POPULARITY
9 episodes with power now
2 episodes with power now
3 episodes with power now
2 episodes with power now
On today's episode of The Law of Attraction Secrets podcast, I'm sitting down with the one and only Omarion—Grammy-nominated artist, author, actor, and all-around legend.
Join us as Cisco Gallardo and Dámariz Vásquez discuss the power of ceremony, learning to navigate conflict within relationships, and the usefulness of curiosity.To learn more, please visit: East Los Angeles Women's Center, Dignity and Power Now, Planted Creative Collective InstagramInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/healgenpodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/HealGenPodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Healing.Generations.PodcastEmail: HGP@compadresnetwork.org
(Airdate 7/10/23) Ongoing problems within the LA Jails system are being put under the microscope with Janet Asante from Dignity and Power Now! She is joined by Tennel Crook, mother of Kamren Lee Nettles, to support her quest for the truth and justice for her son who died in custody at Men's Central Jail on May 13. DPN is a community based organization that fights for the dignity and power for formerly and currently incarcerated members of the community and their families who experience systemic violence. Their work with the Justice LA Coalition has been central to the effort to close down Men's Central Jail. https://dignityandpowernow.org/
Laura Jane Peterson is a civil rights activist and community organizer who has been a sales director with a demonstrated history of growing account revenue, clients, and sales. She has the ability to imagine it and then makes it happen. Since October 2020 this innovator became the founder of Say Their Names LA which is an established network of support, mutual aid and resources for families whose loved ones were killed by police violence in LA. Laura identifies as an abolitionist, activist, beacon, explorer and empath. What You Will Hear: Say Their Names and Families United collaborations Laura's background and upbringing Learning about different cultures Working on Wall Street Lessons learned and coping through the loss of her father Police education and training America built on tenants of racism and white supremacy Tombstone graveyard Say Their Names LA Lobbying, NRA and Police Unions Mental Health Grassroots organizations Training clinicians to have a multicultural lens Changing the Narrative Quotes: “The reason why white America can separate themselves from the experience that is clearly before their eyes is because they have the privilege to not feel.” “I wanna learn ways of interrupting, eradicating and addressing the realities of racism and oppression. We have to be able to impact and find our voice “ -Dr. Thema “We know that they know how to deescalate certain situations, when it's a white person, but when it's not, they don't use those skills, they do the opposite. So it's not about training and it's not about deescalating.” “Itt's an evolution. You have to learn. You have to learn what you believed and then unlearn that and apply something else.” “We have a number of families who have turned their fight into getting more resources and getting police out of mental health services.” “For us it's really is about coming together and providing each other with support and resources that the government doesn't offer.” “Do something. Go out. Just try, put one foot in front of the other and just try and no goal or dream is too big. If you fail, you will learn and just keep using those learns and always feel your feelings.” Mentioned Say Their Names LA https://www.instagram.com/saytheirnamesla/?hl=en ( Instagram) https://www.facebook.com/saytheirnamesla/ (facebook) Families United https://drthema.com/ (Dr. Thema) https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-09-04/dijon-kizzee-was-trying-to-find-his-way-relatives-say (Dijon Kizzee) https://www.instagram.com/justicefordavidsullivan/?hl=en (David Sullivan) https://aa.law/accidents/police-shot-and-killed-david-ordaz-jr/#:~:text=David%20Ordaz%20Jr.%2C%20a%2034,understanding%20of%20mental%20health%20issues. (David Ordaz Jr) https://www.lexipol.com/ (Lexipol) https://dignityandpowernow.org/ (Dignity and Power Now)
