Participants: Lincoln Steed
Series Code: RLIB
Program Code: RLIB000002A
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00:18 Hello and welcome to our very special
00:21 Religious Liberty Emphasis Weekend. 00:23 My name is CA Murray 00:25 and it's my pleasure to welcome you 00:26 to the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:29 Religious liberty is one of those things that 00:31 you don't really know you need until you need it 00:35 and then when you need it, you really need it. 00:38 It's a kind of thing that you may not have respect 00:41 for until you do not have it, and when you do not have it, 00:44 you understand what a trial it is to be without it. 00:49 I know of a young lady even now who has a master's degree, 00:53 who is working as a maid in a hotel 00:57 simply because she refuses to work on Sabbath. 01:01 And those who would employ her in her chosen field 01:05 are desiring her to work on Sabbath 01:06 and she has refused to do that. 01:08 And she is working as a maid. 01:10 And she doesn't feel that too much to do 01:14 for her Lord Savior Jesus Christ. 01:15 Our religious liberty is one of those kinds of things 01:17 that helps you with that, I can recall several years ago, 01:20 as a religious liberty leader for New York City, 01:24 when a good member of the church was fired 01:26 from his job for not coming in on the Sabbath, 01:30 and when he went before the arbiter, 01:32 and the arbiter understood that he was a Seventh-day Adventist, 01:35 and the arbiter said, "You know I live next door 01:37 to a Seventh-day Adventist, you are good people, 01:40 we will see to it that you get your job back." 01:43 Now we praise the Lord that 01:44 Seventh-day Adventists make good neighbors. 01:46 But we also praise the Lord that the church will stand 01:49 behind its members 01:50 when it comes to religious liberty, 01:52 and getting the rights that we deserve, 01:54 and that we should have as citizens of this country, 01:58 and as those who would serve 01:59 our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 02:01 So this is a very special time and a very special day. 02:04 Our speaker is Lincoln Steed, 02:07 who is the editor of Liberty magazine, 02:10 has edited that very fine journal 02:12 for many, many years. 02:14 And it is sought or thought 02:17 to be one of the finest journals of its kind 02:21 and one that is circulated among those of influence, 02:25 legislatures, congressmen, lawyers, district attorneys 02:30 are the target audience along with good old members 02:32 who just want to know and see what God is doing 02:35 in the area of religious liberty. 02:38 As far as 3ABN is concerned, 02:39 he is the host of Liberty Insider, 02:43 very fine and informative program 02:45 that has run for many years here at 3ABN. 02:48 Lincoln brings any number of guests 02:49 from around the world to come and sit 02:51 and talk about matters of religious liberty 02:53 not only here in the United States, 02:55 but around the world as this has impact 02:58 on Christians in every country 03:00 where we seek to lift up the name of Jesus, 03:02 and were forced to seek to oppose 03:05 that lifting up of Christ, 03:06 and the freedoms that we enjoy here in the United States 03:09 and around the world. 03:11 And so we're looking forward to a very fine message 03:13 and a very informative one as Lincoln comes 03:16 always with a wealth of information 03:19 that is good for us to know and good for us to hear. 03:22 So if you will join me now in prayer, 03:23 the next voice that you will hear 03:25 after I shall have prayed 03:27 will be the voice of Elder Lincoln Steed, 03:29 editor of Liberty magazine, 03:31 and host of Liberty Insider here at 3ABN. 03:34 Shall we pray? 03:36 Gracious Father, we do praise You 03:37 and thank You so very much 03:40 for the privilege of serving You. 03:44 We are thankful that You have said 03:46 in both Old and New Testament 03:48 that You would never leave us nor forsake us 03:52 and that in times of stress, in times of trial, 03:56 in times when our faith is tested, 03:58 You will stand right beside us. 04:01 We know and understand, Lord, that in these last days 04:04 our love for You will be tested, 04:07 governments will test it, 04:08 friends will test it, family members will test it, 04:10 those who employers will test it, 04:12 and many of us will have to suffer a bit for You. 04:15 But we know that we do not suffer alone 04:18 and that You are mindful of everything that touches us 04:21 because it also touches You. 04:24 So bless us, Lord, keep the doors of employment 04:26 open for those of us who would seek to have funds 04:29 to serve Your kingdom, 04:30 but more than that give us faith and strength 04:34 to stand every trial that may come our way. 04:37 Bless now this message, this time 04:39 that we spend together with Elder Lincoln Steed. 04:43 Fill us, feed us, inform us, and prepare us to take 04:47 one more step along that road that leads to glory. 04:51 We love You, we praise You, and we thank You, Father, 04:55 for Your promise to hear and answer the prayer of faith 04:58 in Jesus' name, amen and amen. 05:10 Religious liberty, it's always good to talk about it 05:12 and this is that time of the year 05:14 where Liberty magazine takes a particular emphasis 05:18 and a reminder on religious liberty. 05:21 And talking about religious liberty, 05:22 it's impossible I think to truly cover the topic 05:27 without talking about Jesus Christ. 05:31 You know, on freedom issues, people as diverse 05:35 as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, 05:38 and other figures have... 05:43 Thomas Jefferson even comes to mind have quoted 05:46 from the words of Jesus Christ. 05:48 He's been an inspiration to people 05:50 struggling for freedom through the years. 05:54 Jesus is very much on my mind of late 05:58 because only a few weeks ago, 06:00 I went with the 3ABN Holy Land tour, 06:04 and we spent some time retracing 06:06 some of those wonderful events 06:09 and places in the life of Jesus Christ. 06:11 And one thing that stuck in my mind 06:14 was early on in the tour, 06:16 we're in the bus driving around near the Sea of Galilee, 06:21 we were up a little bit on the road, 06:22 and we could look down the hillside 06:24 and see the lake, it's not very big. 06:27 I don't know why it's called the sea, 06:29 but in the Bible there are some pretty big storms on it. 06:32 But we could look down 06:33 and near Capernaum the guide told us 06:35 that this sort of an incline 06:39 with the gully in it was probably 06:42 where Jesus spoke 06:44 and gave the Sermon on the Mount. 06:47 I don't think we can know for sure, 06:49 but it was very evocative of Jesus speech. 06:52 And many times over the years, I've spoken 06:56 and preached about the Sermon on the Mount 06:58 because the best way to understand that 07:00 Sermon on the Mount 07:01 is Jesus giving a manifesto of His kingdom. 