Hello and welcome
to our very special
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Religious
Liberty Emphasis Weekend.
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My name is CA Murray
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and it's my
pleasure to welcome you
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to the Thompsonville
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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Religious liberty is
one of those things that
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you don't really know
you need until you need it
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and then when you need
it, you really need it.
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It's a kind of thing
that you may not have respect
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for until you do not have
it, and when you do not have it,
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you understand what a
trial it is to be without it.
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I know of a young lady even
now who has a master's degree,
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who is working
as a maid in a hotel
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simply because she
refuses to work on Sabbath.
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And those who would
employ her in her chosen field
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are desiring her
to work on Sabbath
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and she has refused to do that.
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And she is working as a maid.
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And she doesn't
feel that too much to do
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for her Lord
Savior Jesus Christ.
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Our religious liberty is
one of those kinds of things
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that helps you with that, I
can recall several years ago,
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as a religious liberty
leader for New York City,
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when a good member
of the church was fired
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from his job for not
coming in on the Sabbath,
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and when he went
before the arbiter,
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and the arbiter understood that
he was a Seventh-day Adventist,
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and the arbiter said,
"You know I live next door
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to a Seventh-day
Adventist, you are good people,
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we will see to it that
you get your job back."
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Now we praise the Lord that
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Seventh-day
Adventists make good neighbors.
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But we also praise the
Lord that the church will stand
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behind its members
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when it comes to
religious liberty,
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and getting the
rights that we deserve,
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and that we should have
as citizens of this country,
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and as those who would serve
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our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
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So this is a very special
time and a very special day.
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Our speaker is Lincoln Steed,
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who is the editor
of Liberty magazine,
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has edited that
very fine journal
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for many, many years.
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And it is sought or thought
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to be one of the
finest journals of its kind
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and one that is circulated
among those of influence,
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legislatures, congressmen,
lawyers, district attorneys
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are the target audience
along with good old members
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who just want to know
and see what God is doing
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in the area of
religious liberty.
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As far as 3ABN is concerned,
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he is the host
of Liberty Insider,
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very fine and
informative program
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that has run for
many years here at 3ABN.
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Lincoln brings
any number of guests
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from around the
world to come and sit
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and talk about
matters of religious liberty
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not only here in
the United States,
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but around the
world as this has impact
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on Christians in every country
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where we seek to
lift up the name of Jesus,
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and were forced
to seek to oppose
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that lifting up of Christ,
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and the freedoms that we
enjoy here in the United States
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and around the world.
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And so we're looking
forward to a very fine message
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and a very
informative one as Lincoln comes
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always with a
wealth of information
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that is good for us to
know and good for us to hear.
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So if you will
join me now in prayer,
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the next voice
that you will hear
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after I shall have prayed
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will be the voice
of Elder Lincoln Steed,
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editor of Liberty magazine,
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and host of Liberty
Insider here at 3ABN.
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Shall we pray?
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Gracious
Father, we do praise You
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and thank You so very much
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for the
privilege of serving You.
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We are thankful
that You have said
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in both Old and New Testament
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that You would never
leave us nor forsake us
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and that in times of
stress, in times of trial,
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in times when
our faith is tested,
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You will stand right beside us.
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We know and understand,
Lord, that in these last days
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our love for You will be tested,
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governments will test it,
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friends will test it,
family members will test it,
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those who
employers will test it,
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and many of us will
have to suffer a bit for You.
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But we know that
we do not suffer alone
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and that You are mindful
of everything that touches us
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because it also touches You.
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So bless us, Lord,
keep the doors of employment
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open for those of us
who would seek to have funds
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to serve Your kingdom,
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but more than that
give us faith and strength
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to stand every trial
that may come our way.
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Bless now this
message, this time
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that we spend together
with Elder Lincoln Steed.
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Fill us, feed us, inform
us, and prepare us to take
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one more step along that
road that leads to glory.
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We love You, we praise
You, and we thank You, Father,
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for Your promise to hear
and answer the prayer of faith
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in Jesus' name, amen and amen.
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Religious liberty, it's
always good to talk about it
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and this is
that time of the year
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where Liberty magazine
takes a particular emphasis
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and a reminder on
religious liberty.
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And talking about
religious liberty,
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it's impossible I think
to truly cover the topic
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without talking
about Jesus Christ.
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You know, on freedom
issues, people as diverse
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as Mahatma Gandhi,
Martin Luther King,
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and other figures have...
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Thomas Jefferson even
comes to mind have quoted
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from the words of Jesus Christ.
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He's been an
inspiration to people
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struggling for
freedom through the years.
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Jesus is very
much on my mind of late
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because only a few weeks ago,
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I went with the
3ABN Holy Land tour,
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and we spent some time retracing
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some of those wonderful events
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and places in the
life of Jesus Christ.
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And one thing
that stuck in my mind
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was early on in the tour,
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we're in the bus driving
around near the Sea of Galilee,
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we were up a
little bit on the road,
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and we could
look down the hillside
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and see the lake,
it's not very big.
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I don't know why
it's called the sea,
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but in the Bible there are
some pretty big storms on it.
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But we could look down
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and near
Capernaum the guide told us
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that this sort of an incline
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with the gully
in it was probably
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where Jesus spoke
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and gave the
Sermon on the Mount.
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I don't think we
can know for sure,
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but it was very
evocative of Jesus speech.
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And many times over
the years, I've spoken
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and preached about
the Sermon on the Mount
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because the best
way to understand that
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Sermon on the Mount
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is Jesus giving a
manifesto of His kingdom.
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And His Kingdom had
everything to do with freedom,
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with liberty.
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His very first
recorded public address
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was in the Book of
Acts I think it is.
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Sorry, the Book
of Luke Chapter 4,
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where he got up
there in the synagogue
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and read from Misere
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and said that the Spirit
of the Lord was upon Him,
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and had anointed
Him to proclaim liberty,
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freedom to set out
liberty those who are oppressed.
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And when Jesus
stood there on that mount,
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and we don't
know how tall it was,
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whether it was on
the top or on the side,
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but it was elevated enough
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so that he could speak
to thousands of people.
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And He proclaimed there
the principles of freedom
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and living for His kingdom.
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And I want to just remind
you of the opening of that.
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Very significant to me
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when I think
about religious liberty
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and old living
for Christ entails.
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In Matthew Chapter 5
in my Red Letter Edition,
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it begins with the
words of Jesus there.
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Verse 3, where He starts
with the beatitudes they call,
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bless it.
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And He says, blessed
are the poor in spirit,
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blessed are that they
mourn, blessed are the meek,
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blessed are they which hunger
and thirst after righteousness,
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blessed are the merciful,
blessed are the pure in heart,
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blessed are the peacemakers.
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These are the people
that make up God's kingdoms.
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These are the
free citizens of heaven
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already
established on this earth.
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And then in verse
10, he says, blessed...
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And this is toward the end
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of this opening
salvo of his manifesto,
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"Blessed are they
which are persecuted
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for righteousness' sake,
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for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven."
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Next verse, "Blessed are ye."
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So in case they misunderstood,
it wasn't someone else,
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it was them, his hearers,
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you and I,
those that follow Him.
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He says, "Blessed are ye,
when men shall revile you,
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and persecute you,
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and shall say old manner of evil
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against you falsely for my sake.
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Rejoice and be exceeding glad
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for great is
your reward in heaven
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for so
persecuted they the prophets
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which were before you."
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That's an incredible
reminder, an incredible promise
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if you like of a
blessing of sorts
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that comes with
following the kingdom of God.
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You are at enmity
with the kingdom of man,
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the kingdom of the
prince of this world.
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And it's worth remembering
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that it's a necessary
part of living the godly life.
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Also on our tour
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as part of the tour
of Jerusalem itself,
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we walked down toward the
central part of Jerusalem,
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and stopped at
the Mount of Olives,
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not a big mount.
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I know that in particular
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that's sort of a little hillock,
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but very
significant for reading about
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the life of Jesus.
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And you know in Matthew
24, and I've often mentioned
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this on sermons
on religious liberty,
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much later in Jesus' ministry.
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In fact right on the
threshold of His final passion,
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and the
persecution, and crucifixion,
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death, and resurrection.
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Jesus after His triumphal entry
posed on the Mount of Olives.
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And it says in this
chapter, in Chapter 24,
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"And as He sat upon the
Mount of Olives," verse 3,
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"the disciples
came to him privately."
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I like that.
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They were little bit
worried by what they had seen,
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and what He had
told them other times.
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They were worried,
they came to Him privately,
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and they said,
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"Tell us when
shall these things be
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and what should be
the signs of Your coming,
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and of the end of the world."
00:11:01.92\00:11:04.79
Now this I believe is a parallel
00:11:04.83\00:11:06.86
to the Sermon on the Mount.
00:11:06.90\00:11:08.23
Here in a truncated
form, He's going to tell them
00:11:08.26\00:11:13.07
what is involved
in bringing about
00:11:13.10\00:11:15.00
that final heavenly kingdom,
the end of all things here.
00:11:15.04\00:11:19.97
And He says, "Don't
let anyone deceive you."
00:11:20.01\00:11:23.14
Verse 5,
00:11:23.18\00:11:24.51
"For many shall
come in My name saying,
00:11:24.55\00:11:25.98
'I am Christ.'"
00:11:26.01\00:11:28.48
And you and I know
that, that's the case today.
00:11:28.52\00:11:30.45
There are many people who...
00:11:30.49\00:11:31.82
Even some of them
say they're Christ.
00:11:31.85\00:11:34.06
There was an
evangelist down Miami
00:11:34.09\00:11:36.26
that called
himself Jesus Christ.
00:11:36.29\00:11:38.09
But others act like
Christ, take the name of Christ,
00:11:38.13\00:11:40.90
take the
prerogatives of God upon them,
00:11:40.93\00:11:43.80
think that they can
speak as God to other people,
00:11:43.83\00:11:46.57
think that they can mandate
00:11:46.60\00:11:48.44
how other people should worship.
00:11:48.47\00:11:50.41
That's what He
was talking about,
00:11:50.44\00:11:51.77
"Don't be deceived," He said.
00:11:51.81\00:11:53.54
And you shall hear of
wars and rumors of wars.
