Participants: C.A. Murray (Host), Pastor Ted Wilson
Series Code: V
Program Code: V000029
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00:01 Hi, my name is C.A. Murray.
00:02 In the late 1800s, 00:04 legislatures in the states of the United States 00:07 and to some extent the federal government 00:10 wanted to move this country 00:11 from a titularly Christian nation 00:14 to a Christian nation by force of law. 00:17 And Adventists along with other Jewish version 00:21 many times found themselves on the wrong side of the law, 00:24 oft times in court paying fines, 00:27 and many times being sent to jail. 00:29 I think it was during those days 00:30 that Seventh-day Adventists really took hold of 00:34 and grassed the idea, 00:36 the notion of religious liberty. 00:39 People like Alonzo T. Jones from California 00:41 stood before the United States government 00:45 to talk about the necessity of religious liberty. 00:47 And religious liberty as an idea 00:50 is in the very fabric of Adventism 00:53 up into this very day, 00:55 perhaps that is why 00:57 the religious liberty campaign or the Liberty campaign 00:59 is one of the very first campaigns 01:01 in each calendar year. 01:03 Liberty magazine, 01:04 the push for the understanding of religious liberty 01:06 has always been part of our history. 01:10 On today's program we have a message 01:12 from our General Conference President 01:14 Elder Ted Wilson, 01:15 talking about religious liberty, 01:17 the need of the necessity for religious liberty. 01:20 And for Adventists as well as the Christian community 01:23 to always be awake, aware, 01:26 and alert of the need to have religious freedom 01:29 in the United States. 01:30 Not just for a Seventh-day Adventists but for everyone, 01:33 for every religion, even those religions 01:36 which are anti Adventists or anti Christian. 01:39 Liberty for one must be liberty for all. 01:43 And so now, a short message 01:45 from our General Conference President 01:46 Elder Ted N.C. Wilson. 01:51 As Seventh-day Adventists, 01:53 members of God's remnant church, 01:55 we can live with the assurance 01:57 that as the servant of the Lord has said 02:00 like the stars in the vast circuit 02:02 of their appointed path, 02:04 God's purposes know no haste and no delay. 02:08 As we look at the developments in the world today 02:11 we have to trust God's leading just as we do 02:14 in our very own lives. 02:17 The same God who thousands of years ago 02:19 gave the Prophet Daniel an outline of world history 02:22 dating way into the future from his time 02:26 is the same God who is in control of world events today, 02:30 just before His second coming. 02:33 Of course, there are many things we don't understand 02:35 about political and international affairs, 02:39 many things that just don't make sense 02:42 at least from our own perspective. 02:45 But it's like that with many things in life, 02:47 I don't fully understand how my cell phone works 02:50 or my car ignition works. 02:53 Thus how much more would it be with the things of God 02:57 especially in something as involved and complicated 03:01 as politics and last day events. 03:05 Also think of John the Baptist, 03:08 as he sat in the dungeon waiting to die 03:11 while Jesus was performing one miracle after another. 03:14 I imagine that John, this great man of God, 03:17 this man with a special anointing from heaven itself, 03:21 I imagine that he had a lot of unanswered questions. 03:25 John the Baptist even more than we do today 03:28 certainly knew in principle at least 03:31 what it meant when the Scripture said, 03:33 "The just shall live by faith." 03:38 Yes, we do have to live with unanswered questions. 03:41 Nevertheless, the question 03:43 that we do want to try and answer now is this. 03:47 What does the future hold for us 03:50 at least in terms of religious liberty? 03:54 Well, we can give two answers. 03:56 The first one, what does the future 03:58 hold for religious liberty in the short term? 04:02 We actually really do not know. 04:05 If you read some of the history 04:07 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 04:09 you'll see that people often thought 04:11 that specific events were going to lead 04:14 right to the Final Crisis. 04:16 For instance, the Blair Amendment, 04:18 basically a national Sunday law in 1888 04:21 was seen as the beginning of the very end, 04:25 but the bill didn't pass and the crisis faded. 04:29 Others were convinced that events 04:31 with the nation of Turkey 04:32 in the 19th and early 20th century 04:35 were going to bring the religious liberty crisis 04:37 of the end time to our doors. 04:41 Many Adventists thought that World War I 04:44 was the harbinger of the last days. 04:47 Many thought World War II 04:49 had to be the beginning of a time of trouble 04:51 such as never was since there was a nation 04:54 even to that same time, as Daniel 12:1 says. 04:59 Some thought that certain political events 05:02 would certainly bring about the political changes 05:05 that would lead to the mark of the beast. 