Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), Pr. Ted Wilson
Series Code: V
Program Code: V000024
|
00:21 Religious liberty is certainly very important
00:24 for Seventh-day Adventists. 00:25 We have a prophetic understanding 00:27 that tells us that religious liberty, 00:29 practically speaking, 00:31 will one day be restricted even in the United States, 00:34 but prophetically, we understand 00:37 that God's effort to explain Himself to the world 00:39 is going to be restricted by cohesive religious laws. 00:44 Every year, the North American Division 00:46 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:47 designates a Religious Liberty Sabbath, 00:50 January 28 for 2012. 00:53 And as part of that emphasis, 00:55 the world president 00:56 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 00:57 Elder Ted Wilson, 00:59 has agreed to preach 01:01 a Religious Liberty Sabbath Sermon 01:03 to underscore the importance 01:05 of this foundational concept of Adventism. 01:10 The scene as told in chapter 18 of the Gospel of John 01:14 is spare and to the point, 01:16 Jesus had been taken in the Garden of Gethsemane 01:19 by an armed mob. 01:21 He'd been dragged before a rather irregular court 01:24 of the religious authorities. 01:26 Now they brought Him to the Praetorium, 01:28 the quarters of the occupying Roman soldiers 01:31 and of Pilate the governor. 01:34 Religious leaders would not enter 01:36 with a prisoner, 01:37 they sent Him in with their complaints, 01:40 "Judge Him by your law" they urged. 01:43 It was not a law 01:45 that they and most of their countrymen respected, 01:47 but they wanted it to condemn the man 01:50 they had come to hate. 01:53 Pilate sized up the man before him. 01:55 "Are you the King of Jews" he asked. 01:57 It was a conclusion 01:59 not warranted by the situation and the man's condition. 02:02 He may have heard something to that effect 02:04 from soldiers monitoring the many public gatherings 02:08 where Jesus taught. 02:09 The question was most likely a response to his wife's dream 02:14 that he was to spare this innocent man. 02:18 Jesus's reply was apparently dismissive 02:21 but actually searching 02:23 "Do you say this of your own accord 02:25 or did others say it to you?" 02:28 Pilate picked up on the implication 02:30 that he might be recognizing a spiritual authority 02:34 as those Jews who read the scriptures should have. 02:38 "Am I a Jew," he shot back, 02:40 "your own nation and the chief priests 02:42 have handed You over to me, what have You done?" 02:47 Now it's not possible for his use of words 02:50 to be read as a recognition of the spiritual heritage 02:54 that defined a Jew then. 02:56 And to hear him making him a distinction 02:59 between that identity and those people 03:01 who, with secular mindset, 03:03 allowed a few of the chief priests 03:06 to seize the popular teacher 03:08 who threatened their cherished authority. 03:12 Jesus's reply put everything into perspective 03:16 "My kingship is not of this world," 03:19 He explained, 03:20 "if My kingship were of this world, 03:22 My servants would fight, 03:25 but My kingship is not from this world." 03:29 Three times repeated this emphasis and it is enough. 03:33 His kingdom was of a higher order. 03:36 Pilate now had to reconcile an awareness of 03:40 who the prisoner really was 03:42 with the pressing complications of his loyalty to Caesar 03:46 and the need to govern in Rome's interest. 03:51 Now in the years since then, 03:52 many have taken up the name of Jesus 03:54 and the cause of the kingdom, 03:57 many have remembered the example of their Lord 04:00 and His reminder that the kingdom of God 04:03 and the kingdoms of man are never to be confused. 04:08 Far too many through the years 04:10 have taken up the sword of Peter, 04:12 the sword that at Jesus's rebuke 04:14 fell forgotten to the night ground 04:17 at Gethsemane. 04:19 The years since have seen many wars of religion, 04:22 many violent acts in the name of truth 04:25 but all a denial of the kingdom. 04:28 The years since have seen millions tortured and martyred 04:31 for their faith 04:32 sometimes at the hands of those who imagined 04:36 that they were advancing the kingdom. 04:38 Too many have chosen 04:40 to disregard the words of the King 04:42 before the civil power. 04:44 Many Christians in the United States 04:45 see their republic as a Christian one. 04:49 They might mean well, 04:50 but they are forgetful of two things. 04:53 Firstly, those wise men many of great Christian faith 04:57 and some of them more secular bent 04:59 who set in place the structure of a then-new republic 05:04 did so with the full intension of separating church and state. 05:09 They thought so well of religion 05:11 that they wished to avoid entangling it with the state 05:16 as had long been done in the old world. 