07:06 And His Kingdom had everything to do with freedom, 07:08 with liberty. 07:10 His very first recorded public address 07:14 was in the Book of Acts I think it is. 07:17 Sorry, the Book of Luke Chapter 4, 07:20 where he got up there in the synagogue 07:23 and read from Misere 07:25 and said that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, 07:28 and had anointed Him to proclaim liberty, 07:31 freedom to set out liberty those who are oppressed. 07:34 And when Jesus stood there on that mount, 07:37 and we don't know how tall it was, 07:39 whether it was on the top or on the side, 07:41 but it was elevated enough 07:43 so that he could speak to thousands of people. 07:45 And He proclaimed there the principles of freedom 07:49 and living for His kingdom. 07:52 And I want to just remind you of the opening of that. 07:54 Very significant to me 07:56 when I think about religious liberty 07:58 and old living for Christ entails. 08:02 In Matthew Chapter 5 in my Red Letter Edition, 08:07 it begins with the words of Jesus there. 08:10 Verse 3, where He starts with the beatitudes they call, 08:13 bless it. 08:15 And He says, blessed are the poor in spirit, 08:17 blessed are that they mourn, blessed are the meek, 08:19 blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, 08:23 blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, 08:26 blessed are the peacemakers. 08:28 These are the people that make up God's kingdoms. 08:31 These are the free citizens of heaven 08:34 already established on this earth. 08:38 And then in verse 10, he says, blessed... 08:41 And this is toward the end 08:42 of this opening salvo of his manifesto, 08:46 "Blessed are they which are persecuted 08:50 for righteousness' sake, 08:51 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 08:55 Next verse, "Blessed are ye." 08:57 So in case they misunderstood, it wasn't someone else, 09:00 it was them, his hearers, 09:02 you and I, those that follow Him. 09:04 He says, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, 09:08 and persecute you, 09:10 and shall say old manner of evil 09:12 against you falsely for my sake. 09:16 Rejoice and be exceeding glad 09:17 for great is your reward in heaven 09:19 for so persecuted they the prophets 09:22 which were before you." 09:24 That's an incredible reminder, an incredible promise 09:28 if you like of a blessing of sorts 09:31 that comes with following the kingdom of God. 09:34 You are at enmity with the kingdom of man, 09:37 the kingdom of the prince of this world. 09:40 And it's worth remembering 09:41 that it's a necessary part of living the godly life. 09:46 Also on our tour 09:49 as part of the tour of Jerusalem itself, 09:52 we walked down toward the central part of Jerusalem, 09:57 and stopped at the Mount of Olives, 09:59 not a big mount. 10:02 I know that in particular 10:03 that's sort of a little hillock, 10:05 but very significant for reading about 10:08 the life of Jesus. 10:10 And you know in Matthew 24, and I've often mentioned 10:15 this on sermons on religious liberty, 10:16 much later in Jesus' ministry. 10:19 In fact right on the threshold of His final passion, 10:24 and the persecution, and crucifixion, 10:27 death, and resurrection. 10:29 Jesus after His triumphal entry posed on the Mount of Olives. 10:34 And it says in this chapter, in Chapter 24, 10:38 "And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives," verse 3, 10:42 "the disciples came to him privately." 10:46 I like that. 10:47 They were little bit worried by what they had seen, 10:50 and what He had told them other times. 10:52 They were worried, they came to Him privately, 10:54 and they said, 10:55 "Tell us when shall these things be 10:58 and what should be the signs of Your coming, 11:01 and of the end of the world." 11:04 Now this I believe is a parallel 11:06 to the Sermon on the Mount. 11:08 Here in a truncated form, He's going to tell them 11:13 what is involved in bringing about 11:15 that final heavenly kingdom, the end of all things here. 11:20 And He says, "Don't let anyone deceive you." 11:23 Verse 5, 11:24 "For many shall come in My name saying, 11:26 'I am Christ.'" 11:28 And you and I know that, that's the case today. 11:30 There are many people who... 11:31 Even some of them say they're Christ. 11:34 There was an evangelist down Miami 11:36 that called himself Jesus Christ. 11:38 But others act like Christ, take the name of Christ, 11:40 take the prerogatives of God upon them, 11:43 think that they can speak as God to other people, 11:46 think that they can mandate 11:48 how other people should worship. 11:50 That's what He was talking about, 11:51 "Don't be deceived," He said. 11:53 And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. 11:57 I've got to tell you when we were in Jerusalem 12:01 around Thanksgiving time, 12:02 we were hearing plenty of rumors of wars, 12:05 just plain violence was very much in evidence 12:08 of stabbing and violence against 12:09 Israeli citizens and tourists. 12:11 An American tourist was stabbed in Bethlehem, 12:14 I think the day before we went there. 12:16 And then on the way back, my family and I stopped 12:18 in Istanbul for four nights. 12:21 While we were there, 12:23 the Turks shut down a Russian jet. 12:26 And I can't say that the Turks looked very sad about it 12:30 either, they were ready for war. 12:32 As it says, "The nations are stirred for war 12:33 according to the Bible." 12:36 "Nation shall rise against nation," says Jesus. 12:40 "And kingdom against kingdom. 12:42 And there shall be famines, and pestilences, 12:44 and earthquakes in diverse places. 12:46 And all these are about the beginning 12:50 of the birth pangs, He said, 12:52 "The beginning of sorrows 12:53 and then they shall deliver you out be afflicted, 12:58 and shall kill you, 12:59 and you shall be hated of all nations 13:01 for My name's sake. 13:03 And then many shall be offended, 13:05 and shall betray one another, and shall deceive many." 13:11 This is interesting. 13:14 When I think back on what I've learned 13:17 of the history of the Middle East 13:20 and, of course, remember our tour 13:21 of what it is like today. 13:23 But, you know, try as they might 13:25 these places that we go to sort of to recover 13:28 some of the reality of Jesus' presence 13:30 and the Bible characters. 13:33 The best I can imagine with some of it 13:35 sort of recreated in how the Crusaders, 13:38 maybe in the 11th or 12th century imagined 13:40 it was in the time of Jesus more than a century 13:43 or even earlier than that. 13:46 It's very difficult. 13:48 But one thing we know, 13:50 one thing that is abundantly obvious. 13:52 And Jesus went on to speak of it. 13:55 In His day 13:57 there were wars and rumors of war. 14:01 In His day there was religious antagonism. 