Participants: C.A. Murray (Host), Lincoln Steed
Series Code: RLIB
Program Code: RLIB000001
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00:19 We welcome you to a very special presentation
00:22 on Liberty Sabbath. 00:24 And we wish you happy Sabbath. 00:26 And as we think about religious liberty 00:30 and the work of the Liberty Department, 00:32 it is an integral part of the work 00:34 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:36 and has always been an important part of our work. 00:40 Religious liberty is one of those things that we say 00:43 that you don't think about until you need it, 00:46 but when you need it, you really need it. 00:49 And so it is a good thing that religious liberty is there 00:54 that the magazine is produced, 00:56 but more than that, the church has, 00:58 throughout its long history, fought for religious liberty 01:02 not only for Seventh-day Adventists, 01:04 but for all people because when the liberties of one group 01:07 are infringed upon, then you can be next. 01:11 So what affects one affects them all. 01:14 And so the Liberty campaign is one of the very first campaigns 01:17 that the church has throughout the year 01:20 because of its important part in the life of the church 01:24 and in the work of the church. 01:26 The editor of Liberty magazine is Lincoln steed. 01:29 And if you have ever had a chance to look 01:31 at Liberty magazine, you realize 01:32 that it is one of the really best magazines that we have. 01:35 It is well written, it is a beautiful magazine, 01:38 it is produced well, put together well, 01:40 and designed not necessarily to speak 01:44 to the Adventist community, it does do that, 01:47 but it is also designed to inform the wider community. 01:52 And so when Liberty magazine is put out... 01:55 We like to put it in the offices of doctors, 01:59 and lawyers, and people of influence 02:01 because they will be affected by 02:04 and many times affect the religious liberty 02:07 of those people here in these United States 02:09 and around the world. 02:11 And so we are very, very pleased 02:12 to have the editor of Liberty magazine 02:14 to be with us today, that is Lincoln Steed. 02:16 He has a message for us and we will all be 02:18 very, very glad to hear it. 02:21 One of the songs that to my mind sort 02:23 of bespeaks religious liberty is 02:25 "I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian." 02:28 We are blessed to be in a country 02:30 where we are allowed to do that. 02:32 There are many countries where that is not permitted, 02:36 and we must pray for those countries. 02:38 But we are allowed to tell the world 02:41 who we are and what we believe, but more than that, 02:44 we have an obligation to do that as given to us by God. 02:48 We are in a country that God has ordained 02:51 to be a herald of the good news of Jesus Christ, 02:54 and Liberty magazine, and the Liberty campaign, 02:57 and Religious Liberty as an entity 02:59 helps us to do precisely that. 03:01 So we're going to pray now and then we will sing 03:04 "I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian." 03:06 After that, the next voice that you will hear will be 03:07 that of Lincoln Steed 03:09 who is the editor of Liberty magazine 03:12 and a great friend of this ministry. 03:14 Shall we pray? 03:15 Gracious Father, we praise You and thank You 03:17 for another opportunity to lift up the name of Jesus. 03:22 We think about those who have suffered 03:24 for their faith 03:25 and who even now suffer for their faith, 03:29 who are not allowed to praise Your name openly, 03:32 who must keep in secret their love for Jesus. 03:35 And we ask that those of us who have been given the freedom 03:39 to talk about Jesus, will do precisely that, 03:43 that will carry the name of Jesus everywhere 03:46 that we are caused to go. 03:49 Bless the sermon this day, 03:51 bless the religious liberty work 03:53 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 03:55 bless the magazine, may it go to the desks of those 03:59 who are in positions of influence 04:02 and may the work of Religious Liberty 04:04 go on just as long 04:05 and just as far as heaven has need of it. 04:09 Bless our speaker this day. 04:11 We praise You and thank You. In Jesus' name, amen. 04:30 I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian 04:37 I'm not ashamed 04:41 His name to bear 04:44 I'll tell the world 04:48 That I'm a Christian 04:51 I'll take Him with me everywhere 04:58 I'll tell the world 05:03 How Jesus saved me 05:06 And how He gave me 05:09 A life brand new 05:14 And I know 05:16 That if you trust Him 05:20 That all He gave me, 05:23 He'll give to you 05:31 I'll tell the world 05:34 That He's my Savior 05:38 No other one 05:41 Could love me so 05:45 My life, my all is His forever 05:52 And where He leads me, 05:56 I will go 06:04 I'll tell the world 06:07 Jesus is coming 06:10 And it may be near 06:14 Or far, far away 06:17 But we've got to live 06:21 As if that coming 06:25 Could be tomorrow 06:28 Or today 06:31 For when He comes 06:35 And life is over 06:39 For those who love Him, 06:42 There's more to be 06:47 Eyes have never seen 06:51 The wonders 06:54 That He's preparing 06:57 For you and me 07:04 Go tell the world 07:07 That you're a Christian 07:11 Don't be ashamed, 07:15 His name to bear 07:18 Just tell the world 07:22 That you are a Christian 07:25 And take Him with you 07:29 Everywhere 07:35 I'll tell the world 07:40 How Jesus saved me 07:43 And how He gave me 07:47 A life brand new 07:52 And I know 07:54 That if you trust Him 07:57 That all He gave to me, 08:01 He'll give to you 08:09 I'll tell the world 08:12 That I'm a Christian 08:15 And I'm not ashamed 08:19 His name to bear 08:22 I'll tell the world 08:26 That I'm a Christian 08:30 I'll take Him with me 08:33 Anywhere 08:37 I'll take Him with me 08:40 Anywhere 09:05 Religious Liberty Sabbath again. 09:09 It seems to me they come around distressingly often only 09:12 because so many things are happening in our world 09:15 that a year is just a blink of the eye now. 09:18 But every day something happens 09:20 that's important for religious liberty. 09:24 I often do the program for 3ABN and on a couple of occasions 09:29 just to choose topics, 09:30 we've taken the day's newspaper, 09:32 and it's easy. 09:34 There are three or four things in any newspaper 09:36 that relates to religious liberty. 09:38 CA Murray gave a good introduction 09:41 to Liberty magazine, and our Religious Liberty work, 09:45 the Seventh-day Adventist religious liberty work. 09:47 It's more than just for our church. 