.54\00:04:10.85
Will be my guide
00:04:10.88\00:04:15.68
Where feet may fail
and fear surrounds me
00:04:15.72\00:04:20.76
You've never failed
00:04:20.79\00:04:23.63
And You won't start now
00:04:23.66\00:04:28.96
So I will call upon Your name
00:04:29.00\00:04:35.64
And keep my eyes above the waves
00:04:35.67\00:04:40.78
When oceans rise
00:04:40.81\00:04:42.51
My soul will
rest in Your embrace
00:04:42.54\00:04:46.68
For I am Yours
00:04:46.72\00:04:50.89
And You are mine
00:04:50.92\00:04:54.39
Spirit lead me where
00:05:05.67\00:05:07.70
My trust is without borders
00:05:07.74\00:05:10.94
Let me walk upon the waters
00:05:10.97\00:05:14.48
Wherever You would call me
00:05:14.51\00:05:19.01
Take me deeper than
00:05:19.05\00:05:21.08
My feet could ever wander
00:05:21.12\00:05:24.45
And my faith
will be made stronger
00:05:24.49\00:05:27.79
In the presence of my Savior
00:05:27.82\00:05:32.29
And I will call upon Your name
00:05:32.33\00:05:38.67
And keep my eyes above the waves
00:05:38.70\00:05:43.64
When oceans rise
00:05:43.67\00:05:45.37
My soul will
rest in Your embrace
00:05:45.41\00:05:49.58
For I am Yours
00:05:49.61\00:05:53.65
And You are mine
00:05:53.68\00:05:56.95
It's good to worship on
this eighth day of January,
00:07:51.27\00:07:54.27
second Sabbath of 2022.
00:07:54.30\00:07:59.84
I'm gonna pray with you.
00:07:59.87\00:08:01.21
And then we're plunging
into our teaching today.
00:08:04.08\00:08:08.92
I'm pretty excited about it.
00:08:08.95\00:08:11.89
Obscure, obscure passage.
00:08:11.92\00:08:15.09
Let's see what God does with it.
00:08:15.12\00:08:16.49
Let's pray.
00:08:16.52\00:08:17.86
Father, we've been in worship
00:08:17.89\00:08:20.83
and prayer and the Word now.
00:08:20.86\00:08:26.74
The music, the music is
still ringing in our souls.
00:08:26.77\00:08:31.67
Thank you.
00:08:31.71\00:08:34.71
Hush every sound
00:08:34.74\00:08:37.55
besides Your voice right now.
00:08:37.58\00:08:42.25
Our eyes are on Jesus by faith.
00:08:42.28\00:08:46.02
Speak to us, in His
name, we humbly ask.
00:08:46.05\00:08:50.83
Amen.
00:08:50.86\00:08:52.19
Amen.
00:08:52.23\00:08:54.20
So what we're about to
read, for me, okay, for me,
00:08:54.23\00:09:00.14
it feels like an urgent prayer
00:09:00.17\00:09:04.34
to God for America.
00:09:04.37\00:09:08.21
But if you're my friend Gilbert,
00:09:08.24\00:09:09.98
you're gonna read this,
00:09:10.01\00:09:11.38
and you're going to feel like
00:09:11.41\00:09:12.75
it's an urgent care
to God for Cameroon.
00:09:12.78\00:09:16.82
And if you're my friend
Trudy, you're gonna read it,
00:09:16.85\00:09:20.26
this prayer, and
you're gonna hear
00:09:20.29\00:09:22.39
an urgent prayer
to God for Myanmar.
00:09:22.42\00:09:26.93
It's the genius of Scripture.
00:09:26.96\00:09:28.73
Doesn't matter
what your homeland is,
00:09:28.76\00:09:30.10
doesn't matter who you are,
00:09:30.13\00:09:33.00
there's somebody
waiting to make the connect.
00:09:33.03\00:09:37.94
And everybody
who picks up the book
00:09:37.97\00:09:40.31
is now in that connect zone.
00:09:40.34\00:09:46.28
Like I say, makes me feel
00:09:46.31\00:09:48.88
like I'm going to
read about America here.
00:09:48.92\00:09:52.02
After all, we just passed
00:09:52.05\00:09:53.99
a one-year anniversary of sorts.
00:09:54.02\00:09:56.42
We're trying to forget it.
00:09:56.46\00:09:59.43
But there's been
a whole lot of soul
00:09:59.46\00:10:00.80
searching going on.
00:10:00.83\00:10:03.30
In Kazakhstan,
because that's another country
00:10:03.33\00:10:07.54
going through its
earnest prayer time.
00:10:07.57\00:10:11.47
Open your Bible with me
00:10:11.51\00:10:12.84
to a Psalm you've
never read, probably.
00:10:12.87\00:10:15.18
It's Psalm 60.
00:10:15.21\00:10:17.75
Psalm 60.
00:10:17.78\00:10:20.02
Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
00:10:20.05\00:10:21.38
Everybody knows
Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
00:10:21.42\00:10:23.42
I learned from him,
00:10:23.45\00:10:24.79
and I've been
doing it ever since.
00:10:24.82\00:10:26.29
I read it in his little book,
00:10:26.32\00:10:27.66
"Letters and
Papers From Prison."
00:10:27.69\00:10:29.02
So he wrote this from prison
00:10:29.06\00:10:30.39
to a good friend
of his named Eberhard,
00:10:30.43\00:10:32.73
and he says in
that letter, he says,
00:10:32.76\00:10:34.90
"I find great comfort
in reading a psalm a day."
00:10:34.93\00:10:39.87
Well, he's a Lutheran
pastor, and I said, "Listen,
00:10:39.90\00:10:41.67
if a Lutheran pastor
can find great comfort,
00:10:41.70\00:10:43.87
why can't I?"
00:10:43.91\00:10:45.24
Little Adventist
pastor that I am.
00:10:45.27\00:10:47.58
And so I began then
and have been doing it
00:10:47.61\00:10:49.61
ever since,
reading a psalm a day.
00:10:49.64\00:10:52.58
And one you get to 150,
you go back to 1 the next day.
00:10:52.61\00:10:54.95
So every 150 days,
00:10:54.98\00:10:56.42
you'll come back
to the same psalm.
00:10:56.45\00:10:58.09
And I've been coming
back to this same psalm
00:10:58.12\00:11:00.02
time after time after time,
00:11:00.06\00:11:01.52
and there's a line in it
00:11:01.56\00:11:02.89
I'm going to show
you the line right now
00:11:02.92\00:11:04.26
that has really perplexed me,
00:11:04.29\00:11:05.63
and I'm saying,
"What does this line mean?"
00:11:05.66\00:11:08.86
I need you to help.
00:11:08.90\00:11:10.27
Go on the journey with me.
00:11:10.30\00:11:11.63
Open your Bible
to Psalms 60, 6-0.
00:11:11.67\00:11:16.47
It's composed by David.
00:11:16.50\00:11:19.11
It's a hymn/prayer.
00:11:19.14\00:11:22.38
Simon Luke Brown,
just a moment ago,
00:11:22.41\00:11:24.65
with Kenneth
Logan, a beautiful prayer.
00:11:24.68\00:11:27.52
"Be Thou My Vision."
00:11:27.55\00:11:29.38
It's the hymn and a prayer.
00:11:29.42\00:11:30.79
That's what David
composed, hymn/prayers.
00:11:30.82\00:11:32.95
So this is Psalm 60.
00:11:32.99\00:11:34.32
In the time of a great battle.
00:11:34.36\00:11:36.59
That adds a little bit of "Ooh,
maybe we could relate to this."
00:11:36.62\00:11:40.70
So open your Bible to Psalm 60.
00:11:40.73\00:11:42.46
I'll be in the New
International Version.
00:11:42.50\00:11:44.77
And let's see if
we can figure it out.
00:11:44.80\00:11:47.64
You'll see the
line in just a moment.
00:11:47.67\00:11:49.14
All right. Psalm 60.
00:11:49.17\00:11:51.21
And I'll put it, those of you
who are watching live stream,
00:11:51.24\00:11:54.01
we're delighted
that you're here.
00:11:54.04\00:11:55.58
A banner unfurled,
00:11:55.61\00:11:57.08
that's where we're
plunging in right now,
00:11:57.11\00:11:58.91
and here comes Psalm 60:1.
00:11:58.95\00:12:00.85
"You have rejected us,
00:12:00.88\00:12:02.42
O God, and burst upon us.
00:12:02.45\00:12:07.12
You have been angry
00:12:07.16\00:12:09.29
now restore us!"
00:12:09.32\00:12:13.60
Here it comes.
00:12:13.63\00:12:15.26
You have shaken the
land and torn it open."
00:12:15.30\00:12:20.24
I don't know what
land is your homeland,
00:12:20.27\00:12:22.07
but I'm thinking of my homeland.
00:12:22.10\00:12:23.87
Torn open? Are you kidding?
00:12:23.91\00:12:25.24
This land has been torn
in half, ripped in half.
00:12:25.27\00:12:29.28
Torn.
00:12:29.31\00:12:31.51
God, what are You doing?
00:12:31.55\00:12:34.68
"Shaken the land
and torn it open.
00:12:34.72\00:12:36.72
Mend its fractures."
00:12:36.75\00:12:38.45
Are you serious?
00:12:38.49\00:12:40.16
Life in America now is fractured
00:12:40.19\00:12:41.69
on every level of society.
00:12:41.72\00:12:43.26
Race, fractured.
00:12:43.29\00:12:45.29
Economy, fractured.
00:12:45.33\00:12:47.06
Religion, fractured.
00:12:47.10\00:12:48.80
Politics, fractured.
00:12:48.83\00:12:51.97
Friendships, fractured.
00:12:52.00\00:12:54.00
Health, fractured.
00:12:54.04\00:12:58.04
"You've shaken the
land and torn it open.
00:12:58.07\00:13:00.18
Mend its fractures
for it is quaking."
