We welcome you to a
very special presentation
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on Liberty Sabbath.
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And we wish you happy Sabbath.
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And as we think
about religious liberty
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and the work of
the Liberty Department,
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it is an
integral part of the work
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of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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and has always been an
important part of our work.
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Religious liberty is one
of those things that we say
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that you don't think
about until you need it,
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but when you need
it, you really need it.
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And so it is a good thing
that religious liberty is there
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that the magazine is produced,
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but more than
that, the church has,
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throughout its long history,
fought for religious liberty
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not only for
Seventh-day Adventists,
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but for all people because
when the liberties of one group
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are infringed upon,
then you can be next.
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So what affects
one affects them all.
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And so the Liberty campaign is
one of the very first campaigns
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that the church
has throughout the year
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because of its important
part in the life of the church
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and in the work of the church.
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The editor of Liberty
magazine is Lincoln steed.
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And if you have
ever had a chance to look
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at Liberty magazine, you realize
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that it is one of the really
best magazines that we have.
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It is well written, it
is a beautiful magazine,
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it is produced
well, put together well,
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and designed not
necessarily to speak
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to the Adventist
community, it does do that,
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but it is also designed to
inform the wider community.
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And so when Liberty
magazine is put out...
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We like to put it in
the offices of doctors,
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and lawyers, and
people of influence
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because they will be affected by
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and many times
affect the religious liberty
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of those people here
in these United States
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and around the world.
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And so we are very, very pleased
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to have the editor
of Liberty magazine
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to be with us today,
that is Lincoln Steed.
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He has a message for
us and we will all be
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very, very glad to hear it.
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One of the songs
that to my mind sort
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of bespeaks religious liberty is
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"I'll tell the world
that I'm a Christian."
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We are blessed
to be in a country
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where we are allowed to do that.
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There are many countries
where that is not permitted,
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and we must pray
for those countries.
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But we are
allowed to tell the world
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who we are and what we
believe, but more than that,
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we have an obligation to
do that as given to us by God.
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We are in a country
that God has ordained
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to be a herald of the
good news of Jesus Christ,
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and Liberty magazine,
and the Liberty campaign,
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and Religious
Liberty as an entity
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helps us to do precisely that.
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So we're going to pray
now and then we will sing
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"I'll tell the world
that I'm a Christian."
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After that, the next
voice that you will hear will be
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that of Lincoln Steed
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who is the editor
of Liberty magazine
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and a great
friend of this ministry.
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Shall we pray?
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Gracious Father, we
praise You and thank You
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for another opportunity
to lift up the name of Jesus.
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We think about
those who have suffered
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for their faith
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and who even now
suffer for their faith,
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who are not allowed to
praise Your name openly,
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who must keep in
secret their love for Jesus.
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And we ask that those of us
who have been given the freedom
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to talk about Jesus,
will do precisely that,
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that will carry the
name of Jesus everywhere
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that we are caused to go.
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Bless the sermon this day,
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bless the religious liberty work
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of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church,
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bless the magazine, may
it go to the desks of those
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who are in
positions of influence
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and may the work
of Religious Liberty
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go on just as long
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and just as far as
heaven has need of it.
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Bless our speaker this day.
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We praise You and thank
You. In Jesus' name, amen.
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I'll tell the world
that I'm a Christian
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I'm not ashamed
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His name to bear
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I'll tell the world
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That I'm a Christian
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I'll take Him with me everywhere
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I'll tell the world
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How Jesus saved me
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And how He gave me
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A life brand new
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And I know
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That if you trust Him
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That all He gave me,
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He'll give to you
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I'll tell the world
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That He's my Savior
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No other one
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Could love me so
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My life, my all is His forever
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And where He leads me,
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I will go
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I'll tell the world
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Jesus is coming
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And it may be near
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Or far, far away
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But we've got to live
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As if that coming
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Could be tomorrow
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Or today
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For when He comes
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And life is over
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For those who love Him,
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There's more to be
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Eyes have never seen
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The wonders
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That He's preparing
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For you and me
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Go tell the world
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That you're a Christian
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Don't be ashamed,
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His name to bear
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Just tell the world
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That you are a Christian
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And take Him with you
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Everywhere
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I'll tell the world
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How Jesus saved me
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And how He gave me
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A life brand new
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And I know
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That if you trust Him
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That all He gave to me,
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He'll give to you
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I'll tell the world
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That I'm a Christian
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And I'm not ashamed
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His name to bear
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I'll tell the world
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That I'm a Christian
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I'll take Him with me
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Anywhere
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I'll take Him with me
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Anywhere
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Religious Liberty Sabbath again.
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It seems to me they come
around distressingly often only
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because so many things
are happening in our world
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that a year is just
a blink of the eye now.
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But every day something happens
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that's important
for religious liberty.
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I often do the program for 3ABN
and on a couple of occasions
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just to choose topics,
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we've taken the day's newspaper,
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and it's easy.
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There are three or
four things in any newspaper
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that relates to
religious liberty.
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CA Murray gave a
good introduction
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to Liberty magazine, and
our Religious Liberty work,
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the Seventh-day Adventist
religious liberty work.
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It's more than
just for our church.
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But I'm privileged to work
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for the
Seventh-day Adventist church
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producing a magazine
that is distributed widely
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to politicians,
to public officials,
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to lawyers,
mayors, public officials,
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those thinking men and women.
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Ellen White once called them
who are watching these events,
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and we want them
to know the importance
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of religious liberty,
its basis, and history,
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its basis in theology,
and its basis in prophecy.
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I've thought a lot lately on why
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we publish liberty magazine.
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It was begun as
Liberty magazine in 1906.
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That's a long time ago.
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But really it goes
even further back than that.
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Under the Sentinel of Liberty,
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it was published for many years.
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But more than that,
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the Seventh-day Adventist Church
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began really by publishing
and distributing materials
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to the general public
talking about the need
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for religious reform
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and religious
liberty in difficult times.
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Before the church was founded
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in the mid 1860s, 1863,
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our church was founded.
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But it was done in the
context of the Civil War.
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I myself didn't quite
realize until recently that
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it was smack dab
in the middle of it,
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1861 to 1865 was the civil war.
00:11:07.03\00:11:10.33
Right in the middle of
that, a small group of people
00:11:10.37\00:11:13.20
in the United
States formed this church.
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But already, since 1849,
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they had been
publishing materials.
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It was so important to
them to get the word out,
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the importance of
religious freedom.
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I have been speaking on
this topic for a long time.
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I've been editing the magazine
for about 15 plus years now.
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But even way beyond that,
religious liberty was important
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to me as a
Seventh-day Adventist.
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It's integral to
our understanding
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of the nearness
of Christ's return
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and the events
that would precede it.
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And I can remember, when
I first began my ministry,
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I was an editor,
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but not editing
Liberty back then.
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I started to preach.
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And I was in Australia,
my homeland, at that point.
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And I started to do the circuit.
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Every week, I'd be
at a different church.
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And they were interesting times.
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I remember, on one
occasion, I had my notes
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and they fell off the table,
and I was in great disarray.
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I couldn't get my
thoughts together.
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It seemed like maybe it
wasn't as bad as I thought.
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On another
occasion, I couldn't find them
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and I saw my wife running
out the street to the car,
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desperate to find them.
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And in the meantime, I
found them in my pocket.
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But one of the more unusual
points of learning for me
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in preaching was the lessons
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that I got from a
well-established editor,
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preacher that I worked with.
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He differed a
little bit on theology
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which is another story.
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But he was the best editor
that I've ever worked with
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and a good preacher.
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And I came to
him once and I said,
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"How do I get a sermon together?
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You know, what's the best
way to learn my material?"
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And he said,
00:12:55.94\00:12:57.27
"Well, I write my
sermons out word for word."
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He said, "And I go over
it, and over it, and over it."
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And by the time I
am ready to deliver it,
00:13:02.58\00:13:05.21
I sort of know it.
00:13:05.25\00:13:06.58
But he says, "I
have the typescript there
00:13:06.61\00:13:09.72
and I do it word for word."
00:13:09.75\00:13:12.29
I tried that.
00:13:12.32\00:13:13.69
And that was a disgrace
00:13:13.72\00:13:15.42
because I lost
my place a few times
00:13:15.46\00:13:17.29
and that was the end of it.
00:13:17.33\00:13:18.83
And I saw him preaching once.
00:13:18.86\00:13:20.43
And he was one of
the best preachers
00:13:20.46\00:13:21.83
in that part of the world,
in Australia, in the Pacific.
00:13:21.86\00:13:25.47
And he was preaching the word.
00:13:25.50\00:13:26.84
But he and I and a few
others at the publishing house
00:13:26.87\00:13:29.90
often used to read the articles
to each other to catch typos.
00:13:29.94\00:13:34.91
We would be looking at the proof
00:13:34.94\00:13:36.28
and you would read it aloud.
00:13:36.31\00:13:37.65
When we did that, we
would read all the punctuation,
00:13:37.68\00:13:39.81
and the
capitalizations, and so on.
00:13:39.85\00:13:41.98
And he was holding forth
on his sermon powerfully.
00:13:42.02\00:13:44.75
And in the middle of it,
he said something like point,
00:13:44.79\00:13:47.46
quote, comma, and he stopped
00:13:47.49\00:13:50.43
and the green
hue spread over him.
00:13:50.46\00:13:52.86
Well, with all of
that, I'm going to,
00:13:52.89\00:13:54.70
with viewers' allowance,
00:13:54.73\00:13:58.00
semi read
something that I've prepared
00:13:58.03\00:14:00.60
for our liberty Sabbath.
