3ABN On the Road

Dare To Stand Alone

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Lincoln Steed

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR001023


01:00 Several years ago, I was asked to serve
01:02 as the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty,
01:04 Director for the Northeastern Conference in New York City.
01:08 And I can remember very, very well
01:10 my very first religious liberty case.
01:13 A number of individuals were asked to work
01:15 for the New York City Transit Authority on the weekend
01:19 and 12 of those individuals didn't show up for work.
01:23 They were immediately suspended without pay
01:26 and asked to come to a hearing to deal with their case.
01:31 One of those individuals
01:32 was a Seventh-day Adventist brother for many years.
01:34 And as a conference official, we went with him
01:38 to discuss the case with the judge.
01:40 I remember it very, very well, his name was Daniel.
01:43 And we went there before this stern judge.
01:46 And the first person came before the judge
01:48 and the judge asked him,
01:50 "Why didn't you show up for work?"
01:51 and he said, "Well, sir, I never got the letter.
01:53 I didn't get the special letter."
01:55 And he wrote something down and he said, "Next person.
01:57 Why didn't you show up for work?
01:58 Well, I didn't get the letter. I just never got the letter."
02:02 And then 3, 4, 5, 6 never got the letter.
02:05 And then the man from transit authority went to the judge
02:07 and whispered something in his ear.
02:09 The judge took off his glasses.
02:11 And this is New York City, tough town, tough judges.
02:15 And the judge said, "You know gentlemen,
02:18 I'm not having a good day.
02:22 And the judge said and the next one of you clowns..."
02:24 and that's the term he used.
02:26 He said, "The next one of you clowns
02:27 that comes up with that excuse, that you didn't get the letter,
02:30 I'm gonna see to it that you don't have a good day."
02:34 So I asked the Seventh-day Adventist fellow next to me,
02:36 "What are you gonna tell the judge?"
02:38 He said, "I didn't get the letter."
02:40 I said, "You're gonna tell him that."
02:42 He said, "yeah, I really didn't get the letter."
02:44 And so we were next up.
02:47 And he said, "Well, what's your story?"
02:50 and the Adventist brother said, "I didn't get the letter."
02:55 And the judge stood up.
02:58 He said, "You didn't get the letter?"
03:00 He said, "No, I didn't get the letter,
03:02 but before you say anything judge, I need to tell you this,
03:05 even if I had gotten the letter, I wasn't gonna come to work
03:11 because I don't work on Saturdays.
03:13 I've never worked on Saturdays and I wasn't gonna come in."
03:19 And I kind of sank down in my chair
03:22 and the judge sat back down in his seat.
03:26 And he said, "Come here."
03:28 And the fellow walked up to the judge and he said,
03:31 "I've got your file right here in front of me.
03:34 I know that you're a Seventh-day Adventist.
03:38 I've looked at your work record.
03:40 I've looked at your history and I just wanted to see..."
03:44 and the term he used, "I just wanted to see
03:45 what kind of jitterbug, you are gonna do in front of me today."
03:49 He said, "I know all about you Seventh-day Adventist."
03:51 He said, "There's a Seventh-day Adventist nurse
03:52 that takes care of my mother-in-law.
03:54 I know the kind of people you are.
03:56 So I want you to stay after
03:59 because I need to talk with you."
04:01 He said, "But the rest of you jokers,
04:03 you need to come and meet me in my office."
04:06 And we-- I don't know
04:07 what really happened to the rest of those guys,
04:09 but I know the Seventh-day Adventist brother Daniel,
04:11 he got his job back, he got his pay back
04:15 and he was in good standing
04:16 with the New York City Transit Authority.
04:18 Religious Liberty is one of those things
04:20 that you don't need until you need it,
04:23 but when you need it you really, really need it.
04:27 And perhaps that is why, Religious Liberty
04:30 the campaign, this day,
04:31 is one of the first campaigns of the year
04:33 because it is so very, very, very important
04:37 to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
04:38 The history goes back many, many years
04:41 when we talked before Congress, about the need to have
04:43 religious freedom here in the United States.
04:46 And so we are looking forward to a very,
04:48 very important message this day from Lincoln Steed.
04:52 He is the editor of "Liberty" magazine
04:55 and has a number of other jobs that they give him
04:57 to do there at the General Conference office.
04:59 But he edits "Liberty" magazine,
05:02 really one of the finest journals produced by
05:04 the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
05:06 And he has much to tell us today.
05:07 He is an interesting fellow to talk to,
05:09 has the worldwide knowledge.
05:10 And so liberty weekend or liberty Sabbath
05:14 is not just a North American division thing.
05:16 It is a worldwide thing, although,
05:17 it is very much focused here, on the North American division.
05:20 So we are looking forward
05:22 to a powerful message from Lincoln Steed.
05:25 Allow me to greet you in the name of Jesus.
05:27 My name is C.A. Murray.
05:28 This is the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church
05:31 here at Three Angels Broadcasting Network
05:33 in West Frankfurt, Illinois.
05:35 And we are so very, very happy to welcome our guest
05:38 here in our audience and our worldwide audience
05:42 to this very, very special day.
05:44 We're going to have prayer and then we've asked
05:46 Jill Morikone to bring us the special music.
05:49 Then after she shall have finished playing.
05:51 The next voice, you'll be hearing
05:53 will be that of Lincoln Steed,
05:55 Pastor Elder Lincoln Steed who is the editor
05:59 of "Liberty" magazine and directs
06:01 the religious liberty work at the General Conference office
06:05 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Shall we pray?
06:08 Father God, we do thank you so very, very much
06:12 for the privilege of serving you.
06:15 We thank you that we are not left alone,
06:18 when it comes to lifting up
06:20 the mighty and matchless name of Jesus.
06:22 We know that there are forces
06:24 that would like to curtail the spread of the gospel.
06:27 That would like to put it in a box and hide it away.
06:30 But we're thankful that our light cannot be hidden
06:34 and shall stand for all the world to see.
06:37 We ask that you would keep the doors of employment open.
06:42 Keep the Congress and the legislators
06:47 not only in the States, but across this country.
06:51 Give them an understanding of the need
06:54 to allow men and women to worship,
06:57 according to the dictates of their conscience.
