Religious liberty is
certainly very important
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for Seventh-day Adventists.
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We have a
prophetic understanding
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that tells us
that religious liberty,
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practically speaking,
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will one day be restricted
even in the United States,
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but prophetically, we understand
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that God's effort to
explain Himself to the world
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is going to be restricted
by cohesive religious laws.
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Every year, the
North American Division
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of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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designates a
Religious Liberty Sabbath,
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January 28 for 2012.
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And as part of that emphasis,
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the world president
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of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church,
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Elder Ted Wilson,
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has agreed to preach
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a Religious
Liberty Sabbath Sermon
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to underscore the importance
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of this foundational
concept of Adventism.
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The scene as told in
chapter 18 of the Gospel of John
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is spare and to the point,
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Jesus had been taken in
the Garden of Gethsemane
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by an armed mob.
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He'd been dragged
before a rather irregular court
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of the religious authorities.
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Now they brought
Him to the Praetorium,
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the quarters of the
occupying Roman soldiers
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and of Pilate the governor.
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Religious
leaders would not enter
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with a prisoner,
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they sent Him in
with their complaints,
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"Judge Him by
your law" they urged.
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It was not a law
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that they and most of
their countrymen respected,
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but they wanted
it to condemn the man
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they had come to hate.
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Pilate sized up
the man before him.
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"Are you the King
of Jews" he asked.
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It was a conclusion
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not warranted by the situation
and the man's condition.
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He may have heard
something to that effect
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from soldiers monitoring
the many public gatherings
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where Jesus taught.
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The question was most likely
a response to his wife's dream
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that he was to
spare this innocent man.
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Jesus's reply was
apparently dismissive
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but actually searching
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"Do you say this
of your own accord
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or did others say it to you?"
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Pilate picked up
on the implication
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that he might be recognizing
a spiritual authority
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as those Jews who read
the scriptures should have.
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"Am I a Jew," he shot back,
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"your own nation
and the chief priests
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have handed You over to
me, what have You done?"
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Now it's not
possible for his use of words
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to be read as a recognition
of the spiritual heritage
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that defined a Jew then.
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And to hear him
making him a distinction
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between that
identity and those people
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who, with secular mindset,
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allowed a few of
the chief priests
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to seize the popular teacher
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who threatened
their cherished authority.
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Jesus's reply put
everything into perspective
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"My kingship is
not of this world,"
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He explained,
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"if My kingship
were of this world,
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My servants would fight,
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but My kingship is
not from this world."
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Three times repeated this
emphasis and it is enough.
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His kingdom was
of a higher order.
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Pilate now had to
reconcile an awareness of
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who the prisoner really was
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with the pressing complications
of his loyalty to Caesar
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and the need to
govern in Rome's interest.
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Now in the years since then,
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many have taken
up the name of Jesus
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and the cause of the kingdom,
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many have remembered
the example of their Lord
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and His reminder
that the kingdom of God
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and the kingdoms of man
are never to be confused.
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Far too many through the years
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have taken up
the sword of Peter,
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the sword that at Jesus's rebuke
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fell forgotten
to the night ground
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at Gethsemane.
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The years since have
seen many wars of religion,
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many violent acts
in the name of truth
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but all a denial of the kingdom.
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The years since have seen
millions tortured and martyred
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for their faith
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sometimes at the
hands of those who imagined
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that they were
advancing the kingdom.
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Too many have chosen
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to disregard the
words of the King
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before the civil power.
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Many Christians
in the United States
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see their republic
as a Christian one.
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They might mean well,
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but they are
forgetful of two things.
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Firstly, those wise men
many of great Christian faith
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and some of them
more secular bent
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who set in place the
structure of a then-new republic
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did so with the full intension
of separating church and state.
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They thought so well of religion
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that they wished to avoid
entangling it with the state
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as had long been
done in the old world.
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Secondly, too many
today have confused
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the kingdom of God
with the kingdom of man.
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Revelation 13 gives
us stark end time picture
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of where this sort
of confusion ends up.
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It is the province
of a satanic beast power
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and compulsory worship.