05:19 Secondly, too many today have confused 05:22 the kingdom of God with the kingdom of man. 05:24 Revelation 13 gives us stark end time picture 05:29 of where this sort of confusion ends up. 05:32 It is the province of a satanic beast power 05:36 and compulsory worship. 05:39 Some may be impatient with any suggestion 05:42 that we are moving close to the end of prophetic time. 05:45 By the way, 05:47 I choose the words carefully 05:50 because the Bible never narrowly predicts 05:53 the end of the world, 05:55 it predicts a time for the end of the sin problem 05:58 and beginning of an eternity for those loyal to God 06:02 to live on a renewed earth 06:05 but there are those who look askance 06:08 at any suggestion we might have 06:11 at the approach of the climax of the great controversy, 06:15 as pioneer Adventist leader and author 06:18 Ellen White characterized it. 06:20 Such people have chosen to separate the myriad signs 06:24 that the present world order is failing on many fronts, 06:29 such people ignore the plainest of Bible prophecy 06:32 that points to our day, our world order 06:36 as the last before the great and terrible day of the Lord 06:40 as Malachi 4:5 puts it. 06:45 Early Seventh Day Adventist 06:46 made much reference to the prophecies of Daniel, 06:50 in particular, 06:52 they used an outline of world empires given in Daniel 2 06:57 to mark ours as the final era. 07:01 They were not the first to do so. 07:03 The prophecy was so particular 07:06 and taken together with another vision 07:09 that can be shown in Daniel 7 07:12 that we can then identify five world orders 07:16 including the present one. 07:19 Beyond that is the stone cut out 07:22 without man's hand, 07:24 which brings in the eternal kingdom of God. 07:27 Back in the religious civil war that engulfed England 07:31 in the mid-1600s, 07:33 factions of puritans saw in the image of Daniel 2 07:39 reason to think that 07:40 they were preparing the way for the coming kingdom. 07:43 These Fifth Monarchy Men, as they were known, 07:48 were of course wrong, and wrong not least 07:51 because they imagined that by force of arms 07:54 they were bringing in the kingdom. 07:58 The result was a short lived religious dictatorship. 08:02 "Not by swords' loud clashing 08:04 but by deeds of love and mercy," 08:07 is how a well-known hymn puts it. 08:10 Who was this Daniel 08:11 who lived so long ago in Babylon? 08:14 And just where is Babylon? 08:16 Actually, we may have seen remnants 08:19 of once great Babylon on our television screens 08:22 in recent years as western forces overran Iraq. 08:27 The ruins of Babylon are about 60 miles south of Baghdad 08:31 in an area that saw heavy fighting. 08:34 Babylon has been in ruins for centuries. 08:38 Saddam Hussein once imagined himself 08:40 the restorer of the Chaldean majesty. 08:45 He began to rebuild with stones engraved with his name 08:49 alongside stones that extolled Nebuchadnezzar, 08:52 the great king who conquered Jerusalem 08:55 and took Daniel and many others 08:58 into a long captivity. 09:00 Today, the ruins are more complete 09:03 and enveloped in depleted uranium-poisoned dust, 09:08 a prediction of the Prophet Jeremiah 09:11 that Babylon would never be rebuilt 09:14 is sure than ever. 09:17 But back six centuries before Christ, 09:20 the city was the wonder of the world, 09:22 wondered out for its hanging gardens 09:25 and for the military might of the empire 09:27 ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. 09:29 No wonder the king came out on the roof of his royal palace 09:33 and said as recorded in Daniel 4:30 09:38 "Is not this great Babylon 09:40 which I have built by my mighty power?" 09:43 No wonder that the Lord sent him out 09:46 as a deranged beast into the fields 09:49 until reason returned 09:51 and he could acknowledge a higher king. 09:56 But we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. 09:59 Daniel was a young captive taken to the king's palace 10:02 to learn statecraft and no doubt act as a hostage 10:07 against any further insurrection in Israel. 10:10 We read about Daniel's resolve to remain faithful. 10:14 It brings to mind the song "Dare to be a Daniel" 10:18 that many of us sang as children, 10:20 "Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone, 10:23 dare to have a purpose firm, 10:26 dare to make it known." 10:30 After an initial test over food and the likely fact 10:33 that the king's food was dedicated to pagan idols, 10:37 Daniel took his place with the wise 10:40 or educated men of the kingdom. 10:43 Then in the second year of his reign, 10:44 the king had a dream that troubled him 10:48 even though he couldn't remember it. 10:51 He asked the wise men for its meaning. 10:54 Of course, they had no way to answer the unknown dream. 