00:13:00.21\00:13:04.45
It's probably
true of your homeland,
00:13:04.48\00:13:05.81
wherever you're from.
00:13:05.85\00:13:08.22
Robert Alter,
in his magnum opus,
00:13:08.25\00:13:11.72
his one-man Hebrew translation,
00:13:11.75\00:13:15.66
we would call it
the Old Testament.
00:13:15.69\00:13:17.06
It's the Bible to him.
00:13:17.09\00:13:18.43
It's the Hebrew Bible.
00:13:18.46\00:13:19.79
In his three volumes,
which I have and am blessed by,
00:13:19.83\00:13:22.83
Robert Alter renders
these words this way.
00:13:22.86\00:13:24.93
Verse 1, "God,
You have abandoned us,
00:13:24.97\00:13:27.90
breached us.
00:13:27.94\00:13:29.84
You were incensed
restore us to life!"
00:13:29.87\00:13:32.44
Verse 2. "You
made the land quake.
00:13:32.47\00:13:34.84
You cracked it.
00:13:34.88\00:13:36.21
Heal its shards,
for it has toppled."
00:13:36.24\00:13:40.45
There are a lot of
prognosticators out there,
00:13:40.48\00:13:42.58
talking about my own homeland,
00:13:42.62\00:13:44.19
a lot of prognosticators
our there prognosticating,
00:13:44.22\00:13:47.12
and some of those
whose mind I appreciate
00:13:47.16\00:13:51.09
or value for its
thinking ability,
00:13:51.13\00:13:55.10
are describing
where they believe
00:13:55.13\00:13:57.70
this all leads.
00:13:57.73\00:13:59.40
It's troubling.
00:13:59.43\00:14:01.04
I'm not gonna
say a word about it.
00:14:01.07\00:14:04.21
Toppled?
00:14:04.24\00:14:07.61
Let's keep reading
this prayer of David.
00:14:07.64\00:14:10.85
"You have shown, O God,
Your people desperate times.
00:14:10.88\00:14:15.72
You have given us wine
that makes us stagger."
00:14:15.75\00:14:18.22
COVID-19, can you
believe this COVID...
00:14:18.25\00:14:20.96
What is it now, Omicron?
00:14:20.99\00:14:23.29
And week ago yesterday,
00:14:23.32\00:14:24.66
I'm in the ICU unit
of the hospital nearby,
00:14:24.69\00:14:27.73
and I'm there with a
wife and a colleague,
00:14:27.76\00:14:31.70
and we're having
an anointing service
00:14:31.73\00:14:33.44
for a friend of mine
00:14:33.47\00:14:35.04
who used to be on our staff.
00:14:35.07\00:14:38.11
Children's ministry.
00:14:38.14\00:14:40.24
COVID plus pneumonia.
00:14:40.28\00:14:44.51
Ventilator breathing for him.
00:14:44.55\00:14:49.75
This pandemic
infected, intoxicated land.
00:14:49.78\00:14:55.66
We all know the story.
00:14:55.69\00:14:58.39
It feels like he's
talking about America,
00:14:58.43\00:15:01.03
although he's
thinking about Israel long ago.
00:15:01.06\00:15:06.63
Robert Alter renders
these words "You sated,
00:15:06.67\00:15:09.04
you saturated your
people with harsh drink.
00:15:09.07\00:15:12.01
You made us drink poison wine."
00:15:12.04\00:15:15.34
It's what's
happening to the culture now,
00:15:15.38\00:15:16.88
poison wine.
00:15:16.91\00:15:18.45
Keep reading because
here we come to that line.
00:15:18.48\00:15:20.48
I want you to watch
this one very carefully.
00:15:20.52\00:15:22.85
I'll put it first in
the NIV on the screen here.
00:15:22.88\00:15:26.52
"But for those who fear you,
00:15:26.55\00:15:30.26
you have raised a banner
00:15:30.29\00:15:32.36
to be unfurled against the bow."
00:15:32.39\00:15:37.53
Every 150 days,
I'm reading that line,
00:15:37.57\00:15:39.77
and I'm asking
myself the question,
00:15:39.80\00:15:41.20
"What in the world is
this unfurled banner?"
00:15:41.24\00:15:43.94
I have no idea.
00:15:43.97\00:15:46.54
And I just said,
"Oh, well, I don't know.
00:15:46.57\00:15:48.14
You know, that's not important.
00:15:48.18\00:15:49.51
Just keep reading."
00:15:49.54\00:15:50.88
But finally one of
those cycles, the time came,
00:15:50.91\00:15:53.15
and I said, "Wait a minute,
00:15:53.18\00:15:54.98
I got to find this out."
00:15:55.02\00:15:56.95
What is this banner?
00:15:56.99\00:16:00.62
Hey, you remember
pictures from the Civil War?
00:16:00.66\00:16:04.63
You know, there
weren't a whole lot of them.
00:16:04.66\00:16:05.99
They were black and white,
and I forget what the word is.
00:16:06.03\00:16:08.00
Daguerreotype or
something like that.
00:16:08.03\00:16:09.56
It's a crazy word for
the photographs back then.
00:16:09.60\00:16:11.90
But you remember
Ulysses Grant or Robert E. Lee?
00:16:11.93\00:16:16.30
They're sitting on a horse.
00:16:16.34\00:16:17.67
In the picture, of course,
00:16:17.71\00:16:19.04
they always have
their hand in their coat.
00:16:19.07\00:16:20.41
You remember that?
00:16:20.44\00:16:21.78
And there's a little
Ensign standing by them
00:16:21.81\00:16:23.14
with a long pole,
00:16:23.18\00:16:24.51
and at the top of
the pole is a banner.
00:16:24.55\00:16:25.88
Do you know what that banner is?
00:16:25.91\00:16:27.25
It's a banner that
marks the general in the army,
00:16:27.28\00:16:29.72
the general who's
leading the battle.
00:16:29.75\00:16:32.22
All soldiers keep
their eye on that banner
00:16:32.25\00:16:34.52
because that's where the general
00:16:34.56\00:16:35.89
is fighting now.
00:16:35.92\00:16:37.26
You, "but to those
who fear you, for them,
00:16:37.29\00:16:39.86
you have raised a banner
00:16:39.89\00:16:41.30
to be unfurled against the bow."
00:16:41.33\00:16:45.47
What is this unfurled banner?
00:16:45.50\00:16:48.57
Robert Alter again,
"You once gave to those
00:16:48.60\00:16:50.61
who fear You a
banner for rallying..."
00:16:50.64\00:16:52.44
Ooh, see? Rallying around it.
00:16:52.47\00:16:54.94
"Because of the truth."
00:16:54.98\00:16:56.31
Let me go to the New
American Standard Bible.
00:16:56.34\00:16:59.01
This is how they
rendered this line,
00:16:59.05\00:17:00.68
and I think this
is new New American
00:17:00.72\00:17:02.88
Standard Bible, NASB.
00:17:02.92\00:17:04.62
"You, O God, have given a banner
00:17:04.65\00:17:06.82
to those who fear You,
00:17:06.86\00:17:08.19
that it may be displayed" NIV,
00:17:08.22\00:17:10.13
"unfurled because of the truth."
00:17:10.16\00:17:13.86
So what do we know
just from one little line
00:17:13.90\00:17:18.20
in a forgotten psalm?
00:17:18.23\00:17:20.07
Here's what we know.
00:17:20.10\00:17:21.44
In a time of crippling,
fracturing, staggering,
00:17:21.47\00:17:23.57
national crisis,
God unfurls a banner.
00:17:23.61\00:17:27.11
That's what we know.
00:17:27.14\00:17:28.94
So the question that
begs itself right now is,
00:17:28.98\00:17:31.65
yo, what's this banner?
00:17:31.68\00:17:34.65
That's what I was curious about.
00:17:34.68\00:17:38.59
So you know what?
00:17:38.62\00:17:39.95
I said, "I got
to check this out."
00:17:39.99\00:17:41.56
I went on a hunt,
00:17:41.59\00:17:42.92
and I'm gonna take
you on the hunt right now.
00:17:42.96\00:17:44.39
I went on a hunt
for this word "banner"
00:17:44.43\00:17:46.49
and discovered
it's a phrase God uses
00:17:46.53\00:17:49.73
multiple times,
00:17:49.76\00:17:51.40
only in the Old Testament.
00:17:51.43\00:17:53.97
Let's see if we
can figure it out.
00:17:54.00\00:17:55.34
Let me just run
some lines by you.
00:17:55.37\00:17:57.84
See if this helps,
illumines our search here.
00:17:57.87\00:18:00.21
So this is Isaiah.
00:18:00.24\00:18:01.58
Most of the usage is
in Isaiah. Watch this.
00:18:01.61\00:18:03.31
Isaiah 13:2-4, "Raise a
banner on a bare hilltop."
00:18:03.35\00:18:07.28
Why is the banner
raised on a hilltop?
00:18:07.32\00:18:09.62
It's because there,
everybody can see it.
00:18:09.65\00:18:11.79
That's why it's there.
It's not raised in a forest.
00:18:11.82\00:18:13.59
It's on a hilltop,
where it can be seen.
00:18:13.62\00:18:15.62
"Raise a banner
on a bare hilltop."
00:18:15.66\00:18:17.46
God speaking "I have commanded
those I prepared for battle.
00:18:17.49\00:18:21.56
The Lord Almighty is
mustering an army for war."
00:18:21.60\00:18:25.23
I get it.
00:18:25.27\00:18:26.67
Wow.
00:18:26.70\00:18:29.04
Here's the next
one, Isaiah 18:3.
00:18:29.07\00:18:30.64
"All you people of the world..."
00:18:30.67\00:18:32.17
Wait a minute,
this is universal.
00:18:32.21\00:18:33.54
This is not just
little Israel here
00:18:33.58\00:18:35.38
in the time of David.
00:18:35.41\00:18:36.75
This is world.
00:18:36.78\00:18:39.38
"All you people of the world,
you who live on the earth,
00:18:39.41\00:18:42.15
when a banner is
raised on the mountains."