07:00 And Lord just help us to hold up the name of Jesus,
07:04 so that men and women will be saved.
07:08 Bless this day not only in this place,
07:10 but around the world.
07:12 And we thank you dear Father for every good
07:15 and perfect gift in Jesus name. Amen.
07:19 And now, Jill Morikone followed by Pastor Lincoln Steed.
11:16 It's great to be at Thompsonville
11:17 and on 3ABN again
11:19 at this time of special emphasis for religious liberty.
11:24 You know religious liberty is not just
11:25 a solid biblical principle.
11:28 It's not just a well tested
11:30 constitutional principle of the United States.
11:33 It's not just an underlying principle of the United Nations
11:36 expressed in the universal declaration on human rights.
11:40 It is a concern of every human being.
11:43 It's in a knight need,
11:45 for all of those that serve a higher power.
11:50 And it's not just a United States concern.
11:52 It concerns people all around the world.
11:55 This year, as we promoted
11:57 to our churches though in North America,
11:59 we've told them about a case in the United States
12:03 that sometimes thought by people,
12:05 that it's somebody else's problem,
12:07 that we're not restricted here.
12:09 That no one ever troubles us about our faith.
12:12 But those of you that are in North America
12:15 and had a chance to see the materials
12:16 that we've send out, particularly,
12:18 to the Seventh-day Adventist churches.
12:20 Know that, we've told an incredible story there
12:22 that happened only a few months ago.
12:25 Of a group of student, book or Bible sellers
12:30 and witnessing group that went out down at Louisiana,
12:35 as many similar groups regularly go door to door
12:38 all over the United States and Canada in particular.
12:41 And as they came into the town,
12:43 in advance they'd send out a letter,
12:45 to tell the town that they would be coming
12:46 and that they would be sharing with the community.
12:49 They send it to the authorities, as is typically done.
12:52 But on this particular day, as they were going door to door,
12:55 the police car pulled up next to the student leader,
12:59 asked him what they were doing.
13:01 Said you have no right to be sharing
13:03 these religious materials here.
13:05 There are ordinances against this.
13:07 And things escalated.
13:09 And in a few moments, the leader found himself handcuffed,
13:13 in the police car and taken back to the county head quarters
13:17 and put in jail because as they said,
13:21 you are not allowed to share your Christian materials here.
13:26 That was a pretty easy battle to win constitutionally.
13:29 But you know laws are one thing, but local attitudes are another.
13:33 And we put up this story to tell people
13:36 that you cannot always take for granted,
13:39 the religious liberty that you think you have by law.
13:43 A few months ago now,
13:45 the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide,
13:47 put out an urgent item of concern
13:50 for a Seventh-day Adventist leader in a far flung country
13:53 from the United States in Togo, Africa,
13:56 a country that most people don't even think about.
13:58 They'd be hard pressed to put a pin on the map
14:01 where Togo is, there on the east coast of Africa,
14:04 a small country of only 6 million people.
14:08 And of that 6 million, only about 20-25% are Christian,
14:13 the similar amount Muslim and the rest
14:16 basically animist religions.
14:18 Seventh-day Adventists
14:21 in that little country. We have an active program.
14:25 And then nine months ago or about ten months ago now,
14:29 in a move that still has our church leaders troubled
14:33 and perplexed on what to do about it.
14:35 One of our leaders, a Pastor Monteiro,
14:39 a Sabbath school leader which is leading out
14:41 in the Bible studies, within the church
14:43 primarily concerned with church membership operation.
14:46 Pastor Monteiro was accused,
14:49 by a criminal who had been caught by the police,
14:51 accused to being the ring leader
14:54 of a criminal gang that had killed as many as
14:57 20 young women, drained their blood.
14:59 It's not clear whether for medical or animist uses,
15:03 but drained their blood, killed them in a vicious way.
15:06 And here, Pastor Monteiro, a Christian leader
15:08 is accused of being the criminal mastermind.
15:11 Another Seventh-day Adventist layman was arrested
15:14 and claimed that he was an accessory.
15:17 He happens to head up,
15:18 one of the cell phone companies in that area.
15:21 Some other Christians were also brought into jail.
15:24 And our Pastor Monteiro has been now in jail
15:27 for the best part of the year on a charge
15:29 of this heinous crime, but no evidence given.
15:33 And the judges are quite forth right
15:35 in saying well, they know of no evidence.
15:37 There's nothing to convict him on, but he languishes in jail.
15:41 Meanwhile, on television and in the media,
15:44 in general, they are portraying
15:46 Seventh-day Adventist Christians
15:48 as the type of people that would do this,
15:50 the type of people that should not be in that country,
15:53 the type of people that are dangerous criminals.
15:57 And of course, this goes to the root of religious liberty.
16:01 Many people around the world
16:03 whether they are Seventh-day Adventists,
16:05 whether they're Christians, whether they're Muslims,
16:07 whether they're any belief system.
16:10 Often in the minority, they find
16:12 that they are accused of anti-social behavior.
16:15 They find that they are accused to being something
16:18 that's against the public view.
16:20 They're not always charged with being--
16:23 in this case as he is a Seventh-day Adventist,
16:25 but they are always charged as being a problem
16:29 at root because their religion does not fit.
16:32 This is a challenge to religious liberty.
16:36 And I do ask anybody who's watching this program
16:39 to pray for Pastor Monteiro.
16:41 He's actually a native of Cape Verde,
16:44 a small group of islands
16:45 about 400 miles off the coast of Africa.
16:47 So he's away from his own homeland,
16:49 in a country where the judicial system
16:53 is problematic at best.
16:55 They probably do the best they can.
16:56 But it's not well organized, where the political structure
17:00 is fluid and all sorts of influences
17:05 and other things that we couldn't even imagine
17:08 enter into the execution of justice.
17:11 And we can just pray that the Lord intervenes
17:15 and that religious liberty is upheld in that country.
17:18 It reminds me though, when I've heard
17:21 about Pastor Monteiro and pray for him
17:23 still because this is not a story, that's finished.
