Revelation Insights

A Day To Remember

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. Lyle Albrecht

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Series Code: RIN

Program Code: RIN000011


01:00 Good evening, and welcome to each and every one of you.
01:05 It's good to see you again.
01:07 I missed you the last couple of evenings.
01:11 We're going to go on one of my favorite journeys tonight.
01:14 If you'll lean back and fasten your seatbelts and relax,
01:17 we shall be on our way to the Waldensian valleys
01:21 and the Church of the Martyrs.
01:25 We leave from the city of Torino and catch the side rail
01:30 that takes us about 40 miles due west.
01:33 For your interest sake, by the way, Torino is the
01:36 Detroit City of Italy.
01:37 I mean, the Alfa Romeo and nearly every automobile
01:42 that you imagine that's made in Italy is made
01:45 in the city of Torino.
01:48 So it's highly industrialized.
01:50 It's only a very short distance, however, over to where
01:53 it's really quite remote.
01:55 And we're headed to that remoteness tonight.
02:01 In the Piedmont valley, there is a village called Torre Pellice.
02:05 And that is our first stop.
02:07 Torre Pellice was the center of a revival of the study of
02:13 righteousness by faith.
02:15 Long, long before Luther and Calvin
02:17 and other of the reformers.
02:20 The revivalist was a man by the name of Peter Waldo.
02:25 That's the way we would say it.
02:26 And he's unrelated entirely to that little guy that you
02:29 find in the kid's books.
02:31 You know, it's about that big.
02:33 Valdo is the way they say it out here.
02:36 Peter Waldo had been a church leader and he found and loved
02:40 the stories of the righteousness of Jesus,
02:42 salvation by grace.
02:43 And he began to share that and soon a movement was born.
02:48 And the followers of this teaching and this
02:51 wonderful truth would become known, erelong, as Waldensians.
02:56 Some say that the name Waldensian is related to the
03:00 name of the spiritual leader, Peter Waldo.
03:02 Others say, no it is related to the name of the fertile valley,
03:07 the Vaudois, or this part of the country.
03:10 That matters not to us tonight in our study.
03:14 Peter Waldo began to teach and share, and his congregation grew
03:20 and flourished and grew further still.
03:22 And then the persecutions fell.
03:26 Now if you go to the encyclopedia or to the internet
03:29 to study about the Waldensians, there is a likelihood
03:32 that you will find under the same heading certain other
03:38 Christians in the area of Europe sort of under a subtitle.
03:44 But when I talk about the Waldensians tonight,
03:47 I'm talking particularly about the people from these valleys.
03:53 We got off the train at about 11 o'clock one night.
03:57 We'd made no prior reservation.
03:59 This was the last train of the day and it would
04:02 spend the night here in the little town of Torre Pellice
04:07 and then return to Torino in the morning.
04:10 And so we went over to the nearby hotel.
04:14 We could not find anyone in the office.
04:18 We knocked on some doors and couldn't raise anybody.
04:20 By now it was midnight and we were exhausted.
04:24 And so we went inside the parlor and closed the
04:28 parlor doors behind us and then just sort of took charge.
04:32 We removed the cushions from the couches and put some of
04:36 those on the floor.
04:37 And some of us slept on the cushions and some of us
04:41 slept on the springs.
04:42 But we four preachers, and one other man, spent the night
04:47 inside the lobby.
04:49 Early next morning, we opened the doors and there behind
04:53 the desk was the office clerk, the concierge.
05:01 And his faced dropped like this.
05:03 "Who are you and where did you come from?"
05:05 And we told him what we'd done.
05:08 And he said, "Well, it's just as well because you have
05:11 arrived here on the anniversary of the Waldensian church. "
05:15 And I've forgotten how many hundreds of anniversaries.
05:18 But he said, "The Waldensian leadership have come back
05:21 from all over the world and every Bed and Breakfast,
05:24 every Pension, every hotel room is filled.
05:28 And so it's just as well that you spent the night.
05:31 "Had I known you were there," he said however,
05:32 "I sure would have brought you pillows and blankets. "
05:35 And he said, "Be our guests then and go across the street
05:40 and have breakfast with the Waldensian Christian people. "
05:43 We did that.
05:45 And some of the stories that I'm going to share with you tonight,
05:47 I learned while I fellowshipped and ate with the Waldensian
05:51 people who had come back for this worldwide congress.
05:58 We asked eventually, "Does anyone know where we could find
06:02 a local who knows the area and might know someone who has
06:05 a limousine that will hold 5 or 6 adults.
06:10 We want to go to two places.
06:12 We want to go, firstly, to the Hidden School of the Uncles.
06:15 And secondly, we want to go to the Church of Martyrs. "
06:20 Someone suggested that we go to a local pastor who'd
06:22 spent a lifetime there.
06:24 We did that, met himself and his wife.
06:27 There they are.
06:28 We asked them, "Do you know of someone that
06:31 might have a limousine?"
06:32 And he made a phone call and erelong there came a man.
06:36 And we told him of our desire of destination.
06:39 He said, "Get in, you know it's going to be a long day. "
06:42 Yes, we knew that.
06:44 In fact, we knew that if we made both appointments,
06:47 the Hidden School of the Uncles and the Church of the Martyrs,
06:50 it would require at least two days.
06:53 So he began to drive us from the village of Torre Pellice,
06:56 climbing higher and higher and higher still.
07:00 En route, I noticed several things that I want to
07:02 share with you.
07:03 I want you to notice over on the extreme right hand side
07:07 of the screen, there they have terraced the land.
07:10 They have picked up the native stones and made fences
07:14 and elevations out of them and encouraged grasses to grow
07:19 on those elevations.
07:21 Grasses with which they'll feed a cow or a few goats
07:24 during the winter time.
07:26 I want you to notice the ruggedness of the land.
07:28 Here we have a canyon that goes off kind of to the right.
07:32 And then here's one that does the opposite.
07:34 And both of those are running beautiful clear pure
07:38 mountain water.
07:43 Here we see a haystack or two.
07:46 And I noticed that many of the folks making hay
07:49 were of the feminine gender.
07:52 Here's the evidence.
07:54 Here, these two ladies that have just put down
07:57 their scythe's and their hay rakes, and they're having lunch
08:00 out of their wicker basket.
08:04 I've thought about this, ladies.
08:07 They cut the hay, they swing the scythes,
08:10 they stack it in the little hay stacks with pitch forks.
08:13 Well you see, they have had equal opportunity employment
08:16 here for a long while.
08:18 Now you're not sure whether you like that or not, huh.
08:20 Ok, notice the one lady though.
08:23 Let me just point out with my pointer here.