00:11:53.58\00:11:57.65
I've got to tell you
when we were in Jerusalem
00:11:57.68\00:12:00.98
around Thanksgiving time,
00:12:01.02\00:12:02.45
we were hearing
plenty of rumors of wars,
00:12:02.48\00:12:05.35
just plain violence
was very much in evidence
00:12:05.39\00:12:08.49
of stabbing and violence against
00:12:08.52\00:12:09.86
Israeli citizens and tourists.
00:12:09.89\00:12:11.36
An American tourist
was stabbed in Bethlehem,
00:12:11.39\00:12:14.50
I think the day
before we went there.
00:12:14.53\00:12:16.43
And then on the way
back, my family and I stopped
00:12:16.46\00:12:18.50
in Istanbul for four nights.
00:12:18.53\00:12:21.44
While we were there,
00:12:21.47\00:12:23.47
the Turks shut
down a Russian jet.
00:12:23.51\00:12:26.91
And I can't say that the
Turks looked very sad about it
00:12:26.94\00:12:30.01
either, they were ready for war.
00:12:30.05\00:12:32.28
As it says, "The
nations are stirred for war
00:12:32.31\00:12:33.95
according to the Bible."
00:12:33.98\00:12:36.58
"Nation shall rise
against nation," says Jesus.
00:12:36.62\00:12:40.69
"And kingdom against kingdom.
00:12:40.72\00:12:42.06
And there shall be
famines, and pestilences,
00:12:42.09\00:12:44.36
and earthquakes
in diverse places.
00:12:44.39\00:12:46.83
And all these are
about the beginning
00:12:46.86\00:12:50.60
of the birth pangs, He said,
00:12:50.63\00:12:51.97
"The beginning of sorrows
00:12:52.00\00:12:53.34
and then they shall
deliver you out be afflicted,
00:12:53.37\00:12:57.97
and shall kill you,
00:12:58.01\00:12:59.34
and you shall be
hated of all nations
00:12:59.37\00:13:01.04
for My name's sake.
00:13:01.08\00:13:03.11
And then many shall be offended,
00:13:03.14\00:13:04.98
and shall betray one another,
and shall deceive many."
00:13:05.01\00:13:11.95
This is interesting.
00:13:11.99\00:13:14.62
When I think back
on what I've learned
00:13:14.66\00:13:17.33
of the history
of the Middle East
00:13:17.36\00:13:20.13
and, of course,
remember our tour
00:13:20.16\00:13:21.73
of what it is like today.
00:13:21.76\00:13:23.10
But, you know, try as they might
00:13:23.13\00:13:25.30
these places that we
go to sort of to recover
00:13:25.33\00:13:28.60
some of the
reality of Jesus' presence
00:13:28.64\00:13:30.77
and the Bible characters.
00:13:30.81\00:13:33.68
The best I can
imagine with some of it
00:13:33.71\00:13:35.51
sort of recreated
in how the Crusaders,
00:13:35.54\00:13:38.08
maybe in the 11th or
12th century imagined
00:13:38.11\00:13:40.75
it was in the time of
Jesus more than a century
00:13:40.78\00:13:43.45
or even earlier than that.
00:13:43.49\00:13:46.72
It's very difficult.
00:13:46.76\00:13:48.52
But one thing we know,
00:13:48.56\00:13:50.93
one thing that is
abundantly obvious.
00:13:50.96\00:13:52.73
And Jesus went
on to speak of it.
00:13:52.76\00:13:55.73
In His day
00:13:55.76\00:13:57.70
there were wars
and rumors of war.
00:13:57.73\00:14:01.64
In His day there was
religious antagonism.
00:14:01.67\00:14:06.14
Many Christians,
00:14:06.17\00:14:07.51
particular
reading the New Testament,
00:14:07.54\00:14:08.98
I think gloss over,
00:14:09.01\00:14:11.08
sort of ignore,
or don't understand
00:14:11.11\00:14:13.55
the very literal
religious war that was raging
00:14:13.58\00:14:15.95
within the Jewish community
00:14:15.98\00:14:17.82
between the
Pharisees and the Sadducees.
00:14:17.85\00:14:19.92
It was every bit as bitter
as we see in the Muslim world
00:14:19.95\00:14:23.29
between the
Shiites and the Sunni.
00:14:23.32\00:14:27.16
And Jesus took them both on.
00:14:27.20\00:14:29.16
And then both of those
factions just like warring
00:14:29.20\00:14:31.77
family members often
when the police come,
00:14:31.80\00:14:33.64
they can be, you know,
00:14:33.67\00:14:35.00
hitting and slapping each other,
00:14:35.04\00:14:37.01
and the police come,
and they both turn on them.
00:14:37.04\00:14:40.98
And both of those
factions and other factions
00:14:41.01\00:14:43.01
within the Jewish
community just immediately
00:14:43.04\00:14:45.61
after Jesus'
death and resurrection,
00:14:45.65\00:14:48.88
then turned on the Romans.
00:14:48.92\00:14:50.59
But even in Jesus'
lifetime, during His ministry
00:14:50.62\00:14:54.32
there was a subtext of
revolution and rebellion.
00:14:54.36\00:14:59.33
One of His
disciples was a zealot.
00:14:59.36\00:15:01.63
The thieves
circled on the cross,
00:15:01.66\00:15:04.23
they were not thieves.
00:15:04.27\00:15:05.83
Thievery was not
a capital offense
00:15:05.87\00:15:07.47
with the Romans, not
a crucifying offense,
00:15:07.50\00:15:09.90
it was rebellion.
00:15:09.94\00:15:11.27
We know that
there was an agitation
00:15:14.08\00:15:17.45
all during Jesus'
life that came to a head
00:15:17.48\00:15:19.71
only a few decades
after His ministry,
00:15:19.75\00:15:22.62
in an open
rebellion against Rome.
00:15:22.65\00:15:26.39
And a year or so ago,
when I was last in Rome,
00:15:26.42\00:15:28.82
I remember seeing there in that,
00:15:28.86\00:15:30.26
in the ancient
part of the old city
00:15:30.29\00:15:33.76
of Rome there,
00:15:33.80\00:15:35.53
the Arch of Titus
engraved with pictures
00:15:35.56\00:15:38.97
of the Roman soldiers
taking the booty back to Rome
00:15:39.00\00:15:41.70
from pillaging and
destroying Jerusalem.
00:15:41.74\00:15:43.87
And they are the instruments
of the temple are very obvious,
00:15:43.91\00:15:46.88
the Ark of the
Tabernacle I think is even shown
00:15:46.91\00:15:50.75
which is interesting
00:15:50.78\00:15:52.11
because it's not
known where it is.
00:15:52.15\00:15:56.69
Rebellion, threat, violence,
it was all in the context
00:15:56.72\00:16:02.32
of religion in Jesus' day.
00:16:02.36\00:16:05.66
All in the context of religion.
00:16:05.69\00:16:09.70
There's a book that
I know I've mentioned
00:16:09.73\00:16:11.37
before in sermons on 3ABN
00:16:11.40\00:16:13.70
and certainly many
as I travel around.
00:16:13.74\00:16:15.84
And it's a book that
shows how this did not finish
00:16:15.87\00:16:19.67
even in that time.
00:16:19.71\00:16:21.38
The Foxe's Book of Martyrs
was first pulled together
00:16:21.41\00:16:26.61
by Protestants a few
decades after Martin Luther.
00:16:26.65\00:16:32.15
Martin Luther King was
named after the great reformer,
00:16:32.19\00:16:34.36
but Martin Luther
in Germany rose up,
00:16:34.39\00:16:39.06
tried to reform the
then mainline church
00:16:39.09\00:16:41.66
which was the
Roman Catholic Church,
00:16:41.70\00:16:43.16
and it failed,
and he was forced out,
00:16:43.20\00:16:45.90
and founded one of
the Protestant factions
00:16:45.93\00:16:49.34
in Germany, Lutheranism.
00:16:49.37\00:16:51.91
But Foxe's Book of
Martyrs puts in a great sweep,
00:16:51.94\00:16:56.81
a record of the
persecution through the ages,
00:16:56.85\00:17:00.58
starting with the
persecutions by pagan Rome,
00:17:00.62\00:17:05.22
but an awful lot of
it is recounting the time
00:17:05.25\00:17:08.39
during the
Protestant Reformation,
00:17:08.42\00:17:10.93
and then even a little bit later
00:17:10.96\00:17:13.50
when Protestantism was
fighting for its very existence.
00:17:13.53\00:17:16.77
I want to share a
little bit of what was in this
00:17:16.80\00:17:20.04
because I don't think
people are reading it today,
00:17:20.07\00:17:21.70
I don't think they understand
00:17:21.74\00:17:23.44
the continuing
wars and rumors of wars,
00:17:23.47\00:17:26.27
and the stakes that are at
play in religious infighting.
00:17:26.31\00:17:30.71
These are quotes directly
from a book printed in 1563,
00:17:33.55\00:17:37.25
updated through the years.
00:17:37.29\00:17:38.75
But it says, "Thus far
our history of persecution
00:17:38.79\00:17:42.29
has been confined
principally to the pagan world.
00:17:42.32\00:17:45.33
We come now to a
period when persecution
00:17:45.36\00:17:47.70
under the guise of Christianity,
00:17:47.73\00:17:49.96
committed more
enormities than ever disgraced
00:17:50.00\00:17:53.57
the annals of paganism.
00:17:53.60\00:17:55.27
Disregarding the maxims
and the spirit of the gospel,
00:17:55.30\00:17:58.34
the medieval
church, arming herself
00:17:58.37\00:18:00.98
with the power of the
sword, vexed the Church of God,
00:18:01.01\00:18:04.25
and wasted it for
several centuries,
00:18:04.28\00:18:06.25
a period most
appropriately termed in history,
00:18:06.28\00:18:09.58
the dark ages."
00:18:09.62\00:18:13.36
And then elsewhere
picking up a few pages later,
00:18:13.39\00:18:15.72
it says, "Of the multitudes
who perished by the Inquisition
00:18:15.76\00:18:19.39
throughout the
world, no authentic record
00:18:19.43\00:18:21.16
is now discoverable."
00:18:21.20\00:18:23.60
That was said in
a document from Rome
00:18:23.63\00:18:25.80
which very happily
apologized for the Inquisition
00:18:25.83\00:18:29.17
a few years ago.
00:18:29.20\00:18:31.07
But, you know, it's
not so easily dismissed,
00:18:31.11\00:18:32.87
it needs to be recognized.