In this episode of How I Got Here, Dreena welcomes artist, freedom fighter, New York Times best-selling author, co-founder of Black Lives Matter and founder of Dignity and Power Now, Patrisse Khan-Cullors! Listen in as she divulges what made her become an activist, how she's dealt with backlash from non-supporters, and what inspired her to further pursue art and writing after years of front-line activism.Patrisse has been defiant since DAY 1. She's always wanted to change the lives of her community and her family. From organizing the youth community through The Bus Riders Union to igniting the Black Lives Matter Movement, Patrisse recognizes the hunger in black people to change the inhumanity we've been experiencing. “I think black creativity is the epicenter of how we heal and transform and evolve our societies.”- Patrisse Khan-CullorsGain insight into Patrisse's candid thoughts on the role of conflict and courageous conversations, along with how abolition can be a framework for solving internal conflicts inside of movements, communities, families, and black leaders. She also speaks on the projects she's currently working on and what she believes is achievable for the future of our society.“We live in a punishment and revenge culture. That punishment and revenge culture makes us dispose of each other… it makes it easier to dispose of someone like Dave Chappelle or dispose of black trans women.”- Patrisse Khan-CullorsConnect with Patrisse:Visit her website: www.patrissecullors.com Follow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/Osopepatrisse Follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/osope Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=727718905 Connect with her on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/patrisse-cullors-b2b58356 Buy her memoir, When They Call You A Terrorist: https://amzn.to/3pd6f5p Resources Mentioned:Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatter.com Dignity and Power Now: https://dignityandpowernow.org Bus Riders Union: www.twitter.com/busridersunion Crenshaw Dairy Mart: www.crenshawdairymart.comWatch RESIST: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DI2pY4Fn40 About the Host:Dreena Whitfield has a proven ability to create tangible outcomes that helps clients exceed expectations. Her diverse career has led her to spearhead the communications and marketing efforts for leaders in the nonprofit, corporate and political sectors, as well as small businesses internationally.With more than a decade of experience, Dreena and the WhitPR team have a proven ability to spot opportunities for our clients to grow their brand recognition in saturated markets that are in alignment with their overall objectives.The Huffington Post listed Dreena as one of their “Top 25 African American Millennials in PR to Watch.”Follow Dreena & WhitPR on all the socials:@Dreenawhitpr & @whitprJoin The WhitPR Collective: www.whitprcollective.com
"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." - 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NIV)“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” - Galatians 5:1 (NIV)1.) Praise until the prison doors open. Worship until the chains fall off.“Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don't harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.” But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.” The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.” -Acts 16:16 - 40 (NIV)Here is a list of verses you can use for any situation you may be facing - Joy - “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. -Psalm 16:11 (NIV)Power - “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” - Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:9Rest - “The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” -Exodus 33:14 (NIV)Peace - “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)Guidance - “But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.” -Psalm 5:11 (NIV) “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)Confidence - “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” - Jeremiah 17:7- Choose worship until you are free!
My guest today is Kate Petersil. You might find this last name familiar, she is the wife of Gil Petersil, a networking expert who we had here about a month ago. They are definitely a power couple. Kate is a mother of three and an entrepreneur, she is a co-founder of Meet Partners. Kate's focus is on education and personal development. She is on a mission to empower women that wanna have it all: outstanding relationships, kids, business, and stay honest to their inner feminine nature. I invited Kate because many of our listeners are women, who are building businesses, I am sure she will have an interesting perspective on how to be an entrepreneur, mother, and wife and have it all. We are not going to talk about e-commerce in this episode, but we are going to go deep into relationships and mindset, which often