00:18:42.18\00:18:44.29
Why is it on the
mountains? So it can be seen.
00:18:44.32\00:18:46.55
"You will see it, and
when a trumpet sounds,
00:18:46.59\00:18:49.69
you will hear it."
00:18:49.72\00:18:52.69
So I'm starting to feel this.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
00:18:52.73\00:18:55.46
This banner, this is
not some insignificant
00:18:55.50\00:18:57.50
little throwaway line.
00:18:57.53\00:18:59.07
Something's going on here."
00:18:59.10\00:19:00.44
Anything more, Isaiah? Yep.
00:19:00.47\00:19:01.80
Isaiah 49:22,
00:19:01.84\00:19:03.17
"This is what the
Sovereign Lord says:
00:19:03.20\00:19:05.14
'See, I will beckon to
the nations," universal.
00:19:05.17\00:19:08.34
"I will lift up my
banner to the peoples.
00:19:08.38\00:19:11.61
They will
bring..." Oh, I love this.
00:19:11.65\00:19:13.01
"They will bring
your sons in their arms
00:19:13.05\00:19:14.88
and carry your
daughters on their hips."
00:19:14.92\00:19:16.75
So those are little kids.
00:19:16.79\00:19:18.12
And, you know, when
you carry a little girl,
00:19:18.15\00:19:19.49
you can just put
your hip out like this,
00:19:19.52\00:19:20.86
and that little
girl can sit right there.
00:19:20.89\00:19:23.89
These are the
nations of the world.
00:19:23.93\00:19:25.46
Who are these?
00:19:25.49\00:19:26.83
These are the sons and daughters
00:19:26.86\00:19:28.30
of the community of faith
00:19:28.33\00:19:29.90
being brought back by
the nations of the world
00:19:29.93\00:19:32.60
to their faith community.
00:19:32.63\00:19:35.27
Something's happening.
00:19:35.30\00:19:37.01
And, of course, he's
talking about the exile
00:19:37.04\00:19:38.77
and people coming back
from the exile one day.
00:19:38.81\00:19:43.01
What's going on here?
00:19:43.04\00:19:44.38
What is this banner,
this unfurled banner?
00:19:44.41\00:19:46.92
One more from Isaiah.
00:19:46.95\00:19:48.28
Isaiah 62:10-12.
00:19:48.32\00:19:49.88
"Pass through," God
says, "Pass through the gates!"
00:19:49.92\00:19:52.29
Come on.
00:19:52.32\00:19:53.66
"Prepare the way for the people.
00:19:53.69\00:19:55.02
Raise a banner for the nations."
00:19:55.06\00:19:56.62
There it is again.
00:19:56.66\00:19:57.99
"The Lord has made proclamation
to the ends of the earth."
00:19:58.03\00:20:01.16
What's this
proclamation? Here it is.
00:20:01.20\00:20:03.40
"Say to Daughter
Zion," Oh, we know who she is,
00:20:03.43\00:20:07.44
those friends of Jesus.
00:20:07.47\00:20:09.44
"Say to Daughter
Zion, see your Savior comes.
00:20:09.47\00:20:12.91
See his reward is with him.
00:20:12.94\00:20:14.98
They will be
called the Holy People,
00:20:15.01\00:20:17.05
the Redeemed of the Lord."
00:20:17.08\00:20:18.75
It's one of
Isaiah's favorite phrases
00:20:18.78\00:20:20.38
"the Redeemed of the Lord."
00:20:20.42\00:20:22.48
Now listen, when
we read those words,
00:20:22.52\00:20:24.19
as we just did, as
followers of Christ,
00:20:24.22\00:20:27.49
for us, clearly,
come on, for us, clearly,
00:20:27.52\00:20:30.99
the banner is a
call to the nations
00:20:31.03\00:20:33.63
in preparation for
the return of Jesus.
00:20:33.66\00:20:37.20
In fact, do you know
what the last words of Jesus
00:20:37.23\00:20:39.23
in the apocalypse,
00:20:39.27\00:20:40.60
the last words of Jesus,
00:20:40.64\00:20:41.97
the red letter words
of Jesus in Revelation,
00:20:42.00\00:20:43.91
here it is
"Behold I come quickly,
00:20:43.94\00:20:46.54
and My reward is with Me."
00:20:46.57\00:20:51.78
Jeremiah's
quoting the apocalypse.
00:20:51.81\00:20:54.12
Wrong.
00:20:54.15\00:20:55.52
The apocalypse
is quoting Jeremiah,
00:20:55.55\00:20:59.92
as you're going to
see in just a moment.
00:20:59.95\00:21:01.29
When Isaiah joins
him and he takes a line,
00:21:04.16\00:21:10.10
Revelations 22
00:21:10.13\00:21:13.27
is quoting this line.
00:21:13.30\00:21:16.97
What is this banner unfurled?
00:21:17.01\00:21:19.54
Oh, there is one more,
and it is from Jeremiah,
00:21:19.57\00:21:21.98
and I got to share this with you
00:21:22.01\00:21:23.35
because you're going to
recognize this immediately.
00:21:23.38\00:21:25.15
Now God's
speaking, telling Jeremiah,
00:21:25.18\00:21:27.32
"I want you to
announce to the people."
00:21:27.35\00:21:28.68
"Announce and
proclaim among the nations,
00:21:28.72\00:21:30.49
lift up a
banner and proclaim it.
00:21:30.52\00:21:32.69
Keep nothing back."
There's that banner again.
00:21:32.72\00:21:34.96
"But here's what I
want you to say, Jeremiah."
00:21:34.99\00:21:36.86
"Babylon will be captured.
00:21:36.89\00:21:39.79
Her images will be put to shame
00:21:39.83\00:21:42.10
and her idols
filled with terror."
00:21:42.13\00:21:46.30
Now in the very next
chapter, Jeremiah cries out,
00:21:46.33\00:21:48.90
"Babylon is fallen."
00:21:48.94\00:21:50.44
And then he issues the call.
00:21:50.47\00:21:51.87
"Come out of her, my people."
00:21:51.91\00:21:55.08
Now there's nobody
that's read the apocalypse
00:21:55.11\00:21:57.05
that does not
recognize immediately the words
00:21:57.08\00:22:00.02
of Revelation Chapter 18.
00:22:00.05\00:22:02.08
Jeremiah's not
quoting the apocalypse.
00:22:02.12\00:22:03.92
The apocalypse is
quoting Jeremiah Chapter 51.
00:22:03.95\00:22:09.69
So whatever this banner is,
when it's unfurled, guess what?
00:22:09.72\00:22:15.13
It's a part of
the divine end game.
00:22:15.16\00:22:17.63
So whatever this
banner is, hmm, what is it?
00:22:20.80\00:22:26.41
Hey, look, I want to be gentle.
00:22:26.44\00:22:29.04
I do not want to force
the metaphor to make a point
00:22:29.08\00:22:31.81
of my own choosing, all right?
00:22:31.85\00:22:35.82
But here's what we know.
00:22:35.85\00:22:37.25
See if this is right.
Number one, what do we know?
00:22:37.29\00:22:39.09
It is clearly unfurled by God,
00:22:39.12\00:22:40.82
this banner, to
rally those who are loyal.
00:22:40.86\00:22:42.79
That's those who fear him
in the great day of battle.
00:22:42.82\00:22:46.70
Okay, we know
that. That's number one.
00:22:46.73\00:22:48.26
Number two,
what else do we know?
00:22:48.30\00:22:49.63
Just as clearly, it is a call
00:22:49.66\00:22:51.00
that takes on heightened meaning
00:22:51.03\00:22:52.97
when the time for the
Messiah's second coming
00:22:53.00\00:22:56.74
has come.
00:22:56.77\00:22:58.64
And finally, number
three, we do know this.
00:22:58.67\00:23:00.71
This unfurled
banner plays a part
00:23:00.74\00:23:02.81
in the apocalyptic end game.
00:23:02.84\00:23:05.28
Not just any old part.
00:23:05.31\00:23:07.02
May I put that line back
up from our themed text here.
00:23:07.05\00:23:10.42
Psalm 60:4, from the
New American Standard.
00:23:10.45\00:23:13.42
God, "You have given a
banner to those who fear You,
00:23:13.46\00:23:16.56
that it may be
displayed," NIV says,
00:23:16.59\00:23:19.06
"unfurled because of the truth."
00:23:19.09\00:23:22.70
So here's the question.
00:23:22.73\00:23:24.07
What truth?
00:23:24.10\00:23:25.43
I suppose that God being God,
00:23:28.60\00:23:34.14
He doesn't have to ask me.
00:23:34.18\00:23:35.51
He can have
multiple banners to unfurl.
00:23:35.54\00:23:37.41
Don't you suppose He could?
00:23:37.45\00:23:38.78
I mean, He could. Why not?
00:23:38.81\00:23:40.45
But here's what I think.
00:23:40.48\00:23:42.38
Help me out now.
00:23:42.42\00:23:44.19
I'm firmly believing
that one of his banners
00:23:44.22\00:23:48.19
to rally the world to his
side before the Messiah returns,
00:23:48.22\00:23:54.10
comes the second time,
00:23:54.13\00:23:55.53
has everything to do with time.
00:23:55.56\00:23:58.00
I'm talking about T-I-M-E, time.
00:23:58.03\00:24:00.67
I'm not talking
about the magazine.
00:24:00.70\00:24:02.27
Time, 60 seconds to a minute,
00:24:02.30\00:24:06.74
60 minutes to an hour,
00:24:06.78\00:24:09.21
24 hours to a day,
00:24:09.24\00:24:11.91
7 days to a week, 360-some...
00:24:11.95\00:24:16.69
No, no, 30 days to a "moonth."
00:24:16.72\00:24:21.96
And then 360-some
odd days to a year.
00:24:21.99\00:24:25.86
I'm thinking about time.
00:24:25.89\00:24:27.23
And do you know what?