00:14:00.64\00:14:02.74
I've called it
the bones of Joseph.
00:14:02.77\00:14:05.81
And I know my
material but I want to stick
00:14:05.84\00:14:09.28
to some of these words
00:14:09.31\00:14:10.65
because I think
they're very important.
00:14:10.68\00:14:13.52
The bones of Joseph, you know,
standing for principle usually
00:14:13.55\00:14:19.29
carries a cost, but faithfulness
00:14:19.32\00:14:22.72
can pay dividends
beyond our imagining.
00:14:22.76\00:14:26.26
Religious liberty is not
just a principle of course,
00:14:26.29\00:14:29.76
it's integrally
tied to our allegiance
00:14:29.80\00:14:32.57
to the Creator and
Lord of all things.
00:14:32.60\00:14:35.30
Religious liberty
is proven in actions.
00:14:35.34\00:14:39.41
It is proven by
the actions of those
00:14:39.44\00:14:42.01
who honor the
great gospel of liberty,
00:14:42.04\00:14:44.65
as the Apostle Paul puts
it, and are willing to stand up,
00:14:44.68\00:14:48.78
speak out, and remain faithful,
though the heaven's fold
00:14:48.82\00:14:53.59
as one author put it.
00:14:53.62\00:14:55.52
Seventh-day
Adventist, Kim Kreider,
00:14:55.56\00:14:57.23
who is featured in
our campaign this year,
00:14:57.26\00:14:59.53
is a young woman
with an eight-year-old son
00:14:59.56\00:15:02.23
and a bright confident
manner that accompanies
00:15:02.26\00:15:05.13
her professional
training and prior experience
00:15:05.17\00:15:08.87
with the p score.
00:15:08.90\00:15:10.74
When she applied for a position
at the University of Tennessee
00:15:10.77\00:15:14.38
with their
student's abroad program,
00:15:14.41\00:15:16.08
it seemed a perfect fit.
00:15:16.11\00:15:18.78
And she was quickly
accepted for employment.
00:15:18.81\00:15:22.08
Then just a week
later, she was told that
00:15:22.12\00:15:24.75
she must carry her
cell phone on the weekends
00:15:24.79\00:15:27.46
and be available to respond.
00:15:27.49\00:15:30.16
This created an immediate
conflict for Kim with her
00:15:30.19\00:15:33.70
deeply held convictions on
honoring the Lord's Sabbath.
00:15:33.73\00:15:37.27
It was a big thing for
Kim, but it might have been
00:15:37.30\00:15:40.57
easily
accommodated by her employers.
00:15:40.60\00:15:43.91
In fact, fellow workers
even often offered to help
00:15:43.94\00:15:47.41
and cover the
phones on the weekend,
00:15:47.44\00:15:49.08
but it wasn't allowed.
00:15:49.11\00:15:51.31
In short order, Kim was fired.
00:15:51.35\00:15:55.12
She appealed through legal means
00:15:55.15\00:15:57.19
and lost the
court case, perhaps,
00:15:57.22\00:16:00.76
because she was still
a probationary employee.
00:16:00.79\00:16:03.73
But that was not the end of
the story, according to Kim,
00:16:03.76\00:16:07.43
as she tells it,
the whole process
00:16:07.46\00:16:10.50
gave her an
opportunity no more than that,
00:16:10.53\00:16:13.97
it was an
opportunity she believes
00:16:14.00\00:16:16.04
that she was
placed in that position
00:16:16.07\00:16:17.94
to witness to her
counsel, to the lawyers,
00:16:17.97\00:16:22.41
to the judge, to her
employers, and fellow workers.
00:16:22.44\00:16:28.12
She saw God's leading in
00:16:28.15\00:16:31.82
getting the job only to lose it.
00:16:31.85\00:16:36.16
Several thousand years ago,
Joseph said something similar
00:16:36.19\00:16:39.86
to his brothers,
the very same brothers
00:16:39.89\00:16:42.60
who had sold him into slavery.
00:16:42.63\00:16:45.27
"As for you," he told
them as they came fearfully
00:16:45.30\00:16:48.60
before him thinking
he might exact revenge,
00:16:48.64\00:16:52.17
"You meant evil against
me, but God meant it for good
00:16:52.21\00:16:56.28
in order to bring it
about as it is this day
00:16:56.31\00:16:59.15
to save many people alive."
00:16:59.18\00:17:02.48
That's part of the
story of in Genesis 50.
00:17:02.52\00:17:06.15
Joseph's realization of
God's overruling providence
00:17:06.19\00:17:10.46
and Kim's take on her situation
00:17:10.49\00:17:12.86
are not as uncommon
as you might expect.
00:17:12.89\00:17:17.67
In our religious
liberty work, we are often able
00:17:17.70\00:17:20.27
to help an employee
win an accommodation case.
00:17:20.30\00:17:23.54
And other times with
others joining our voice,
00:17:23.57\00:17:27.48
we're able to block, delay,
or even introduce legislation
00:17:27.51\00:17:31.31
that might have a
negative or a positive impact
00:17:31.35\00:17:33.42
on religious freedoms.
00:17:33.45\00:17:34.78
We can influence these things.
00:17:34.82\00:17:36.15
We think, but it is
worth keeping in mind
00:17:36.18\00:17:38.99
that the real issue at hand
00:17:39.02\00:17:40.99
for religious
liberty is witnessing.
00:17:41.02\00:17:43.53
It's living out
our freedom in Christ
00:17:43.56\00:17:45.53
before the world
and at all costs.
00:17:45.56\00:17:49.33
Through the years, the
tested ones have seen this,
00:17:49.36\00:17:53.03
and often gave glory
to God for the experience
00:17:53.07\00:17:56.17
of persecution itself.
00:17:56.20\00:17:59.41
For almost two years,
00:17:59.44\00:18:01.38
our church's
Religious Liberty Department
00:18:01.41\00:18:03.65
did all that it
could to obtain the release
00:18:03.68\00:18:06.21
of Pastor Antonio Monteiro,
a church worker in Togo,
00:18:06.25\00:18:11.89
imprisoned on charges of
committing a heinous crime
00:18:11.92\00:18:15.82
of mass murder and trafficking
in the blood of the victims.
00:18:15.86\00:18:19.63
The charge was
bizarre and soon translated
00:18:19.66\00:18:23.47
into equally bizarre
coverage of Adventist belief
00:18:23.50\00:18:26.50
and practice in Togo.
00:18:26.53\00:18:27.97
It became a real
blood libel to Monteiro
00:18:28.00\00:18:31.31
and the faith that he held.
00:18:31.34\00:18:33.48
The months went by
and lengthened into years
00:18:33.51\00:18:35.94
for our pastor as
he languished in a jail
00:18:35.98\00:18:38.61
with no indication
00:18:38.65\00:18:40.65
of when a trial
might even be held.
00:18:40.68\00:18:43.79
His jail conditions were worse
00:18:43.82\00:18:45.79
than hardened criminals
in the West might experience.
00:18:45.82\00:18:49.09
Plumbing and sanitation
were hardly up to code.
00:18:49.12\00:18:52.89
The prison was guarded
on the outside, but inside,
00:18:52.93\00:18:56.20
the prisoners ruled themselves.
00:18:56.23\00:18:58.47
The only food inside was
00:18:58.50\00:19:00.40
what relatives were
able to pass by the guards
00:19:00.44\00:19:03.24
who were always
taking their cut,
00:19:03.27\00:19:04.91
passed by the guards
and through the door.
00:19:04.94\00:19:08.38
We could imagine that
Pastor Monteiro's life
00:19:08.41\00:19:10.91
was at risk
during that imprisonment.
00:19:10.95\00:19:13.62
And with the
failure of each attempt
00:19:13.65\00:19:15.42
to negotiate
with different levels
00:19:15.45\00:19:17.32
of government, we
began to wonder...
00:19:17.35\00:19:19.79
Those of us who were meeting
and working on his behalf,
00:19:19.82\00:19:23.09
we began to wonder
just how God was going
00:19:23.12\00:19:26.83
to show Himself in
this desperate situation.
00:19:26.86\00:19:31.30
Well, only a few months ago,
Pastor Monteiro was released.
00:19:31.33\00:19:37.51
Without much advanced
notice, a trial was held.
00:19:37.54\00:19:41.61
The testimony
against him was recanted
00:19:41.64\00:19:45.05
and he was declared innocent.
00:19:45.08\00:19:47.85
There was again much prayer,
this time of Thanksgiving,
00:19:47.88\00:19:50.95
and there was much
celebration on his release.
00:19:50.99\00:19:53.99
He returned with his
family to his little homeland
00:19:54.02\00:19:56.42
of the Cape Verde Islands,
which is about 400 miles
00:19:56.46\00:19:59.63
of the west coast of Africa.
00:19:59.66\00:20:02.50
He returned with
his family to Cape Verde
00:20:02.53\00:20:04.83
to a tumultuous welcome
00:20:04.87\00:20:06.53
from almost the
entire population,
00:20:06.57\00:20:08.77
official
government welcomed him,
00:20:08.80\00:20:10.17
and just joy unbounded.
00:20:10.21\00:20:13.88
And to all and sundry,
his story was the same.
00:20:13.91\00:20:19.38
God meant it for good.
00:20:19.41\00:20:22.68
He felt that he'd
been chosen to witness
00:20:22.72\00:20:25.72
under trial in that prison.