05:08 And yet here we are still enjoying religious freedom, 05:14 still enjoying religious liberty. 05:17 I think that by now we should learn our lesson 05:20 about not making predictions about what's going to happen 05:23 in regards to the last day events 05:26 and religious liberty 05:27 that are more specific and detailed 05:30 than what has been given to us in Revelation. 05:34 Be it in the Bible first and foremost 05:36 and then in the Spirit of Prophecy. 05:40 Don't miss the point here, please. 05:42 We have an urgent prophetic message to give to the world, 05:46 the three angels' messages of Revelation 14, 05:49 and included in those messages 05:51 is the warning about worshiping the beast and his image, 05:55 in Revelation 14:11, 05:57 and the future event of that happening. 06:02 It is our happy privilege to proclaim 06:05 the second coming of Jesus, 06:07 the millennium, and the final end of sin. 06:10 Yes, these are all future events as well, 06:13 and of course, it is a joy to proclaim them. 06:17 I enjoy doing it myself and I hope you do as well. 06:22 However, we get into trouble when we speculate and, yes, 06:26 I use that word deliberately, 06:28 we get into trouble when we speculate 06:31 about future events that have not been revealed 06:34 to us in specific detail. 06:37 When we make predictions about specific details, 06:41 details about what the Lord has not revealed to us, 06:44 we often get it wrong. 06:46 Telling the future is not easy and should be left to the Lord. 06:51 Thus with that basic principle in mind, 06:53 not to get more specific than what has been revealed, 06:58 we can say that in the short term 07:00 we really don't know what is going to happen specifically. 07:05 From what I follow of these things 07:06 and from what our wonderful people in PARL, 07:09 the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty 07:11 department have told me, 07:13 "Sometimes we see immediate things 07:16 that are good for religious freedom, 07:20 sometimes we see things that aren't so good." 07:23 Thus in the short term we really don't know. 07:27 But in the long term, 07:31 or it could be better to say in the longer term, 07:34 because I believe that we don't have 07:36 a long term for anything, 07:38 in the longer term we know what is going to happen. 07:41 We know what the Bible, 07:42 specifically the Book of Revelation 07:44 says about America. 07:47 Revelation 13:11, 12, 07:51 "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, 07:55 and he had two horns like a lamb 07:57 and spoke like a dragon. 07:59 And he exercises all the authority 08:01 of the first beast in his presence, 08:04 and causes the earth and those who dwell in it 08:07 to worship the first beast, 08:10 whose deadly wound was healed." 08:14 A wonderful book, the Great Controversy, 08:16 which thousands of Seventh-day Adventists 08:18 around the world have been distributing 08:21 by the thousands last year and will this year, 08:25 it appears to be tremendously 08:29 spread throughout the world shows that and I quote, 08:33 "The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, 08:37 for it is the point of truth especially controverted. 08:41 When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, 08:44 then the line of distinction will be drawn between those 08:47 who serve God and those who serve Him Not. 08:51 While the observance of the false sabbath 08:53 in compliance with the law of the state, 08:56 contrary to the fourth commandment, 08:59 will be an avowal of allegiance 09:01 to a power that is in opposition to God. 09:05 The keeping of the true Sabbath, 09:07 in obedience to God's law, 09:09 is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. 09:13 While one class, 09:14 by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, 09:18 receive the mark of the beast, 09:20 the other choosing the token of allegiance 09:24 to divine authority, 09:26 receive the seal of God." 09:29 The Great Controversy, page 605. 09:33 No question, in the longer term 09:36 we know what is going to happen 09:38 in regards to religious freedom. 09:40 That's why we as a church have always had 09:43 a very deep interest 09:45 in the whole issue of religious freedom. 09:49 Or I should say that it is just one of the reasons 09:53 that we have had an interest in religious freedom, 09:56 another reason and maybe even the most important reason 10:00 has to do with the essence of the gospel itself, 10:04 the essence of truth itself. 10:06 I'm talking about love 10:08 and the freedom needed for love to exist. 10:11 Now what do I mean. 10:13 We all know the story of the scribe 10:16 who came to Jesus and asked him 10:19 what was the greatest commandment of all, 10:22 and Jesus answered in Mark 12:29-31, 10:28 "The first of all the commandments is: 10:31 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 10:36 And you shall love the Lord your God 10:38 with all your heart, 10:39 with all your soul, with all your mind, 10:42 and with all your strength.' 10:45 This is the first commandment. 10:46 And the second, like it, is this: 10:49 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 10:52 There is no other commandment greater then these.'" 