is the prerequisite in building a great business. Links from the episode: Books Kate Recommend: “Think Big, Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill - https://www.amazon.com/Think-Grow-Rich-?tag=10mj-20 Tony Robbins Book Collection - https://www.amazon.com/Robbins-Collection-Awaken-Within-Unlimited?tag=10mj-20 “The Power Of Now” by Eckhart Tolle - https://www.amazon.com/Power-Now?tag=10mj-20 “Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life” by Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell - https://www.amazon.com/Loving-What-Is?tag=10mj-20 Connect with Kate: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-petersil Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kate.petersil Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katepetersil Clubhouse: https://clubhousedb.com/katepetersil Email Address: ep@meetpartners.ru Company Website and Social Media: MeetPartners: http://meetpartners.ru Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MeetPartners Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetpartners Want to sit down with Anatoly 1 on 1 ? Even though I keep saying I AM NOT A GURU, many of you ask to sit down and pick my brain. I have decided to do a 1h HELP calls. There are 2 purposes: 1st to support you in your journey and second also to be able to break even on the production of this podcast (each episode editing, marketing, guest research etc takes about $60 - $150 to produce). Now you can schedule 1h with me, and we can talk about launching products, hiring, product research, keywords, mindset, how I did an Ironman or anything at all. Link is here - https://calendly.com/anatolyspektor/anatoly-connsulting-1h ANATOLY's TOOLS: Product Development: Helim10 - I use it for Product Research, Keyword tracking and Listing Optimization . SPECIAL DEAL: Get 50% your first month or 10% every month: http://bit.ly/CORNERSIIH10 Pickfu - I use it for split testing all of my products and for validation ideas . SPECIAL DEAL: First split test 50% 0ff https://www.pickfu.com/10mj Trademarking: Trademark Angels - For all my trademarking needs. SPECIAL: Mention Anatoly and 10MJ podcast and get 10% Off your trademark. HR: Fiverr - I hire my 3dMockup person and images label designer here on Fiverr - http://bit.ly/10mjFIVERR Upwork - I hire people long term on Upwork - upwork.com Loom.com - for creating SOP's, I record everything on Loom and give to my VA's Keepa.com - to track historical data such as prices ANATOLY's 3 Favorite Business Books: DotCom Secrets by Russel Brunson - I think this is a must read for every online entrepreneurs - http://bit.ly/10MJDotCom 4 hours work week by Tim Ferriss - This book changed my life and made my become an entrepreneur - http://bit.ly/10MJ4WW The Greatest Salesman In The World by Og Mandino - Old book but it goes to the core of selling - http://bit.ly/10MJGREATSM DISCLAIMER: Some Links are affiliate, it costs you nothing, but helps to keep this podcast on the float Have questions? Go to https://www.10millionjourney.com Follow us on Instagram: @10millionjourney
MASTERS OF CHANGE 22 * 29th JULY 2021 From the moment Daniel saw the planking world record on his snapchat feed, something ignited a fierce determination within to inspire him to dedicate his days to breaking this amazing record. He found an amazing mindcoach, Michael Sorgiovanni of “Living your Power Now”, and got to work setting up his morning ,…
This episode is a twist on the Ladder Down concept as Kate chats to Imogen Maguire who is currently in Year 13 studying A levels in Maths, Business and Physical Education. She has played football since the age of 6 and now plays football for Birmingham City Under 21's! She says her ambition is to enjoy football first and foremost and is hoping to play in the Women's Premier Division next year. Her main mission is to change the world and she aspires to be an entrepreneur which she is well on the way to being already since she set up her venture - Corner Bookmarks - when she was 12. The area of business she is most passionate about is the environment and rightly, she believes we all have a part to play. She is the Founder of Power Now, an app which allows Electric vehicle home charging point owners to rent out their home charging points in an easier and more efficient way than other apps in the market which saw her become a finalist in the Unloc and Verizon Young Entrepreneur competition. She had the idea after experiencing ‘range anxiety' when her Mum got an electric car and sought a solution. Tune in to hear Imogen talk about her ambitions and the future world of business.