10:57 And in a fit of despotic frustration, 11:00 the king ordered all the wise men to be killed, 11:04 and that included Daniel himself. 11:08 Coolly Daniel begged a little time 11:11 from the military leader who came to put him to death. 11:15 Likely, he said he would tell the meaning of the dream 11:18 on the morrow. 11:20 He clearly had faith in God to intervene, 11:23 then Daniel and his three friends 11:26 prayed earnestly to God for mercy. 11:29 It was followed by a dream and its meaning. 11:33 Significantly, Daniel's prayer of thanks 11:36 as recorded in Daniel 2:20, 21 11:41 contains these lines, 11:43 "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, 11:47 to whom belong wisdom and might. 11:50 He changes times and seasons, 11:52 He removes kings and sets up kings." 11:56 Later in Daniel 7:25, an angel messenger 12:00 uses a similar turn of phrase 12:02 to describe the pretentions of an evil persecuting power 12:07 that is to dominate just before the everlasting kingdom of God. 12:13 That power 12:15 "shall speak words against the Most High 12:18 and shall think to change times and laws." 12:23 Now Daniel comes before the king 12:25 with the interpretation of the dream. 12:28 He must have been calm in the knowledge 12:31 that God was in this thing. 12:33 It was not really a test of Daniel, 12:36 but as he tells the king, 12:38 God's speaking to the king the very thoughts of his mind. 12:43 For us today, those of us living in the times 12:47 Daniel was shown so clearly so many centuries ago 12:52 there is that same likelihood 12:54 that we may have to give an account before authorities, 12:58 the kings of this age. 13:00 How do we prepare? 13:02 Must it differ in any way from Daniel's time? 13:06 Ellen White wrote perceptively on this in the year 1900, 13:11 recorded on pages 40 and 41 13:14 of "Counsels on Sabbath School Work." 13:17 "The servants of Christ," she advised, 13:19 "are to prepare no set speech to present 13:22 when brought to trial for their faith. 13:25 Their preparation is to be made day by day 13:29 in treasuring up in their hearts 13:31 the precious truths of God's word, 13:34 in feeding upon the teaching of Christ, 13:36 and through prayer strengthening their faith, 13:40 then, when brought into trial, the Holy Spirit 13:44 will bring to their remembrance the very truths 13:47 that will reach the hearts of those 13:49 who shall come to hear. 13:50 God will flash the knowledge 13:52 obtained by diligent searching of the Scriptures 13:55 into their memory 13:57 at the very time when it is needed." 14:02 How comforting and yet how very sobering. 14:06 God will bring to mind the words to say 14:09 but only if we have rehearsed them 14:13 and reviewed them in days of faithfulness. 14:16 For Daniel and his friends, the crisis of the moment 14:19 could not have been more severe. 14:21 They were under death decree. 14:23 They had no reason to doubt 14:25 that a king who held the life of all as his, 14:29 at anytime, 14:30 would hesitate to follow through 14:32 with the kill order. 14:34 There have been other times like that since, 14:37 many of God's faithful have gone to their deaths 14:41 rather than betray the trust of heaven, 14:44 and many times God as shown Himself 14:46 in a marked deliverance. 14:48 For us who may be living at a last great crisis, 14:52 there will again be a death decree. 14:56 Our faith will be severely tested 14:58 and God will, at the end, reveal His saving power 15:02 at the midnight hour. 15:05 Again writing on this theme, 15:07 Ellen White in a Review and Herald article 15:10 of June 15, 1897 15:13 reminds that 15:15 "From time to time 15:17 the Lord has made known His manner of working. 15:20 He is mindful of what is passing upon the earth. 15:24 And when a crisis has come, 15:26 He has revealed Himself and interposed 15:30 to hinder the working of Satan's plans. 15:32 He has often permitted matters with nations, 15:36 with families, and with individuals 15:39 to come to a crisis 15:41 that his interference might become marked. 15:45 Then he has let the fact be known 15:47 that there was a God in Israel 15:49 who would sustain and vindicate his people. 15:53 When the defiance of the law of Jehovah 15:55 shall be almost universal, 15:58 when His people shall be pressed in affliction 16:01 by their fellow men, 16:03 God will interpose. 16:06 The fervent prayers of His people will be answered, 16:09 for He loves to have His people seek Him with all their heart 16:13 and depend upon Him as their deliverer." 16:19 King Nebuchadnezzar was given many signs 16:21 that God is the watcher over the affairs of nations 16:26 and that there is only one King of kings. 16:30 After the meaning of the dream was told to him by Daniel, 16:34 the king fell on his face and said, 16:38 "Truly, your God is God of gods 16:42 and Lord of kings." 