14:06 Many Christians, 14:07 particular reading the New Testament, 14:09 I think gloss over, 14:11 sort of ignore, or don't understand 14:13 the very literal religious war that was raging 14:15 within the Jewish community 14:17 between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 14:19 It was every bit as bitter as we see in the Muslim world 14:23 between the Shiites and the Sunni. 14:27 And Jesus took them both on. 14:29 And then both of those factions just like warring 14:31 family members often when the police come, 14:33 they can be, you know, 14:35 hitting and slapping each other, 14:37 and the police come, and they both turn on them. 14:41 And both of those factions and other factions 14:43 within the Jewish community just immediately 14:45 after Jesus' death and resurrection, 14:48 then turned on the Romans. 14:50 But even in Jesus' lifetime, during His ministry 14:54 there was a subtext of revolution and rebellion. 14:59 One of His disciples was a zealot. 15:01 The thieves circled on the cross, 15:04 they were not thieves. 15:05 Thievery was not a capital offense 15:07 with the Romans, not a crucifying offense, 15:09 it was rebellion. 15:14 We know that there was an agitation 15:17 all during Jesus' life that came to a head 15:19 only a few decades after His ministry, 15:22 in an open rebellion against Rome. 15:26 And a year or so ago, when I was last in Rome, 15:28 I remember seeing there in that, 15:30 in the ancient part of the old city 15:33 of Rome there, 15:35 the Arch of Titus engraved with pictures 15:39 of the Roman soldiers taking the booty back to Rome 15:41 from pillaging and destroying Jerusalem. 15:43 And they are the instruments of the temple are very obvious, 15:46 the Ark of the Tabernacle I think is even shown 15:50 which is interesting 15:52 because it's not known where it is. 15:56 Rebellion, threat, violence, it was all in the context 16:02 of religion in Jesus' day. 16:05 All in the context of religion. 16:09 There's a book that I know I've mentioned 16:11 before in sermons on 3ABN 16:13 and certainly many as I travel around. 16:15 And it's a book that shows how this did not finish 16:19 even in that time. 16:21 The Foxe's Book of Martyrs was first pulled together 16:26 by Protestants a few decades after Martin Luther. 16:32 Martin Luther King was named after the great reformer, 16:34 but Martin Luther in Germany rose up, 16:39 tried to reform the then mainline church 16:41 which was the Roman Catholic Church, 16:43 and it failed, and he was forced out, 16:45 and founded one of the Protestant factions 16:49 in Germany, Lutheranism. 16:51 But Foxe's Book of Martyrs puts in a great sweep, 16:56 a record of the persecution through the ages, 17:00 starting with the persecutions by pagan Rome, 17:05 but an awful lot of it is recounting the time 17:08 during the Protestant Reformation, 17:10 and then even a little bit later 17:13 when Protestantism was fighting for its very existence. 17:16 I want to share a little bit of what was in this 17:20 because I don't think people are reading it today, 17:21 I don't think they understand 17:23 the continuing wars and rumors of wars, 17:26 and the stakes that are at play in religious infighting. 17:33 These are quotes directly from a book printed in 1563, 17:37 updated through the years. 17:38 But it says, "Thus far our history of persecution 17:42 has been confined principally to the pagan world. 17:45 We come now to a period when persecution 17:47 under the guise of Christianity, 17:50 committed more enormities than ever disgraced 17:53 the annals of paganism. 17:55 Disregarding the maxims and the spirit of the gospel, 17:58 the medieval church, arming herself 18:01 with the power of the sword, vexed the Church of God, 18:04 and wasted it for several centuries, 18:06 a period most appropriately termed in history, 18:09 the dark ages." 18:13 And then elsewhere picking up a few pages later, 18:15 it says, "Of the multitudes who perished by the Inquisition 18:19 throughout the world, no authentic record 18:21 is now discoverable." 18:23 That was said in a document from Rome 18:25 which very happily apologized for the Inquisition 18:29 a few years ago. 18:31 But, you know, it's not so easily dismissed, 18:32 it needs to be recognized. 18:34 And in the apology document it said the same thing, 18:37 we can't know. 18:39 But what does Foxe's Book of Martyrs say, 18:42 "In Spain the calculation is attainable. 18:46 Each of the 17 tribunals during a long period 18:49 burned annually on an average, 10 miserable beings..." 18:52 But there were many tribunals. 18:54 "We are to recollect that this number was in a country 18:56 where persecution had for ages 18:59 abolished all religious differences, 19:02 and where the difficulty was not to find the stake, 19:05 but the offering." 19:07 As it used to say about Ferdinand and Isabella, 19:09 they're good Christian majesties, 19:11 this was a Christian country. 19:12 Who were the heretics they were burning? 19:15 Yet, even in Spain, thus cleaned of all heresy, 19:19 the Inquisition could still swell 19:22 its list of murders to 32,000. 19:26 "The numbers burned in effigy, or condemned to penance, 19:29 punishments generally equivalent to exile, 19:32 confiscation, or taint of blood, to all ruin 19:34 but the mere loss of worthless life, 19:36 amounted to 309,000. 19:40 But the crowds who perished in dungeons of torture, 19:43 of confinement, and of broken hearts, 19:45 the millions of dependent lives made utterly helpless, 19:48 or hurried to the grave by the death of the victims, 19:50 are beyond all register, or recorded only before Him, 19:55 who has sworn that." 19:57 And the Bible quote, 19:58 "He that leadeth into captivity, 20:00 shall go into captivity: 20:02 he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." 20:08 And then it gives some individual examples. 20:10 And these ones are from England, 20:12 but they are very interesting, very interesting. 20:14 And I doubt most people have read these. 20:16 That's why I'd like to share them. 20:18 It says in 1532, Thomas Harding, 20:21 who with his wife had been accused of heresy. 20:25 I thought about this sort of action recently 20:29 when Saudi Arabia, a medieval kingdom, 20:32 as one of the professors on television 20:35 the other day defending their recent actions said, 20:38 "You know, ruled by Sharia law. We follow the law." 20:41 I thought of it very similar. 20:43 Accused of heresy, 20:46 was brought before the Bishop of Lincoln 20:48 and condemned for denying 20:50 the real presence in the sacrament, 20:53 that's transubstantiation. 20:55 In another words, when it's elevated, 20:57 when it's sanctified that little piece of bread 21:00 is no longer a piece of bread, it's flesh. 21:03 And what did the pagan Romans persecute the Christians for? 21:09 Cannibalistic sacrifices. 21:11 That must have been where's the idea came from, 21:13 a perversion of what Jesus so wonderfully laid down 21:16 and celebrating the Passover service. 21:20 So he denied this. 21:21 And it says, 21:22 "Thomas Harding was then chained to a stake, 21:25 erected for the purpose, 21:27 at Chesham in the Pell, near Botely..." 