#55 Kirsten Bloomquist- Hypnotherapy and How to use the Subconscious Mind to Achieve Your Best Life Kirsten Bloomquist helps people rewire their minds to get what they really want: more happiness, confidence and success with hypnotherapy. Plus, find out how to win a free copy of Kirsten’s book Power Now! Topics Covered: -What is hypnotherapy -How to access your sub-conscious mind -How to reprogram limiting beliefs -How fear can ruin your mindset and how to stop fear from controlling you -How to stop negative thoughts Kirsten Bloomquist is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Transformational Coach and Author of the book, "POWER NOW: The Art of Getting What You Want.” Her past clients include professional athletes, doctors, celebrity figures, business teams and the mega wealthy. Want to really spark the productivity and joy? You need some vitamin D, this Light Therapy Lamp is my favorite! This Taotronics light therapy lamp is UV free and works to make your body produce more vitamin D. Kiss SAD or the winter blues goodbye because this little light will help you to feel happier, more focuses, and it even helps you sleep better. Want to know the best part? It’s only $37 and Amazon Prime will deliver it tomorrow! Sponsored by Light Therapy Lamp Click HERE https://www.micultivatebalance.com/favorite-products Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode take a screenshot, post to Facebook or Instagram and tag me! And don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast to let us know your key takeaways. Connect with Sarah Zastrow Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/micultivatebalance/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/micultivatebalance/ Website https://www.micultivatebalance.com/ Pinterest Page: https://www.pinterest.com/micultivatebalance/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMVcExxS1xgVghkfXQ7e Connect with Kirsten Bloomquist Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FeelingPowerful Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feeling.powerful/ Website: https://www.feelingpowerful.com/ Book: Power Now, The Art of Getting What You Want, How to master Your Mind & Love Your Life
What if Paul Revere was a 16 year old girl, but rode 2x the distance to warn people the British were coming? Well, then he'd be the Metal AF Sybil Ludington! Join Erin and Nicole as they recount how lil' Sybil looked at Paul's ride, said "meh," and showed him how it's done! Quick reminder: we have a LIVE SHOW this week, July 24th at 5:30pm PDT on YouTube! For tickets and information, visit www.dtfupodcast.com! 100% of ticket sales will benefit The Marsha P. Johnson Institute (www.marshap.org) and Dignity and Power Now (www.dignityandpowernow.org)!
Debra and Mandana sit down with the Co-Founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and the Founder of grassroots organization Dignity and Power Now to learn about her lifelong commitment to activism, how art inspires her, and her newest passion: jail reform. Produced by Dear Media.
What are we Celebrating in the Fourth of July holiday? Nameh explores how to frame this holiday in what feels right - our ability to make changes, do what's right. What's your engagement with 'right' use of power. What is your awareness to your privilege. What's your definition of resilience. Included is a snippet from an upcoming show with guest, Becky Strauss. Becky is a Financial and Business Intuitive. Hear her clear message on stepping in and pursuing your right use of power. Resources: Acoustic Background by BearStockMusic, show audio So You want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo, book https://bit.ly/3iuNoyn Resilience definition by Dignity and Power Now, organization http://dignityandpowernow.org/ Always Take Care of the Light by Dr. Bertice Berry video https://bit.ly/2ZA8inb India Arie and Beautiful Chorus sing I am Light video https://bit.ly/3e1CNYn
S11Bonus: Power to the People On Thursday June 11, 2020, justice advocate and philanthropist Jason Flom moderated a forum on Facebook Live with four extraordinary leaders in civil rights, justice, and advocacy: Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors; prison industry expert Bianca Tylek; Drug Policy Alliance executive director Kassandra Frederique; and civil rights lawyer and author Alec Karakatsanis. The goal of this event was to empower people to take action, find resources, and learn how to use their unique talents/resources to move us forward in the urgent fight for racial justice. This is a list of the many organizations mentioned during this discussion. Learn more and get involved at: 8 to Abolition https://www.8toabolition.com/ Black Lives Matter https://blacklivesmatter.com/ Blackout Collective https://blackoutcollective.org/ Black Youth Project 100 https://www.byp100.org/ Civil Rights Core https://www.civilrightscorps.org/ Dignity and Power Now http://dignityandpowernow.org/ Drug Policy Alliance https://www.drugpolicy.org/ Innocence Project http://www.innocenceproject.org Movement for Black Lives https://m4bl.org/ People's Budget LA http://www.peoplesbudgetLA.com Real Justice PAC https://realjusticepac.org/ Vocal New York http://www.vocal-ny.org/ Worth Rises https://worthrises.org/ https://www.wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co No1 and PRX.