00:18:32.91\00:18:34.84
And in the apology
document it said the same thing,
00:18:34.88\00:18:37.15
we can't know.
00:18:37.18\00:18:38.98
But what does
Foxe's Book of Martyrs say,
00:18:39.01\00:18:42.15
"In Spain the
calculation is attainable.
00:18:42.18\00:18:46.12
Each of the 17
tribunals during a long period
00:18:46.15\00:18:49.02
burned annually on an
average, 10 miserable beings..."
00:18:49.06\00:18:52.23
But there were many tribunals.
00:18:52.26\00:18:54.00
"We are to recollect that
this number was in a country
00:18:54.03\00:18:56.46
where persecution had for ages
00:18:56.50\00:18:59.03
abolished all
religious differences,
00:18:59.07\00:19:02.50
and where the difficulty
was not to find the stake,
00:19:02.54\00:19:05.61
but the offering."
00:19:05.64\00:19:07.88
As it used to say
about Ferdinand and Isabella,
00:19:07.91\00:19:09.88
they're good
Christian majesties,
00:19:09.91\00:19:11.31
this was a Christian country.
00:19:11.35\00:19:12.88
Who were the
heretics they were burning?
00:19:12.91\00:19:15.88
Yet, even in Spain,
thus cleaned of all heresy,
00:19:15.92\00:19:19.32
the Inquisition
could still swell
00:19:19.35\00:19:22.02
its list of murders to 32,000.
00:19:22.06\00:19:26.70
"The numbers burned in
effigy, or condemned to penance,
00:19:26.73\00:19:29.66
punishments
generally equivalent to exile,
00:19:29.70\00:19:32.03
confiscation, or
taint of blood, to all ruin
00:19:32.07\00:19:34.70
but the mere loss
of worthless life,
00:19:34.74\00:19:36.74
amounted to 309,000.
00:19:36.77\00:19:40.41
But the crowds who
perished in dungeons of torture,
00:19:40.44\00:19:43.18
of confinement,
and of broken hearts,
00:19:43.21\00:19:45.81
the millions of dependent
lives made utterly helpless,
00:19:45.85\00:19:48.52
or hurried to the grave
by the death of the victims,
00:19:48.55\00:19:50.79
are beyond all register,
or recorded only before Him,
00:19:50.82\00:19:55.56
who has sworn that."
00:19:55.59\00:19:57.59
And the Bible quote,
00:19:57.63\00:19:58.96
"He that leadeth into captivity,
00:19:58.99\00:20:00.36
shall go into captivity:
00:20:00.40\00:20:02.16
he that killeth with the sword
must be killed with the sword."
00:20:02.20\00:20:05.50
And then it gives
some individual examples.
00:20:08.64\00:20:10.94
And these ones are from England,
00:20:10.97\00:20:12.54
but they are very
interesting, very interesting.
00:20:12.57\00:20:14.71
And I doubt most
people have read these.
00:20:14.74\00:20:16.24
That's why I'd
like to share them.
00:20:16.28\00:20:18.08
It says in 1532, Thomas Harding,
00:20:18.11\00:20:21.12
who with his wife had
been accused of heresy.
00:20:21.15\00:20:24.05
I thought about this
sort of action recently
00:20:25.92\00:20:29.19
when Saudi Arabia,
a medieval kingdom,
00:20:29.22\00:20:32.69
as one of the
professors on television
00:20:32.73\00:20:35.86
the other day defending
their recent actions said,
00:20:35.90\00:20:38.33
"You know, ruled by
Sharia law. We follow the law."
00:20:38.37\00:20:41.54
I thought of it very similar.
00:20:41.57\00:20:43.64
Accused of heresy,
00:20:43.67\00:20:46.44
was brought before
the Bishop of Lincoln
00:20:46.47\00:20:48.31
and condemned for denying
00:20:48.34\00:20:50.45
the real
presence in the sacrament,
00:20:50.48\00:20:53.45
that's transubstantiation.
00:20:53.48\00:20:55.25
In another words,
when it's elevated,
00:20:55.28\00:20:57.29
when it's sanctified
that little piece of bread
00:20:57.32\00:21:00.39
is no longer a piece
of bread, it's flesh.
00:21:00.42\00:21:03.53
And what did the pagan Romans
persecute the Christians for?
00:21:03.56\00:21:07.53
Cannibalistic sacrifices.
00:21:09.46\00:21:11.10
That must have been
where's the idea came from,
00:21:11.13\00:21:13.60
a perversion of what
Jesus so wonderfully laid down
00:21:13.64\00:21:16.84
and celebrating
the Passover service.
00:21:16.87\00:21:20.01
So he denied this.
00:21:20.04\00:21:21.38
And it says,
00:21:21.41\00:21:22.74
"Thomas Harding was
then chained to a stake,
00:21:22.78\00:21:25.71
erected for the purpose,
00:21:25.75\00:21:27.08
at Chesham in the
Pell, near Botely..."
00:21:27.12\00:21:29.75
Don't know where
that it is in England.
00:21:29.78\00:21:31.35
"And when they had
set fire to the faggots,
00:21:31.39\00:21:33.32
one of the spectators
00:21:33.36\00:21:34.76
dashed out his
brains with a bullet.
00:21:34.79\00:21:37.39
The priests told these people
00:21:37.43\00:21:39.16
that whoever brought
faggots to burn heretics
00:21:39.19\00:21:41.73
would have an indulgence
to commit sin for 40 days.
00:21:41.76\00:21:45.60
During the latter
part of this year,
00:21:45.63\00:21:47.97
the writer goes,
00:21:48.00\00:21:49.34
Worham,
archbishop of Canterbury,
00:21:49.37\00:21:50.71
apprehended one
Hitten, a priest at Maidstone,
00:21:50.74\00:21:54.11
and after he had been
long tortured in prison,
00:21:54.14\00:21:56.54
and several times
examined by the archbishop,
00:21:56.58\00:21:59.15
he was condemned as a
heretic, and burnt alive
00:21:59.18\00:22:02.72
before the door of
his own parish church."
00:22:02.75\00:22:05.09
So it wasn't just
against parishioners,
00:22:05.12\00:22:07.79
even the clerics in essence
lived in fear of their lives
00:22:07.82\00:22:11.59
from overly enthusiastic priests
00:22:11.63\00:22:17.83
who were determined to
create their own orthodoxy.
00:22:17.87\00:22:21.27
As Jesus said,
"These are the things
00:22:21.30\00:22:24.81
that will define
the time of trouble.
00:22:24.84\00:22:27.08
Not the wars, not the
famines, not the pestilences,
00:22:27.11\00:22:29.94
these are the
beginning of the birth pangs.
00:22:29.98\00:22:31.88
It's the persecution,
the spirit of the antichrist,
00:22:31.91\00:22:35.08
the spirit of the
wicked one that defines
00:22:35.12\00:22:41.16
where we're heading,
not these other signs."
00:22:41.19\00:22:43.76
And then one more, it says...
00:22:43.79\00:22:48.06
I'm skipping over
one of the stories,
00:22:48.10\00:22:49.43
but one I want to
share is the next person
00:22:49.46\00:22:54.10
that suffered
was John Tewkesbury.
00:22:54.14\00:22:56.50
He was a plain simple man
00:22:56.54\00:22:59.01
who had been
guilty of no other offense
00:22:59.04\00:23:02.38
against what was
called the Holy Mother Church
00:23:02.41\00:23:05.11
than that of reading
Tyndale's translation
00:23:05.15\00:23:07.98
of the New Testament.
00:23:08.02\00:23:09.35
At first, he was
weak enough to abjure.
00:23:10.19\00:23:12.05
In other words to apologize,
but afterward repented
00:23:12.09\00:23:16.52
and acknowledged the truth.
00:23:16.56\00:23:17.89
For this he was brought
before the Bishop of London,
00:23:17.93\00:23:20.23
who condemned him as
an obstinate heretic.
00:23:20.26\00:23:23.33
He suffered greatly
00:23:23.37\00:23:26.20
during the time
of his imprisonment.
00:23:26.23\00:23:28.20
So that when they
brought him out to execution,
00:23:28.24\00:23:30.27
he was almost dead.
00:23:30.31\00:23:31.64
He was conducted to
the stake in Smithville
00:23:31.67\00:23:34.08
where he was burned
declaring his utter abhorrence
00:23:34.11\00:23:38.31
of the system of
the church at that time,
00:23:38.35\00:23:40.38
and professing a firm belief
00:23:40.42\00:23:42.38
that his cause was
just in the sight of God.
00:23:42.42\00:23:45.29
You know, in Hebrews
it says that these people,
00:23:45.32\00:23:48.26
the world is not worthy of them,
00:23:48.29\00:23:50.76
and that these are the
heroes, the heroes of faith.
00:23:50.79\00:23:54.90
It's a wonderful record
that we have and a reminder.
00:23:56.63\00:24:00.94
But as I say, Jesus at
the beginning of His ministry,
00:24:00.97\00:24:04.84
Sermon on the Mount,
00:24:04.87\00:24:06.21
at the end of His
ministry on the Mount of Olives,
00:24:06.24\00:24:09.34
told us this must be
and it shouldn't perplex us
00:24:09.38\00:24:15.52
to see not just pagans,
antagonistic to the faith.
00:24:15.55\00:24:20.92
But in reality pagans
have never really been
00:24:20.96\00:24:24.13
quite as antagonistic
as those of the faith
00:24:24.16\00:24:28.06
who imagine that
they have all the faith
00:24:28.10\00:24:29.66
and are willing
to persecute others
00:24:29.70\00:24:31.10
for being a little different.
00:24:31.13\00:24:33.17
And I believe at the moment
00:24:33.20\00:24:34.57
and really the West
should understand this more,
00:24:34.60\00:24:36.97
what we're seeing in
Islam between Shiites and Sunni
00:24:37.01\00:24:40.78
is a replay in
their faith system
00:24:40.81\00:24:43.95
of what existed in the
Middle Ages in Christianity,
00:24:43.98\00:24:46.92
and will again rear
its head within Christendom
00:24:46.95\00:24:51.29
to use an old
term and a term that
00:24:51.32\00:24:53.15
I as a Seventh-day Adventist
00:24:53.19\00:24:54.52
recognize often in reading
the writings of Ellen White
00:24:54.56\00:24:58.66
who wrote so many helpful things
00:24:58.69\00:25:00.40
to the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:25:00.43\00:25:02.16
There is a parallel that
I want to make in a document
00:25:06.63\00:25:12.27
that came out fairly recently,
but it troubled me greatly.
