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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Carlis Clinton

When Lady Liberty Lays Down the Torch

This morning I want to start by saying something that it's my humble opinion that society as we know it is changing so fast right now that it's hard to comprehend let alone keep up with the new reality that we have to face almost day to day.

So as a pastor I can't help but feel that I have to address these things more and more lately especially as I see how they are these things are taken they're intersecting with Scripture and in particular with last-day events.

And it's into this intersection between real life and eternal life that scripture speaks from Genesis to Revelation.

And based on what I said a moment ago, eternal life seems to be getting closer and closer to us and so I've often wondered as a pastor you know since we have been proclaiming this soon return of Jesus for a hundred and 6170 years now as a church that how would I have a sense of the imminence of the return of Jesus sure we believe he's coming soon we've been preaching for years and years but how would I know this is this this return is imminent because as the scoffer said in the book of Peter he says all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation and the answer to that question I think is this all things are not continuing as they have continued from the beginning of creation things are very different right now Things are changing rapidly and much faster than I had imagined that they would.

It's almost like we're living in some alternate reality and we're wondering are we going to click out of this will life ever be normal again.

You know it just everything seems very strange and so for me I think it's helpful to see not only where we're at right now in the stream of time but how we've arrived at this position how we've arrived at this alternate reality obviously I can't get all into all of that today but I do believe if we can see the road in between where we were and where we are now and how we arrived here it helps us to be able to navigate particularly as believers from this day forward.

And so I think right now we're living in a very unusual time as most of us would agree we're living in a time that the prophet Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah 60 verse 2 he said this the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people and this verse is exactly where I believe we are right now we're living in very deep gross darkness I mean this world is in a very challenging time but the good news is this verse doesn't stop right there it continues on the rest of verse 60 chapter 60 verse 2 says but the Lord will arise over you his glory will be seen upon you so as darkest things might be right now Jesus is going to arise he's going to shine his glory upon us and that's the hope that can buoy us up in these troubling times.

Just as Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse 1, he said, let not your heart be troubled.

We've got good reasons brothers and sisters to have great hope for these challenging times.

I invite you if you would to pray with me.

Lord this morning it's a privilege to be here to share your word and feel a great responsibility and so we're praying today that each of us here today will have ears to hear and that Lord you will be a channel through me as you have spoken to me I pray that you will speak to these folks today I pray for humility I pray for your Holy Spirit and we're asking for your presence here among us in this group today in Jesus name Amen I want to share a quote with you from volume 9 of the testimonies and says this is page 11 you've probably heard it several times over the course of this past year says the agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating their strengthening for the last great crisis great changes are soon to take place in our world and the final movements will be rapid ones.

The conditions in the world shows us that we have got some more troubling times that are right upon us.

And whether we realize it or not, we are in a revolution in our country.

And a revolution by its very nature tears things down and that's where we're at right now is in a revolution but I believe as a believer in Jesus and in his word that this revolution that we're in the middle of in this country and to some degree in our world it has to be met with revelation a revelation of God's Word and a revelation of God's Son and so while it's true that nobody knows the day or the hour of the coming of Jesus it appears to me in my humble opinion this very soon And so the Seventh-day Adventist Church as you know we have our roots deep they run deep in Bible prophecy and they run deep in the preaching of the second coming of Jesus and the prophetic message that we share of course finds its foundation in the 3 angels message in Revelation chapter 14 verses 6 through 10 and 11 there and so it's a comprehensive message that as you know you should be very well aware of it begins with the gospel and goes through several things and it culminates in this group of people giving a warning to the world to avoid the mark of the beast and to receive instead the seal of the living God and as you know the mark of the beast and all of its ramifications is found in Revelation chapter 13.

I'm going to invite you if you would turn there please in your Bible to Revelation chapter 13 and in Revelation 13 as you're going there there's 2 beasts found 1 is described in the first 10 verses of the chapter and there's another beast that's described in the last 7 verses of Revelation chapter 13 and when you do a study the Bible is I'm familiar I'm sure you have it reveals that of course that a beast in Bible prophecy is referring to a nation or kingdom and so there are these 2 nations described here in Revelation chapter 13 we all know the identity of that first beast and so I'm not going to get into that and We should be familiar with who the second beast of Revelation 13 is well and what prophecy tells us is that these 2 nations these 2 beasts will join their forces together they will consolidate and the end result is not going to be very good.