00:20:25.75\00:20:28.76
For me, one of the
most enduring images
00:20:28.79\00:20:30.83
of the whole story
was the prison guard
00:20:30.86\00:20:33.06
and inmates bidding farewell to
Pastor Monteiro on his release.
00:20:33.09\00:20:37.30
How else could
such a powerful witness
00:20:37.33\00:20:40.04
have been given to them?
00:20:40.07\00:20:42.77
There is a shadow
to the story though.
00:20:42.80\00:20:45.74
While Pastor
Monteiro was acquitted,
00:20:45.77\00:20:48.41
a church layman
imprisoned with him on the same
00:20:48.44\00:20:51.68
recanted accusation
received a life sentence.
00:20:51.71\00:20:56.72
And it remains to be seen
00:20:56.75\00:20:58.35
how God's plan will
reveal itself for him.
00:20:58.39\00:21:02.02
But it is sure, I believe.
00:21:02.06\00:21:04.39
It is sure that
God's comforting presence
00:21:04.43\00:21:07.36
is just as available to
him as it was to Daniel,
00:21:07.40\00:21:11.20
Paul, and
Joseph, as available now
00:21:11.23\00:21:14.34
as it was then.
00:21:14.37\00:21:16.67
I have on my wall at
home, an original painting
00:21:16.71\00:21:19.94
by Adventist
artist Lars Justinen.
00:21:19.97\00:21:22.44
I used to work with
him at Pacific Press.
00:21:22.48\00:21:25.25
The illustration of the painting
00:21:25.28\00:21:26.68
was used to
illustrate a Pacific Press book
00:21:26.72\00:21:29.72
on the life of Joseph.
00:21:29.75\00:21:31.75
I often look at it
and muse on the dynamic
00:21:31.79\00:21:35.12
of the story portrayed there.
00:21:35.16\00:21:37.73
Part of the illustration
shows the pyramids of Egypt
00:21:37.76\00:21:41.43
with the silhouetted figures
of camels in the foreground,
00:21:41.46\00:21:44.73
very much the mystic
land of Egypt celebrated
00:21:44.77\00:21:48.00
in song and legend.
00:21:48.04\00:21:49.80
Center to the
illustration in a circled cameo
00:21:49.84\00:21:53.44
is the artist's
recreation of Joseph,
00:21:53.48\00:21:56.44
as the story
begins, a 17-year-old boy
00:21:56.48\00:22:02.58
with a strong confident gaze
and smooth youthful features.
00:22:02.62\00:22:06.42
On the right is
Joseph of the later years.
00:22:06.45\00:22:09.79
His head is covered with
00:22:09.82\00:22:11.16
an Egyptian
styled caped headdress
00:22:11.19\00:22:12.96
and his lined face shows
the strength of character
00:22:12.99\00:22:16.70
which had taken him
00:22:16.73\00:22:18.20
to the pinnacle
of political power.
00:22:18.23\00:22:20.57
According to the Bible account,
Joseph was 30 when he went
00:22:20.60\00:22:24.77
into the service for Pharaoh.
00:22:24.81\00:22:27.44
And after 7 years of plenty
and 2 of the 7 lean years,
00:22:27.48\00:22:31.65
he was 39, when
his brothers appeared
00:22:31.68\00:22:34.75
before him seeking
relief from the famine.
00:22:34.78\00:22:37.65
The artwork, I believe,
00:22:37.69\00:22:39.02
shows vividly the transformation
00:22:39.05\00:22:41.39
from a principled
00:22:41.42\00:22:46.86
but hardly experienced...
00:22:46.90\00:22:50.63
In fact, headstrong
youth to the middle-aged man
00:22:50.67\00:22:53.97
of wisdom and
proven faithfulness.
00:22:54.00\00:22:57.24
How had Joseph remained
faithful all of those years?
00:22:57.27\00:23:01.61
How had he put aside
hatred for the older brothers
00:23:01.64\00:23:05.18
who sought to kill him
and instead sold him into
00:23:05.21\00:23:08.65
what they could
have only expected
00:23:08.68\00:23:10.39
to have been a
fate worse than death?
00:23:10.42\00:23:13.72
How had Joseph
kept his integrity
00:23:13.76\00:23:16.42
in the household of
Potiphar, the military officer?
00:23:16.46\00:23:19.46
How did he remain hopeful
during the two years in prison?
00:23:19.49\00:23:24.27
And how could he be so sure
that it was a dream fulfilled
00:23:24.30\00:23:28.70
and not
happenstance that brought
00:23:28.74\00:23:31.27
the would-be murderers
into his power after many years?
00:23:31.31\00:23:34.68
And how could he have
been so certain it was the God
00:23:34.71\00:23:37.98
of his forefathers giving dreams
00:23:38.01\00:23:39.88
and directions when
his own wife's family
00:23:39.91\00:23:42.58
was of the
priestly cast of Egypt?
00:23:42.62\00:23:46.45
The answer to these questions
is complex, but ultimately,
00:23:46.49\00:23:50.23
expressed in Joseph's reaction
00:23:50.26\00:23:52.03
when the wife of Potiphar
attempted to seduce him.
00:23:52.06\00:23:55.46
As one way or another,
the world will always attempt
00:23:55.50\00:24:00.40
to seduce those who
aspire to obedience to God.
00:24:00.44\00:24:03.91
Joseph recounted
why he must return
00:24:03.94\00:24:07.04
the trust his
master had placed in him.
00:24:07.08\00:24:09.34
In the same way today, a
Christian has an obligation
00:24:09.38\00:24:12.61
toward the employer,
toward the community,
00:24:12.65\00:24:15.15
and toward family.
00:24:15.18\00:24:16.79
But it went further,
00:24:16.82\00:24:18.72
"How can I do
this great wickedness,"
00:24:18.75\00:24:21.16
he asked rhetorically,
"and sin against God?"
00:24:21.19\00:24:26.66
Here was the key to a
young man's character.
00:24:26.70\00:24:29.76
Years earlier, he had
alienated his brothers
00:24:29.80\00:24:33.27
and startled his
parents by self-consciously
00:24:33.30\00:24:37.74
repeating two divine
dreams that had sheaves,
00:24:37.77\00:24:41.54
representing his
brothers, and the sun,
00:24:41.58\00:24:44.35
moon, and stars
representing his parents
00:24:44.38\00:24:46.51
and descendants
bowing down to him.
00:24:46.55\00:24:49.92
He had self-consciously
worn the multi-colored coat
00:24:49.95\00:24:53.99
of a father's favor in
front of jealous brothers.
00:24:54.02\00:24:58.86
Just as way of the remnant...
00:24:58.89\00:25:00.63
And I'm speaking to
Seventh-day Adventists
00:25:00.66\00:25:02.06
particularly here even
though there are many listening.
00:25:02.10\00:25:04.43
Just as we of the
remnant can sometimes wave
00:25:04.47\00:25:07.67
our spiritual privilege
ahead of the obligation
00:25:07.70\00:25:10.64
that comes with their
calling, so Joseph had to learn
00:25:10.67\00:25:14.81
that the focus was
not on him but on God.
00:25:14.84\00:25:18.91
He had to learn to reign
in his dreams to serve God.
00:25:18.95\00:25:23.28
When in prison
for the two years,
00:25:23.32\00:25:25.09
he discovered the
God behind the dreams.
00:25:25.12\00:25:28.29
When asked by the butler
and the baker to interpret
00:25:28.32\00:25:30.76
their dream, he answered,
00:25:30.79\00:25:32.49
"Do not
interpretations belong to God?"
00:25:32.53\00:25:36.13
Very interesting deflection.
00:25:36.16\00:25:38.37
Like Pastor Monteiro and
others through the years,
00:25:38.40\00:25:41.34
Joseph had come to
realize that God was the center
00:25:41.37\00:25:45.24
of the dream, not himself.
00:25:45.27\00:25:48.74
This realization is
revealed nine years later
00:25:48.78\00:25:52.85
when the guilty brothers
00:25:52.88\00:25:54.22
bowed before him
and at the table,
00:25:54.25\00:25:56.05
that must have evoked the
original dream for Joseph.
00:25:56.08\00:26:00.06
But he held his peace
and cried behind the curtains
00:26:00.09\00:26:03.29
where no one could see him.
00:26:03.32\00:26:05.36
For by that time,
he sensed that he was
00:26:05.39\00:26:07.66
but part of a bigger story
of working out God's purposes
00:26:07.70\00:26:11.13
to save a whole people.
00:26:11.17\00:26:14.20
I see this holy boldness
and diminished ego on display
00:26:14.24\00:26:18.74
when Joseph is
summoned before the Pharaoh
00:26:18.77\00:26:21.01
to answer the
Pharaoh's dreams of the fat cows
00:26:21.04\00:26:24.38
and the fat corn
and the lean cows
00:26:24.41\00:26:26.45
and the lean corn.
00:26:26.48\00:26:28.75
The reinstated butler,
00:26:28.78\00:26:30.59
as you remember
from the Bible story,
00:26:30.62\00:26:32.19
belatedly
remembered his hasty promise
00:26:32.22\00:26:35.46
to remember Joseph when
he got out of the prison.
00:26:35.49\00:26:38.16
It was a promise
somewhat easily forgotten
00:26:38.19\00:26:41.36
if you read the
story because Joseph made
00:26:41.40\00:26:43.30
the request almost offhandedly,
00:26:43.33\00:26:46.13
perhaps, trusting
more to God's memory
00:26:46.17\00:26:48.84
than the butler's.
00:26:48.87\00:26:51.67
Joseph answered the
Pharaoh with confidence,
00:26:51.71\00:26:54.51
but he only
tangentially includes himself.