08:25 Here, this lady, has her shoe exposed, the sole of her shoe.
08:30 And it has those hobs on it so she can gain traction
08:33 on the steep and often damp hillsides.
08:37 Keeps her from slipping in the grasses.
08:39 Well, we've literally now come to the end of the road.
08:43 We have told our driver, whom we have hired,
08:47 "From here, we're going to be hiking to the
08:49 Hidden School of the Uncles.
08:51 Please wait for us, it's going to take hours and hours.
08:54 And we will pay you whatever is fair. "
08:58 And so we got out and began to make our way on foot.
09:01 Now, the cream colored building that you see was once
09:05 a hotel at roads end.
09:07 Roads End Inn.
09:09 But today it is inhabited by a local native family.
09:14 It had poured rain the night before.
09:17 I mean, it had just been a down spout.
09:20 And when we got around to the front, here were the two
09:23 little native boys right in the middle of the biggest
09:25 mud puddle they could find.
09:26 Proof that little boys are the same whether they're in Italy
09:30 or the United States or Africa, wherever else.
09:33 Little boys are going to get right in the middle of the mud.
09:35 Ere long their father came and we asked him,
09:39 the gentleman on your left, "How from here shall we find
09:42 the Hidden School of the Uncles?"
09:44 And he began to give us directions.
09:46 Now I want to give you a bit of background regarding the uncles.
09:52 The church leaders had for centuries been
09:55 referred to as "father".
09:57 The pastors were called the fathers.
10:00 But as they continued to study the gospels and the
10:04 New Testament teachings, they discovered
10:07 that in the Bible, that spiritually speaking,
10:11 we have only one father and that is our Father
10:13 which art in heaven.
10:15 And so the pastors asked the laity,
10:18 "Please, no longer refer to us as father. "
10:21 And the church folks asked, "What then shall we call you?"
10:24 And the pastors said, "Well, we're all a part
10:27 of the family of God.
10:28 You may refer to us as the uncles if you choose. "
10:31 And so from that point on, the pastors became known
10:34 fondly with this avuncular term, "the uncles. "
10:40 The pastors would take the young people way up
10:43 into the mountain tops.
10:44 And there they would put them to work making copies
10:48 of the New Testament.
10:50 Hand written copies.
10:52 For during these dark ages, Bibles were literally chained
10:56 to monastery desks.
10:58 They were for the interpretation only of the pastors
11:02 and the priesthood.
11:03 And the Bible headed a list called the index.
11:06 And if you were found with a Bible or any portion thereof,
11:09 you could, and very likely would, pay with your very life.
11:13 And so these young folks would go way up into the tops
11:16 of the mountains to the College of Uncles.
11:19 Simply a little rock shelter made of native stone
11:23 with native vines trained to go around it and to hide it.
11:26 And there they would hand copy the Bible.
11:31 When they had, one of the gospels perhaps, finished
11:34 they would open the linings of their clothing and put that
11:37 copy inside, go back down into the major cities of Europe
11:41 and repair pots and pans and sell yard goods.
11:44 And when they found a family they felt was honest,
11:47 they would open up the linings and at the risk of their lives
11:50 they would share the Bibles.
11:53 Now we're going to begin to make our climb then
11:56 to the Hidden School of the Uncles.
11:58 And as we begin our journey on foot, I want to give you a bit
12:03 more of the background of the Waldensian people
12:06 and their struggles and their persecutions.
12:13 On one occasion, the leadership of the church sent out a letter
12:17 to every university president and it read like this.
12:21 "Destroy the Waldensian students.
12:24 Destroy them totally and completely. "
12:27 And presidents of universities wrote back and asked,
12:30 "How are we to know who is who and what is what?
12:32 I mean, to the large degree they speak the same language and
12:35 they look the same, their skin color is the same.
12:38 How are we to differentiate?"
12:40 And the answer came back, "If they are your finest students,
12:44 if they always make the Dean's List,
12:47 if they are neat and clean in their persons and in
12:52 their language, and if they never cheat on tests
12:56 then destroy them, they're surely Waldensian. "
12:59 Some credential, huh?
13:01 And so on many occasions, the church armies where
13:05 directed to go and hunt down the Waldensian people
13:08 and destroy them.
13:09 And not unlike the jungle drums, word would precede
13:14 the armies approach.
13:17 And the Waldensian Christian people would climb higher
13:20 and higher and higher up into the mountains.
13:24 If they were pushed to the extreme, if the armies
13:27 were relentless then at the peak of the last mountain,
13:31 the summit of the tallest peak, they would cross.
13:35 And then they would be in France.
13:38 And there they would find religious and political asylum.
13:41 They would find safety.
13:42 But, after several unsuccessful attempts to destroy them
13:48 and their slipping over into France, the directive came from
13:52 the headquarter, "We're going to push them over the summit. "
13:56 And this to the King of France and his armies,
14:00 "You be waiting on the other side and we'll have them trapped
14:04 in a pincer movement. "
14:05 And that happened and the Waldensian Christians died
14:10 en masse on that one single occasion.
14:13 The persecutions against the Waldensian Christians
14:16 lasted for many, many, many, many generations.
14:19 Well, we're climbing now.
14:21 We have been told by the man from whom we've gotten
14:25 directions that when we came to the fork with the main path,
14:28 take the main path.
14:29 And he said eventually if you stay on it, you'll come to the
14:33 Church of the Open.
14:34 And so we're staying on that path.
14:36 As we do so, we go by several of these stone buildings
14:40 in which they store hay and grain and other commodities.
14:44 Animals on occasion.
14:46 They told us that in the winter time, the snow fall may be as
14:51 deep as 10 or 12 feet.
14:53 That all on the ground at one time.
14:55 And furthermore, these buildings are made
14:58 out of the native stone, picked off the fields
15:00 so the grass can grow.
15:01 And they've been standing for hundreds of years
15:04 and there's not one drop of mortar between the stones.
15:08 That's good construction, isn't it.
15:10 Pretty good builder that does all of that.
15:12 Well, we climb higher and we come to where
15:14 a local family is living.
15:16 It's a very typical home here in the Torre Pellice countryside.
15:21 Chickens are scratching around the front yard.
15:23 And here's the haymow made out of the same native stone.
15:26 We're going to go around behind and notice
15:29 the shingles upon the roof.
15:31 There they are made of native stone as well.
15:34 A slate, a thin slab of stone.
15:37 Those things are about 24 to 30 inches wide
15:41 and 18 to 20 inches deep.
15:43 I thought to myself, I'm glad I'm not in the
15:45 roofing business here.
15:47 You wouldn't want to be a shingler here.
