Hello friends and
welcome to Thompsonville,
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Illinois, also the
3ABN worship center where
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the Lord has a
meal prepared for you,
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a spiritual meal and
we like to welcome you
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as the Lord is going to
give you a sharper vision
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of what's
happening in our world today,
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not only in the
United States but movements
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taking place around
all world as it pertains to
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Religious Liberty. Our
guest speaker for today
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is Lincoln Steed
one who has spend many,
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many years not
only in Washington,
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in the halls of Congress
understanding the movements
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of politics and
religion but one who knows
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the Lord and is a
Christian and today God
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has given him a
message entitled back to Egypt.
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Religious Freedom,
there's really nothing more
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basic to a Christian
and in fact there is nothing
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more basic to anybody
who has a faith in Religious
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Freedom but I was
disturbed only a few days ago
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to hear a report from
the Pew forum for religion
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based in Washington
DC, an internationally
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recognized study
organization and the Pew
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forum says that 70 percent
of the world's population
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live under severe civil
and religious restrictions.
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So religious freedom is
not something as Americans
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often tell themselves
and others in privileged
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may be Western
Countries that you know we
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have it, one day we
may loose it many people
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in the world do not have it now.
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It's my privilege to
edit Liberty Magazine.
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A Magazine
produced by the Seventh-day
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Adventist Church but
distributed widely starting
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from the President
of the United States,
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the Prime Minister
of Canada in particular,
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these countries of
North America are targeted,
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politicians, lawyers,
Judges, mayors and so on.
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We want these thought
leaders to read about our
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principles of
religious freedom and the reason
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that I am on the 3ABN right now,
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apart from our regular
Liberty Insider program
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is I want to bring
before not just my fellow
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Seventh-day Adventists
but all people around the
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world who would
watch a program like this.
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Who value their religious
freedom, they may not be,
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you may not be
religious but you have to know
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that when there's
restrictions on such a basic
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human activity, no
human activity is safe.
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And as a Christian, as
a Seventh-day Adventist
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I know how important
it is to exercise our God
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given religious
freedom. I do want to encourage
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those here in our
audience and of course those
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who are listening and
watching on television,
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if you can support
what we do with religious
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liberty now is the time
to do it. There is no budget,
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there is no allocation
that we get, that enables us
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to do what our, what
we do, it's only as people
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are moved at this time
of the year to facilitate
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the distribution of the
nearly 200,000 copies of
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Liberty Magazine,
every issue that this does
00:04:02.53\00:04:06.38
indeed happen. I have
been traveling a lot the last
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few weeks and my
family is starting to wonder
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if I'm ever coming home
and in fact I will be flying
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home late tonight and
it'll be about the third day
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and the third evening in
the year that I'll be home.
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I've been to Australia
back where I came from,
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I've been to
Guatemala where my wife's family
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come from and my wife grew up,
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I've been all over
the United States already,
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backwards and
forwards on the planes,
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speaking about Religious
Liberty and every time,
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I've spoken this year.
I've started off with an
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example that has moved
me as nothing has moved
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me in the last few
years because just as the year
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ended the closing days of 2009,
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I remember sitting in a
Church in the Washington
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DC area. The Metropolitan
Church and with several
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hundred other people
listening to the life
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of a great religious
liberty worker portrayed
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in testimony and
some of it was by video,
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some of it was written
and there in front of us
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in a coffin, an open
coffin which doesn't suite
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my Australian sensibilities
but it's very common
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in the United States. I
saw a great colleague of
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mine Dr. Adrian
Westney, a religious liberty
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leader from the
Columbia Union of the
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Seventh-day Adventist on
the East Coast for 10 years.
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Since I'd been at in
Liberty Magazine I've been,
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become used to appearing with,
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with Adrian on his
weekly religious liberty
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radio broadcast. I
become used to hearing
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his voice on the phone
saying where can you go,
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are you free on such a
day to talk about religious
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liberty and other
times he would call up and
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he says you heard such
and such. Either a law that
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might restrict religious
liberty in this country,
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in the United States
or something that was
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happening elsewhere,
he was a man that lived
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and breathed the
principles of religious liberty.
00:06:03.83\00:06:07.07
He was also a man
that showed I believed
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in his life that God
honored such a commitment
00:06:09.33\00:06:11.79
because when I began
editing Liberty Magazine
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just a little over 10
years ago within a few weeks,
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we were startled to
discover that Dr. Westney
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had terminal cancer and
was given just a few weeks
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to live and I
remember we all prayed.
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We all prayed that
the Lord would spare him
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to work more vigorously
and for a little while
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longer for religious
liberty and God's prays
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was surely
answered because just toward
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the end of last year I
think it was late October,
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as he and I recorded
some messages I remember
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asking him how his
health was and I said you know,
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the God has spared
you for nearly 10 years,
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it's a great miracle.
And we agreed on that and
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then in the next
few weeks unknown to me
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he kept very quiet
about it, his health suddenly
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tumbled and there about
four or five days before
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Christmas, we were
gathered to celebrate
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his life and to commit
his life record for the
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Lord's keeping. As
I looked there and saw
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him in that open coffin
and heard all the testimonials
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I thought how
different is it from some other
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belief systems. You
know, I had to think as a
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Seventh-day
Adventist where we have such
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remembrance and
proclamation of Revelation
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chapter 14, I had to
think there in verse 13,
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close to the messages
of those Three Angles that
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says Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord
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from now on, that they
may rest from their labors,
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and their works follow them.
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You know I thought
of older belief systems.
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You know what about
ancient Egypt that figures
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so prominently in
Old Testament history.
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In Egypt you would be
taken to the after life
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by a whole system of
embodiment and of worship
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and of making little
motifs and boats and preparing
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for the voyage, it was
almost as if their entire
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life was to prepare
them for the projection
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into an after life
that they hoped for but they
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knew nothing about. And
we're inclined as Christians
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and people of faith
scenario to think that Egypt
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was not a religious
culture. It was most religious,
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too religious. They believed
in as many as 200 deities
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but they really didn't
believe in the God that
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created Heaven and
earth. Some time ago when
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I was casting about in
my study of literature,
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I came across a poem by D.H.
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Lawrence and when I
was growing up in Australia
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I just remember D.H.
Lawrence as the author
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of a book called Lady
Chatterley's Lover that was
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banned there, and
I have never read it.
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And I don't really care
to read that sort of thing
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but when I came
across a poem written by
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D.H. Lawrence in his
last year of life as he was
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dying from cancer, I read
it with interest and I saw
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there that this man
like many people in the world
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around us without a
real comprehension of God
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he was reaching out to these,
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theses false philosophies
that Egypt exemplified
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and he spoke there
metaphorically about
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preparing the soul for
its journey to another life.
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And he said was some
truth that the only thing
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that could be taken on
that journey to the great
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beyond through this
little bark that he like unto
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the Egyptian
birds was the character.
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The character that has
been prepared in his life
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and as I read his
poem, I know that he had no
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comprehension of God
and even though he figured
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out the value of
character it was really into
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absolute desperation
about this voyage to nothing
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that's his equal
and he pointed out.
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But of course we're not
on voyage to nothingness
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and of course he was
right about character
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as the Bible says
their works follow them.
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There's a reason that
we're here and it's not
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for a dark voyage
across that river and you know
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at a dismal progression
through the cavalcade
00:10:04.25\00:10:07.19
of the Gods no. We
are prepared to proclaim
00:10:07.22\00:10:11.08
in the light as Jesus
said something important
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about the freedom that
he is given to us and to be
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witnessing in this life
and preparing for a great,
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bright, beautiful life
to come. I was watching
00:10:21.11\00:10:26.00
television recently not
3 ABN which I often watch
00:10:26.03\00:10:31.06
but I was watching
television and there was a
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wonderful sequence
where a musical group played
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a song and we had a
fantastic song before
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I got up to speak
and I appreciated that.
00:10:40.44\00:10:42.08
But the song that I
saw was a negro spirituals
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that I have heard
many times over the years
00:10:45.76\00:10:47.17
but it was well
presented by this group,
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and it's a song
that resonates with me,
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it says Go down Moses,
way down in Egypt's Land.
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Tell old
Pharaoh, Let my people go.
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And you don't have
to be very perceptive,
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amazingly the slave
owners didn't seem to be
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perceptive enough to
grasp it but you don't have
00:11:08.16\00:11:09.85
to be perceptive to
realize that there was a double
00:11:09.88\00:11:12.10
meaning in that,
but the ultimate meaning
00:11:12.13\00:11:15.11
in that hymn, in that's
negro spiritual was that,
00:11:15.14\00:11:18.81
yes we live in a land
of bondage and we need
00:11:18.84\00:11:21.92
to tell Moses, or we
need to be a Moses to go down
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to Egypt and say
let my people go.