00:26:54.54\00:26:58.15
His answer makes it clear
he is privy to the ways of God
00:26:58.18\00:27:03.42
but only inferentially.
00:27:03.45\00:27:06.12
Instead, he says this,
"God has revealed to Pharaoh
00:27:06.15\00:27:10.66
and God has shown to Pharaoh.
00:27:10.69\00:27:13.70
And the thing is fixed by God
00:27:13.73\00:27:15.76
and He will
shortly bring it to pass."
00:27:15.80\00:27:19.57
To me, this shift
from the brushed youth
00:27:19.60\00:27:23.47
to the confident
messenger of God is clear
00:27:23.51\00:27:26.57
and has everything to
do with his time in prison
00:27:26.61\00:27:30.78
and the waiting for God
to reveal Himself there.
00:27:30.81\00:27:34.15
To me, the parallel to
the modern political miracle
00:27:34.18\00:27:38.02
of Nelson Mandela
imprisoned by hate
00:27:38.05\00:27:41.72
and released 27 years later
00:27:41.76\00:27:43.32
to teach love and
forgiveness is clear.
00:27:43.36\00:27:45.83
In standing for
religious liberty,
00:27:45.86\00:27:49.26
we must not fall for the fallacy
00:27:49.30\00:27:52.00
and thinking that it's about us
00:27:52.03\00:27:55.20
and that we can escape
the obligation to witness
00:27:55.24\00:27:58.27
to the spirits in
prison as the Bible says
00:27:58.31\00:28:01.48
and even refine
our own characters
00:28:01.51\00:28:03.41
through adversity.
00:28:03.45\00:28:05.55
In the book
Testimonies, volume 5,
00:28:05.58\00:28:08.85
from the pen of an inspired
Seventh-day Adventist writer,
00:28:08.88\00:28:12.92
Ellen White, I
find this, she says,
00:28:12.95\00:28:15.66
"The time is not far distant
00:28:15.69\00:28:18.03
when the test will
come to every soul.
00:28:18.06\00:28:22.06
The mark of the beast
will be urged upon us."
00:28:22.10\00:28:26.77
I cruise the Internet
a lot and I know there is
00:28:26.80\00:28:29.14
a lot of
discussion on some Adventists
00:28:29.17\00:28:31.57
and many other websites
00:28:31.61\00:28:33.88
and YouTube sites
or YouTube features,
00:28:33.91\00:28:38.78
the mark of the
beast, what is it?
00:28:38.81\00:28:40.62
But the mark of the
beast while it's outlines
00:28:40.65\00:28:43.32
are not quite as clear
now as when it will appear,
00:28:43.35\00:28:46.69
but we know already
what it's likely to be.
00:28:46.72\00:28:49.09
In this time of oppression
00:28:49.12\00:28:51.49
and this time
of terror security,
00:28:51.53\00:28:54.60
the mark of the beast
will be an imposition by force
00:28:54.63\00:28:58.13
of a type of
worship that exposes itself
00:28:58.17\00:29:01.10
as coming not from God,
but from man inspired by Satan.
00:29:01.14\00:29:05.97
And Ellen White says,
"The mark of the beast,
00:29:06.01\00:29:08.21
a religious observance,
00:29:08.24\00:29:09.94
that defies God
will be urged upon us."
00:29:09.98\00:29:14.62
You know, urged is
an interesting word.
00:29:14.65\00:29:18.45
It's not
necessarily compulsion at first,
00:29:18.49\00:29:21.22
it's encouraged, "Do this.
00:29:21.26\00:29:23.16
This is about...
00:29:23.19\00:29:24.53
You know, society expects
it, your employer expects it,
00:29:24.56\00:29:28.06
your family expects it.
00:29:28.10\00:29:30.17
Do this. Show
that you are with us."
00:29:30.20\00:29:33.44
She says, "It
will be urged upon us."
00:29:33.47\00:29:35.40
And continuing
the reading, she says,
00:29:35.44\00:29:37.01
"Those who have step by
step yielded to worldly demands
00:29:37.04\00:29:42.91
and conformed to worldly customs
00:29:42.94\00:29:45.71
will not find it a hard
matter to yield to the powers
00:29:45.75\00:29:49.58
that be rather than
subject themselves to derision."
00:29:49.62\00:29:54.76
If we're lucky,
we have derision.
00:29:54.79\00:29:57.56
Now most of us
don't even have that.
00:29:57.59\00:29:58.93
But here's the succession,
00:29:58.96\00:30:01.06
to subject
themselves to derision,
00:30:01.10\00:30:03.97
insult, threatened,
imprisonment, and death.
00:30:04.00\00:30:08.87
The contest is between
the commandments of God
00:30:08.90\00:30:12.47
and the commandments of men.
00:30:12.51\00:30:14.24
In this time, the
gold will be separated
00:30:14.28\00:30:17.48
from the dross in the church.
00:30:17.51\00:30:20.12
Where did Joseph
learned to trust in God alone?
00:30:20.15\00:30:23.95
He'd had the
advantage of a godly upbringing.
00:30:23.99\00:30:27.32
He was loved by
his father, perhaps,
00:30:27.36\00:30:29.89
too much on a certain
level of undisguised favoritism.
00:30:29.92\00:30:33.53
Doubtless
Joseph knew by wrought,
00:30:33.56\00:30:36.63
the story of God's
dealings with his forebears.
00:30:36.67\00:30:40.17
In a way, Joseph
was like many of us,
00:30:40.20\00:30:44.27
many Seventh-day
Adventists, many who are under
00:30:44.31\00:30:47.74
a certain compulsion
in these latter days.
00:30:47.78\00:30:50.51
He was like many
of us, individuals,
00:30:50.55\00:30:53.18
born into one way or
another, the remnant movement.
00:30:53.21\00:30:58.05
We know our history, we
know God has spoken to us
00:30:58.09\00:31:01.82
in these latter days
by dreams and visions.
00:31:01.86\00:31:05.03
We feel special and often
communicate that to others.
00:31:05.06\00:31:09.43
But are we ready when our
own turn on us and, perhaps,
00:31:09.46\00:31:13.57
betray us to the
forces arrayed against truth?
00:31:13.60\00:31:16.10
Are we ready to sacrifice
all to give up a livelihood
00:31:16.14\00:31:20.24
for our faith?
00:31:20.28\00:31:21.61
Are we ready to give our lives?
00:31:21.64\00:31:24.25
Are we ready for those
00:31:24.28\00:31:26.01
who would deprive us of liberty?
00:31:26.05\00:31:28.28
Are we ready to
stand before authorities
00:31:28.32\00:31:31.75
and tell them what
our faith means to them?
00:31:31.79\00:31:36.62
Can we give a
reason for our faith
00:31:36.66\00:31:38.63
other than we once
had a multi-colored coat
00:31:38.66\00:31:41.50
that somewhere far
away in our experience
00:31:41.53\00:31:44.27
we knew the daily
favor of a doting father.
00:31:44.30\00:31:47.77
Again, I read
something pertinent
00:31:47.80\00:31:49.44
to this from the
pen of Ellen White.
00:31:49.47\00:31:51.44
"It does not seem
possible to us," she wrote,
00:31:51.47\00:31:53.88
"It does not seem
possible to us now
00:31:53.91\00:31:55.84
that any should
have to stand alone.
00:31:55.88\00:31:58.61
But if God has
ever spoken by me,
00:31:58.65\00:32:00.52
the time will come
when we shall be brought
00:32:00.55\00:32:02.52
before counsels and before
thousands for His name's sake.
00:32:02.55\00:32:06.55
And each one will have to
give the reason for his faith.
00:32:06.59\00:32:09.69
Then will come the severest
criticism upon every position
00:32:09.72\00:32:14.16
that has been
taken for the truth.
00:32:14.20\00:32:16.30
We need then," she says,
"to study the Word of God
00:32:16.33\00:32:18.97
that we may know why we believe
the doctrines we advocate."
00:32:19.00\00:32:24.01
Where did
Joseph learn his faith?
00:32:24.04\00:32:26.37
Was it those desperate moments
in the pit before he was sold
00:32:26.41\00:32:30.05
to those traders descended
00:32:30.08\00:32:31.41
from the estranged Ishmael?
00:32:31.45\00:32:33.28
Perhaps, not quite
then, but he clearly made
00:32:33.31\00:32:36.65
a resolution upon
entering his captivity
00:32:36.69\00:32:39.29
that he would remain true.
00:32:39.32\00:32:42.09
His years in prison confirmed
that choice of faithfulness.
00:32:42.12\00:32:46.33
He was the model
prisoner who ministered
00:32:46.36\00:32:48.46
to the needs of
fellow prisoners.
00:32:48.50\00:32:50.60
In those years,
he changed from brush
00:32:50.63\00:32:54.90
to confident in the Lord.
00:32:54.94\00:32:58.31
We come at the story
from the Bible outline
00:32:58.34\00:33:00.88
of the descendants of Abraham
who was promised God's favor.
00:33:00.91\00:33:04.25
But think for a
moment on the dynamic
00:33:04.28\00:33:06.28
from the point of the Egyptians.
00:33:06.31\00:33:08.22
And I'll lead you a bit on this.
00:33:08.25\00:33:10.62
Think...