15:49 But the good news is, once you get them on
15:52 you don't have to replace them every 15 or 20 years.
15:54 They're there to stay.
15:55 We climbed higher and looked back.
15:57 And the buildings took on sort of a reptilian look
16:00 as you can easily see there.
16:03 And then we turned around and there it was.
16:05 The Church of the Open that we had been instructed regarding.
16:08 Our Lord Jesus said, "A light set upon a hill
16:11 cannot be hidden. "
16:13 And so, when these people could come out and worship in the open
16:16 they wanted to be in the most prominent place.
16:18 We're going to see how very prominent it is and why.
16:22 And so, we're again going to walk around to the left
16:25 and come up on a level with the church and look across at it.
16:28 And we see that it sits right out on the face of a cliff.
16:33 There it is, a drop of about 170 feet.
16:40 We were greeted inside by a lady who's summer job it was to
16:46 greet the tourists and instruct the tourists
16:50 And as soon as we spoke to her a sentence or two,
16:53 she said, "You're from the US, aren't you?"
16:55 "Yes," we said.
16:57 We're from the Pacific Northwest.
16:59 "Oh," she said, "I had a dear friend, my best friend,
17:03 was from California.
17:05 And she would come every summer and help me here
17:08 to keep the place up and greet the tourists. "
17:11 "But," she said, "tragically last summer, my friend
17:14 fell off the cliff to her death. "
17:16 And you can see how that could happen.
17:19 We'll slip inside and we see that it's crude.
17:23 Just hand carved benches.
17:25 The stove pipe, it goes all the way from the front
17:28 to the very back.
17:29 Kept inside all of the heat possible.
17:31 I thought this, I'll bet on worship morning you didn't
17:34 have to beg the folks to move up front.
17:36 Because that's where the stove was, you see.
17:39 Well, we asked this lady who greeted us here,
17:42 "How from here can we find the Hidden School of the Uncles?"
17:45 And she said, "Go out behind the church and take the main path
17:49 and then it will divide into three branches and you must... "
17:53 "Oh," she said, "I'm going to get you lost.
17:55 We'll never find you again. I will take you. "
17:58 So she closed down the church and became our guide.
18:01 We stepped outside and here was a lady doing her laundry.
18:06 The big cliff is behind her.
18:07 There's a fence there now thankfully.
18:09 I want you to notice a couple of things.
18:10 Firstly, her scrub board there.
18:13 It's one of those stones just like they put up on the roof.
18:16 And secondly, notice that she's wearing rubber gloves.
18:19 Now that's not to keep her hands pretty.
18:21 But rather, so that she can stand the ice cold water
18:25 in which she's doing her laundry.
18:26 For it's from the snow melt just up above the mountain.
18:30 Our next stop will be at the Waldensian laundry mat.
18:34 Just briefly we'll pause.
18:36 There, my friends doing his handkerchief at the
18:39 Waldensian laundry mat.
18:41 Well, we began to climb.
18:43 Climb higher and higher.
18:45 Stop for a rest and climb some more.
18:48 The lady who met us at the church is our guide.
18:53 I'd wanted a picture of our group coming up the mountain.
18:57 And so from the rear, I ran around the others.
18:59 I passed them, ran up the trail a few yards, turned around,
19:04 knelt on one knee, focused and shot this picture and was
19:07 focusing for another when I heard her speak to my buddy
19:11 right behind her in French.
19:12 He spoke very fluent French.
19:14 And I had the feeling that it involved me.
19:17 And so I asked my friend, "What did the lady say?"
19:20 And he said, "She told me to tell you,
19:23 watch out for the snakes. "
19:26 It's the last picture you're going to see
19:27 of my group coming up the mountain.
19:29 I brought up the rear from that point on.
19:32 And you'll notice, this lady by the way, is wearing
19:35 high top rubber boots for that very purpose of safety.
19:38 Well, we would sit down and look across the canyon
19:42 and we would see little white dots.
19:44 There about center picture is one, right there.
19:47 And then you look up, way up, and over to the left.
19:50 And there is one in a meadow.
19:52 And there's another up to the extreme right.
19:54 Those are the homes of the native folks.
19:56 This is far, far beyond the end of the road and they
19:59 have no helicopters.
20:01 They get here by hiking.
20:03 We walked on to the Hidden School of the Uncles
20:06 before we recognized that it was there.
20:09 Made out of the native stone with the native vines
20:12 to grow over it.
20:13 The sign says, "Collegio d'la Barba. "
20:16 The College of the Uncles.
20:18 We'll go inside and in the very center we see a huge stone.
20:22 And in the center of the stone is a preserved copy
20:25 of one of the original old Bibles.
20:27 Upon, from which rather, they made their copies.
20:31 Here is another view where they've taken it
20:34 out of the case for us.
20:36 You can imagine the young people gathered around that big rock
20:40 and laboriously copying from the Bible the Gospel of Matthew,
20:45 the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel of Mark.
20:48 These people loved their Lord Jesus and they loved His word.
20:51 And you can never, never separate the word of God
20:55 from the Spirit of God or from Jesus, can you.
20:58 They always go together, don't they.
21:00 I remember so very well as I reflected upon all of this
21:04 before I left, asking myself this question.
21:07 "Lyle, how much do you love Jesus?"
21:10 I mean, lip service is easy.
21:12 Anyone can say it, "Yes, I love You Jesus. "
21:14 But these folks lived their lives for Jesus
21:18 and were willing to die for Jesus.
21:22 We hiked back down.
21:24 It was now dark by the time we arrived at the car.
21:27 We made an appointment for the gentleman to take us
21:30 the next day over to the Church of the Martyrs.
21:34 We come again to the end of the road and here is a
21:37 big stone monument in the parking lot.
21:39 And once again, we must hike a good ways.
21:42 The sign that greets us here says, "Ghieisa d'la Tana,"
21:45 The Church of the Cave.
21:48 Now the pathway becomes steep and rocky and precipitous.
21:53 There are places where we go around the faces of cliffs
21:56 where the pathway is no more than 30 inches wide.
22:00 and the drop off more than a 100 feet.
22:02 Yes, perhaps in places nearly 200 feet.
22:06 And it was at this point that many stepped off to the side
22:09 and decided they wouldn't go further.
22:11 I tried to imagine what it was like, perhaps during the
22:15 winter time, when these Waldensian Christian people
22:19 would go together to worship even during the most
22:24 difficult persecutions.
22:27 During the most heinous of times, the most dangerous
22:30 circumstances, these people knew the value, if not necessity,
22:34 of coming to worship together.
22:37 And in Hebrews chapter 10:25 and 26,
22:40 we find a warning there regarding the last days.