And so a close examination of Revelation chapter 13 verses 11 through 17 looking at this the characteristics of this second power this described there.

It brings us to the conclusion that this second beast the second nation is none other than the United States of America so with that brief explanation based on my confidence in your prior knowledge I want to take a look at a specific part of this message in Revelation chapter 13 dealing with the second nation the United States look with me if you would it verse 11.

John says that I saw another beast coming up out of the earth He had 2 horns this is political and religious freedoms of Protestantism and Republic publicanism.

He says he had 2 horns like a lamb and he spoke like a dragon it says.

So after this verse things begin to escalate very rapidly we're going to come back to revelation 13 in a moment but I want to I want to divert for just a moment the United States as you know was founded on the principles of religious and political freedom and this passage says that this lamb like nation would eventually begin to speak like a dragon and you know the way that a nation speaks is only through its laws that's the voice of a nation and so we're not governed by King or a dictator but we're governed in the United States by laws And these laws at least in a best-case scenario are laws that are based on common sense Good morals and the best intentions of all those folks that live in this country and more importantly to us as believers that these laws do not contradict God's laws.

Matthew chapter 22 verse 21 Jesus says render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's And when things are going well we can be faithful to both of those responsibilities but there's going to come a time according to Bible prophecy where we will not be able to do both.

There's going to time when we can't go along with what the government says because it will be contradicting what God says.

And in that juxtaposition, as followers of Jesus, we are always to follow God's word over any other word, to follow God's law over any other law.

And so this lamb-like beast, the United States, will come to a place where this major change in its character, and it will no longer have this lamb-like facade, but instead it's going to speak like a dragon.

Now, it's very difficult and perhaps impossible for any of us to know all the details of how all these things are going to play out but the Bible does say this that at some point Lady Liberty is going to lay down her torch and when she does the dragon will be free to speak.

As I said a few moments ago a nation speaks by its laws and so the country that has stood for liberty and justice for all is going to take on an entirely new voice and in dragon like tones laws are going to be enacted and freedoms are going to be revoked there will come as a surprise to many people and as we read from the quote earlier they're going to happen very quickly things are going to start to escalate and this new voice is going to first demand allegiance to these laws they're going to man that religious observance which is going to be ridiculed as it is now this is short time before we will be forced to observe religion as the dragon will dictate and those who have the audacity to stand for God and his word are going to have penalties and imprisonment and and other things imposed on them on them until finally the rebellion has to be met with more decided measures.

The Bible says here if you look at Revelation chapter 13 in verse 16 and 17 it says finally will not be allowed to buy or sell.

Revelation 13 16 and 17 he speaking of the second nation the United States causes all both small and great rich and poor free and slave to receive a mark on their right hand or their foreheads and that no man may buy or sell except 1 who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name so these rigid measures are used as leverage to force these Bible believing Jesus followers to bow down to this amalgamation of religion and politics and so you can easily imagine that those who will be willing to take a stand will be considered extremists will be called names will be ostracized will be penalized and if we continue to stand firm as we will as I pray that we will this dragon speaking lamb will resort to the ultimate punishment against rebellion and that is death look in verse 15 now he was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed so you can imagine the shock waves that will reverberate across the world and Daniel said it this way in Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 he says there will come a time of trouble such as was never was since there was a nation even to that time so brothers and sisters Lady Liberty has laid down her torch and she is in the process of picking up a sword the dragon is beginning to speak let me explain this last year should have been a dramatically eye-opening experience for all of us.

Our government in this free country, with good intentions, has subjected us to religious restriction, has shut down businesses, has forced people to wear masks, has confined people to their homes, has forbidden people to prevent us spending time with dying and sick loved ones and all of this these things that have been prevented in a free country and to many that and there are some legitimate reasons for some of the measures that are taken there's there's some wisdom in those things but there are some questions that remain And when I say a statement like that someone say is maybe conspiratorial and it's certainly not my intention for it to come across that way.

There are a lot of things that just don't add up and the point is that things are changing very rapidly in our country.

There's been an aggressive tempt at secularization that has taken over our country and our culture and if you wonder what secularization a very simple definition of secularization is is an attempt to remove religious influence from a society and so for this to be successful for this process of secularization be successful the society has to erase the religious conscience and the morals of the from the culture at least to the degree that religion loses its influence among the people and right now in our land the and in our laws we are witnessing a collision between religious liberty and other liberties as well and secularization and because we those who have a biblical worldview are now vastly outnumbered our voices are making very little difference and if and when we do get loud enough to be heard.