00:33:10.65\00:33:11.99
Since we're drawing a
parallel of the dynamic of those
00:33:12.02\00:33:14.86
who don't make
professions of faith,
00:33:14.89\00:33:16.96
those who are not of our faith,
00:33:16.99\00:33:18.33
or perhaps not either
of any faith looking on,
00:33:18.36\00:33:23.23
according to the
Bible, Joseph grew up
00:33:23.26\00:33:25.40
as a sheepherder
in the desolate places
00:33:25.43\00:33:27.47
of Canaan, out of the
great points of influence.
00:33:27.50\00:33:30.94
To the Egyptians, he
was the lowest of the low,
00:33:30.97\00:33:33.54
almost an untouchable.
00:33:33.58\00:33:35.54
The Bible says that
it was an abomination,
00:33:35.58\00:33:37.91
that's the word it's used,
00:33:37.95\00:33:39.28
an abomination for the Egyptians
00:33:39.31\00:33:41.08
to even eat with such people.
00:33:41.12\00:33:43.45
It was not likely that Joseph
came to Egypt well educated
00:33:43.49\00:33:47.76
or even speaking
their tongue fluently.
00:33:47.79\00:33:50.76
Joseph for all his
facility for dreams was to them
00:33:50.79\00:33:54.90
what he was, a
convicted attacker
00:33:54.93\00:33:57.10
of his master's
wife, a moral offense
00:33:57.13\00:34:00.10
but more serious to the
times, a usurper of place
00:34:00.14\00:34:03.34
and an attacker
of the social order.
00:34:03.37\00:34:05.84
But once before
Pharaoh, he spoke truth to power
00:34:05.87\00:34:10.05
and transcended self by
speaking authoritatively.
00:34:10.08\00:34:14.12
You know, the Bible says
00:34:14.15\00:34:15.48
that the people
heard Jesus gladly
00:34:15.52\00:34:16.89
because he spoke as
one who had authority.
00:34:16.92\00:34:19.59
And Joseph spoke
authoritatively of God
00:34:19.62\00:34:22.79
and His ways.
00:34:22.82\00:34:24.99
We too can do that.
00:34:25.03\00:34:27.36
We too are called to prepare
ourselves for this challenge,
00:34:27.40\00:34:31.73
for just such a challenge.
00:34:31.77\00:34:33.50
Joseph was great
not because he once wore
00:34:33.54\00:34:36.44
a desert coat of many colors,
00:34:36.47\00:34:38.77
not because he had
risen to be a steward
00:34:38.81\00:34:41.34
of a wealthy man's household,
00:34:41.38\00:34:42.78
or not because he
had in himself the power
00:34:42.81\00:34:45.78
to divine dreams.
00:34:45.81\00:34:47.72
Joseph was great
because he was faithful to God
00:34:47.75\00:34:51.02
no matter the circumstances.
00:34:51.05\00:34:54.62
This I read about great men
00:34:54.66\00:34:56.52
in the last days
from Testimonies,
00:34:56.56\00:34:59.13
volume 5, page 80,
written by Ellen White.
00:34:59.16\00:35:01.36
She says, "In
the last solemn work,
00:35:01.40\00:35:03.67
few great men will be engaged.
00:35:03.70\00:35:06.27
God will work a work in our
day that but few anticipate.
00:35:06.30\00:35:10.64
He will rise up or raise
up and exalt among us those
00:35:10.67\00:35:14.08
who were taught rather
by the unction of His spirit
00:35:14.11\00:35:17.65
than by the outward training
of scientific institutions.
00:35:17.68\00:35:21.12
These facilities are not to be
despised or condemn," she says.
00:35:21.15\00:35:24.79
Obviously, we live in an
age of education and knowledge.
00:35:24.82\00:35:29.92
"They're not to be condemned,
they're ordained of God,
00:35:29.96\00:35:32.03
but they can furnish only
the exterior qualifications.
00:35:32.06\00:35:36.20
God will manifest that He
is not dependent on learned,
00:35:36.23\00:35:40.70
self-important mortals."
00:35:40.74\00:35:44.44
The story of Joseph is a
saga one could scarcely imagine.
00:35:44.47\00:35:48.88
Second ruler in the
kingdom after Pharaoh!
00:35:48.91\00:35:55.12
But other than
his faint haughtiness
00:35:55.15\00:35:57.85
to test the broken brothers,
00:35:57.89\00:35:59.65
Joseph seems
not too focused much
00:35:59.69\00:36:02.62
on the prerogatives of power.
00:36:02.66\00:36:05.36
He implores the Pharaoh to
let him go meet his aged father
00:36:05.39\00:36:08.76
and then later to go to
Canaan to bury the Patriarch
00:36:08.80\00:36:11.73
in the tomb at Machpelah.
00:36:11.77\00:36:13.50
The image of Joseph in those
later days is one of kindness
00:36:13.54\00:36:17.31
and solicitude to his family.
00:36:17.34\00:36:19.51
The young man is gone.
00:36:19.54\00:36:22.44
Now that middle-aged man weeps
with joy to see his brothers,
00:36:22.48\00:36:26.01
weeps on the neck
of his aged father,
00:36:26.05\00:36:28.28
and does all he can to
secure favor for his clan
00:36:28.32\00:36:31.29
as they settle in Egypt.
00:36:31.32\00:36:32.79
The days of pit
and prison are gone.
00:36:32.82\00:36:35.86
And not remembered
by the one once alone
00:36:35.89\00:36:38.59
in a strange land.
00:36:38.63\00:36:40.40
Seventy years or so
after their reunion in Egypt,
00:36:40.43\00:36:43.26
Joseph died and was embalmed
00:36:43.30\00:36:46.10
after the
manner of the Pharaohs.
00:36:46.13\00:36:48.27
Over the years, I've read that.
00:36:48.30\00:36:49.64
And I've noticed, most
people don't notice that.
00:36:49.67\00:36:51.01
He was a mummy,
pretty much like the ones
00:36:51.04\00:36:55.54
that we still find in
pyramids from time to time.
00:36:55.58\00:36:59.91
He was not buried though,
00:36:59.95\00:37:01.78
he lay in waiting
for the deliverance.
00:37:01.82\00:37:04.59
"God will visit you," he
told his family on his deathbed.
00:37:04.62\00:37:08.22
"He will bring
you out of this land
00:37:08.26\00:37:09.99
to the land which
He swore to Abraham,
00:37:10.03\00:37:12.73
to Isaac, and Jacob.
00:37:12.76\00:37:14.86
And you shall carry
my bones from here."
00:37:14.90\00:37:18.47
That was his
instructions. And so they did.
00:37:18.50\00:37:21.50
Hundreds of years later,
when the promise was fulfilled,
00:37:21.54\00:37:24.57
the bones of Joseph,
what were they really?
00:37:24.61\00:37:28.34
I hope you understand.
00:37:28.38\00:37:29.71
I've used them figuratively
and yet they were real.
00:37:29.74\00:37:32.11
They went with the
people out of Egypt.
00:37:32.15\00:37:34.48
For some of the mixed
multitude who left Egypt,
00:37:34.52\00:37:37.35
they were just a
talisman of another era.
00:37:37.39\00:37:41.46
But for me, the bones of Joseph
have to be something more.
00:37:41.49\00:37:45.63
In exile from Canaan to Egypt,
00:37:45.66\00:37:47.73
the young captive
had only his faith in God
00:37:47.76\00:37:50.60
to sustain him.
00:37:50.63\00:37:52.47
In prison, on
trumped-up charges,
00:37:52.50\00:37:55.07
Joseph clung to the faith
that God, as the Bible says,
00:37:55.10\00:37:58.94
is a rewarder of the faithful.
00:37:58.97\00:38:02.11
Before the Pharaoh himself,
00:38:02.14\00:38:03.68
Joseph could
ignore his simple origins
00:38:03.71\00:38:06.82
and represent the God
who had sustained him.
00:38:06.85\00:38:09.68
And in the later years,
he could put aside malice
00:38:09.72\00:38:12.29
and seek not justice, but mercy.
00:38:12.32\00:38:15.29
Such bones we should all have.
00:38:15.32\00:38:18.39
Indeed, we must have as
the years of plenty come
00:38:18.43\00:38:21.93
to an end and the
times of test come upon us.
00:38:21.96\00:38:26.90
These are interesting times.
00:38:26.94\00:38:28.90
That's the end
of those thoughts.
00:38:28.94\00:38:31.07
But allow me to continue.
00:38:31.11\00:38:33.01
I have to
comment on these times.
00:38:33.04\00:38:36.24
These are without precedent
at least in the modern era.
00:38:36.28\00:38:40.22
You know, to most of us,
probably have spared ourselves,
00:38:40.25\00:38:43.99
but you can go on YouTube
and you can see a succession
00:38:44.02\00:38:47.69
of events that
have happened lately
00:38:47.72\00:38:49.06
where journalists and
others in some desert...
00:38:49.09\00:38:52.06
But they're neighbors of
people in our own countries
00:38:52.09\00:38:54.96
have put out in a desert,
00:38:55.00\00:38:56.33
they're
surrounded by masked zealots
00:38:56.36\00:39:00.04
of a certain faith,
and their head is cut off
00:39:00.07\00:39:02.47
and held up as a gory
talisman of religious victory.
00:39:02.50\00:39:07.11
Religious liberty is not
an abstraction in our age.
00:39:07.14\00:39:11.21
We are in a global
religious conflict.
00:39:11.25\00:39:15.72
And it is not
just, what in my youth,
00:39:15.75\00:39:17.85
was the case where the ministers
00:39:17.89\00:39:19.22
of different
mission factions down
00:39:19.25\00:39:20.79
in the South Pacific
would sometimes come to blow us
00:39:20.82\00:39:23.63
or incite the villages to
pelt the opposition with stones.