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Some may be
impatient with any suggestion
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that we are moving close
to the end of prophetic time.
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By the way,
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I choose the words carefully
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because the Bible
never narrowly predicts
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the end of the world,
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it predicts a time for
the end of the sin problem
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and beginning of an
eternity for those loyal to God
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to live on a renewed earth
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but there are
those who look askance
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at any suggestion we might have
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at the approach of the
climax of the great controversy,
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as pioneer
Adventist leader and author
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Ellen White characterized it.
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Such people have chosen
to separate the myriad signs
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that the present world
order is failing on many fronts,
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such people ignore the
plainest of Bible prophecy
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that points to our
day, our world order
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as the last before the great
and terrible day of the Lord
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as Malachi 4:5 puts it.
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Early Seventh Day Adventist
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made much reference to
the prophecies of Daniel,
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in particular,
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they used an outline of
world empires given in Daniel 2
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to mark ours as the final era.
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They were not
the first to do so.
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The prophecy was so particular
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and taken together
with another vision
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that can be shown in Daniel 7
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that we can then
identify five world orders
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including the present one.
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Beyond that is the stone cut out
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without man's hand,
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which brings in the
eternal kingdom of God.
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Back in the religious
civil war that engulfed England
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in the mid-1600s,
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factions of puritans
saw in the image of Daniel 2
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reason to think that
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they were preparing the
way for the coming kingdom.
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These Fifth Monarchy
Men, as they were known,
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were of course
wrong, and wrong not least
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because they
imagined that by force of arms
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they were
bringing in the kingdom.
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The result was a short
lived religious dictatorship.
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"Not by swords' loud clashing
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but by deeds of love and mercy,"
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is how a
well-known hymn puts it.
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Who was this Daniel
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who lived so
long ago in Babylon?
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And just where is Babylon?
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Actually, we may
have seen remnants
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of once great Babylon
on our television screens
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in recent years as
western forces overran Iraq.
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The ruins of Babylon are
about 60 miles south of Baghdad
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in an area that
saw heavy fighting.
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Babylon has been in
ruins for centuries.
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Saddam Hussein
once imagined himself
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the restorer of
the Chaldean majesty.
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He began to rebuild with
stones engraved with his name
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alongside stones that
extolled Nebuchadnezzar,
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the great king who
conquered Jerusalem
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and took Daniel and many others
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into a long captivity.
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Today, the ruins
are more complete
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and enveloped in
depleted uranium-poisoned dust,
00:09:03.81\00:09:08.64
a prediction of
the Prophet Jeremiah
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that Babylon
would never be rebuilt
00:09:11.11\00:09:14.25
is sure than ever.
00:09:14.28\00:09:17.35
But back six
centuries before Christ,
00:09:17.39\00:09:19.99
the city was the
wonder of the world,
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wondered out for
its hanging gardens
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and for the
military might of the empire
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ruled by Nebuchadnezzar.
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No wonder the king came out
on the roof of his royal palace
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and said as
recorded in Daniel 4:30
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"Is not this great Babylon
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which I have built
by my mighty power?"
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No wonder that
the Lord sent him out
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as a deranged
beast into the fields
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until reason returned
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and he could
acknowledge a higher king.
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But we're getting a
little ahead of ourselves.
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Daniel was a young captive
taken to the king's palace
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to learn statecraft and
no doubt act as a hostage
00:10:02.23\00:10:07.17
against any further
insurrection in Israel.
00:10:07.20\00:10:10.54
We read about Daniel's
resolve to remain faithful.
00:10:10.57\00:10:14.48
It brings to mind the
song "Dare to be a Daniel"
00:10:14.51\00:10:18.75
that many of us
sang as children,
00:10:18.78\00:10:20.75
"Dare to be a
Daniel, dare to stand alone,
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dare to have a purpose firm,
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dare to make it known."
00:10:26.59\00:10:30.03
After an initial test
over food and the likely fact
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that the king's food was
dedicated to pagan idols,
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Daniel took his
place with the wise
00:10:37.60\00:10:40.14
or educated men of the kingdom.
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Then in the
second year of his reign,
00:10:43.27\00:10:44.91
the king had a
dream that troubled him
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even though he
couldn't remember it.