We are falsely categorized were made out to be.

Purveyors of hate and and promoters of an outdated worldview that no longer has a place in our modernize secularize and humanize society.

Some of you probably most of you have heard of at least heard of Bill Meyer he's a popular TV host at least among some and he said this recently he says magical religious thinking is a virus he's referring to this a biblical worldview says it's a virus he inquired he equated people with a religious background and a biblical worldview as a virus And so let me add what's insinuated by that if you have a virus what do you do with it?

We're trying to eradicate it right and so that's what's insinuated here, and he is not alone in this evaluation in the United States religious liberty was our first and our foundational liberty and largely the motivation for establishing this country in the first place and so now though.

Religious liberty in the voice that we have is suspect in the eyes of some and it's a downright dangerous ideology to many others and so this dangerous biblical perspective has to be eradicated and it's happening primarily through our secular school systems and particularly to the college and the university levels, to our young people, to you.

And some of my messages lately, I'm addressing more and more our young adults, because, and there's a reason, because we've been saying as a church, I joined this church, I was 27 years old when I became a Seventh-day Adventist Christian and since that time They've been saying all the young people are the future of our church young people of the future our church Well that day is already here.

You are our church right now when folks are my age in 10 years from now our voices will all be eliminated at this point you are the church now and so I feel like I have a responsibility while I still have some voice left to share things to try and help us be prepared for what's coming on this world you know I feel a pressure and a conviction to speak to young adults because this generation is more and more open to relativism than any generation before and relativism when it's allowed on the throne of conscience will eradicate a biblical worldview and it will destroy a Bible religion and this all goes back to our educational system it's where it all stems to is this educational system more and more professors describe their jobs as agents of cultural change psychologists Nicholas Humphrey said this in a speech at Oxford and by the way I sent Nick a list of all the quotes and texts that I have in this sermon so they should be available somewhere for you to get and print out but Nicholas Humphrey said this in a speech to Oxford he said children have a right not to have their minds addled by nonsense he goes on so there's we and we as a society have a duty to protect them from it so we should not allow more parents should not more allow parents to teach their children to believe for example in the literal truth of the Bible then we should allow parents to knock their children's teeth out or to lock them in a dungeon.

Now I'm not against a good education I'm sure you students here are receiving a very good 1 here, but many of our universities Particularly our secular universities are the breeding ground of some secular humanistic ideas that completely oppose a biblical worldview and you know the college and university experience is the perfect place for this to happen because this is the place where the minds are so fertile this is the time when young people you have your first opportunity of freedom you've left your parents home you now you're free from their rules you're free from some degree their religion if you choose to be and so young people young adults particularly in the college age and university age they they're they're open to explore new ideas and new ideologies and there's really nothing wrong with that that's part of the college experience as part of learning who you are establishing your own faith that's proper that's right but the problem comes with those who are the professors and they have these different ideologies and they're not sharing what their end goals are then it becomes a dangerous ground for our young people because many of our most well-known and prestigious universities no longer teach critical thinking but they're merely assembly lines to pour in these extreme secular humanistic ideas.

And though not all are this way, and rarely will admit it, many secular progressive professors have as their goal to break the students commitments and moral convictions derived from their parents religions after all in a secular society religion is the enemy Bill Savage who is a English teacher and a college advisor at Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois says he can achieve this goal in mind because he says this and I quote He says after a teary-eyed hug mom and dad will drive their SUV off toward the nearest gas station leaving their beloved progeny behind and then he says and I quote they're all mine that should make us fearful for the potentials and the possibilities in some of these universities in some of these places so religious liberty that was once the greatest aspect of this country is now seen as a hindrance to true freedom of expression and is now becoming the poster child of intolerance and bigotry I came across a text I'd like for you to turn there Isaiah chapter 59.

I'm going to read verses 14 and verse 15.

Says this, I'm reading from the New King James Version, says Isaiah 59 verse 14 and 15, Justice is turned back and righteousness stands afar off for truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter So truth fails and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey." Isn't that a perfect description of where we are right now?

Righteousness is now standing in a corner with his head hung low and when someone in this culture in this society has the guts to stand up against evil he makes himself a prey or a target and that is exactly what happens now I want to read this passage in another version makes it a little clear the New Living Translation puts the same 2 verses like this our courts opposed the righteous and justice is nowhere to be found truth stumbles in the streets and honesty has been outlawed Yes truth is gone and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.