22:43 "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together,
22:45 as the manner of some is.
22:46 And much more as you see the end coming. "
22:49 And so, these folks would go to church in the winter time
22:53 and in the summer and spring, and during the rains.
22:55 And I wondered how careful they must have been
22:58 when there was ice on the trail and they go along
23:01 this narrow pathway.
23:02 They're going to a cave, the Church of the Cave;
23:07 the Church of Martyrs.
23:09 One family member might leave well before dark and head off
23:12 in that direction and make a circle back around to the cave.
23:15 And several minutes later, another family member
23:17 might leave and start off in that direction and then
23:20 make a circle to the cave.
23:21 But ere long, the families would gather together.
23:25 They would go back inside and there they would sing and
23:29 pray and fellowship and have lunch.
23:32 Spend most of the whole day encouraging one another.
23:35 In front of the cave, there is another stone sign.
23:38 "Ghieisa d'la Tana.
23:39 The ancient temple of the revived faith
23:41 where the spirit of the fathers preached, suffered, and died
23:44 for liberty of conscience. "
23:47 They were back inside on one worship morning
23:52 when they were discovered.
23:55 We don't know if someone was followed or if someone
23:58 gave information, told on someone.
24:01 We don't know.
24:02 What we do know is there were over 260 men, women, children,
24:08 babes in arms back inside, when the leadership of the church
24:12 shouted inside, "Come out with your hands up. "
24:16 And the people knew that if they did that they would die.
24:19 Instantly die or perhaps after some torture
24:23 they would be killed.
24:24 And so they stayed inside and prayed.
24:27 And the command was given again a short time later,
24:29 "Come out, this is your last chance. "
24:31 And they stayed inside.
24:33 And then the officer said, "Bring burning material,
24:36 you soldiers.
24:37 Bring dry wood and bring green leaves and grasses as well. "
24:44 They did that.
24:46 Gave one last chance.
24:48 And when the folks refused to come out, the torch was put
24:53 to the burning material.
24:55 And as it began to burn brightly, the smoke
24:57 was sucked back inside.
25:00 And every single person died.
25:03 Hence the name, the Church of the Martyrs.
25:08 I'm going to tell you tonight that many of those who died,
25:12 many of those Waldensians who loved Jesus to the death,
25:16 were destroyed because they would not stop observing
25:20 the Saturday Sabbath, the seventh day Sabbath.
25:23 We're going to talk about that tonight and about its place
25:26 in the Bible and about what's happening in the world tonight.
25:30 And I want you folks again to ask yourselves the question
25:33 that I asked a bit ago.
25:35 And you ask from inside the cave,
25:38 "How much do I love Jesus?"
25:40 Thank you for traveling with me.
25:44 Now to our subject this evening.
25:48 Rest in Jesus, the meaning and the purpose of the
25:52 seventh day Sabbath.
25:54 Folks are fighting stress.
25:56 And I want to read you a little something that I found
25:59 written by a medical doctor.
26:01 Will you listen very carefully.
26:04 "The lives of some men are so tense that they're soon
26:09 going to become past tense.
26:13 Tension is as deadly as a loaded pistol.
26:17 Only, it takes just a bit longer to kill its victim. "
26:21 Then he goes on to talk about the problems that are associated
26:25 with this hypertension and the stress and all of this.
26:30 And he concludes by saying that what we need to do is
26:34 to return to an age old plan.
26:37 To a plan God gave His children, our parents,
26:41 in the Garden of Eden.
26:42 And that is a much needed day of rest.
26:46 And he's talking about the Sabbath.
26:50 He goes on to talk about something that was
26:53 of interest to me.
26:54 He said that the nation of France, several years ago,
26:58 decided they would go off the seven day cycle,
27:02 work six days and a day off, six days and a day off.
27:05 They would go off that cycle and revert to a ten day cycle.
27:08 Work ten days on and then two days off,
27:10 ten on and two off.
27:12 And they experimented with it for about two years
27:15 and discovered that there were far more problems;
27:18 that the people were more stressful, that there was more
27:21 illness, there were higher doctor bills.
27:23 And so they went back to the plan that God set up
27:26 in the Bible to work for six days and then have a day off.
27:31 Here is God's solution for stress.
27:34 And so I want to talk with you for the next few moments
27:37 about God's Saturday Sabbath day.
27:40 We're going to go back to Eden, you and I together.
27:43 So open your Bibles, if you will please, to Genesis chapter 2.
27:48 The book of Genesis is, of course, the first
27:51 book in the Bible.
27:52 And in that word "Genesis," we find the word "genes".
27:54 And from that same word, we have "genetics".
27:57 And I'm going to begin to read at verse 1.
28:00 Genesis chapter 2 verses 1-3.
28:04 And if you have a Bible, please follow along with me.
28:06 And if you don't, shame on you.
28:08 Look on with your neighbor, alright?
28:10 Genesis chapter 2 and the first 3 verses.
28:13 "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished
28:16 and all of the host of them.
28:17 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He'd made,
28:20 and He rested on the seventh day from all the work
28:23 that He'd made.
28:24 And God blessed that seventh day and sanctified it,
28:27 because in it He rested from all of the work which He had created
28:31 and He had made. "
28:32 I know that it's no bit of new information to you folks
28:36 when I say to you that Jesus Christ is not only our Redeemer,
28:40 He is also our creator.
28:42 And I'm going to give you several verses because
28:45 several folks that I visit with and talk with have never
28:47 heard this idea before.
28:49 I want you to put in your notes John chapter 1 and verse 1.
28:52 We'll not have time to turn to every scripture tonight
28:54 because the clock won't allow it.
28:56 But in John chapter 1 verse 1 and then verse 10 and 13.
29:00 It makes abundantly clear that our Lord Jesus is not only
29:04 Redeemer and Savior, but He is also Creator.
29:07 All things were made by Him and without Him was not
29:10 anything made that was made.
29:12 That's Jesus.
29:13 And then you come to Colossians chapter 1 verse 16.
29:16 And there again it's made abundantly clear.
29:18 Colossians 1:16, Jesus is our Creator.
29:21 You read from Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2 the same thing,
29:25 Jesus our Savior is also our Creator.
29:29 The question then comes, "Was Jesus the active agent
29:33 in Creation when we talk about keeping the Sabbath
29:36 and making the Holy Day?"
29:38 And the answer of course is, "yes".
29:41 It was Jesus who on the first day said,
29:43 "Let there be light, and there was light. "
29:44 And on the second day, something else.
29:46 Third day, something else.
29:47 And on the sixth day, He made the largest forms of animal life
29:51 and our parents, Adam and Eve.