09:50 But I'm privileged to work 09:51 for the Seventh-day Adventist church 09:53 producing a magazine that is distributed widely 09:57 to politicians, to public officials, 09:59 to lawyers, mayors, public officials, 10:02 those thinking men and women. 10:04 Ellen White once called them who are watching these events, 10:08 and we want them to know the importance 10:10 of religious liberty, its basis, and history, 10:12 its basis in theology, and its basis in prophecy. 10:19 I've thought a lot lately on why 10:20 we publish liberty magazine. 10:22 It was begun as Liberty magazine in 1906. 10:27 That's a long time ago. 10:29 But really it goes even further back than that. 10:31 Under the Sentinel of Liberty, 10:32 it was published for many years. 10:34 But more than that, 10:36 the Seventh-day Adventist Church 10:37 began really by publishing and distributing materials 10:42 to the general public talking about the need 10:45 for religious reform 10:47 and religious liberty in difficult times. 10:50 Before the church was founded 10:52 in the mid 1860s, 1863, 10:57 our church was founded. 10:59 But it was done in the context of the Civil War. 11:01 I myself didn't quite realize until recently that 11:05 it was smack dab in the middle of it, 11:07 1861 to 1865 was the civil war. 11:10 Right in the middle of that, a small group of people 11:13 in the United States formed this church. 11:16 But already, since 1849, 11:20 they had been publishing materials. 11:23 It was so important to them to get the word out, 11:26 the importance of religious freedom. 11:30 I have been speaking on this topic for a long time. 11:32 I've been editing the magazine for about 15 plus years now. 11:37 But even way beyond that, religious liberty was important 11:40 to me as a Seventh-day Adventist. 11:41 It's integral to our understanding 11:44 of the nearness of Christ's return 11:47 and the events that would precede it. 11:50 And I can remember, when I first began my ministry, 11:53 I was an editor, 11:54 but not editing Liberty back then. 11:56 I started to preach. 11:58 And I was in Australia, my homeland, at that point. 12:01 And I started to do the circuit. 12:03 Every week, I'd be at a different church. 12:06 And they were interesting times. 12:09 I remember, on one occasion, I had my notes 12:12 and they fell off the table, and I was in great disarray. 12:17 I couldn't get my thoughts together. 12:18 It seemed like maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought. 12:21 On another occasion, I couldn't find them 12:23 and I saw my wife running out the street to the car, 12:25 desperate to find them. 12:27 And in the meantime, I found them in my pocket. 12:29 But one of the more unusual points of learning for me 12:34 in preaching was the lessons 12:36 that I got from a well-established editor, 12:39 preacher that I worked with. 12:41 He differed a little bit on theology 12:43 which is another story. 12:44 But he was the best editor that I've ever worked with 12:47 and a good preacher. 12:49 And I came to him once and I said, 12:50 "How do I get a sermon together? 12:53 You know, what's the best way to learn my material?" 12:55 And he said, 12:57 "Well, I write my sermons out word for word." 12:59 He said, "And I go over it, and over it, and over it." 13:02 And by the time I am ready to deliver it, 13:05 I sort of know it. 13:06 But he says, "I have the typescript there 13:09 and I do it word for word." 13:12 I tried that. 13:13 And that was a disgrace 13:15 because I lost my place a few times 13:17 and that was the end of it. 13:18 And I saw him preaching once. 13:20 And he was one of the best preachers 13:21 in that part of the world, in Australia, in the Pacific. 13:25 And he was preaching the word. 13:26 But he and I and a few others at the publishing house 13:29 often used to read the articles to each other to catch typos. 13:34 We would be looking at the proof 13:36 and you would read it aloud. 13:37 When we did that, we would read all the punctuation, 13:39 and the capitalizations, and so on. 13:42 And he was holding forth on his sermon powerfully. 13:44 And in the middle of it, he said something like point, 13:47 quote, comma, and he stopped 13:50 and the green hue spread over him. 13:52 Well, with all of that, I'm going to, 13:54 with viewers' allowance, 13:58 semi read something that I've prepared 14:00 for our liberty Sabbath. 14:02 I've called it the bones of Joseph. 14:05 And I know my material but I want to stick 14:09 to some of these words 14:10 because I think they're very important. 14:13 The bones of Joseph, you know, standing for principle usually 14:19 carries a cost, but faithfulness 14:22 can pay dividends beyond our imagining. 14:26 Religious liberty is not just a principle of course, 14:29 it's integrally tied to our allegiance 14:32 to the Creator and Lord of all things. 14:35 Religious liberty is proven in actions. 14:39 It is proven by the actions of those 14:42 who honor the great gospel of liberty, 14:44 as the Apostle Paul puts it, and are willing to stand up, 14:48 speak out, and remain faithful, though the heaven's fold 14:53 as one author put it. 14:55 Seventh-day Adventist, Kim Kreider, 14:57 who is featured in our campaign this year, 14:59 is a young woman with an eight-year-old son 15:02 and a bright confident manner that accompanies 15:05 her professional training and prior experience 15:08 with the p score. 15:10 When she applied for a position at the University of Tennessee 15:14 with their student's abroad program, 15:16 it seemed a perfect fit. 15:18 And she was quickly accepted for employment. 15:22 Then just a week later, she was told that 15:24 she must carry her cell phone on the weekends 15:27 and be available to respond. 15:30 This created an immediate conflict for Kim with her 15:33 deeply held convictions on honoring the Lord's Sabbath. 15:37 It was a big thing for Kim, but it might have been 15:40 easily accommodated by her employers. 15:43 In fact, fellow workers even often offered to help 15:47 and cover the phones on the weekend, 15:49 but it wasn't allowed. 15:51 In short order, Kim was fired. 15:55 She appealed through legal means 15:57 and lost the court case, perhaps, 16:00 because she was still a probationary employee. 