00:39:23.66\00:39:27.86
No, this is
playing for keeps now.
00:39:27.90\00:39:31.13
The forces of
orthodoxy of one type
00:39:31.17\00:39:35.04
or another are on the
march and they are violent.
00:39:35.07\00:39:39.07
And even in the West,
the conclusion to this
00:39:39.11\00:39:41.81
is going to be an
erosion of the liberties
00:39:41.84\00:39:43.98
that we've
thought were so entrenched
00:39:44.01\00:39:45.98
in our psyche
that they couldn't go,
00:39:46.01\00:39:48.95
but they're vanishing
at the speed of light.
00:39:48.98\00:39:54.09
What are we
going to do about that?
00:39:54.12\00:39:57.13
I'm writing all the time in
Liberty, commenting on this,
00:39:57.16\00:40:01.66
and usually as in the
introduction, we said,
00:40:01.70\00:40:04.20
Liberty magazine needs
to tread a very careful path
00:40:04.23\00:40:07.37
because it is not a
religious journal per se,
00:40:07.40\00:40:11.21
but it surely is
meant to exemplify
00:40:11.24\00:40:14.14
the underlying
spirituality, the calling,
00:40:14.18\00:40:17.95
and the history of
Seventh-day Adventism,
00:40:17.98\00:40:19.85
but it's expressed on
00:40:19.88\00:40:21.55
the principles
of religious liberty
00:40:21.58\00:40:23.25
that have a
cultural, a legal, historic,
00:40:23.28\00:40:26.69
and even a theological base.
00:40:26.72\00:40:28.99
But every now and again,
00:40:29.02\00:40:30.73
I believe it
just devolves to me,
00:40:30.76\00:40:35.86
and it's unavoidable.
00:40:35.90\00:40:37.23
Even in that context,
we have to speak to that
00:40:37.27\00:40:40.07
larger audience from
a biblical point of view
00:40:40.10\00:40:42.67
and give some
meaning to what's happening.
00:40:42.70\00:40:45.67
And I want to share with you
00:40:45.71\00:40:47.04
what I just wrote the
other day for an editorial.
00:40:47.08\00:40:51.25
And I don't think
I'll get into trouble on it
00:40:51.28\00:40:52.91
because there are many
people of good sensibility
00:40:52.95\00:40:56.82
that read even in state
houses and legislative halls.
00:40:56.85\00:41:01.69
They know what's going on.
00:41:01.72\00:41:03.93
And I called it The
Beginning of The End.
00:41:03.96\00:41:07.73
This is what I wrote then.
00:41:07.76\00:41:10.17
"Back around the age
00:41:10.20\00:41:11.60
of television
programs like Laugh in,
00:41:11.63\00:41:14.47
that really dates me
00:41:14.50\00:41:15.84
because as I
said at the beginning,
00:41:15.87\00:41:18.44
it's about 40 years
since I started preaching
00:41:18.47\00:41:21.01
back in Australia.
00:41:21.04\00:41:22.38
And it's probably 40
years ago, I remember Laugh in,
00:41:22.41\00:41:24.41
and I remember
watching a skit premised
00:41:24.45\00:41:27.02
on how a weather
report from Egypt
00:41:27.05\00:41:29.42
at the time of the pharaohs
00:41:29.45\00:41:30.79
and the exodus
might have sounded.
00:41:30.82\00:41:34.39
The announcer handed out
plenty as he spoke of darkness
00:41:34.42\00:41:38.09
sweeping over the
land from the north.
00:41:38.13\00:41:40.26
Then he said huge hail storms
are coming from the south.
00:41:40.30\00:41:43.57
And then get this CNN's
00:41:43.60\00:41:45.47
with wide-eyed incredulity,
from the West frogs.
00:41:45.50\00:41:51.14
Got a lot of laughs.
00:41:51.17\00:41:52.97
I'm not sure though
00:41:53.01\00:41:54.34
how such a show
would work today.
00:41:54.38\00:41:56.11
It might be a little
too real for comfort.
00:41:56.14\00:41:58.58
And the misapplied
qualifier that some super storm
00:41:58.61\00:42:01.95
or flood is of
biblical proportions
00:42:01.98\00:42:04.02
is a very common term nowadays.
00:42:04.05\00:42:08.59
The other day, a White
House spokesman noted that
00:42:08.62\00:42:10.69
while they are always monitoring
00:42:10.73\00:42:12.59
several hotspots at once,
00:42:12.63\00:42:14.46
lately the whole board seems
to be lighting up, they said.
00:42:14.50\00:42:19.03
Earthquakes, floods,
drought, war, starvation,
00:42:19.07\00:42:22.74
and pestilence are
endemic to the news cycle.
00:42:22.77\00:42:27.38
While Christians might point
00:42:27.41\00:42:28.74
to these things
as end-time markers,
00:42:28.78\00:42:31.51
few seem to have noticed
the fault context of Jesus
00:42:31.55\00:42:34.95
answers to His
disciples when they asked about
00:42:34.98\00:42:37.79
the end of the
world and His return.
00:42:37.82\00:42:40.39
In the book of
Matthew in the New Testament,
00:42:40.42\00:42:42.52
you could read the
sequence of events,
00:42:42.56\00:42:44.93
crowds had gathered in Jerusalem
00:42:44.96\00:42:46.83
to hear Jesus speak.
00:42:46.86\00:42:48.80
From other Bible
accounts, we know that the crowd
00:42:48.83\00:42:52.90
honored Jesus as
a king at that time.
00:42:52.93\00:42:55.80
That was misapplied,
but there was, you know,
00:42:55.84\00:42:58.24
a huge political event.
00:42:58.27\00:43:00.01
They thought that He was
rising to political power
00:43:00.04\00:43:02.84
and would relieve
them of the earth,
00:43:02.88\00:43:04.81
you know, the
burden of the Romans.
00:43:04.85\00:43:08.22
It must have been a
highly charged atmosphere,
00:43:08.25\00:43:12.55
just as it was,
not too many weeks ago,
00:43:12.59\00:43:15.02
in the midterm elections.
00:43:15.06\00:43:16.86
You could hardly
turn on a news station
00:43:16.89\00:43:18.73
without hearing some
usually an exultant news report
00:43:18.76\00:43:23.47
of political change and
what was going to happen.
00:43:23.50\00:43:28.57
Surging
enthusiastic crowds watched
00:43:28.60\00:43:31.87
by Roman authorities
ready to call out the riot squad
00:43:31.91\00:43:34.74
and watched by
the religious leaders
00:43:34.78\00:43:36.61
who fear that this man
was taking away their power.
00:43:36.64\00:43:39.91
Their fears were
realized as Jesus then launched
00:43:39.95\00:43:43.39
into an extended sermon of words
00:43:43.42\00:43:45.69
and
condemnations of the misguided
00:43:45.72\00:43:48.12
religious practices of the day.
00:43:48.16\00:43:50.49
And the corrupt church leaders
00:43:50.53\00:43:51.89
who were encouraging
the state of affairs.
00:43:51.93\00:43:55.73
He ended by saying,
00:43:55.76\00:43:57.10
"Your house is
left to you desolate."
00:43:57.13\00:44:00.37
Then His disciples came to
Him to show Him the buildings
00:44:00.40\00:44:03.30
of the great
temple built by Herod.
00:44:03.34\00:44:06.17
They were shocked
when Jesus predicted
00:44:06.21\00:44:08.64
that it would be destroyed
so utterly that not one stone
00:44:08.68\00:44:12.15
would be left
standing upon another.
00:44:12.18\00:44:14.42
This was the sequence of
events that led to the disciples
00:44:14.45\00:44:17.42
coming yet again to Jesus
00:44:17.45\00:44:19.95
as He sat on the
nearby Mount of Olives.
00:44:19.99\00:44:22.52
They question, "When
shall these things be
00:44:22.56\00:44:26.76
and what shall be
the signs of that coming
00:44:26.80\00:44:29.13
and of the end of the world?"
00:44:29.16\00:44:30.60
This was in Matthew 24.
00:44:30.63\00:44:34.04
They were really
asking two questions,
00:44:34.07\00:44:36.50
and Jesus
essentially can find Himself
00:44:36.54\00:44:38.71
to the second
which embraced the first.
00:44:38.74\00:44:41.38
Perhaps, He thought it better
not to specify the destruction
00:44:41.41\00:44:44.48
of Jerusalem and the
temple because in AD 70,
00:44:44.51\00:44:48.48
in their lifetimes, as
Jesus indicated life later,
00:44:48.52\00:44:52.22
they saw this cataclysm.
00:44:52.25\00:44:55.29
And you know, we wouldn't
be the only generation to think
00:44:55.32\00:44:58.66
that these things are
going to happen in our lifetime.
00:44:58.69\00:45:02.03
But are we so
naive, so indicative,
00:45:02.06\00:45:05.87
now I'm off text
of my editorial...
00:45:05.90\00:45:08.24
Can we be so removed
from the reality of our days
00:45:08.27\00:45:11.67
that we can say
as the Bible said,
00:45:11.71\00:45:13.27
some in our day will say,
00:45:13.31\00:45:14.91
all things continue as
they had from the beginning?
00:45:14.94\00:45:17.75
They are not continuing.
00:45:17.78\00:45:23.62
So far as the end of
the world and His coming,
00:45:23.65\00:45:25.59
Jesus gave an array
of signs, in some ways,
00:45:25.62\00:45:29.06
they describe our age.
00:45:29.09\00:45:31.69
He spoke of wars
and rumors of wars.