17:26 It reminds me that nearly a decade ago,
17:28 just over a decade ago, our Liberty magazine promotion
17:32 featured another Seventh-day Adventist leader
17:36 in another far flung country who was imprisoned,
17:40 essentially because of his faith,
17:42 but the charge that was overlaid
17:44 over that imprisonment was terrorism.
17:47 Since 9/11 in the United States,
17:50 we've learned that anyone accused of terrorism
17:53 is essentially beyond the law.
17:55 Every aspect of society is against such a person
17:58 because it doesn't matter whether you're--you know,
18:01 whether you're a capitalist or some other beliefs
18:05 in democracy or communist or whatever.
18:07 The whole world has decided terrorism is unacceptable
18:11 and so for the charge of terrorism
18:13 to be laid against someone essentially
18:15 because of their faith is a very dangerous development.
18:20 We featured Pastor Anthony Alexander
18:24 in that promotion so many years ago,
18:26 a man, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and teacher in Sri Lanka.
18:33 The years have gone by fairly quickly
18:35 and it's now about four years since the civil war
18:38 in Sri Lanka has come to a bloody end.
18:41 Those that watch the news and television closely
18:44 might well remember that the 26 years civil war in Sri Lanka
18:51 ended with the government forces of the Singhalese population.
18:55 That's the Buddhist majority in that country,
18:58 finally pushing the Hindu Tamil Tiger guerillas
19:06 up to the tip of the country where they were trapped.
19:09 They couldn't leave the land and they just advanced killing
19:12 as they went until the last man, women and child
19:15 of that faction were destroyed. And it ended.
19:19 But when Pastor Alexandra was charged,
19:22 it was still an active civil war.
19:24 It was still so active that few years after
19:26 when I visited there with Dr. John Graz,
19:28 world religious liberty leader.
19:30 We landed at Colombo and the plane
19:33 had to go into a tight spiral
19:35 from cruising altitude to the airport,
19:37 to avoid being out and around,
19:39 where the guerillas could shoot us down
19:43 because they had actually attacked the airport.
19:45 And in the largest single attack on any airport in the world,
19:49 they destroyed dozens of planes.
19:53 Pastor Alexander was teaching at our school in that country.
19:56 And one of his students registered and he befriended him
20:01 and taught him as any teacher would.
20:03 And then the government said this young man
20:05 is actually a member of the Tamil Tiger guerillas
20:08 and you Pastor Alexander are a terrorist
20:12 for aiding and abetting this cause.
20:14 And so he was put on trial, put in prison.
20:18 He was imprisoned for about a year in total.
20:20 And he came up for trial and then hearings periodically.
20:23 And our lawyers and our church leaders
20:25 would go over and sit in all those hearings.
20:27 They would talk to authorities and at no point,
20:30 did they think that he was going to escape imprisonment.
20:34 And sometimes, they feared that he would be executed
20:36 because that was the nominal sentence for that.
20:41 Amazingly and I think providentially
20:42 because of the Lord's intervention,
20:46 he was released suddenly and taken out of the country,
20:49 and is now living in Canada.
20:51 But what impressed me about Pastor Anthony Alexander was
20:55 when I spoke to him upon his release
20:57 and asked him about what happened when he was in jail.
21:01 Remember, he had done nothing,
21:04 was guilt by association at best,
21:06 but he was put in jail because he's a Christian,
21:10 in a Buddhist and Hindu
21:12 dominated country, primarily Buddhist.
21:15 His religion was seen as vaguely threatening anyhow.
21:18 And as a Tamil, he was of course,
21:21 the same ethnic persuasion as the guerillas.
21:24 And so that was enough to put him in jail.
21:27 But he told me amazingly that it was
21:30 the Lord's will that he be imprisoned.
21:32 Because in prison he was able
21:34 to witness to many of the prisoners.
21:37 And he said that there were 60 people
21:41 joining together every Sabbath in worshiping.
21:44 He told me and I've repeated this,
21:46 a number of times over the years,
21:48 but every time I tell it, it's amazing to me.
21:50 That he was regularly tortured, his ankles tied together,
21:54 he was held up and they would beat on his feet
21:57 until he was almost crippled and of course, no mark on him.
22:00 Then other times, they would put a book
22:02 on his head and beat on his head,
22:03 until there was a brain injury or perhaps permanent damage
22:07 because he said his memory was never quite the same afterwards.
22:10 But he said when it was all over
22:14 that it was God's will that he be in jail.
22:17 And he did not want to be released
22:19 because these people were worshipping with him.
22:21 And he said that was only, as he was released
22:24 that another minister of religion and I think
22:27 a Seventh-day Adventist, but I'm not sure was imprisoned
22:30 and was able to continue
22:32 the pastoral care of that prison group.
22:34 That he was released and he saw again, the Lord's hand in that.
22:40 We do need to see religious liberty.
22:42 It's a little bit more than just a judicial intervention
22:47 or a legal intervention, when we have difficulties.
22:51 And goodness knows, around the world
22:53 people of different religious persuasions
22:56 not just Seventh-day Adventist and not just Christians.
23:01 For example, Islam,
23:03 we think it's uniformly
23:05 antagonistic toward Christianity.
23:07 That is not quite true, although,
23:10 it's being very true, lately in many countries.
23:12 But within Islam, groups like the Ahmadiyya Muslims,
23:16 there are a group of about 8 million worldwide,
23:19 are viciously persecuted and in Pakistan
23:21 they are above the protection of the law
23:24 and regularly large groups of them,
23:26 Ahmadiyya Muslims are not just in prison, but are massacred.
23:31 These are real problems, but what often happens
23:37 is that the persecution presents in a way
23:40 that is not obviously about religion.
23:43 People lose their right, to go door to door.
23:47 Now we still have it in the United States
23:48 because of a Supreme Court action several years ago.
23:51 Another church group challenged
23:54 local town ordinances that restricted them.
23:56 And so we're able to go and witness and sell
23:59 religious materials door to door.
24:01 But it could've been otherwise, even in the United States.
24:04 But a regulation can stop that behavior.
24:06 In other countries, the church loses its permit.
24:12 And therefore, as we've seen even pictures
24:14 that have been shown to many people,
24:16 in some of the ex-Soviet Republics
24:18 we've seen pictures of bulldozers,
24:20 bulldozing down Christian churches,
24:22 some seventh Adventist churches.