00:24:27.26\00:24:28.60
There are philosophers
on this planet today
00:24:28.63\00:24:31.13
who do nothing but philosophize
and think about time.
00:24:31.17\00:24:34.67
I go to the
university library here
00:24:34.70\00:24:36.04
and guess what I find.
00:24:36.07\00:24:37.41
A whole shelf
dealing with the philosophy
00:24:37.44\00:24:38.77
and the history of time.
00:24:38.81\00:24:40.21
Go figure.
00:24:40.24\00:24:41.58
And I found a book there
written by Anthony Aveni.
00:24:41.61\00:24:46.48
Title of his book
"Empires of Time."
00:24:46.51\00:24:48.95
He is the Russell B. Colgate
00:24:48.98\00:24:51.25
professor of
astronomy and anthropology
00:24:51.29\00:24:53.19
at Colgate University.
00:24:53.22\00:24:54.66
Is or was.
00:24:54.69\00:24:56.16
These are his words.
00:24:56.19\00:24:57.53
You got to see this.
This is something else.
00:24:57.56\00:24:59.09
Watch this.
00:24:59.13\00:25:00.46
"Any page of a wall calendar
will reveal another subdivision
00:25:00.50\00:25:04.90
in the time units
00:25:04.93\00:25:06.27
Westerners have created."
00:25:06.30\00:25:07.80
So he doesn't put a
picture of a wall calendar.
00:25:07.84\00:25:09.94
He describes it. You'll get it.
00:25:09.97\00:25:11.91
So any page will
show you the time units
00:25:11.94\00:25:15.28
we Westerners have created.
00:25:15.31\00:25:16.64
Keep reading.
00:25:16.68\00:25:18.45
"Seven vertical
divisions on the page
00:25:18.48\00:25:21.95
to the sequence
of numbered blocks,
00:25:21.98\00:25:24.22
each column with its own name."
00:25:24.25\00:25:26.15
What are those seven?
00:25:26.19\00:25:27.52
Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday,
00:25:27.56\00:25:30.03
Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, right?
00:25:30.06\00:25:31.83
Okay, but keep reading.
00:25:31.86\00:25:33.56
"The four or
five horizontal bands,
00:25:33.60\00:25:36.90
called weeks,
00:25:36.93\00:25:38.83
into which we
group the moon's days
00:25:38.87\00:25:41.30
to constitute a
peculiar time division."
00:25:41.34\00:25:44.64
Now keep reading.
00:25:44.67\00:25:46.01
"There is no
single celestial body,
00:25:46.04\00:25:49.74
such as sun or moon,
00:25:49.78\00:25:51.88
no obvious natural cycle
00:25:51.91\00:25:54.22
to which we can
directly attribute
00:25:54.25\00:25:55.68
this little packet of time."
00:25:55.72\00:25:57.15
Keep reading.
00:25:57.19\00:25:58.52
"Moreover, many other
cultures and traditions
00:25:58.55\00:26:01.36
also tally an interval of about
00:26:01.39\00:26:03.59
the same general
duration in their calendars."
00:26:03.63\00:26:07.70
I love how he calls it
this little packet of time.
00:26:07.73\00:26:10.20
That's the week.
00:26:10.23\00:26:11.57
This little packet
of time. Now, come on.
00:26:11.60\00:26:13.64
There are a lot of
bright people sitting
00:26:13.67\00:26:15.24
in this congregation right now.
00:26:15.27\00:26:16.67
So you're gonna
help me out, please.
00:26:16.71\00:26:18.04
Do this.
00:26:18.07\00:26:19.41
The earth spins
once, goes around once.
00:26:19.44\00:26:23.11
What do we call that
single rotation of the earth?
00:26:23.14\00:26:25.98
Come on, what is it called?
00:26:26.01\00:26:27.35
It's called a day. Very good.
00:26:27.38\00:26:29.18
The earth spins
goes around 30 days,
00:26:29.22\00:26:34.82
when it goes around the
moon, and what do we call that?
00:26:34.86\00:26:39.03
A "moonth" or a
month, all right?
00:26:39.06\00:26:41.26
The earth takes,
what, 360-some days
00:26:41.30\00:26:46.80
to go around the sun,
00:26:46.84\00:26:48.17
and what do we call that again?
00:26:48.20\00:26:49.70
We call that a year.
00:26:49.74\00:26:51.07
Now every seven days,
00:26:51.11\00:26:53.41
what's happening with the earth?
00:26:53.44\00:26:54.78
What's happening with the
moon? Come on, help me out.
00:26:54.81\00:26:56.14
Every seven days,
you're scientists here.
00:26:56.18\00:26:58.91
Every seven days,
00:26:58.95\00:27:00.28
what's
happening in the universe?
00:27:00.32\00:27:03.18
Every seven days?
00:27:03.22\00:27:04.99
The answer is
absolutely nothing.
00:27:05.02\00:27:08.09
Nothing.
00:27:08.12\00:27:09.56
There's no movement, nothing.
00:27:09.59\00:27:12.56
You know why?
00:27:12.59\00:27:15.46
Because of this
little packet of time
00:27:15.50\00:27:19.03
God invented.
00:27:19.07\00:27:21.24
That's why.
00:27:21.27\00:27:22.60
God, who created
"In the beginning,"
00:27:22.64\00:27:26.41
at the beginning of this earth,
00:27:26.44\00:27:28.81
its history, and the human race,
00:27:28.84\00:27:31.15
He creates this
little packet of time
00:27:31.18\00:27:34.58
called "week,"
00:27:34.62\00:27:36.72
and there is nothing in
the universe to prove it,
00:27:36.75\00:27:42.69
except and I'll say this humbly,
00:27:42.72\00:27:46.49
but I mean it,
00:27:46.53\00:27:47.86
there is no
satisfactory explanation
00:27:47.90\00:27:51.17
for the seven-day week
outside of the creation story
00:27:51.20\00:27:55.70
in Genesis 1 and 2.
00:27:55.74\00:27:59.27
You can go all the way
through the James White Library
00:27:59.31\00:28:01.88
till you're blue in the face.
00:28:01.91\00:28:03.24
Bring me anything you find.
00:28:03.28\00:28:05.15
You won't find anything.
00:28:05.18\00:28:07.45
The most
satisfactory explanation
00:28:07.48\00:28:10.45
is in the creation account.
00:28:10.49\00:28:11.95
In fact, let's go,
let's just check it out.
00:28:11.99\00:28:13.46
Here it is, Genesis,
00:28:13.49\00:28:14.82
everybody knows
Genesis Chapter 1,
00:28:14.86\00:28:16.26
the beautiful,
the majestic creation
00:28:16.29\00:28:18.56
of the terrestrial ball
00:28:18.59\00:28:20.90
called planet
Earth and the human race,
00:28:20.93\00:28:22.96
and it ends day 6 ends this way
00:28:23.00\00:28:25.00
And "God saw all
that He had made,
00:28:25.03\00:28:27.60
and it was very good.
00:28:27.64\00:28:29.87
And there was evening
and there was morning"
00:28:29.90\00:28:31.91
one rotation of the
planet "the sixth day."
00:28:31.94\00:28:35.78
Now the very next
words are here in Genesis 2,
00:28:35.81\00:28:38.11
"Thus the heavens and
the earth were completed
00:28:38.15\00:28:40.52
in all their vast array.
00:28:40.55\00:28:42.58
By the seventh day,
God had finished the work
00:28:42.62\00:28:45.05
He had been doing,
00:28:45.09\00:28:46.42
so on the seventh day,
00:28:46.45\00:28:47.79
He rested from all His work.
00:28:47.82\00:28:49.36
Then God blessed the seventh day
00:28:49.39\00:28:51.33
and made it holy because on it,
00:28:51.36\00:28:53.43
He rested from all
the work of creating
00:28:53.46\00:28:56.16
that He had done."
00:28:56.20\00:28:57.83
What did we just read?
00:28:57.87\00:29:00.44
God creates time all by Himself.
00:29:00.47\00:29:02.67
He creates the
planetary rotations
00:29:02.70\00:29:05.07
as markers for human time.
00:29:05.11\00:29:07.31
The hour, the day,
the month, the year
00:29:07.34\00:29:09.44
He creates all of time,
00:29:09.48\00:29:11.35
but the only marker
00:29:11.38\00:29:13.28
that He creates
for the seven-day week
00:29:13.31\00:29:17.52
is the seventh day.
00:29:17.55\00:29:20.49
That's it.
00:29:20.52\00:29:23.56
He would one
day call it Shabbat.
00:29:23.59\00:29:27.10
It's from the
Hebrew word Shabbat,
00:29:27.13\00:29:28.46
which means "rest."
00:29:28.50\00:29:29.83
He would call it Sabbath.
00:29:29.86\00:29:32.47
The seventh day.
00:29:32.50\00:29:35.14
The Creator who
needs no rest, by the way.
00:29:35.17\00:29:37.34
Can you believe that?
'Cause He's not tired.
00:29:37.37\00:29:39.57
The Creator who
needs no rest creates a day
00:29:39.61\00:29:42.98
as a capstone at
the end of the week.
00:29:43.01\00:29:45.88
You know why?
00:29:45.91\00:29:47.25
Because this is
gonna be a very special day
00:29:47.28\00:29:48.82
between the Creator
00:29:48.85\00:29:50.19
and His created-in-His-own-image
00:29:50.22\00:29:52.49
creatures called
humans on this planet.
00:29:52.52\00:29:56.89
Every single seventh day
00:29:56.93\00:30:00.70
at the end of
every single week comes,
00:30:00.73\00:30:05.83
as a relational invitation
from this God of the universe,
00:30:05.87\00:30:11.77
say, "Hey, today,
today is just you and me.
00:30:11.81\00:30:17.08
Clear the decks.
00:30:17.11\00:30:19.21
It's the seventh day, Shabbat."
00:30:19.25\00:30:24.39
Why would He do that?