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We must have
liberty, we must have freedom.
00:11:30.69\00:11:32.68
Even in Egypt even
in a religious center.
00:11:34.39\00:11:37.15
I shocked a number of our
religious liberty attendees
00:11:39.04\00:11:41.84
at a, at a
Regional Conference in the
00:11:41.87\00:11:45.78
Dominican Republic
not too many months ago
00:11:45.81\00:11:48.18
and Dominica is right
across the Mountain on
00:11:48.21\00:11:50.45
the same Island as
Haiti where we're transfixed
00:11:50.48\00:11:53.26
to watch that
incredible tragedy unfold.
00:11:53.29\00:11:55.96
But in the Dominican
Republic we spoke about
00:11:56.58\00:11:58.27
religious liberty and
I got up and I said there
00:11:58.30\00:12:00.73
is way too much religion in
this country, in this world,
00:12:00.76\00:12:05.00
way too much religion.
But not enough spirituality
00:12:05.61\00:12:09.21
and that's really the
case with religious liberty.
00:12:10.51\00:12:13.24
Those who don't understand
what religion is about
00:12:13.80\00:12:16.72
but just think that
it's an activity of humanity
00:12:16.75\00:12:19.59
and even those that
are convinced that it's a
00:12:19.62\00:12:21.38
necessary activity of
humanity are often those
00:12:21.41\00:12:24.42
who are most inclined
to restrict someone else's
00:12:24.45\00:12:27.27
practice of that
thing. Because they become
00:12:27.30\00:12:29.67
convinced that they
know how to do it better.
00:12:29.70\00:12:31.55
But those who understand that
00:12:33.57\00:12:34.93
it has spiritual
obligation to God and that God
00:12:34.96\00:12:38.84
determines how we
respond not another fellow
00:12:38.87\00:12:42.38
human being those people
will defend it vigorously.
00:12:42.41\00:12:45.94
Our Bible reading as
we began this worship
00:12:46.75\00:12:49.43
period today was
from Exodus chapter 3 and
00:12:49.46\00:12:54.31
it's a story
everybody knows well,
00:12:54.34\00:12:55.93
I grew up hearing that
story, I grow up reading
00:12:55.96\00:12:58.77
about it in Uncle
Arthur's Bible stories but
00:12:58.80\00:13:03.98
it never ceases to
impress me as a model of how
00:13:04.01\00:13:07.69
we should
behave. You know Moses,
00:13:07.72\00:13:11.27
think about Moses,
like many of us he had
00:13:11.30\00:13:14.46
been exposed to
the greatest education,
00:13:14.49\00:13:17.38
the greatest privileges
that the world of his day
00:13:17.41\00:13:20.45
could give to him. We
haven't grown up in a palace
00:13:20.48\00:13:23.38
but many of us
compared to others in the world
00:13:23.41\00:13:25.86
literally have been
spoiled and pampered and given
00:13:25.89\00:13:29.71
advantages that
others don't have.
00:13:29.74\00:13:31.58
We think we know a
lot about the world,
00:13:32.75\00:13:34.70
not just electronics
and scientific advances
00:13:34.73\00:13:37.38
and so on, but we
think we understand the
00:13:37.41\00:13:39.63
philosophy of what
makes the world tick.
00:13:39.66\00:13:41.66
We've been educated
and yet in many different
00:13:42.64\00:13:47.50
ways, God has to bring
ourselves he did with Moses
00:13:47.53\00:13:51.23
to an understanding of
our way of looking at stuff
00:13:51.44\00:13:54.44
it's not usually right.
Moses knew as we do as I,
00:13:54.47\00:13:59.57
I remind myself all the
time that God had a purpose
00:13:59.60\00:14:02.61
for his life. We have to
believe that or else life
00:14:02.64\00:14:05.77
is just nihilistic and aimless.
00:14:05.80\00:14:08.28
Of course God has a
purpose for our life,
00:14:08.97\00:14:11.09
but you know as
you look back through
00:14:13.25\00:14:14.28
the history of
religious dealings in the middle
00:14:14.31\00:14:16.22
ages for example, you
know priest and prelates
00:14:16.25\00:14:18.97
and fanatics of
various tribes were convinced
00:14:19.00\00:14:23.61
to that and they
persecuted, they harmed other
00:14:23.64\00:14:25.89
people. They restricted
the knowledge of faith,
00:14:25.92\00:14:28.02
that's not enough to
believe that God has a purpose
00:14:28.05\00:14:31.07
in your life, it's
most important that you
00:14:31.10\00:14:33.68
meet God and
understand viscerally what he
00:14:33.71\00:14:37.00
is and what he wants
for you. And when Moses
00:14:37.03\00:14:40.84
didn't understand that you know,
00:14:40.87\00:14:42.49
he was self-centered
enough to even strike against
00:14:42.52\00:14:45.30
those who are
harming God's people.
00:14:45.33\00:14:47.61
He killed a man and I
don't think that the Bible
00:14:48.77\00:14:52.25
record says he did it selfishly.
00:14:52.28\00:14:54.51
He didn't do it self-centeredly,
00:14:54.54\00:14:56.47
he did it with an
honest application of religious
00:14:57.20\00:14:59.54
fervor, but it was
wrong as most religious
00:14:59.57\00:15:02.96
persecution is and he
fled for his life and spent
00:15:02.99\00:15:07.14
almost an equal amount
in the desert as he had
00:15:07.17\00:15:10.92
spent in training in
Egypt and here at the end
00:15:10.95\00:15:13.86
of that long period of
surging as the Shepherd
00:15:13.89\00:15:16.36
in the desert, you
know in the shadow of God's
00:15:16.39\00:15:19.50
Holy mountain if you
like and I am not really sure
00:15:19.53\00:15:21.97
he knew much about that
amount till this moment.
00:15:22.00\00:15:24.52
He comes face to face
with God the burning fire,
00:15:25.27\00:15:28.47
it troubles me a
little bit in many Churches
00:15:33.15\00:15:36.02
and some times even in
my own Adventist Churches
00:15:36.05\00:15:38.80
to go there and here
people express a relationship
00:15:38.83\00:15:42.82
to God that's overly
familiar like he's a hailed
00:15:42.85\00:15:45.18
fellow well met.
God wants our good,
00:15:45.21\00:15:49.05
God is our father
as Jesus said Abba.
00:15:49.08\00:15:52.11
God is the benevolent
father and a protector of
00:15:52.92\00:15:57.01
all those that seek
him but he's not to be try
00:15:57.04\00:15:59.79
for worth and Moses
had to learn that lesson,
00:15:59.82\00:16:02.68
there as he saw
that burning bush and he
00:16:03.43\00:16:05.89
drew close out of curiosity.
00:16:05.92\00:16:07.65
I go again to those
verses, in verse 2, it says
00:16:07.68\00:16:13.31
and the Angel of the
Lord and we know that's
00:16:13.34\00:16:15.36
capitalized day, that
was God, we believed as
00:16:17.75\00:16:22.04
Christians,
Seventh-day Adventists that was
00:16:22.07\00:16:23.97
Jesus appearing there
to him and appeared to him
00:16:25.04\00:16:26.76
in a flame of fire
from the midst to bush.
00:16:26.79\00:16:29.21
He looked and behold
the bush with burning
00:16:29.79\00:16:31.63
with fire but the
bush was not consumed and
00:16:31.66\00:16:33.70
Moses said I will now
turn aside and see this great
00:16:33.73\00:16:37.46
sight why the
bush does not burn,
00:16:37.49\00:16:39.35
he still just wanted
to figure out the wise
00:16:39.38\00:16:42.64
and way forth of religion.
Basically little experiment
00:16:42.67\00:16:46.81
on the Divine or the
supernatural and it says
00:16:47.90\00:16:50.08
when the Lord saw the
decent, he turned aside
00:16:50.11\00:16:52.69
to look. God called to
him from the midst of the
00:16:52.72\00:16:54.87
bush and said to him
Moses and he said here
00:16:54.90\00:16:58.11
am I and then God
said counter intuitive,
00:16:58.14\00:17:01.98
do not go near to this
place, take your sandals off
00:17:02.01\00:17:05.77
your feet for the
place where you stand is
00:17:05.80\00:17:08.45
Holy Ground and that
was the beginning of Moses
00:17:08.48\00:17:13.48
rehabilitation, that
was the beginning of his
00:17:13.51\00:17:16.42
empowerment to go back to Egypt.
