Again, it's Liberty Sabbath.
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Hard to believe
that a year has gone
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by since I preached
a sermon that went out
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on the 3ABN
airwaves, but it's come.
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January 2017, I never thought
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that I would be
even alive at this time.
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I can remember
when I was a young boy,
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my father would sing a song,
he says, "It's the year 2001."
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And then he would go on
about how everything's happened
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where we're basically in,
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you know, the twilight
hour of mankind, but it is 2017.
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I heard a song the other day
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for the probably the
several hundredth times,
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but it was a song
that I remember very well
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from the 1990s
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at a Christian Booksellers
Association convention,
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beautifully played,
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the tune I won't
attempt to recreate,
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but the words
went this way, it says,
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"We are standing on holy ground,
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and there are
angels all around."
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We don't often think that
way, but indeed there are.
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And as we come
into the year 2017,
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not just that this is a year
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I never thought
I would be alive,
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I mean, that's
my personal story,
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but when we look at
history, church history,
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religious liberty history,
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who could believe that
it's actually 500 years
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since the Reformation.
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This year, we'll celebrate it,
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the actual technical moment
is around the end of the year,
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but 500 years
since the Reformation.
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And when I think
of Martin Luther,
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John Wycliffe, and
other heroes like that.
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To me, they're
almost the angels.
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If you know Martin Luther,
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he wasn't a perfect human being.
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In fact, the other day,
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I was reading
some of his writings
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on the Jews, and
it's not worth repeating.
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He was a flawed human being,
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but he led the way
in an incredible revival
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of religious freedom
because that's really
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what it was in
promoting the Reformation
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that was religious freedom.
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In Hebrews 12:1,
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Paul says...
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After having spoken about
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some of the heroes of his people
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of the Jewish nation,
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back to the Old Testament times,
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he says, "Therefore,
since we are surrounded
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by so great a
cloud of witnesses."
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Angles all around.
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He says, "Let us lay
aside every weight and sin
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which cling so closely,
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and let us run with
perseverance the race
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that is set before us."
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We've got a challenge before us.
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That's what I read in his words.
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Huge challenge in Paul's day.
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You know, he ended
up in Rome in chains.
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When I was in
Rome not too long ago,
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I saw the chains.
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You never quite know if
those are the real chains,
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they say they are.
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But he had a
challenge before him,
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but the challenge
was answered powerfully,
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and Christianity,
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religious freedom went
to the furthest reaches
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of the then known
world, the Roman Empire.
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Freedom is important.
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And going again to
the Bible, again to Paul,
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in Galatians 5:1, he said this,
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most people don't
really think of it this way
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when they read
these texts, but he said,
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"For freedom,
Christ has set us free."
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In other words,
we've been set free
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for the whole end and
purpose of being free.
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It's an end in itself.
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And in Galatians 5:13, he says,
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"For you were called
for freedom, brothers."
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Almost sounds a little bit like,
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you know, comrades.
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We're in a great endeavor.
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And then in John
8:36, Jesus said,
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"For if the Son sets you
free, you are free indeed."
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I'm sure, from this
pulpit, and on this occasion,
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another Liberty
Sabbath, I've used Acts 4,
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but it's such a
powerful, central,
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biblical setting
for religious liberty
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that I have to repeat it
again, link it to these texts.
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When Jesus began His ministry,
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He got up there in
the synagogue in Nazareth,
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He was invited up by the rabbi,
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which was not unusual
but probably a little unusual
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with a single man that
was an itinerant preacher
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with just a few followers
would be asked to read.
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And so He was brought forward,
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He was given the Old
Testament book of Isaiah 61.
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Sorry, of Isaiah,
He chose chapter 61.
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And in the New Testament
transliteration of it...
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It's interesting,
it's changed a little bit.
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It says that, He said and read,
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"The Spirit of
the Lord is upon Me
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because He has
anointed Me to preach good news
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to the poor."
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And the other day
when I was going over this,
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I reminded the audience,
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so we always
need to keep in mind
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that this sequence here
is really the same thing
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expressed five
times, what did He say,
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"He has anointed Me to
preach good news to the poor."
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Synonym, "He has sent
Me to proclaim release
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to the captives
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and recovering of
sight to the blind,
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to set at liberty
those who are oppressed,
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to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord."
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They are all the same thing.
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They're all to do with
release, freedom, and liberty.
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Religious liberty, as I've said,
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so many times and it
impresses upon me every time
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I read these
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and other similar
statements from Christ,
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religious liberty is the gospel.
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And in this 500th
anniversary of the Reformation,
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surely we should be
impelled to present to again
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the gospel not in a namby-pamby
sort of a generic way
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but in the same way
as Paul presented it,
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the same way that Luther
and his peers presented it,
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as a revolutionary shift
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against the
thinking of the present age.
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And how could it be
any other than that?
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I know that this broadcast
is going out a little wider
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than just the United States,
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but right now the United
States is in the aftermath
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of an earthshaking
presidential election
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and many people are
still in the aftershock,
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not really sure
how to relate to it.
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What's ahead?
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And in reality,
what's happened political
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as well as social
is a stark reminder
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that people have
lost their moorings.
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They don't know who they are
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and where there are
in society at large.
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They don't know...
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You know, they say
glibly, "Christian nation."
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But are they Christians?
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Is the United
States a Christian nation?
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No, a name only.
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And unfortunately,
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you know, our mortal
enemies at the moment,
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the Jihadis,
they are prone to say
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that we're the great Satan.
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Well, you know, you
can allow for hyperbole,
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but there's a
little truth in there
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that we are Christians
lapsed into forgetfulness,
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and certainly
we are Protestants.
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You know, I could say
generically United States
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is made up of Catholics,
Protestants, Jews, Muslims,
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and so on.
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But as a society,
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it's the
inheritor of a Christian,
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Protestant
sensibility, but where is it?
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Just before the election,
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as soon to be as I recall this,
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our soon to be president,
and we wish him very well.
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But he stood
alongside a Catholic prelate
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and then swore basically
fealty to a Catholic identity.
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Well, you know,
more power to him,
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he's the
president of all people.
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But the symbolism
was troubling to me
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as we celebrate
the 500th anniversary,
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Rome has every right to exist,
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Roman Catholics have every right
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to hold their views,
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and Martin Luther had
every right to separate.
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But when he tried to, he
was threatened with burning,
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he was threatened
with physical harm.
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The Reformation proved something
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that is being
woven again around us
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or proved against something
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that is being
woven against around us.
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And I really believe
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that we need to be on our guard.
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This matter of
freedom is central,
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but how do you perceive freedom.
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It's something I
thought about a lot.
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And I want to give an
example from the Old Testament.
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Again, picking up on this theme
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of there are angels
all around and holy ground.
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Think about Moses.
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You can go to Exodus
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and pick up the
story there in Exodus 3,
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this part of the story
of Moses in middle age.
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And I wish all of
us could have a long
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and a stronger life as he did.
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You know, when he died at 120.
It says his eye was not dimmed.
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Well, I'm
forced to wear glasses.
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But Moses, right
till the time he died,
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his vision was not dimmed,
he was relatively strong.
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But I want to
pick out the story,
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he was 80 years of age,
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40 years ago, in his wild youth,
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he had been a
princeling in Egypt,
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and that's quite a story.
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If you don't know it, go
to your Bible and read it.
00:10:03.67\00:10:06.10
It was a
providential development
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where this Hebrew slave boy,
00:10:08.50\00:10:11.61
destined to be killed
by the Pharaoh soldiers
00:10:11.64\00:10:14.74
or drowned in the
river was instead plucked up,
00:10:14.78\00:10:17.18
adopted by one of
Pharaoh's daughters
00:10:17.21\00:10:19.48
and trained in the palace
to be one of the ruling class.
00:10:19.51\00:10:23.12
And then when he discovered
00:10:23.15\00:10:25.19
who he was and
presumed his destiny,
00:10:25.22\00:10:27.69
he took matters
into his own hands
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in a violent act
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and was ejected from
Egypt under pain of death,
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never to return, he thought.
00:10:34.43\00:10:36.67
Went out into the
desert, and, you know, I've seen
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that desert down the Sinai,
it's pretty much a desert.
00:10:40.27\00:10:44.97
I lived in Idaho for a while,
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and that's a
desert too in spots.
00:10:46.37\00:10:48.24
I wouldn't want to live in
either one of those places,
00:10:48.28\00:10:50.38
but yet when Moses was,
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people led out a
pretty sure living,
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he married the
priest of Midian's daughter.
00:10:55.62\00:10:57.95
I'm trying to think of his wife,
00:11:01.09\00:11:02.42
but he married
one of the daughters,
00:11:02.46\00:11:04.79
settled in there as,
00:11:04.83\00:11:06.66
I imagine, the
favorite son of that family
00:11:06.70\00:11:09.73
probably to inherit
the position of authority
00:11:09.76\00:11:12.57
in the nomadic
people roundabout.
00:11:12.60\00:11:15.14
But he was happy
enough for 40 years
00:11:15.17\00:11:17.54
to be wandering
out in the desert
00:11:17.57\00:11:19.91
with his sheep
thinking that he was free.
00:11:19.94\00:11:24.65
Nobody was bothering
him there, he was free,
00:11:24.68\00:11:27.55
but he was in a desert.
00:11:27.58\00:11:29.85
And this is the
parallel I want to bring today
00:11:29.88\00:11:32.95
that very few
people would think of.
00:11:32.99\00:11:34.72
In the United States,
in Australia, in England,
00:11:34.76\00:11:37.49
most Western countries
00:11:37.53\00:11:39.19
that have this
Protestant tradition of freedom
00:11:39.23\00:11:42.90
that was hard won
00:11:42.93\00:11:45.30
and hard lived
in its early days.
00:11:45.33\00:11:48.60
You know, the Puritans
and other Protestants took
00:11:48.64\00:11:51.74
their religion seriously.
00:11:51.77\00:11:54.58
And we say
glibly, "We are free."
00:11:54.61\00:11:57.18
But I believe figuratively
00:11:57.21\00:11:59.41
and perhaps even very literally,
00:11:59.45\00:12:00.88
we're in a desert, we
think that we are free.
00:12:00.92\00:12:06.25
But freedom is
often only in our mind
00:12:06.29\00:12:11.06
because if we acted differently,
00:12:11.09\00:12:12.99
we would be restricted.