24:25 It's not persecution according to those in authority.
24:28 You just fail to get the right building permit
24:31 or the right occupancy permit.
24:33 But above this all, stands a prejudice
24:36 against the religious viewpoint.
24:38 That's religious persecution,
24:40 that's an attempt to restrict religious freedom.
24:47 What do we do though,
24:49 when it comes up to a personal restriction?
24:53 It's fine to talk theory.
24:55 In the United States, we talk
24:56 about the constitution all the time.
24:58 When we're looking overseas,
24:59 we talk about people groups here,
25:01 there or whatever and it can be an abstraction.
25:04 It can be something, you know,
25:06 that it's shocking to read about,
25:08 but, you know, it might as well be,
25:10 a tale of the Arabian nights,
25:12 you know, 1001 nights, it's a story.
25:14 It's not real to us, but what about
25:16 when as Satan said to God in the Book of Job,
25:20 when he was trying to persuade God,
25:22 that Job was not a faithful servant.
25:24 He says, you know, touch him.
25:26 Put out your hand and touch him.
25:27 And then see if he's faithful.
25:30 That's the bottom-line question about religious liberty.
25:34 Will that person, keep their faithfulness
25:37 at the time of extreme stress?
25:40 You know, I can't think of a better
25:42 biblical example of someone that was faithful
25:45 through all sorts of situations than Daniel.
25:49 And that's really where I take the title
25:51 to this presentation today. You know, "Dare to stand alone."
25:55 When I was young fellow in Australia,
25:57 where I grew up, I can remember
25:59 singing that song you know, dare to be a Daniel,
26:02 dare to stand alone, standing by a purpose true.
26:09 Daniel did it. As a young man, probably,
26:12 barely out of his teens or may be
26:14 even in his teens taken from his homeland by force.
26:17 Perhaps, you know, physically turned into a eunuch.
26:20 We don't know the abuses heaped upon him, very likely.
26:24 Then kept. Well, it's true in king's palace,
26:27 but as a person apart.
26:30 And then faced with regime after regime
26:33 and their claims and their tests that were put upon him
26:36 and he distinguished himself over and over again,
26:39 several times faced with the death penalty,
26:42 if he could not come up with the answer
26:44 or come up with something that vindicated himself,
26:48 in front of the king and in front of the authorities.
26:51 The story that I want to refer to this morning
26:54 is so well known.
26:57 There are several stories in Daniel, we could talk about,
26:59 but the one I want to bring to your mind
27:01 is Daniel in the lions' den.
27:05 You know, there's no more powerful story
27:07 from that Book of Daniel.
27:09 When I was working in Idaho, I noticed on my way to work,
27:13 sometimes driving through Nampa.
27:16 There was a bar, a night club with no windows on it
27:19 and it was called Daniel's den.
27:21 There are some threats to ask spiritual security
27:25 that are very much like that.
27:26 But Daniel faced something palpable,
27:30 the lions that would have eaten him alive
27:32 and why did he go there?
27:35 That's an amazing question. It's a question of state craft.
27:39 It's a question of his integrity
27:40 that he so distinguished himself,
27:43 that following the military collapse
27:47 of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar,
27:49 his son or grandson its not quite clear in the record,
27:51 but following the military collapse of Babylon,
27:54 that great city.
27:55 As Babylon says this city that I've created,
27:57 it collapsed in one night,
27:59 after Belshazzar's moment of denigrating
28:03 the sacred things of the Jewish people
28:05 and carousing and celebrating there or even though,
28:08 there was an army outside the walls
28:10 that he thought could never get in.
28:12 And the Bible says in Daniel Chapter 5,
28:14 I think it is, it says in one night
28:17 or that night Belshazzar was slain
28:21 and his kingdom fell.
28:23 Daniel had had prominence
28:26 in Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar's court.
28:28 In fact, as that episode ends, Daniel is given authority.
28:34 He's made one of three rulers of the kingdom.
28:37 And then it fell. And the next morning,
28:39 King Cyrus is the ruler of the Medes and the Persians
28:44 who took over that great civilization
28:46 and that great power.
28:47 And it's amazing to read there in Chapter 6,
28:51 what happened with Daniel.
28:54 It says there, "It pleased Darius,"
28:56 in verse 1 of Chapter 6,
28:58 "It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps,"
29:04 rulers "to be throughout the kingdom,
29:08 and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one."
29:13 So as far as the protection of law,
29:15 Daniel had it.
29:16 He was one of the rulers of the system
29:19 that was predicated on other guards, other peoples.
29:22 He distinguished himself by his personal integrity.
29:25 And yet now the story takes a strange twist
29:30 because it says that there was jealousy.
29:33 That many of those 120
29:35 and certainly the two other presidents
29:37 were jealous of Daniel,
29:39 didn't like that he was gaining prominence.
29:41 And it says by agreement, they came together.
29:45 And discussed how could they destroy
29:47 and get rid of this Daniel, this person from another place,
29:52 another religion? How could they get at him?
29:54 They couldn't find any fault with him.
29:57 And it's interesting to me,
29:59 as I read that to realize in the United States in particular,
30:02 where we defend people in the workplace,
30:04 Seventh-day Adventist particularly
30:06 for their faith stance. It's very important,
30:10 that when they're challenged,
30:11 say, on getting Sabbath, the seventh day Saturday,
30:16 day of rest off.
30:17 It's very important that the rest of their
30:19 work experience be exemplary.
30:22 If they're not good workers, then nobody is much convinced
30:25 that this person wants a spiritual exemption.
30:29 And they could find nothing with Daniel.
30:32 There was no weakness in his system.
30:34 So then they thought a little bit further
30:36 and they realized it had to be his religion.
30:38 They had to get him on his religion.
30:40 So by agreement,
30:41 they went to the king with a very flattering proposal.
30:45 You know, oh, King, you're a great king.
30:49 How about you pass a law, a law of the Medes and Persians
30:53 that can't be changed, that's inflexible.
30:54 It's like the U.S. Constitution, it sits there, as a benchmark.
30:58 You know pass this law that nobody can make
31:02 any application or appeal to God or a man,
31:06 other than to you, for one month.