10:57 Now think about this. 10:59 There is a tension in these verses. 11:01 They talk about commandments, that is the law. 11:05 They talk about what we are ordered to do, 11:09 commandments are just that, they are commandments, 11:12 they're not suggestions, advice or counsel, 11:15 they are commandments. 11:18 In this case, commandments to do what? 11:21 To love, to love God and love your neighbor, 11:25 but love by its nature as love is not something 11:31 that we think of as being commanded, 11:35 it's not a big deal 11:36 that someone would say to you, I order you, 11:39 I command you not to cross this line right here, 11:43 or I command you to stop right where you are. 11:46 You know, that kind of makes sense, 11:48 but to say I command you to love me, 11:52 well, that just sounds a little strange, doesn't it? 11:56 And that's because love is not something 11:58 that we generally think of as being commanded. 12:02 And yet, Jesus said that the two greatest commandments 12:05 are to love. 12:08 How do we reconcile this? 12:10 Well, listen to this beautiful quote 12:12 from the book the Desire of Ages, page 22. 12:17 "The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. 12:21 That the gloomy shadows might be lightened, 12:24 that the world might be brought back to God, 12:27 Satan's deceptive power was to be broken. 12:31 This could not be done by force. 12:33 The exercise of force is contrary 12:37 to the principles of God's government; 12:39 He desires only the service of love 12:42 and love cannot be commanded, 12:45 it cannot be won by force or authority. 12:49 Only by love is love awakened. 12:52 To know God is to love Him." 12:57 Notice that Ellen White in this marvelous 13:00 Spirit of Prophecy quotation on the life of Christ, 13:04 and I hope you're enjoying 13:06 reading various volumes of The Spirit of Prophecy, 13:08 one of the finest gifts 13:10 given to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 13:12 and to you, and to me. 13:15 Well, the Spirit of Prophecy said it so well, 13:18 love cannot be commanded 13:20 and yet we are commanded to love. 13:24 How do we resolve this tension? 13:26 I think that the key is found in the other line 13:29 where it says that to know God is to love Him. 13:35 We love God because we know what God is like, 13:40 we know His love, and as a response to that love 13:43 we love Him back. 13:45 This love cannot be forced. 13:48 Now we can be commanded to do it, yes. 13:51 But we can only do it, only out of free choice, 13:54 out of free will. 13:56 Certainly God commands us to love 13:58 but He can't force us to. 14:00 He can force us not to commit adultery, 14:03 or not to steal, 14:04 but He can't force us to love Him. 14:06 That's what's so amazing about love, 14:08 for love to exist freedom has to as well. 14:13 That's in many ways freedom 14:15 as the beautiful proclamation from God 14:18 is the heart of the gospel. 14:20 God created us as free moral human beings, 14:25 and He commands us to love Him and our neighbor, 14:29 but He can't force us to love either. 14:33 To truly love we have to truly be free, 14:37 freedom in reality, 14:39 religious freedom is at the heart and soul of the gospel. 14:43 It is at that soul of our relationship with God. 14:49 Of course, we defend religious liberty because, 14:51 well, let's face it, we are Seventh-day Adventists 14:54 and we keep the seventh day Sabbath 14:56 when the vast majority of the Christian world 14:59 observes another day. 15:01 And when at times governments have used the force 15:05 and power of the law to enforce Sunday, 15:08 we have found ourselves in rather difficult situations. 15:13 Thus we have had an interest in religious liberty 15:15 for very practical reasons. 15:18 Seventh-day Adventists have suffered 15:20 and some still do suffer 15:22 because of our adherence to the seventh day Sabbath 15:25 and thus our religious liberty department works tirelessly, 15:29 not only here in the North American division 15:32 but around the world to help defend the principles 15:36 of religious freedom. 15:38 But at a deep, deeper level, 15:41 when we as Seventh-day Adventists 15:43 advocate for religious liberty, 15:46 for freedom of conscience, we are promoting a principle, 15:51 a foundation, and a pillar that underpins the gospel. 15:56 If there were no freedom, 15:58 there would be no need of the gospel 16:00 or no need of the plan of salvation 16:03 because there would have been no sin. 16:08 And there would have been no sin 16:10 because God would have created automatons or robots. 16:14 Robots cannot love or have a real loving relationship 16:19 with God or with each other. 16:21 If God wanted to force obedience, 16:24 He could have created a race of computers, not humans. 16:28 You tell a computer what to do and if it's working properly 16:31 it automatically does it, no questions asked. 16:34 I use my computer a lot as you may as well, 16:38 but I don't have any kind of 16:39 strong emotional attachment to it. 16:43 You can have a deeper attachment 16:45 even to a household pet than to a computer, 16:48 because even a pet has an autonomy 16:52 that is completely lacking in a computer. 