00:30:24.42\00:30:27.39
Because "The Maker of all things
00:30:27.42\00:30:28.76
loves and wants me."
00:30:28.79\00:30:30.13
That's why. Remember that line?
00:30:30.16\00:30:31.59
We come back to it now.
00:30:31.63\00:30:32.96
"The Maker of all
things loves and wants me."
00:30:32.99\00:30:35.46
He really is a relational being.
00:30:35.50\00:30:37.33
He hungers for a relationship.
00:30:37.37\00:30:38.83
And by the way,
He has created you
00:30:38.87\00:30:40.54
to hunger for a relationship.
00:30:40.57\00:30:42.30
And He's created the church
00:30:42.34\00:30:43.67
to know that
there are people hungry
00:30:43.71\00:30:45.04
for a relationship
who are not finding it.
00:30:45.07\00:30:46.57
They are lonely, they
are sitting in our midst,
00:30:46.61\00:30:48.21
but they are all alone.
00:30:48.24\00:30:49.58
They ought not to
be alone for long.
00:30:49.61\00:30:51.41
The church is a
community to reach out
00:30:51.45\00:30:54.25
because we're
created for a relationship.
00:30:54.28\00:30:57.12
God said, "I made you that way.
00:30:57.15\00:30:59.25
You're gonna want
Me on the seventh day,
00:30:59.29\00:31:01.09
and I want you."
00:31:01.12\00:31:03.66
Every single seventh day
00:31:03.69\00:31:06.80
of every week.
00:31:06.83\00:31:11.10
Not at the
beginning of the week,
00:31:11.13\00:31:14.34
not in the middle of the week,
00:31:14.37\00:31:16.81
not near the end of
the week, no, no, no, no.
00:31:16.84\00:31:20.48
Every single week is capstoned
00:31:20.51\00:31:25.35
on the seventh day with God.
00:31:25.38\00:31:30.02
Why?
00:31:30.05\00:31:31.39
Because the Maker of all
things loves and wants me.
00:31:31.42\00:31:35.06
And that's why,
that's why, my friends,
00:31:35.09\00:31:37.16
when the Creator of the universe
00:31:37.19\00:31:38.53
and the earth
comes down to earth,
00:31:38.56\00:31:39.89
come on, we've just
been spending a whole month
00:31:39.93\00:31:41.66
celebrating it and
the Word was made flesh
00:31:41.70\00:31:44.27
and dwelt among us
and we beheld His glory,
00:31:44.30\00:31:46.03
the glories of the
only begotten of the Father,
00:31:46.07\00:31:47.97
full of grace and truth,
00:31:48.00\00:31:49.34
the Word by whom all
things came into existence.
00:31:49.37\00:31:52.04
He's made flesh.
00:31:52.07\00:31:53.41
When Christ comes to
earth and becomes Jesus,
00:31:53.44\00:31:55.28
that's why He was so big
on the seventh-day Sabbath.
00:31:55.31\00:31:59.58
He's huge on it.
00:31:59.61\00:32:01.45
The Sabbath was
not made for the Jews,
00:32:01.48\00:32:03.45
it was made for the human race.
00:32:03.49\00:32:05.45
Watch this.
00:32:05.49\00:32:06.82
Oh, you know these words.
00:32:06.86\00:32:08.19
Mark 2:27, "Then
Jesus said to them,
00:32:08.22\00:32:10.39
'The Sabbath was made for man,
00:32:10.43\00:32:14.10
not man for the Sabbath.'"
00:32:14.13\00:32:16.73
I have a
translation that reads this way,
00:32:16.77\00:32:18.87
"The Sabbath
was made for people,
00:32:18.90\00:32:20.54
not people for the Sabbath."
00:32:20.57\00:32:22.90
Jesus goes on, "So
the Son of Man is Lord
00:32:22.94\00:32:26.71
even of the Sabbath."
00:32:26.74\00:32:31.05
Why?
00:32:31.08\00:32:32.41
Because "The Maker of all things
00:32:32.45\00:32:35.18
loves and wants me."
00:32:35.22\00:32:37.59
Loves and wants you.
00:32:37.62\00:32:40.99
And has created as the
capstone of every single week
00:32:41.02\00:32:43.93
of your life
00:32:43.96\00:32:45.29
the seventh day to
come to be you and me
00:32:45.33\00:32:49.03
together now.
00:32:49.06\00:32:52.27
Wow!
00:32:52.30\00:32:53.64
It's beautiful.
00:32:53.67\00:32:55.00
He's longing for a relationship.
00:32:58.54\00:33:01.04
Abraham Joshua Heschel,
00:33:01.08\00:33:03.04
the great Jewish
scholar and mystic,
00:33:03.08\00:33:08.08
he wrote an
essay, 100 pages long,
00:33:08.12\00:33:10.79
and he titled the
essay "The Sabbath."
00:33:10.82\00:33:13.62
And I read it years ago,
but I ordered it on amazon.com
00:33:13.66\00:33:17.09
last week and read it through.
00:33:17.13\00:33:18.46
You can read it
through just like that.
00:33:18.49\00:33:20.60
He makes a point, I
want you to get this.
00:33:20.63\00:33:22.63
So this is
Abraham Joshua Heschel.
00:33:22.66\00:33:26.50
"The Sabbath is not for
the sake of the weekdays,
00:33:26.53\00:33:30.67
the weekdays are for
the sake of the Sabbath."
00:33:30.71\00:33:34.31
I like that.
00:33:34.34\00:33:35.88
"It is not an interlude,
but the climax of living."
00:33:35.91\00:33:39.78
Now sometimes we treat
the last day of the week as
00:33:39.81\00:33:41.32
"This is where
I catch my breath,
00:33:41.35\00:33:42.68
this is where I get
my life back together
00:33:42.72\00:33:44.39
because, man, I
got to go in another,
00:33:44.42\00:33:46.25
I got another week ahead of me."
00:33:46.29\00:33:47.62
No, no, it's not an interlude.
00:33:47.66\00:33:49.52
It is the climax.
00:33:49.56\00:33:50.89
The week climaxes here.
00:33:50.93\00:33:52.29
Then it week goes down
and starts all over again
00:33:52.33\00:33:54.53
coming back.
00:33:54.56\00:33:55.90
That's Heschel. Keep reading.
00:33:55.93\00:33:58.17
Oh, I love this.
00:33:58.20\00:33:59.53
"The seventh day is
like a palace in time
00:33:59.57\00:34:03.10
with a kingdom for all..."
00:34:03.14\00:34:05.87
You ever been in a palace?
00:34:05.91\00:34:08.81
Every country has its
palaces, except America.
00:34:08.84\00:34:13.45
But you go in a
palace, it's a beautiful place.
00:34:13.48\00:34:16.42
Heschel says,
"Hey, wait a minute,
00:34:16.45\00:34:17.79
you know what the Sabbath is?
00:34:17.82\00:34:19.15
The Sabbath is
like a palace in time
00:34:19.19\00:34:20.52
with a kingdom for all."
00:34:20.56\00:34:21.89
Universal.
00:34:21.92\00:34:23.26
He's a Jew, but he's not
saying it's just for Jews.
00:34:23.29\00:34:25.49
He's saying, "No,
it's for everybody."
00:34:25.53\00:34:27.56
And he got it right.
00:34:27.60\00:34:28.93
Jesus made that
point 2,000 years ago.
00:34:28.96\00:34:31.07
It was made for humankind.
00:34:31.10\00:34:32.83
"It's why I
made it," Jesus says.
00:34:32.87\00:34:37.14
"The seventh day is
like a palace in time
00:34:37.17\00:34:38.91
with a kingdom for
all," keep reading,
00:34:38.94\00:34:40.28
"in which the human is
at home with the divine,
00:34:40.31\00:34:44.18
a dimension in which man aspires
00:34:44.21\00:34:46.41
to approach the
likeness of the divine."
00:34:46.45\00:34:48.52
Now keep reading.
00:34:48.55\00:34:49.88
"The love of the Sabbath"
00:34:49.92\00:34:51.85
he says we
ought to love the day.
00:34:51.89\00:34:54.76
"The love of the Sabbath
00:34:54.79\00:34:56.49
is the love of
man and woman for what
00:34:56.52\00:34:58.99
they and God have in common."
00:34:59.03\00:35:02.90
Oh, and this is good.
00:35:02.93\00:35:04.83
"Our keeping the
Sabbath day is a paraphrase
00:35:04.87\00:35:08.74
of His sanctification
of the seventh day."
00:35:08.77\00:35:11.11
Now that's complicated.
00:35:11.14\00:35:12.47
You're looking at
that and you're saying,
00:35:12.51\00:35:13.91
"What is that sentence saying?"
00:35:13.94\00:35:15.28
So let's keep it
on the big screen
00:35:15.31\00:35:16.64
and this screen as well.
00:35:16.68\00:35:18.01
I want you to just look at
that sentence for a minute.
00:35:18.05\00:35:19.91
"Our keeping the
Sabbath day is a paraphrase
00:35:19.95\00:35:23.59
of God's sanctification
00:35:23.62\00:35:26.19
of the seventh day."
00:35:26.22\00:35:29.96
In other words, the
way I keep the Sabbath
00:35:29.99\00:35:33.86
is to be a paraphrase
00:35:33.90\00:35:35.36
of the way God
sanctifies the Sabbath.
00:35:35.40\00:35:37.80
And the word "sanctifies"
is really hard to understand
00:35:37.83\00:35:41.27
for us third millennials,
00:35:41.30\00:35:42.64
and so I say let's
use the word "holy-izes."
00:35:42.67\00:35:46.71
God holy-izes the
seventh day Sabbath.
00:35:46.74\00:35:51.75
You say, "How does
God holy-ize something?"
00:35:51.78\00:35:53.31
I'll remind you.
00:35:53.35\00:35:54.68
Come on, you remember the story.
00:35:54.72\00:35:56.05
You remember Moses
and the burning bush?
00:35:56.08\00:35:57.69
All right? So he's
looking over there.