16:45 Then he thought to build a 60cubit high image 16:48 like that he saw in the dream 16:50 and require all the leading men of the kingdom to worship it, 16:54 actually now become Him. 16:58 You see, Daniel's three friends refused, 17:01 and the king had them thrown into the fire. 17:05 And in the fire with them 17:07 the king saw one like a God. 17:11 When they stepped out unscathed, 17:13 the king again extolled the God of heaven, 17:17 but in the huge misunderstanding 17:19 of the ways of God, 17:20 he threatened to tear limb from limb 17:23 and destroy the houses 17:24 of any who refused to acknowledge this God. 17:28 And going back to the early illusion 17:31 to his time as a beast in the field, 17:33 he was indeed deprived of his reason 17:36 after he and typical pride 17:38 ascribed all his success to himself. 17:43 But at the end of his insanity, 17:45 he again recognized the God of heaven. 17:48 "All His works are right 17:50 and His ways are just, 17:53 and those who walk in pride 17:55 He is able to debase." 17:58 There is no other ruler described in the Bible 18:01 with a greater number of 18:03 revelations and corrections from God. 18:06 It is possible to read Daniel and have anything 18:10 like the medieval concept of the divine right of kings. 18:13 It is impossible, after reading Daniel 18:16 to think that God's people 18:18 should ever obey laws that deny Him 18:21 just because authorities are bold enough to pass them. 18:25 Yes, indeed, 18:27 we are required to be 18:28 exemplary citizens of a civil society, 18:32 recognizing, as Paul pointed out 18:34 in Romans 13, 18:36 that the civil authorities fill a void of authority 18:40 that is legitimate and agreeable to God 18:43 but any man, government, or king that asks us 18:47 to compromise on our obligation to God, 18:51 is asking too much 18:53 and any authority that aspires to speak in the place of God 18:56 has overstepped its bounds 19:00 and any civil power that imagines to use force 19:04 to compel to even worship God 19:07 has overstepped and shown it does not understand 19:10 both its place and our God. 19:14 There are many countries today 19:15 that have severe laws restricting religious practice 19:19 or compel to a particular religious view point. 19:24 We must pray for those faithful ones 19:26 who live in such places. 19:27 We should also pray that the authorities in those areas 19:31 would be moved by God to restraint. 19:34 And even in countries with present freedom, 19:37 we should pray for it to continue 19:39 and be on guard for improper application 19:43 of the right to worship. 19:45 It is a fact of history 19:47 that even in the United States of America, 19:50 a national Sunday law 19:52 once looked likely to pass legislation. 19:55 In 1888, a senator introduced a bill 19:58 which had broad support in the religious community, 20:02 one bold argument from religious liberty leaders 20:05 like centennial editor Alonzo Jones stood in the way. 20:09 That and the restraining hand of the Lord 20:12 who answered the prayers for relief. 20:16 The law read in part 20:18 "a bill to secure to the people enjoyment 20:21 of the first day of the week, 20:23 commonly known as the Lord's Day, 20:25 as a day of rest, and to promote its observance. 20:29 Be it enacted by the senate and House of representatives 20:33 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 20:36 that no person, or corporation, 20:39 or the agent, servant, 20:40 or employee of any person or corporation shall perform 20:44 or authorize to be performed any secular work, 20:48 labor or business on the first day of the week, 20:51 commonly known as the Lord's Day." 20:55 That was correctly called a national Sunday law. 20:59 Such an openly Sunday law might not pass today 21:03 but efforts continue and the latest, 21:06 a Sunday family rest day 21:08 recently advanced in the European Union 21:11 with the full support of the major Churches 21:13 is showing up in the United States, 21:16 most particularly in North Dakota 21:19 where spokespersons for one major church 21:22 made bold statements 21:23 that the intent is to promote Sunday sacredness. 21:28 Times and seasons are still subject to change, 21:32 it seems. 21:33 After Nebuchadnezzar, his son Belshazzar, 21:36 ruled in Babylon. 21:37 At a party, for a 1,000 of his lords, 21:39 the king sent for the sacred vessels 21:42 looted from the temple in Jerusalem. 21:45 This was more than a profane party joke. 21:48 His father had respected other faiths 21:50 and extolled the God of heaven. 21:52 Now the son crossed the line 21:54 between civil and religious power 21:56 and imagined that 21:58 he could use these vessels to extol other gods, 22:01 the gods of gold and silver, 22:03 bronze, iron, wood and stone, 22:05 in other words strange gods, 22:07 idols fashioned from what men thought valuable. 