The prophet Isaiah says that we will come to a place that our justice system which was set up to uphold the righteous and to condemn the unrighteous will be reversed right will become wrong wrong will become right everything will be upside down and topsy-turvy the righteous will be opposed and Justice can't be found the Bible says and that my friends.

I believe is a perfect snapshot of our society today The prophet went on to say that truth is stumbling in the street and honesty has been outlawed you know honesty is now being outlawed by the cancel culture that we're living in truth can't be told even if it's told in the kindest manner with the best of intentions because after all it might offend someone And I don't know what happens here on the campus of Loma Linda University but in many universities they're adopting these speech codes and there can be some legitimate argument for a fight in favor of reasonable codes I mean people can't just say anything you can't go into theater and scream fire but but and so it's appropriate to ban insults and name-calling and those sort of things but when they ban offensive speech that's crossing a line because everybody can define offensive in a different way and many are offended simply by the fact that you may disagree with their viewpoints and so people are now looking for an excuse to cry foul or I'm offended or are you can't say that right we live in a day when merely opposing abortion or affirming the traditional understanding of marriage as a union between 1 man and 1 woman can be labeled as hate speech because it hurts someone.

Brothers and sisters if we come to the place which we basically are now where we can't in a respectful way debate opposing opinions and views how can we ever hope to come to a an acceptable agreement on anything and if you have a biblical worldview now and if you don't go along with this the secular liberal agenda you know we're pointed out to be these outdating relics of the past we're deserving of derision and scorn we shouldn't be able to have our jobs we shouldn't be able to have our place in society and we shouldn't have a voice in society we should be shut up we should be canceled out right verse 15 again the prophets goes on to say truth is gone anyone who renounces evil is attacked and if that's not a perfect description of here and now What is and part of the problem that has seeped into this this ideology this thinking has seeped into the church We've got you know even in the 70th Avenue Church in some places a disease that Paul called itching ear syndrome We have these immature Christians who only want to hear what their itching ears can stand they certainly don't want to take a stand for themselves and they don't want to be called to take a stand.

I read a book recently called walking in truth in a world of lies and on page 350 the author Steve Gallagher says this he says Bible exposition without moral application raises no opposition Bible exposition without moral application raises no opposition.

He goes on to say, it's only when the hearer is made to understand the truth is in conflict with his heart that resistance sets in.

Don't misunderstand me, it is a reasonable expectation that a person should be careful with the words and how we share truth and how we share things with those who have an opposing viewpoint but we are called to share the truth as it is in Jesus no matter who is offended and who tries to cancel us out we're in a place where every statement every action by anyone almost anyone for almost any reason is claimed to be an injustice or to be somehow racially or misogynistically motivated but when you hear somebody saying you can see that's absolutely not based on reality in the majority of those cases Isaiah said truth is gone whoever opposes evil is attacked and so the day reason is no more Common sense has all but disappeared and you've seen it in the news.

Silly things that that politicians and others did when the 20 and 30 and 40 years ago when they were young and foolish.

They've taken those things and brought them up from way in the past and they've been used to push these people into the camp of being a racial misogynistic bigots.

And I'm not trying to say some of the things that some of these folks have done were right or moral or the good thing to do but who among us have not done some things in the past when we were young that we regret and that does not represent the people that we are and who we are today and the way that we look at things today.

Part of what's so frustrating is that there is no fairness in how this rhetoric is dispensed a blatantly hypocritical cancel culture it just it blows my mind they say there's a promotion of tolerance but they're anything but tolerant to anyone who disagrees with what they think.

They're allowed to say what they want and the media and the mob gives them a pass but heaven forbid that anyone should stand up for a biblical worldview and take a stand on what the Word of God says.

I read another book lately called the Church in Babylon.

Erwin Lutzer said this, he said, in a culture where reason and common sense no longer carry any weight, absurdity is no longer an argument against anything that's true that's true completely absurd reasoning and arguments are now legitimate because our cancel culture and our culture no longer values reason or common sense and as a seven-day Adventist pastor I believe it's part of my responsibility to alert you to be aware of what's going on to be aware of how we've arrived at where we're at right now and to equip you to equip you to be willing and hopefully and to be certainly to be able to stand for Jesus in the face of opposition whatever that opposition might be because after all according to Acts chapter 5 verse 29 we must obey God rather than man this is not a message to encourage you to rebel against our government it's not that at all but I'm reminding you all and I'm reminding myself that we have to be willing to take a stand for Jesus when everyone else around us bows down to this culture you know not to be confrontational but to be willing to stand for Jesus in a way that brings honor to him and glorifies his name you know capitulation to evil discredits Jesus.