00:25:12.31\00:25:16.51
I read documents from
many different churches,
00:25:16.54\00:25:18.98
from many different sources.
00:25:19.01\00:25:21.68
None of them are straight
from the throne of grace
00:25:21.72\00:25:26.25
to use that term.
00:25:26.29\00:25:28.46
None of them are absolute evil,
00:25:28.49\00:25:30.03
but some of
them have within them
00:25:30.06\00:25:32.16
the kernel of mischief,
the kernel of fulfilling
00:25:32.19\00:25:35.40
what Jesus
predicted for our time.
00:25:35.43\00:25:38.50
And there was a
document that came out
00:25:38.53\00:25:40.64
a few years ago
called Caritas in veritate,
00:25:40.67\00:25:46.31
charity in truth, it
was by a previous pope.
00:25:46.34\00:25:50.68
And I'm sure it was
written by many good churchmen
00:25:50.71\00:25:54.48
in the Roman Catholic faith,
00:25:54.52\00:25:56.79
perhaps even
with good intention.
00:25:56.82\00:25:59.32
You know, who am I to say
00:25:59.35\00:26:01.96
what's in the person's
mind when they do something?
00:26:01.99\00:26:03.96
But I can say,
and you should say,
00:26:03.99\00:26:05.96
and we should
recognize as Jesus told us to
00:26:05.99\00:26:09.16
when something is
the wrong dynamic,
00:26:09.20\00:26:13.00
it's not from above.
00:26:13.03\00:26:14.37
And the key and I'll
repeat it perhaps later again,
00:26:15.97\00:26:19.17
the key on religious
liberty, it doesn't matter
00:26:19.21\00:26:22.71
whether you're talking
about Adventism, Catholicism,
00:26:22.74\00:26:26.11
Methodism, the
Baptist church or whatever.
00:26:26.15\00:26:29.38
There are real
doctrinal differences,
00:26:29.42\00:26:31.55
but you will know
something is wrong
00:26:31.59\00:26:34.29
from a religious
liberty perspective,
00:26:34.32\00:26:36.96
when coercion is involved.
00:26:36.99\00:26:40.06
That is the key,
without coercion.
00:26:40.10\00:26:43.80
You know, God looks at the heart
00:26:43.83\00:26:45.27
and we're all called
to follow our conscience.
00:26:45.30\00:26:48.04
And you and I should fight
for the right of all peoples
00:26:48.07\00:26:51.41
to seek God where He may
be found as the Bible said.
00:26:51.44\00:26:54.58
And hope that He will
lead them into all truth.
00:26:54.61\00:26:57.21
But when someone,
churchmen or a politician
00:26:57.25\00:27:03.08
tries to use force or the law
00:27:03.12\00:27:05.49
which amounts to the
same thing to compel someone
00:27:05.52\00:27:08.16
to believe as they
believe, it's wrong.
00:27:08.19\00:27:11.09
And this document
which covered the many ills
00:27:11.13\00:27:17.33
that are present
in the world today.
00:27:17.37\00:27:19.40
This document
looking at things like
00:27:19.43\00:27:24.34
sovereignty of
nations, worker relations,
00:27:24.37\00:27:29.28
financial
instruments in countries,
00:27:29.31\00:27:31.98
even wars and so on.
00:27:32.01\00:27:33.62
This document said that...
00:27:33.65\00:27:36.18
At the end of it, it said that
00:27:36.22\00:27:37.55
there is a need
for a global authority
00:27:37.59\00:27:40.92
to handle all of this.
00:27:40.96\00:27:42.49
A global
authority with the power
00:27:42.52\00:27:45.23
to act and to enforce.
00:27:45.26\00:27:48.53
It seems to me I've
read something like that
00:27:50.70\00:27:52.50
in the Bible in
Revelation 13, I'm sure.
00:27:52.53\00:27:58.04
Revelation 13:11.
00:27:58.07\00:28:01.48
And these beasts presented here
and they're clearly identified
00:28:01.51\00:28:04.68
with the powers
that exist in our day.
00:28:04.71\00:28:06.98
And it says, "And I
behold another beast,"
00:28:07.02\00:28:08.38
in verse 11,
"coming out of the earth,
00:28:08.42\00:28:09.92
and he had two
horns like a lamb,
00:28:09.95\00:28:11.69
and he spoke as a dragon."
00:28:11.72\00:28:13.25
The dragon is the Tanach.
00:28:13.29\00:28:14.92
"And he exercised all the power
of the first beast before him,
00:28:14.96\00:28:18.03
and caused the earth,
00:28:18.06\00:28:19.39
and then the dwell therein
to worship the first beast,
00:28:19.43\00:28:21.86
whose deadly wound was healed.
00:28:21.90\00:28:23.73
And he doeth greet
wonders, and he deceived them."
00:28:23.77\00:28:26.47
In verse 13, "And he had
power to give life unto it."
00:28:26.50\00:28:30.84
And in verse 16,"
And it caused all,
00:28:30.87\00:28:32.87
both small and
great, rich and poor,
00:28:32.91\00:28:34.84
free and bond
to receive a mark."
00:28:34.88\00:28:37.45
And in verse 17, "That no man
00:28:37.48\00:28:39.25
that might buy or sell saved
00:28:39.28\00:28:40.82
if he had had the mark
or the name of the beast."
00:28:40.85\00:28:43.85
It's enforcement.
00:28:43.89\00:28:46.65
You know, perhaps
as things take place,
00:28:46.69\00:28:48.26
we'll see it more
closely what is predicted.
00:28:48.29\00:28:50.26
But the outlines are very plain.
00:28:50.29\00:28:53.93
It's not necessarily globalism
00:28:53.96\00:28:56.06
which many people are afraid of,
00:28:56.10\00:28:57.43
but it's the type of
thing that globalism aspires to,
00:28:57.47\00:29:00.67
controlling the masses.
00:29:00.70\00:29:03.14
It's the type of
thing that great churches,
00:29:03.17\00:29:05.77
great church confederacies
with political power
00:29:05.81\00:29:08.18
have aspired through the ages
using the power of the state
00:29:08.21\00:29:12.28
to enforce their dictates.
00:29:12.31\00:29:15.18
And it will happen, it's coming.
00:29:15.22\00:29:16.75
Back in September,
I had the privilege
00:29:19.89\00:29:23.79
to stand at the front, I
think it is of the Capitol.
00:29:23.83\00:29:27.96
I live in Washington,
00:29:28.00\00:29:29.33
and I often
drive past the Capitol,
00:29:29.36\00:29:30.70
and go down there
sometimes for meetings.
00:29:30.73\00:29:32.83
And I always think of the front
00:29:32.87\00:29:35.00
around where the steps
are on near the Supreme Court,
00:29:35.04\00:29:38.44
where most people enter.
00:29:38.47\00:29:39.81
But I think technically
the front is the lawn
00:29:39.84\00:29:42.64
on the lower side.
00:29:42.68\00:29:44.88
In September 24,
with 55,000 other people
00:29:44.91\00:29:49.85
according to
one of the officials
00:29:49.88\00:29:51.65
that I asked at the time,
00:29:51.69\00:29:53.66
50 some 1000
people gathered there
00:29:53.69\00:29:55.59
expectantly to
hear a church leader
00:29:55.62\00:29:59.69
speak for the first time
00:29:59.73\00:30:02.10
such a thing that ever happened,
00:30:02.13\00:30:03.53
speak to the legislators
00:30:03.57\00:30:05.53
of the Congress
of the United States,
00:30:05.57\00:30:08.90
the senators
and the congressmen,
00:30:08.94\00:30:10.87
a joint session of Congress.
00:30:10.91\00:30:12.37
It had never happened before.
00:30:12.41\00:30:15.98
And in fact it's rare
00:30:16.01\00:30:17.35
that even the head of
states speaks to them.
00:30:17.38\00:30:21.22
Many of our viewers
will probably remember
00:30:21.25\00:30:23.82
Benjamin Netanyahu
coming and speaking,
00:30:23.85\00:30:26.82
and all the few
that came from that
00:30:26.86\00:30:28.96
when he indulged his
own aggressive agenda,
00:30:28.99\00:30:32.43
not just for his country,
00:30:32.46\00:30:33.83
but intruded
into political affairs
00:30:33.86\00:30:35.73
of the United States.
00:30:35.76\00:30:37.10
It was not good.
00:30:37.13\00:30:39.80
But how more tenuous,
how more inappropriate is it
00:30:39.83\00:30:44.27
for the head of a church
00:30:44.31\00:30:46.04
who happens to
have a very small state
00:30:46.07\00:30:49.28
which is sort of
the ultimate threat
00:30:49.31\00:30:50.98
to a republic
like the United States
00:30:51.01\00:30:54.22
that's premised on the
separation of church and state,
00:30:54.25\00:30:56.99
for him to be
speaking as a power.
00:30:57.02\00:31:00.92
And it was captivating
to me to actually be there
00:31:00.96\00:31:03.39
on that occasion to know
that history was being made.
00:31:03.43\00:31:06.80
And the white
cassock of Pope Francis
00:31:09.70\00:31:13.30
was most impressive,
00:31:13.34\00:31:14.84
we watching on the Videotron
while he was speaking inside,
00:31:14.87\00:31:18.47
but then he came
out on the balcony.
00:31:18.51\00:31:19.97
And, you know, the
whole, if not the whole world
00:31:20.01\00:31:23.95
and the whole in this
United States were wondering.
00:31:23.98\00:31:26.72
It's almost like behold the man.
00:31:28.52\00:31:30.75
You know, you can
put it down to good PR,
00:31:32.72\00:31:34.59
good promotion of the
agenda of this organization.
00:31:34.62\00:31:40.56
But I look at history, I
look at the spiritual reality
00:31:40.60\00:31:44.90
of what's being played
out and it's not right.
00:31:44.93\00:31:47.84
Jesus meek and mild, and lowly,
00:31:49.57\00:31:51.74
what would He say of any leader?
00:31:51.77\00:31:55.08
You know, if the
president of my church,
00:31:55.11\00:31:57.35
the Seventh-day Adventist
church took on such is,
00:31:57.38\00:32:01.15
I would take issue with that.