00:10:48.58\00:10:51.51
He asked the wise
men for its meaning.
00:10:51.55\00:10:54.25
Of course, they had no way
to answer the unknown dream.
00:10:54.28\00:10:57.89
And in a fit of
despotic frustration,
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the king ordered all
the wise men to be killed,
00:11:00.59\00:11:04.56
and that
included Daniel himself.
00:11:04.59\00:11:08.33
Coolly Daniel
begged a little time
00:11:08.36\00:11:11.60
from the military leader
who came to put him to death.
00:11:11.63\00:11:15.07
Likely, he said he would
tell the meaning of the dream
00:11:15.10\00:11:18.21
on the morrow.
00:11:18.24\00:11:20.31
He clearly had
faith in God to intervene,
00:11:20.34\00:11:23.55
then Daniel and
his three friends
00:11:23.58\00:11:26.08
prayed earnestly
to God for mercy.
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It was followed by a
dream and its meaning.
00:11:29.32\00:11:33.62
Significantly,
Daniel's prayer of thanks
00:11:33.66\00:11:36.12
as recorded in Daniel 2:20, 21
00:11:36.16\00:11:41.46
contains these lines,
00:11:41.50\00:11:43.53
"Blessed be the name
of God forever and ever,
00:11:43.57\00:11:47.30
to whom belong wisdom and might.
00:11:47.34\00:11:50.07
He changes times and seasons,
00:11:50.11\00:11:52.41
He removes kings
and sets up kings."
00:11:52.44\00:11:56.48
Later in Daniel
7:25, an angel messenger
00:11:56.51\00:12:00.35
uses a similar turn of phrase
00:12:00.38\00:12:02.75
to describe the pretentions
of an evil persecuting power
00:12:02.78\00:12:07.86
that is to dominate just before
the everlasting kingdom of God.
00:12:07.89\00:12:13.09
That power
00:12:13.13\00:12:15.80
"shall speak words
against the Most High
00:12:15.83\00:12:18.73
and shall think to
change times and laws."
00:12:18.77\00:12:23.77
Now Daniel comes before the king
00:12:23.81\00:12:25.51
with the
interpretation of the dream.
00:12:25.54\00:12:28.44
He must have been
calm in the knowledge
00:12:28.48\00:12:31.01
that God was in this thing.
00:12:31.05\00:12:33.62
It was not
really a test of Daniel,
00:12:33.65\00:12:36.65
but as he tells the king,
00:12:36.69\00:12:38.32
God's speaking to the king
the very thoughts of his mind.
00:12:38.35\00:12:43.66
For us today, those
of us living in the times
00:12:43.69\00:12:47.00
Daniel was shown so
clearly so many centuries ago
00:12:47.03\00:12:52.17
there is that same likelihood
00:12:52.20\00:12:54.44
that we may have to give
an account before authorities,
00:12:54.47\00:12:58.14
the kings of this age.
00:12:58.17\00:13:00.88
How do we prepare?
00:13:00.91\00:13:02.74
Must it differ in any
way from Daniel's time?
00:13:02.78\00:13:06.85
Ellen White wrote perceptively
on this in the year 1900,
00:13:06.88\00:13:11.22
recorded on pages 40 and 41
00:13:11.25\00:13:14.19
of "Counsels on
Sabbath School Work."
00:13:14.22\00:13:17.26
"The servants of
Christ," she advised,
00:13:17.29\00:13:19.76
"are to prepare no
set speech to present
00:13:19.79\00:13:22.56
when brought to
trial for their faith.
00:13:22.60\00:13:25.57
Their preparation is
to be made day by day
00:13:25.60\00:13:29.50
in treasuring up in their hearts
00:13:29.54\00:13:31.74
the precious
truths of God's word,
00:13:31.77\00:13:34.64
in feeding upon
the teaching of Christ,
00:13:34.68\00:13:36.88
and through prayer
strengthening their faith,
00:13:36.91\00:13:40.22
then, when brought
into trial, the Holy Spirit
00:13:40.25\00:13:44.02
will bring to their
remembrance the very truths
00:13:44.05\00:13:47.06
that will reach
the hearts of those
00:13:47.09\00:13:49.46
who shall come to hear.