00:12:13.03\00:12:15.06
And what Moses was able
to do was to be satisfied
00:12:15.10\00:12:18.03
with a desert experience,
he was satisfied to follow,
00:12:18.07\00:12:22.17
you know, the
tinkling bell of a goat,
00:12:22.20\00:12:25.01
he was comfortable to forget,
00:12:25.04\00:12:27.48
on a distant shore, if you like,
00:12:27.51\00:12:29.71
there in Egypt
where he once lived,
00:12:29.74\00:12:31.31
where his family still were,
00:12:31.35\00:12:33.82
he was
comfortable to forget that
00:12:33.85\00:12:35.32
they were in literal slavery.
00:12:35.35\00:12:38.32
You know, in Liberty
Magazine, in the last few years,
00:12:38.35\00:12:40.36
we've had cover
story after cover story.
00:12:40.39\00:12:43.79
And I have one with me
00:12:43.83\00:12:45.16
that perhaps I could even
put in front of the cameras,
00:12:45.19\00:12:47.53
the latest issue.
00:12:47.56\00:12:48.90
The Cries of The Persecuted.
00:12:48.93\00:12:51.13
I think that young
woman's in Nigeria, Sudan,
00:12:51.17\00:12:54.97
and other places.
00:12:55.00\00:12:56.34
People are being killed
for their religious identity.
00:12:56.37\00:12:59.14
People put their lives
on the line for their faith.
00:12:59.17\00:13:03.95
And yet we are
in our little desert
00:13:03.98\00:13:06.72
where the wind storms
swirl warmly around us,
00:13:06.75\00:13:10.55
and we're not
willing to recognize
00:13:10.59\00:13:13.09
what's happening there.
00:13:13.12\00:13:14.62
With Moses, it
took a curious sight,
00:13:14.66\00:13:18.59
as the Bible says
there in Exodus 3, it says,
00:13:18.63\00:13:21.76
"He was keeping the flock
of his father-in-law, Jethro,
00:13:21.80\00:13:24.17
the priest of Midian,
00:13:24.20\00:13:25.53
and he led his
flock to the west side
00:13:25.57\00:13:27.40
of the wilderness."
00:13:27.44\00:13:28.77
It sounds easy,
00:13:28.80\00:13:30.14
but there was
probably several days walking,
00:13:30.17\00:13:32.97
sort of picking his way
from little watering hole
00:13:33.01\00:13:35.68
or a sheltered
grotto under a few bushes.
00:13:35.71\00:13:38.11
There's not much
water in that area,
00:13:38.15\00:13:40.62
not much to sustain you.
00:13:40.65\00:13:42.25
And it says, "He came to
Horeb, the Mountain of God,
00:13:42.28\00:13:44.85
and the angel of
the Lord appeared to him
00:13:44.89\00:13:47.82
in a flame of fire out
of the midst of a Bush."
00:13:47.86\00:13:51.89
What would you do
00:13:51.93\00:13:53.26
if something like that happened?
00:13:53.29\00:13:55.40
If in some blinding
moment of light, you were told,
00:13:55.43\00:13:59.50
religious liberty is more
than just being comfortable
00:13:59.53\00:14:02.54
that you are not harassed
or persecuted or imprisoned.
00:14:02.57\00:14:06.54
But it says of him, he
thought I will go inside
00:14:06.57\00:14:08.91
and see this wonder,
00:14:08.94\00:14:10.68
he was not much stirred
even at burning bush anymore
00:14:10.71\00:14:16.12
than in our Western
comfort, we're not much stirred
00:14:16.15\00:14:21.06
about what's
happening in Syria, for example.
00:14:21.09\00:14:24.26
A lot of talk in the
media are about a refugee crisis
00:14:24.29\00:14:27.93
and people
coming down into Europe
00:14:27.96\00:14:29.56
and
destabilizing the population,
00:14:29.60\00:14:31.63
nobody asks the question
00:14:31.67\00:14:33.57
that I've read where
are all the Christians.
00:14:33.60\00:14:37.51
There are 500,000 Christians
in one refugee camp in Jordan,
00:14:37.54\00:14:42.91
but the Christians
are not easily escaping.
00:14:42.94\00:14:46.51
This is a great and
horrible persecution
00:14:46.55\00:14:50.39
in the Middle East
00:14:50.42\00:14:51.75
particularly where
that's been equated
00:14:51.79\00:14:53.39
with the great persecution
00:14:53.42\00:14:54.79
in the times of the
early Christian church
00:14:54.82\00:14:58.36
with the Roman
emperors persecuting them.
00:14:58.39\00:15:00.90
It's just as great.
00:15:00.93\00:15:02.26
This is being characterized
as the final expulsion
00:15:02.30\00:15:05.43
of the Christians
from the Middle East.
00:15:05.47\00:15:09.27
And we don't hear,
00:15:09.30\00:15:11.04
and I hope though
these angels all around
00:15:11.07\00:15:14.31
will at least cause us to think,
00:15:14.34\00:15:16.24
"Maybe we should step
out of our comfort zone
00:15:16.28\00:15:18.65
and look at this
interesting development."
00:15:18.68\00:15:22.85
It says, "The Lord appeared
to him in a flame of fire.
00:15:22.88\00:15:25.75
And Moses said,
'I will turn aside
00:15:25.79\00:15:27.69
and see this sight why
the bush is not burned.'
00:15:27.72\00:15:32.69
When the Lord saw that
he turned aside to see,
00:15:32.73\00:15:35.10
God called out of the
bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!'
00:15:35.13\00:15:38.37
And he said, 'Here I am.'"
00:15:38.40\00:15:39.73
In other words,
he just responded.
00:15:39.77\00:15:41.90
"Then he said, 'Don't come near,
00:15:41.94\00:15:44.31
put off your shoes
from your feet for the place
00:15:44.34\00:15:46.31
on which you're
standing is holy ground.'"
00:15:46.34\00:15:50.78
That song
resonates with me again.
00:15:50.81\00:15:54.02
I don't think
it was holy ground,
00:15:54.05\00:15:55.65
it was a desert, but it was holy
00:15:55.68\00:15:57.75
because he was in
the presence of God,
00:15:57.79\00:16:00.29
he had to show respect,
00:16:00.32\00:16:01.89
he had note what
was really happening.
00:16:01.92\00:16:04.59
God had grabbed his attention.
00:16:04.63\00:16:06.83
"And He said, 'I'm
the God of your father,
00:16:06.86\00:16:08.96
the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac,
00:16:09.00\00:16:10.47
and the God of Jacob.'
00:16:10.50\00:16:11.83
And hid his face,
00:16:11.87\00:16:13.20
for he was
afraid to look at God."
00:16:13.23\00:16:14.57
I don't know what
Jethro's faith was,
00:16:14.60\00:16:17.01
I hardly think
00:16:17.04\00:16:18.37
he was the purest
worshipper of Yahweh.
00:16:18.41\00:16:22.08
That was back
with the descendants
00:16:22.11\00:16:24.88
of Joseph in Egypt.
00:16:24.91\00:16:27.62
I don't think Moses quite knew
00:16:27.65\00:16:30.29
who the God of his
father was at that point.
00:16:30.32\00:16:32.69
He had lost his
full sense of identity.
00:16:32.72\00:16:35.26
And if you read carefully,
00:16:35.29\00:16:36.62
and I remember a great sermon
00:16:36.66\00:16:37.99
in my youth written
by H. M. S. Richards,
00:16:38.03\00:16:40.33
it was entitled The
Man God Tried to Kill,
00:16:40.36\00:16:43.77
and God tried to kill
Moses a little later says,
00:16:43.80\00:16:47.14
He met him on
the way in the motel,
00:16:47.17\00:16:49.60
it almost says
that in his lodgings
00:16:49.64\00:16:52.04
and attempted to kill him,
00:16:52.07\00:16:53.41
and he rose up and
circumcised his son.
00:16:53.44\00:16:55.08
He didn't quite
know what God wanted.
00:16:55.11\00:16:59.25
But God got his attention,
00:16:59.28\00:17:00.62
and this is what I want to share
00:17:00.65\00:17:02.08
as far as
liberation and reformation
00:17:02.12\00:17:05.39
and a galvanizing
response to the situation.
00:17:05.42\00:17:08.89
In verse 7, the Lord said,
00:17:08.92\00:17:11.03
"I have seen the
affliction of my people."
00:17:11.06\00:17:13.70
I'll rephrase of it,
00:17:13.73\00:17:15.06
"I have seen the
affliction of my people
00:17:15.10\00:17:17.40
who are in Egypt
and have heard their cry
00:17:17.43\00:17:19.50
because of their taskmasters.
00:17:19.53\00:17:20.90
I know their suffering,
00:17:20.94\00:17:22.90
and I've come
down to deliver them
00:17:22.94\00:17:24.31
out of the hand of the Egyptians
00:17:24.34\00:17:25.67
and to bring them up
00:17:25.71\00:17:27.04
out of that land to
a good and broad land."
00:17:27.08\00:17:29.04
And He says,
00:17:29.08\00:17:30.41
"And now, behold the
cry of the people of Israel
00:17:30.45\00:17:32.41
has come to Me, and I
have seen the oppression
00:17:32.45\00:17:36.18
with which the
Egyptians oppress them.
00:17:36.22\00:17:38.99
I will send you to Pharaoh."
00:17:39.02\00:17:42.36
That's the
fulfillment of the holy ground,
00:17:42.39\00:17:45.73
the angels all around.
00:17:45.76\00:17:47.23
It's not just a nice
song, that's a wonderful song,
00:17:47.26\00:17:50.37
I love that song, it
gives me all warm fuzzies.
00:17:50.40\00:17:53.10
But, you know, when
there's angels around,
00:17:53.13\00:17:55.67
as Paul said in Hebrews there,
you know, "We're surrounded
00:17:55.70\00:18:00.44
by this great
crowd of witnesses,
00:18:00.48\00:18:03.65
we are called upon
to act in the situation.
00:18:03.68\00:18:06.51
We're called upon to
put our religious liberty,
00:18:06.55\00:18:10.05
our freedom in Christ."
00:18:10.09\00:18:11.85
You know, I've set you free,
for freedom I've set you free."
00:18:11.89\00:18:15.99
We're not to stay in the desert,
00:18:16.02\00:18:17.89
go back and do
something for religious liberty.
00:18:17.93\00:18:22.93
You know, this is the burden
00:18:22.96\00:18:24.30
that I've had
with Liberty Magazine
00:18:24.33\00:18:26.07
from the beginning.