16:55 A pet can to some degree love you back, 16:59 you can have more of a relationship 17:01 with a goldfish than with a laptop. 17:05 There's no computer that even 17:06 comes close to anything like human love, 17:09 and frankly it's hard to imagine 17:11 one ever being able to, 17:14 yet that's what God wanted with us, 17:16 He wanted free moral beings 17:19 who could freely of their own will 17:21 choose to love and serve Him, 17:23 beings with whom 17:24 He could have a reciprocal relationship of love. 17:29 And to do this, He had to create us free. 17:34 All through the Bible we see this principle, 17:36 the principle of human freewill, 17:39 the principle of religious liberty. 17:41 And that's very important, 17:43 because if God Himself doesn't force us 17:48 to bring religious conformity into our lives, 17:52 what a terrible aberration and abuse of power occurs 17:55 when fallen human institutions 17:58 such as governments try to do what God Himself refuses to do. 18:03 When Satan tried to play the role of God, 18:06 disaster occurred for him and for heaven and for earth, 18:10 when humans following the dictates of Satan 18:14 try to do the same, disaster results as well. 18:18 History is littered with stories of what happened 18:20 when governments or even churches 18:22 tried to play God. 18:24 In fact that's precisely what the Bible says 18:27 and warns about concerning the man of sin. 18:31 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 tell us, 18:36 "Let no one deceive you by any means, 18:40 for that Day will not come 18:41 unless the falling away comes first, 18:44 and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 18:48 who opposes and exalts himself 18:50 above all that is called God or that is worshiped, 18:54 so that he sits as God in the temple of God, 18:58 showing himself that he is God." 19:02 That is very clear. 19:05 Now it's one thing to yield our consciences to God, 19:09 that's what the Christian life is all about, 19:12 surrendering our wills to the Lord. 19:16 But to surrender them to any human 19:19 or any human institution or institutions that may be 19:24 trying to take the place of God, 19:26 or trying to fit the role that belongs only to God, 19:29 now that's a disaster waiting to happen. 19:32 And those disasters have happened in the past 19:35 and unfortunately as we know from prophecy, 19:38 something like that is going to happen again. 19:42 In contrast, our Lord allows us freedom, 19:47 even if that freedom led to sin and sin led our Lord 19:51 to the cross. 19:53 Look at some of these examples from the Bible 19:55 about just how real our freedom is. 19:59 Adam and Eve in Eden, 20:01 ate from the forbidden tree 20:02 because they had the moral freedom 20:05 to make the wrong choices. 20:07 The Lord told them, "Don't eat of it," 20:10 but He didn't force them not to. 20:13 He could have but then, 20:15 what would their "obedience" have meant. 20:20 Nothing at all. 20:22 Think about the story of Noah and the Ark, 20:24 neither the Bible nor the Spirit of Prophecy 20:27 ever said anything about even one person 20:30 who was forced to get into the ark. 20:34 They had free choice, one way or another. 20:37 We don't usually go to the Israelite theocracy 20:40 as an example of religious liberty 20:42 at least as we understand it today, 20:45 and that's because, of course, it was a theocracy, 20:48 a nation ruled directly by God. 20:51 What scary in fact, 20:53 are those groups who look to the Israelite theocracy 20:56 as a model for current government. 21:01 I wouldn't mind living in a theocracy 21:02 run by the Lord Jesus Christ, it would be perfect, 21:06 it would be wonderful. 21:07 I know the kindness, the love, 21:09 the grace and mercy of our Lord. 21:11 I look forward to the theocracy in heaven 21:14 so to speak, but a so called theocracy, 21:18 when sinful human beings with absolute political power 21:22 playing the role that God Himself had, 21:26 well, you're really just looking for a lot of trouble. 21:31 Nevertheless, I love these words from Joshua, 21:34 to the children of Israel found in Joshua 24:15 21:39 because I believe that they represent 21:41 a crucial principle about freedom, 21:45 quoting now from that verse 21:46 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, 21:50 choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, 21:54 whether the gods which yours fathers 21:56 served that were on the other side of the River, 21:59 or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. 22:03 But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 22:11 "Choose this day whom you will serve," 22:13 those words make no sense apart from 22:16 the reality of human autonomy, human free will. 22:20 Then we have the entire example 22:23 of Jesus' ministry here on earth, 22:25 here He was our Lord in the flesh 22:28 and all around Him He had to deal with human beings 22:31 who using the freedom He had originally given them 22:35 were making one bad choice after another. 