00:13:49.49\00:13:50.83
God will flash the knowledge
00:13:50.86\00:13:52.96
obtained by diligent
searching of the Scriptures
00:13:52.99\00:13:55.93
into their memory
00:13:55.96\00:13:57.57
at the very time
when it is needed."
00:13:57.60\00:14:02.20
How comforting and
yet how very sobering.
00:14:02.24\00:14:06.51
God will bring to
mind the words to say
00:14:06.54\00:14:09.44
but only if we
have rehearsed them
00:14:09.48\00:14:12.98
and reviewed them in
days of faithfulness.
00:14:13.01\00:14:16.89
For Daniel and his friends,
the crisis of the moment
00:14:16.92\00:14:19.29
could not have been more severe.
00:14:19.32\00:14:21.22
They were under death decree.
00:14:21.26\00:14:23.93
They had no reason to doubt
00:14:23.96\00:14:25.29
that a king who held
the life of all as his,
00:14:25.33\00:14:29.13
at anytime,
00:14:29.16\00:14:30.57
would hesitate to follow through
00:14:30.60\00:14:32.23
with the kill order.
00:14:32.27\00:14:34.50
There have been other
times like that since,
00:14:34.54\00:14:37.51
many of God's faithful
have gone to their deaths
00:14:37.54\00:14:41.01
rather than betray
the trust of heaven,
00:14:41.04\00:14:43.98
and many times
God as shown Himself
00:14:44.01\00:14:46.11
in a marked deliverance.
00:14:46.15\00:14:48.35
For us who may be
living at a last great crisis,
00:14:48.38\00:14:52.19
there will again
be a death decree.
00:14:52.22\00:14:56.73
Our faith will
be severely tested
00:14:56.76\00:14:58.83
and God will, at the
end, reveal His saving power
00:14:58.86\00:15:02.60
at the midnight hour.
00:15:02.63\00:15:05.53
Again writing on this theme,
00:15:05.57\00:15:07.54
Ellen White in a
Review and Herald article
00:15:07.57\00:15:10.07
of June 15, 1897
00:15:10.11\00:15:13.88
reminds that
00:15:13.91\00:15:15.78
"From time to time
00:15:15.81\00:15:17.61
the Lord has made
known His manner of working.
00:15:17.65\00:15:20.62
He is mindful of what
is passing upon the earth.
00:15:20.65\00:15:24.15
And when a crisis has come,
00:15:24.19\00:15:26.76
He has revealed
Himself and interposed
00:15:26.79\00:15:30.26
to hinder the
working of Satan's plans.
00:15:30.29\00:15:32.93
He has often
permitted matters with nations,
00:15:32.96\00:15:36.30
with families,
and with individuals
00:15:36.33\00:15:39.40
to come to a crisis
00:15:39.43\00:15:41.10
that his interference
might become marked.
00:15:41.14\00:15:45.14
Then he has let
the fact be known
00:15:45.17\00:15:47.61
that there was a God in Israel
00:15:47.64\00:15:49.84
who would sustain
and vindicate his people.
00:15:49.88\00:15:53.58
When the defiance
of the law of Jehovah
00:15:53.62\00:15:55.88
shall be almost universal,
00:15:55.92\00:15:58.62
when His people shall
be pressed in affliction
00:15:58.65\00:16:01.39
by their fellow men,
00:16:01.42\00:16:03.29
God will interpose.
00:16:03.32\00:16:06.23
The fervent prayers of
His people will be answered,
00:16:06.26\00:16:09.10
for He loves to have His people
seek Him with all their heart
00:16:09.13\00:16:13.80
and depend upon Him
as their deliverer."
00:16:13.84\00:16:19.64
King Nebuchadnezzar
was given many signs
00:16:19.67\00:16:21.84
that God is the watcher
over the affairs of nations
00:16:21.88\00:16:26.41
and that there is
only one King of kings.