@hllywdshrtbrkr talks on the George Floyd murder and places we need to avoid going forward. We also were blessed with a needed Verzuz battle. George Floyd's Family GoFundMe- https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd Reclaim The Block- https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2 The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund- https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6857/p/salsa/donation/common/public/ Black Lives Matter- https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019 Black Visions Collective- https://secure.everyaction.com/4omQDAR0oUiUagTu0EG-Ig2 Color of Change- https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/support-us The ACLU And The ACLU Of Minnesota- https://www.aclu-mn.org/en/donate Dignity and Power Now- http://dignityandpowernow.org/ The Okra Project- https://www.theokraproject.com/ The Loveland Foundation- https://thelovelandfoundation.org/ways-to-give/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/2ariesandacap1/message
Official George Floyd Memorial Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd Reclaim the Block: https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2 NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund: https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6857/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=15780&_ga=2.242789509.666055587.1591290276-133880266.1591290276 Black Lives Matter: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019 Black Visions Collective: https://secure.everyaction.com/4omQDAR0oUiUagTu0EG-Ig2 Color of Change: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/support-us ACLU Minnesota: https://www.aclu-mn.org/en/donate Dignity and Power Now: http://dignityandpowernow.org/ The Okra Project: https://www.theokraproject.com/ The Loveland Foundation https://thelovelandfoundation.org/ways-to-give/ Rekstizzy, Lyricks, and Tony K Films join us for the 86th episode of "Fun With Dumb" - A new weekly podcast showcasing musicians, comics, artists, actors, k pop stars, chefs, and people from all walks of life! Listen on iTunes... https://goo.gl/Ng5MeK Intro Animation by: @yeetheeast Intro Song by: @sweater_beats "Fun With Dumb" Producers: Jonathan Park Alex Oh Tony K Films Ethan Ramos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today on Sojourner Truth: A memorial service will be held for George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to give the eulogy. After 10 fervent days of action across the United States, protests in response to the police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd continue to rage on. On Wednesday, June 3, demonstrations were held around the country as the uprising continues. Thousands converged in Downtown Los Angeles, many outside the office of District Attorney Jackie Lacey. She has been criticized for not prosecuting more police officers for misconduct and is currently in a runoff for reelection. It was one of the largest marches in the country, according to reports, with similar marches held in Long Beach and other Southern California cities. In Washington, D.C., thousands also participated in peaceful protests, where a contingent of federal agents, troops and police confronted protesters. There, in the nations capital, federal authorities formed a line, pushing protesters away from the park near the White House where rallies had been held for days. For the first time, rows of military personnel stood face-to-face with the crowd, with no physical barriers separating them. In New York and Minneapolis, thousands more took part in peaceful street demonstrations demanding justice and an end to racism, despite increased police presence. All of this comes as federal authorities on Wednesday upgraded murder charges against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed Floyd by pressing his knee into his neck. Three other former Minneapolis police officers involved with the murder have also been charged in Floyds death. A break is happening with Trump and the U.S. Military. His defense secretary, Mark Esper, has said he is opposed to using the U.S. military for putting down protests. Also, former defense secretary Jim Mattis has heavily criticized Donald Trump, accusing him of deliberately trying to divide the country. Our guests are Ozawa Bineshi Albert and Ivette Ale. Ozawa Bineshi Albert is the Movement Building Coordinator of the Indigenous Environmental Network. She is from the Yuchi and Annishinaabe Nations in what is now referred to as Oklahoma. Ivette Ale is a grassroots organizer, LGBTQ community leader, and artist with 15 years of community organizing and advocacy experience. Her history growing up in Southern California as an undocumented person and as the child of an incarcerated person with behavioral health needs, has informed her activism throughout her career. As campaign coordinator for JusticeLA, Ivette led the coalition to historic victories, including ending LA Countys $3.5 billion jail expansion plan in 2019 and the adoption of Los Angeles County's groundbreaking Alternatives to Incarceration roadmap in 2020. She serves as Senior Policy Lead for Dignity and Power Now, a Los Angeles based grassroots organization that fights for the dignity and power of all incarcerated people, their families, and communities. Ivette also serves as an LA County Commissioner on the Gender Responsive Advisory Committee. When she is not fighting against the prison industrial complex she organizes queer music and art spaces locally and across the country.