16:03 But that was not the end of the story, according to Kim, 16:07 as she tells it, the whole process 16:10 gave her an opportunity no more than that, 16:14 it was an opportunity she believes 16:16 that she was placed in that position 16:17 to witness to her counsel, to the lawyers, 16:22 to the judge, to her employers, and fellow workers. 16:28 She saw God's leading in 16:31 getting the job only to lose it. 16:36 Several thousand years ago, Joseph said something similar 16:39 to his brothers, the very same brothers 16:42 who had sold him into slavery. 16:45 "As for you," he told them as they came fearfully 16:48 before him thinking he might exact revenge, 16:52 "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good 16:56 in order to bring it about as it is this day 16:59 to save many people alive." 17:02 That's part of the story of in Genesis 50. 17:06 Joseph's realization of God's overruling providence 17:10 and Kim's take on her situation 17:12 are not as uncommon as you might expect. 17:17 In our religious liberty work, we are often able 17:20 to help an employee win an accommodation case. 17:23 And other times with others joining our voice, 17:27 we're able to block, delay, or even introduce legislation 17:31 that might have a negative or a positive impact 17:33 on religious freedoms. 17:34 We can influence these things. 17:36 We think, but it is worth keeping in mind 17:39 that the real issue at hand 17:41 for religious liberty is witnessing. 17:43 It's living out our freedom in Christ 17:45 before the world and at all costs. 17:49 Through the years, the tested ones have seen this, 17:53 and often gave glory to God for the experience 17:56 of persecution itself. 17:59 For almost two years, 18:01 our church's Religious Liberty Department 18:03 did all that it could to obtain the release 18:06 of Pastor Antonio Monteiro, a church worker in Togo, 18:11 imprisoned on charges of committing a heinous crime 18:15 of mass murder and trafficking in the blood of the victims. 18:19 The charge was bizarre and soon translated 18:23 into equally bizarre coverage of Adventist belief 18:26 and practice in Togo. 18:28 It became a real blood libel to Monteiro 18:31 and the faith that he held. 18:33 The months went by and lengthened into years 18:35 for our pastor as he languished in a jail 18:38 with no indication 18:40 of when a trial might even be held. 18:43 His jail conditions were worse 18:45 than hardened criminals in the West might experience. 18:49 Plumbing and sanitation were hardly up to code. 18:52 The prison was guarded on the outside, but inside, 18:56 the prisoners ruled themselves. 18:58 The only food inside was 19:00 what relatives were able to pass by the guards 19:03 who were always taking their cut, 19:04 passed by the guards and through the door. 19:08 We could imagine that Pastor Monteiro's life 19:10 was at risk during that imprisonment. 19:13 And with the failure of each attempt 19:15 to negotiate with different levels 19:17 of government, we began to wonder... 19:19 Those of us who were meeting and working on his behalf, 19:23 we began to wonder just how God was going 19:26 to show Himself in this desperate situation. 19:31 Well, only a few months ago, Pastor Monteiro was released. 19:37 Without much advanced notice, a trial was held. 19:41 The testimony against him was recanted 19:45 and he was declared innocent. 19:47 There was again much prayer, this time of Thanksgiving, 19:50 and there was much celebration on his release. 19:54 He returned with his family to his little homeland 19:56 of the Cape Verde Islands, which is about 400 miles 19:59 of the west coast of Africa. 20:02 He returned with his family to Cape Verde 20:04 to a tumultuous welcome 20:06 from almost the entire population, 20:08 official government welcomed him, 20:10 and just joy unbounded. 20:13 And to all and sundry, his story was the same. 20:19 God meant it for good. 20:22 He felt that he'd been chosen to witness 20:25 under trial in that prison. 20:28 For me, one of the most enduring images 20:30 of the whole story was the prison guard 20:33 and inmates bidding farewell to Pastor Monteiro on his release. 20:37 How else could such a powerful witness 20:40 have been given to them? 20:42 There is a shadow to the story though. 20:45 While Pastor Monteiro was acquitted, 20:48 a church layman imprisoned with him on the same 20:51 recanted accusation received a life sentence. 20:56 And it remains to be seen 20:58 how God's plan will reveal itself for him. 21:02 But it is sure, I believe. 21:04 It is sure that God's comforting presence 21:07 is just as available to him as it was to Daniel, 21:11 Paul, and Joseph, as available now 21:14 as it was then. 21:16 I have on my wall at home, an original painting 21:19 by Adventist artist Lars Justinen. 21:22 I used to work with him at Pacific Press. 21:25 The illustration of the painting 21:26 was used to illustrate a Pacific Press book 21:29 on the life of Joseph. 21:31 I often look at it and muse on the dynamic 21:35 of the story portrayed there. 21:37 Part of the illustration shows the pyramids of Egypt 21:41 with the silhouetted figures of camels in the foreground, 21:44 very much the mystic land of Egypt celebrated 21:48 in song and legend. 21:49 Center to the illustration in a circled cameo 21:53 is the artist's recreation of Joseph, 21:56 as the story begins, a 17-year-old boy 22:02 with a strong confident gaze and smooth youthful features. 22:06 On the right is Joseph of the later years. 22:09 His head is covered with 22:11 an Egyptian styled caped headdress 22:12 and his lined face shows the strength of character 22:16 which had taken him 22:18 to the pinnacle of political power. 22:20 According to the Bible account, Joseph was 30 when he went 22:24 into the service for Pharaoh. 22:27 And after 7 years of plenty and 2 of the 7 lean years, 22:31 he was 39, when his brothers appeared 22:34 before him seeking relief from the famine. 22:37 The artwork, I believe, 22:39 shows vividly the transformation 22:41 from a principled 22:46 but hardly experienced... 22:50 In fact, headstrong youth to the middle-aged man 22:54 of wisdom and proven faithfulness. 22:57 How had Joseph remained faithful all of those years? 23:01 How had he put aside hatred for the older brothers 23:05 who sought to kill him and instead sold him into 23:08 what they could have only expected 23:10 to have been a fate worse than death? 23:13 How had Joseph kept his integrity 23:16 in the household of Potiphar, the military officer? 23:19 How did he remain hopeful during the two years in prison? 23:24 And how could he be so sure that it was a dream fulfilled 23:28 and not happenstance that brought 23:31 the would-be murderers into his power after many years? 