00:18:26.10\00:18:27.44
A magazine not
in its 500th year,
00:18:27.47\00:18:29.80
but it's the 111th year,
and I wander through the lot.
00:18:29.84\00:18:34.54
And I know a lot
of these conspiracists
00:18:34.58\00:18:36.51
who may partly be right note
00:18:36.54\00:18:38.41
that all sorts of
strange goings on and deaths,
00:18:38.45\00:18:42.02
there's a 33 mixed in with it,
00:18:42.05\00:18:44.75
33 level masonry or
illuminati or whatever.
00:18:44.79\00:18:48.66
Who knows?
00:18:48.69\00:18:50.03
But I think
it's very significant
00:18:50.06\00:18:51.39
that Liberty
Magazine is 111 years
00:18:51.43\00:18:54.06
that's 3, the trinity.
00:18:54.10\00:18:59.20
It's a very important
year like 9/11 even, 1, 1, 1.
00:18:59.23\00:19:04.37
We've been around a 111
years, but we're back to one,
00:19:04.41\00:19:08.14
back to square one,
we're ready to move now.
00:19:08.18\00:19:11.15
And from the beginning,
00:19:11.18\00:19:12.51
I've seen this as a magazine
00:19:12.55\00:19:14.45
that's an incredible
trust given to all people
00:19:14.48\00:19:17.32
but through the
Seventh-day Adventist church
00:19:17.35\00:19:19.02
because of its history,
00:19:19.05\00:19:20.39
its understanding of
the liberating nature
00:19:20.42\00:19:22.69
of the times that we live in.
00:19:22.72\00:19:24.06
God has called
us before the great
00:19:24.09\00:19:26.29
and final day of the
Lord to do as Moses did,
00:19:26.33\00:19:30.43
"Go back into the city,
go back among your peers.
00:19:30.47\00:19:36.14
Don't stay in
the desert of silent,
00:19:36.17\00:19:38.97
incommunicado
existence as you know
00:19:39.01\00:19:42.38
what becomes
alternately a secretive cult,
00:19:42.41\00:19:44.51
you got to move
out, make a difference,
00:19:44.55\00:19:46.51
proclaim liberty
throughout the land."
00:19:46.55\00:19:49.32
And I've seen from the beginning
00:19:49.35\00:19:51.22
that Liberty Magazine
while it's well respected way
00:19:51.25\00:19:54.79
predates anything
I had to do with it,
00:19:54.82\00:19:56.46
and I hope it
maintains its stance beyond,
00:19:56.49\00:19:58.83
but it makes no
sense unless the magazine
00:19:58.86\00:20:03.03
is a catalyst for action.
00:20:03.06\00:20:06.13
If we're just
sending comforting words,
00:20:06.17\00:20:09.64
not much good.
00:20:09.67\00:20:11.67
We do want to inform people,
00:20:11.71\00:20:13.78
we do want to
motivate them though,
00:20:13.81\00:20:15.78
and we do want to
activate people to action
00:20:15.81\00:20:18.31
to make a
difference to prepare the way,
00:20:18.35\00:20:22.88
again, for the Lord
00:20:22.92\00:20:24.25
because the Lord's
message is liberation, freedom.
00:20:24.29\00:20:26.96
There's another example
of the angels all around
00:20:30.76\00:20:34.93
that I think is also
relevant for us today.
00:20:34.96\00:20:37.87
And I discovered something
00:20:37.90\00:20:39.33
this one I read it
again that I'd never noticed.
00:20:39.37\00:20:42.70
In 2 Kings 6,
00:20:42.74\00:20:48.81
there's a story tell
that resonated with me
00:20:48.84\00:20:52.21
because I don't know
about you or our viewers,
00:20:52.25\00:20:56.18
the media varies
from country to country,
00:20:56.22\00:20:57.95
but I do think,
in most countries,
00:20:57.99\00:21:00.59
news of the for
want of a better word,
00:21:00.62\00:21:03.46
the civil war in Syria
breaks through pretty regularly.
00:21:03.49\00:21:07.96
And here in 2 Kings 6,
00:21:08.00\00:21:10.67
it tells about a war with Syria.
00:21:10.70\00:21:14.87
Nothing new under the sun.
00:21:14.90\00:21:17.17
And after the
great prophet Elijah
00:21:17.21\00:21:19.27
had been taken away to heaven,
00:21:19.31\00:21:21.51
his acolyte Elisha was
doing just as great a deeds
00:21:21.54\00:21:25.81
and one of his deeds
in the war with Syria,
00:21:25.85\00:21:28.52
he was using the Word
of the Lord to his people
00:21:28.55\00:21:31.92
to explain the
threat from Syria.
00:21:31.95\00:21:34.69
And, you know, I'm
drawing the parallel,
00:21:34.72\00:21:36.79
but Syria was a stand
in for the Godless people,
00:21:36.83\00:21:39.86
those that
didn't respect the Lord
00:21:39.89\00:21:41.36
and were coming
in to destroy them
00:21:41.40\00:21:44.43
and to break down
their commitment to God.
00:21:44.47\00:21:47.54
And Elisha was able to tell them
00:21:47.57\00:21:49.90
what was to happen next,
00:21:49.94\00:21:51.81
that they were going to
attack on this and that day,
00:21:51.84\00:21:55.14
they were going to go
here, and they were avoiding it,
00:21:55.18\00:21:58.18
they were beating them.
00:21:58.21\00:22:00.05
And, you know, when I
think about religious liberty,
00:22:00.08\00:22:03.05
I have a secret weapon
on putting Liberty Magazine
00:22:03.08\00:22:05.59
together, I read Bible prophecy
00:22:05.62\00:22:08.49
and the writings of
the early Adventist church,
00:22:08.52\00:22:10.53
and in particular, a
visionary Ellen White
00:22:10.56\00:22:13.23
where she was really
extrapolating Bible prophecies.
00:22:13.26\00:22:16.77
And the outline is very plain.
00:22:16.80\00:22:19.10
And as things
develop in our time,
00:22:19.13\00:22:20.94
you can look ahead,
00:22:20.97\00:22:22.30
and you'll say,
"Well, this will happen,
00:22:22.34\00:22:23.67
I know that this will happen."
00:22:23.71\00:22:25.31
We know that at some time,
00:22:25.34\00:22:27.38
perhaps sooner
rather than later,
00:22:27.41\00:22:28.98
even in the United States
00:22:29.01\00:22:30.35
where the great constitutional
separation of church and state,
00:22:30.38\00:22:34.35
even here because
largely a lack of faith
00:22:34.38\00:22:37.92
and a lack of knowledge
of constitutional principles,
00:22:37.95\00:22:41.22
oppressive religious
laws will come to pass.
00:22:41.26\00:22:47.06
We've been told ahead of time.
00:22:47.10\00:22:48.70
And surely, we should be acting,
00:22:48.73\00:22:50.67
we should be as privileged
as the people of Israel
00:22:50.70\00:22:54.34
under the Prophet Elijah
00:22:54.37\00:22:55.70
were 'cause they
had advance word.
00:22:55.74\00:22:57.97
And it finally got up
00:22:58.01\00:22:59.34
to the King
Ben-hadad of the Syrians.
00:22:59.37\00:23:01.74
He said, "How come?
00:23:01.78\00:23:03.11
There must be a spy in my midst,
00:23:03.14\00:23:05.11
somebody spilling the beans."
00:23:05.15\00:23:07.22
And so he cast about
looking for the whistleblower
00:23:07.25\00:23:11.79
or the WikiLeaks guy.
00:23:11.82\00:23:14.16
"Who is it?"
00:23:14.19\00:23:16.66
And finally, I think
probably out of desperation
00:23:16.69\00:23:19.69
'cause I don't think at first
they wanted to tell the king,
00:23:19.73\00:23:21.43
they said, "Well,
there's a prophet there,
00:23:21.46\00:23:23.00
Elisha, you know, he knows
00:23:23.03\00:23:24.43
what happens in your
bed chamber pretty much."
00:23:24.47\00:23:27.44
So the king determined
to go after this prophet.
00:23:27.47\00:23:31.94
And that's where the
story gets very interesting.
00:23:31.97\00:23:34.34
It says he sent quite an
army that surrounded Elisha
00:23:34.38\00:23:37.55
and his servant and probably
00:23:37.58\00:23:39.58
a few other
followers surrounded them
00:23:39.61\00:23:42.78
when they were staying
at little town of Dothan.
00:23:42.82\00:23:46.19
And in the
morning, when they woke up,
00:23:46.22\00:23:49.56
it says in verse 15,
00:23:49.59\00:23:51.93
"When the
servant of the man of God
00:23:51.96\00:23:55.76
rose early in the morning
and went out, behold, an army
00:23:55.80\00:23:59.87
with horses and chariots
all around about the city."
00:23:59.90\00:24:04.01
They were boxed. And
he said, this is Elisha.
00:24:04.04\00:24:08.38
Sorry.
00:24:08.41\00:24:09.74
"And the servant
said, 'Alas, my master!
00:24:09.78\00:24:11.35
What shall we do?'
00:24:11.38\00:24:12.71
And then Elisha said,
00:24:12.75\00:24:14.75
'Fear not, for
those who are with us
00:24:14.78\00:24:16.65
are more than those
who are with them.'"
00:24:16.69\00:24:19.09
What evidence did
Elisha have for that?
00:24:19.12\00:24:22.56
No evidence that
the servant could see.
00:24:22.59\00:24:24.56
No evidence.
00:24:24.59\00:24:25.93
It seemed like a
hopeless situation.
00:24:25.96\00:24:27.50
You know, and today,
00:24:27.53\00:24:28.86
I've got to say as a
bit of a passing joke.
00:24:28.90\00:24:31.07
You know the
Democrats have lost an election,
00:24:31.10\00:24:33.50
they think that
00:24:33.54\00:24:34.87
they'll never
come to power again.
00:24:34.90\00:24:36.81
But anyone that's more
than 20, 30 years old knows
00:24:36.84\00:24:40.04
that there's a
seesaw of the power.
00:24:40.08\00:24:44.81
You don't need to give up.
00:24:44.85\00:24:47.62
"But he says,
'what shall we do?'
00:24:47.65\00:24:48.98
But he said, 'Fear
not, those who are with us
00:24:49.02\00:24:50.89
are more than those
who are with them.'"
00:24:50.92\00:24:52.45
He saw the real dynamic.
00:24:52.49\00:24:55.29
"And then Elisha prayed."