22:39 Look at how some of the scribes and Pharisees treated Jesus. 22:43 Think about the story of the boy in John 9, 22:47 who had been blind from birth. 22:50 Jesus just gave a powerful, 22:53 powerful demonstration of His divine power, 22:56 a boy blind from birth who suddenly could now see? 23:00 What more evidence could the Lord have 23:02 given these people and yet what happened? 23:06 After the young man blind from birth 23:08 but now seeing gave his testimony to them, 23:11 what followed? 23:13 John 9:28 and 29 says, 23:16 then they reviled him and said, 23:20 "You are his disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. 23:25 We know that God spoke to Moses, 23:27 as for this fellow, 23:29 we do not know where He is from." 23:34 Talk about an abuse of freedom. 23:37 I mean, I know that Jesus love these men, 23:39 I know that Jesus wanted them to be saved. 23:42 Jesus would soon die for them and for all of us. 23:46 What a temptation it might have been to Him, 23:49 to have somehow forced these people 23:52 to not act so detrimentally 23:55 to their own eternal life. 23:59 Have you ever seen someone and I'm sure you have, 24:02 who was doing something that you knew 24:04 was going to lead to ruin 24:05 and yet you couldn't do anything about it? 24:09 Jesus couldn't force them, 24:10 that is He couldn't and at the same time 24:13 be true to the principle of love and freedom, 24:15 that is at the foundation of His government. 24:18 Again let me quote from that beautiful book, 24:20 The Desire of Ages, 24:22 "The exercise of force 24:24 is contrary to the principles of God's government, 24:28 He desires only the service of love, 24:31 and love cannot be commanded, 24:33 it cannot be won by force or authority." 24:38 All through the gospels, all through the New Testament, 24:40 we see the unfortunate results 24:42 of those who have abused the freedom 24:45 that's inherent in love, the freedom 24:47 that is at the foundation of God's government, 24:51 the freedom, the religious liberty 24:53 that God has granted to each of us. 24:58 That's why I'm so thankful for our Public Affairs 25:00 and Religious Liberty department 25:02 and the work that they do. 25:05 I'm glad that for more than 100 years, 25:08 Liberty magazine has been promoting these principles 25:11 in the halls of power in the North American division 25:14 and elsewhere, 25:16 that's why I urge you to give generously 25:19 for the Liberty offering. 25:21 Religious liberty matters, it really does. 25:26 Yes, we are interested 25:28 in protecting the religious freedom 25:29 of our church members. 25:31 However, we are equally interested 25:33 in protecting the religious freedom of all people. 25:37 We defend the religious liberty of others 25:39 for a deeper principle. 25:42 We defend it because this principle 25:44 is so sacred to how God runs the universe 25:47 that He granted this freedom to us 25:50 even knowing that it would lead Him to the cross. 25:54 I would humbly suggest that the cross 25:56 is by far the greatest example 25:59 of just how basic religious freedom 26:02 is to God's government, 26:05 rather than deny as that freedom 26:07 Jesus endured the cross, talk about a sacred principle. 26:13 So in the short term, 26:15 we don't know exactly what's in store for us 26:17 in the area of religious liberty. 26:20 However, we know that sooner or later 26:23 there will be a time of trouble 26:26 such as never was as Daniel tells us. 26:30 In the long term, we know what is coming 26:32 and that's what really counts. 26:35 On the last page of the Great Controversy, 26:38 page 678, it says the following. 26:42 It says, "The great controversy is ended. 26:45 Sin and sinners are no more. 26:49 The entire universe is clean. 26:52 One pulse of harmony and gladness 26:55 beats through the vast creation. 26:57 From Him who created all, 26:59 flow life and light and gladness, 27:03 throughout the realms of illimitable space. 27:06 From the minutest atom to the greatest world, 27:10 all things, animate and inanimate, 27:14 in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, 27:18 declare that God is love." 27:23 God is love, and because He loves us, 27:26 we love Him back. 27:28 And at the heart of that love is freedom. 27:31 May we never forget that beautiful sacred truth. 27:36 May we proclaim the three angels' messages 27:39 with Holy Spirit power? 27:41 Those three angels messages point to a loving God 27:44 who provided a loving plan of salvation 27:47 through the righteousness of Christ 27:49 and His death, His life, 27:52 and His ministry in the most holy place 27:55 of the heavenly sanctuary just for us. 27:59 Let us use the wonderful religious liberty 28:01 that we have and lift up the life of Christ 28:06 in all that we do proclaiming His soon second coming. 28:10 When God's love 28:11 will be vindicated throughout the universe, 28:15 what a privilege to serve such a loving and powerful God 28:19 who gave us the gift of freedom of conscience 28:23 and religious liberty, let's use it to His glory. |
Revised 2018-03-22