00:16:26.45\00:16:30.32
After the meaning of the
dream was told to him by Daniel,
00:16:30.35\00:16:34.76
the king fell on
his face and said,
00:16:34.79\00:16:38.73
"Truly, your God is God of gods
00:16:38.76\00:16:42.73
and Lord of kings."
00:16:42.76\00:16:45.73
Then he thought to
build a 60cubit high image
00:16:45.77\00:16:48.90
like that he saw in the dream
00:16:48.94\00:16:50.57
and require all the leading men
of the kingdom to worship it,
00:16:50.61\00:16:54.54
actually now become Him.
00:16:54.58\00:16:58.81
You see, Daniel's
three friends refused,
00:16:58.85\00:17:01.82
and the king had
them thrown into the fire.
00:17:01.85\00:17:05.05
And in the fire with them
00:17:05.09\00:17:07.26
the king saw one like a God.
00:17:07.29\00:17:11.83
When they stepped out unscathed,
00:17:11.86\00:17:13.40
the king again
extolled the God of heaven,
00:17:13.43\00:17:17.57
but in the huge misunderstanding
00:17:17.60\00:17:19.37
of the ways of God,
00:17:19.40\00:17:20.74
he threatened to
tear limb from limb
00:17:20.77\00:17:22.97
and destroy the houses
00:17:23.00\00:17:24.61
of any who refused
to acknowledge this God.
00:17:24.64\00:17:28.94
And going back to
the early illusion
00:17:28.98\00:17:31.38
to his time as a
beast in the field,
00:17:31.41\00:17:33.58
he was indeed
deprived of his reason
00:17:33.62\00:17:36.62
after he and typical pride
00:17:36.65\00:17:38.95
ascribed all his
success to himself.
00:17:38.99\00:17:43.16
But at the end of his insanity,
00:17:43.19\00:17:44.99
he again
recognized the God of heaven.
00:17:45.03\00:17:48.26
"All His works are right
00:17:48.30\00:17:50.77
and His ways are just,
00:17:50.80\00:17:53.00
and those who walk in pride
00:17:53.03\00:17:55.24
He is able to debase."
00:17:55.27\00:17:58.57
There is no other
ruler described in the Bible
00:17:58.61\00:18:01.68
with a greater number of
00:18:01.71\00:18:03.04
revelations and
corrections from God.
00:18:03.08\00:18:06.75
It is possible to read
Daniel and have anything
00:18:06.78\00:18:10.22
like the medieval concept
of the divine right of kings.
00:18:10.25\00:18:13.92
It is impossible,
after reading Daniel
00:18:13.96\00:18:16.36
to think that God's people
00:18:16.39\00:18:18.19
should ever obey
laws that deny Him
00:18:18.23\00:18:20.96
just because authorities
are bold enough to pass them.
00:18:21.00\00:18:25.77
Yes, indeed,
00:18:25.80\00:18:27.57
we are required to be
00:18:27.60\00:18:28.94
exemplary citizens
of a civil society,
00:18:28.97\00:18:32.47
recognizing, as Paul pointed out
00:18:32.51\00:18:34.74
in Romans 13,
00:18:34.78\00:18:36.85
that the civil authorities
fill a void of authority
00:18:36.88\00:18:40.45
that is legitimate
and agreeable to God
00:18:40.48\00:18:43.89
but any man,
government, or king that asks us
00:18:43.92\00:18:47.46
to compromise on
our obligation to God,
00:18:47.49\00:18:51.06
is asking too much
00:18:51.09\00:18:53.13
and any authority that aspires
to speak in the place of God
00:18:53.16\00:18:56.90
has overstepped its bounds
00:18:56.93\00:19:00.10
and any civil power
that imagines to use force
00:19:00.14\00:19:03.97
to compel to even worship God
00:19:04.01\00:19:07.48
has overstepped and
shown it does not understand
00:19:07.51\00:19:10.61
both its place and our God.
00:19:10.65\00:19:14.45
There are many countries today
00:19:14.48\00:19:15.82
that have severe laws
restricting religious practice
00:19:15.85\00:19:19.52
or compel to a
particular religious view point.
00:19:19.55\00:19:24.16
We must pray for
those faithful ones
00:19:24.19\00:19:26.23
who live in such places.