00:24:55.32\00:24:57.59
And some of the
these type of prayers
00:24:57.63\00:24:59.59
in the Bible are incredible
00:24:59.63\00:25:01.26
because they're prayers
based on spiritual insight,
00:25:01.30\00:25:04.27
not on hopefulness that,
00:25:04.30\00:25:06.03
you know, "God,
please, please do this
00:25:06.07\00:25:08.20
if it's Your will," or whatever.
00:25:08.24\00:25:10.14
Well, yes, you pray that way.
00:25:10.17\00:25:11.64
But the true
prayer of faith assumes
00:25:11.67\00:25:15.04
God will honor His promises.
00:25:15.08\00:25:17.61
"And he says, 'O
Lord, I pray thee,
00:25:17.65\00:25:19.35
open his eyes that he may see.'
00:25:19.38\00:25:23.59
And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man, and he saw,
00:25:23.62\00:25:26.25
and behold, the
mountain was full of horses
00:25:26.29\00:25:29.86
and of chariots of
fire round about Elisha."
00:25:29.89\00:25:35.76
Back to the Reformation.
00:25:35.80\00:25:37.83
If we would keep in mind
what happened in the past,
00:25:37.87\00:25:41.04
if we would truly
study the Reformation
00:25:41.07\00:25:43.64
and know its effect
00:25:43.67\00:25:45.01
not just on the
body of believers
00:25:45.04\00:25:47.48
but its effect on
the world at large,
00:25:47.51\00:25:50.45
we would know
00:25:50.48\00:25:51.81
that we're
inheritors of a powerful dynamic
00:25:51.85\00:25:53.98
that God has shown
His hand through it.
00:25:54.02\00:25:57.09
People seem to have forgotten
00:25:57.12\00:25:58.45
what it was
like in Luther's day.
00:25:58.49\00:26:00.62
First of all, they've forgotten,
00:26:00.66\00:26:02.32
Roman Catholic churches remember
00:26:02.36\00:26:03.79
that it's their prerogatives
00:26:03.83\00:26:05.16
that he was a
Roman Catholic priest.
00:26:05.19\00:26:07.56
There's really nothing wrong
with the present phenomenon
00:26:07.60\00:26:10.47
that we're going to see
00:26:10.50\00:26:11.83
this year of
Catholics themselves
00:26:11.87\00:26:14.74
celebrating the reformers.
00:26:14.77\00:26:17.67
You know, they would
accept what they stood for.
00:26:17.71\00:26:20.28
But as a
continuum, yes, Martin Luther
00:26:20.31\00:26:23.38
was a Roman Catholic priest
much troubled in conscience,
00:26:23.41\00:26:26.51
and as events unfolded,
00:26:26.55\00:26:27.88
he saw more and more
the error of the ways
00:26:27.92\00:26:30.05
that he was part of.
00:26:30.09\00:26:31.95
There's no question of that.
00:26:31.99\00:26:34.12
But when we look at
what happened in that day,
00:26:34.16\00:26:37.06
Martin Luther in breaking free
from Rome broke Germany free
00:26:37.09\00:26:41.90
from the Holy Roman Empire,
and Germany breaking free,
00:26:41.93\00:26:45.80
England broke free,
00:26:45.83\00:26:47.84
most of the European
countries broke free,
00:26:47.87\00:26:50.54
bad things followed short term.
00:26:50.57\00:26:52.44
There was a Thirty Years' War
that most people have forgotten
00:26:52.47\00:26:56.81
followed very quickly...
00:26:56.85\00:26:59.01
Well, it follow
quickly after Luther,
00:26:59.05\00:27:01.38
it followed quickly
after the present dynamic
00:27:01.42\00:27:04.25
when Luther reacted to Rome
00:27:04.29\00:27:06.35
because when he
understood clearly
00:27:06.39\00:27:10.46
that righteous by
faith was the only way to go,
00:27:10.49\00:27:13.76
the Sola Scriptura,
God's Word was a safer guide
00:27:13.80\00:27:17.63
than tradition or
the momentary peak
00:27:17.67\00:27:20.84
or perversity of church leaders.
00:27:20.87\00:27:23.27
He was onto something.
00:27:23.30\00:27:24.71
And he sparked a
revival and rebellion,
00:27:24.74\00:27:29.01
but it was damped
down because of that time.
00:27:29.04\00:27:33.31
And when I get into
this, I'm always reminded,
00:27:33.35\00:27:36.02
the history is rather circular.
00:27:36.05\00:27:37.99
At that time,
Europe, the Holy Roman Empire
00:27:38.02\00:27:41.32
was under mortal threat
00:27:41.36\00:27:42.99
from Islamic
attack for over 100 years.
00:27:43.02\00:27:48.26
The Ottoman
Turks every few months
00:27:48.30\00:27:51.43
made large scale
invasions into Europe,
00:27:51.47\00:27:53.57
they besieged Vienna
earlier in the piece,
00:27:53.60\00:27:56.84
the Frankish
Kingdom was defended
00:27:56.87\00:28:00.84
by Charles Martel...
00:28:00.88\00:28:02.51
Heavy fighting,
00:28:02.54\00:28:03.88
they fought
them back from there.
00:28:03.91\00:28:05.25
Vienna was besieged
as I said, Spain fell.
00:28:05.28\00:28:09.38
And I saw a program
once that the diagram there,
00:28:09.42\00:28:12.82
it wasn't even
like World Wars I and II
00:28:12.85\00:28:16.26
where there were
battles every now and again,
00:28:16.29\00:28:18.79
but it was just
come at you all the time.
00:28:18.83\00:28:20.60
You'd fight them back,
00:28:20.63\00:28:21.96
they'd regroup
and they'd come again.
00:28:22.00\00:28:23.53
It was never sure
that Europe would survive.
00:28:23.57\00:28:27.30
So while that
dynamic was in place,
00:28:27.34\00:28:29.60
the religious
Reformation percolated
00:28:29.64\00:28:32.24
and gathered strength,
00:28:32.27\00:28:33.61
but it couldn't be
dealt with as violently
00:28:33.64\00:28:36.54
as it was once the
Islamic threat was passed.
00:28:36.58\00:28:39.48
But once it was
passed within only about 10
00:28:39.51\00:28:41.92
or so years after
00:28:41.95\00:28:43.28
the final defeat
of the Islamic threat.
00:28:43.32\00:28:46.82
Then the Thirty
Years' War began,
00:28:46.86\00:28:48.79
a war of religion
between new Protestant countries
00:28:48.82\00:28:52.19
and old Catholic sovereignty,
Roman Catholic sovereignty.
00:28:52.23\00:28:55.46
But an easy way to see
00:28:55.50\00:28:56.83
it is the old monolithic church,
00:28:56.87\00:28:59.30
and the new vibrant
Bible-based Christianity.
00:28:59.33\00:29:04.21
And 30 years of
war decimated Europe
00:29:04.24\00:29:07.24
in a way that World
Wars I and II didn't,
00:29:07.28\00:29:09.64
8 million people died
in this religious war.
00:29:09.68\00:29:12.98
And they were nowhere near...
00:29:13.01\00:29:15.08
It was nowhere near
the population in Europe
00:29:15.12\00:29:17.02
that there was in
World Wars I and II.
00:29:17.05\00:29:19.05
It was so bad that
the entire infrastructure
00:29:19.09\00:29:21.89
of Europe collapsed.
00:29:21.92\00:29:23.26
Famine was
endemic throughout Europe.
00:29:23.29\00:29:27.70
And at the end of it all,
00:29:27.73\00:29:29.76
nations were so innovative
00:29:29.80\00:29:31.23
that they sat down and hundred
00:29:31.27\00:29:35.90
and some
delegations were there...
00:29:35.94\00:29:37.87
Hundred and sixteen, I think.
00:29:37.91\00:29:39.31
But anyhow nearly 120 of
the new political entities,
00:29:39.34\00:29:44.41
and they sat down
00:29:44.45\00:29:45.78
and at the Treaty of Westphalia,
00:29:45.81\00:29:47.42
they established
the modern world order
00:29:47.45\00:29:49.82
that we live under now
00:29:49.85\00:29:51.35
because before
that sovereign countries
00:29:51.39\00:29:53.39
were unknown in
the classic sense.
00:29:53.42\00:29:58.23
It was unknown
00:29:58.26\00:29:59.59
that you would
have self-determination.
00:29:59.63\00:30:01.46
It was unknown that
you could be different
00:30:01.50\00:30:03.77
from the
monolithic religious power
00:30:03.80\00:30:06.74
in a whole empire.
00:30:06.77\00:30:08.70
And Protestantism was
politically established,
00:30:08.74\00:30:11.51
the modern world
order was put in place.
00:30:11.54\00:30:15.04
And my point as we come
to the 500th anniversary
00:30:15.08\00:30:18.65
of the Reformation, and
the principle of freedom,
00:30:18.68\00:30:21.78
and release from the constraints
00:30:21.82\00:30:24.79
of religion and politics,
00:30:24.82\00:30:26.76
as we come to the
500th anniversary,
00:30:26.79\00:30:29.49
history is
circling around again,
00:30:29.52\00:30:32.19
we're under
attack from what amounts
00:30:32.23\00:30:34.36
to foreign religious forces.
00:30:34.40\00:30:38.23
We're politically innovated.
00:30:38.27\00:30:42.00
We're losing a
sense of sovereignty
00:30:42.04\00:30:44.74
even as things as
simple as drone attacks
00:30:44.77\00:30:47.44
and special forces in the night,
00:30:47.48\00:30:49.18
and all the rest,
all of those things
00:30:49.21\00:30:50.68
as necessary as
politicians may make them mean
00:30:50.71\00:30:53.85
that it's the
end of the old order.
00:30:53.88\00:30:58.09
And we are facing, I believe,
00:30:58.12\00:31:00.39
a repeat of the
necessity of looking to yourself
00:31:00.42\00:31:03.89
for your religious commitment
00:31:03.93\00:31:05.26
and standing on your principles.
00:31:05.29\00:31:08.23
You cannot accept any
religious power that says,
00:31:08.26\00:31:12.53
"I own you," which
is what is the case
00:31:12.57\00:31:14.60
in some of the
Middle East countries,
00:31:14.64\00:31:16.84
for example, or even
in some of the old world
00:31:16.87\00:31:20.38
religious entities
00:31:20.41\00:31:21.74
No, you stand as
a sovereign entity
00:31:21.78\00:31:23.95
as the US Declaration
of Independence said,
00:31:23.98\00:31:26.78
"You have unalienable rights
00:31:26.82\00:31:28.98
and obligations
to honor your God."