00:32:01.18\00:32:04.29
If the head of the Mormon Church
00:32:04.32\00:32:08.09
imagine to speak for
America or to America
00:32:08.12\00:32:11.16
and tell them what to do,
00:32:11.19\00:32:12.59
I would wonder
where we're coming from.
00:32:12.63\00:32:15.63
And so I think I should
be excused as a Protestant
00:32:15.66\00:32:18.70
in a once majority
Protestant society to think
00:32:18.73\00:32:21.94
something's not right here.
00:32:21.97\00:32:27.04
And as I analyze the speech,
00:32:27.08\00:32:28.71
as I analyze the
dynamic of what was going on,
00:32:28.74\00:32:31.65
I don't think we are far removed
00:32:31.68\00:32:35.58
from what Jesus
predicted for our day,
00:32:35.62\00:32:38.15
that there will be some sort of
00:32:38.19\00:32:40.22
interfaith
violence unfortunately.
00:32:40.26\00:32:43.69
Previous pope very cleverly,
Pope Benedict put out a...
00:32:43.73\00:32:49.43
Well, actually in a
sermon he put out once
00:32:49.46\00:32:51.43
that the greatest
threat to the nonviolence
00:32:51.47\00:32:53.64
of Christians was the
work of the reformers.
00:32:53.67\00:32:57.41
And I thought
that was sort of rude.
00:32:57.44\00:33:00.84
Because he said their insistence
00:33:00.88\00:33:02.31
on Sola scriptura
00:33:02.34\00:33:03.95
exposed
Christianity to violence.
00:33:03.98\00:33:05.75
That's not true.
00:33:05.78\00:33:07.12
Foxe's Book of
Martyrs shows that's not so.
00:33:08.38\00:33:12.95
Those that believed in the Bible
00:33:12.99\00:33:15.49
and the Bible only went so
passively to the slaughter.
00:33:15.52\00:33:19.19
It was not violence, it
was violence against them.
00:33:19.23\00:33:22.26
But as I heard Francis speak,
00:33:24.63\00:33:27.97
what struck me is
how political it was.
00:33:28.00\00:33:32.41
What struck me
as while he himself
00:33:32.44\00:33:34.74
looked like a Christ figure?
00:33:34.78\00:33:36.11
I don't remember
him mentioning Christ,
00:33:36.14\00:33:38.85
but I'll tell
you who he mentioned
00:33:38.88\00:33:40.78
at the beginning of the speech
which was called Laudato Si',
00:33:40.82\00:33:44.85
Praise be to You my Lord.
00:33:44.89\00:33:46.72
He said in the words of
this beautiful canticle.
00:33:46.76\00:33:48.92
I'm reading from the speech,
00:33:48.96\00:33:50.56
"Saint Francis
of Assisi reminds us
00:33:50.59\00:33:53.73
of this our common
home that it's like a sister
00:33:53.76\00:33:56.77
with whom we share our
life, and a beautiful mother
00:33:56.80\00:33:59.17
who opens her
arms to embrace us.
00:33:59.20\00:34:01.60
The sister now cries out to us
00:34:01.64\00:34:03.84
because of the harm
we have inflicted on her
00:34:03.87\00:34:05.77
by our irresponsible
use and abuse of the goods
00:34:05.81\00:34:08.88
with which God had endowed her."
00:34:08.91\00:34:10.25
These are reasonable sentiments,
00:34:10.28\00:34:11.61
but the imagery is troubling.
00:34:11.65\00:34:14.08
It says, "We have
come to see ourselves
00:34:14.12\00:34:15.58
as her lords and masters."
00:34:15.62\00:34:17.52
And it goes on and on
about a queen like figure.
00:34:17.55\00:34:22.29
And I thought of
Jeremiah, you know,
00:34:22.32\00:34:23.86
in the Old
Testament twice in Jeremiah
00:34:23.89\00:34:25.86
it talks about people
praying to the queen of heaven,
00:34:25.89\00:34:30.20
not a godly figure.
00:34:30.23\00:34:33.47
Someone that's indentified with
Ishtar, Astarte, or Ashtoreth.
00:34:33.50\00:34:40.34
But that's been incorporated
into religious thinking.
00:34:40.38\00:34:42.94
And here we are encouraged
00:34:42.98\00:34:44.58
to think sort of
pagan rationality.
00:34:44.61\00:34:49.85
And Jesus is
forgotten, but so be it.
00:34:49.88\00:34:54.32
You know, you could allow that,
00:34:54.36\00:34:55.69
but think a little
bit more of what was said.
00:34:55.72\00:34:58.83
The pope very kindly
mentioned Abraham Lincoln.
00:34:58.86\00:35:03.13
He actually
mentioned four people.
00:35:06.63\00:35:08.70
Well actually five people,
00:35:08.74\00:35:10.07
but his speech was
premised on four people.
00:35:10.11\00:35:12.14
It was Abraham
Lincoln, Martin Luther King,
00:35:12.17\00:35:15.34
and then two Roman Catholics,
Dorothy Day, a socialist nun,
00:35:15.38\00:35:19.35
and Thomas
Merton, a mystic priest,
00:35:19.38\00:35:22.32
who was very
interested in eastern religions
00:35:22.35\00:35:24.29
and bringing them
together with Christianity.
00:35:24.32\00:35:27.32
But I was taken with his
mention of Abraham Lincoln,
00:35:27.36\00:35:29.66
it was the 150th anniversary
00:35:29.69\00:35:32.69
of Abraham
Lincoln's assassination,
00:35:32.73\00:35:37.20
as it was also clustered
around the 24th of March,
00:35:37.23\00:35:42.70
it was a time
of two blood moons,
00:35:42.74\00:35:45.01
it was the time of
the Day of Atonement,
00:35:45.04\00:35:47.68
that was a very high
holy day for the Muslims.
00:35:47.71\00:35:51.51
There was the
Jubilee, a special Jubilee.
00:35:51.55\00:35:55.05
You couldn't
have got a better day
00:35:55.08\00:35:56.42
if you went and looked
in the entrails of a goat.
00:35:56.45\00:35:59.25
It was most auspicious.
00:35:59.29\00:36:02.56
And then he
mentioned Abraham Lincoln,
00:36:02.59\00:36:04.36
and I love history.
00:36:04.39\00:36:06.80
And I thought,
"What's going on here?"
00:36:06.83\00:36:08.86
This is a Protestant society,
not a Protestant government.
00:36:08.90\00:36:12.47
Unfortunately,
00:36:12.50\00:36:13.84
too many Protestant
activists in the United States
00:36:13.87\00:36:16.54
think that it's a
Christian republic,
00:36:16.57\00:36:18.37
it never was,
it's a secular state.
00:36:18.41\00:36:20.78
But the society used to be
00:36:20.81\00:36:23.41
and still is
theoretically biased
00:36:23.45\00:36:26.58
toward Protestant sensibilities
00:36:26.61\00:36:28.88
because much of the Constitution
00:36:28.92\00:36:31.65
even its origin to an
attempt to keep it bay
00:36:31.69\00:36:34.86
some of the ills
of the old world.
00:36:34.89\00:36:37.06
It was Protestant thinking.
00:36:37.09\00:36:40.43
And Abraham
Lincoln's assassination got me.
00:36:40.46\00:36:42.70
I felt why is he so solicitous
about Abraham Lincoln.
00:36:42.73\00:36:46.74
And I've remembered my history,
00:36:46.77\00:36:48.84
you know, it was a time
when Abraham Lincoln was shot,
00:36:48.87\00:36:51.24
it was a civil war.
00:36:51.27\00:36:52.64
We know what the
civil war is like in Syria.
00:36:52.67\00:36:55.11
Chaos, murder, and
mayhem on all fronts.
00:36:55.14\00:36:58.15
Although, Washington
00:36:58.18\00:36:59.51
seems to have been
a little bit calmer
00:36:59.55\00:37:00.88
than you would have expected
00:37:00.92\00:37:02.25
because even
during the civil war
00:37:02.28\00:37:03.65
Abraham Lincoln
complained bitterly
00:37:03.69\00:37:06.02
actually that he could
be at lunch with his family
00:37:06.05\00:37:08.42
and people just
wander in to talk with him
00:37:08.46\00:37:10.73
and some harangue with him.
00:37:10.76\00:37:12.23
So, you know, it
wasn't the security state
00:37:12.26\00:37:14.10
we imagine now.
00:37:14.13\00:37:16.80
But the story of
his assassination
00:37:16.83\00:37:19.70
was quite as
sharply drawn in his time
00:37:19.73\00:37:23.81
because it wasn't
just John Wilkes Booth,
00:37:23.84\00:37:26.41
an aspiring...
00:37:26.44\00:37:28.28
Well, he was a,
you know, an actor,
00:37:28.31\00:37:30.45
but an aspiring great actor
00:37:30.48\00:37:31.95
who thundered
out that Latin term,
00:37:31.98\00:37:34.62
you know, "thus die all tyrants"
00:37:34.65\00:37:36.15
as he shot Abraham Lincoln.
00:37:36.18\00:37:37.52
It was a conspiracy.
00:37:37.55\00:37:39.45
There were at
least 11 people involved.
00:37:39.49\00:37:43.56
Several of them were hanged,
several got life sentences,
00:37:43.59\00:37:47.76
and most of the
community believed
00:37:47.80\00:37:49.83
that it was a Roman
Catholic Jesuit plot.
00:37:49.86\00:37:52.37
May not have been.
00:37:52.40\00:37:53.74
I have no burden that it was.
00:37:53.77\00:37:55.34
But at the time that's
what it was thought to be
00:37:55.37\00:37:57.91
because all but
one of the conspirators
00:37:57.94\00:38:00.88
were Roman
Catholics which at a time
00:38:00.91\00:38:02.88
when there was deep
antagonism to Roman Catholics
00:38:02.91\00:38:05.61
in this country something that,
00:38:05.65\00:38:07.22
you know, we
should be ashamed of,
00:38:07.25\00:38:08.58
it was not good.
00:38:08.62\00:38:10.72
But that
prejudice was writ large
00:38:10.75\00:38:13.02
with the assassination
because they noticed
00:38:13.05\00:38:15.32
all of them were
of that persuasion.