00:19:26.26\00:19:27.90
We should also pray that
the authorities in those areas
00:19:27.93\00:19:31.13
would be moved
by God to restraint.
00:19:31.17\00:19:34.64
And even in
countries with present freedom,
00:19:34.67\00:19:37.31
we should pray
for it to continue
00:19:37.34\00:19:39.47
and be on guard for
improper application
00:19:39.51\00:19:43.24
of the right to worship.
00:19:43.28\00:19:45.65
It is a fact of history
00:19:45.68\00:19:47.38
that even in the
United States of America,
00:19:47.42\00:19:50.32
a national Sunday law
00:19:50.35\00:19:52.05
once looked likely
to pass legislation.
00:19:52.09\00:19:55.29
In 1888, a
senator introduced a bill
00:19:55.32\00:19:58.53
which had broad support
in the religious community,
00:19:58.56\00:20:02.06
one bold argument from
religious liberty leaders
00:20:02.10\00:20:05.50
like centennial editor
Alonzo Jones stood in the way.
00:20:05.53\00:20:09.94
That and the
restraining hand of the Lord
00:20:09.97\00:20:12.94
who answered the
prayers for relief.
00:20:12.97\00:20:16.18
The law read in part
00:20:16.21\00:20:18.35
"a bill to secure
to the people enjoyment
00:20:18.38\00:20:21.42
of the first day of the week,
00:20:21.45\00:20:23.05
commonly known
as the Lord's Day,
00:20:23.08\00:20:25.95
as a day of rest, and
to promote its observance.
00:20:25.99\00:20:29.42
Be it enacted by the senate
and House of representatives
00:20:29.46\00:20:33.13
of the United States of
America in Congress assembled,
00:20:33.16\00:20:36.46
that no person, or corporation,
00:20:36.50\00:20:39.03
or the agent, servant,
00:20:39.07\00:20:40.60
or employee of any person
or corporation shall perform
00:20:40.64\00:20:44.57
or authorize to be
performed any secular work,
00:20:44.61\00:20:48.34
labor or business on
the first day of the week,
00:20:48.38\00:20:51.95
commonly known
as the Lord's Day."
00:20:51.98\00:20:55.18
That was correctly
called a national Sunday law.
00:20:55.22\00:20:59.32
Such an openly Sunday
law might not pass today
00:20:59.35\00:21:03.73
but efforts
continue and the latest,
00:21:03.76\00:21:06.59
a Sunday family rest day
00:21:06.63\00:21:08.60
recently advanced
in the European Union
00:21:08.63\00:21:11.30
with the full
support of the major Churches
00:21:11.33\00:21:13.94
is showing up in
the United States,
00:21:13.97\00:21:16.34
most
particularly in North Dakota
00:21:16.37\00:21:19.27
where spokespersons
for one major church
00:21:19.31\00:21:22.01
made bold statements
00:21:22.04\00:21:23.61
that the intent is to
promote Sunday sacredness.
00:21:23.65\00:21:28.65
Times and seasons are
still subject to change,
00:21:28.68\00:21:32.42
it seems.
00:21:32.45\00:21:33.96
After Nebuchadnezzar,
his son Belshazzar,
00:21:33.99\00:21:36.16
ruled in Babylon.
00:21:36.19\00:21:37.53
At a party, for a
1,000 of his lords,
00:21:37.56\00:21:39.36
the king sent for
the sacred vessels
00:21:39.39\00:21:42.43
looted from the
temple in Jerusalem.
00:21:42.46\00:21:45.53
This was more than
a profane party joke.
00:21:45.57\00:21:48.40
His father had
respected other faiths
00:21:48.44\00:21:50.51
and extolled the God of heaven.
00:21:50.54\00:21:52.91
Now the son crossed the line
00:21:52.94\00:21:54.68
between civil
and religious power
00:21:54.71\00:21:56.64
and imagined that
00:21:56.68\00:21:58.01
he could use these
vessels to extol other gods,
00:21:58.05\00:22:01.18
the gods of gold and silver,
00:22:01.22\00:22:03.22
bronze, iron, wood and stone,
00:22:03.25\00:22:05.59
in other words strange gods,
00:22:05.62\00:22:07.26
idols fashioned from
what men thought valuable.