00:31:29.02\00:31:34.66
And I hope and
pray that as we sail
00:31:34.69\00:31:37.49
through this 500th anniversary,
00:31:37.53\00:31:39.46
as we sail through
a new political order,
00:31:39.49\00:31:41.76
even in the
United States, as we sail
00:31:41.80\00:31:44.07
through a growing
ignorance of people
00:31:44.10\00:31:46.00
that might know how
to circle the Internet
00:31:46.03\00:31:48.67
but don't understand
the difference between truth
00:31:48.70\00:31:50.77
and error, between news
and non-news, fake news,
00:31:50.81\00:31:53.58
and whatever as
we arrived at a point
00:31:53.61\00:31:57.41
where people don't
quite know whether,
00:31:57.45\00:32:00.48
you know, Moses was an Old
00:32:00.52\00:32:01.85
or New Testament figure,
they don't know their Bible,
00:32:01.88\00:32:04.19
they don't know their theology,
they, perhaps in the aggregate,
00:32:04.22\00:32:07.62
this wonderful exceptions,
00:32:07.66\00:32:08.99
don't know what
it is to know God,
00:32:09.02\00:32:11.39
they don't have any
sense like Moses had come
00:32:11.43\00:32:15.10
to before the bush
00:32:15.13\00:32:16.46
of the holiness of the situation
00:32:16.50\00:32:18.93
that God's
principles are being worked out.
00:32:18.97\00:32:21.70
That I hope and pray
that religious freedom
00:32:21.74\00:32:25.21
will have a new
day and a second wind
00:32:25.24\00:32:29.31
and a refreshing in this era.
00:32:29.34\00:32:33.88
I've thought recently that,
00:32:33.92\00:32:35.82
with the election
discussion going on,
00:32:35.85\00:32:37.79
there wasn't too much
open talk of religious liberty,
00:32:37.82\00:32:42.16
but actually things,
even in the United States,
00:32:42.19\00:32:44.76
they are moving.
00:32:44.79\00:32:46.16
Not too long before
the election in Indiana,
00:32:46.19\00:32:50.70
there was a huge scandal
as a piece of legislation
00:32:50.73\00:32:56.00
that even the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:32:56.04\00:32:57.57
should be actively involved
00:32:57.61\00:32:58.94
with over the years
called the Religious Freedom
00:32:58.97\00:33:01.41
Restoration Act and
following an inability
00:33:01.44\00:33:05.61
to get a full federal law,
00:33:05.65\00:33:07.42
it only applied
at the federal level
00:33:07.45\00:33:08.88
to federal employees.
00:33:08.92\00:33:10.59
So then in the
years after the 1994, '96,
00:33:10.62\00:33:15.62
I forget the exact
year, passage of the bill,
00:33:15.66\00:33:18.59
it had been decided
00:33:18.63\00:33:19.96
that we could
get the same effect
00:33:20.00\00:33:21.33
by passing it state by state,
00:33:21.36\00:33:23.93
a way to show up the
very rudimentary guarantee
00:33:23.97\00:33:28.60
in the constitution.
00:33:28.64\00:33:29.97
The principle was strong,
but it wasn't specific enough,
00:33:30.01\00:33:34.34
20 states or actually
19 had signed up for it
00:33:34.38\00:33:38.55
until it came
to Indiana in 2015.
00:33:38.58\00:33:44.35
And if you remember your
news, it was a huge scandal.
00:33:44.39\00:33:49.09
The governor of that state then
00:33:49.12\00:33:51.43
who is now the vice
president of the United States,
00:33:51.46\00:33:54.83
but the governor
signed the bill into law,
00:33:54.86\00:33:57.60
and then all hell broke
loose because it came out
00:33:57.63\00:34:01.54
that a certain
faction of Christians
00:34:01.57\00:34:05.11
in the United States
00:34:05.14\00:34:06.47
or in Indiana were
wanting to use that law
00:34:06.51\00:34:08.81
to empower them
to be prejudicial
00:34:08.84\00:34:11.45
against some of
the non-believing
00:34:11.48\00:34:13.52
or fellow citizens
00:34:13.55\00:34:16.42
who held a
different moral viewpoint.
00:34:16.45\00:34:19.82
It also came out for those of us
00:34:19.85\00:34:21.69
that believe in
true religious liberty
00:34:21.72\00:34:23.86
that this law was
designed consciously
00:34:23.89\00:34:27.06
to be exclusive and narrow.
00:34:27.10\00:34:31.37
You know, the
principle of religious liberty
00:34:31.40\00:34:33.13
that needs to be restated,
it's an absolute right that you
00:34:33.17\00:34:36.77
and I need to fight for
and die for if necessary.
00:34:36.81\00:34:40.41
For anybody to believe
00:34:40.44\00:34:42.31
or disbelieve
anything they want,
00:34:42.34\00:34:44.45
to be absolutely unrestricted
00:34:44.48\00:34:46.75
in their practice of that faith,
00:34:46.78\00:34:48.18
no matter how puerile
00:34:48.22\00:34:50.35
and foolish I might
think their faith is.
00:34:50.39\00:34:53.46
They doubtless
think the same about mine.
00:34:53.49\00:34:55.92
You know, I
have to be convinced,
00:34:55.96\00:34:57.29
as the Bible says.
00:34:57.33\00:34:58.66
I have to be
convinced of my own mind
00:34:58.69\00:35:00.13
about God and His truth.
00:35:00.16\00:35:01.86
And, of course, in that state,
I do believe I have the truth.
00:35:01.90\00:35:04.93
But when you're
looking around at your fellows,
00:35:04.97\00:35:07.27
it's a dangerous assumption.
00:35:07.30\00:35:08.90
You lead directly
00:35:08.94\00:35:10.27
to the inquisition if you think,
00:35:10.31\00:35:11.64
"I have the truth,
00:35:11.67\00:35:13.01
you're an
unbeliever, you're a reprobate,
00:35:13.04\00:35:15.28
you're a danger to the society,
so we'll deal with you."
00:35:15.31\00:35:18.85
And the RFRA bill that
came before the Indiana governor
00:35:18.88\00:35:25.25
was a step in
the wrong direction.
00:35:25.29\00:35:27.79
In my view,
00:35:27.82\00:35:29.22
coming to the
United States as I did
00:35:29.26\00:35:30.66
when I was 16 back
in the civil rights era,
00:35:30.69\00:35:33.80
it was straight back to the era
where you would see signs out
00:35:33.83\00:35:37.43
front of certain restaurants
naming an ethnic group
00:35:37.47\00:35:43.10
and a religious
group, "Not allowed here.
00:35:43.14\00:35:45.64
We do not serve you."
00:35:45.67\00:35:48.61
And I can remember
that there were taxes given
00:35:48.64\00:35:50.85
to back up that view.
00:35:50.88\00:35:53.48
So we were rolling back
now nearly two years ago
00:35:53.52\00:35:57.52
to that sort of dynamic
00:35:57.55\00:35:59.09
under the guise
of religious liberty.
00:35:59.12\00:36:01.72
And as I've watched it
since, not much discussion,
00:36:01.76\00:36:05.93
but in reality, the
logic of religious liberty
00:36:05.96\00:36:09.36
in the US and in the
West generally is shifting
00:36:09.40\00:36:12.70
from a general
religious liberty,
00:36:12.73\00:36:15.47
the Protestant viewpoint
00:36:15.50\00:36:16.84
that inadvertently Martin Luther
00:36:16.87\00:36:19.11
and others broke
their own rule on occasions,
00:36:19.14\00:36:21.31
but the Protestant viewpoint
that we're all sovereign beings
00:36:21.34\00:36:23.85
and can believe whatever we move
00:36:23.88\00:36:26.05
to by the Spirit of God.
00:36:26.08\00:36:28.38
We're moving away from
that to a narrow entitlement,
00:36:28.42\00:36:35.19
which comes easy to
a nation under threat,
00:36:35.22\00:36:38.69
to a society that fears
another religious group,
00:36:38.73\00:36:41.96
it came easy in Luther's time.
00:36:42.00\00:36:46.20
The Council of Trent
00:36:46.23\00:36:49.94
still is binding
00:36:49.97\00:36:54.81
to the Roman Catholic community.
00:36:54.84\00:36:58.15
And the Council of
Trent, if you go back and read,
00:36:58.18\00:37:00.05
it was a council
that made determinations
00:37:00.08\00:37:03.55
based on the sense
of imminent threat,
00:37:03.59\00:37:07.16
it was feeling
weak, so it lashed out.
00:37:07.19\00:37:10.49
And I believe the great danger
is that our weakened spiritual
00:37:10.53\00:37:14.56
state in the West,
our forgetful state
00:37:14.60\00:37:18.87
where we don't remember
the Reformation very well
00:37:18.90\00:37:21.64
and yet our true
dangerous situation
00:37:21.67\00:37:24.87
from threats within
and without will lead us
00:37:24.91\00:37:27.24
to more and more of this narrow,
00:37:27.28\00:37:30.25
narrow religious entitlement,
which is not religious liberty
00:37:30.28\00:37:34.85
and has no holy
presence surrounding it.
00:37:34.88\00:37:39.09
It's a desert experience.
00:37:39.12\00:37:41.52
It will not lead to
the flourishing of religion
00:37:41.56\00:37:45.36
as the
Reformation certainly did.
00:37:45.39\00:37:47.76
Thinking again
of songs, years ago,
00:37:53.90\00:37:59.61
when I lived in Idaho,
00:37:59.64\00:38:00.98
I was flying back
to Salt Lake City once.
00:38:01.01\00:38:05.01
I won't tell the whole story
because I think I shared it
00:38:05.05\00:38:06.82
in another sermon once,
00:38:06.85\00:38:08.25
but I had a very
powerful experience
00:38:08.28\00:38:10.32
coming down to that
city in the sunlight
00:38:10.35\00:38:12.75
and a whole
bunch of young people
00:38:12.79\00:38:14.22
that were excited to
see their spiritual city,
00:38:14.26\00:38:18.56
they got so excited,
they started singing,
00:38:18.59\00:38:21.13
they were a
choir, and they sang,
00:38:21.16\00:38:22.60
and the stewardesses
and all of us on the plane
00:38:22.63\00:38:27.00
were just
quivering with excitement
00:38:27.04\00:38:29.80
to see the
enthusiasm of young people.