21:29 Don't know where that it is in England. 21:31 "And when they had set fire to the faggots, 21:33 one of the spectators 21:34 dashed out his brains with a bullet. 21:37 The priests told these people 21:39 that whoever brought faggots to burn heretics 21:41 would have an indulgence to commit sin for 40 days. 21:45 During the latter part of this year, 21:48 the writer goes, 21:49 Worham, archbishop of Canterbury, 21:50 apprehended one Hitten, a priest at Maidstone, 21:54 and after he had been long tortured in prison, 21:56 and several times examined by the archbishop, 21:59 he was condemned as a heretic, and burnt alive 22:02 before the door of his own parish church." 22:05 So it wasn't just against parishioners, 22:07 even the clerics in essence lived in fear of their lives 22:11 from overly enthusiastic priests 22:17 who were determined to create their own orthodoxy. 22:21 As Jesus said, "These are the things 22:24 that will define the time of trouble. 22:27 Not the wars, not the famines, not the pestilences, 22:29 these are the beginning of the birth pangs. 22:31 It's the persecution, the spirit of the antichrist, 22:35 the spirit of the wicked one that defines 22:41 where we're heading, not these other signs." 22:43 And then one more, it says... 22:48 I'm skipping over one of the stories, 22:49 but one I want to share is the next person 22:54 that suffered was John Tewkesbury. 22:56 He was a plain simple man 22:59 who had been guilty of no other offense 23:02 against what was called the Holy Mother Church 23:05 than that of reading Tyndale's translation 23:08 of the New Testament. 23:10 At first, he was weak enough to abjure. 23:12 In other words to apologize, but afterward repented 23:16 and acknowledged the truth. 23:17 For this he was brought before the Bishop of London, 23:20 who condemned him as an obstinate heretic. 23:23 He suffered greatly 23:26 during the time of his imprisonment. 23:28 So that when they brought him out to execution, 23:30 he was almost dead. 23:31 He was conducted to the stake in Smithville 23:34 where he was burned declaring his utter abhorrence 23:38 of the system of the church at that time, 23:40 and professing a firm belief 23:42 that his cause was just in the sight of God. 23:45 You know, in Hebrews it says that these people, 23:48 the world is not worthy of them, 23:50 and that these are the heroes, the heroes of faith. 23:56 It's a wonderful record that we have and a reminder. 24:00 But as I say, Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, 24:04 Sermon on the Mount, 24:06 at the end of His ministry on the Mount of Olives, 24:09 told us this must be and it shouldn't perplex us 24:15 to see not just pagans, antagonistic to the faith. 24:20 But in reality pagans have never really been 24:24 quite as antagonistic as those of the faith 24:28 who imagine that they have all the faith 24:29 and are willing to persecute others 24:31 for being a little different. 24:33 And I believe at the moment 24:34 and really the West should understand this more, 24:37 what we're seeing in Islam between Shiites and Sunni 24:40 is a replay in their faith system 24:43 of what existed in the Middle Ages in Christianity, 24:46 and will again rear its head within Christendom 24:51 to use an old term and a term that 24:53 I as a Seventh-day Adventist 24:54 recognize often in reading the writings of Ellen White 24:58 who wrote so many helpful things 25:00 to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 25:06 There is a parallel that I want to make in a document 25:12 that came out fairly recently, but it troubled me greatly. 25:16 I read documents from many different churches, 25:19 from many different sources. 25:21 None of them are straight from the throne of grace 25:26 to use that term. 25:28 None of them are absolute evil, 25:30 but some of them have within them 25:32 the kernel of mischief, the kernel of fulfilling 25:35 what Jesus predicted for our time. 25:38 And there was a document that came out 25:40 a few years ago called Caritas in veritate, 25:46 charity in truth, it was by a previous pope. 25:50 And I'm sure it was written by many good churchmen 25:54 in the Roman Catholic faith, 25:56 perhaps even with good intention. 25:59 You know, who am I to say 26:01 what's in the person's mind when they do something? 26:03 But I can say, and you should say, 26:05 and we should recognize as Jesus told us to 26:09 when something is the wrong dynamic, 26:13 it's not from above. 26:15 And the key and I'll repeat it perhaps later again, 26:19 the key on religious liberty, it doesn't matter 26:22 whether you're talking about Adventism, Catholicism, 26:26 Methodism, the Baptist church or whatever. 26:29 There are real doctrinal differences, 26:31 but you will know something is wrong 26:34 from a religious liberty perspective, 26:36 when coercion is involved. 26:40 That is the key, without coercion. 26:43 You know, God looks at the heart 26:45 and we're all called to follow our conscience. 26:48 And you and I should fight for the right of all peoples 26:51 to seek God where He may be found as the Bible said. 26:54 And hope that He will lead them into all truth. 26:57 But when someone, churchmen or a politician 27:03 tries to use force or the law 27:05 which amounts to the same thing to compel someone 27:08 to believe as they believe, it's wrong. 27:11 And this document which covered the many ills 27:17 that are present in the world today. 27:19 This document looking at things like 27:24 sovereignty of nations, worker relations, 27:29 financial instruments in countries, 27:32 even wars and so on. 27:33 This document said that... 27:36 At the end of it, it said that 27:37 there is a need for a global authority 27:40 to handle all of this. 27:42 A global authority with the power 27:45 to act and to enforce. 27:50 It seems to me I've read something like that 27:52 in the Bible in Revelation 13, I'm sure. 27:58 Revelation 13:11. 28:01 And these beasts presented here and they're clearly identified 28:04 with the powers that exist in our day. 28:07 And it says, "And I behold another beast," 28:08 in verse 11, "coming out of the earth, 28:09 and he had two horns like a lamb, 28:11 and he spoke as a dragon." 28:13 The dragon is the Tanach. 28:14 "And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him, 28:18 and caused the earth, 28:19 and then the dwell therein to worship the first beast, 28:21 whose deadly wound was healed. 28:23 And he doeth greet wonders, and he deceived them." 28:26 In verse 13, "And he had power to give life unto it." 28:30 And in verse 16," And it caused all, 28:32 both small and great, rich and poor, 28:34 free and bond to receive a mark." 28:37 And in verse 17, "That no man 28:39 that might buy or sell saved 28:40 if he had had the mark or the name of the beast." 28:43 It's enforcement. 28:46 You know, perhaps as things take place, 28:48 we'll see it more closely what is predicted. 