00:22:07.29\00:22:11.69
A supernatural hand wrote words
of doom on the palace wall.
00:22:11.73\00:22:17.13
It fell to Daniel
00:22:17.17\00:22:18.93
summoned at the
word of the queen mother
00:22:18.97\00:22:21.64
to tell their meaning.
00:22:21.67\00:22:23.27
Judgment was coming.
00:22:23.30\00:22:25.57
The king was to pass...
00:22:25.61\00:22:28.18
The kingdom was to pass
00:22:28.21\00:22:30.38
to the invading
Medes and Persians.
00:22:30.41\00:22:33.92
It's not hard to see
a terrible parallel here
00:22:33.95\00:22:36.92
to king of Saul of
Israel years earlier.
00:22:36.95\00:22:41.32
He had dared to offer
the sacrifice on the altar,
00:22:41.36\00:22:44.09
bypassing the
role of the priest.
00:22:44.13\00:22:46.36
"For this, said Prophet Samuel,
00:22:46.39\00:22:48.90
"your kingdom is torn from you."
00:22:48.93\00:22:52.67
Both in pagan,
Babylon and theocratic Israel,
00:22:52.70\00:22:57.14
a civil ruler was presumed
00:22:57.17\00:22:59.97
to mix the
sacred and the profane
00:23:00.01\00:23:03.18
to directly assume
00:23:03.21\00:23:04.58
the prerogatives
of the priest hood,
00:23:04.61\00:23:06.95
incurred the wrath of God.
00:23:06.98\00:23:09.68
As we remember and
celebrate Religious Liberty Day,
00:23:09.72\00:23:14.62
let us be thankful
00:23:14.66\00:23:16.22
that in United States
there is still respect
00:23:16.26\00:23:19.49
for the First Amendment mandated
00:23:19.53\00:23:22.86
that separation
of church and state
00:23:22.90\00:23:25.10
should be in existence.
00:23:25.13\00:23:26.67
Let us pray always
that our civil leaders
00:23:26.70\00:23:29.77
will remember that
the Lord Jesus Christ
00:23:29.80\00:23:33.44
spoke of a
kingdom not of this world.
00:23:33.48\00:23:37.15
There is indeed
a real separation
00:23:37.18\00:23:39.25
between church and the state
00:23:39.28\00:23:40.82
that will become
even more prominent
00:23:40.85\00:23:43.25
in a time of testing.
00:23:43.28\00:23:46.35
In a special testimony
to the BattleCreek Church
00:23:46.39\00:23:49.32
in 1882,
00:23:49.36\00:23:51.09
Ellen White
underscored the distinction
00:23:51.13\00:23:53.70
that Jesus was leading
to in His comment to Pilate
00:23:53.73\00:23:58.70
"As we near the close of time
00:23:58.73\00:24:01.87
the demarcation
between the children of light
00:24:01.90\00:24:05.37
and the children of darkness
00:24:05.41\00:24:07.04
will be more and
more decided," she wrote.
00:24:07.08\00:24:11.01
"They will be more
and more at variance.
00:24:11.05\00:24:14.32
This difference is expressed
in the words of Christ,
00:24:14.35\00:24:17.09
'born again,'
created anew in Christ,
00:24:17.12\00:24:20.06
dead to the world,
and alive unto God.
00:24:20.09\00:24:23.16
These are the
walls of separation
00:24:23.19\00:24:25.09
that divide the
heavenly from the earthly
00:24:25.13\00:24:27.80
and describe the
difference between
00:24:27.83\00:24:30.33
those who belong to the world
00:24:30.37\00:24:32.53
and those who
are chosen out of it,
00:24:32.57\00:24:35.57
who are elect,
00:24:35.60\00:24:37.07
precious in the sight of God."
00:24:37.11\00:24:42.08
Thank you, Elder Wilson.