31:10 And I've read some commentators that say,
31:12 you know, this is implausible. Why would he do such a thing?
31:15 Well, that seems to me, those commentators
31:16 ignore the reality of the Roman Emperors.
31:19 They were inclined to fall for the idea that you're a God.
31:22 You're like the gods, appeals to him
31:25 and sensibilities of people of great ambition.
31:29 But more than that Cyrus
31:30 has just recently conquered this kingdom.
31:32 This was a perfect opportunity for him,
31:34 to show that his kingly power,
31:37 his dominion over this new
31:39 and polyglot system was complete.
31:42 And that all gods and people need to bow before him.
31:44 And he said, "Yes, I'll sign it."
31:46 So he signs it.
31:47 And the next thing is most important
31:50 to what I'm trying to share here this morning.
31:53 It says, "When Daniel
31:56 knew that the document had been signed--"
31:59 what did he do?
32:03 It tells me first of all, he was not disengaged
32:07 from the situation even though,
32:09 he doesn't seem to be present,
32:10 when they made their presentations
32:12 and when they plotted and planned.
32:13 He was aware of it. And at the moment,
32:15 he knew that they had succeeded in their plan.
32:19 It says, "When he knew that it had been signed,
32:22 he went to his house,
32:24 where he had windows in his upper chamber
32:27 opened toward Jerusalem and he got down
32:29 on his knees three times a day and prayed
32:32 and gave thanks before his God."
32:36 Couple of things there.
32:39 Would you be thankful in such a moment?
32:41 He knew that imminent was a punishment
32:44 for this disobedience.
32:45 You know, they'd put the penalty to the king.
32:47 It was written into the law.
32:49 You were thrown to the lions. He gave thanks.
32:53 And I imagined that his thinking
32:54 was very much like Pastor Alexander.
32:56 He gave thanks that he had this opportunity
32:59 he had been given to him to witness to his Lord.
33:03 It wasn't a moment of crisis.
33:05 It was a moment of opportunity. Amen.
33:08 And Daniel did not have to pray three times to the Lord.
33:11 You know, what did Paul say, "Give thanks continually."
33:14 He could have prayed in his heart,
33:16 to his heart's content.
33:18 God's happy with that.
33:21 But I think he saw this is an opportunity,
33:24 not that he was under any requirement
33:26 for these three prayers or six prayers or five times.
33:29 I think it's like the Muslims.
33:30 No, he was under an internal obligation
33:33 to be proud of his God
33:35 and to witness for Him before them all.
33:37 And Daniel knew what would come of that.
33:40 And he was not wrong, of course.
33:43 It says, "By agreement again, they went to the king."
33:45 Oh, King, you signed this document.
33:47 This Daniel, he doesn't pay any attention.
33:51 You know, it might have been this Pastor Monteiro.
33:55 Well, he's been accused, but he must be a troublemaker,
33:59 comes from another place, another religion.
34:01 You know, this Pastor Alexander,
34:03 you know, he is of those people of the insurgency,
34:08 must be guilty. They said to the king,
34:11 "Your law cannot be changed. You must execute it."
34:15 And to his credit, the king was troubled by it.
34:19 He didn't want to act against Daniel.
34:22 And says Darius stayed up all night,
34:24 trying to figure out what? Was stayed up?
34:27 Spent most of the day rather,
34:28 trying to figure a way to solve this,
34:31 and then he delivered Daniel to the lions' den.
34:33 And said your God is able to save you.
34:36 And then he stayed up all night, worrying about it.
34:41 You ever wondered why the stone was put over,
34:44 over that entrance.
34:46 It's troubled me for a long time.
34:48 Recently I read, what very few people read,
34:51 outside the Roman Catholic Church
34:54 and the Orthodox Church that there's an ancillary book
34:59 that is not uniformly regarded as authoritative,
35:03 "Bel and the Dragon."
35:05 But it tells the story,
35:06 there about Daniel in the lions' den
35:08 from a little different point of view.
35:11 It also tells the story of Daniel
35:13 before the same King Darius where a challenge was set up,
35:19 that this god Bel was eating food at night in this temple.
35:25 And Daniel said, "This god's--he's not real.
35:29 It's just a fanciful god." And so a challenge was set up,
35:32 that if Bel was to be seen to be eating the food,
35:37 Daniel would die.
35:38 If not, then the priest would die.
35:41 And Daniel cleverly showed the king by putting a chalk,
35:47 I think it was, on the floor,
35:48 that there were footsteps of the priest
35:49 coming in at night and stealing the food
35:52 or eating the food, they and their families
35:54 who came through a secret door.
35:56 I believe the king put the stone over the door,
36:01 not to keep Daniel in,
36:03 it was supposed he would probably die,
36:04 moments after being thrown in.
36:06 It was to stop outside interference
36:09 that the issue would be plain.
36:11 When the stone was removed, was Daniel alive or was he dead?
36:15 And it would be up to the lions and to God.
36:17 No one would sneak in. You know, and put him to death.
36:22 And in the morning when the king came,
36:24 Daniel said, "God sent His angel and He shut the lions mouth."
36:29 I heard a powerful black preacher holding
36:32 forth on Daniel in the lions' den, the other day.
36:34 And he made the point that these words remembering,
36:37 the lions mouths were open as they came at him.
36:39 God shut their mouths.
36:40 They were not passive lions when he went in there.
36:43 They did what you'd expect.
36:44 And as they did later, when the plotters were thrown,
36:47 they and their families thrown into that same thing.
36:49 It says before they pretty much cease their fall into the den,
36:55 their bones were broken and they were eaten.
36:58 But God shut their mouths. Amen. Praise God.
37:04 We can't all be Daniel.
37:07 You know, I don't know about you.
37:11 I tried the best, but as I look at my life,
37:14 you know, there are many cases
37:15 that I haven't witnessed for the Lord as I should.
37:17 There are many cases
37:19 that I haven't stood for religious freedom,
37:22 which is the freedom that God gives all of us.
37:24 You know what Jesus spoke about the gospel of liberty.
37:28 And I know in previous religious liberty sermons,
37:31 I tried to emphasize this.
37:33 Religious liberty is something that we have as a gift of God.