00:17:16.45\00:17:19.33
The place that he had
served God to the point
00:17:19.36\00:17:22.46
of murder to the place
where he realized that he had
00:17:22.49\00:17:25.96
a destiny but he never
realized that it was only
00:17:25.99\00:17:30.31
fulfilled in God to
place where he was convicted
00:17:30.34\00:17:33.34
that his people were
in slavery wrongly but
00:17:33.37\00:17:36.86
he didn't know how
God would release them and
00:17:36.89\00:17:39.56
it's amazing there to
hear the dialogue then between
00:17:39.59\00:17:42.32
Moses and the Angel of
the Lord there in the desert
00:17:43.02\00:17:46.02
this broken man, I
believe he was about 80 years
00:17:46.05\00:17:49.93
old and I know when
they were 80 I can feel my
00:17:49.96\00:17:53.52
strength ebbing away
what did this man you know
00:17:53.55\00:17:56.54
hobbling behind the
sheep, it does say later on when
00:17:56.57\00:18:00.76
he died at a 120 that
his eyes wasn't dim and you
00:18:00.79\00:18:03.66
know his strength hadn't
ebbed, I am not so sure that
00:18:03.69\00:18:06.33
was true at this point.
Moses was basically a lost
00:18:06.36\00:18:10.98
man and God said to
him I have surely heard
00:18:11.01\00:18:16.33
the cry of my people.
In verse 7, I have surely
00:18:17.13\00:18:20.14
seen the oppression of
my people who are in Egypt
00:18:20.17\00:18:22.82
and I've heard their
cry. And when I deal with
00:18:22.85\00:18:26.95
religious liberty
issues I pray that those that
00:18:26.98\00:18:29.72
support Liberty
Magazine and those that haven't
00:18:29.75\00:18:31.90
taken the chance will
remind themselves of that.
00:18:31.93\00:18:33.92
It's not just an
abstraction when people had
00:18:34.65\00:18:37.85
denied their religious freedoms,
00:18:37.88\00:18:40.18
it is as real as those
slaves who are burdened
00:18:40.95\00:18:44.07
day and night by the
lash, by the persecution
00:18:44.10\00:18:49.29
by the you know the
killing as we know when
00:18:49.32\00:18:52.50
Moses was born of their
first born of their male
00:18:52.53\00:18:56.75
children, these are
real things and God hears it
00:18:56.78\00:19:01.63
and if God hears it if
it's something that moves
00:19:01.66\00:19:04.55
God why shouldn't
we be moved by it.
00:19:04.58\00:19:06.91
I know within the Seventh-day
00:19:08.22\00:19:09.19
Adventist Church we have
lots of different department
00:19:09.20\00:19:11.10
and it's easy for
someone to think well today
00:19:11.13\00:19:13.72
is the day that you
know our religious liberty
00:19:13.75\00:19:16.52
gets up, tomorrow
it's may be ministerial
00:19:16.55\00:19:18.15
or something or you
know the day after may
00:19:18.18\00:19:20.78
be it's ADRA. So,
you know they're all sort
00:19:20.81\00:19:24.08
of just
divisions of functionality.
00:19:24.11\00:19:26.81
I can't speak about
the other departments but
00:19:28.59\00:19:30.65
I know religious
liberty is not just something
00:19:30.68\00:19:33.44
convenient that
was settled on, it's
00:19:33.47\00:19:35.44
the very heart and
soul of what we are called
00:19:35.47\00:19:38.17
to do in releasing
the captive and in Egypt
00:19:38.20\00:19:41.13
is where the
captives are and to take the
00:19:41.16\00:19:44.12
figurative analogy,
it's all way we are in Egypt
00:19:44.15\00:19:49.73
whether it's in the
United States which is you know
00:19:52.10\00:19:54.36
constantly reminding
itself that as President Bush
00:19:54.39\00:19:58.04
said you know
God's favored country.
00:19:58.07\00:19:59.70
Well, we don't know if
God favors but it is nominally
00:19:59.73\00:20:02.29
religious. But other
countries believe that God
00:20:03.43\00:20:06.96
is looking their way
but there is just too much
00:20:07.67\00:20:10.64
religion and not enough
understanding of the God
00:20:10.67\00:20:13.42
of the universe. Amen.
00:20:13.45\00:20:15.81
And God said to him
I've heard the oppression,
00:20:17.31\00:20:19.89
I've the heard the
cries and He said I want you
00:20:19.92\00:20:22.87
to go down to Egypt.
I want you to proclaim
00:20:22.90\00:20:27.27
liberty. I want you to
make a difference there
00:20:27.30\00:20:29.94
and like most of us Moses said,
00:20:29.97\00:20:31.98
I can't do it, I can't
talk, which is very interesting,
00:20:32.01\00:20:34.88
I am sure he had the
debating skills in Egypt.
00:20:34.91\00:20:37.48
But in the desert he
probably just heard the wind
00:20:37.51\00:20:40.15
whistling and heard his
conscious beating on him
00:20:40.18\00:20:42.62
day and night that
he was not good enough
00:20:42.65\00:20:44.84
and he's become
convinced after these years
00:20:44.87\00:20:47.35
in the desert that you
know he's hardly more than
00:20:47.38\00:20:51.00
a sheep herder, and
God said I can use you,
00:20:51.03\00:20:55.03
I can use you, and he
says you go down to Egypt
00:20:55.77\00:20:58.58
and of course this is
where the hymn came from,
00:20:58.93\00:21:01.45
the Negro Spiritual, go
down to Egypt and this is
00:21:02.50\00:21:04.91
verse 18 of chapter 3
say to the King of Egypt,
00:21:04.94\00:21:09.19
The Lord God of the
Hebrews hath met with us:
00:21:10.42\00:21:12.90
and now please, let
us go three days' journey
00:21:12.93\00:21:17.56
into the wilderness
that we may sacrifice to the
00:21:17.59\00:21:19.94
LORD our God. God's met
with me, I think last time
00:21:19.97\00:21:25.38
I spoke on 3ABN and in
this Church I was connecting
00:21:25.41\00:21:30.75
religious
liberty to evangelism and
00:21:30.78\00:21:33.61
I am more and more
convinced that evangelism
00:21:33.64\00:21:36.39
is not complicated,
it's exactly what God said to
00:21:36.42\00:21:40.66
Moses to say. Tell
this person tell the Pharaoh
00:21:40.69\00:21:46.11
that I have met with
God and if I've met with God
00:21:46.14\00:21:50.30
I am changed you
see that and on no one's
00:21:50.33\00:21:53.69
authority but God, it
doesn't matter what I say
00:21:53.72\00:21:55.97
but I am now
speaking for God and I say let
00:21:56.00\00:21:59.78
my people go. And God
says you're telling this and he
00:21:59.81\00:22:05.21
says but I am sure he
will not let you know,
00:22:05.24\00:22:06.84
very interesting
description from God he says
00:22:07.59\00:22:11.01
I am sure he will not
let you go. No not even by
00:22:11.04\00:22:14.30
a mighty hand
remember later in the,
00:22:14.33\00:22:17.85
in the New Testament
Exodus and in the Old Testament,
00:22:17.88\00:22:20.45
in Exodus, Moses had
to hold this hand up,
00:22:20.48\00:22:22.96
but he needed other
people to hold it for him,
00:22:24.94\00:22:26.99
he was not a mighty man
in that sense, no, Pharaoh
00:22:27.02\00:22:30.32
will not let them go,
not even by a mighty hand
00:22:30.35\00:22:33.25
which you don't have.
But God says so I will
00:22:33.28\00:22:37.00
stretch out my hand,
my hand and strike Egypt
00:22:37.03\00:22:43.58
with all my wonders
which I will do in its midst
00:22:43.61\00:22:45.67
and after that he will
let you go and there was
00:22:45.70\00:22:49.55
another thing that impressed me.
00:22:49.58\00:22:51.43
You know Paul said that
the Greeks seeking signs
00:22:53.62\00:22:56.14
I think that's was
some of the text there,
00:22:56.17\00:22:59.16
there's a lot of
people that were in Paul's age
00:22:59.19\00:23:02.64
in the New Testament
and many more in our day.
00:23:02.67\00:23:06.11
They want a sign, they
want some sort of miracle
00:23:06.14\00:23:10.12
healing, they want some
sort of burning bush for them.
00:23:10.15\00:23:14.60
They want some alternation
of wet and dry fleeces
00:23:16.16\00:23:19.77
to prove to them
that God is in this thing.