00:38:15.36\00:38:20.20
When the trap was sprung
and they made all the arrests,
00:38:20.23\00:38:24.67
the brother of one
of the ringleaders,
00:38:24.70\00:38:26.94
the boarding house
keeper Mary Surratt
00:38:26.97\00:38:30.14
made a run for
Canada and escaped,
00:38:30.17\00:38:32.44
then he ended up in Rome,
00:38:32.47\00:38:33.81
and became one of
the pope's bodyguards
00:38:33.84\00:38:35.24
before he was extradited later.
00:38:35.28\00:38:38.21
And he was sheltered
by the priests in Canada.
00:38:38.25\00:38:41.88
Like I say, you
don't have to say
00:38:41.92\00:38:43.75
definitively what it was,
00:38:43.79\00:38:45.12
at the time it was
thought to be that way.
00:38:45.15\00:38:47.32
Why would you wave that
00:38:47.36\00:38:49.19
in front of the
once Protestant country?
00:38:49.22\00:38:51.13
All I can believe
00:38:51.16\00:38:53.73
is that this was
the act of triumph
00:38:53.76\00:38:56.83
and as a public
legislator said a few years ago,
00:38:56.87\00:39:01.30
Roman Catholic legislator,
a very fine gentleman.
00:39:01.34\00:39:04.34
I know him personally.
00:39:04.37\00:39:05.74
And he said, "Protestantism
is absent in America.
00:39:05.77\00:39:12.11
Protestantism is absent."
00:39:12.15\00:39:13.82
Let me read you.
00:39:16.95\00:39:18.59
And this is a network
that reaches out to all faith,
00:39:18.62\00:39:23.09
all people because we
believe in religious liberty.
00:39:23.12\00:39:25.73
It doesn't matter if you're
Roman Catholic or whatever.
00:39:25.76\00:39:29.33
We can differ
deeply on your doctrine.
00:39:29.36\00:39:31.53
But you have a right to believe
and to practice your faith.
00:39:31.57\00:39:34.30
Absolutely.
00:39:34.34\00:39:35.67
And I should, if called upon,
00:39:35.70\00:39:38.17
give my life to
defend your right.
00:39:38.21\00:39:39.77
This is not what's at stake.
00:39:39.81\00:39:41.54
What's at stake is
people crossing the lines
00:39:41.58\00:39:45.15
and forcing their
faith on other people.
00:39:45.18\00:39:48.92
But I want to read something
00:39:52.32\00:39:54.69
that is very interesting
for Seventh-day Adventist.
00:39:54.72\00:39:58.56
He says this responsibility,
this is paragraph 68.
00:39:58.59\00:40:02.36
I think it is,
00:40:02.40\00:40:03.73
"This
responsibility for God's earth
00:40:03.77\00:40:05.83
means that human beings,
endowed with intelligence,
00:40:05.87\00:40:09.70
must respect the laws of nature
00:40:09.74\00:40:12.21
and the delicate equilibria
00:40:12.24\00:40:13.91
resisting between the
creatures of this world,
00:40:13.94\00:40:16.91
for "he commanded
and they were created,
00:40:16.95\00:40:20.42
he established
them forever and ever,
00:40:20.45\00:40:21.88
he fixed their bounds
00:40:21.92\00:40:23.25
and he set a law
which cannot pass away."
00:40:23.28\00:40:25.59
The laws found in the
Bible dwell on relationships,
00:40:25.62\00:40:28.36
not only among individuals
00:40:28.39\00:40:30.26
but also with
other living beings.
00:40:30.29\00:40:32.73
"You shall not see your
brother's donkey or his ox
00:40:32.76\00:40:35.26
fallen down by the way
and withhold your help...
00:40:35.30\00:40:37.87
If you chance to
come upon a bird's nest
00:40:37.90\00:40:39.67
or any tree on the ground,
00:40:39.70\00:40:41.27
with young ones or
eggs and the mother sitting
00:40:41.30\00:40:43.04
upon the young or upon the eggs,
00:40:43.07\00:40:44.41
you shall not take the
mother with the young."
00:40:44.44\00:40:46.57
He's introducing the idea
00:40:46.61\00:40:48.01
that you follow
the Old Testament.
00:40:48.04\00:40:50.25
"Along the same lines," it says.
00:40:50.28\00:40:53.15
This is in the
Laudato Si' rather document.
00:40:53.18\00:40:58.52
"Rest on the seventh day
00:40:58.55\00:41:00.02
is meant not
only for human beings,
00:41:00.06\00:41:02.82
but also so "that your ox
and your donkey may have rest."
00:41:02.86\00:41:07.16
Clearly, the Bible
00:41:07.20\00:41:08.53
has no place for a
tyrannical anthropocentrism
00:41:08.56\00:41:11.57
unconcerned for other creatures.
00:41:11.60\00:41:13.54
So the Sabbath is
for everyone, everything.
00:41:13.57\00:41:15.97
The Sabbath is an
environmental concern.
00:41:16.00\00:41:18.84
And then it continues,
00:41:18.87\00:41:20.21
"Although the wickedness
of man was great in the earth,
00:41:20.24\00:41:22.01
and the Lord was
sorry that he had made
00:41:22.04\00:41:23.38
man on the earth.
00:41:23.41\00:41:24.75
Nevertheless, through Noah,
who remained innocent and just,
00:41:24.78\00:41:27.42
God decided to open
a path of salvation.
00:41:27.45\00:41:29.68
In this way He gave humanity
the chance of a new beginning.
00:41:29.72\00:41:33.49
All it takes is one
good person to restore hope!
00:41:33.52\00:41:35.96
The biblical
tradition clearly shows
00:41:35.99\00:41:38.66
that this renewal
entails recovering
00:41:38.69\00:41:40.70
and respecting the
rhythms inscribed in nature
00:41:40.73\00:41:43.90
by the hand of the Creator.
00:41:43.93\00:41:45.70
We see this, for example,
in the law of the Sabbath.
00:41:45.73\00:41:49.54
On the seventh day, God
rested from all His work.
00:41:49.57\00:41:53.01
He commanded Israel to
set aside each seventh day
00:41:53.04\00:41:55.38
as a day of rest."
00:41:55.41\00:41:56.75
Great stuff.
00:41:56.78\00:42:00.48
And then under the
heading Sacramental Signs
00:42:00.52\00:42:02.65
and Celebrations of Rest.
00:42:02.68\00:42:04.02
"Sunday, like the Jewish
Sabbath is meant to be a day
00:42:04.05\00:42:07.82
which heals our relationships
with God, with ourselves,
00:42:07.86\00:42:11.36
and with others,
and with the world.
00:42:11.39\00:42:13.03
Sunday is the day
of the resurrection,
00:42:13.06\00:42:15.40
the first day of
the new creation,
00:42:15.43\00:42:17.83
whose first fruits are
the Lord's risen humanity,
00:42:17.87\00:42:20.24
the pledge of the
final transfiguration
00:42:20.27\00:42:22.70
of all created reality.
00:42:22.74\00:42:25.07
It also proclaims
man's eternal rest in God.
00:42:25.11\00:42:29.14
In this way,
Christian spirituality
00:42:29.18\00:42:32.18
incorporates the value
of relaxation and festivity.
00:42:32.21\00:42:35.85
The law of weekly rest
forbade work on the seventh day
00:42:35.88\00:42:39.65
"so that your ox and
your donkey may have rest,
00:42:39.69\00:42:43.19
and the son of your maidservant,
00:42:43.22\00:42:44.56
and the
stranger, may be refreshed.
00:42:44.59\00:42:47.16
And so the day of rest,
centered on the Eucharist,
00:42:47.20\00:42:50.37
sheds it light
on the whole week,
00:42:50.40\00:42:52.27
and motivates us
to greater concern
00:42:52.30\00:42:54.04
for nature and the poor."
00:42:54.07\00:42:57.41
I'm going to
pull it all together
00:42:57.44\00:42:58.77
in one single moment.
00:42:58.81\00:43:00.81
What you've heard is
the Seventh-day Adventist
00:43:00.84\00:43:03.18
is wonderful stuff
except inappropriate
00:43:03.21\00:43:05.98
where they have
introduced Sunday
00:43:06.01\00:43:07.35
which, you know, you
can study your history.
00:43:07.38\00:43:09.75
It's pretty obvious that
Constantine the emperor of Rome
00:43:09.78\00:43:14.82
easily appropriated
the worship of the sun
00:43:14.86\00:43:17.63
and it was very convenient
00:43:17.66\00:43:18.99
to bring pagans and Christians
together on the same day.
00:43:19.03\00:43:22.96
But at the moment in Europe,
00:43:23.00\00:43:25.23
but now creeping
into here is a proposal,
00:43:25.27\00:43:29.57
its origins are not clear.
00:43:29.60\00:43:31.44
But its present
reality is most clear.
00:43:31.47\00:43:34.58
It's being promoted
by the Catholic Church
00:43:34.61\00:43:36.61
and other church coalitions too
00:43:36.64\00:43:39.35
that we have a
international rest day,
00:43:39.38\00:43:41.98
a family rest day, Sunday.
00:43:42.02\00:43:44.82
And under pain of law
you will cease everything,
00:43:44.85\00:43:48.32
and you will be
encouraged to go, and worship,
00:43:48.36\00:43:51.79
and rejuvenate
yourself spiritually.
00:43:51.83\00:43:54.46
The concept is fantastic,
00:43:54.50\00:43:56.67
but the execution is
diabolical and it's medieval
00:43:56.70\00:44:00.44
because it involves law.
00:44:00.47\00:44:02.94
It involves the force of law.
00:44:02.97\00:44:05.11
And law is not just
something written on paper.
00:44:05.14\00:44:09.14
It involves the policeman coming
00:44:09.18\00:44:11.05
and forcibly detaining you
00:44:11.08\00:44:13.05
or requiring
you to do something,
00:44:13.08\00:44:14.75
it involves incarceration
if you don't go along.
00:44:14.78\00:44:17.62
It might even involve,
if we revert to Saudi Arabia
00:44:17.65\00:44:21.42
or something like
that capital punishment
00:44:21.46\00:44:24.46
which is not alien
to the United States.
00:44:24.49\00:44:26.73
Even in the early
days of the Republic,
00:44:26.76\00:44:29.96
President Adams was so
worried about rebellion
00:44:30.00\00:44:34.54
that it was
theoretically a capital offense
00:44:34.57\00:44:36.60
to criticize the president.