Today on Sojourner Truth: A memorial service will be held for George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to give the eulogy. After 10 fervent days of action across the United States, protests in response to the police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd continue to rage on. On Wednesday, June 3, demonstrations were held around the country as the uprising continues. Thousands converged in Downtown Los Angeles, many outside the office of District Attorney Jackie Lacey. She has been criticized for not prosecuting more police officers for misconduct and is currently in a runoff for reelection. It was one of the largest marches in the country, according to reports, with similar marches held in Long Beach and other Southern California cities. In Washington, D.C., thousands also participated in peaceful protests, where a contingent of federal agents, troops and police confronted protesters. There, in the nations capital, federal authorities formed a line, pushing protesters away from the park near the White House where rallies had been held for days. For the first time, rows of military personnel stood face-to-face with the crowd, with no physical barriers separating them. In New York and Minneapolis, thousands more took part in peaceful street demonstrations demanding justice and an end to racism, despite increased police presence. All of this comes as federal authorities on Wednesday upgraded murder charges against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed Floyd by pressing his knee into his neck. Three other former Minneapolis police officers involved with the murder have also been charged in Floyds death. A break is happening with Trump and the U.S. Military. His defense secretary, Mark Esper, has said he is opposed to using the U.S. military for putting down protests. Also, former defense secretary Jim Mattis has heavily criticized Donald Trump, accusing him of deliberately trying to divide the country. Our guests are Ozawa Bineshi Albert and Ivette Ale. Ozawa Bineshi Albert is the Movement Building Coordinator of the Indigenous Environmental Network. She is from the Yuchi and Annishinaabe Nations in what is now referred to as Oklahoma. Ivette Ale is a grassroots organizer, LGBTQ community leader, and artist with 15 years of community organizing and advocacy experience. Her history growing up in Southern California as an undocumented person and as the child of an incarcerated person with behavioral health needs, has informed her activism throughout her career. As campaign coordinator for JusticeLA, Ivette led the coalition to historic victories, including ending LA Countys $3.5 billion jail expansion plan in 2019 and the adoption of Los Angeles County's groundbreaking Alternatives to Incarceration roadmap in 2020. She serves as Senior Policy Lead for Dignity and Power Now, a Los Angeles based grassroots organization that fights for the dignity and power of all incarcerated people, their families, and communities. Ivette also serves as an LA County Commissioner on the Gender Responsive Advisory Committee. When she is not fighting against the prison industrial complex she organizes queer music and art spaces locally and across the country.
Today on Sojourner Truth: A memorial service will be held for George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to give the eulogy. After 10 fervent days of action across the United States, protests in response to the police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd continue to rage on. On Wednesday, June 3, demonstrations were held around the country as the uprising continues. Thousands converged in Downtown Los Angeles, many outside the office of District Attorney Jackie Lacey. She has been criticized for not prosecuting more police officers for misconduct and is currently in a runoff for reelection. It was one of the largest marches in the country, according to reports, with similar marches held in Long Beach and other Southern California cities. In Washington, D.C., thousands also participated in peaceful protests, where a contingent of federal agents, troops and police confronted protesters. There, in the nations capital, federal authorities formed a line, pushing protesters away from the park near the White House where rallies had been held for days. For the first time, rows of military personnel stood face-to-face with the crowd, with no physical barriers separating them. In New York and Minneapolis, thousands more took part in peaceful street demonstrations demanding justice and an end to racism, despite increased police presence. All of this comes as federal authorities on Wednesday upgraded murder charges against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed Floyd by pressing his knee into his neck. Three other former Minneapolis police officers involved with the murder have also been charged in Floyds death. A break is happening with Trump and the U.S. Military. His defense secretary, Mark Esper, has said he is opposed to using the U.S. military for putting down protests. Also, former defense secretary Jim Mattis has heavily criticized Donald Trump, accusing him of deliberately trying to divide the country. Our guests are Ozawa Bineshi Albert and Ivette Ale. Ozawa Bineshi Albert is the Movement Building Coordinator of the Indigenous Environmental Network. She is from the Yuchi and Annishinaabe Nations in what is now referred to as Oklahoma. Ivette Ale is a grassroots organizer, LGBTQ community leader, and artist with 15 years of community organizing and advocacy experience. Her history growing up in Southern California as an undocumented person and as the child of an incarcerated person with behavioral health needs, has informed her activism throughout her career. As campaign coordinator for JusticeLA, Ivette led the coalition to historic victories, including ending LA Countys $3.5 billion jail expansion plan in 2019 and the adoption of Los Angeles County's groundbreaking Alternatives to Incarceration roadmap in 2020. She serves as Senior Policy Lead for Dignity and Power Now, a Los Angeles based grassroots organization that fights for the dignity and power of all incarcerated people, their families, and communities. Ivette also serves as an LA County Commissioner on the Gender Responsive Advisory Committee. When she is not fighting against the prison industrial complex she organizes queer music and art spaces locally and across the country.