29:52 And then, our Lord Jesus, Savior, Redeemer, and Creator,
29:56 rested on the seventh day of the week.
30:00 Was He tired?
30:01 Was He worn out?
30:04 Was He stressed?
30:05 No, God doesn't get tired and God does not become stressful.
30:10 But rather, He did that to give to you and me
30:13 and all of us an example.
30:15 And the Bible is abundantly clear that our Lord Jesus
30:18 is our example in every area of Christian endeavor.
30:21 There was some doubt about how folks ought to
30:24 live before Jesus came.
30:25 And so, the Bible says when the fullness of time was come
30:27 God sent His Son and Jesus taught us how to live
30:31 in this area and what to do in this area.
30:33 And about baptism, this and this, and the Lord's supper.
30:37 And when it came to rest and worship, our Redeemer,
30:40 Creator, our friend Jesus Christ kept the Saturday Sabbath.
30:45 He kept it in creation, He kept it when He was here
30:47 as our example, He kept it as well in Redemption.
30:52 I've heard a lot of folks say, "Well, that Saturday business
30:54 was just for Jews.
30:56 That was the old Jew day. "
30:59 Now look folks, if we reject something because of its
31:02 connection with Jews,
31:05 we're going to have to throw away our Bibles entirely,
31:08 aren't we now.
31:09 Because without exception, this is a book authored entirely
31:13 and completely by Jews.
31:16 And if we're going to turn away from somebody because of its
31:19 connection with Jews,
31:20 we're going to have to turn away from God's new earth
31:25 and His heaven.
31:26 The Bible says, Revelation is replete with information, that
31:30 in that city, that beautiful holy city to which we one day
31:34 plan to go, there are four gates on each side
31:38 and above each of those gates there is a name
31:41 of one of the tribes of Israel.
31:44 Judaism, that's exactly right.
31:46 There are no Gentile gates.
31:48 I don't know how in the world we're ever going to
31:49 get into God's kingdom unless we're willing to go through
31:52 a Jew gate.
31:53 And so, if we're going to reject something because of its
31:54 connection with Jews, we're not only going to reject
31:57 the Bible, we're going to turn away from the New Jerusalem.
32:01 And beyond that, if we reject it because of its
32:04 connection with Jews, then we're going to have to at the same
32:07 time reject Jesus.
32:08 Because through His earthly parentage, He was a Jew.
32:12 The Revelation chapter 5 verse 5 says He is the
32:14 Lion of the tribe of Judah.
32:18 Exactly so.
32:20 Our Lord Himself said in John 14 and verse 6,
32:22 "I am the way and the... " help me know.
32:26 "... the truth and the life. "
32:29 There it is again.
32:30 He gave us example in every area of Christian endeavor.
32:32 "I am the way and I am the truth and I am the life. "
32:36 The disciple Peter, in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 21 said,
32:41 speaking of Jesus he said, "He is our example
32:44 that we need to walk and follow in His footsteps. "
32:48 Now, we're going to transition a little bit and I'm going to
32:51 share some with you folks that I have not really been
32:54 acquainted with for a terribly long time and I'm still
32:57 discovering more in this area.
32:59 And the more I discover, the more wonderful I feel
33:01 and the more excited I become.
33:04 Our Lord Jesus is not only our Redeemer, our Savior,
33:08 our Creator, He is also the Lawgiver from Sinai.
33:15 Did you know that?
33:16 Yeah.
33:18 I'm going to make it abundantly clear to you now.
33:21 The background, of course, is Moses and Aaron
33:25 have led the children of Israel out of Egypt.
33:27 And because of their hard hearts, they've had to
33:29 wonder round and round and round on the Sinai Peninsula.
33:33 And then they come to camp at the foot of Mount Sinai.
33:36 And in thundering tones, there comes a voice from the
33:39 mountain top saying, "I am the Lord thy God
33:43 which has taken thee by the hand to bring thee out of Egypt.
33:47 Therefore, thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
33:50 Thou shalt not make unto thee any idols or images.
33:53 The likeness of anything in heaven above, the earth beneath,
33:55 the water on the earth.
33:56 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
33:59 And Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
34:02 Six days to labor, but the seventh day is the Sabbath
34:05 of the Lord thy God. "
34:07 Now, I'm going to give you some verses that I want
34:10 you to go home and look up and study and contemplate.
34:12 First of them is Genesis 49 verse 10.
34:16 Genesis chapter 49 verse 10.
34:18 There it says, "Shiloh... "
34:20 Would you note that word in your notes please.
34:23 "Shiloh is the lawgiver. "
34:25 And Shiloh, throughout all of the Old Testament,
34:27 is one of the names of the Messiah.
34:30 "Shiloh is the lawgiver. "
34:31 Now we're going to transition to the New Testament
34:33 and in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4, the apostle Paul
34:38 speaking of the exodus experience said,
34:40 "And all did drink of that spiritual Rock
34:43 that followed them, and that Rock was Jesus Christ. "
34:47 And that's why, my dears, we sing lustily on worship morning,
34:51 "On Christ the solid Rock I stand.
34:54 All other ground is sinking sand. "
34:56 And, "Rock of ages, cleft for me.
34:58 Let me hide myself in Thee. "
35:00 Christ was that Rock.
35:02 Here's one for you from David.
35:04 David was a scholar as well as a hymnist and a poem writer.
35:09 In Psalm 60 verse 7, he says, "Judah, my lawgiver. "
35:14 Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
35:18 "Judah is my lawgiver," said David.
35:22 He's not only our Savior, He is as well our Creator.
35:26 And He is the Lawgiver.
35:29 Psalm 108 verse 8.
35:30 Here's another one that's along this very same line.
35:32 Psalm 108 and verse 8 where it says again,
35:35 "Judah is the lawgiver. "
35:37 In James chapter 4 verse 12, coming to the New Testament
35:40 once again as we put all of this together.
35:42 James chapter 4 verse 12, it says the Lawgiver is our Savior.
35:47 How more clear could it be than that, huh?
35:49 The Lawgiver is our Savior.
35:51 In Matthew chapter 1 verse 21, introducing our Lord Jesus to us
35:56 it says, "He shall save His people from their sins. "
36:02 Our Creator, our Redeemer, the Lawgiver, our Savior.
36:08 The Lawgiver, then, gave to us those 10 happy rules
36:12 for living that we find in Exodus chapter 20.
36:15 With that for a background, we're ready to turn there
36:17 and take up the reading at verse 8.
36:20 Exodus chapter 20 and verse 8.
36:24 And by the way, let me give you just a little bit of word play
36:27 on that word Exodus because I think some of you
36:30 are going to find it interesting at least.