28:50 But the outlines are very plain. 28:53 It's not necessarily globalism 28:56 which many people are afraid of, 28:57 but it's the type of thing that globalism aspires to, 29:00 controlling the masses. 29:03 It's the type of thing that great churches, 29:05 great church confederacies with political power 29:08 have aspired through the ages using the power of the state 29:12 to enforce their dictates. 29:15 And it will happen, it's coming. 29:19 Back in September, I had the privilege 29:23 to stand at the front, I think it is of the Capitol. 29:28 I live in Washington, 29:29 and I often drive past the Capitol, 29:30 and go down there sometimes for meetings. 29:32 And I always think of the front 29:35 around where the steps are on near the Supreme Court, 29:38 where most people enter. 29:39 But I think technically the front is the lawn 29:42 on the lower side. 29:44 In September 24, with 55,000 other people 29:49 according to one of the officials 29:51 that I asked at the time, 29:53 50 some 1000 people gathered there 29:55 expectantly to hear a church leader 29:59 speak for the first time 30:02 such a thing that ever happened, 30:03 speak to the legislators 30:05 of the Congress of the United States, 30:08 the senators and the congressmen, 30:10 a joint session of Congress. 30:12 It had never happened before. 30:16 And in fact it's rare 30:17 that even the head of states speaks to them. 30:21 Many of our viewers will probably remember 30:23 Benjamin Netanyahu coming and speaking, 30:26 and all the few that came from that 30:28 when he indulged his own aggressive agenda, 30:32 not just for his country, 30:33 but intruded into political affairs 30:35 of the United States. 30:37 It was not good. 30:39 But how more tenuous, how more inappropriate is it 30:44 for the head of a church 30:46 who happens to have a very small state 30:49 which is sort of the ultimate threat 30:51 to a republic like the United States 30:54 that's premised on the separation of church and state, 30:57 for him to be speaking as a power. 31:00 And it was captivating to me to actually be there 31:03 on that occasion to know that history was being made. 31:09 And the white cassock of Pope Francis 31:13 was most impressive, 31:14 we watching on the Videotron while he was speaking inside, 31:18 but then he came out on the balcony. 31:20 And, you know, the whole, if not the whole world 31:23 and the whole in this United States were wondering. 31:28 It's almost like behold the man. 31:32 You know, you can put it down to good PR, 31:34 good promotion of the agenda of this organization. 31:40 But I look at history, I look at the spiritual reality 31:44 of what's being played out and it's not right. 31:49 Jesus meek and mild, and lowly, 31:51 what would He say of any leader? 31:55 You know, if the president of my church, 31:57 the Seventh-day Adventist church took on such is, 32:01 I would take issue with that. 32:04 If the head of the Mormon Church 32:08 imagine to speak for America or to America 32:11 and tell them what to do, 32:12 I would wonder where we're coming from. 32:15 And so I think I should be excused as a Protestant 32:18 in a once majority Protestant society to think 32:21 something's not right here. 32:27 And as I analyze the speech, 32:28 as I analyze the dynamic of what was going on, 32:31 I don't think we are far removed 32:35 from what Jesus predicted for our day, 32:38 that there will be some sort of 32:40 interfaith violence unfortunately. 32:43 Previous pope very cleverly, Pope Benedict put out a... 32:49 Well, actually in a sermon he put out once 32:51 that the greatest threat to the nonviolence 32:53 of Christians was the work of the reformers. 32:57 And I thought that was sort of rude. 33:00 Because he said their insistence 33:02 on Sola scriptura 33:03 exposed Christianity to violence. 33:05 That's not true. 33:08 Foxe's Book of Martyrs shows that's not so. 33:12 Those that believed in the Bible 33:15 and the Bible only went so passively to the slaughter. 33:19 It was not violence, it was violence against them. 33:24 But as I heard Francis speak, 33:28 what struck me is how political it was. 33:32 What struck me as while he himself 33:34 looked like a Christ figure? 33:36 I don't remember him mentioning Christ, 33:38 but I'll tell you who he mentioned 33:40 at the beginning of the speech which was called Laudato Si', 33:44 Praise be to You my Lord. 33:46 He said in the words of this beautiful canticle. 33:48 I'm reading from the speech, 33:50 "Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us 33:53 of this our common home that it's like a sister 33:56 with whom we share our life, and a beautiful mother 33:59 who opens her arms to embrace us. 34:01 The sister now cries out to us 34:03 because of the harm we have inflicted on her 34:05 by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods 34:08 with which God had endowed her." 34:10 These are reasonable sentiments, 34:11 but the imagery is troubling. 34:14 It says, "We have come to see ourselves 34:15 as her lords and masters." 34:17 And it goes on and on about a queen like figure. 34:22 And I thought of Jeremiah, you know, 34:23 in the Old Testament twice in Jeremiah 34:25 it talks about people praying to the queen of heaven, 34:30 not a godly figure. 34:33 Someone that's indentified with Ishtar, Astarte, or Ashtoreth. 34:40 But that's been incorporated into religious thinking. 34:42 And here we are encouraged 34:44 to think sort of pagan rationality. 34:49 And Jesus is forgotten, but so be it. 34:54 You know, you could allow that, 34:55 but think a little bit more of what was said. 34:58 The pope very kindly mentioned Abraham Lincoln. 35:06 He actually mentioned four people. 35:08 Well actually five people, 35:10 but his speech was premised on four people. 35:12 It was Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, 35:15 and then two Roman Catholics, Dorothy Day, a socialist nun, 35:19 and Thomas Merton, a mystic priest, 35:22 who was very interested in eastern religions 35:24 and bringing them together with Christianity. 35:27 But I was taken with his mention of Abraham Lincoln, 35:29 it was the 150th anniversary 35:32 of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, 35:37 as it was also clustered around the 24th of March, 35:42 it was a time of two blood moons, 35:45 it was the time of the Day of Atonement, 35:47 that was a very high holy day for the Muslims. 35:51 There was the Jubilee, a special Jubilee. 35:55 You couldn't have got a better day 35:56 if you went and looked in the entrails of a goat. 35:59 It was most auspicious. 36:02 And then he mentioned Abraham Lincoln, 36:04 and I love history. 36:06 And I thought, "What's going on here?" 36:08 This is a Protestant society, not a Protestant government. 36:12 Unfortunately, 36:13 too many Protestant activists in the United States 36:16 think that it's a Christian republic, 36:18 it never was, it's a secular state. 