Today on Sojourner Truth: A memorial service will be held for George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to give the eulogy. After 10 fervent days of action across the United States, protests in response to the police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd continue to rage on. On Wednesday, June 3, demonstrations were held around the country as the uprising continues. Thousands converged in Downtown Los Angeles, many outside the office of District Attorney Jackie Lacey. She has been criticized for not prosecuting more police officers for misconduct and is currently in a runoff for reelection. It was one of the largest marches in the country, according to reports, with similar marches held in Long Beach and other Southern California cities. In Washington, D.C., thousands also participated in peaceful protests, where a contingent of federal agents, troops and police confronted protesters. There, in the nations capital, federal authorities formed a line, pushing protesters away from the park near the White House where rallies had been held for days. For the first time, rows of military personnel stood face-to-face with the crowd, with no physical barriers separating them. In New York and Minneapolis, thousands more took part in peaceful street demonstrations demanding justice and an end to racism, despite increased police presence. All of this comes as federal authorities on Wednesday upgraded murder charges against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed Floyd by pressing his knee into his neck. Three other former Minneapolis police officers involved with the murder have also been charged in Floyds death. A break is happening with Trump and the U.S. Military. His defense secretary, Mark Esper, has said he is opposed to using the U.S. military for putting down protests. Also, former defense secretary Jim Mattis has heavily criticized Donald Trump, accusing him of deliberately trying to divide the country. Our guests are Ozawa Bineshi Albert and Ivette Ale. Ozawa Bineshi Albert is the Movement Building Coordinator of the Indigenous Environmental Network. She is from the Yuchi and Annishinaabe Nations in what is now referred to as Oklahoma. Ivette Ale is a grassroots organizer, LGBTQ community leader, and artist with 15 years of community organizing and advocacy experience. Her history growing up in Southern California as an undocumented person and as the child of an incarcerated person with behavioral health needs, has informed her activism throughout her career. As campaign coordinator for JusticeLA, Ivette led the coalition to historic victories, including ending LA Countys $3.5 billion jail expansion plan in 2019 and the adoption of Los Angeles County's groundbreaking Alternatives to Incarceration roadmap in 2020. She serves as Senior Policy Lead for Dignity and Power Now, a Los Angeles based grassroots organization that fights for the dignity and power of all incarcerated people, their families, and communities. Ivette also serves as an LA County Commissioner on the Gender Responsive Advisory Committee. When she is not fighting against the prison industrial complex she organizes queer music and art spaces locally and across the country.
This episode features Patrisse Cullors. Patrisse is an artist, organizer, and freedom fighter from Los Angeles, CA. Co-founder of Black Lives Matter and founder of Dignity and Power Now, she is also a performance artist, popular public speaker, and a New York Times bestselling author. She is also one of the nation’s leading advocates against the expansion of prisons, though her Los Angeles based coalition work with JusticeLA and Reform L.A. Jails. Her work fighting Los Angeles County’s $3.5 billion jail plan with JusticeLA is highlighted in the new blackpills docu-series RESIST. Patrisse is also a celebrated contemporary performance artist, and the recipient of countless awards, honors and prizes that honor her and her work. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers
On this episode of#WeNeedToTalk Malynda and Karmel hostel a live panel discussion on how the criminal justice system works, how it affects different races and what we can do to help prison reform. Panel Includes: Latoya Lynn Blakely (Criminal Defense Attorney) Maria Casillas (Initiate Justice) Kristina Lear (Reform LA Jails) Michele Infante ( Dignity and Power Now)
Journey your way into the light of these 10 fold Divine Blessings. Mediate! Radiate! Find your center of Power Now!