00:35:57.72\00:35:59.05
That bush is so beautiful.
00:35:59.09\00:36:00.42
It is so tender. It
is so soft and green.
00:36:00.46\00:36:02.62
Maybe it's even flowering.
00:36:02.66\00:36:04.19
He cannot understand it
00:36:04.23\00:36:05.56
because it is
engulfed in flames,
00:36:05.59\00:36:07.13
and so he says,
"Sheep, you stay here.
00:36:07.16\00:36:08.90
I got to check this thing out,"
00:36:08.93\00:36:10.27
and he's gonna
poke it with his staff
00:36:10.30\00:36:12.03
when there's a
thundering voice that says,
00:36:12.07\00:36:13.87
"Yo, on your face, boy.
00:36:13.90\00:36:15.70
Take your shoes off,
you are on holy ground."
00:36:15.74\00:36:17.94
Hey, wait a minute.
Come on, help me out here.
00:36:20.98\00:36:23.85
What made that ground holy?
00:36:23.88\00:36:26.08
What made that bush holy?
00:36:26.11\00:36:28.68
What made that
bush holy? Help me out.
00:36:28.72\00:36:30.52
What made that bush holy?
00:36:30.55\00:36:32.59
God was in it.
00:36:32.62\00:36:34.29
God was in it.
00:36:34.32\00:36:35.66
That's why it's holy.
00:36:35.69\00:36:37.16
What makes the Sabbath holy?
00:36:37.19\00:36:38.69
Help me out now.
00:36:38.73\00:36:40.06
What makes the Sabbath holy?
00:36:40.10\00:36:41.83
God is in it.
00:36:41.86\00:36:43.53
Not in Sunday, not in
Monday, not in Tuesday,
00:36:43.57\00:36:47.60
not in
Wednesday, not in Thursday,
00:36:47.64\00:36:50.57
not in Friday, in Sabbath.
00:36:50.61\00:36:53.84
Shabbat.
00:36:53.88\00:36:55.58
I have immersed myself,
00:36:55.61\00:36:58.61
and what
Heschel is telling us...
00:36:58.65\00:37:00.25
Is that line
still on the screen?
00:37:00.28\00:37:01.62
Good.
00:37:01.65\00:37:02.98
What Heschel is telling us is,
00:37:03.02\00:37:04.35
as God has immersed Himself
00:37:04.39\00:37:05.79
in the seventh day Sabbath,
00:37:05.82\00:37:07.59
we ought to immerse ourselves
00:37:07.62\00:37:09.49
into that same day with Him.
00:37:09.52\00:37:12.46
"Immerse yourself, Dwight.
00:37:12.49\00:37:14.46
Your mind's 1,000 miles away.
00:37:14.50\00:37:16.26
You're not focused on Me.
00:37:16.30\00:37:17.63
You're not thinking about Me.
00:37:17.67\00:37:19.57
You're not even
sensing I'm near you.
00:37:19.60\00:37:21.60
This is My day,
and I was hoping you
00:37:21.64\00:37:25.31
and I together could bond.
00:37:25.34\00:37:29.18
Immerse yourself with Me."
00:37:29.21\00:37:31.21
Wow.
00:37:34.92\00:37:36.25
He's present in it.
00:37:40.36\00:37:41.76
"Our keeping the Sabbath day
is a paraphrase of His sanc...
00:37:44.86\00:37:47.73
His holy-izing,
00:37:47.76\00:37:49.33
His own holy-izing
of the seventh day."
00:37:49.36\00:37:52.30
But here's the question.
Come on, help me out now.
00:37:52.33\00:37:53.84
But do I, do you, do we
00:37:53.87\00:37:56.97
make it evident
to those who know us
00:37:57.01\00:37:59.21
that we seek to join God
00:37:59.24\00:38:01.31
in His holy-izing
of the Sabbath day
00:38:01.34\00:38:03.14
by the way we conduct
ourselves in those 24 hours?
00:38:03.18\00:38:05.81
Do we?
00:38:05.85\00:38:07.35
Huh?
00:38:07.38\00:38:08.72
Do we immerse ourselves
00:38:08.75\00:38:10.09
as if we were in
the very presence
00:38:10.12\00:38:11.52
of God Himself?
00:38:11.55\00:38:13.69
Do we?
00:38:13.72\00:38:15.69
Is the Creator,
00:38:15.72\00:38:18.06
who went to all the trouble
00:38:18.09\00:38:19.43
of creating this
little packet of time,
00:38:19.46\00:38:21.40
seven days long,
00:38:21.43\00:38:23.16
just so that He
might existentially
00:38:23.20\00:38:25.17
that means right
up and inside of us
00:38:25.20\00:38:27.87
join you and me in
blessed interaction?
00:38:27.90\00:38:30.87
Is my Creator the focus
00:38:30.91\00:38:33.58
of my heart and mind on this day
00:38:33.61\00:38:36.14
he personally crafted
in order to spend with me
00:38:36.18\00:38:38.51
or am I just
another universe away?
00:38:38.55\00:38:41.08
Yeah, you're
right, Lord have mercy.
00:38:44.09\00:38:45.89
If the Sabbath...
00:38:52.26\00:38:53.60
Now listen to me carefully.
00:38:53.63\00:38:55.73
If the Sabbath is
Christ's unfurled banner
00:38:55.76\00:39:01.10
and I believe it
is a banner unfurled.
00:39:01.14\00:39:05.04
If the Sabbath is Christ's
unfurled banner to call back,
00:39:05.07\00:39:09.04
call the world back to
Him as Creator and Savior,
00:39:09.08\00:39:11.78
then listen, how I
spend the seventh day
00:39:11.81\00:39:15.25
is a moral and ethical issue
00:39:15.28\00:39:17.82
of significant magnitude
00:39:17.85\00:39:21.92
and great importance.
00:39:21.96\00:39:25.83
I can't just
blow this off and say,
00:39:25.86\00:39:27.20
"Well, that's just
your particular style.
00:39:27.23\00:39:28.56
That's just how
you like to do it,
00:39:28.60\00:39:30.53
but I do it my way."
00:39:30.57\00:39:31.97
I can't do that.
00:39:32.00\00:39:33.34
I can't. Why?
00:39:33.37\00:39:34.87
Because I have
immersed myself in that day.
00:39:34.90\00:39:37.44
How you respond to
me on that day tells me
00:39:37.47\00:39:41.11
what you think about me.
00:39:41.14\00:39:44.71
It is a moral issue.
00:39:44.75\00:39:47.08
It is an ethical issue.
00:39:47.12\00:39:49.02
You can't laugh it away.
00:39:49.05\00:39:51.12
You can't say,
"Well, comme ci, comme  a."
00:39:51.15\00:39:55.96
Doesn't matter.
00:39:55.99\00:39:57.69
No.
00:39:57.73\00:39:59.06
How does the
fourth commandment read?
00:39:59.09\00:40:00.43
"Please
remember the Sabbath day,
00:40:00.46\00:40:02.56
to keep it holy.
00:40:02.60\00:40:04.27
For in six days, the
Lord made heaven and earth,
00:40:04.30\00:40:06.57
the sea, and
all that is in them,
00:40:06.60\00:40:10.14
and rested on the seventh day."
00:40:10.17\00:40:12.51
Oh, but I forget, I'm sorry.
00:40:15.98\00:40:19.91
I forget that I'm preaching now.
00:40:19.95\00:40:22.82
I've been hired
by this community
00:40:22.85\00:40:24.55
to do this to them.
00:40:24.59\00:40:26.02
I'm preaching now to a
faith community that says,
00:40:26.05\00:40:28.86
"Hey, boy, you don't understand.
00:40:28.89\00:40:32.36
I already know all this."
00:40:32.39\00:40:35.03
And, of course, you're right.
00:40:35.06\00:40:36.50
I look into your faces. You do.
00:40:36.53\00:40:39.50
You know it very well.
00:40:39.53\00:40:41.47
Oh, yes, don't you tell me
about this community of faith.
00:40:41.50\00:40:44.91
No question in their minds
which day is God's Sabbath.
00:40:44.94\00:40:48.11
Like the other
nine commandments,
00:40:48.14\00:40:49.48
this community believes
00:40:49.51\00:40:50.85
that keeping the
fourth commandment
00:40:50.88\00:40:52.21
is no different than
keeping the other nine.
00:40:52.25\00:40:53.58
You keep all 10
because God spoke all 10,
00:40:53.62\00:40:55.88
and then with His own finger,
00:40:55.92\00:40:57.25
wrote it into granite,
00:40:57.29\00:40:58.62
never to be erased again.
00:40:58.65\00:40:59.99
"Yeah, oh, this is
the community of faith.
00:41:00.02\00:41:01.76
They're good people.
They know that, mm-hmm.
00:41:01.79\00:41:04.43
Oh, and they'll
be quick to tell me,
00:41:04.46\00:41:05.79
"Oh, nobody keeps the
commandments to be saved."
00:41:05.83\00:41:07.76
I don't keep the
fourth commandment
00:41:07.80\00:41:09.13
to be saved, no, no, no, no.
00:41:09.16\00:41:10.50
This community has it right.
00:41:10.53\00:41:11.87
It knows that
all Ten Commandments
00:41:11.90\00:41:13.87
are kept not
because I want to be saved,
00:41:13.90\00:41:16.40
but because I'm
already saved by Jesus Christ,
00:41:16.44\00:41:19.04
the Creator and
Savior of the world,
00:41:19.07\00:41:20.51
the Lord Jesus Himself.
00:41:20.54\00:41:21.88
I have a relationship
with Him, and I keep all 10.
00:41:21.91\00:41:24.11
Don't you come and tell me
00:41:24.15\00:41:25.48
you can keep nine of them
and have that relationship,
00:41:25.51\00:41:26.85
but you can't do
the fourth commandment
00:41:26.88\00:41:28.32
because that's legalism
00:41:28.35\00:41:29.68
when you do the
fourth commandment.