36:20 But the society used to be 36:23 and still is theoretically biased 36:26 toward Protestant sensibilities 36:28 because much of the Constitution 36:31 even its origin to an attempt to keep it bay 36:34 some of the ills of the old world. 36:37 It was Protestant thinking. 36:40 And Abraham Lincoln's assassination got me. 36:42 I felt why is he so solicitous about Abraham Lincoln. 36:46 And I've remembered my history, 36:48 you know, it was a time when Abraham Lincoln was shot, 36:51 it was a civil war. 36:52 We know what the civil war is like in Syria. 36:55 Chaos, murder, and mayhem on all fronts. 36:58 Although, Washington 36:59 seems to have been a little bit calmer 37:00 than you would have expected 37:02 because even during the civil war 37:03 Abraham Lincoln complained bitterly 37:06 actually that he could be at lunch with his family 37:08 and people just wander in to talk with him 37:10 and some harangue with him. 37:12 So, you know, it wasn't the security state 37:14 we imagine now. 37:16 But the story of his assassination 37:19 was quite as sharply drawn in his time 37:23 because it wasn't just John Wilkes Booth, 37:26 an aspiring... 37:28 Well, he was a, you know, an actor, 37:30 but an aspiring great actor 37:31 who thundered out that Latin term, 37:34 you know, "thus die all tyrants" 37:36 as he shot Abraham Lincoln. 37:37 It was a conspiracy. 37:39 There were at least 11 people involved. 37:43 Several of them were hanged, several got life sentences, 37:47 and most of the community believed 37:49 that it was a Roman Catholic Jesuit plot. 37:52 May not have been. 37:53 I have no burden that it was. 37:55 But at the time that's what it was thought to be 37:57 because all but one of the conspirators 38:00 were Roman Catholics which at a time 38:02 when there was deep antagonism to Roman Catholics 38:05 in this country something that, 38:07 you know, we should be ashamed of, 38:08 it was not good. 38:10 But that prejudice was writ large 38:13 with the assassination because they noticed 38:15 all of them were of that persuasion. 38:20 When the trap was sprung and they made all the arrests, 38:24 the brother of one of the ringleaders, 38:26 the boarding house keeper Mary Surratt 38:30 made a run for Canada and escaped, 38:32 then he ended up in Rome, 38:33 and became one of the pope's bodyguards 38:35 before he was extradited later. 38:38 And he was sheltered by the priests in Canada. 38:41 Like I say, you don't have to say 38:43 definitively what it was, 38:45 at the time it was thought to be that way. 38:47 Why would you wave that 38:49 in front of the once Protestant country? 38:51 All I can believe 38:53 is that this was the act of triumph 38:56 and as a public legislator said a few years ago, 39:01 Roman Catholic legislator, a very fine gentleman. 39:04 I know him personally. 39:05 And he said, "Protestantism is absent in America. 39:12 Protestantism is absent." 39:16 Let me read you. 39:18 And this is a network that reaches out to all faith, 39:23 all people because we believe in religious liberty. 39:25 It doesn't matter if you're Roman Catholic or whatever. 39:29 We can differ deeply on your doctrine. 39:31 But you have a right to believe and to practice your faith. 39:34 Absolutely. 39:35 And I should, if called upon, 39:38 give my life to defend your right. 39:39 This is not what's at stake. 39:41 What's at stake is people crossing the lines 39:45 and forcing their faith on other people. 39:52 But I want to read something 39:54 that is very interesting for Seventh-day Adventist. 39:58 He says this responsibility, this is paragraph 68. 40:02 I think it is, 40:03 "This responsibility for God's earth 40:05 means that human beings, endowed with intelligence, 40:09 must respect the laws of nature 40:12 and the delicate equilibria 40:13 resisting between the creatures of this world, 40:16 for "he commanded and they were created, 40:20 he established them forever and ever, 40:21 he fixed their bounds 40:23 and he set a law which cannot pass away." 40:25 The laws found in the Bible dwell on relationships, 40:28 not only among individuals 40:30 but also with other living beings. 40:32 "You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox 40:35 fallen down by the way and withhold your help... 40:37 If you chance to come upon a bird's nest 40:39 or any tree on the ground, 40:41 with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting 40:43 upon the young or upon the eggs, 40:44 you shall not take the mother with the young." 40:46 He's introducing the idea 40:48 that you follow the Old Testament. 40:50 "Along the same lines," it says. 40:53 This is in the Laudato Si' rather document. 40:58 "Rest on the seventh day 41:00 is meant not only for human beings, 41:02 but also so "that your ox and your donkey may have rest." 41:07 Clearly, the Bible 41:08 has no place for a tyrannical anthropocentrism 41:11 unconcerned for other creatures. 41:13 So the Sabbath is for everyone, everything. 41:16 The Sabbath is an environmental concern. 41:18 And then it continues, 41:20 "Although the wickedness of man was great in the earth, 41:22 and the Lord was sorry that he had made 41:23 man on the earth. 41:24 Nevertheless, through Noah, who remained innocent and just, 41:27 God decided to open a path of salvation. 41:29 In this way He gave humanity the chance of a new beginning. 41:33 All it takes is one good person to restore hope! 41:35 The biblical tradition clearly shows 41:38 that this renewal entails recovering 41:40 and respecting the rhythms inscribed in nature 41:43 by the hand of the Creator. 41:45 We see this, for example, in the law of the Sabbath. 41:49 On the seventh day, God rested from all His work. 41:53 He commanded Israel to set aside each seventh day 41:55 as a day of rest." 41:56 Great stuff. 42:00 And then under the heading Sacramental Signs 42:02 and Celebrations of Rest. 42:04 "Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath is meant to be a day 42:07 which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, 42:11 and with others, and with the world. 42:13 Sunday is the day of the resurrection, 42:15 the first day of the new creation, 42:17 whose first fruits are the Lord's risen humanity, 42:20 the pledge of the final transfiguration 42:22 of all created reality. 42:25 It also proclaims man's eternal rest in God. 42:29 In this way, Christian spirituality 42:32 incorporates the value of relaxation and festivity. 42:35 The law of weekly rest forbade work on the seventh day 42:39 "so that your ox and your donkey may have rest, 42:43 and the son of your maidservant, 42:44 and the stranger, may be refreshed. 42:47 And so the day of rest, centered on the Eucharist, 42:50 sheds it light on the whole week, 42:52 and motivates us to greater concern 42:54 for nature and the poor." 42:57 I'm going to pull it all together 42:58 in one single moment. 43:00 What you've heard is the Seventh-day Adventist 43:03 is wonderful stuff except inappropriate 43:06 where they have introduced Sunday 43:07 which, you know, you can study your history. 