23:34 And how could he have been so certain it was the God 23:38 of his forefathers giving dreams 23:39 and directions when his own wife's family 23:42 was of the priestly cast of Egypt? 23:46 The answer to these questions is complex, but ultimately, 23:50 expressed in Joseph's reaction 23:52 when the wife of Potiphar attempted to seduce him. 23:55 As one way or another, the world will always attempt 24:00 to seduce those who aspire to obedience to God. 24:03 Joseph recounted why he must return 24:07 the trust his master had placed in him. 24:09 In the same way today, a Christian has an obligation 24:12 toward the employer, toward the community, 24:15 and toward family. 24:16 But it went further, 24:18 "How can I do this great wickedness," 24:21 he asked rhetorically, "and sin against God?" 24:26 Here was the key to a young man's character. 24:29 Years earlier, he had alienated his brothers 24:33 and startled his parents by self-consciously 24:37 repeating two divine dreams that had sheaves, 24:41 representing his brothers, and the sun, 24:44 moon, and stars representing his parents 24:46 and descendants bowing down to him. 24:49 He had self-consciously worn the multi-colored coat 24:54 of a father's favor in front of jealous brothers. 24:58 Just as way of the remnant... 25:00 And I'm speaking to Seventh-day Adventists 25:02 particularly here even though there are many listening. 25:04 Just as we of the remnant can sometimes wave 25:07 our spiritual privilege ahead of the obligation 25:10 that comes with their calling, so Joseph had to learn 25:14 that the focus was not on him but on God. 25:18 He had to learn to reign in his dreams to serve God. 25:23 When in prison for the two years, 25:25 he discovered the God behind the dreams. 25:28 When asked by the butler and the baker to interpret 25:30 their dream, he answered, 25:32 "Do not interpretations belong to God?" 25:36 Very interesting deflection. 25:38 Like Pastor Monteiro and others through the years, 25:41 Joseph had come to realize that God was the center 25:45 of the dream, not himself. 25:48 This realization is revealed nine years later 25:52 when the guilty brothers 25:54 bowed before him and at the table, 25:56 that must have evoked the original dream for Joseph. 26:00 But he held his peace and cried behind the curtains 26:03 where no one could see him. 26:05 For by that time, he sensed that he was 26:07 but part of a bigger story of working out God's purposes 26:11 to save a whole people. 26:14 I see this holy boldness and diminished ego on display 26:18 when Joseph is summoned before the Pharaoh 26:21 to answer the Pharaoh's dreams of the fat cows 26:24 and the fat corn and the lean cows 26:26 and the lean corn. 26:28 The reinstated butler, 26:30 as you remember from the Bible story, 26:32 belatedly remembered his hasty promise 26:35 to remember Joseph when he got out of the prison. 26:38 It was a promise somewhat easily forgotten 26:41 if you read the story because Joseph made 26:43 the request almost offhandedly, 26:46 perhaps, trusting more to God's memory 26:48 than the butler's. 26:51 Joseph answered the Pharaoh with confidence, 26:54 but he only tangentially includes himself. 26:58 His answer makes it clear he is privy to the ways of God 27:03 but only inferentially. 27:06 Instead, he says this, "God has revealed to Pharaoh 27:10 and God has shown to Pharaoh. 27:13 And the thing is fixed by God 27:15 and He will shortly bring it to pass." 27:19 To me, this shift from the brushed youth 27:23 to the confident messenger of God is clear 27:26 and has everything to do with his time in prison 27:30 and the waiting for God to reveal Himself there. 27:34 To me, the parallel to the modern political miracle 27:38 of Nelson Mandela imprisoned by hate 27:41 and released 27 years later 27:43 to teach love and forgiveness is clear. 27:45 In standing for religious liberty, 27:49 we must not fall for the fallacy 27:52 and thinking that it's about us 27:55 and that we can escape the obligation to witness 27:58 to the spirits in prison as the Bible says 28:01 and even refine our own characters 28:03 through adversity. 28:05 In the book Testimonies, volume 5, 28:08 from the pen of an inspired Seventh-day Adventist writer, 28:12 Ellen White, I find this, she says, 28:15 "The time is not far distant 28:18 when the test will come to every soul. 28:22 The mark of the beast will be urged upon us." 28:26 I cruise the Internet a lot and I know there is 28:29 a lot of discussion on some Adventists 28:31 and many other websites 28:33 and YouTube sites or YouTube features, 28:38 the mark of the beast, what is it? 28:40 But the mark of the beast while it's outlines 28:43 are not quite as clear now as when it will appear, 28:46 but we know already what it's likely to be. 28:49 In this time of oppression 28:51 and this time of terror security, 28:54 the mark of the beast will be an imposition by force 28:58 of a type of worship that exposes itself 29:01 as coming not from God, but from man inspired by Satan. 29:06 And Ellen White says, "The mark of the beast, 29:08 a religious observance, 29:09 that defies God will be urged upon us." 29:14 You know, urged is an interesting word. 29:18 It's not necessarily compulsion at first, 29:21 it's encouraged, "Do this. 29:23 This is about... 29:24 You know, society expects it, your employer expects it, 29:28 your family expects it. 29:30 Do this. Show that you are with us." 29:33 She says, "It will be urged upon us." 29:35 And continuing the reading, she says, 29:37 "Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands 29:42 and conformed to worldly customs 29:45 will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers 29:49 that be rather than subject themselves to derision." 29:54 If we're lucky, we have derision. 29:57 Now most of us don't even have that. 29:58 But here's the succession, 30:01 to subject themselves to derision, 30:04 insult, threatened, imprisonment, and death. 30:08 The contest is between the commandments of God 30:12 and the commandments of men. 30:14 In this time, the gold will be separated 30:17 from the dross in the church. 30:20 Where did Joseph learned to trust in God alone? 30:23 He'd had the advantage of a godly upbringing. 30:27 He was loved by his father, perhaps, 30:29 too much on a certain level of undisguised favoritism. 30:33 Doubtless Joseph knew by wrought, 30:36 the story of God's dealings with his forebears. 