00:24:42.11\00:24:43.81
It's inspiring to hear again
00:24:43.85\00:24:46.88
of the biblical example
00:24:46.92\00:24:48.48
not just of kings
like Nebuchadnezzar,
00:24:48.52\00:24:50.65
but heroes of faith like Daniel.
00:24:50.69\00:24:53.72
As we enter this new
phase of world history,
00:24:53.76\00:24:56.69
a revolutionary era I call it,
00:24:56.73\00:24:59.16
all of us must be aware
of the importance of religion
00:24:59.19\00:25:02.66
and the importance
of religious freedom.
00:25:02.70\00:25:05.17
So many places around the world
00:25:05.20\00:25:07.44
we see that
people's faith is restricted.
00:25:07.47\00:25:09.94
In so many places we see that
00:25:09.97\00:25:11.81
a radical form of one
type or another religion
00:25:11.84\00:25:15.11
is prepared to
restrict the faith of others.
00:25:15.14\00:25:17.88
It's worth remembering
00:25:17.91\00:25:19.31
that those that
study these things
00:25:19.35\00:25:21.35
have pointed out recently
00:25:21.38\00:25:22.85
that as many as 70%
of the world's population
00:25:22.88\00:25:26.65
are restricted in
some important way
00:25:26.69\00:25:29.69
in their practice of
religion, often restricted
00:25:29.72\00:25:32.59
in even changing
their religious identity.
00:25:32.63\00:25:35.23
I'd encourage all of you
00:25:35.26\00:25:37.17
who are watching and
listening to this program
00:25:37.20\00:25:39.57
to examine your
support for religious liberty.
00:25:39.60\00:25:42.30
This is an opportunity
certainly in North America
00:25:42.34\00:25:45.24
to not only pray
for want we are doing,
00:25:45.27\00:25:47.64
to pray for continued religious
freedom in the practice of
00:25:47.68\00:25:51.31
many people of
faith throughout the world
00:25:51.35\00:25:53.18
but to give your means
00:25:53.21\00:25:54.78
to enable the
distribution of materials
00:25:54.82\00:25:57.19
that speak about what,
00:25:57.22\00:25:58.65
as Ellen White
said in the sermon
00:25:58.69\00:26:00.09
that Elder Wilson preached,
00:26:00.12\00:26:02.82
the true wall of separation
00:26:02.86\00:26:06.03
between the
godly and the ungodly
00:26:06.06\00:26:08.63
is a knowledge of Christ
and a living of His life.
00:26:08.66\00:26:13.03
That's what we are defending
00:26:13.07\00:26:14.54
when we defend
religious freedom,
00:26:14.57\00:26:17.01
there's so much to do,
00:26:17.04\00:26:18.77
there are so
many people, leaders
00:26:18.81\00:26:21.14
from the president
of the United States
00:26:21.18\00:26:22.78
to presidents
and prime ministers
00:26:22.81\00:26:24.68
in another countries
00:26:24.71\00:26:26.05
to the legislators to the mayors
00:26:26.08\00:26:29.35
to your
neighbor who need to hear
00:26:29.38\00:26:33.05
that there is a meaning
to what is happening today.
00:26:33.09\00:26:35.66
This is like Nebuchadnezzar's
dream for many people,
00:26:35.69\00:26:38.43
the headlines are as
confusing as that image was
00:26:38.46\00:26:42.30
in
Nebuchadnezzar's midnight dream
00:26:42.33\00:26:45.23
and not till we as
agents of the Lord,
00:26:45.27\00:26:48.50
as agents like Daniel was
00:26:48.54\00:26:50.27
to King
Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon,
00:26:50.31\00:26:52.14
not till we explain it to them,
00:26:52.17\00:26:55.21
put it in a prophetic context,
in the context of faith,
00:26:55.24\00:26:58.38
will they know what this means
00:26:58.41\00:27:00.32
because you and I have been
designated charge by the Lord
00:27:00.35\00:27:04.52
to be His emissaries,
00:27:04.55\00:27:06.82
to be His proponents
00:27:06.86\00:27:08.19
of this absolute
religious freedom principle,
00:27:08.22\00:27:11.09
the principle from our heart.
00:27:11.13\00:27:12.69