00:41:29.72\00:41:31.05
You are dead wrong.
00:41:31.09\00:41:33.12
It's no more legalism
for the fourth commandment
00:41:33.15\00:41:34.89
than it is for one, two, three,
00:41:34.92\00:41:36.52
five, six,
seven, eight, nine, ten.
00:41:36.56\00:41:38.39
Oh, excuse me.
00:41:44.60\00:41:46.60
Pardon me, I forgot
to whom I'm speaking.
00:41:46.63\00:41:50.37
This community
has the day down pat.
00:41:50.41\00:41:55.18
But what deeply concerns me...
00:41:55.21\00:41:58.05
is that I fear...
00:42:02.62\00:42:06.42
that this great community...
00:42:06.45\00:42:10.33
that knows the day...
00:42:10.36\00:42:13.60
has forgotten all
about the way of the Sabbath.
00:42:13.63\00:42:19.13
Remember the Sabbath
day, we got that part.
00:42:25.41\00:42:28.58
To keep it holy, huh,
that's what we struggle with.
00:42:28.61\00:42:34.45
I went into a home not long ago,
00:42:34.48\00:42:37.99
uninvited, unanticipated,
certainly unexpected.
00:42:38.02\00:42:43.69
It was on a Sabbath.
00:42:43.73\00:42:48.03
I was just dropping by
something for the family,
00:42:48.06\00:42:51.87
and wanted to say hi.
00:42:51.90\00:42:54.80
Wonderful family.
00:42:54.84\00:42:56.44
The place was full.
00:42:56.47\00:42:57.81
I mean, it was full.
00:42:57.84\00:42:59.87
People everywhere laughing,
00:42:59.91\00:43:01.58
joy in the air,
young and not so young,
00:43:01.61\00:43:04.81
everybody in
that beautiful space,
00:43:04.85\00:43:10.49
but the music
that was blaring...
00:43:10.52\00:43:12.85
And the
television that was blinking,
00:43:16.66\00:43:22.60
and the live-streaming
that was being live-streamed...
00:43:22.63\00:43:27.34
Somebody forgot
00:43:31.77\00:43:36.21
to remember the Sabbath day,
00:43:36.24\00:43:39.78
to keep it holy.
00:43:39.81\00:43:41.15
Or perhaps,
00:43:44.75\00:43:47.49
for many of us,
00:43:47.52\00:43:50.96
it doesn't matter anymore.
00:43:50.99\00:43:55.03
Just killing time.
00:43:59.67\00:44:02.84
Sacred, holy-ized,
00:44:02.87\00:44:05.61
filled with God
Almighty Himself time.
00:44:05.64\00:44:08.61
I'm just killing it
every single Sabbath.
00:44:08.64\00:44:12.95
You can't kill the Sabbath,
00:44:20.89\00:44:25.76
but you can kill your heart.
00:44:25.79\00:44:29.76
Have we come to that,
00:44:35.30\00:44:38.01
where it doesn't matter
anymore in our dormitories,
00:44:38.04\00:44:42.01
in our classrooms,
00:44:42.04\00:44:45.25
in our homes,
00:44:45.28\00:44:48.42
in our circle of friends,
00:44:48.45\00:44:49.85
in our circle of fellowship?
00:44:49.88\00:44:51.55
I want to tell you something,
00:44:56.06\00:44:57.39
and I'm
embarrassed to tell you this.
00:44:57.43\00:45:00.06
I blush realizing
00:45:00.10\00:45:05.77
I have sat
00:45:05.80\00:45:07.70
in many a Sabbath
afternoon conversation
00:45:07.74\00:45:12.61
where the topic of conversing
00:45:12.64\00:45:15.41
had nothing to do with God,
00:45:15.44\00:45:19.08
nothing to do with Jesus,
00:45:19.11\00:45:22.25
nothing to do
with spiritual life.
00:45:22.28\00:45:25.75
Nothing!
00:45:25.79\00:45:27.12
We were a thousand,
00:45:27.16\00:45:28.49
million miles away
that Sabbath afternoon,
00:45:28.52\00:45:32.66
and I was there.
00:45:32.69\00:45:34.66
The preacher, the pastor,
00:45:34.70\00:45:37.90
talking it up
00:45:37.93\00:45:39.70
like everybody
else in that space.
00:45:39.73\00:45:42.17
And I apologize
to you right now.
00:45:42.20\00:45:46.17
This isn't just about you.
00:45:46.21\00:45:49.41
This is about us.
00:45:49.44\00:45:50.78
Killing time.
00:45:54.52\00:45:57.59
Just killing time.
00:45:57.62\00:46:02.42
Could it be
00:46:02.46\00:46:04.53
that like the rest of
evangelical Christianity,
00:46:04.56\00:46:06.96
where, for them,
00:46:07.00\00:46:09.03
the day of rest
has become one hours
00:46:09.06\00:46:11.50
or maybe two hours
on a Sunday morning,
00:46:11.53\00:46:13.87
and then bring on
the football games
00:46:13.90\00:46:15.64
all Sunday
afternoon into the evening?
00:46:15.67\00:46:18.67
Have we become
like that ourselves?
00:46:18.71\00:46:23.61
Have we?
00:46:23.65\00:46:25.71
Waiting for sundown.
00:46:25.75\00:46:29.62
But not even waiting.
00:46:29.65\00:46:31.12
Or could it be, you and
I, we just need a primer?
00:46:35.02\00:46:39.39
We just need a reminder,
a refresher on what exactly,
00:46:39.43\00:46:43.83
what existentially, the
Sabbath really does mean.
00:46:43.87\00:46:48.37
Maybe we need the journey
00:46:48.40\00:46:50.24
we are embarking
on together right now
00:46:50.27\00:46:53.94
together.
00:46:53.98\00:46:57.75
Don't you go absenting yourself?
00:46:57.78\00:46:59.65
"Well, I have other plans."
00:46:59.68\00:47:03.18
This is not going to
be a scolding series.
00:47:03.22\00:47:06.35
I've already
identified my own failure.
00:47:06.39\00:47:08.52
But if the banner is unfurled
00:47:11.93\00:47:15.10
near the end of time,
00:47:15.13\00:47:19.60
maybe this does
matter for you and me.
00:47:19.63\00:47:23.47
Over the holidays...
00:47:30.08\00:47:31.48
Karen and I
watched "Chariots of Fire."
00:47:34.95\00:47:37.92
Remember that old,
old, old, whatever.
00:47:37.95\00:47:40.82
Yeah.
00:47:40.86\00:47:42.49
But I remind you the story.
00:47:42.52\00:47:43.86
It's the story of Eric
Liddell, the young Scot,
00:47:43.89\00:47:47.76
who became world famous
00:47:47.80\00:47:49.56
as a sprinter at
the 1924 Paris Olympics.
00:47:49.60\00:47:52.53
Oh, my, what a story.
00:47:52.57\00:47:54.20
A friend of mine
gave me the book,
00:47:54.24\00:47:55.57
called "For the Glory,"
00:47:55.60\00:47:57.01
and, oh, it's just
an incredible story.
00:47:57.04\00:48:00.34
He not only gained
fame... I'll just remind you.
00:48:00.38\00:48:02.41
He not only gained fame
for his record-breaking speed,
00:48:02.44\00:48:05.31
but he also
gained global notoriety
00:48:05.35\00:48:08.62
when one day at the Olympics
he said, "Wait a minute.
00:48:08.65\00:48:11.95
I didn't know
that was on Sunday.
00:48:11.99\00:48:13.39
I will not run that
race. It's on the Sabbath."
00:48:13.42\00:48:15.99
And he calls it the Sabbath.
00:48:16.02\00:48:17.36
He's wrong, but he
called it the Sabbath.
00:48:17.39\00:48:21.36
He said, "I will
not run on that day.
00:48:21.40\00:48:23.23
No."
00:48:23.26\00:48:24.60
He met with the
Olympic Committee
00:48:24.63\00:48:25.97
and the Prince of Wales
00:48:26.00\00:48:27.34
because he's a
United Kingdom boy.
00:48:27.37\00:48:28.70
The Prince of Wales is there,
00:48:28.74\00:48:30.07
and they're putting a
little bit of pressure
00:48:30.11\00:48:31.44
on this young man.
00:48:31.47\00:48:32.81
"Come on, boy.
00:48:32.84\00:48:34.18
You can't tell me, son,
that just one little tiny race
00:48:34.21\00:48:35.61
and your God's going to
be upset with you on this?
00:48:35.64\00:48:37.55
Give it up, please.
00:48:37.58\00:48:39.91
For the motherland, do this."
00:48:39.95\00:48:43.72
And he was
adamant, "I will not."
00:48:43.75\00:48:47.82
And while he was
wrong about the day,
00:48:47.86\00:48:49.82
which is the Bible Sabbath,
00:48:49.86\00:48:51.19
I must tell you
that I admired him,
00:48:51.23\00:48:53.29
and still do, for
his conscientious spirit
00:48:53.33\00:48:57.13
in doing his best to
keep the Sabbath holy,
00:48:57.17\00:48:59.87
as if it were on Sunday.
00:48:59.90\00:49:04.34
Wrong day.
00:49:04.37\00:49:07.21
Right way.
00:49:07.24\00:49:10.98
But how will heaven judge it?
00:49:11.01\00:49:13.31
Hmm?
00:49:13.35\00:49:16.22
Wrong day, right way for him?
00:49:16.25\00:49:21.12
Or right way, wrong way for you?
00:49:21.16\00:49:25.79
Huh?
00:49:30.27\00:49:31.60
For the next few
Sabbaths, you and me,
00:49:35.07\00:49:38.91
let's go with
Jesus and let's see
00:49:38.94\00:49:40.41
if we can figure
this out together.
00:49:40.44\00:49:42.88
It'll be a joyful experience.
00:49:42.91\00:49:45.88
Because I must be
very candid with you.
00:49:45.91\00:49:49.18
I mean, who wants
to be killing time
00:49:49.22\00:49:52.99
at the end of time?