30:40 In a way, Joseph was like many of us, 30:44 many Seventh-day Adventists, many who are under 30:47 a certain compulsion in these latter days. 30:50 He was like many of us, individuals, 30:53 born into one way or another, the remnant movement. 30:58 We know our history, we know God has spoken to us 31:01 in these latter days by dreams and visions. 31:05 We feel special and often communicate that to others. 31:09 But are we ready when our own turn on us and, perhaps, 31:13 betray us to the forces arrayed against truth? 31:16 Are we ready to sacrifice all to give up a livelihood 31:20 for our faith? 31:21 Are we ready to give our lives? 31:24 Are we ready for those 31:26 who would deprive us of liberty? 31:28 Are we ready to stand before authorities 31:31 and tell them what our faith means to them? 31:36 Can we give a reason for our faith 31:38 other than we once had a multi-colored coat 31:41 that somewhere far away in our experience 31:44 we knew the daily favor of a doting father. 31:47 Again, I read something pertinent 31:49 to this from the pen of Ellen White. 31:51 "It does not seem possible to us," she wrote, 31:53 "It does not seem possible to us now 31:55 that any should have to stand alone. 31:58 But if God has ever spoken by me, 32:00 the time will come when we shall be brought 32:02 before counsels and before thousands for His name's sake. 32:06 And each one will have to give the reason for his faith. 32:09 Then will come the severest criticism upon every position 32:14 that has been taken for the truth. 32:16 We need then," she says, "to study the Word of God 32:19 that we may know why we believe the doctrines we advocate." 32:24 Where did Joseph learn his faith? 32:26 Was it those desperate moments in the pit before he was sold 32:30 to those traders descended 32:31 from the estranged Ishmael? 32:33 Perhaps, not quite then, but he clearly made 32:36 a resolution upon entering his captivity 32:39 that he would remain true. 32:42 His years in prison confirmed that choice of faithfulness. 32:46 He was the model prisoner who ministered 32:48 to the needs of fellow prisoners. 32:50 In those years, he changed from brush 32:54 to confident in the Lord. 32:58 We come at the story from the Bible outline 33:00 of the descendants of Abraham who was promised God's favor. 33:04 But think for a moment on the dynamic 33:06 from the point of the Egyptians. 33:08 And I'll lead you a bit on this. 33:10 Think... 33:12 Since we're drawing a parallel of the dynamic of those 33:14 who don't make professions of faith, 33:16 those who are not of our faith, 33:18 or perhaps not either of any faith looking on, 33:23 according to the Bible, Joseph grew up 33:25 as a sheepherder in the desolate places 33:27 of Canaan, out of the great points of influence. 33:30 To the Egyptians, he was the lowest of the low, 33:33 almost an untouchable. 33:35 The Bible says that it was an abomination, 33:37 that's the word it's used, 33:39 an abomination for the Egyptians 33:41 to even eat with such people. 33:43 It was not likely that Joseph came to Egypt well educated 33:47 or even speaking their tongue fluently. 33:50 Joseph for all his facility for dreams was to them 33:54 what he was, a convicted attacker 33:57 of his master's wife, a moral offense 34:00 but more serious to the times, a usurper of place 34:03 and an attacker of the social order. 34:05 But once before Pharaoh, he spoke truth to power 34:10 and transcended self by speaking authoritatively. 34:14 You know, the Bible says 34:15 that the people heard Jesus gladly 34:16 because he spoke as one who had authority. 34:19 And Joseph spoke authoritatively of God 34:22 and His ways. 34:25 We too can do that. 34:27 We too are called to prepare ourselves for this challenge, 34:31 for just such a challenge. 34:33 Joseph was great not because he once wore 34:36 a desert coat of many colors, 34:38 not because he had risen to be a steward 34:41 of a wealthy man's household, 34:42 or not because he had in himself the power 34:45 to divine dreams. 34:47 Joseph was great because he was faithful to God 34:51 no matter the circumstances. 34:54 This I read about great men 34:56 in the last days from Testimonies, 34:59 volume 5, page 80, written by Ellen White. 35:01 She says, "In the last solemn work, 35:03 few great men will be engaged. 35:06 God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. 35:10 He will rise up or raise up and exalt among us those 35:14 who were taught rather by the unction of His spirit 35:17 than by the outward training of scientific institutions. 35:21 These facilities are not to be despised or condemn," she says. 35:24 Obviously, we live in an age of education and knowledge. 35:29 "They're not to be condemned, they're ordained of God, 35:32 but they can furnish only the exterior qualifications. 35:36 God will manifest that He is not dependent on learned, 35:40 self-important mortals." 35:44 The story of Joseph is a saga one could scarcely imagine. 35:48 Second ruler in the kingdom after Pharaoh! 35:55 But other than his faint haughtiness 35:57 to test the broken brothers, 35:59 Joseph seems not too focused much 36:02 on the prerogatives of power. 36:05 He implores the Pharaoh to let him go meet his aged father 36:08 and then later to go to Canaan to bury the Patriarch 36:11 in the tomb at Machpelah. 36:13 The image of Joseph in those later days is one of kindness 36:17 and solicitude to his family. 36:19 The young man is gone. 36:22 Now that middle-aged man weeps with joy to see his brothers, 36:26 weeps on the neck of his aged father, 36:28 and does all he can to secure favor for his clan 36:31 as they settle in Egypt. 36:32 The days of pit and prison are gone. 36:35 And not remembered by the one once alone 36:38 in a strange land. 36:40 Seventy years or so after their reunion in Egypt, 36:43 Joseph died and was embalmed 36:46 after the manner of the Pharaohs. 36:48 Over the years, I've read that. 36:49 And I've noticed, most people don't notice that. 36:51 He was a mummy, pretty much like the ones 36:55 that we still find in pyramids from time to time. 36:59 He was not buried though, 37:01 he lay in waiting for the deliverance. 37:04 "God will visit you," he told his family on his deathbed. 37:08 "He will bring you out of this land 37:10 to the land which He swore to Abraham, 37:12 to Isaac, and Jacob. 37:14 And you shall carry my bones from here." 37:18 That was his instructions. And so they did. 37:21 Hundreds of years later, when the promise was fulfilled, 37:24 the bones of Joseph, what were they really? 