00:38:29.84\00:38:32.31
And I went later to try to
find that song on the Internet,
00:38:32.34\00:38:35.18
instead I found another song
00:38:35.21\00:38:37.58
that I think
applies to all of us,
00:38:37.61\00:38:39.81
and as a Seventh-day
Adventist, I find it resonates
00:38:39.85\00:38:42.88
because Seventh-day Adventism
00:38:42.92\00:38:44.85
was founded on
many of the principles
00:38:44.89\00:38:47.46
of the Reformation,
00:38:47.49\00:38:48.82
not least of which was
a sense of the imminence
00:38:48.86\00:38:51.23
or the return of Jesus Christ.
00:38:51.26\00:38:53.50
There was an apocalyptic element
00:38:53.53\00:38:56.00
to the Reformation.
00:38:56.03\00:38:57.87
And this song, put it this way,
00:38:57.90\00:39:00.87
it says, "When you
see the storm is coming,
00:39:00.90\00:39:05.31
and the storm is coming."
00:39:05.34\00:39:07.21
I probably spend way too
much time on the Internet
00:39:07.24\00:39:09.64
for my own good,
00:39:09.68\00:39:14.65
but yesterday, as I was driving,
00:39:14.68\00:39:17.39
now that I think of it,
on my trip, I went scanning,
00:39:17.42\00:39:20.26
and I saw the planet
Nibiru was coming close
00:39:20.29\00:39:23.46
and the poles
are going to realign,
00:39:23.49\00:39:26.59
whether it's true
or not, who knows.
00:39:26.63\00:39:28.80
Tens of thousands of people,
you know, drink this stuff up,
00:39:28.83\00:39:31.87
the Antarctic is
splitting in two,
00:39:31.90\00:39:35.50
the world is in a
phase of global warming.
00:39:35.54\00:39:38.91
Some people think it's not true,
00:39:38.94\00:39:41.24
that could eventually
fulfill what the Bible says,
00:39:41.28\00:39:45.15
"The Sun will get
seven times hotter."
00:39:45.18\00:39:47.65
The economy is collapsing.
00:39:47.68\00:39:52.05
Efforts are underway to replace
00:39:52.09\00:39:53.59
the dollar with
another currency.
00:39:53.62\00:39:55.62
You know, all of these things
00:39:55.66\00:39:57.39
that are the signs of the storm,
00:39:57.43\00:40:01.03
and the Bible says,
00:40:01.06\00:40:02.40
Men's hearts
failing them for fear,
00:40:02.43\00:40:04.73
for what is
coming on the earth."
00:40:04.77\00:40:08.77
But the song said,
00:40:08.80\00:40:10.14
"When you see
the storm is coming,
00:40:10.17\00:40:11.91
see the
lightning path, the stars,
00:40:11.94\00:40:14.98
what you do then is remember.
00:40:15.01\00:40:18.48
Hold on, child.
00:40:18.51\00:40:20.55
Hold on to what
you know is true.
00:40:20.58\00:40:23.65
Hold on till you get
through. Hold on. Hold on.
00:40:23.69\00:40:27.56
The night will soon be
past, it will soon be by.
00:40:27.59\00:40:31.79
Child, hold on,
there's angels on the way."
00:40:31.83\00:40:37.63
We have to have that element.
00:40:37.67\00:40:39.60
You know, in arguing
for religious liberty,
00:40:39.63\00:40:41.44
it's bigger than Holy Writ.
00:40:41.47\00:40:44.47
I mean, it
derives from Holy Writ,
00:40:44.51\00:40:45.84
it derives from a holy
person, He's Jesus in Nazareth.
00:40:45.87\00:40:48.94
But the
principle exists on its own
00:40:48.98\00:40:51.31
in a secular environment,
00:40:51.35\00:40:52.68
it's logical as human
beings that have self-respect
00:40:52.71\00:40:57.39
that have a
history of breaking free
00:40:57.42\00:40:59.62
of all sorts of darkness of
the Dark Ages, and of the...
00:40:59.65\00:41:05.53
You know, in a
period where serfs
00:41:05.56\00:41:07.13
and others had no rights.
00:41:07.16\00:41:09.46
Any human being would aspire
00:41:09.50\00:41:11.97
to what religious
liberty grants you.
00:41:12.00\00:41:14.04
The right to think and act
as your conscience dictates.
00:41:14.07\00:41:18.64
But as we come into this era,
00:41:18.67\00:41:20.94
I think those that have
a religious sensibility,
00:41:20.98\00:41:23.35
those that base it,
00:41:23.38\00:41:24.71
as the reformers
did, on the Bible,
00:41:24.75\00:41:27.78
we need to stir ourselves,
not just remember history.
00:41:27.82\00:41:32.55
That's a pretty good reminder,
00:41:32.59\00:41:33.92
but remember the
dynamic of history,
00:41:33.96\00:41:36.16
remember what
impels history forward,
00:41:36.19\00:41:38.76
it's God, it's the
angels, it's the holy presence.
00:41:38.79\00:41:43.67
Without that, we're just people
going through the motions.
00:41:43.70\00:41:47.34
I remember reading
in C.S. Lewis once,
00:41:47.37\00:41:50.41
and I don't
appreciate everything he wrote,
00:41:50.44\00:41:52.07
but he was one of the
great thinkers of Christianity
00:41:52.11\00:41:56.58
over 100 years or so ago.
00:41:56.61\00:41:59.05
And C.S. Lewis said that...
00:41:59.08\00:42:02.08
"Imagine the
disappointment," he said,
00:42:02.12\00:42:03.59
"of a revolutionary
who moved heaven and earth
00:42:03.62\00:42:06.22
and killed people
and disrupted a country
00:42:06.25\00:42:08.56
because of his goal
00:42:08.59\00:42:09.92
to establish
communism or some-ism,
00:42:09.96\00:42:13.70
and yet then
when the Lord comes,
00:42:13.73\00:42:15.40
He discovers that it
was all for nothing."
00:42:15.43\00:42:19.43
You know, that's got to be
very off putting for people
00:42:19.47\00:42:22.60
like Fidel Castro
who died recently.
00:42:22.64\00:42:27.34
It was obvious
that in his old age
00:42:27.38\00:42:29.81
where he brought
the pope in and others
00:42:29.84\00:42:31.58
and was toying with religion
00:42:31.61\00:42:33.25
that he was
having second thoughts
00:42:33.28\00:42:35.15
about his secular
revolutionary endeavor.
00:42:35.18\00:42:39.05
And many people,
you know, without God,
00:42:39.09\00:42:42.66
they have principles of a
sort, they have goals of a sort,
00:42:42.69\00:42:45.89
but they don't usually
stand the test of time.
00:42:45.93\00:42:50.03
But when we look
back on the Reformation
00:42:50.07\00:42:51.97
and this
powerful call for freedom
00:42:52.00\00:42:55.70
that shook the world,
00:42:55.74\00:42:57.07
reshaped the world
and still lingers with us
00:42:57.11\00:42:59.77
in the history
and in the principles,
00:42:59.81\00:43:02.64
even some of them
have found their way
00:43:02.68\00:43:04.81
into the
principles of governance
00:43:04.85\00:43:06.75
even of the Western world.
00:43:06.78\00:43:08.52
They can't be shucked
aside because God is there
00:43:08.55\00:43:12.12
and the holy
angels are gathered about,
00:43:12.15\00:43:15.29
the heroes of
past ages surround us.
00:43:15.32\00:43:18.63
How could we neglect this?
00:43:18.66\00:43:21.83
It's like Joseph when
he went to Egypt, he says,
00:43:21.86\00:43:25.50
"You know, how can
I do this great sin
00:43:25.53\00:43:28.80
against God to
deny religious liberty
00:43:28.84\00:43:32.51
to allow our fellows to..."
00:43:32.54\00:43:36.24
We're in Iraq recently
and probably some still,
00:43:36.28\00:43:38.95
"to be
crucified, to be beheaded,
00:43:38.98\00:43:42.58
and not be greatly stirred?"
00:43:42.62\00:43:48.29
You know, at one
level, we can't do a lot,
00:43:48.32\00:43:50.49
but we can do something.
00:43:50.53\00:43:52.86
You know, I'd miss the
chance if I didn't say,
00:43:52.89\00:43:55.36
you can send Liberty Magazine...
00:43:55.40\00:43:57.60
That's the smaller start.
00:43:57.63\00:43:59.87
And this is why,
00:43:59.90\00:44:01.24
you know, this
sermon is right now.
00:44:01.27\00:44:03.54
We have an
emphasis, get started,
00:44:03.57\00:44:05.37
do a little thing
first but do something.
00:44:05.41\00:44:10.75
If you do nothing,
00:44:10.78\00:44:12.58
the principle
applies to many things,
00:44:12.61\00:44:14.08
but on this, with the vengeance,
00:44:14.12\00:44:16.45
you do nothing,
your heart has hardened,
00:44:16.48\00:44:20.26
and you will, after a
while, not see as Moses did,
00:44:20.29\00:44:23.63
you won't see or
figuratively hear
00:44:23.66\00:44:28.13
the cries that
are coming from Egypt.
00:44:28.16\00:44:33.50
I said I learned something
00:44:33.54\00:44:35.20
when I was
reading there in 2 Kings.
00:44:35.24\00:44:39.17
After the servant saw
the chariots in the hills...
00:44:39.21\00:44:44.98
I'm sure they
were the same chariots
00:44:45.01\00:44:46.35
that took Elijah to heaven,
00:44:46.38\00:44:47.72
and who knows,
perhaps Elijah was there
00:44:47.75\00:44:50.02
with them to
witness a powerful moment.
00:44:50.05\00:44:54.36
"But the Syrians," it
says, "came down against him,
00:44:54.39\00:44:58.06
and Elisha prayed to
the Lord and he said,
00:44:58.09\00:44:59.93
'Strike this people, I
pray, Thee, with blindness.'"
00:44:59.96\00:45:05.23
He didn't think
of the alternates,
00:45:05.27\00:45:07.37
he had prayed
first that his servant
00:45:07.40\00:45:09.34
would be given spiritual
sight, but now he prays
00:45:09.37\00:45:13.98
that the avenging wicked army
will be struck with blindness,
00:45:14.01\00:45:17.75
which they were and
stumbled into the city.
00:45:17.78\00:45:20.35
And the servant
wasn't quite converted,
00:45:20.38\00:45:23.55
and he says, "Kill them."