22:11 A supernatural hand wrote words of doom on the palace wall. 22:17 It fell to Daniel 22:18 summoned at the word of the queen mother 22:21 to tell their meaning. 22:23 Judgment was coming. 22:25 The king was to pass... 22:28 The kingdom was to pass 22:30 to the invading Medes and Persians. 22:33 It's not hard to see a terrible parallel here 22:36 to king of Saul of Israel years earlier. 22:41 He had dared to offer the sacrifice on the altar, 22:44 bypassing the role of the priest. 22:46 "For this, said Prophet Samuel, 22:48 "your kingdom is torn from you." 22:52 Both in pagan, Babylon and theocratic Israel, 22:57 a civil ruler was presumed 23:00 to mix the sacred and the profane 23:03 to directly assume 23:04 the prerogatives of the priest hood, 23:06 incurred the wrath of God. 23:09 As we remember and celebrate Religious Liberty Day, 23:14 let us be thankful 23:16 that in United States there is still respect 23:19 for the First Amendment mandated 23:22 that separation of church and state 23:25 should be in existence. 23:26 Let us pray always that our civil leaders 23:29 will remember that the Lord Jesus Christ 23:33 spoke of a kingdom not of this world. 23:37 There is indeed a real separation 23:39 between church and the state 23:40 that will become even more prominent 23:43 in a time of testing. 23:46 In a special testimony to the BattleCreek Church 23:49 in 1882, 23:51 Ellen White underscored the distinction 23:53 that Jesus was leading to in His comment to Pilate 23:58 "As we near the close of time 24:01 the demarcation between the children of light 24:05 and the children of darkness 24:07 will be more and more decided," she wrote. 24:11 "They will be more and more at variance. 24:14 This difference is expressed in the words of Christ, 24:17 'born again,' created anew in Christ, 24:20 dead to the world, and alive unto God. 24:23 These are the walls of separation 24:25 that divide the heavenly from the earthly 24:27 and describe the difference between 24:30 those who belong to the world 24:32 and those who are chosen out of it, 24:35 who are elect, 24:37 precious in the sight of God." 24:42 Thank you, Elder Wilson. 24:43 It's inspiring to hear again 24:46 of the biblical example 24:48 not just of kings like Nebuchadnezzar, 24:50 but heroes of faith like Daniel. 24:53 As we enter this new phase of world history, 24:56 a revolutionary era I call it, 24:59 all of us must be aware of the importance of religion 25:02 and the importance of religious freedom. 25:05 So many places around the world 25:07 we see that people's faith is restricted. 25:09 In so many places we see that 25:11 a radical form of one type or another religion 25:15 is prepared to restrict the faith of others. 25:17 It's worth remembering 25:19 that those that study these things 25:21 have pointed out recently 25:22 that as many as 70% of the world's population 25:26 are restricted in some important way 25:29 in their practice of religion, often restricted 25:32 in even changing their religious identity. 25:35 I'd encourage all of you 25:37 who are watching and listening to this program 25:39 to examine your support for religious liberty. 25:42 This is an opportunity certainly in North America 25:45 to not only pray for want we are doing, 25:47 to pray for continued religious freedom in the practice of 25:51 many people of faith throughout the world 25:53 but to give your means 25:54 to enable the distribution of materials 25:57 that speak about what, 25:58 as Ellen White said in the sermon 26:00 that Elder Wilson preached, 26:02 the true wall of separation 26:06 between the godly and the ungodly 26:08 is a knowledge of Christ and a living of His life. 26:13 That's what we are defending 26:14 when we defend religious freedom, 26:17 there's so much to do, 26:18 there are so many people, leaders 26:21 from the president of the United States 26:22 to presidents and prime ministers 26:24 in another countries 26:26 to the legislators to the mayors 26:29 to your neighbor who need to hear 26:33 that there is a meaning to what is happening today. 26:35 This is like Nebuchadnezzar's dream for many people, 26:38 the headlines are as confusing as that image was 26:42 in Nebuchadnezzar's midnight dream 26:45 and not till we as agents of the Lord, 26:48 as agents like Daniel was 26:50 to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, 26:52 not till we explain it to them, 26:55 put it in a prophetic context, in the context of faith, 26:58 will they know what this means 27:00 because you and I have been designated charge by the Lord 27:04 to be His emissaries, 27:06 to be His proponents 27:08 of this absolute religious freedom principle, 27:11 the principle from our heart. |
Revised 2019-01-28