37:38 No man gives it.
37:40 The best they can do is acknowledged that.
37:43 So we inherently shows have something
37:46 and it's up to us to show it. And if I look at my life,
37:49 I haven't always showed it adequately.
37:51 There are times when I've not taken
37:53 advantage of the opportunity like Daniel had.
37:55 Knowing that, that there was a bad situation,
37:58 have I made a point of witnessing to my Lord?
38:03 We got to avoid the tendency that many people have
38:07 when there's a stress on their faith.
38:09 When there is a stress on their witness that they moderate.
38:12 They just sort of pull back and keep quiet.
38:15 You know what if in the United States,
38:17 every town had an ordinance against witnessing door to door.
38:21 Would we cease to witness door to door?
38:23 I hope not.
38:25 You know, it's to be, you know,
38:29 we should be very thankful
38:30 that we still in most western countries
38:32 and many others still have
38:34 the right to do things like that.
38:36 But we do not do it because we have the human right.
38:39 We do it because we have the liberated right from God.
38:46 I want to tell you a story
38:48 that I just picked up on recently,
38:49 even though, I've known it since I was a young man.
38:53 And I need to tell you about Idaho.
38:55 And there's probably, a few Idahoans,
38:57 watching this broadcast and I hope I don't offend them.
39:01 But I came as a young man to the United States
39:04 when I was a teenager and lived on the east coast.
39:07 And it wasn't all that different from Australia.
39:10 Few accent differences and you know the greenbacks,
39:14 instead of the Australian dollar,
39:15 but a similar society. Then I went back to Australia.
39:19 Worked there for nine years and after that term,
39:22 I got a call to a publishing house in Boise, Idaho,
39:26 Seventh-day Adventist Publishing House, one of--
39:29 now two large houses in the United States.
39:34 And I remember looking in the encyclopedia
39:37 and other sources to find out about Idaho.
39:40 I never heard of this, what it was like.
39:42 I just heard of it, potatoes, was all I thought of.
39:44 And their PROs worked pretty well.
39:47 I wish they hadn't done it
39:49 because there's a lot more there than potatoes.
39:50 But as I looked at the pictures,
39:51 it was an alien landscape.
39:53 You know tumbleweeds and desert,
39:56 as well as, some better stuff north of the--
39:58 that Rodeas, Rodeos or Redias I think the Californians,
40:02 might say Rodeo drive.
40:05 But it was a different landscape to me.
40:09 But one thing I knew, one thing I knew from Idaho,
40:13 I knew about one man that had lived most of his life
40:16 in that country or in that--
40:18 in the capital, the Boise, Idaho.
40:21 I'd read a book, when I was a young person
40:23 about the story of Harry Orchard.
40:29 Don't know how many that are listening to this,
40:31 have even heard of this man's name?
40:33 And I don't know, how many have really heard
40:36 or aware of the great social dislocations
40:38 of just over 100 years ago, in the United States
40:42 and the battles between capital and labor and the--
40:44 in particular the Western Miners Federation?
40:47 There was almost open range warfare
40:50 between the miners union
40:53 and the mine owners, and the capitalists
40:55 and the moneyed interests from the east coast.
40:56 Many of them, that were determined to restrict
40:59 the workers to minimum wages.
41:01 And pretty much, surf like relationship to the owners.
41:06 And the mine owners or the mine unions
41:09 rather were determined to resist
41:11 and they went about it the wrong way.
41:12 They hired some thugs.
41:14 And one of them was a man named Harry Orchard,
41:17 who went on a trail of murder
41:19 and bombings and assassinations
41:23 that almost goes big as the imagination.
41:26 And I'll just share with you what I found recently,
41:30 online that a record from the New York Times in 1907,
41:36 when Harry Orchard, a convicted criminal by that stage,
41:39 gave evidence in a major case against the union.
41:44 And there were people like Clarence Darrow,
41:46 famous attorney presenting their case in the court room.
41:51 And this is what the newspaper said it says,
41:53 "For three hours and a half today,
41:56 Harry Orchard sat in the witness chair
41:58 at the Haywood trial
41:59 and recited a history of crimes and bloodshed,
42:01 the like of which no person in the crowded courtroom
42:04 had ever imagined.
42:06 Not in the whole range of "Bloody Gulch"
42:08 literature will there be found anything
42:11 that approaches a parallel to the horrible story
42:14 so calmly and smoothly told by this self-possessed,
42:18 imperturbable murderer witness."
42:21 That's the story of Harry Anderson.
42:23 You know the bunny inclined personified of his era,
42:28 a murderer and what it brought into the conviction
42:33 and the prison sentence.
42:34 Initially, he was condemned to death.
42:36 Then it was commuted to life imprisonment.
42:38 What brought him there was a horrible assassination
42:41 of the recently retired governor of Idaho,
42:44 Governor Steunenberg.
42:46 Steunenberg lived in the little town of Caldwell, Idaho,
42:50 just a few miles from where I lived,
42:52 for many years working at Pacific Press.
42:55 He lived in Caldwell, Idaho. And on this particular day,
42:58 he'd walked from his home in the town,
43:00 down to a hotel where, not to drink,
43:04 but where he was socializing
43:05 with some of the people in the town
43:07 and then he walked back to his home.
43:10 And the guy was killed by a bomb
43:12 that Harry Orchard had set at his gate.
43:15 It was a remotely triggered device
43:17 where Harry Orchard didn't need to be there,
43:19 that was part of the genius of his assassinations.
43:22 He was never there when the person was killed.
43:24 But he actually passed the governor on the street,
43:28 as he was walking back to the hotel
43:30 and the governor was walking to his home.
43:33 He was rounded up shortly after because even though,
43:37 his alibi seemed pretty good.
43:38 In a little town, people knew he was a stranger.
43:40 They thought that he was up to no good
43:42 and he pretty soon cracked.
43:44 What is amazing about the story of Harry Orchard
43:48 is not the horrible things he did, as it was said.
43:52 You know that was extraordinary in itself,
43:53 but the amazing thing was as he was in jail on trial
43:58 and then convicted.
43:59 He was visited by several Christians,
44:02 but in particular the son of the governor,
44:06 bringing a message from Governor Steunenberg's wife.