00:45:23.59\00:45:24.92
And Elisha spared
them all and sent them back
00:45:24.95\00:45:26.92
with the word to their
king that they'd been spared.
00:45:26.96\00:45:31.39
Figuratively,
00:45:31.43\00:45:32.76
as well as
literally, it is true.
00:45:32.79\00:45:34.80
If we focus on
the real principle
00:45:34.83\00:45:37.33
of religious liberty,
00:45:37.37\00:45:38.70
if we focus on
the real power of God,
00:45:38.73\00:45:40.74
we will have a
blinding vision of clarity
00:45:40.77\00:45:44.87
that will empower
us to do something.
00:45:44.91\00:45:46.54
But if we deny it, if
we think there's no problem
00:45:46.57\00:45:51.75
and spiritually
shut our eyes, I believe,
00:45:51.78\00:45:54.65
we'll literally be shut off
00:45:54.68\00:45:56.65
from an awareness of
what's really happening.
00:45:56.69\00:45:59.95
What does the Bible say
at the very end of times?
00:45:59.99\00:46:02.62
Jesus said, like
the days of Noah,
00:46:02.66\00:46:05.43
people marrying and
giving in marriage right up
00:46:05.46\00:46:07.00
till the moment the flood came.
00:46:07.03\00:46:08.66
And people will
say all things continue
00:46:08.70\00:46:12.97
as they have from the beginning.
00:46:13.00\00:46:15.14
How could you do that?
00:46:15.17\00:46:17.14
It's obvious, from
Revelation in particular,
00:46:17.17\00:46:21.31
that every
power, political powers
00:46:21.34\00:46:24.61
and economic powers
00:46:24.65\00:46:26.41
and the powers of
nature, they're to be shaken,
00:46:26.45\00:46:28.92
everything is in a tumult,
00:46:28.95\00:46:30.65
but some people still will think
00:46:30.69\00:46:33.46
it's just business as usual.
00:46:33.49\00:46:35.92
And I don't know if
it's the best illustration
00:46:35.96\00:46:38.43
but, you know,
at least in our day,
00:46:38.46\00:46:40.16
no global warming,
you know, it's just...
00:46:40.20\00:46:42.80
It's drier than
it's been before,
00:46:42.83\00:46:44.57
it's hotter than
it's ever been before,
00:46:44.60\00:46:45.93
but it's coincidence.
00:46:45.97\00:46:48.94
No, we need to
see what's happening.
00:46:48.97\00:46:51.61
And if we're in tune
with God's principles,
00:46:51.64\00:46:54.01
if we remember how God worked
through that cloud of witnesses
00:46:54.04\00:46:57.68
in the past,
00:46:57.71\00:46:59.05
we will see the challenge
that's before us is imminent,
00:46:59.08\00:47:02.88
it demands our attention.
00:47:02.92\00:47:05.82
And yes, we live
in the United States,
00:47:05.85\00:47:08.82
in particular, and
where I came from in Australia
00:47:08.86\00:47:11.53
and some other countries,
00:47:11.56\00:47:12.89
we live in
privileged situations,
00:47:12.93\00:47:15.23
we can't dismiss it
totally, but in some ways,
00:47:15.26\00:47:18.93
that's the more
dangerous position
00:47:18.97\00:47:21.64
because your attention
00:47:21.67\00:47:23.00
is not galvanized to
this eternal principle.
00:47:23.04\00:47:26.11
And I've said something
00:47:26.14\00:47:27.48
before even in
Seventh-day Adventist churches,
00:47:27.51\00:47:30.11
but I'd say at any
church because Jesus said this.
00:47:30.15\00:47:34.02
If even in a free
country like the United States,
00:47:34.05\00:47:37.69
even in a nominally enlightened
00:47:37.72\00:47:43.06
Protestant church,
00:47:43.09\00:47:44.99
if you live a truly godly life,
00:47:45.03\00:47:48.46
if you live before God
00:47:48.50\00:47:49.96
as though everything is
about to be held to account,
00:47:50.00\00:47:52.40
if you are so committed
that things of the Lord
00:47:52.43\00:47:54.64
are more important, then...
00:47:54.67\00:47:57.27
As Jesus said,
00:47:57.31\00:47:58.64
"If you love father,
mother, son, or daughter
00:47:58.67\00:48:00.41
more than Me,
you're not worthy of Me."
00:48:00.44\00:48:02.64
Doesn't mean you love them less,
00:48:02.68\00:48:04.01
but you love the Lord more.
00:48:04.05\00:48:05.85
I believe, even
in those situations,
00:48:05.88\00:48:08.98
even in good countries,
even in good churches,
00:48:09.02\00:48:11.52
you will be
harassed and ostracized.
00:48:11.55\00:48:15.52
Religious liberty is
not just something for,
00:48:15.56\00:48:19.79
you know, the savages over there
00:48:19.83\00:48:22.03
where it's so patently
absurd to try to act different.
00:48:22.06\00:48:27.34
There's a statistic
00:48:27.37\00:48:28.70
that I know I've
mentioned before,
00:48:28.74\00:48:30.07
but it needs to be
repeated that 70% to 73%
00:48:30.11\00:48:34.84
of the world's population live
00:48:34.88\00:48:36.71
under a severe restriction
of religious liberty.
00:48:36.75\00:48:40.25
Hard to believe.
00:48:40.28\00:48:41.92
But I'm quite certain,
00:48:41.95\00:48:43.28
if you go to many
of those countries
00:48:43.32\00:48:44.65
that are under the
70%, 73% and you tell them,
00:48:44.69\00:48:48.86
they would be
quite shocked to know
00:48:48.89\00:48:50.23
that they're restricted
00:48:50.26\00:48:52.13
because it's never
crossed their mind to question
00:48:52.16\00:48:55.43
the status quo.
00:48:55.46\00:48:58.40
I know I gave
this example before,
00:48:58.43\00:48:59.93
but it's so powerful,
it just resonates with me.
00:48:59.97\00:49:02.37
I was listening to BBC
once, and they were interviewing
00:49:02.40\00:49:06.31
the foreign
minister from the Maldives,
00:49:06.34\00:49:08.44
a little country
that we should pray for
00:49:08.48\00:49:10.68
because they're
about to be washed away
00:49:10.71\00:49:12.31
with rising ocean.
00:49:12.35\00:49:13.68
There are only low-lying islands
00:49:13.72\00:49:15.18
that have already pretty much
got Dutch-type barriers to keep
00:49:15.22\00:49:18.75
the water out of the streets.
00:49:18.79\00:49:20.49
And the foreign
minister, as he was paid to do,
00:49:20.52\00:49:23.09
was painting a very
good picture of the country
00:49:23.12\00:49:24.99
and said they had
religious freedom.
00:49:25.03\00:49:28.93
A 100% Muslim country,
and the interviewer said,
00:49:28.96\00:49:33.00
"But I'm a Christian,
if I went to your country,
00:49:33.03\00:49:36.10
would I be allowed
to practice my faith?"
00:49:36.14\00:49:38.51
And the foreign
minister was quite insulted,
00:49:38.54\00:49:41.71
he says, "Certainly not."
00:49:41.74\00:49:43.61
He says, "We might
as well invite Al-Qaeda
00:49:43.65\00:49:45.98
into our country
as to allow that."
00:49:46.01\00:49:49.05
Not religious liberty
there, but he said they have it,
00:49:49.08\00:49:52.22
and I'm sure if you
were in that country,
00:49:52.25\00:49:53.76
they'd probably celebrate it.
00:49:53.79\00:49:55.89
And I've thought
this many, many times,
00:49:55.92\00:49:58.69
the echo chamber
is not a good way
00:49:58.73\00:50:02.30
to know truth
00:50:02.33\00:50:03.67
or certainly a poor way
to know the will of God.
00:50:03.70\00:50:07.00
You know, we can be in a country
00:50:07.04\00:50:08.37
that is always announcing itself
00:50:08.40\00:50:11.17
as a Christian nation
00:50:11.21\00:50:13.17
while our history would lead you
00:50:13.21\00:50:14.64
to think that way,
00:50:14.68\00:50:16.18
but it never was
structurally a Christian nation,
00:50:16.21\00:50:18.65
and belatedly or unhappily,
00:50:18.68\00:50:20.95
it's not a Christian society
in the aggregate anymore.
00:50:20.98\00:50:25.82
But you can
easily be in assemblies
00:50:25.85\00:50:29.96
where everyone will
say, "We are Christians,
00:50:29.99\00:50:32.56
you know, this is
a Christian nation,
00:50:32.59\00:50:33.93
or we are the free."
00:50:33.96\00:50:35.66
Just because others
00:50:35.70\00:50:37.03
yell it around you
doesn't make it so.
00:50:37.07\00:50:42.44
We have to look
at God's leading.
00:50:42.47\00:50:45.41
We have to critically
look at even human history
00:50:45.44\00:50:49.01
in the light of these
presences that are around us.
00:50:49.04\00:50:52.51
And to know that
we're in the presence
00:50:52.55\00:50:53.98
of a Holy God
00:50:54.02\00:50:55.35
who has dealt
with this in the past,
00:50:55.38\00:50:57.09
who has given principles
of freedom that transcend
00:50:57.12\00:51:00.69
the present
tumults and scandals.
00:51:00.72\00:51:06.26
I try to be
consistent, and I love Spurgeon,
00:51:06.29\00:51:10.90
the best Baptist
preacher of a century ago.
00:51:10.93\00:51:15.00
He had powerful
sermons, and I'm risking.
00:51:15.04\00:51:18.84
In fact, I'm not risking,
00:51:18.87\00:51:20.21
I'm doing what all preachers do,
00:51:20.24\00:51:21.58
mix my metaphors.
00:51:21.61\00:51:23.08
But I want to read
a couple of sentences
00:51:23.11\00:51:25.68
that he wrote about stand fast,
but he uses a sailing imagery,
00:51:25.71\00:51:30.02
I've used a desert imagery
00:51:30.05\00:51:31.39
before and holy
ground, and so on.
00:51:31.42\00:51:33.86
But here, exhorting God's people
00:51:33.89\00:51:36.52
or anybody that wants
to be true to conscience
00:51:36.56\00:51:39.69
and stay the
course uses this imagery.
00:51:39.73\00:51:42.36
And this is what he says,
00:51:42.40\00:51:43.73
"I will put the exhortation thus
00:51:43.77\00:51:45.83
'Stand fast doctrinally.'