00:23:19.80\00:23:22.59
When I forget that
when there is a thus saith
00:23:23.42\00:23:25.79
the Lord in God's Holy
word that should be enough
00:23:25.82\00:23:28.96
for them and God
said to Moses, he says,
00:23:28.99\00:23:31.64
I am with you, I will
do this I will make you
00:23:31.67\00:23:34.63
the liberator you can
bring religious freedom
00:23:34.66\00:23:37.57
to these oppressed
people. And he says then
00:23:37.60\00:23:39.63
the proof of it is this.
And it's found in verse 12, of
00:23:39.66\00:23:45.55
chapter 3, it's interesting,
he says I will certainly
00:23:45.58\00:23:48.52
be with you and this
shall be a sign to you that
00:23:48.55\00:23:52.64
I have sent you
when you have brought the
00:23:52.67\00:23:55.36
people out of Egypt.
You shall serve God on this
00:23:55.39\00:23:59.26
mountain, now
that's an interesting sign,
00:23:59.29\00:24:01.75
because it's a sign
that's only valid after the fact
00:24:04.26\00:24:07.49
and we have to have
that faith, as Adrian Westney
00:24:07.52\00:24:11.81
I know did in talking
to him. But this was not a
00:24:11.84\00:24:14.92
futile endeavor, that
beating against the barricades
00:24:14.95\00:24:18.61
of those who would
denied religious freedom
00:24:18.64\00:24:24.17
was not futile,
because God was in this thing
00:24:24.20\00:24:27.33
and no matter how
many millions of magazines
00:24:27.36\00:24:30.42
we might send out no
matter how many times we meet
00:24:30.45\00:24:33.30
with stony-faced officials,
which is not always the
00:24:33.33\00:24:36.62
case I must say, no
matter how many times our
00:24:36.65\00:24:39.01
message of liberation
seems to be fall on deaf ears.
00:24:39.04\00:24:42.07
The message has been
given and God's mighty
00:24:42.10\00:24:45.60
hand will substitute
for what we think we can
00:24:45.63\00:24:47.99
or cannot do, can or cannot do.
00:24:48.02\00:24:50.07
And one day in God's
Holy mountain as that
00:24:51.41\00:24:54.26
chapter in Revelation
I read to about the deeds
00:24:54.29\00:24:57.68
of the dead following
them. Well, they will be there
00:24:57.71\00:25:00.79
raised again and then
God's said we will see
00:25:00.82\00:25:03.45
the fruit of this
labor. We will see that a
00:25:03.48\00:25:05.64
great multitude has
come out of Egypt, has seen
00:25:05.67\00:25:09.40
a religious liberty
issue, has seen the fact
00:25:09.43\00:25:11.78
that it's not just the
right to you know to work
00:25:11.81\00:25:15.80
or what not, work on
certain days of the week.
00:25:15.83\00:25:17.86
We have seen that it's
an obligation to honor God.
00:25:18.77\00:25:21.43
The God of the
Burning Bush, the God of the
00:25:21.46\00:25:24.05
liberalization from all
that this world represents.
00:25:24.08\00:25:28.63
I have been told now
and then that I should be
00:25:32.16\00:25:33.79
careful what I say
about the United States
00:25:33.82\00:25:35.54
because I grew up in
Australia but it's nothing
00:25:35.57\00:25:37.35
against the United
States, but I must say it
00:25:37.38\00:25:40.11
troubles me. Those that
live in the United States
00:25:40.14\00:25:43.12
say always you
know we have freedom,
00:25:43.15\00:25:45.47
you know like it's a
given. We've got to be careful
00:25:45.50\00:25:49.28
that we're proud in
our apparent freedom,
00:25:49.31\00:25:51.90
there is only one
freedom and that is absolute
00:25:51.93\00:25:55.63
with God as we understand
him and as we obey him.
00:25:55.66\00:25:59.09
And I really believe that
the ultimate test is coming
00:26:00.69\00:26:04.17
to many of us who live
under what we think are
00:26:04.20\00:26:06.85
benign systems that in
actuality maybe the most
00:26:06.88\00:26:09.76
tenacious deniers the
faith the world has seen
00:26:09.79\00:26:12.63
as I've said Egypt,
religious, 200 Gods,
00:26:13.38\00:26:17.40
they have space for another God.
00:26:17.43\00:26:19.03
There's no real evidence
that Pharaoh rejected God
00:26:21.19\00:26:24.23
out of hand, he says
you know who is he that
00:26:24.26\00:26:25.71
I need to obey him but
he wasn't at all condemn
00:26:25.74\00:26:30.15
the tree of their,
recognizing their God.
00:26:30.18\00:26:32.90
He says you can
worship him, where the conflict
00:26:33.68\00:26:37.21
came and as you study
that great battle there
00:26:37.24\00:26:41.65
in Exodus, the
conflict came between the array
00:26:41.68\00:26:44.83
of Egyptian Gods and
the one God and the pledge
00:26:44.86\00:26:48.47
were not by chance,
they were striking at every
00:26:48.50\00:26:51.03
principle of Egyptian
belief and in our world today,
00:26:51.06\00:26:57.12
in Western Democracies
but more particularly
00:26:57.15\00:27:00.35
Western capitalistic systems.
00:27:00.38\00:27:02.28
The very system itself
is opposed to everything
00:27:02.85\00:27:05.70
that God holds high and
Holy. Where greed is sanctified,
00:27:05.73\00:27:10.64
where if, your care for
your fellow man is swept
00:27:11.67\00:27:14.49
away and is made public
policy, we need to recognize
00:27:14.52\00:27:19.82
these things not to be
opposed to this system,
00:27:19.85\00:27:22.36
as in Egypt were they
made those bricks to the
00:27:22.39\00:27:25.68
last minute. We have
to do whatever necessary
00:27:25.71\00:27:30.05
as citizens of
whatever land but we should
00:27:30.08\00:27:33.09
never think that
whether its capitalist,
00:27:33.12\00:27:36.46
communist or
whatever that any of these are
00:27:36.49\00:27:38.28
inherently Holy,
there's no burning bush in
00:27:38.31\00:27:41.20
Washington, there's
no burning bush in any
00:27:41.23\00:27:44.33
other place. The
burning bush is in your heart
00:27:44.36\00:27:47.93
as you answer to the
great I am who says the
00:27:47.96\00:27:51.28
proof of you following
me is that we will meet
00:27:51.31\00:27:53.89
again on my Holy
mountain and we really need
00:27:53.92\00:27:59.65
to recognize as Moses
was a little slow to come
00:28:00.67\00:28:03.57
out that if God is in
this thing nothing can stop
00:28:03.60\00:28:05.85
it and that while I think
and I'm speaking as Moses,
00:28:06.73\00:28:09.69
I think that I have
escaped that pernicious system,
00:28:09.72\00:28:12.38
I must go back to it
and proclaim liberty,
00:28:12.99\00:28:16.59
proclaim liberty.
In Isaiah chapter 60,
00:28:16.62\00:28:22.80
verse 2 it says well
behold and I like this text
00:28:23.61\00:28:26.90
because when I reexamine
my life and I was gonna
00:28:26.93\00:28:31.67
say late teens
but it might even been
00:28:31.70\00:28:33.75
a bit later than that
as I reexamine my life
00:28:33.78\00:28:37.15
and was tilting at the
edge, whether I should just
00:28:37.18\00:28:42.63
leave religion alone or
come into it all the way,
00:28:42.66\00:28:45.73
I listened to the
Messiah, Handel's Messiah,
00:28:45.76\00:28:48.46
which of course is good
music. If you like baroque
00:28:48.49\00:28:51.16
music as I do.
But the power of that,
00:28:51.19\00:28:54.46
that piece is in that
recitation of Biblical text
00:28:54.49\00:28:58.21
brought together in a
way to speak of the coming
00:28:58.24\00:29:00.56
Messiah and he
quotes from Isaiah chapter
00:29:00.59\00:29:03.42
60 verse 2 it says, For,
behold, the darkness shall
00:29:03.45\00:29:07.70
cover the earth, and
gross darkness the people:
00:29:07.73\00:29:10.97
but the Lord
shall arise upon thee,
00:29:12.63\00:29:14.32
and his glory
shall be seen upon thee.
00:29:14.35\00:29:17.23
We've got to recognized
that God's ready to move
00:29:19.82\00:29:21.94
powerfully and you know as
was said in the introduction
00:29:21.97\00:29:25.14
I can give you lots of
illustration through world
00:29:25.17\00:29:27.80
of religious liberty
denied, it's gonna get worse.