00:45:31.73\00:45:35.46
But then He said,
"The end is not yet."
00:45:35.50\00:45:37.90
He spoke of
famines, and pestilences,
00:45:37.93\00:45:40.44
and many earthquakes.
00:45:40.47\00:45:41.94
"All these," Jesus said,
"but the beginning of sorrows."
00:45:41.97\00:45:46.68
We seem to be well
into the age of sorrows.
00:45:46.71\00:45:49.94
Famine in the Sahel,
the Civil War in Darfur,
00:45:49.98\00:45:52.88
earthquakes in China and Haiti,
00:45:52.91\00:45:56.25
maybe HAARP has
something to do with that.
00:45:56.28\00:45:58.32
You can let
yourself free float on this.
00:45:58.35\00:46:02.12
Spring turn to
winter in Arab countries,
00:46:02.16\00:46:04.76
Ebola spreading panic and death,
00:46:04.79\00:46:07.26
mega storms on the East Coast,
00:46:07.30\00:46:09.23
and over all, the growing
reality of global warming
00:46:09.26\00:46:12.57
that promises rising
seas, more turbulent weather,
00:46:12.60\00:46:15.90
more severe drought,
00:46:15.94\00:46:17.37
unleash natural
pests like locust,
00:46:17.41\00:46:19.84
and intensified
military conflict
00:46:19.87\00:46:21.68
over shifting water
supplies in arable land.
00:46:21.71\00:46:24.85
How unfortunate that
in the midst of all this
00:46:24.88\00:46:27.78
we should be fighting
over religious solutions
00:46:27.82\00:46:32.02
to very complex social
and geographic problems.
00:46:32.05\00:46:36.02
I saw in a recent
cover of the Washington Post,
00:46:36.06\00:46:38.49
a rather Vietnam
era type photo sequence
00:46:38.53\00:46:40.90
of a bombing of the
ISIS group or the ISIL.
00:46:40.93\00:46:46.74
The west is just starting
to get a handle on this group.
00:46:46.77\00:46:49.47
And it should be noted
that main meaning of the...
00:46:49.50\00:46:53.48
or name of the group
00:46:53.51\00:46:54.84
was the Islamic
State of the Levant.
00:46:54.88\00:46:58.51
That's a medieval term
for what the Bible says
00:46:58.55\00:47:02.08
is the glorious land.
00:47:02.12\00:47:04.39
That's the land
between Turkey and Egypt.
00:47:04.42\00:47:07.72
That's their
aspiration to take over Israel
00:47:07.76\00:47:10.93
and some of the
associated property.
00:47:10.96\00:47:13.43
But I saw the bombing of
ISIS on this newspaper article.
00:47:13.46\00:47:17.10
The first photo
showed a bare hill
00:47:17.13\00:47:19.33
with an ISIS flag
in a nearby fighter.
00:47:19.37\00:47:21.77
The second photo
showed the hill covered
00:47:21.80\00:47:23.64
in an immense
explosion from the bomb attack.
00:47:23.67\00:47:27.04
The caption said
something about ISIS destroyed.
00:47:27.08\00:47:30.45
It troubled me
for several reasons.
00:47:30.48\00:47:32.38
Firstly, it smacked
Vietnam in the assumption
00:47:32.41\00:47:34.62
that killing a
soldier or two as an effect
00:47:34.65\00:47:37.29
or any effect on the
engine driving the war.
00:47:37.32\00:47:40.16
Body counts turned out to be
horribly misleading back then.
00:47:40.19\00:47:43.66
Second, I looked more
closely and there was still
00:47:43.69\00:47:45.99
a figure
standing amid the smoke.
00:47:46.03\00:47:48.63
Third, who really cares
about a bare hill anyway?
00:47:48.66\00:47:53.30
ISIS in their advance has had
the Japanese and the Americans
00:47:53.34\00:47:56.54
in World War II,
typically just moved around
00:47:56.57\00:47:58.67
the opposition and
bypassed them as ineffectual.
00:47:58.71\00:48:02.61
Lastly, the
threat of ISIS is not
00:48:02.64\00:48:04.81
that it may take Baghdad,
00:48:04.85\00:48:07.22
but that it may threaten
Washington, Sydney, or Toronto.
00:48:07.25\00:48:11.15
We are dealing
with social dislocation
00:48:11.19\00:48:13.62
and the idealism
of youth harnessed
00:48:13.66\00:48:15.86
to a radical religious agenda.
00:48:15.89\00:48:18.79
The solution is less
military than a desperate need
00:48:18.83\00:48:22.20
to redirect religious
vision toward uplifting ends.
00:48:22.23\00:48:26.63
Actually the
outline of the end times
00:48:26.67\00:48:28.20
that Jesus gave
places a lot of emphasis
00:48:28.24\00:48:31.87
on the religious conflict
just before His appearing.
00:48:31.91\00:48:34.61
In fact, as He outlines it,
it is the religious conflict,
00:48:34.64\00:48:38.61
a turmoil, and persecution
that defines the end times.
00:48:38.65\00:48:42.25
He said that His
followers would be hated
00:48:42.28\00:48:44.62
and persecuted as never before.
00:48:44.65\00:48:46.62
In fact, the persecution
is to be so severe that
00:48:46.65\00:48:50.79
unless those
times are shortened,
00:48:50.83\00:48:52.76
no one could survive.
00:48:52.79\00:48:56.53
In verses 10 or 11, it says,
00:48:56.56\00:48:58.47
"And then shall
many be offended,
00:48:58.50\00:49:00.20
and shall betray one another,
and shall hate one another,
00:49:00.24\00:49:03.07
and many false
prophets shall arise,
00:49:03.10\00:49:05.37
and shall deceive many."
00:49:05.41\00:49:08.08
For me, this is fulfilled today
by unprecedented persecution.
00:49:08.11\00:49:12.98
Christians are
facing a final expulsion
00:49:13.01\00:49:16.28
from many
countries in the Middle East.
00:49:16.32\00:49:18.79
Many minority sects of Islam
are facing genocidal attacks
00:49:18.82\00:49:22.89
from majority forces.
00:49:22.92\00:49:24.76
In other countries,
Hindus attack Buddhists.
00:49:24.79\00:49:28.03
And in others,
Buddhists attack Muslims.
00:49:28.06\00:49:30.70
Many are offended
at another's religion
00:49:30.73\00:49:33.13
or lack of religion
and are prepared to harm
00:49:33.17\00:49:35.74
or kill to advance their view.
00:49:35.77\00:49:38.61
"How can we dream
of the biblical promise
00:49:38.64\00:49:41.21
that they shall not hurt
00:49:41.24\00:49:42.74
nor destroy in
My holy mountain?"
00:49:42.78\00:49:45.71
from Isaiah.
00:49:45.75\00:49:47.08
That day of course will come.
00:49:47.12\00:49:48.88
But it lies on the
other side of the vows
00:49:48.92\00:49:51.62
that Jesus spoke of
on the Mount of Olives.
00:49:51.65\00:49:53.99
It lies at the other
side of the burning mountain
00:49:54.02\00:49:56.89
of global warming.
00:49:56.93\00:49:58.26
It lies at the other side
00:49:58.29\00:50:00.23
of religious
intolerance and violence.
00:50:00.26\00:50:03.13
The only way past these
was is a personal commitment
00:50:03.16\00:50:07.00
to use religion to
discover God for ourselves.
00:50:07.04\00:50:11.04
We must not fall for the
claim of the many false prophets
00:50:11.07\00:50:14.61
in the different radical
forms of faith that violence
00:50:14.64\00:50:17.55
or force is any sort of answer.
00:50:17.58\00:50:20.72
Our community should
teach religious fulfillment
00:50:20.75\00:50:23.52
and
responsibility, not entitlement
00:50:23.55\00:50:26.45
or a sword to
set things straight.
00:50:26.49\00:50:28.62
Only this way will
the recruiting stop
00:50:28.66\00:50:32.09
and true
religious freedom flourish
00:50:32.13\00:50:34.93
even in these wicked times.
00:50:34.96\00:50:38.37
And I feel comfortable
that that's a message
00:50:38.40\00:50:40.50
that should be
in Liberty magazine
00:50:40.54\00:50:42.57
even if it's read by
senators, congressmen,
00:50:42.60\00:50:44.91
and presidents, one
president at a time.
00:50:44.94\00:50:47.84
They need to know that
there is a prophetic backdrop
00:50:47.88\00:50:50.78
to what's happening now.
00:50:50.81\00:50:52.15
They need to know
that this agitation
00:50:52.18\00:50:54.32
in the religious world
is indeed the last sign.
00:50:54.35\00:50:58.35
It's not a brawler,
it's not the violence,
00:50:58.39\00:51:00.42
it's not the storms, and
so on, those are harbingers.
00:51:00.46\00:51:03.53
But the last sign is religious
warfare and persecution.
00:51:03.56\00:51:09.23
And I believe that
00:51:09.26\00:51:11.20
there is a very good
chance that this is it.
00:51:11.23\00:51:13.97
We don't know
the day or the hour
00:51:14.00\00:51:15.40
but we surely know the season.
00:51:15.44\00:51:18.07
And the season
calls for a proclamation
00:51:18.11\00:51:21.24
of religious liberty.
00:51:21.28\00:51:24.31
I've got in my hand
one of the recent issues
00:51:24.35\00:51:26.48
of Liberty magazine, in fact,
00:51:26.51\00:51:27.85
one of the most
recent, September, October...