36:32 The word "ex", you know, means something from the past.
36:37 Yeah.
36:39 And ex-relationship maybe.
36:41 An ex-whatever else... job.
36:44 "Ex", something from the past.
36:46 "Hadas" means "the road".
36:50 Road in the Hebrew language.
36:52 Ex-hadas
36:55 The road out.
36:56 The old road.
36:59 You see, the leaving of Egypt to go to the promised land.
37:03 Ex-hadas
37:05 Now, we've talked about the commandments
37:08 our Lord Jesus spoke from the top of Mount Sinai,
37:12 the first three of them.
37:13 And now we're going to begin to amplify the fourth.
37:16 Let's take up the reading at verse 8, Exodus chapter 20.
37:19 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
37:22 Six days you may work and do all of it,
37:25 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.
37:28 In it, thou shalt not work; thou, nor thy son or daughter,
37:31 man servant or maid servant, nor the cattle or the stranger
37:34 that's within thy gates.
37:35 For in six days God made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and
37:38 all that in them is, and then He rested on the seventh day.
37:41 Wherefore, the Lord then blessed the Sabbath day
37:44 and hallowed it. "
37:45 Now there are two phrases from those verses that I want to
37:48 underscore in our minds tonight.
37:50 One refers to sanctification, the other says hallowed.
37:53 They mean exactly the same thing.
37:55 They mean setting aside for holy use.
37:58 Sanctifying, making holy.
38:01 Now folks, I could work from now on to the rest of my life,
38:04 I could never make anything holy.
38:07 Holy God, righteous God is the only One who can
38:10 make something holy.
38:12 And it's abundantly clear here that this day, this one day
38:16 out of seven, He made holy.
38:18 He made it in the beginning.
38:20 He kept it when He was here as our example.
38:22 He made it to be very special.
38:26 The Saturday Sabbath, the fourth commandment
38:29 is right in the heart of the ten, isn't it.
38:32 If you're going to do away with one, you can't just
38:35 easily drop off one at the first or one at the end.
38:39 But rather, you have to go right into the center.
38:42 Right into the heart of the ten commandment law.
38:44 And that's really where it belongs because it is
38:46 a big part of the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ as well.
38:51 Sabbath is in the very center, in the middle of the law.
38:55 A day of rest and worship.
38:57 A day to leave our stresses behind.
38:59 A day to build relationships between ourselves and our God.
39:03 Relationships that are vertical.
39:06 And at the same time, during the same 24 hours,
39:09 to build relationships that are horizontal.
39:13 Relationships between a man and his wife,
39:15 between husband and wife and their kids.
39:18 Strong relationships between families and friends.
39:22 And that is the reason for the sanctifying of this day.
39:26 Anything, therefore then, that we do that enables us
39:30 to further strengthen the relationship between ourselves
39:33 and our Creator Jesus, and ourselves and our kids
39:36 and our wives and our families, I believe is proper
39:39 Sabbath observance.
39:40 That's what it's all about.
39:42 Get better acquainted with our families,
39:44 get better acquainted with our Creator, with our Lord Jesus.
39:48 Not so very long ago and not so very far away,
39:51 I was sharing in a home some ideas regarding the Sabbath.
39:54 And the man of the house said, "Well, look.
39:57 That Saturday business is just only for Jews.
40:01 That was just for Jews. "
40:06 I said to him, "Sir, I have a question for you. "
40:11 "Do you believe that only Jews ought not to tell lies?
40:20 God said, 'Thou shalt not bear false witness. '
40:22 That's one of the ten commandments.
40:24 Is that only for Jews?"
40:25 "Well, no. "
40:28 "One of God's ten commandments says,
40:30 'Thou shalt not commit adultery. '
40:31 Is that only just for Jews?"
40:34 "No. "
40:37 "One of the commandments says, 'Thou shalt not commit murder. '
40:40 Is that just for Jews?"
40:41 "Well, of course not. "
40:43 You go through the whole of the ten and you discover
40:46 there is only one of the ten that many folks want to do
40:49 away with and say it's only just for Jews.
40:51 And that is commandment number four that says the
40:54 Lord's Day is Saturday and that this is the day,
40:56 it begins at sundown on Friday night and ends at sundown
40:59 on Saturday night, that we need to come together to worship
41:03 and that we need to spend time thinking about Him
41:06 and relating to Him in this vertical relationship and
41:09 relating to one another in the horizontal relationship as well.
41:13 I want us now, if you will with me together, go to
41:16 Matthew chapter 5.
41:18 We'll allude to a lot of verses for want of time, but others
41:21 we must of necessity read.
41:22 And Matthew chapter 5 is one of them.
41:24 Here we find our Lord Jesus speaking from the
41:26 sermon on the mount.
41:29 You remember the context is that He, with His disciples,
41:32 are up north on the shores of Galilee.
41:34 And the word gets out that He is there, that He has something
41:37 special to share.
41:38 And the people begin to come.
41:40 And the pressure is so great that eventually Jesus has to get
41:43 into a little boat and push off out into the water always.
41:47 And then He begins to give to them what we now refer to
41:50 as the sermon on the mount.
41:52 Matthew chapter 5 verses 17 and 18, I want to read right now.
41:57 Matthew chapter 5 verses 17 and 18.
42:00 These are the words of Jesus from the mount.
42:03 He says, "Don't think that I have come to destroy
42:06 the law or the prophets.
42:07 I haven't come to destroy them, but rather to fulfill them.
42:11 For I say unto you, until heaven and earth pass away,
42:14 not the dotting of an "i" or the crossing of a "t"
42:17 shall be changed until all is over. "
42:21 Our Lord Jesus; Creator, Redeemer, Lawgiver, Savior,
42:27 said, "Don't think that I have come to change the law.
42:33 Don't suggest for a minute that when I came to amplify
42:36 grace and mercy, that the commandments were done away
42:39 or any part of them. "
42:40 "No," He said, "I have come to live them to the full
42:43 and to help you to understand their broader meaning.
42:47 He said, "Not the slightest dotting of an "i" or the
42:49 crossing of a "t" in the ten commandment law
42:52 is to be changed until the whole of the universe is finished. "
42:56 Therefore, then my dears, as long as we stand upon
42:59 God's green earth with His blue sky over head,
43:01 all ten of His commandments, including the fourth,
43:04 is for all of His children and for all time.
43:08 In Mark chapter 2 verse 27, there our Lord is referred to as
43:13 Lord of the Sabbath.
43:16 Lord of the Sabbath day.
43:18 Mark chapter 2, verses 27 and 28.