00:29:28.96\00:29:32.19
But something you need to
understand about religious
00:29:34.18\00:29:36.83
liberty it's
seldom as blatant as I saw
00:29:36.86\00:29:40.96
in Ambon, Indonesia and
by the way in a few weeks
00:29:40.99\00:29:45.36
I am planning a trip
with Dr. John Graz we're going
00:29:46.41\00:29:48.70
down to East Timor to
see what's happening there,
00:29:48.73\00:29:52.11
there's a direct
religious conflict between
00:29:52.14\00:29:55.45
Christian and Muslims
down in that place but
00:29:56.11\00:29:58.01
as we went to Ambon
it was incredible to see
00:29:58.04\00:30:00.97
the devastation, not
quite as bad as is the
00:30:01.00\00:30:03.63
earthquake produced in
Haiti but pretty close,
00:30:03.66\00:30:06.75
25-30 percent of
everything that we ever came
00:30:07.37\00:30:10.62
upon was burned and
abundant in religious
00:30:11.38\00:30:13.78
warfare between
Christian and Muslims.
00:30:13.81\00:30:16.01
An amazing scene,
but violent as that was,
00:30:17.35\00:30:21.53
that's really not the way
religious liberty is mostly
00:30:21.56\00:30:25.51
fought out in its
negative. Religious liberty
00:30:25.54\00:30:29.27
is the far more subtle
thing, where the social
00:30:29.30\00:30:32.20
pressures mean that you
feel that you dare not dare
00:30:32.23\00:30:35.72
move out and take the
spiritual sand. Religious
00:30:35.75\00:30:38.31
liberty is
restricted where there are an
00:30:38.87\00:30:41.23
array of little nip
petty laws that may make it
00:30:41.26\00:30:44.23
impossible or hard
for you to buy a Church
00:30:44.26\00:30:47.21
or to meet in a
Church, may make it very hard
00:30:47.75\00:30:50.14
for you to organize,
that's the most efficient
00:30:50.17\00:30:55.01
level that the
Pharaohs of the world have
00:30:55.04\00:30:58.15
found to strike
against another belief system,
00:30:58.18\00:31:00.90
take away the strong
and religious liberty is not
00:31:00.93\00:31:07.69
always as clear
cut as people imagine,
00:31:07.72\00:31:10.47
but it's
importance is always singular.
00:31:11.02\00:31:14.71
It's subtle, many times
in countries they'll say oh
00:31:16.94\00:31:19.19
we have religious
freedom, but the majority of
00:31:19.22\00:31:21.89
our people are of such
and such believes so it's
00:31:21.92\00:31:24.20
not important, what
that means is that if you
00:31:24.23\00:31:26.90
come into that
country or if you are someone
00:31:26.93\00:31:29.22
they moved to think differently,
00:31:29.25\00:31:30.53
every structure of
society will be against
00:31:30.56\00:31:33.92
you and we need to
pray that God's mighty
00:31:33.95\00:31:39.60
arm can intervene
there because there's little
00:31:39.63\00:31:41.50
that we can do to stop that.
00:31:41.53\00:31:43.63
We certainly don't
have the means and even
00:31:45.34\00:31:47.30
if all of our viewers
send us all of their means,
00:31:47.33\00:31:50.59
we will hardly likely
have enough to by force
00:31:50.62\00:31:54.30
of money turn back
such a tide of prejudice
00:31:54.33\00:31:57.34
and tradition but as
was said at the beginning
00:31:57.37\00:32:02.69
of the printing Revelation,
00:32:02.72\00:32:04.24
you know the pen is
mightier than the sword,
00:32:04.27\00:32:06.28
but we mighty be
moving into the computer
00:32:06.99\00:32:08.35
area where it's
bits and bytes that we're
00:32:08.38\00:32:12.39
dealing with. The
reality is that ideas are far
00:32:12.42\00:32:16.78
more powerful than
ads or mechanical things
00:32:16.81\00:32:21.93
that we can do and
ideas of what God deals
00:32:21.96\00:32:24.76
with because who could
have such an idea as God,
00:32:24.79\00:32:28.63
to take a guy in the
desert, to take someone
00:32:28.66\00:32:33.19
in the desert who to
all intents and proposes who
00:32:33.22\00:32:37.18
know well he may
have appeared to his wife
00:32:37.21\00:32:39.79
as a pretty great
leader when he first appeared,
00:32:39.82\00:32:44.59
and she wanted to
marry him but you know after
00:32:44.62\00:32:46.36
40 years I know my wife
doesn't think as much as me.
00:32:46.39\00:32:49.00
I'm a little bit
more decrypt and so and he
00:32:49.03\00:32:50.86
didn't have great
prospects, but it was only
00:32:50.89\00:32:55.17
because God was
willingly to work with him.
00:32:55.20\00:32:57.82
There's an aspect to
the story that I really
00:32:58.56\00:33:00.53
want to bring out
and it may not get strong
00:33:00.56\00:33:04.17
support for religious
liberty but if you understand
00:33:04.20\00:33:06.73
it I'll be satisfied.
When I was a young person
00:33:06.76\00:33:10.36
there was a great
figure in the Seventh Adventist
00:33:12.80\00:33:14.40
Church H.M.S. Richards
senior and I many times
00:33:14.43\00:33:19.13
listened to his program
and at the end he always
00:33:19.16\00:33:22.08
finished it by saying
have faith in God dear friend,
00:33:22.11\00:33:24.93
have faith in God.
And that's seen me through
00:33:24.96\00:33:27.74
some bad moments
remembering not his idea but
00:33:27.77\00:33:32.56
his words that was
thoroughly Biblical,
00:33:32.59\00:33:34.12
but he preached a
sermon once that impressed
00:33:34.93\00:33:37.98
me and I've actually
got a book of sermons where
00:33:38.01\00:33:40.27
it's printed and it
was titled with the curious
00:33:40.30\00:33:43.52
title, The Man
God Tried to Kill.
00:33:43.55\00:33:46.21
Who did God try to kill?
But it's found in the same
00:33:49.48\00:33:53.75
sequence in verse 19 of
chapter 4 is after Moses
00:33:53.78\00:33:58.32
had listen to God at
the burning bush and for
00:33:58.35\00:34:00.51
the first time in 40
years had his heard stirred
00:34:00.54\00:34:03.22
that something might
happen through him that
00:34:03.25\00:34:06.61
God was going to
enable, that he was indeed
00:34:06.64\00:34:09.01
called to go
back proclaim liberty.
00:34:09.04\00:34:10.91
First call of Jesus
remembers He began His
00:34:11.65\00:34:13.31
ministry, it's not a
little secondary part of what
00:34:13.34\00:34:16.20
God's on about, it's
central and Moses told
00:34:16.23\00:34:21.62
his
father-in-law, I must go back,
00:34:21.65\00:34:23.05
I am sure his father-in-law
thought he was crazy
00:34:23.68\00:34:25.03
because he knew
he fled for his life,
00:34:25.06\00:34:27.03
even though the Angel
of the Lord said those
00:34:27.06\00:34:30.07
who seek your death
are dead but here to go
00:34:30.10\00:34:32.38
back to the center of
you know belly of the beast,
00:34:32.41\00:34:37.73
no but he did it, he
took his wife and his son
00:34:37.76\00:34:41.60
and he headed off
and it says in verse 19,
00:34:42.50\00:34:45.61
I'm sorry verse 24,
it's says as it and it came
00:34:47.25\00:34:50.49
to pass on the way,
on the way back to Egypt
00:34:50.52\00:34:53.44
at the encampment,
that the Lord met him
00:34:53.47\00:34:56.54
and sought to kill
him, very interesting,
00:34:56.57\00:35:00.60
what did he do? He
immediately rose up and
00:35:03.41\00:35:06.88
circumcised his son, started
a little bit of family feud,
00:35:06.91\00:35:10.54
his wife Zipporah
said you've become a man
00:35:10.57\00:35:14.15
of blood to me and
the Lord spared him and he
00:35:14.18\00:35:17.84
continued on his
way, I am not really sure
00:35:17.87\00:35:20.49
that the mechanics of
that could be worked out
00:35:21.63\00:35:24.16
or should be worked out
in our day but the principle
00:35:24.19\00:35:25.51
is the same. We are
called to a high and Holy
00:35:25.54\00:35:29.63
business, we are
called to proclaim liberty and
00:35:29.66\00:35:33.57
God holds us the
messenger of such a message
00:35:33.60\00:35:36.84
to a very high
standard and God sought to kill
00:35:36.87\00:35:42.53
Moses not because he
was against Moses but Moses
00:35:42.56\00:35:46.11
himself understood
it, he was out of harmony
00:35:46.14\00:35:48.17
with God, because his
first inclination was to bring
00:35:48.20\00:35:53.83
himself in line with
God's requirement and there's
00:35:53.86\00:35:56.54
nothing magical about
it as Paul pointed out,
00:35:56.57\00:35:59.04
but it was a sign
that was given then
00:35:59.07\00:36:01.17
and he was not willing to
mark himself and his family
00:36:01.20\00:36:04.78
with dedication to
God, not till that moment
00:36:04.81\00:36:07.24
and then he realized
that it was important to God
00:36:08.45\00:36:10.88
had changed him and
there's text very few
00:36:10.91\00:36:13.72
people seem to have noticed
00:36:13.75\00:36:15.02
as Moses and Aaron
then appeared before
00:36:15.05\00:36:18.10
Pharaoh and repeated
the Lord words and they
00:36:18.13\00:36:20.94
said you know let us
go into the wilderness
00:36:20.97\00:36:22.68
we want these, these
little disingenuous I guess,
00:36:22.71\00:36:26.46
but three days
journey I've studied on that
00:36:26.49\00:36:29.07
and 3 days was as long
as you could last in the
00:36:29.10\00:36:31.79
desert and so
Pharaoh I think understood it
00:36:31.82\00:36:34.22
from the outset,
they go three days they're
00:36:34.25\00:36:36.50
beyond recall. They are
gone into the desolation,
00:36:36.53\00:36:40.84
but they said to
Pharaoh, we want to go this
00:36:42.53\00:36:46.19
is in verse 3 of
chapter 5 of Exodus,
00:36:46.22\00:36:49.06
Exodus chapter 5
verse 3 and they said to
00:36:49.80\00:36:52.40
Pharaoh well of course
after that Pharaoh says
00:36:52.43\00:36:55.05
who is the Lord that
I should obey him and
00:36:55.08\00:36:57.41
they said to Pharaoh,
the God of the Hebrews
00:36:57.44\00:36:59.80
has met with us.