00:44:36.64\00:44:41.24
We need to speak
out about this thing
00:44:41.28\00:44:43.14
before it's full blown.
00:44:43.18\00:44:46.78
It's prophesied, Jesus predicted
00:44:46.82\00:44:50.69
that we will be hated by people
00:44:50.72\00:44:53.25
for our
persistence in following Him
00:44:53.29\00:44:56.06
because why not,
00:44:56.09\00:44:57.43
it would seem perverse
to oppose a respectful day
00:44:57.46\00:45:02.60
of environmental celebration,
00:45:02.63\00:45:07.24
and rest, and
family rejuvenation.
00:45:07.27\00:45:09.90
And, of course,
00:45:09.94\00:45:11.27
cutting energy expense
by not traveling and so on.
00:45:11.31\00:45:15.21
But we must do
what God asked us to do.
00:45:15.24\00:45:17.11
That's the point
of religious liberty.
00:45:17.15\00:45:19.65
That's the whole
point of religious liberty.
00:45:19.68\00:45:21.35
In that speech before Congress,
00:45:24.35\00:45:27.79
I noticed that the pope
00:45:27.82\00:45:29.86
did mention another
figure, Moses early on.
00:45:29.89\00:45:34.10
He looked up, and I think
00:45:34.13\00:45:35.46
there was a
little carving, a relief.
00:45:35.50\00:45:36.83
But above relief of Moses
that he saw in the chamber.
00:45:36.87\00:45:40.30
And he referred
to Moses a law giver.
00:45:40.34\00:45:42.74
But I don't think
he fully developed that
00:45:42.77\00:45:45.64
because in reality
00:45:45.67\00:45:47.54
Moses acting as
the agent from God
00:45:47.58\00:45:51.18
had passed on
those Ten Commandments
00:45:51.21\00:45:52.88
to God's people.
00:45:52.91\00:45:54.25
And the Fourth Commandment
is just as fixed as the others.
00:45:54.28\00:45:58.59
No one suggesting
00:45:58.62\00:46:00.59
that anyone has the
authority or even the logic,
00:46:00.62\00:46:03.66
even if you don't believe
00:46:03.69\00:46:05.03
that God gave them
within the belief system,
00:46:05.06\00:46:07.26
these are inviolable rules.
00:46:07.30\00:46:10.23
I heard a very good
calling program the other day.
00:46:10.27\00:46:13.20
Seventh-day Adventist
scholar was explaining very well
00:46:13.23\00:46:15.80
the biblical
arguments why even today
00:46:15.84\00:46:18.07
we should be keeping
the seventh-day Sabbath.
00:46:18.11\00:46:20.38
And the host said, but
that's fine for the Jews,
00:46:20.41\00:46:23.98
but you know, did
they know about it
00:46:24.01\00:46:25.95
before the Ten Commandments
were given at Sinai.
00:46:25.98\00:46:30.95
And the gentleman
didn't really have an answer.
00:46:30.99\00:46:33.15
But I think the
answer is implicit
00:46:33.19\00:46:34.86
in the language of
the Ten Commandments.
00:46:34.89\00:46:37.19
It says they remember,
00:46:37.23\00:46:38.69
just to say, "I
give you a new day,
00:46:38.73\00:46:40.20
keep this day, this
will be our new pact."
00:46:40.23\00:46:43.80
No, it's remember the Sabbath,
00:46:43.83\00:46:45.40
the day that the Jew
have not always remembered,
00:46:45.43\00:46:48.50
but it's been
around for a long time.
00:46:48.54\00:46:52.34
And it's not a very
good thing to suggest
00:46:52.37\00:46:54.31
that there's some other
day that we could throw in.
00:46:54.34\00:46:59.08
Back today
00:47:02.28\00:47:03.62
or back to what it's
like today in the Middle East.
00:47:03.65\00:47:07.82
We had a wonderful moment there
00:47:07.86\00:47:10.06
at the Wailing Wall
Friday night in Israel.
00:47:10.09\00:47:14.33
I don't have very
many photographs of it,
00:47:14.36\00:47:15.73
but they don't
let you take pictures.
00:47:15.76\00:47:17.13
But the mental pictures
00:47:17.17\00:47:19.23
I have are overwhelming
with my 18-year-old son,
00:47:19.27\00:47:23.00
we went right down to the Wall.
00:47:23.04\00:47:25.81
And there was swirling
circles of young Israeli men
00:47:25.84\00:47:32.11
who as the moment
of the sunset approach
00:47:32.15\00:47:34.92
were becoming
more and more frenzied,
00:47:34.95\00:47:36.38
holding up copies of the Torah.
00:47:36.42\00:47:38.69
Some others were putting
00:47:38.72\00:47:40.06
little praise in
the chinks in the Wall.
00:47:40.09\00:47:42.79
The excitement
was just infectious.
00:47:42.82\00:47:45.86
I'll never forget that.
00:47:45.89\00:47:47.83
And I know the dynamic
00:47:47.86\00:47:49.20
that was going
through that crowd.
00:47:49.23\00:47:50.77
It is not just
the simple dynamic
00:47:50.80\00:47:52.43
that the political
world is worried about,
00:47:52.47\00:47:54.97
you know, how
come a people left over
00:47:55.00\00:47:56.84
from a genocidal
movement in Nazi, Germany.
00:47:56.87\00:47:59.84
You know, why
should they be there,
00:47:59.87\00:48:01.54
you know, what's so
fixed about their above there.
00:48:01.58\00:48:04.05
You and I know
that their aspirations
00:48:04.08\00:48:06.61
don't talk about
the political rights,
00:48:06.65\00:48:08.42
but their
aspirations are ancient.
00:48:08.45\00:48:11.09
But when I saw
them, I thought of way
00:48:11.12\00:48:13.79
how I started thinking
00:48:13.82\00:48:15.16
about the absolute destruction
of Jerusalem by the Romans.
00:48:15.19\00:48:18.46
You can go back to
another destruction
00:48:18.49\00:48:20.70
under Nebuchadnezzar
or the Babylonians.
00:48:20.73\00:48:24.50
You know, when you
read the Bible account,
00:48:24.53\00:48:26.20
these were things
that came upon them
00:48:26.23\00:48:28.10
because of their
lacked spiritual state,
00:48:28.14\00:48:30.01
but in reality
00:48:30.04\00:48:31.37
there were
ravenous attacks by entities
00:48:31.41\00:48:35.01
that did not believe in
that religious viewpoint.
00:48:35.04\00:48:38.38
Persecution, murder,
00:48:38.41\00:48:41.95
and what a people
to be there still,
00:48:41.98\00:48:44.85
you know,
clinging to their faith.
00:48:44.89\00:48:47.62
Only a day before or after...
00:48:47.66\00:48:50.66
Now I don't
remember the sequence,
00:48:50.69\00:48:52.03
but only on that same
trip we've gone to Masada.
00:48:52.06\00:48:55.76
And they were on
the mountain fortress,
00:48:55.80\00:48:57.47
heard the story told
reverently by the Israeli guide
00:48:57.50\00:49:01.30
of how after the
destruction of Jerusalem,
00:49:01.34\00:49:04.21
for another few months
nearly a 1,000 rebellious Jews
00:49:04.24\00:49:09.04
held out on this
mountain fortress
00:49:09.08\00:49:10.68
until the Romans
threw up an earthen rampart
00:49:10.71\00:49:13.05
were about ready to attack,
00:49:13.08\00:49:15.02
and then the
defendants all killed themselves
00:49:15.05\00:49:17.39
rather than be captured.
00:49:17.42\00:49:19.02
You know, it's a sad sort of,
00:49:19.05\00:49:21.79
you know, a
bloody end to something
00:49:21.82\00:49:25.59
that is inspiring,
but it's no victory.
00:49:25.63\00:49:28.46
But it shows the desperation
00:49:28.50\00:49:30.47
they were under at
the time of attack.
00:49:30.50\00:49:36.04
And when I
thought about those years,
00:49:36.07\00:49:38.47
several years when Jerusalem
and Israel was extirpated
00:49:38.51\00:49:42.14
and people sent
to the four winds.
00:49:42.18\00:49:44.35
You know, it's
worth remembering that
00:49:44.38\00:49:46.05
yes, our Savior was on a cross.
00:49:46.08\00:49:48.82
But it's worth remembering,
00:49:48.85\00:49:50.19
crosses were a common
thing in those later years.
00:49:50.22\00:49:53.32
Thousands of people
if you believe Josephites
00:49:53.36\00:49:55.99
were aligning the
roads on their crosses.
00:49:56.02\00:49:58.99
It's worth
remembering too today.
00:49:59.03\00:50:00.93
In the Middle
East it's not uncommon
00:50:00.96\00:50:03.53
to see Christians
literally nailed up on crosses,
00:50:03.57\00:50:06.63
it happened in
Mosul several times.
00:50:06.67\00:50:08.54
You know 100 years ago,
00:50:08.57\00:50:10.04
when a million
Armenian Christians were killed.
00:50:10.07\00:50:13.34
I've seen photographs,
00:50:13.38\00:50:15.01
number of photographs
of them nailed to crosses.
00:50:15.04\00:50:18.01
The butchery is amazing
in the name of religion.
00:50:18.05\00:50:21.68
And Jesus said,
00:50:21.72\00:50:23.28
it's inevitable when
you hold a faith view,
00:50:23.32\00:50:29.19
there will be those
that come against you
00:50:29.22\00:50:31.39
incited by an evil power.
00:50:31.43\00:50:34.30
There's a hymn
that I love to hear sung
00:50:34.33\00:50:39.20
because I can still
hear my father singing it.
00:50:39.23\00:50:41.60
"Lead on, O King Eternal."
00:50:41.64\00:50:44.04
It's got wall like imagery.
00:50:44.07\00:50:47.18
But I like it better than
Battle Hymn of the Republic
00:50:47.21\00:50:49.38
which is a little bit too
militaristic for my liking.