43:09 It's pretty obvious that Constantine the emperor of Rome 43:14 easily appropriated the worship of the sun 43:17 and it was very convenient 43:19 to bring pagans and Christians together on the same day. 43:23 But at the moment in Europe, 43:25 but now creeping into here is a proposal, 43:29 its origins are not clear. 43:31 But its present reality is most clear. 43:34 It's being promoted by the Catholic Church 43:36 and other church coalitions too 43:39 that we have a international rest day, 43:42 a family rest day, Sunday. 43:44 And under pain of law you will cease everything, 43:48 and you will be encouraged to go, and worship, 43:51 and rejuvenate yourself spiritually. 43:54 The concept is fantastic, 43:56 but the execution is diabolical and it's medieval 44:00 because it involves law. 44:02 It involves the force of law. 44:05 And law is not just something written on paper. 44:09 It involves the policeman coming 44:11 and forcibly detaining you 44:13 or requiring you to do something, 44:14 it involves incarceration if you don't go along. 44:17 It might even involve, if we revert to Saudi Arabia 44:21 or something like that capital punishment 44:24 which is not alien to the United States. 44:26 Even in the early days of the Republic, 44:30 President Adams was so worried about rebellion 44:34 that it was theoretically a capital offense 44:36 to criticize the president. 44:41 We need to speak out about this thing 44:43 before it's full blown. 44:46 It's prophesied, Jesus predicted 44:50 that we will be hated by people 44:53 for our persistence in following Him 44:56 because why not, 44:57 it would seem perverse to oppose a respectful day 45:02 of environmental celebration, 45:07 and rest, and family rejuvenation. 45:09 And, of course, 45:11 cutting energy expense by not traveling and so on. 45:15 But we must do what God asked us to do. 45:17 That's the point of religious liberty. 45:19 That's the whole point of religious liberty. 45:24 In that speech before Congress, 45:27 I noticed that the pope 45:29 did mention another figure, Moses early on. 45:34 He looked up, and I think 45:35 there was a little carving, a relief. 45:36 But above relief of Moses that he saw in the chamber. 45:40 And he referred to Moses a law giver. 45:42 But I don't think he fully developed that 45:45 because in reality 45:47 Moses acting as the agent from God 45:51 had passed on those Ten Commandments 45:52 to God's people. 45:54 And the Fourth Commandment is just as fixed as the others. 45:58 No one suggesting 46:00 that anyone has the authority or even the logic, 46:03 even if you don't believe 46:05 that God gave them within the belief system, 46:07 these are inviolable rules. 46:10 I heard a very good calling program the other day. 46:13 Seventh-day Adventist scholar was explaining very well 46:15 the biblical arguments why even today 46:18 we should be keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. 46:20 And the host said, but that's fine for the Jews, 46:24 but you know, did they know about it 46:25 before the Ten Commandments were given at Sinai. 46:30 And the gentleman didn't really have an answer. 46:33 But I think the answer is implicit 46:34 in the language of the Ten Commandments. 46:37 It says they remember, 46:38 just to say, "I give you a new day, 46:40 keep this day, this will be our new pact." 46:43 No, it's remember the Sabbath, 46:45 the day that the Jew have not always remembered, 46:48 but it's been around for a long time. 46:52 And it's not a very good thing to suggest 46:54 that there's some other day that we could throw in. 47:02 Back today 47:03 or back to what it's like today in the Middle East. 47:07 We had a wonderful moment there 47:10 at the Wailing Wall Friday night in Israel. 47:14 I don't have very many photographs of it, 47:15 but they don't let you take pictures. 47:17 But the mental pictures 47:19 I have are overwhelming with my 18-year-old son, 47:23 we went right down to the Wall. 47:25 And there was swirling circles of young Israeli men 47:32 who as the moment of the sunset approach 47:34 were becoming more and more frenzied, 47:36 holding up copies of the Torah. 47:38 Some others were putting 47:40 little praise in the chinks in the Wall. 47:42 The excitement was just infectious. 47:45 I'll never forget that. 47:47 And I know the dynamic 47:49 that was going through that crowd. 47:50 It is not just the simple dynamic 47:52 that the political world is worried about, 47:55 you know, how come a people left over 47:56 from a genocidal movement in Nazi, Germany. 47:59 You know, why should they be there, 48:01 you know, what's so fixed about their above there. 48:04 You and I know that their aspirations 48:06 don't talk about the political rights, 48:08 but their aspirations are ancient. 48:11 But when I saw them, I thought of way 48:13 how I started thinking 48:15 about the absolute destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. 48:18 You can go back to another destruction 48:20 under Nebuchadnezzar or the Babylonians. 48:24 You know, when you read the Bible account, 48:26 these were things that came upon them 48:28 because of their lacked spiritual state, 48:30 but in reality 48:31 there were ravenous attacks by entities 48:35 that did not believe in that religious viewpoint. 48:38 Persecution, murder, 48:41 and what a people to be there still, 48:44 you know, clinging to their faith. 48:47 Only a day before or after... 48:50 Now I don't remember the sequence, 48:52 but only on that same trip we've gone to Masada. 48:55 And they were on the mountain fortress, 48:57 heard the story told reverently by the Israeli guide 49:01 of how after the destruction of Jerusalem, 49:04 for another few months nearly a 1,000 rebellious Jews 49:09 held out on this mountain fortress 49:10 until the Romans threw up an earthen rampart 49:13 were about ready to attack, 49:15 and then the defendants all killed themselves 49:17 rather than be captured. 49:19 You know, it's a sad sort of, 49:21 you know, a bloody end to something 49:25 that is inspiring, but it's no victory. 49:28 But it shows the desperation 49:30 they were under at the time of attack. 49:36 And when I thought about those years, 49:38 several years when Jerusalem and Israel was extirpated 49:42 and people sent to the four winds. 49:44 You know, it's worth remembering that 49:46 yes, our Savior was on a cross. 49:48 But it's worth remembering, 49:50 crosses were a common thing in those later years. 49:53 Thousands of people if you believe Josephites 49:56 were aligning the roads on their crosses. 49:59 It's worth remembering too today. 50:00 In the Middle East it's not uncommon 50:03 to see Christians literally nailed up on crosses, 50:06 it happened in Mosul several times. 50:08 You know 100 years ago, 50:10 when a million Armenian Christians were killed. 50:13 I've seen photographs, 50:15 number of photographs of them nailed to crosses. 