This is what God told him
00:36:59.83\00:37:02.32
to say and then they continued,
00:37:02.35\00:37:04.14
please let us go
three days journey into
00:37:04.85\00:37:07.61
the desert and
sacrifice to the Lord our God.
00:37:07.64\00:37:09.64
Lest He fall upon
us with pestilence,
00:37:10.37\00:37:13.75
or with the sword. God
is not to be trifled with
00:37:13.78\00:37:19.21
and when God says I
have heard their cry,
00:37:19.24\00:37:23.64
I have heard what
the Pew forum is saying
00:37:23.67\00:37:26.34
that 70 percent of the
world is suffering under
00:37:26.37\00:37:29.43
a restriction of civil
and religious liberties,
00:37:29.46\00:37:31.82
something has to be
done about it and it's time
00:37:31.85\00:37:34.98
now to get your act
together to be serious
00:37:35.01\00:37:38.34
about it not just you
know something that's listed
00:37:38.37\00:37:41.69
on department or
publications or good works
00:37:41.72\00:37:44.51
that you do, this is
not, you know like how many
00:37:44.54\00:37:46.60
items of literature
given out this weeks
00:37:46.63\00:37:48.65
and so on, that's not
gonna cut it with God. Amen.
00:37:48.68\00:37:52.05
We have to show
that we are serious, that
00:37:52.75\00:37:54.78
our life is in
accordance with this and that
00:37:54.81\00:37:58.21
we will go even to
a Pharaoh who he says
00:37:58.24\00:38:00.62
I don't know your God
and say we must go because
00:38:00.65\00:38:05.17
our own life is on the
line and by extension if you
00:38:05.20\00:38:08.34
deny God you're at
risk, but that's a message
00:38:08.37\00:38:11.87
that is not told enough today,
00:38:11.90\00:38:14.01
it doesn't cast God
as some vindictive evil
00:38:14.79\00:38:17.76
destructive being,
not at all. It shows God
00:38:17.79\00:38:20.42
as we would expect him
to be, someone intimately
00:38:20.45\00:38:23.60
concerned with
human events, determined
00:38:23.63\00:38:26.20
to make it happen,
determined to free the
00:38:26.23\00:38:28.46
captives, determined
for us to proclaim religious
00:38:28.49\00:38:31.20
liberty, has to be,
has to be serious business.
00:38:31.23\00:38:36.65
I don't know if I've
shared it before on 3ABN
00:38:36.68\00:38:39.98
but every time I see it
and I read it again last
00:38:40.01\00:38:43.35
night it impresses me
that the Apostle Paul,
00:38:43.38\00:38:45.89
who admittedly he
was always a hard case,
00:38:47.19\00:38:49.45
you know he's a perfect
persecutor and then became
00:38:49.48\00:38:53.16
a perfect
promoter of the truth, but
00:38:53.19\00:38:57.26
there in his ministry
as he was traveling around
00:38:57.29\00:39:00.37
the world attempting
to spread the wonderful
00:39:00.40\00:39:04.79
news that God was
not just set to save the
00:39:04.82\00:39:08.41
promised people,
but would save anybody,
00:39:08.44\00:39:10.66
the gentiles. There he
came to Caesarea and he
00:39:10.69\00:39:15.37
met in the home as it
says of Phillip the Evangelist
00:39:15.40\00:39:17.91
and he had four
daughters who prophesied,
00:39:19.79\00:39:23.55
which is interesting,
you know we should expect
00:39:23.58\00:39:25.40
more so much
prophecies but we should expect
00:39:25.43\00:39:28.41
as we're dedicated
to God, that God will
00:39:28.44\00:39:30.54
communicate to us
more directly then we
00:39:30.57\00:39:32.92
think he does. And
a Prophet named Agabus
00:39:32.95\00:39:36.58
came down from Judah,
he'd been told something
00:39:37.34\00:39:39.55
from God, given a more
than intimation and he took
00:39:39.58\00:39:42.50
Paul's belt bound his
own hands and feet and
00:39:44.39\00:39:46.99
he says thus says the
Holy Spirit so shall the
00:39:47.02\00:39:50.97
Jews of Jerusalem
bound the man who owns
00:39:51.00\00:39:53.10
this belt and deliver
him into the hands of the
00:39:53.13\00:39:55.78
Gentiles. What would
you do? I don't know what
00:39:55.81\00:40:00.79
I would do, I mean I
know what I should do
00:40:00.82\00:40:03.40
and that's what I
am preaching about,
00:40:03.43\00:40:04.40
but that's the moment
of truth who've dedicated
00:40:04.41\00:40:07.83
your life. You've decided
that you will proclaim God.
00:40:07.86\00:40:10.70
You will go out and say
you know God has free us all.
00:40:11.25\00:40:14.09
God has freed us
from sin, he's freed us
00:40:14.12\00:40:16.80
for the more abundant
life. That's all sounds good
00:40:16.83\00:40:21.88
but when the crunch
comes and you know for sure
00:40:21.91\00:40:24.45
in this case God
was prophesying to Paul
00:40:24.48\00:40:27.09
if he went back to
Jerusalem would be bound
00:40:27.12\00:40:29.66
and imprisoned.
What do you do? As Moses,
00:40:29.69\00:40:35.23
determined to go back
after he'd been impressed
00:40:37.16\00:40:39.02
at the burning bush. Paul said,
00:40:39.05\00:40:40.49
you know they started
the weeping and why everyday,
00:40:42.30\00:40:44.18
he says, what do
you mean by weeping
00:40:44.21\00:40:46.37
and breaking my heart
for I'm ready not only
00:40:46.40\00:40:49.87
to be bound but
also to die at Jerusalem
00:40:49.90\00:40:54.20
for the name of
the Lord Jesus. Amen.
00:40:54.23\00:40:57.71
We often say in
our religious liberty
00:40:57.74\00:40:59.27
work that we
believe in religious freedom
00:40:59.30\00:41:03.89
and we will defend,
we'll defend to the death
00:41:03.92\00:41:06.63
you're right to be
wrong. You're right to believe
00:41:06.66\00:41:10.74
something that I
might found of obnoxious,
00:41:10.77\00:41:13.31
that's very hard for
people of faith to understand
00:41:14.22\00:41:17.10
that, it's extremely
hard in the United States
00:41:17.13\00:41:19.82
at the moment and
we just passed a period
00:41:19.85\00:41:22.79
where the religious
right for want of a better
00:41:22.82\00:41:24.75
term have been
empowered and you know they
00:41:24.78\00:41:26.94
were on their way
to structuring the
00:41:26.97\00:41:29.67
United States as
the happy haven for such
00:41:29.70\00:41:31.85
a belief system.
That's not religious freedom,
00:41:31.88\00:41:34.45
that religious exclusivity.