37:28 I hope you understand. 37:29 I've used them figuratively and yet they were real. 37:32 They went with the people out of Egypt. 37:34 For some of the mixed multitude who left Egypt, 37:37 they were just a talisman of another era. 37:41 But for me, the bones of Joseph have to be something more. 37:45 In exile from Canaan to Egypt, 37:47 the young captive had only his faith in God 37:50 to sustain him. 37:52 In prison, on trumped-up charges, 37:55 Joseph clung to the faith that God, as the Bible says, 37:58 is a rewarder of the faithful. 38:02 Before the Pharaoh himself, 38:03 Joseph could ignore his simple origins 38:06 and represent the God who had sustained him. 38:09 And in the later years, he could put aside malice 38:12 and seek not justice, but mercy. 38:15 Such bones we should all have. 38:18 Indeed, we must have as the years of plenty come 38:21 to an end and the times of test come upon us. 38:26 These are interesting times. 38:28 That's the end of those thoughts. 38:31 But allow me to continue. 38:33 I have to comment on these times. 38:36 These are without precedent at least in the modern era. 38:40 You know, to most of us, probably have spared ourselves, 38:44 but you can go on YouTube and you can see a succession 38:47 of events that have happened lately 38:49 where journalists and others in some desert... 38:52 But they're neighbors of people in our own countries 38:55 have put out in a desert, 38:56 they're surrounded by masked zealots 39:00 of a certain faith, and their head is cut off 39:02 and held up as a gory talisman of religious victory. 39:07 Religious liberty is not an abstraction in our age. 39:11 We are in a global religious conflict. 39:15 And it is not just, what in my youth, 39:17 was the case where the ministers 39:19 of different mission factions down 39:20 in the South Pacific would sometimes come to blow us 39:23 or incite the villages to pelt the opposition with stones. 39:27 No, this is playing for keeps now. 39:31 The forces of orthodoxy of one type 39:35 or another are on the march and they are violent. 39:39 And even in the West, the conclusion to this 39:41 is going to be an erosion of the liberties 39:44 that we've thought were so entrenched 39:46 in our psyche that they couldn't go, 39:48 but they're vanishing at the speed of light. 39:54 What are we going to do about that? 39:57 I'm writing all the time in Liberty, commenting on this, 40:01 and usually as in the introduction, we said, 40:04 Liberty magazine needs to tread a very careful path 40:07 because it is not a religious journal per se, 40:11 but it surely is meant to exemplify 40:14 the underlying spirituality, the calling, 40:17 and the history of Seventh-day Adventism, 40:19 but it's expressed on 40:21 the principles of religious liberty 40:23 that have a cultural, a legal, historic, 40:26 and even a theological base. 40:29 But every now and again, 40:30 I believe it just devolves to me, 40:35 and it's unavoidable. 40:37 Even in that context, we have to speak to that 40:40 larger audience from a biblical point of view 40:42 and give some meaning to what's happening. 40:45 And I want to share with you 40:47 what I just wrote the other day for an editorial. 40:51 And I don't think I'll get into trouble on it 40:52 because there are many people of good sensibility 40:56 that read even in state houses and legislative halls. 41:01 They know what's going on. 41:03 And I called it The Beginning of The End. 41:07 This is what I wrote then. 41:10 "Back around the age 41:11 of television programs like Laugh in, 41:14 that really dates me 41:15 because as I said at the beginning, 41:18 it's about 40 years since I started preaching 41:21 back in Australia. 41:22 And it's probably 40 years ago, I remember Laugh in, 41:24 and I remember watching a skit premised 41:27 on how a weather report from Egypt 41:29 at the time of the pharaohs 41:30 and the exodus might have sounded. 41:34 The announcer handed out plenty as he spoke of darkness 41:38 sweeping over the land from the north. 41:40 Then he said huge hail storms are coming from the south. 41:43 And then get this CNN's 41:45 with wide-eyed incredulity, from the West frogs. 41:51 Got a lot of laughs. 41:53 I'm not sure though 41:54 how such a show would work today. 41:56 It might be a little too real for comfort. 41:58 And the misapplied qualifier that some super storm 42:01 or flood is of biblical proportions 42:04 is a very common term nowadays. 42:08 The other day, a White House spokesman noted that 42:10 while they are always monitoring 42:12 several hotspots at once, 42:14 lately the whole board seems to be lighting up, they said. 42:19 Earthquakes, floods, drought, war, starvation, 42:22 and pestilence are endemic to the news cycle. 42:27 While Christians might point 42:28 to these things as end-time markers, 42:31 few seem to have noticed the fault context of Jesus 42:34 answers to His disciples when they asked about 42:37 the end of the world and His return. 42:40 In the book of Matthew in the New Testament, 42:42 you could read the sequence of events, 42:44 crowds had gathered in Jerusalem 42:46 to hear Jesus speak. 42:48 From other Bible accounts, we know that the crowd 42:52 honored Jesus as a king at that time. 42:55 That was misapplied, but there was, you know, 42:58 a huge political event. 43:00 They thought that He was rising to political power 43:02 and would relieve them of the earth, 43:04 you know, the burden of the Romans. 43:08 It must have been a highly charged atmosphere, 43:12 just as it was, not too many weeks ago, 43:15 in the midterm elections. 43:16 You could hardly turn on a news station 43:18 without hearing some usually an exultant news report 43:23 of political change and what was going to happen. 43:28 Surging enthusiastic crowds watched 43:31 by Roman authorities ready to call out the riot squad 43:34 and watched by the religious leaders 43:36 who fear that this man was taking away their power. 43:39 Their fears were realized as Jesus then launched 43:43 into an extended sermon of words 43:45 and condemnations of the misguided 43:48 religious practices of the day. 43:50 And the corrupt church leaders 43:51 who were encouraging the state of affairs. 43:55 He ended by saying, 43:57 "Your house is left to you desolate." 44:00 Then His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings 44:03 of the great temple built by Herod. 44:06 They were shocked when Jesus predicted 44:08 that it would be destroyed so utterly that not one stone 44:12 would be left standing upon another. 