00:51:27.88\00:51:30.82
This time of the broadcast
it's about three issues back
00:51:30.85\00:51:34.82
but not long since I did this.
00:51:34.86\00:51:37.46
And the front cover is
reporting on a fabulous tour
00:51:37.49\00:51:42.00
that a number of
us who are leading out
00:51:42.03\00:51:43.57
in religious liberty
00:51:43.60\00:51:44.93
for the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:51:44.97\00:51:47.30
For once, we all got
together, about 25 of us
00:51:47.34\00:51:49.74
and took a tour
bus from Rome through
00:51:49.77\00:51:54.08
Italy, and France,
and ending up in Paris
00:51:54.11\00:51:58.11
recounting or
retracing some of the steps
00:51:58.15\00:52:00.78
of the faithful of the ages.
00:52:00.82\00:52:05.32
I was going to
say the Reformation
00:52:05.35\00:52:06.69
because it started a
little earlier than that.
00:52:06.72\00:52:08.52
But then we got
into the Reformation tour
00:52:08.56\00:52:11.76
and saw some of the places
and read of some of the people
00:52:11.79\00:52:16.77
who stood for
faith and for freedom,
00:52:16.80\00:52:20.14
and at times, gave their lives.
00:52:20.17\00:52:22.07
It was inspiring.
00:52:22.10\00:52:23.51
It was inspiring
to go to Torre Pelice
00:52:23.54\00:52:26.04
where the Waldenses,
00:52:26.07\00:52:27.78
that I'd read
about as a young fellow,
00:52:27.81\00:52:30.15
where they stood up
00:52:30.18\00:52:31.51
to the complicated
political situation.
00:52:31.55\00:52:34.65
It's almost too
complicated to explain,
00:52:34.68\00:52:37.29
but the political
rivalries were influenced
00:52:37.32\00:52:41.59
by the dictates
of Rome at that time
00:52:41.62\00:52:43.63
who would encourage
the forces in that area
00:52:43.66\00:52:47.40
to liquidate these
dissidents who were standing
00:52:47.43\00:52:51.97
for a more biblical faith.
00:52:52.00\00:52:53.84
And to see
there, in Torre Pelice,
00:52:53.87\00:52:56.00
the caves where
people regularly went aside
00:52:56.04\00:53:00.11
and worshipped.
00:53:00.14\00:53:01.48
Sometimes,
hundreds of them at a time,
00:53:01.51\00:53:02.84
in deep caves because
if they were discovered,
00:53:02.88\00:53:05.28
they would be
killed, as they often were.
00:53:05.31\00:53:07.68
In one of the bigger caves,
00:53:07.72\00:53:09.25
high up, beyond
the village itself,
00:53:09.28\00:53:12.52
several hundred of them
were killed when the soldiers
00:53:12.55\00:53:14.82
discovered them and
they just threw a fire
00:53:14.86\00:53:17.99
and sealed the opening
and suffocated all of them.
00:53:18.03\00:53:22.10
To do that, you
had to be convinced
00:53:22.13\00:53:25.30
of what you were standing for.
00:53:25.33\00:53:27.27
One of the more
impressive moments on the tour
00:53:27.30\00:53:31.21
came in southern France
00:53:31.24\00:53:33.41
at the town of Aigues-Mortes.
00:53:33.44\00:53:38.45
And you probably don't know
that, it was hard to pronounce.
00:53:38.48\00:53:40.95
And even when we were there,
00:53:40.98\00:53:42.32
it was very hard to
divine the meaning of that town.
00:53:42.35\00:53:45.75
I think it was
named after the sicknesses
00:53:45.79\00:53:50.36
that would come upon
you in that mussy and boggy
00:53:50.39\00:53:54.40
sort of countryside
where it was subject to floods,
00:53:54.43\00:53:56.93
which they had recently.
00:53:56.97\00:53:58.50
But you may have heard of
00:53:58.53\00:54:00.20
what we saw the
Tower of Constance,
00:54:00.24\00:54:02.80
there in a walled
city, medieval walled city,
00:54:02.84\00:54:06.14
there was this large tower.
00:54:06.17\00:54:08.18
And we entered there
00:54:08.21\00:54:09.54
and found the
story of Marie Durand,
00:54:09.58\00:54:12.61
a Protestant who was imprisoned
00:54:12.65\00:54:16.25
by the authorities
because her brother,
00:54:16.28\00:54:18.92
a preacher and a leader
of the resistance was wanted.
00:54:18.95\00:54:24.06
And they figured if
they imprisoned her,
00:54:24.09\00:54:25.73
they would entice him
to come and give him up.
00:54:25.76\00:54:28.66
Well, they were wrong.
00:54:28.70\00:54:30.17
He didn't although he was killed
00:54:30.20\00:54:32.17
two years after imprisonment.
00:54:32.20\00:54:34.10
But she was kept there
for 38 years, 38 years,
00:54:34.14\00:54:38.81
the young girl that
when she was finally released
00:54:38.84\00:54:41.24
she was an old woman.
00:54:41.28\00:54:44.05
But Marie Durand
remained faithful
00:54:44.08\00:54:46.35
during that whole time.
00:54:46.38\00:54:47.88
And the tale was very indicative
00:54:47.92\00:54:51.55
of what I've
seen in other places
00:54:51.59\00:54:53.29
like Peru where they have
a museum of the Inquisition.
00:54:53.32\00:54:57.26
The things that are
done in the name of religion
00:54:57.29\00:54:59.29
are just mind boggling.
00:54:59.33\00:55:01.46
And here, hundreds of
people were kept in the tower,
00:55:01.50\00:55:04.67
we're up on the higher level,
00:55:04.70\00:55:06.84
soldiers could look down on them
00:55:06.87\00:55:08.34
and throw the food down,
00:55:08.37\00:55:09.70
but on the main level,
with bailey, in the light
00:55:09.74\00:55:13.04
the prisoners would
cook their food in the middle
00:55:13.07\00:55:15.61
and sleep on the periphery.
00:55:15.64\00:55:17.21
But in the stone,
they're near the fireplace.
00:55:17.25\00:55:22.48
Over those 38
years, with what implement
00:55:22.52\00:55:24.85
I could only imagine,
perhaps, some knife or fork,
00:55:24.89\00:55:28.79
Marie Durand had
inscribed so deeply in the stone
00:55:28.82\00:55:32.46
that it's visible to this day.
00:55:32.49\00:55:34.50
And in French, so it's build
00:55:34.53\00:55:35.86
a little
different resist, resist.
00:55:35.90\00:55:40.80
But the
resistance she was speaking
00:55:40.84\00:55:42.24
about was not
decapitating your enemies,
00:55:42.27\00:55:45.21
it was not going and blowing
up your religious opponents,
00:55:45.24\00:55:48.41
the resistance was
resist the compromise,
00:55:48.44\00:55:51.81
resist those who would
take away your freedom,
00:55:51.85\00:55:54.38
resist those who would redefine
your faith into something
00:55:54.42\00:55:57.79
so generic that there would
be no reason to differ on it.
00:55:57.82\00:56:01.12
Resist, resist, resist.
00:56:01.16\00:56:04.76
And I'm sure in this day,
that's what's called upon us.
00:56:04.79\00:56:07.70
We're not all going to
be imprisoned hopefully
00:56:07.73\00:56:12.07
but in one way or
another, we're all imprisoned
00:56:12.10\00:56:14.54
in a societal restriction
that will think for us,
00:56:14.57\00:56:19.31
that will demand,
that will change ourselves
00:56:19.34\00:56:22.21
to accommodate.
00:56:22.24\00:56:23.58
And we must resist,
we must keep freedom
00:56:23.61\00:56:26.11
before us always.
00:56:26.15\00:56:27.48
It's defined on biblical basis.
00:56:27.52\00:56:29.38
It's defined on the
basis of a God who made us,
00:56:29.42\00:56:32.59
a God who as Joseph said...
00:56:32.62\00:56:35.39
Joseph said about Him, you know,
00:56:35.42\00:56:36.76
"How can I do
this and betray God?"
00:56:36.79\00:56:40.30
We must resist to
the last ounce of energy
00:56:40.33\00:56:44.67
that we have.
00:56:44.70\00:56:46.03
We must carve into the
stonework of our lives.
00:56:46.07\00:56:49.27
The only record that we are told
00:56:49.30\00:56:51.24
in devotional thoughts
to Seventh-day Adventist,
00:56:51.27\00:56:54.34
it says our character.
00:56:54.38\00:56:55.71
And we can carve that
character as deep as eternity
00:56:55.74\00:56:59.88
for the cause of
freedom, for religious freedom.
00:56:59.91\00:57:02.98
And in an age when people
will kill, and decapitate,
00:57:03.02\00:57:05.89
and legislate our faith
away, we can say that we know
00:57:05.92\00:57:09.09
what freedom is, we
will serve God regardless,
00:57:09.12\00:57:12.39
and we will share
with you what it is
00:57:12.43\00:57:14.66
because we will resist
00:57:14.70\00:57:17.07
to the very last moment of time.
00:57:17.10\00:57:18.83
And if it's imminent,
if it's next week, fine,
00:57:18.87\00:57:22.30
if it happens to be a
couple of years beyond that,
00:57:22.34\00:57:24.34
equally fine.
00:57:24.37\00:57:25.71
But we will resist to the last.
00:57:25.74\00:57:27.58
We will be faithful to
the last because freedom
00:57:27.61\00:57:29.98
and God is transcendent.
00:57:30.01\00:57:32.68
Thank you.
00:57:32.71\00:57:34.05