00:51:45.87\00:51:48.97
In this age all
the ships in the waters
00:51:49.00\00:51:51.31
are pulling up their anchors,
00:51:51.34\00:51:53.07
they are drifting with the tide,
00:51:53.11\00:51:54.91
they are driven
about with every wind."
00:51:54.94\00:51:58.45
He couldn't have
thought so when he said that,
00:51:58.48\00:51:59.91
but I think of all the
ideologies are changing,
00:51:59.95\00:52:02.75
communism is either or
gone or in a perverse caricature
00:52:02.78\00:52:07.92
of what it used to be
00:52:07.96\00:52:09.29
when you look at
China and other places.
00:52:09.32\00:52:12.33
Democracy is not
what people think it is.
00:52:12.36\00:52:16.13
Even during the
election, people say,
00:52:16.16\00:52:17.50
"How come someone
won with not a majority?"
00:52:17.53\00:52:20.04
This is not a
democratic country.
00:52:20.07\00:52:22.04
It's a
representative government.
00:52:22.07\00:52:24.84
But people are drifting
away from all sorts of anchors
00:52:24.87\00:52:29.11
or sureties that they had,
00:52:29.14\00:52:30.78
not least of
which religious faith
00:52:30.81\00:52:32.91
and religious identity.
00:52:32.95\00:52:35.38
And he says, "It is your wisdom
to put down more anchors."
00:52:35.42\00:52:40.36
And he says, "I
will not budge an inch
00:52:40.39\00:52:41.92
from the old
doctrine for any man.
00:52:41.96\00:52:44.33
Now that the
cyclone is triumphant
00:52:44.36\00:52:46.36
over many a bowing
wall and tottering fence,
00:52:46.39\00:52:51.33
those who are built
00:52:51.37\00:52:52.70
upon the one
foundation must prove
00:52:52.73\00:52:54.47
its value by standing fast.
00:52:54.50\00:52:56.60
We will hearken to no teaching
but that of the Lord Jesus."
00:52:56.64\00:52:59.84
Sounds like Martin Luther,
00:52:59.87\00:53:01.21
and I will read his
summation there in a moment.
00:53:01.24\00:53:04.55
He says, "If you see a
truth to be in God's Word,
00:53:04.58\00:53:07.38
grasp it by your
faith, and if it be unpopular,
00:53:07.42\00:53:12.95
grapple it to you
as with hooks of steel.
00:53:12.99\00:53:16.76
If you are despised
as a fool for holding it,
00:53:16.79\00:53:19.33
hold to it the more.
00:53:19.36\00:53:20.70
Like an oak, take deeper root,
00:53:20.73\00:53:22.06
because the winds would tear you
00:53:22.10\00:53:23.47
from your place.
00:53:23.50\00:53:24.83
Defy reproach and ridicule,
00:53:24.87\00:53:26.87
and if you have
already vanquished it.
00:53:26.90\00:53:29.94
It stand fast,
like the British squares
00:53:29.97\00:53:32.97
in the olden times."
00:53:33.01\00:53:34.44
I noticed the other day
that our new President Trump
00:53:34.48\00:53:37.91
talking about his mother,
00:53:37.95\00:53:39.28
he said she just loved the Queen
00:53:39.31\00:53:41.25
and all the British royalty,
00:53:41.28\00:53:42.62
she was enamored of all of that.
00:53:42.65\00:53:45.02
Lot of the older
generation were that way,
00:53:45.05\00:53:46.89
here the British squares
00:53:46.92\00:53:49.69
predated the
American imperial adventures,
00:53:49.72\00:53:55.06
but the British squares
just like the Roman Legions,
00:53:55.10\00:53:58.10
were pretty well led and stood.
00:53:58.13\00:54:01.14
He said, "Stand fast
like the British squares
00:54:01.17\00:54:02.87
in the olden times.
00:54:02.90\00:54:04.24
When fierce assaults were made
00:54:04.27\00:54:05.61
upon them every man
seemed transformed to rock.
00:54:05.64\00:54:08.54
We might have
wandered from the ranks
00:54:08.58\00:54:10.18
a little in more peaceful times
00:54:10.21\00:54:12.21
to look after the
fascinating flowers
00:54:12.25\00:54:14.25
which grow on
every side of our march,
00:54:14.28\00:54:16.69
but now we know that
the enemy surrounds us,
00:54:16.72\00:54:19.75
we keep strictly
on the line of march
00:54:19.79\00:54:21.72
and tolerate no roaming.
00:54:21.76\00:54:23.56
The watchword of the host of God
00:54:23.59\00:54:25.56
just now is 'Stand fast!'
00:54:25.59\00:54:28.36
Hold you to the faith
once delivered to the saints.
00:54:28.40\00:54:31.13
Hold fast the
form of sound words,
00:54:31.17\00:54:34.14
and deviate not one
jot or tittle there from."
00:54:34.17\00:54:39.27
Don't hear that
sort of stuff anymore.
00:54:39.31\00:54:41.18
Instead you hear
so-called representatives
00:54:41.21\00:54:44.38
of Protestant
factions getting together
00:54:44.41\00:54:47.25
and deciding
their political course,
00:54:47.28\00:54:49.22
deciding how they can
all sort of squash down
00:54:49.25\00:54:53.19
their differences
00:54:53.22\00:54:54.56
and pass themselves
off as one single entity.
00:54:54.59\00:54:58.43
I had a discussion with the...
00:54:58.46\00:55:02.26
I'm trying to
think what his title was,
00:55:02.30\00:55:04.27
but he was the second in command
00:55:04.30\00:55:07.24
of a large faction
of the Episcopal church,
00:55:07.27\00:55:11.27
and he repeated some words
00:55:11.31\00:55:13.48
that have been
said publicly from Rome
00:55:13.51\00:55:15.44
before that
doctrine's not important.
00:55:15.48\00:55:18.41
And he said, "We
need to unite on doctrine,
00:55:18.45\00:55:20.18
we're not saved on doctrine."
00:55:20.22\00:55:24.09
And I said, "It's true."
00:55:24.12\00:55:26.59
But I said, "Doctrine is sort
of the skeleton of your faith."
00:55:26.62\00:55:29.72
"No, it doesn't matter?"
00:55:29.76\00:55:31.99
And so I said, "Well, maybe
00:55:32.03\00:55:33.83
we should do
away with the doctrine
00:55:33.86\00:55:35.33
of transubstantiation."
00:55:35.36\00:55:37.40
And he got quite
excited that, he says,
00:55:37.43\00:55:39.57
"Oh, no, they've done a DNA test
00:55:39.60\00:55:41.87
of the wafer elevated,
00:55:41.90\00:55:43.24
and it tested
positive for the DNA
00:55:43.27\00:55:45.77
of a 30-year-old
Middle Eastern man."
00:55:45.81\00:55:48.58
You know, you believe
that you'll drink Kool-Aid.
00:55:48.61\00:55:52.28
But we do need to
stand for something.
00:55:52.31\00:55:56.38
Religious progress is
not made by syncretism,
00:55:56.42\00:56:00.69
never has been
and never will be.
00:56:00.72\00:56:03.73
Martin Luther, as I said before,
00:56:03.76\00:56:07.83
put himself on the
line, and because of that,
00:56:07.86\00:56:11.03
I could forgive
him a lot of bias
00:56:11.07\00:56:13.44
on how he
related to the peasants
00:56:13.47\00:56:15.57
and even the Jews that
brought before the Emperor,
00:56:15.60\00:56:19.84
the Emperor of
the Holy Roman Empire
00:56:19.87\00:56:21.98
and all the representatives
of Rome come there
00:56:22.01\00:56:24.88
to send him to the stake.
00:56:24.91\00:56:27.25
He concluded by saying,
"Since your serene majesty
00:56:27.28\00:56:30.59
and your lordships
seek a simple answer,
00:56:30.62\00:56:33.82
I will give it in this manner,
neither horned nor toothed.
00:56:33.86\00:56:37.96
Unless I am convinced
00:56:37.99\00:56:39.33
by the testimony
of the Scriptures
00:56:39.36\00:56:41.40
or by clear reason for I do
not trust either in the pope
00:56:41.43\00:56:45.73
or in councils alone,
00:56:45.77\00:56:47.10
since it is well known
that they have often erred
00:56:47.14\00:56:48.84
and contradicted themselves,
I am bound by the Scriptures.
00:56:48.87\00:56:53.48
I have quoted and my conscience
is captive to the Word of God.
00:56:53.51\00:56:57.15
I cannot
00:56:57.18\00:56:58.51
and I will not retract anything,
00:56:58.55\00:57:00.85
since it is neither
safe nor right to go
00:57:00.88\00:57:03.25
against conscience.
00:57:03.28\00:57:04.62
May God help me."
00:57:04.65\00:57:06.19
And that's about
as good a summation
00:57:06.22\00:57:08.02
as you can get
for religious liberty
00:57:08.06\00:57:09.49
and how we should stand true
00:57:09.52\00:57:11.89
to conscience, true to the Lord.
00:57:11.93\00:57:14.20
We're standing on holy ground.
00:57:14.23\00:57:17.30
This is a holy day as
people think within my church,
00:57:17.33\00:57:22.94
the Seventh-day Adventist church
00:57:22.97\00:57:24.31
particularly
about religious liberty,
00:57:24.34\00:57:26.01
this is the moment...
00:57:26.04\00:57:27.38
I think it was Joshua who
said, "Choose you this day."
00:57:27.41\00:57:30.58
Are you going to
support the Lord?
00:57:30.61\00:57:31.95
Are you going to
support religious liberty?
00:57:31.98\00:57:33.78
If not, maybe it
never comes again,
00:57:33.82\00:57:36.25
maybe the question is
never given to you again.
00:57:36.28\00:57:38.65
This is the moment.
00:57:38.69\00:57:40.86
And if the things
that are happening
00:57:40.89\00:57:42.22
in the world don't stir you now.
00:57:42.26\00:57:44.23
Maybe they never will.
00:57:44.26\00:57:49.26
Isn't that pretty
much what Martin Luther...
00:57:49.30\00:57:50.97
He says, "Here I
stand, so help me God."
00:57:51.00\00:57:54.30
God will help us.
00:57:54.34\00:57:55.80
God will speak
from the burning bush
00:57:55.84\00:57:58.37
or the quiet
moment, God will speak
00:57:58.41\00:58:00.64
because
religious liberty is vital.
00:58:00.68\00:58:02.91