We have to have the idea
00:41:35.19\00:41:39.95
which God exemplified
from Eden and right up
00:41:39.98\00:41:43.36
to that moment where
he says let him who is
00:41:43.39\00:41:45.35
Holy be Holy still and
he who is not forever not.
00:41:45.38\00:41:49.16
We have to allow
people the right as sovereign
00:41:50.65\00:41:53.78
beings created by God to
choose him or reject him.
00:41:54.33\00:41:57.71
If they reject him, there
are very bad consequences,
00:41:58.53\00:42:01.80
but they are not
consequences that
00:42:02.62\00:42:04.03
we visit upon
anybody, not consequences that
00:42:04.06\00:42:07.10
we visit. I made a
resolution shortly after
00:42:07.13\00:42:10.74
9/11 that I would
always share something
00:42:10.77\00:42:12.76
from a wonderful
collection of quotes that
00:42:12.79\00:42:15.75
the Seventh-day
Adventist Church prepared,
00:42:15.78\00:42:17.33
last day events and on
page 127 of this collection
00:42:17.36\00:42:24.70
and it was put together
at that time of the Gulf,
00:42:24.73\00:42:26.71
the first Gulf war. So
I know that the custodians
00:42:26.74\00:42:29.89
or the writings of
Ellen G. White who I believe
00:42:29.92\00:42:32.57
was used mightily of
God. I know that those
00:42:32.60\00:42:35.72
custodians were
impressed that we were in
00:42:35.75\00:42:37.76
dangerous end times and
writing in 1889 at a time
00:42:37.79\00:42:44.02
when the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:42:44.05\00:42:45.48
and the Liberty
precursor the Sentinel were
00:42:45.51\00:42:48.88
battling against a
National Sunday Law in the
00:42:48.91\00:42:51.96
United States. I
don't know how many of you
00:42:51.99\00:42:55.14
know about what's
predicted, Revelation
00:42:55.17\00:42:57.89
13's fairly specific
about a power that is easily
00:42:57.92\00:43:01.46
identified with the
United States as compelling a
00:43:01.49\00:43:04.11
certain religious
observances and I don't know how
00:43:04.14\00:43:06.27
many of you know that
in the 1880's there was a
00:43:06.30\00:43:09.72
more than passing push
for a National Sunday Law,
00:43:09.75\00:43:13.59
not a blue law but a
law that mandated worship
00:43:13.62\00:43:16.96
on Sunday, a wrong
day, but even if it was
00:43:16.99\00:43:20.04
the right day we
would have opposed it,
00:43:20.07\00:43:22.10
you don't mandate
by civil law a day
00:43:22.13\00:43:25.46
of worship. Amen.
00:43:25.49\00:43:26.82
And Ellen White at
that time wrote this,
00:43:27.74\00:43:29.89
she says we're not doing
the will of God if we sit
00:43:29.92\00:43:33.91
in quietude, doing
nothing to preserve the liberty
00:43:33.94\00:43:38.15
of conscience.
Fervent, effectual prayer should
00:43:38.18\00:43:42.87
be ascending to heaven
that this calamity may be
00:43:42.90\00:43:45.55
deferred until we
can accomplish the work
00:43:45.58\00:43:48.62
which has so
long been neglected.
00:43:48.65\00:43:50.58
Let there be
most earnest prayer,
00:43:51.67\00:43:53.44
and then let us work in
harmony with our prayers.
00:43:54.21\00:43:57.17
Now, its easy to pray I
mean it's hard to pray properly
00:43:57.20\00:44:01.19
but it is easy to pray,
but it's very hard to pray
00:44:01.22\00:44:03.96
correctly and than
to act on our prayers.
00:44:03.99\00:44:06.30
Then the what are
the quotes in 1889 also,
00:44:06.85\00:44:09.29
it was printing in the
Review and Herald extra
00:44:09.32\00:44:11.54
in December 24 that
year, and Ellen White said
00:44:11.57\00:44:15.43
there are many who
are at ease as it were,
00:44:15.46\00:44:19.75
who are is it were
asleep. I mean I don't really
00:44:19.78\00:44:22.20
know how you could
sleep in these days but
00:44:22.23\00:44:24.68
you could be
asleep to the truth.
00:44:24.71\00:44:26.38
These are shocking
times, but many people are
00:44:27.85\00:44:30.49
oblivious to the real
situation and she says
00:44:30.52\00:44:32.97
there are many who are at ease,
00:44:33.00\00:44:34.37
who are as it were
asleep, they say if prophecy has
00:44:34.40\00:44:39.18
foretold the enforcement
of Sunday observance,
00:44:39.21\00:44:43.83
the law will surely be
enacted; and having come
00:44:43.86\00:44:46.97
to this conclusion they
sit down in calm expectation
00:44:47.00\00:44:50.79
of the event, comforting
themselves with the thought
00:44:50.82\00:44:54.07
that God will
protect his people in the day
00:44:54.10\00:44:57.78
of trouble. But God
will not save us if we make
00:44:57.81\00:45:02.85
no effort to do the
work he has committed
00:45:02.88\00:45:05.60
to our charge. That's
really serious business,
00:45:05.63\00:45:08.62
she says as faithful
watchmen you should see
00:45:08.65\00:45:12.00
the sword coming and
give the warning that men
00:45:12.03\00:45:15.07
and women may not
pursue a course through
00:45:15.10\00:45:16.94
ignorance that they
avoid if they knew the truth.
00:45:16.97\00:45:20.11
I didn't mean to
connect to them but that
00:45:21.26\00:45:23.13
just puts me to mind
you know the sword coming.
00:45:23.16\00:45:24.78
Right now you know
we, the United States
00:45:26.39\00:45:29.41
as a nation you know
we projected the sword
00:45:29.44\00:45:32.33
to other countries and
you can argue as people
00:45:34.66\00:45:35.63
do whether that's
correct public policy or not.
00:45:35.64\00:45:37.56
But the sword is not to
be trifled with and you know
00:45:38.25\00:45:41.07
there's a curious
symbol that's just emerged
00:45:41.10\00:45:42.87
in the last few days,
did you know of 300,000
00:45:42.90\00:45:45.55
gun sights that are
sitting atop the weapons
00:45:45.58\00:45:48.48
of the soldiers
in the United States,
00:45:48.51\00:45:50.62
300,000 of them have
Bible text printed into
00:45:51.29\00:45:54.73
the metal. If that isn't
the most profane application
00:45:54.76\00:46:00.33
of faith for our day I
don't know what could qualify
00:46:00.36\00:46:03.26
and guns with Bible
texts on them pointed against
00:46:04.82\00:46:07.80
secular or other religious
enemies of the state can
00:46:08.83\00:46:12.33
just as easily be
turned against those of us
00:46:12.36\00:46:15.35
who have a differing
view of what those texts say.
00:46:15.38\00:46:18.33
Religious freedom
needs to be proclaimed not
00:46:21.15\00:46:24.33
as a in a political context
but any political context.
00:46:24.36\00:46:29.08
Amen. Egypt will
always be with us.
00:46:29.11\00:46:32.55
Egypt will always be
polytheistic even if it
00:46:33.36\00:46:37.24
calls itself
Christian, Muslim or whatever,
00:46:37.27\00:46:40.23
because Egypt is the
potential and the willingness
00:46:40.26\00:46:43.91
of man to just basically
reach out willy-nilly and
00:46:43.94\00:46:48.48
embrace all views of
religion including self worship
00:46:48.51\00:46:52.68
and it takes a Moses, it
takes a Paul and it takes
00:46:53.69\00:46:58.31
you and I as we're
committed to God and emptied
00:46:58.34\00:47:01.53
of self. It takes often a
vision metaphorical for most
00:47:01.56\00:47:06.35
realistic and actual
for some of a burning bush
00:47:06.38\00:47:10.72
and to know that a lot is
at stake here that we might
00:47:11.58\00:47:16.86
be freed and
that's a hard thing to do.
00:47:16.89\00:47:19.39
You know back to that,
that image of D.H. Lawrence ship
00:47:20.07\00:47:25.86
of death and die the
death, he says the long and
00:47:25.89\00:47:28.42
painful death that
was between the old self
00:47:28.45\00:47:31.02
and the new. He got
it right there you know
00:47:31.05\00:47:33.49
that battle we have
to win between the old
00:47:33.52\00:47:36.33
self and the new. But
the new man as CS Lewis
00:47:36.36\00:47:39.26
it was nearly always
wrong but had a right in
00:47:39.29\00:47:41.25
mere Christianity, the
new man needs to get with
00:47:41.28\00:47:45.61
the old God and proclaim
liberty, liberty for all.