44:10 The son and the mother were Seventh-day Adventist
44:14 and they witnessed to Harry Orchard
44:16 and he accepted Christ, his life changed.
44:20 And unlike most jailhouse conversions,
44:23 he didn't want lesser sentence.
44:26 He agreed readily that he was deserving
44:28 of anything and everything. But he changed his life.
44:32 He confessed freely of all of the crimes
44:34 that he had done.
44:36 Not just to get it off his chest
44:39 and not just to implicate other people,
44:41 but to confess. And as I read the story again,
44:45 something clicked with me that I hadn't known,
44:47 when I read it as a young fellow in Australia.
44:50 A previous editor of Liberty Magazine
44:53 about 50-60 years ago had gone around telling the story,
44:59 with the evidence from Governor Steunenberg's wife
45:02 that what had made the difference in their family
45:05 was the Liberty Magazine and religious liberty materials.
45:08 She said directly and looking at the timeframe on it,
45:13 it was probably the few of the special publications
45:16 that preceded the dated copies of Liberty Magazine
45:20 which began a couple of moths
45:21 after Harry Orchard's conviction.
45:24 But she said, "We've been receiving your Liberty Magazine
45:27 and your religious liberty materials."
45:29 And she said, "We'd accepted the Sabbath
45:31 because of that." And she said,
45:34 "The governor kept his first Sabbath on this earth
45:37 before he was killed because of religious liberty materials."
45:43 And because of that they're accepting the Sabbath
45:45 and becoming Seventh-day Adventist.
45:47 They wanted to share what they'd discovered
45:50 with this criminal, this man that so wronged them.
45:53 And he became a Christian too.
45:56 And, you know, it works two ways.
45:57 I'm trying to show that religious liberty
45:59 can change lives that their wonderful sense of forgiveness
46:03 also changed Harry Anderson-- Harry Orchard's life.
46:09 And someone who started off badly,
46:12 you know, none of us, I think, are likely to approach
46:14 the human level of desperation and crime
46:17 that Harry Orchard had showed up.
46:20 And yet there's redemption even in prison.
46:23 And he lived about 50 years in that jail,
46:27 never let out.
46:29 He served out his natural life in that jail.
46:32 He was baptized. The records are not clear
46:34 whether he actually was baptized in the prison
46:38 or was released, under guard to be
46:41 baptized in the Adventist church,
46:42 but he became a Seventh-day Adventist.
46:44 He became a trusted prisoner
46:46 who was a leader in that narrow Christian--
46:50 not Christian that narrow prison community.
46:55 We can do that.
46:57 Pastor Alexander, Pastor Monteiro,
47:00 they were put in there because of something
47:02 they didn't do, but still condemned for being
47:05 what they were in some ways Christians.
47:08 Harry Orchard in the prison for something he did do,
47:11 something wrong, took the chance to make
47:14 a great witness for a faith
47:16 and a liberty in spite of prison bonds,
47:22 to witness to the power of religious liberty.
47:25 There is a quote that I want to share with you
47:27 and the time is going quickly,
47:28 but I do want to share this from Charles Spurgeon,
47:33 a great Baptist preacher of just over 100 years ago.
47:37 He preached one of his sermons on Daniel in the lions' den.
47:40 With sermon 1,154, a number of us,
47:45 repeat our sermons from time to time.
47:47 And it's been said that some revivalist preachers
47:51 of the 1700s, only have one or two sermons,
47:54 but Spurgeon had thousands.
47:56 But one of them was Daniel in the lions' den
47:58 and this is what he wrote.
48:00 He said, "Now it is a great privilege
48:02 that we enjoy civil and religious liberty
48:04 in our favorite land." He was talking about England.
48:07 But of course, you can apply in the United States.
48:09 Of course, you can apply in Australia,
48:11 any country that honors religious freedom
48:14 can make that claim.
48:15 Even though, 60 to 70% of the world
48:18 according to the Pew Forum,
48:19 live under severe restrictions of civil liberty,
48:22 religious liberty.
48:23 He says, "Now we have this privilege.
48:25 We are not under such cruel laws
48:27 that are in other times
48:28 and in other countries lay restricts upon--
48:30 restrictions upon conscience. We are allowed to pray
48:34 according to the conviction of our judgment
48:36 and the desire of our heart.
48:37 But as I want you to value the privilege very much,
48:40 I will put this opposition to you.
48:42 Says Spurgeon, suppose there was only one place in the world
48:47 where a man might pray enough for his supplications onto God.
48:50 Well, I think there is not a man among us
48:52 that would not like to get there
48:54 at sometime or another or at least to die there.
48:58 Oh, what pains we should take to reach the locality
49:02 and what pleasure we would endure to enter that edifice."
49:05 And then he says, "But now that prayer is free."
49:09 Think about Daniel praying with a consequence.
49:12 "Now that prayer is free without money
49:14 and without price
49:16 and the poorest need not bring a farthing,
49:18 when he comes to an audience with God,
49:20 oh, how prayer is neglected.
49:22 Perhaps, it would not be a bad thing on some accounts,
49:25 if we--there could be a law to prevent men from praying
49:29 because some would say, 'We will pray.'
49:32 They would pray.
49:34 They would get over the shock and stoutly protest,
49:36 'We are not to be kept down. We must pray.'"
49:42 Ah, he says-- "He would say or they would say,
49:44 'You can pray in your heart. You need not bend the knee.
49:47 You can pray in your soul.
49:48 But it will not do to sell principle
49:51 or to abide with strict integrity
49:53 and sterling truth in the smallest degree.
49:56 Every jot and tittle has its intrinsic value.'"
49:59 And then he concludes by giving an example
50:02 of an earlier age in England with John Bunyan.
50:04 He says, "Look at John Bunyan,
50:06 the author of "Pilgrim's Progress."
50:07 Look at him, when they bring him up
50:09 before the magistrates and tell him he must not preach.
50:12 "But I will preach," he said.
50:14 "I will preach tomorrow by the help of God,
50:17 but you'll be put in prison again," they said.
50:19 "Never mind, I'll preach as soon as I get out,"
50:22 said John Bunyan.