44:14 This was the sequence of events that led to the disciples 44:17 coming yet again to Jesus 44:19 as He sat on the nearby Mount of Olives. 44:22 They question, "When shall these things be 44:26 and what shall be the signs of that coming 44:29 and of the end of the world?" 44:30 This was in Matthew 24. 44:34 They were really asking two questions, 44:36 and Jesus essentially can find Himself 44:38 to the second which embraced the first. 44:41 Perhaps, He thought it better not to specify the destruction 44:44 of Jerusalem and the temple because in AD 70, 44:48 in their lifetimes, as Jesus indicated life later, 44:52 they saw this cataclysm. 44:55 And you know, we wouldn't be the only generation to think 44:58 that these things are going to happen in our lifetime. 45:02 But are we so naive, so indicative, 45:05 now I'm off text of my editorial... 45:08 Can we be so removed from the reality of our days 45:11 that we can say as the Bible said, 45:13 some in our day will say, 45:14 all things continue as they had from the beginning? 45:17 They are not continuing. 45:23 So far as the end of the world and His coming, 45:25 Jesus gave an array of signs, in some ways, 45:29 they describe our age. 45:31 He spoke of wars and rumors of wars. 45:35 But then He said, "The end is not yet." 45:37 He spoke of famines, and pestilences, 45:40 and many earthquakes. 45:41 "All these," Jesus said, "but the beginning of sorrows." 45:46 We seem to be well into the age of sorrows. 45:49 Famine in the Sahel, the Civil War in Darfur, 45:52 earthquakes in China and Haiti, 45:56 maybe HAARP has something to do with that. 45:58 You can let yourself free float on this. 46:02 Spring turn to winter in Arab countries, 46:04 Ebola spreading panic and death, 46:07 mega storms on the East Coast, 46:09 and over all, the growing reality of global warming 46:12 that promises rising seas, more turbulent weather, 46:15 more severe drought, 46:17 unleash natural pests like locust, 46:19 and intensified military conflict 46:21 over shifting water supplies in arable land. 46:24 How unfortunate that in the midst of all this 46:27 we should be fighting over religious solutions 46:32 to very complex social and geographic problems. 46:36 I saw in a recent cover of the Washington Post, 46:38 a rather Vietnam era type photo sequence 46:40 of a bombing of the ISIS group or the ISIL. 46:46 The west is just starting to get a handle on this group. 46:49 And it should be noted that main meaning of the... 46:53 or name of the group 46:54 was the Islamic State of the Levant. 46:58 That's a medieval term for what the Bible says 47:02 is the glorious land. 47:04 That's the land between Turkey and Egypt. 47:07 That's their aspiration to take over Israel 47:10 and some of the associated property. 47:13 But I saw the bombing of ISIS on this newspaper article. 47:17 The first photo showed a bare hill 47:19 with an ISIS flag in a nearby fighter. 47:21 The second photo showed the hill covered 47:23 in an immense explosion from the bomb attack. 47:27 The caption said something about ISIS destroyed. 47:30 It troubled me for several reasons. 47:32 Firstly, it smacked Vietnam in the assumption 47:34 that killing a soldier or two as an effect 47:37 or any effect on the engine driving the war. 47:40 Body counts turned out to be horribly misleading back then. 47:43 Second, I looked more closely and there was still 47:46 a figure standing amid the smoke. 47:48 Third, who really cares about a bare hill anyway? 47:53 ISIS in their advance has had the Japanese and the Americans 47:56 in World War II, typically just moved around 47:58 the opposition and bypassed them as ineffectual. 48:02 Lastly, the threat of ISIS is not 48:04 that it may take Baghdad, 48:07 but that it may threaten Washington, Sydney, or Toronto. 48:11 We are dealing with social dislocation 48:13 and the idealism of youth harnessed 48:15 to a radical religious agenda. 48:18 The solution is less military than a desperate need 48:22 to redirect religious vision toward uplifting ends. 48:26 Actually the outline of the end times 48:28 that Jesus gave places a lot of emphasis 48:31 on the religious conflict just before His appearing. 48:34 In fact, as He outlines it, it is the religious conflict, 48:38 a turmoil, and persecution that defines the end times. 48:42 He said that His followers would be hated 48:44 and persecuted as never before. 48:46 In fact, the persecution is to be so severe that 48:50 unless those times are shortened, 48:52 no one could survive. 48:56 In verses 10 or 11, it says, 48:58 "And then shall many be offended, 49:00 and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another, 49:03 and many false prophets shall arise, 49:05 and shall deceive many." 49:08 For me, this is fulfilled today by unprecedented persecution. 49:13 Christians are facing a final expulsion 49:16 from many countries in the Middle East. 49:18 Many minority sects of Islam are facing genocidal attacks 49:22 from majority forces. 49:24 In other countries, Hindus attack Buddhists. 49:28 And in others, Buddhists attack Muslims. 49:30 Many are offended at another's religion 49:33 or lack of religion and are prepared to harm 49:35 or kill to advance their view. 49:38 "How can we dream of the biblical promise 49:41 that they shall not hurt 49:42 nor destroy in My holy mountain?" 49:45 from Isaiah. 49:47 That day of course will come. 49:48 But it lies on the other side of the vows 49:51 that Jesus spoke of on the Mount of Olives. 49:54 It lies at the other side of the burning mountain 49:56 of global warming. 49:58 It lies at the other side 50:00 of religious intolerance and violence. 50:03 The only way past these was is a personal commitment 50:07 to use religion to discover God for ourselves. 50:11 We must not fall for the claim of the many false prophets 50:14 in the different radical forms of faith that violence 50:17 or force is any sort of answer. 50:20 Our community should teach religious fulfillment 50:23 and responsibility, not entitlement 50:26 or a sword to set things straight. 50:28 Only this way will the recruiting stop 50:32 and true religious freedom flourish 50:34 even in these wicked times. 50:38 And I feel comfortable that that's a message 50:40 that should be in Liberty magazine 50:42 even if it's read by senators, congressmen, 50:44 and presidents, one president at a time. 50:47 They need to know that there is a prophetic backdrop 50:50 to what's happening now. 50:52 They need to know that this agitation 50:54 in the religious world is indeed the last sign. 50:58 It's not a brawler, it's not the violence, 51:00 it's not the storms, and so on, those are harbingers. 