00:47:45.64\00:47:50.46
Amen. This is a
wonderful challenge
00:47:50.49\00:47:54.49
I believe that we
should accept, it's thoroughly
00:47:54.52\00:47:56.76
Biblical, the analogy is
not just for a nice sermon
00:47:56.79\00:48:00.04
illustration it's
before us and you know I grew
00:48:00.07\00:48:02.87
up hearing, reading
any number of sermons
00:48:02.90\00:48:05.75
telling us not to go
back to Egypt, you know not
00:48:05.78\00:48:08.69
to go back to
Babylon. Well, on that level no
00:48:08.72\00:48:11.64
we're not to become
Egypt, we're not to become
00:48:11.67\00:48:12.64
Babylon. But if we
don't have a burden
00:48:12.65\00:48:16.45
to go back to Egypt. If
we don't see that in Egypt
00:48:16.48\00:48:20.14
there is a principle
in the message of liberty
00:48:20.88\00:48:23.93
to be to proclaimed
then we are indeed someone
00:48:23.96\00:48:27.10
who has never lifted
because you can take Egypt
00:48:27.13\00:48:30.96
into the desert just
as easily as you can,
00:48:30.99\00:48:33.12
you can tell it's, it's
greenery by the water side
00:48:33.15\00:48:36.46
there are on Nile. Egypt
is a state of mind and we
00:48:36.49\00:48:41.81
need to have the
state of mind of God to be
00:48:41.84\00:48:44.33
proclaiming liberty
throughout the land.
00:48:44.36\00:48:46.58
And obviously I
stand before you as someone
00:48:47.69\00:48:50.14
who edits Liberty
Magazine, it's not the only
00:48:50.17\00:48:52.32
way to proclaim liberty,
I'd be foolish to say that,
00:48:52.35\00:48:55.30
but we have been
given many mechanisms in
00:48:57.13\00:48:59.62
the modern world that will
facilitate the proclamation.
00:48:59.65\00:49:02.48
You know it started
with someone with a capital
00:49:03.12\00:49:06.61
O I guess, someone
standing on the mountain
00:49:06.64\00:49:10.30
of blessing, I don't
know how those thousands
00:49:10.33\00:49:12.31
of people heard
Jesus voice, no more than
00:49:12.34\00:49:15.20
I know, you know that
they heard Abraham Lincoln
00:49:15.23\00:49:17.45
at the Gettysburg
address, people spoke
00:49:17.48\00:49:19.17
powerfully before
PA, but then came the PA
00:49:19.20\00:49:22.89
and you can have a
megaphone you can go
00:49:22.92\00:49:25.69
to a you know a
game, a football game now
00:49:25.72\00:49:28.87
and that thing
reverberates admittedly not very
00:49:28.90\00:49:31.18
clearly but
people can hear greatly.
00:49:31.21\00:49:33.19
The radio broadcasted across,
00:49:33.22\00:49:35.19
I remember reading
years ago about a philosopher,
00:49:35.91\00:49:41.18
Thoreau, wrote in his
book Walden Pond against
00:49:42.95\00:49:46.19
the radio giving use
of England, he says what
00:49:46.22\00:49:48.56
is the great flapping
area of the United States
00:49:48.59\00:49:50.53
need to hear what
happens in Europe.
00:49:50.56\00:49:51.98
The reality is
communication is a
00:49:52.01\00:49:54.44
gift that God has
given to our modern world
00:49:54.47\00:49:57.18
and we can
broadcast on the radio,
00:49:58.43\00:50:00.09
we can broadcast
through television and
00:50:00.74\00:50:02.37
simultaneously contact
millions of people we're
00:50:02.40\00:50:06.32
not just standing before
Pharaoh and his few minions
00:50:06.35\00:50:09.87
and his magicians we
are standing in some ways
00:50:10.13\00:50:14.05
not just figuratively but
literally before the world
00:50:14.86\00:50:17.44
and we can proclaim
liberty. The liberty that
00:50:17.47\00:50:21.74
God would have us
proclaim, let's bow our heads
00:50:21.77\00:50:25.21
in a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we thank you that
00:50:25.24\00:50:27.95
we are your agents
to proclaim freedom,
00:50:27.98\00:50:29.90
we thank you that,
that while Egypt can be
00:50:29.93\00:50:33.90
pretty well pervasive
and a delusional reality that
00:50:33.93\00:50:38.74
with your word and your
instruction and a vision
00:50:38.77\00:50:41.30
of your Holy
Burning Fire that we can be
00:50:41.33\00:50:44.13
empowered to take on anything,
00:50:44.16\00:50:45.57
proclaim liberty
because we have liberty.
00:50:45.60\00:50:48.83
Thank you for this privilege,
00:50:48.86\00:50:50.14
for Jesus sake. Amen.
In the few minutes that
00:50:50.17\00:50:53.64
are left I just want
to remind you that today
00:50:53.67\00:50:56.02
is Religious Liberty
Sabbath, but by no means
00:50:56.05\00:50:59.67
is it a one short
thing even within the
00:50:59.70\00:51:01.57
Seventh-day Adventist Church,
00:51:01.60\00:51:02.66
our period of
time to promote liberty
00:51:02.69\00:51:05.23
and to fund what
we're doing for another year
00:51:05.26\00:51:08.26
goes at least in the
Churches till the end
00:51:08.29\00:51:10.60
of April and not every
Church can do it on the
00:51:10.63\00:51:14.02
one day, but we
hope that every Church
00:51:14.05\00:51:16.76
does it beyond the
Seventh-day Adventist
00:51:16.79\00:51:19.07
Church which is an
enabler of Liberty Magazine
00:51:19.10\00:51:21.06
because it's not
just your magazine,
00:51:21.09\00:51:22.90
only about 10 to 15
thousands Seventh-day
00:51:22.93\00:51:25.88
Adventists get copies
of liberty but those that
00:51:25.91\00:51:29.36
are watching we hoped
that you are moved to send
00:51:29.39\00:51:32.33
some means to
facilitate a cry of religious
00:51:32.36\00:51:36.28
freedom because it
doesn't matter whether
00:51:36.31\00:51:38.97
you're a
Seventh-day Adventist or a Roman
00:51:39.00\00:51:41.33
Catholic or a Buddhist whatever,
00:51:41.36\00:51:42.88
I don't necessarily
believe that all those belief
00:51:42.91\00:51:45.56
systems are correct
but I believe that my God
00:51:45.59\00:51:48.60
would have you seek
him and however means
00:51:48.63\00:51:53.15
you want and if you
are moved toward God
00:51:53.18\00:51:55.51
I believe you will
respond but in the mean time
00:51:55.54\00:51:58.20
you have to have the
ability and the freedom
00:51:58.23\00:52:00.72
to seek God and
I'm not gonna deny that
00:52:01.44\00:52:03.62
and Liberty Magazine is
holding out a broad sway
00:52:03.65\00:52:07.83
for freedom for all
who will answer and please
00:52:07.86\00:52:10.70
give your means toward
that, beyond that I will
00:52:10.73\00:52:13.52
be regresses,
regressive if I didn't remind
00:52:13.55\00:52:18.78
those that watch this
channel regularly that
00:52:18.81\00:52:22.50
we have the Liberty
Insider that appears on 3ABN
00:52:22.53\00:52:25.62
regular. We will
bring examples of restricted
00:52:25.65\00:52:29.94
religious liberty and
of course good examples
00:52:29.97\00:52:32.11
of freedom
allowed around the world,
00:52:32.14\00:52:34.03
because Liberty is on the march,
00:52:34.64\00:52:36.52
it's not just in
around that they march and
00:52:36.55\00:52:39.57
demonstrate for a
new government, I believe
00:52:39.60\00:52:40.93
there is a spiritual
stirring in the world
00:52:40.96\00:52:44.12
and that people are
as it says there is a God
00:52:44.15\00:52:48.56
shaped void that people
are more and more recognizing
00:52:48.59\00:52:50.68
and as the stresses,
politics of disasters
00:52:50.71\00:52:56.69
and whatever you name
it of the modern world
00:52:56.72\00:52:59.04
as they impinge
upon people's very souls,
00:52:59.07\00:53:02.22
they recognize
that they must have God.
00:53:03.02\00:53:05.46
And not just God but
that they must exercise
00:53:06.86\00:53:10.03
that belief in God
and at Liberty Magazine we
00:53:10.06\00:53:13.07
call that religious
liberty, it's something vital,
00:53:13.10\00:53:17.19
it's something
eternal, something God given
00:53:17.86\00:53:20.22
and it's something that
we will fight and die for.
00:53:20.25\00:53:22.77