You know, at Seventh-day Adventist we see the Bible as what it claims to be, the inspired Word of God.

It's not a collection of ancient religious writings that can be disregarded or reinterpreted to fit the moors and the whims of a secular society or even to fall in line with government laws.

But like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we've got to stand for the right.

We've got to be willing to stand for the Word.

We've got to be willing to stand for the Lord.

We've got to be able to stand in front of the fire.

We've got to be willing to stand in front of a judge.

When you look at the early church and some of the prayers that are recorded in the New Testament, they didn't pray for exemption from persecution.

They prayed for boldness to continue to stand for Jesus and to stand for the gospel and to stand for his word in spite of persecution Lady Liberty has laid down her torch she's picking up a sword and As Christians we're being relegated more and more to silence.

I don't know if you know this or not, but on Thursday of this week, the United States House passed the Equality Act and now if the Senate passes this act it will stand and it stands the potential of unleashing a whirlwind of changes to our society and potential devastation to our church and some of the freedoms that we've enjoyed in the past.

There's a Washington Post article from Thursday as well that said this and it was it's said that the Latter-day Saints it called out the Latter-day Saints it called out Orthodox Jews and brothers and sisters it called out Seventh-day Adventists for being specifically opposed to this law and as we stand for the fundamental truths of the Bible we will be subjected more and more to public scrutiny listen to this quote testimonies 32 page 206 says Satan will excite indignation against the humble minority who conscientiously refused to accept popular customs and traditions men of position and reputation will join with the lawless in the vile to take counsel against the people of God wealth genius education will combine to cover them with contempt persecuting rulers ministers and church members will conspire against them with voice and pin by boast threats and ridicule they will seek to overthrow their faith by false representations and angry appeals they will stir up the passions of the people someone posted just a least I saw it for the first time A couple of weeks ago on Facebook said this that there was a dog had his chain reduced 1 link at a time every few days until his chain was so short he could barely move.

He never resisted because he was conditioned to the loss of his freedom slowly over time and they went on to say in this post is happening to Americans in our freedoms freedom of religion and freedom of speech are going to be the first 2 freedoms to go if they can control our speech and if they can control our devotion somehow to Jesus or cause us to discredit Jesus and his word all the rest is coasting for him is all downhill from there that's why it's so important for us as believers and why it's even more so important for you as young adults who are now gaining the controls of this church of God's remnant church you've got to hang on to God's Word you've got to hang on to Jesus you've got to hang on to look this is God's remnant church we have a mission we have a message like no other church right now this baton is passed into your hands please don't lay it down you see all these things happening and I'm talking about when a cake baker in Colorado he doesn't want to bake a cake for a homosexual couple based on his personal convictions and he is vilified he's taken to court they try and shut his business down you can see it and they across the nation when florists and photographers don't want because of their personal convictions don't want to serve certain people or certain groups and they're facing our cancel culture when a teacher is replaced because he or she will not refer to a transgender student by that student's preferred gender pronouns.

Christian schools and ministries are coming under fire because of our biblical worldview and our religious rights are not only being challenged but they're being denied and if this equality act passed short of a miracle from Lord I mean we're going to see some things we haven't seen before hitting right here at home in California or home for you in 2018 the assembly passed a law explicitly banning the sale of any books or materials saying that someone's sexual orientation can be changed You can't put literature out It's against the law now Suggesting that someone might have a different sexual orientation that orientation can be changed at least here in California There's more and more talk of stripping churches and religious organizations of our tax-exempt status if we continue to oppose this alternate way of thinking.

So please, brother and sister, don't close your eyes to what's going on in our country.

The enemies of religious liberty are playing hardball now and we have been warned it's going to get closer and closer to our doors and unless we like Daniel we purpose in our hearts that we're not going to be defiled the end that we're going to be prepared And if we're not we're going to fall a prey to this new dragon speak in our country And you know the fact is we really don't appreciate Religious Liberty like many have because most of us have never paid any sort of price to obtain it and when you don't pay a price for something you don't appreciate as much I don't know if you can see this little bitty cheap plastic metal that I have I went on a carnival cruise many years ago and I won this I won this medal the extreme beanbag champion that's me of the entire Carnival cruise that that that cruise I am the champion of that cruise I have the the cheap plastic medal to prove it so now you don't have just before you a 7 day Adventist pastor this morning, you've got a Carnival Cruise medal winner.