00:49:53.02\00:49:56.42
Not me.
00:49:56.46\00:49:58.43
Not you.
00:49:58.46\00:50:01.80
Let's pray.
00:50:01.83\00:50:03.16
Oh, God, not us, please,
00:50:03.20\00:50:06.90
killing time
00:50:06.94\00:50:08.54
at the end of time.
00:50:08.57\00:50:09.97
No.
00:50:10.01\00:50:11.34
We choose to follow
the Lord of the Sabbath.
00:50:11.37\00:50:15.31
And on His day, in His way,
00:50:15.34\00:50:19.48
teach us how.
00:50:19.51\00:50:21.78
We pray in His name.
00:50:21.82\00:50:24.95
Amen.
00:50:24.99\00:50:26.42
Amen.
00:50:26.45\00:50:27.89
Your Connect Card
is sitting right there.
00:50:27.92\00:50:29.79
Just text the word "Banner1"
for this new series "Banner1"
00:50:29.82\00:50:34.33
to 269-281-2345.
00:50:34.36\00:50:36.93
You want to go to the
Internet, there it is.
00:50:36.97\00:50:39.57
There's some next steps.
00:50:39.60\00:50:40.94
I want to send you
some material, okay?
00:50:40.97\00:50:43.07
Hold on. Box number one.
00:50:43.10\00:50:44.91
Even as God immerse Himself
into the seventh-day Sabbath,
00:50:44.94\00:50:47.84
I want to learn
how to immerse myself
00:50:47.88\00:50:50.11
into the Sabbath with Him.
00:50:50.15\00:50:51.81
Me too. I'm
putting a check mark there.
00:50:51.85\00:50:53.75
Are you putting
a check mark there?
00:50:53.78\00:50:55.12
I'm sure you are.
00:50:55.15\00:50:56.48
Box number two.
00:50:56.52\00:50:57.85
I accept Jesus as
Lord of the Sabbath,
00:50:57.89\00:51:00.49
and choose to follow Him.
00:51:00.52\00:51:03.66
How many want to follow
Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath?
00:51:03.69\00:51:05.79
Just let me see your hands.
00:51:05.83\00:51:07.63
I would think it's pretty
much this entire congregation
00:51:07.66\00:51:09.83
and all those
watching on livestream.
00:51:09.86\00:51:12.57
Why wouldn't I want to
follow the Lord of the Sabbath?
00:51:12.60\00:51:15.57
Of course.
00:51:15.60\00:51:17.31
He who is Lord of salvation
is Lord of the Sabbath.
00:51:17.34\00:51:20.01
He who is Lord of the Sabbath
became Lord of salvation.
00:51:20.04\00:51:23.18
On Calvary, He cries
out, "It is finished."
00:51:23.21\00:51:25.65
At the end of creation,
He says, "It's very good."
00:51:25.68\00:51:28.55
Same Jesus.
00:51:28.58\00:51:31.12
Same Lord of the Sabbath,
and I want to follow Him.
00:51:31.15\00:51:35.26
I want to follow Him by the way
I immerse myself in that day.
00:51:35.29\00:51:39.69
Come on.
00:51:39.73\00:51:41.56
We can do it.
00:51:41.60\00:51:43.47
With His help and by
His grace we can do it.
00:51:43.50\00:51:48.97
There's a world
that desperately needs
00:51:49.00\00:51:50.37
to see this banner unfurled
00:51:50.41\00:51:52.44
at this critical
moment in human history.
00:51:52.47\00:51:55.08
There's one more box here.
00:51:55.11\00:51:56.44
Send me some reading
material on the Sabbath,
00:51:56.48\00:51:58.55
I want to know more.
00:51:58.58\00:52:01.08
Now if you have enough
reading material at home,
00:52:01.12\00:52:03.15
don't put a check mark there.
00:52:03.18\00:52:05.82
Just read the
stuff you already have.
00:52:05.85\00:52:08.86
A lot of us have
books sitting there
00:52:08.89\00:52:10.23
that have not been
read in a long time.
00:52:10.26\00:52:14.10
But if you're encountering this,
00:52:14.13\00:52:15.70
you're watching it
on livestream somewhere,
00:52:15.73\00:52:17.10
you're sitting here as a guest,
00:52:17.13\00:52:18.80
you said, "Man, Dwight,
I never knew about this.
00:52:18.83\00:52:21.90
Send me some material.
I'd like to pray about it.
00:52:21.94\00:52:24.04
I'd like to think about it."
00:52:24.07\00:52:25.41
You put a check mark
there and electronically
00:52:25.44\00:52:27.61
I'll make sure
you get that material.
00:52:27.64\00:52:29.98
You'll be blessed.
00:52:30.01\00:52:31.75
You'll be very blessed.
00:52:31.78\00:52:35.08
His day, His way.
00:52:35.12\00:52:40.02
Let all the people say amen.
00:52:40.06\00:52:42.59
I invite you guys to stand
with us for this last song.
00:52:54.94\00:52:57.41
Be still my soul
00:53:09.08\00:53:11.55
The Lord is on thy side
00:53:11.59\00:53:15.99
Bear patiently
00:53:16.02\00:53:18.63
The cross of grief or pain
00:53:18.66\00:53:22.86
Leave to thy God
00:53:22.90\00:53:25.67
To order and provide
00:53:25.70\00:53:30.11
In every change
00:53:30.14\00:53:32.54
He faithful will remain
00:53:32.57\00:53:36.95
Be still my soul
00:53:36.98\00:53:39.58
Thy best thy heavenly friend
00:53:39.61\00:53:43.99
Through thorny ways
00:53:44.02\00:53:46.65
Leads to a joyful end
00:53:46.69\00:53:51.16
Be still my soul
00:53:51.19\00:53:53.73
Thy God doth undertake
00:53:53.76\00:53:58.00
To guide the future
00:53:58.03\00:54:01.34
As He has the past
00:54:01.37\00:54:05.21
Thy hope thy confidence
00:54:05.24\00:54:08.68
Let nothing shake
00:54:08.71\00:54:12.21
All now mysterious
shall be bright at last
00:54:12.25\00:54:19.02
Be still my soul
00:54:19.05\00:54:21.76
The waves and wind still know
00:54:21.79\00:54:26.26
His voice who ruled them
00:54:26.29\00:54:29.36
While He dwelt below
00:54:29.40\00:54:33.47
In You I rest
00:54:33.50\00:54:36.87
In You I found my hope
00:54:36.91\00:54:40.48
In You I trust
00:54:40.51\00:54:43.71
You never let me go
00:54:43.75\00:54:47.28
I place my life
00:54:47.32\00:54:50.65
Within Your hands alone
00:54:50.69\00:54:56.22
Be still my soul
00:54:56.26\00:55:01.86
Be still my soul
00:55:14.48\00:55:17.01
The hour is hastening on
00:55:17.05\00:55:21.25
When we shall be
forever with the Lord
00:55:21.28\00:55:27.92
When disappointment
00:55:27.96\00:55:30.96
Grief and fear are gone
00:55:30.99\00:55:34.73
Sorrow forgot
00:55:34.76\00:55:37.33
Love's purest joys restored
00:55:37.37\00:55:41.44
Be still my soul
00:55:41.47\00:55:44.24
When change and tears are past
00:55:44.27\00:55:48.48
All safe and blessed
00:55:48.51\00:55:51.15
We shall meet at last
00:55:51.18\00:55:55.38
In You I rest
00:55:55.42\00:55:58.62
In You I found my hope
00:55:58.65\00:56:02.12
In You I trust
00:56:02.16\00:56:05.39
You never let me go
00:56:05.43\00:56:08.83
I place my life
00:56:08.86\00:56:12.13
Within Your hands alone
00:56:12.17\00:56:17.81
Be still my soul
00:56:17.84\00:56:22.51
In You I rest
00:56:22.54\00:56:25.88
In You I found my hope
00:56:25.91\00:56:29.22
In You I trust
00:56:29.25\00:56:32.35
You never let me go
00:56:32.39\00:56:35.86
I place my life
00:56:35.89\00:56:39.19
Within Your hands alone
00:56:39.23\00:56:44.60
Be still my soul
00:56:44.63\00:56:47.60
Be still my soul
00:56:51.51\00:56:57.51
Think of the last
time someone said,
00:57:07.26\00:57:09.86
"I'm praying for you."
00:57:09.89\00:57:11.33
Didn't it give
you a sense of peace
00:57:11.36\00:57:13.23
and reassurance that
somebody cares for me?
00:57:13.26\00:57:15.53
I know how I feel
when I get an e-mail
00:57:15.56\00:57:17.00
from one of our
viewers saying, "Yo, Dwight.
00:57:17.03\00:57:18.80
I've been
praying for you lately."
00:57:18.83\00:57:20.27
There's nothing like knowing
someone is praying for you.
00:57:20.30\00:57:22.80
So I want to offer you
an opportunity to partner
00:57:22.84\00:57:25.44
let me, let us
partner with you in prayer.
00:57:25.47\00:57:27.81
If you have a
special prayer request
00:57:27.84\00:57:29.44
or a praise of thanksgiving
you'd like to share with us,
00:57:29.48\00:57:31.95
I'm inviting you to contact
one of our friendly chaplains.
00:57:31.98\00:57:35.05
It's simple to do.
00:57:35.08\00:57:36.42
You can call our
toll-free number 877
00:57:36.45\00:57:38.32
the two words "HIS
WILL," 877-HIS-WILL.
00:57:38.35\00:57:42.12
That friendly
voice that answers,
00:57:42.16\00:57:43.59
you tell him, you tell
her what your prayer need is,
00:57:43.63\00:57:46.73
we'll join with
you in that petition.
00:57:46.76\00:57:49.70
May the God who
answers prayer journey with you
00:57:49.73\00:57:51.50
these next few days
00:57:51.53\00:57:52.87
until we're right back
here together again next time.
00:57:52.90\00:57:55.77