43:21 I remember a lady said to me one time,
43:24 "Well, because we live in New Testament times, seems to me
43:27 we ought to keep the Lord's Day
43:29 according to the New Testament. "
43:30 I said, "Ma'am, I couldn't agree with you more.
43:35 But which day is the Lord's Day in the New Testament?"
43:39 "Well," she said, "I've always been taught
43:40 that it was Sunday. "
43:43 "So let me ask you a couple of questions ma'am.
43:45 What is your Christian background,
43:47 Catholic or Protestant?"
43:49 "Oh," she said, "I'm Protestant. "
43:50 "Well," I said, "That's been my background as well.
43:53 Then we will agree on this.
43:55 We take the Bible and the Bible only as our rule of faith
43:57 and practice as Protestants, don't we. "
43:59 "Oh yes," she said. "Of course. "
44:00 The Bible and the Bible only. Nothing else.
44:02 Nothing more, nothing less.
44:06 Yeah.
44:09 "Now," I said, "let's look in our Bibles for the Lord's Day.
44:16 The Lord's Day in the New Testament.
44:19 Do you have any idea where it's mentioned?"
44:21 "Well," she said, "I guess I've forgotten. "
44:25 "Well," I said, "let's go back to Revelation chapter 1."
44:29 And we did that.
44:31 And there at verse 10, John describes the day
44:35 that this vision, that becomes our book of Revelation
44:37 comes to him, and he says, "I was in the Spirit
44:41 on the Lord's Day.
44:43 And I heard behind me a great voice like that of a trumpet. "
44:46 "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. "
44:49 Now that's the only place in all of the Bible
44:51 the Lord's Day is mentioned.
44:54 And it doesn't tell us which day of the week it was,
44:56 does it really.
44:57 All we can know from that passage is this for certain.
45:00 That there some 40+ years after the ascension of our Lord Jesus,
45:04 he still had a special day, and John was given this vision
45:08 that's our book of Revelation, on that special day.
45:10 "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. "
45:13 But it didn't say which day of the week it was.
45:16 Now whom could we better ask, "Which day is Your day, Jesus,
45:20 in the New Testament?
45:22 Which is the Lord's Day in the New Testament
45:23 according to Your word?"
45:25 And now I want you, if you will please, to go with me to
45:30 Mark chapter 2 verses 27 and 28.
45:33 We alluded to it a little bit ago and we must of necessity
45:36 read them just now.
45:38 Mark chapter 2 verses 27 and 28.
45:45 Mark 2:27
45:47 "Jesus said unto them, 'The Sabbath was made for man,
45:51 and not man for the Sabbath.
45:53 Therefore then the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath Day. '"
45:59 "Which day is Your day according to the New Testament, Jesus?"
46:02 Jesus said, "I am Lord of the Sabbath day. "
46:06 Ladies and Gentlemen, I'll make this statement now and then
46:09 we'll give lots of further information regarding it
46:12 in a moment.
46:13 You can search the Bible from Genesis to Revelation
46:15 or do it in reverse, and you'll find that the word Sabbath day
46:19 is always, without exception, in reference to the day
46:24 that we call Saturday.
46:26 Well I've heard folks say, "Look, I just keep
46:29 every day holy. "
46:31 I had that idea once.
46:32 When I was first looking seriously at Christianity,
46:35 I said, "I'll just keep every day holy. "
46:39 And the Holy Spirit reminded me, I had a wife and two kids.
46:42 I was going to have to work some days.
46:46 I was going to have to do some work.
46:48 "Alright," I said, "I'll have a holy weekend.
46:51 I'll keep Saturday and Sunday both holy. "
46:53 And the Holy Spirit gently pointed out to me,
46:56 that was going to work either.
46:58 For the only day that I could keep holy was the day
47:01 that God had made holy.
47:03 On Wednesday, I discovered I could be ever so pious and
47:06 read my Bible all day long and play my guitar with the
47:11 hymns in the church, but I couldn't keep Wednesday holy.
47:14 Because it was never sanctified, never set apart for holy use.
47:18 The only day ever set apart was Saturday.
47:21 You know, this thought came to me awhile back.
47:25 I noticed, by the way, as I came into your city
47:28 that there had been some big name entertainers here
47:31 this summer, huh.
47:32 The Beach Boys and Joe Cocker.
47:39 Now I know who the kids are, what I mean, I know who the
47:41 young adults are when I mention Joe Cocker,
47:43 and the old gray headed folk.
47:45 By the way, I've really grown to love old people, lately.
47:52 Lately, yeah that's right dear.
47:54 I've really grown to love old people.
47:56 Well, at any event, if there was a great concert going to happen
47:59 out at the George Gorge, I mean one of the all stars
48:04 of all time, he's going to come and play there beginning
48:08 6 o'clock next Wednesday evening and I said,
48:12 "Well, it doesn't matter what day, this day or that.
48:15 It doesn't matter.
48:16 I'm going to go on Tuesday at six. "
48:19 Would it matter?
48:20 Yeah, I'd miss the performance, wouldn't I.
48:23 Nothing happening there.
48:24 I'd have to go at the time of appointment.
48:27 And the time for keeping the Sabbath is the day
48:31 that we call Saturday.
48:33 Sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday.
48:36 Is it important, Huh?
48:39 It's one of the ten commandments.
48:40 Another one said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery. "
48:43 If I were to bring up onto this stage seven women
48:47 and among the seven is my dear Peggy,
48:50 would it make any difference which one I took home, huh?
48:53 Oh you ladies say, "yeah. "
48:56 Yes indeed, it makes a difference.
48:58 Well, folk have said to me, "That whole Saturday business
49:03 is legalistic.
49:04 It just seems so legalistic.
49:06 That over Sunday or something else, or Friday. "
49:10 If I say that it's legalistic, really I'm saying that
49:14 to have a wonderful relationship with my Jesus is legalistic.
49:17 Isn't that what I'm saying?
49:19 That's what I'm saying.
49:20 The Saturday Sabbath is mentioned 60 times
49:23 in the New Testament.
49:24 It's mentioned more than any other single commandment.
49:27 And there's not the slightest hint that it was ever changed.
49:30 Not the slightest hint.
49:31 Now, the Sabbath teaching is so clear, ladies and gentlemen,
49:35 that if there was to be a change brought by the apostle Paul
49:39 or Peter or someone else, the change, the information
49:44 regarding the change ought to be as clear
49:46 as the original teaching.
49:47 Shouldn't it really, now?
49:49 But there's not the slightest hint
49:51 let alone a change being made clear.
49:55 I was watching a televangelist not so very long ago
49:58 and he was really coming down on this whole abortion issue.