That's the only reason to hang on to this little cheap award.

But you know, we don't appreciate Religion's liberty because most of it hadn't paid a price for it.

It comes easy That's all we've ever known is freedom of religion freedom of speech And so we've had it easy in the United States And I think it's a big part of why God has been so patient with this nation he's extended the door of mercy I mean he's given us explicit warnings and I think this past year is a wake-up call to us all or should be God's been patient he's been very merciful with us Let me share a quote with you from desire.

Excuse me last day events paid 16 and this explains part of the reason I feel such a burden for this says great pain should be taken to keep this subject before the people the solemn fact is to be kept not only before the people of the world but before our own churches also that the day of the Lord will come suddenly unexpectedly the fearful warning of the prophecy is addressed to every soul no 1 should feel that he is secure from the danger of being surprised and so for me as a pastor in Lexington Kentucky at this point I'm doing my best to keep this subject before the people The downhill slide that we are on right now is been iced it's been greased and we show no sign of slowing down in fact the speed in which we are decreasing and these things are taking place are happening more and more frequently the last movements brothers and sisters will be rapid ones and Churches and ministers are caving at an alarming rate February 11th of this year just a couple of weeks ago pastor prolific writer max locato issued an apology concerning a sermon he preached not last year or the year before or the year before but in 2004 17 years ago he shared some things about what the Bible says about homosexuality and so it's my feeling he cowed to the pressure of the cancel culture now I admit I don't know the background I don't know what led up to this I don't know you know why he felt it would be appropriate to him to extend a public apology 17 years later maybe he said something really offensive I don't know but I've read of enough his writings in the past I don't really read him anymore but I've read enough of them in the past to not that I can't even imagine that he would have said something is so offensive the 17 years later he needs to issue an apology but brothers and sisters that is the power of our offended society that is the strength of this cancel culture that we're living in language is being used as being weaponized now in our society and religious liberty is now being described as a privilege and not a right and so there's a big difference in those 2 because you know if we can if society can reclassified in such a manner it's easy to take away a privilege right correct it's more difficult to take away a right so brothers and sisters it appears that we could very well be the group that meets Jesus alive so now is the time that we've got to prepare to stand to be prepared to know we need to know what to expect we got to be ready not to be intimidated by the things that we're going to be facing.

Prophets and Kings page 537 says the present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living.

Rulers and statesmen men who occupy positions of trust and authority thinking men and women of all classes have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us.

They're watching the relations that exist among the nations.

Earthly element and they recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis it's coming my friends it appears to be coming very very soon So this is not a time for us to hang our heads and defeat It's a time to proclaim Jesus as if we may not have another chance to do so You know, there are those out there who are are longing for a light in this gross darkness that is encompassed this world that we're in there are people that are desperate for hope they're desperate for a sliver of Something beyond what this world has to offer us.

We've got to perch a proclaim him Clearly from an unflinching faith in the power of his word and in the power of his blood Acts of the Apostles 109 says all over the world men and women are looking wistfully to heaven prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls longing for light for grace for the Holy Spirit Many are on the verge of the kingdom waiting only to be gathered in People are longing they're waiting to hear about Jesus and the transforming power that he has and this message that we have now in The 70th Avenue Church It has never been more pertinent than it is now.

It's never been more important than it is now Young people you have the torch in your hand Lady Liberty has laid it down You've got to pick it up.

You've got to take this forward the rest of us.

We're going to be slowly fading off the scene.

You've got to stand, brothers and sisters.

We can't, we've got to keep this light of Jesus burning brightly in this world of darkness.

You know the things that I've shared today are not to get us to put on our political war pain and our hop on an elephant or or hop on a donkey but instead to put up the bloodstained banner of Jesus before it's too late you know whenever you're in a boat or a raft or a canoe and you're on a river and you can see in the in the In the distance there's coming a waterfall and you and you knew about it You knew it was going to be this huge waterfall and there's a point as you're in that boat that there's a point at which before you reach that point you can you can paddle to the side you can get your boat to the side you can get safely off onto the shore but there comes a point when you can't do that anymore once you pass that point It's too late and you're going over the rapids and brothers and sisters.

We're at that point in my opinion Of no return so it's time.

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When Lady Liberty Lays Down the Torch

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