50:23 "But you'll be hanged or kept in prison all your life.
50:27 If I lay in prison," he said,
50:29 "till the moss grows upon my eyelids.
50:31 I can say nothing more than this,
50:34 that with God's help I will preach,
50:37 whenever I get a chance." That's the attitude of Daniel.
50:42 When he knew they passed a law, then he went and prayed.
50:46 And John Bunyan would say the same thing,
50:48 "When they said I cannot preach, I will preach."
50:52 When they tell you, you cannot meet in the church.
50:56 Will you meet or will you keep in your house?
50:58 As one record from John Bunyan's time said
51:02 if there was someone who is fined,
51:04 it said he kept to his bed like a hound.
51:07 We don't want to be those sort of dogs of religious world.
51:11 We want to be those that pick up the spiritual warfare
51:14 and witness for our faith.
51:17 Ellen White, who wrote many valuable things
51:20 for Seventh-day Adventist
51:21 and fulfilled a strong leadership role
51:25 in the early Adventist Church, wrote something
51:28 that I think goes to the heart
51:29 what I'm trying to share with you today.
51:32 In the book called "Prophets and Kings"
51:34 which is largely retelling these Old Testament stories
51:38 in a very winsome way for people
51:40 that probably haven't read or too lazy to read
51:43 the Bible accounts that seems a little archaic to them.
51:46 But in that book on page 546, Ellen White wrote this
51:51 and her inference is spot on in my view.
51:53 She says, "The power--"
51:55 She is talking about the power of God.
51:58 "The power that is near to deliver
52:00 from physical harm or distress."
52:03 And Daniel would agree with that.
52:05 God's power closed the lion's mouths.
52:08 God's power could release Anthony Alexander.
52:13 I'm sure of that. It was not legal intervention.
52:16 We defend Seventh-day Adventist and others in the workplace,
52:21 using available laws.
52:22 But so often, it's divine intervention
52:25 either on the minds of someone
52:26 or some providential change in the status quo.
52:30 At the end of day, it's God's power.
52:32 She says, "The power that is near to deliver
52:35 from physical harm or distress is also near to save
52:41 from the greater evil." What's the greater evil?
52:46 She says, "Making it possible for the servant of God
52:49 to maintain His integrity, under all circumstances
52:54 and to triumph through divine grace."
52:57 That's what's really going on.
52:59 It's not whether you're imprisoned
53:01 or whether you get out,
53:02 whether you're sent to the lions' den
53:04 and whether you're eaten
53:06 or whether you're there the next morning.
53:07 The real question before God
53:10 and before man is to maintain your integrity.
53:15 And on religious liberty,
53:17 I'm speaking as a Seventh-day Adventist
53:19 on the Seventh-day Adventist acknowledge--
53:23 Seventh-day Sabbath we get it from the Bible.
53:25 But, you know, when I talk about religious liberty,
53:27 I have to be ready to defend to the death,
53:30 if need be.
53:32 Someone who's a Muslim or a Jehovah's Witness
53:35 or whatever or Roman Catholic,
53:37 if they--in a point of integrity are insistent upon worshipping,
53:41 the way they see fit. It's not for me to say
53:45 that I condemn you because you're worshiping the wrong way.
53:49 As a Seventh-day Adventist knowing a certain truth,
53:52 it's my obligation to share with them
53:53 what I have. But on the dynamic of religious liberty,
53:57 I have to defend the right of everybody
54:00 to live up to their conscience
54:02 because the greatest evil possible
54:04 is to deny your conscience, to act in an immoral way
54:11 against what you know to be the right way.
54:15 And Daniel was faithful.
54:18 I believe Pastor Monteiro, no matter what the charges,
54:21 there has the chance to live
54:24 and to exist in that prison in a way
54:27 that keeps his integrity.
54:29 Harry Orchard-- and you know,
54:32 an openly avowed criminal, redeemed his life
54:36 by answering finally to that higher morality.
54:39 And each of us can do that.
54:41 I believe that this is the most incredible obligation,
54:46 laid upon human beings. And some constitution--
54:50 the U.S. constitution even embraces this.
54:54 And our religious liberty construct does.
54:56 Some people may believe in nothing.
55:00 You know, it's rather empty prospect,
55:03 but God can deal with that person
55:05 if their integrity is maintained.
55:08 We cannot force people to act a certain way.
55:12 We cannot force obedience.
55:14 We cannot force of certain type of worship.
55:16 What we can require-- as the Bible says,
55:19 "What does God require of you,
55:21 but to live justly and to serve God."
55:24 We need to answer to the higher powers
55:26 and allow other people to do that.
55:29 And in the few moments left, I'll repeat the charge.
55:32 Religious liberty, it's a vital liberty.
55:35 It is in many ways the first liberty.
55:38 The U.S. Constitution
55:39 and those that formed it understood this.
55:41 Religious freedom goes to personal integrity.
55:45 It goes to how we relate to the higher powers,
55:49 not just to a president or even a dictator.
55:52 Now how do we relate to God?
55:55 And we must realize as I read before
55:57 and I'll repeat it.
55:58 "The power that is near to deliver
56:01 from physical harm or distress is also near to save
56:06 from the greater evil."
56:08 There are many evils in this world,
56:10 but the greatest evil is to deny God and to deny conscience.
56:15 We can't do it in our own selves.
56:17 And we should never insist on it in anybody else.
56:20 We should allow everybody to operate with integrity.
56:25 And this continues by saying,
56:27 "It is possible for the servant of God
56:30 to maintain his integrity under all circumstances
56:35 and to triumph through divine grace."
56:37 What did Paul say?
56:39 "I've determined to be content under all circumstances."
56:43 Religious liberty is at root, not about easing our way
56:47 in whatever situation we're in.
56:49 Troubles will come upon us, but they're not troubles,
56:53 if we look at it with this higher purpose.
56:55 They are opportunities whether it's in prison,
56:59 whether it's before a tribunal
57:01 or whether it's before the court of our neighborhood opinion.
57:06 I pray that as we witness, as we speak about liberty,
57:10 it's done in a way that will bring glory to God
57:13 and will aid and encourage our personal integrity.
57:17 That is true religious liberty.


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Revised 2014-12-17