50:18 The butchery is amazing in the name of religion. 50:21 And Jesus said, 50:23 it's inevitable when you hold a faith view, 50:29 there will be those that come against you 50:31 incited by an evil power. 50:34 There's a hymn that I love to hear sung 50:39 because I can still hear my father singing it. 50:41 "Lead on, O King Eternal." 50:44 It's got wall like imagery. 50:47 But I like it better than Battle Hymn of the Republic 50:49 which is a little bit too militaristic for my liking. 50:53 And actually Battle Hymn of the Republic was song, 50:55 sung by the Union armies that Lead on, O King Eternal 51:00 has this couple of lines it says, 51:04 "Not with swords' loud clashing, 51:07 nor roll of stirring drums, 51:10 I like that because many people, 51:13 and particularly in religion are stirred on by demagoguery 51:18 that stirred on by incitements 51:20 to go against someone who thinks differently 51:23 or to project their faith with the law, 51:27 with all of the social forces they can bring 51:30 and perhaps if that's frustrated 51:31 even by force of arms. 51:35 But it says, not with swords' loud clashing, 51:37 nor roll of stirring drums with deeds of love and mercy 51:43 the heavenly kingdom comes. 51:46 It's worth remembering that Jesus 51:49 went uncomplaining to His death. 51:52 And before Pilate, what did he say, 51:54 when Pilate was quizzing him, he says, 51:56 "If my kingdom was of this world," 51:58 he says, "My fellows would fight for me. 52:02 They would fight for me." 52:03 Unfortunately, 52:05 they did less than fight, they ran. 52:06 But Jesus had explained to them. 52:09 And as lately before that event as they were in the garden 52:14 when they came to seize him, when the guards came, 52:17 and Peter whips out that sword, 52:20 I have to believe was more like the dagger. 52:22 But when he whipped that out 52:23 probably like the Yemeni daggers, 52:25 they still have these long things 52:26 about a foot long curving, 52:28 whipped it out and cut off the earring. 52:29 And Jesus says, "Put up the sword 52:31 all who live by the sword will die by it." 52:36 And in Revelation, 52:39 it does explain very plainly at the very end of time, 52:43 that a strange amalgamation of political and economic power 52:48 that tries to enforce obedience to a certain viewpoint. 52:52 And it's a great persecution equal to the Middle Ages. 52:56 But it says, "He will come to his aid 52:58 with no one to help him. 52:59 The system will collapse." 53:01 It's sure to be frustrated 53:03 because it goes against 53:05 the grain of the principle of God's kingdom, 53:08 it goes against the grain of people of conviction. 53:12 We all want to follow our own conscience. 53:16 People do it differently, but that's a high aim. 53:19 I mean all of these revolutions 53:21 that are breaking out around the world, 53:23 not just in the Middle East, 53:25 that's what people want, 53:26 they're convicted of something and under a great conviction 53:29 people will throw away their life. 53:32 But as C. S. Lewis says, 53:34 you know, imagine the dismay at the end of time 53:38 in the final judgment for a revolutionary 53:41 to find out that his great sacrifice of blood, 53:44 his and others was for nothing 53:46 because his cause was vain. 53:48 But equally imagine those 53:51 who stood faithfully against all odds, 53:53 against even violence to hear, 53:56 "Well done good and faithful servant." 53:58 That's what it's worthwhile. 54:00 And that's what we're called to do. 54:02 And I'm giving this sermon not to say that, 54:06 you know, we head into the meat grinder purposely. 54:10 But in a sense we do 54:12 by accepting the name Christian. 54:16 There's something that goes with that. 54:18 And how as Jesus said 54:20 can the servant be less than his Lord. 54:23 It's not that we want it, 54:24 but we know that we're up against a serious challenge. 54:28 And my encouragement to people today 54:32 is recognize that in our world 54:35 we're drifting toward illiberalism, 54:37 we're drifting toward godlessness, 54:40 and a form of godliness that lacks the power thereof, 54:44 and nations, and clerics alike 54:46 are going to be seeking solutions 54:48 to these apparently insoluble problems. 54:51 There will be globalism put up. 54:53 There will be syncretistic religion. 54:55 There will be religious alliances. 54:57 There will be things like this family rest day. 55:00 And at this stage, we don't absolutely know 55:03 which combination or which structure will be, 55:06 but it will be along those lines. 55:09 And already there's a readiness 55:11 in the term that's bandied around and you hear it. 55:13 And you'll read it in the paper, 55:15 if you open almost any paper on these issues. 55:17 The common good for the survival of society, 55:22 we will sometimes have to put aside 55:24 the individual right to self-determination. 55:27 We will put aside 55:28 the individual's right for free speech. 55:30 We will put aside the individual's right 55:32 to hold a belief to defense of the people. 55:34 We will put aside 55:36 a religious belief that requires you 55:39 to not work on the day 55:40 that the WEPA or whatever it's called now 55:43 might require. 55:46 History tends to repeat itself. 55:49 And the lay of the land is crystal clear, 55:52 made clear by an earnest woke up 55:55 and standing there on a hillside 55:58 near a little lake 55:59 with a wrapped crowd of thousands. 56:02 And then at the very end of His ministry, 56:03 when He'd been repeating, and repeating, 56:05 and repeating 56:07 and then, but asking His disciples, 56:09 "How come it is you don't get this. 56:10 I tell you over and over again." 56:13 And He could say again 56:15 all of these things are distractions, 56:17 the real issue is witnessing for me, 56:22 no matter the cost. 56:24 That's the challenge before us. 56:27 And on this Religious Liberty Day, 56:29 I can speak directly to Seventh-day Adventist, 56:31 you have a history, 56:32 we have a history of our own church, 56:35 of expulsion from the nominal churches 56:38 of prophetic outline 56:41 that warns us more I think than most groups 56:44 of what is to come. 56:45 We need to be faithful 56:47 and supportive of religious liberty. 56:49 And for our larger faith community, 56:53 "Keep your faith, study your faith." 56:56 If you're convicted of it, 56:57 don't let anyone change you on it. 57:00 And defend to the last breath, 57:03 your right to practice your faith. 57:05 Don't accept in the name of security or in the name of, 57:09 you know, some sort of pan religious brotherhood 57:12 that you will put anything away. 57:14 That is not the way of religious liberty, 57:17 that is the way of compromise, that is the way of persecution, 57:21 that is the way of a dissolution 57:23 of all that's important, and true 57:26 and fine about religion and religious liberty 57:29 which must always be defended. |
Revised 2018-12-17