50:02 And I'm not here to preach politics tonight.
50:05 But I, too, believe that life is sacred.
50:10 And this televangelist was making a case that
50:13 this business of abortion is taking of human life.
50:17 It's killing.
50:19 It's breaking one of God's ten commandments.
50:25 Someone who had listened to him and watched him regularly
50:29 came to some of my meetings and wrote him a letter
50:31 and asked him, "What about commandment number 4 that says,
50:34 the Lord's day is Saturday?"
50:37 And the televangelist wrote back and gave some
50:39 real flimsy verses.
50:40 And he said, "Well, that was all nailed to the cross
50:43 when Jesus came. "
50:44 Huh?
50:45 And that Saturday business is legalistic
50:47 Abortion, that's one of the ten commandments.
50:49 No, that's not legalistic. That's God's law.
50:51 Let's be consistent, what do you say?
50:55 Let's be consistent in our love for Jesus and in our
50:58 obedience to Jesus.
50:59 We must do it.
51:00 It is a memorial of His creative power.
51:03 Our Lord Jesus established the Sabbath so that there would not
51:07 be any atheism.
51:09 So that there would never be any communism or racism
51:12 So that there would never be this theory of evolution.
51:15 By the way, this thought has come to my mind
51:17 with beauty of late.
51:19 Charles Darwin is one of my indoor sports.
51:23 And I can tell you this much from my Idaho background.
51:26 He was wrong.
51:28 I'm smart enough to know that he was wrong.
51:31 Charles Darwin lived between 1809 and 1882.
51:36 And he was an English naturalist and the father
51:39 of the theory of evolution.
51:40 And he taught, you know, that we're the result of an accident,
51:43 the primeval pool, and then there came this snake
51:45 that crawled around, and then the monkey that swung,
51:47 and then finally man.
51:48 And in 1863, now I want you to see the connection here.
51:52 He died in 1882, and about 1863 he was writing his
51:56 evolutionistic theories.
51:58 And at that same time, 1863, God raised up a movement
52:02 to combat the theory of evolution.
52:05 And called people from the Catholic church
52:09 and the Baptist church and the Pentecostal churches
52:12 and the Episcopalian churches and the Methodist churches
52:16 and the Presbyterian churches to teach the Saturday Sabbath.
52:24 And the Seventh-Day Adventist church was born...
52:32 ...in 1863.
52:36 And tonight it's growing like wildfire.
52:45 The fastest growing Protestant church in this world
52:52 is the Seventh-Day Adventist.
52:55 Am I bragging?
52:56 You bet.
53:04 When a year ago
53:11 our boy died,
53:15 his widow, my daughter-in-law,
53:21 along with Peggy and me,
53:27 decided a memorial in his memory
53:33 ought to be used to spread the gospel.
53:39 And so, out of her bit of insurance
53:44 our daughter-in-law, really our daughter,
53:48 Brenda sent to India $12,000
53:53 to build a church that would seat between 350 and 500 people.
53:58 And they promised her they would send back pictures.
54:01 And they did.
54:03 And I just got copies of them myself.
54:05 And there's a plaque beside the door of entry that says,
54:09 "Dedicated to the honor of God our Creator
54:13 and in the memory of Terry Albrecht. "
54:19 Then they told her that this church is open seven days a week
54:23 and they cannot accommodate the crowds.
54:25 And so, many folks are wanting to become a part of the
54:28 Seventh-Day Adventist family out there that they can hardly
54:30 build churches fast enough.
54:32 And in the same town they're building a school from
54:36 kindergarten through the highest level of the university.
54:39 And that's just a little bit of what's happening out in India.
54:42 And behind the former Soviet block and all the rest.
54:45 It's growing like fire in dry brush.
54:48 The Sabbath is not just a principle.
54:50 If it were a principle, I could choose one day out of seven.
54:52 But, it is a Day.
54:54 A Day, the seventh day of the week.
55:03 I have come to believe, ladies and gentlemen,
55:08 that the most difficult attitude for God to deal with
55:14 is indifference.
55:19 I meet a lot of folks these days in increasing number
55:22 with open minds.
55:23 They're searching as they look at the events of the world.
55:25 They have open minds.
55:27 And when a truth becomes clear to them, they embrace it
55:30 and accept it.
55:33 And then there is a second group and these folks are
55:36 more set in their ways.
55:39 I was that way.
55:42 Yeah.
55:43 The old Missourian attitude.
55:44 "You'll have to prove it to me. "
55:47 "Show me. " Exactly dear, that's right.
55:49 "Show me. "
55:51 These folks, once they are shown, accept.
55:58 But in the middle of these two extremes, there is
56:00 a large segment that says, "So what. "
56:04 "So what. "
56:09 "This day, that day, any day. it makes no difference to me.
56:13 I'm completely indifferent to the whole thing. "
56:20 It's not a new attitude.
56:23 When Jesus came to Calvary,
56:27 they hanged Him on a tree.
56:31 Drove great nails through His hands and feet
56:33 and made a Calvary.
56:34 Crowned Him with a crown of thorns.
56:36 Red were His wounds, and deep.
56:38 For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.
56:44 But when Jesus came to our town, they simply passed Him by.
56:50 They wouldn't hurt a hair of Him, they'd only let Him die
56:52 for men had grown more tender.
56:54 They wouldn't give Him pain, they only just walked down
56:59 the street and left Him in the rain.
57:02 And still He prayed, "Forgive them.
57:08 They don't know what they do. "
57:12 And still it rained those winter rains
57:17 that drenched Him through and through.
57:21 The crowds have now gone and left the streets
57:24 without a soul to see.
57:28 And Jesus crouched against a wall and cried for Calvary.
57:34 Let's pray.
57:36 Lord, Your word is clear.
57:39 You're our Creator, You're our Redeemer.
57:41 You're our Savior, You're our Lawgiver.
57:44 You spoke the Ten Commandments from the mountain top.
57:47 You kept them when You were here as our example.
57:49 We're going to keep the Saturday Sabbath with You in heaven.
57:53 Thank You for the many folks around the world who are
57:56 now turning their hearts to all of Your truths,
57:58 recognizing that it is important to keep
58:02 all of Your commandments.
58:03 We're going to do it in heaven, we're practicing here.
58:07 I pray tonight that You'll not let any home or heart
58:11 represented here be indifferent.
58:15 Continue to plead with our children, our spouses,
58:17 who aren't ready.
58:19 But, please Lord, don't put off Your coming.
58:21 We need You so.
58:23 And so hasten back, Jesus dear, we beg You.
58:26 In Your name, Amen.


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Revised 2014-12-17