00:50:49.41\00:50:52.98
And actually Battle Hymn
of the Republic was song,
00:50:53.01\00:50:55.95
sung by the Union armies
that Lead on, O King Eternal
00:50:55.98\00:51:00.79
has this couple
of lines it says,
00:51:00.82\00:51:04.53
"Not with swords' loud clashing,
00:51:04.56\00:51:07.16
nor roll of stirring drums,
00:51:07.20\00:51:10.43
I like that because many people,
00:51:10.47\00:51:13.44
and particularly in religion
are stirred on by demagoguery
00:51:13.47\00:51:18.14
that stirred on by incitements
00:51:18.17\00:51:20.54
to go against someone
who thinks differently
00:51:20.58\00:51:23.35
or to project
their faith with the law,
00:51:23.38\00:51:27.05
with all of the
social forces they can bring
00:51:27.08\00:51:30.29
and perhaps if that's frustrated
00:51:30.32\00:51:31.85
even by force of arms.
00:51:31.89\00:51:35.52
But it says, not with
swords' loud clashing,
00:51:35.56\00:51:37.53
nor roll of stirring drums
with deeds of love and mercy
00:51:37.56\00:51:43.47
the heavenly kingdom comes.
00:51:43.50\00:51:46.67
It's worth
remembering that Jesus
00:51:46.70\00:51:49.30
went uncomplaining to His death.
00:51:49.34\00:51:52.41
And before
Pilate, what did he say,
00:51:52.44\00:51:54.51
when Pilate was
quizzing him, he says,
00:51:54.54\00:51:56.28
"If my kingdom
was of this world,"
00:51:56.31\00:51:58.45
he says, "My
fellows would fight for me.
00:51:58.48\00:52:02.02
They would fight for me."
00:52:02.05\00:52:03.82
Unfortunately,
00:52:03.85\00:52:05.19
they did less
than fight, they ran.
00:52:05.22\00:52:06.89
But Jesus had explained to them.
00:52:06.92\00:52:09.29
And as lately before that
event as they were in the garden
00:52:09.32\00:52:14.20
when they came to seize
him, when the guards came,
00:52:14.23\00:52:17.77
and Peter whips out that sword,
00:52:17.80\00:52:20.00
I have to believe
was more like the dagger.
00:52:20.04\00:52:22.50
But when he whipped that out
00:52:22.54\00:52:23.87
probably like
the Yemeni daggers,
00:52:23.91\00:52:25.54
they still have
these long things
00:52:25.57\00:52:26.91
about a foot long curving,
00:52:26.94\00:52:28.41
whipped it out and
cut off the earring.
00:52:28.44\00:52:29.78
And Jesus says,
"Put up the sword
00:52:29.81\00:52:31.51
all who live by the
sword will die by it."
00:52:31.55\00:52:36.15
And in Revelation,
00:52:36.18\00:52:39.05
it does explain very
plainly at the very end of time,
00:52:39.09\00:52:43.49
that a strange amalgamation
of political and economic power
00:52:43.53\00:52:48.16
that tries to enforce obedience
to a certain viewpoint.
00:52:48.20\00:52:52.57
And it's a great persecution
equal to the Middle Ages.
00:52:52.60\00:52:56.27
But it says, "He
will come to his aid
00:52:56.30\00:52:58.01
with no one to help him.
00:52:58.04\00:52:59.37
The system will collapse."
00:52:59.41\00:53:01.38
It's sure to be frustrated
00:53:01.41\00:53:03.45
because it goes against
00:53:03.48\00:53:05.11
the grain of the
principle of God's kingdom,
00:53:05.15\00:53:08.52
it goes against the
grain of people of conviction.
00:53:08.55\00:53:12.22
We all want to
follow our own conscience.
00:53:12.25\00:53:16.96
People do it differently,
but that's a high aim.
00:53:16.99\00:53:19.66
I mean all of these revolutions
00:53:19.69\00:53:21.60
that are breaking
out around the world,
00:53:21.63\00:53:23.60
not just in the Middle East,
00:53:23.63\00:53:24.97
that's what people want,
00:53:25.00\00:53:26.43
they're convicted of something
and under a great conviction
00:53:26.47\00:53:29.44
people will
throw away their life.
00:53:29.47\00:53:31.97
But as C. S. Lewis says,
00:53:32.01\00:53:34.08
you know, imagine the
dismay at the end of time
00:53:34.11\00:53:38.45
in the final
judgment for a revolutionary
00:53:38.48\00:53:41.08
to find out that his
great sacrifice of blood,
00:53:41.12\00:53:44.45
his and others was for nothing
00:53:44.49\00:53:46.42
because his cause was vain.
00:53:46.45\00:53:48.42
But equally imagine those
00:53:48.46\00:53:51.16
who stood
faithfully against all odds,
00:53:51.19\00:53:53.66
against even violence to hear,
00:53:53.70\00:53:56.90
"Well done good
and faithful servant."
00:53:56.93\00:53:58.50
That's what it's worthwhile.
00:53:58.53\00:54:00.64
And that's what
we're called to do.
00:54:00.67\00:54:02.87
And I'm giving this
sermon not to say that,
00:54:02.90\00:54:06.84
you know, we head into
the meat grinder purposely.
00:54:06.88\00:54:10.65
But in a sense we do
00:54:10.68\00:54:12.61
by accepting the name Christian.
00:54:12.65\00:54:16.35
There's something
that goes with that.
00:54:16.38\00:54:18.69
And how as Jesus said
00:54:18.72\00:54:20.06
can the servant be
less than his Lord.
00:54:20.09\00:54:23.12
It's not that we want it,
00:54:23.16\00:54:24.49
but we know that we're up
against a serious challenge.
00:54:24.53\00:54:28.56
And my
encouragement to people today
00:54:28.60\00:54:32.80
is recognize that in our world
00:54:32.83\00:54:35.10
we're drifting
toward illiberalism,
00:54:35.14\00:54:37.37
we're drifting
toward godlessness,
00:54:37.41\00:54:40.48
and a form of godliness
that lacks the power thereof,
00:54:40.51\00:54:44.15
and nations, and clerics alike
00:54:44.18\00:54:46.38
are going to be
seeking solutions
00:54:46.41\00:54:48.52
to these
apparently insoluble problems.
00:54:48.55\00:54:51.52
There will be globalism put up.
00:54:51.55\00:54:53.36
There will be
syncretistic religion.
00:54:53.39\00:54:55.92
There will be
religious alliances.
00:54:55.96\00:54:57.79
There will be things
like this family rest day.
00:54:57.83\00:55:00.86
And at this stage,
we don't absolutely know
00:55:00.90\00:55:03.16
which combination or
which structure will be,
00:55:03.20\00:55:05.97
but it will be
along those lines.
00:55:06.00\00:55:09.40
And already there's a readiness
00:55:09.44\00:55:11.57
in the term that's
bandied around and you hear it.
00:55:11.61\00:55:13.84
And you'll read it in the paper,
00:55:13.88\00:55:15.21
if you open almost
any paper on these issues.
00:55:15.24\00:55:17.21
The common good for
the survival of society,
00:55:17.25\00:55:21.98
we will
sometimes have to put aside
00:55:22.02\00:55:24.75
the individual right
to self-determination.
00:55:24.79\00:55:26.99
We will put aside
00:55:27.02\00:55:28.36
the individual's
right for free speech.
00:55:28.39\00:55:30.16
We will put aside
the individual's right
00:55:30.19\00:55:32.29
to hold a belief to
defense of the people.
00:55:32.33\00:55:34.90
We will put aside
00:55:34.93\00:55:36.56
a religious
belief that requires you
00:55:36.60\00:55:39.33
to not work on the day
00:55:39.37\00:55:40.87
that the WEPA or
whatever it's called now
00:55:40.90\00:55:43.34
might require.
00:55:43.37\00:55:46.81
History tends to repeat itself.
00:55:46.84\00:55:49.04
And the lay of the
land is crystal clear,
00:55:49.08\00:55:52.11
made clear by an earnest woke up
00:55:52.15\00:55:55.05
and standing there on a hillside
00:55:55.08\00:55:58.59
near a little lake
00:55:58.62\00:55:59.95
with a wrapped
crowd of thousands.
00:55:59.99\00:56:02.12
And then at the
very end of His ministry,
00:56:02.16\00:56:03.96
when He'd been
repeating, and repeating,
00:56:03.99\00:56:05.93
and repeating
00:56:05.96\00:56:07.63
and then, but
asking His disciples,
00:56:07.66\00:56:09.43
"How come it is
you don't get this.
00:56:09.46\00:56:10.90
I tell you over and over again."
00:56:10.93\00:56:13.57
And He could say again
00:56:13.60\00:56:15.10
all of these
things are distractions,
00:56:15.14\00:56:17.51
the real issue is
witnessing for me,
00:56:17.54\00:56:22.14
no matter the cost.
00:56:22.18\00:56:24.91
That's the challenge before us.
00:56:24.95\00:56:27.25
And on this
Religious Liberty Day,
00:56:27.28\00:56:29.72
I can speak directly
to Seventh-day Adventist,
00:56:29.75\00:56:31.39
you have a history,
00:56:31.42\00:56:32.75
we have a history
of our own church,
00:56:32.79\00:56:35.36
of expulsion from
the nominal churches
00:56:35.39\00:56:38.36
of prophetic outline
00:56:38.39\00:56:41.16
that warns us more I
think than most groups
00:56:41.20\00:56:44.27
of what is to come.
00:56:44.30\00:56:45.87
We need to be faithful
00:56:45.90\00:56:47.24
and supportive of
religious liberty.
00:56:47.27\00:56:49.80
And for our
larger faith community,
00:56:49.84\00:56:53.31
"Keep your faith,
study your faith."
00:56:53.34\00:56:56.14
If you're convicted of it,
00:56:56.18\00:56:57.75
don't let anyone
change you on it.
00:56:57.78\00:57:00.02
And defend to the last breath,
00:57:00.05\00:57:03.08
your right to
practice your faith.
00:57:03.12\00:57:05.52
Don't accept in the name
of security or in the name of,
00:57:05.55\00:57:09.09
you know, some sort of
pan religious brotherhood
00:57:09.12\00:57:12.46
that you will put anything away.
00:57:12.49\00:57:14.46
That is not the way
of religious liberty,
00:57:14.50\00:57:17.43
that is the way of compromise,
that is the way of persecution,
00:57:17.47\00:57:21.30
that is the way of a dissolution
00:57:21.34\00:57:23.81
of all that's
important, and true
00:57:23.84\00:57:26.11
and fine about
religion and religious liberty
00:57:26.14\00:57:29.24
which must always be defended.
00:57:29.28\00:57:30.95