51:03 But the last sign is religious warfare and persecution. 51:09 And I believe that 51:11 there is a very good chance that this is it. 51:14 We don't know the day or the hour 51:15 but we surely know the season. 51:18 And the season calls for a proclamation 51:21 of religious liberty. 51:24 I've got in my hand one of the recent issues 51:26 of Liberty magazine, in fact, 51:27 one of the most recent, September, October... 51:30 This time of the broadcast it's about three issues back 51:34 but not long since I did this. 51:37 And the front cover is reporting on a fabulous tour 51:42 that a number of us who are leading out 51:43 in religious liberty 51:44 for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 51:47 For once, we all got together, about 25 of us 51:49 and took a tour bus from Rome through 51:54 Italy, and France, and ending up in Paris 51:58 recounting or retracing some of the steps 52:00 of the faithful of the ages. 52:05 I was going to say the Reformation 52:06 because it started a little earlier than that. 52:08 But then we got into the Reformation tour 52:11 and saw some of the places and read of some of the people 52:16 who stood for faith and for freedom, 52:20 and at times, gave their lives. 52:22 It was inspiring. 52:23 It was inspiring to go to Torre Pelice 52:26 where the Waldenses, 52:27 that I'd read about as a young fellow, 52:30 where they stood up 52:31 to the complicated political situation. 52:34 It's almost too complicated to explain, 52:37 but the political rivalries were influenced 52:41 by the dictates of Rome at that time 52:43 who would encourage the forces in that area 52:47 to liquidate these dissidents who were standing 52:52 for a more biblical faith. 52:53 And to see there, in Torre Pelice, 52:56 the caves where people regularly went aside 53:00 and worshipped. 53:01 Sometimes, hundreds of them at a time, 53:02 in deep caves because if they were discovered, 53:05 they would be killed, as they often were. 53:07 In one of the bigger caves, 53:09 high up, beyond the village itself, 53:12 several hundred of them were killed when the soldiers 53:14 discovered them and they just threw a fire 53:18 and sealed the opening and suffocated all of them. 53:22 To do that, you had to be convinced 53:25 of what you were standing for. 53:27 One of the more impressive moments on the tour 53:31 came in southern France 53:33 at the town of Aigues-Mortes. 53:38 And you probably don't know that, it was hard to pronounce. 53:40 And even when we were there, 53:42 it was very hard to divine the meaning of that town. 53:45 I think it was named after the sicknesses 53:50 that would come upon you in that mussy and boggy 53:54 sort of countryside where it was subject to floods, 53:56 which they had recently. 53:58 But you may have heard of 54:00 what we saw the Tower of Constance, 54:02 there in a walled city, medieval walled city, 54:06 there was this large tower. 54:08 And we entered there 54:09 and found the story of Marie Durand, 54:12 a Protestant who was imprisoned 54:16 by the authorities because her brother, 54:18 a preacher and a leader of the resistance was wanted. 54:24 And they figured if they imprisoned her, 54:25 they would entice him to come and give him up. 54:28 Well, they were wrong. 54:30 He didn't although he was killed 54:32 two years after imprisonment. 54:34 But she was kept there for 38 years, 38 years, 54:38 the young girl that when she was finally released 54:41 she was an old woman. 54:44 But Marie Durand remained faithful 54:46 during that whole time. 54:47 And the tale was very indicative 54:51 of what I've seen in other places 54:53 like Peru where they have a museum of the Inquisition. 54:57 The things that are done in the name of religion 54:59 are just mind boggling. 55:01 And here, hundreds of people were kept in the tower, 55:04 we're up on the higher level, 55:06 soldiers could look down on them 55:08 and throw the food down, 55:09 but on the main level, with bailey, in the light 55:13 the prisoners would cook their food in the middle 55:15 and sleep on the periphery. 55:17 But in the stone, they're near the fireplace. 55:22 Over those 38 years, with what implement 55:24 I could only imagine, perhaps, some knife or fork, 55:28 Marie Durand had inscribed so deeply in the stone 55:32 that it's visible to this day. 55:34 And in French, so it's build 55:35 a little different resist, resist. 55:40 But the resistance she was speaking 55:42 about was not decapitating your enemies, 55:45 it was not going and blowing up your religious opponents, 55:48 the resistance was resist the compromise, 55:51 resist those who would take away your freedom, 55:54 resist those who would redefine your faith into something 55:57 so generic that there would be no reason to differ on it. 56:01 Resist, resist, resist. 56:04 And I'm sure in this day, that's what's called upon us. 56:07 We're not all going to be imprisoned hopefully 56:12 but in one way or another, we're all imprisoned 56:14 in a societal restriction that will think for us, 56:19 that will demand, that will change ourselves 56:22 to accommodate. 56:23 And we must resist, we must keep freedom 56:26 before us always. 56:27 It's defined on biblical basis. 56:29 It's defined on the basis of a God who made us, 56:32 a God who as Joseph said... 56:35 Joseph said about Him, you know, 56:36 "How can I do this and betray God?" 56:40 We must resist to the last ounce of energy 56:44 that we have. 56:46 We must carve into the stonework of our lives. 56:49 The only record that we are told 56:51 in devotional thoughts to Seventh-day Adventist, 56:54 it says our character. 56:55 And we can carve that character as deep as eternity 56:59 for the cause of freedom, for religious freedom. 57:03 And in an age when people will kill, and decapitate, 57:05 and legislate our faith away, we can say that we know 57:09 what freedom is, we will serve God regardless, 57:12 and we will share with you what it is 57:14 because we will resist 57:17 to the very last moment of time. 57:18 And if it's imminent, if it's next week, fine, 57:22 if it happens to be a couple of years beyond that, 57:24 equally fine. 57:25 But we will resist to the last. 57:27 We will be faithful to the last because freedom 57:30 and God is transcendent. 57:32 Thank you. |
Revised 2018-11-12