In the latest episode of The Jenna Black Show, I'm sharing how giving less fucks (like waaaay less) actually GREW my business, and took me from a shy timid ‘hobby' business owner, to the abundant boss you see today. You'll learn: My story of how many fucks I used to give (a lot by the way) How I GREW my business with more action and visibility when I stopped giving so many fucks How you can take back your POWER NOW to tap into the dream business, wealth and impact you desire and deserve to make It's time to take stock of your ‘fuck list' and clean that baby up for more flow, freedom and power - TODAY. Ready to give way less fucks and finally shine? Let's do this babe. xx Jenna Learn more about QUEENS OF ABUNDANCE here: https://www.jennablack.co/queensofabundance/ Connect with me further: Visit me online :: www.jennablack.co/ Join me on Instagram :: @jennablack.official Join me on Facebook :: @jennablack.official Sign up for my free money manifesting meditation here If you loved this episode, you can share that love by leaving a 5 star review and subscribing on iTunes!
Today on Sojourner Truth: We continue our ongoing coverage of the U.S.-backed attempted coup underway in oil-rich Venezuela. We speak to Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM (Caribbean Community) David Comissiong about the regional groups objections to U.S. moves in Venezuela and about Caribbean countries standing with the U.S. position. And we contrast the U.S. regime change play book as it was implemented in Haiti, Honduras and twice in Venezuela. We speak to Kevin Pina, a journalist and Haiti expert. For our Campaigners for Black Lives series, we speak with Evan Bunch of Dignity and Power Now about the latest controversy around the findings that LAPD officers illegally stopped Black drivers. Also, our Weekly Earth Minute with Anne Petermann of Global Justice Ecology Project.
Today on Sojourner Truth: We continue our ongoing coverage of the U.S.-backed attempted coup underway in oil-rich Venezuela. We speak to Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM (Caribbean Community) David Comissiong about the regional groups objections to U.S. moves in Venezuela and about Caribbean countries standing with the U.S. position. And we contrast the U.S. regime change play book as it was implemented in Haiti, Honduras and twice in Venezuela. We speak to Kevin Pina, a journalist and Haiti expert. For our Campaigners for Black Lives series, we speak with Evan Bunch of Dignity and Power Now about the latest controversy around the findings that LAPD officers illegally stopped Black drivers. Also, our Weekly Earth Minute with Anne Petermann of Global Justice Ecology Project.
Today on Sojourner Truth: We continue our ongoing coverage of the U.S.-backed attempted coup underway in oil-rich Venezuela. We speak to Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM (Caribbean Community) David Comissiong about the regional groups objections to U.S. moves in Venezuela and about Caribbean countries standing with the U.S. position. And we contrast the U.S. regime change play book as it was implemented in Haiti, Honduras and twice in Venezuela. We speak to Kevin Pina, a journalist and Haiti expert. For our Campaigners for Black Lives series, we speak with Evan Bunch of Dignity and Power Now about the latest controversy around the findings that LAPD officers illegally stopped Black drivers. Also, our Weekly Earth Minute with Anne Petermann of Global Justice Ecology Project.
Today on Sojourner Truth: We continue our ongoing coverage of the U.S.-backed attempted coup underway in oil-rich Venezuela. We speak to Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM (Caribbean Community) David Comissiong about the regional groups objections to U.S. moves in Venezuela and about Caribbean countries standing with the U.S. position. And we contrast the U.S. regime change play book as it was implemented in Haiti, Honduras and twice in Venezuela. We speak to Kevin Pina, a journalist and Haiti expert. For our Campaigners for Black Lives series, we speak with Evan Bunch of Dignity and Power Now about the latest controversy around the findings that LAPD officers illegally stopped Black drivers. Also, our Weekly Earth Minute with Anne Petermann of Global Justice Ecology Project.
Today on Sojourner Truth: We continue our ongoing coverage of the U.S.-backed attempted coup underway in oil-rich Venezuela. We speak to Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM (Caribbean Community) David Comissiong about the regional groups objections to U.S. moves in Venezuela and about Caribbean countries standing with the U.S. position. And we contrast the U.S. regime change play book as it was implemented in Haiti, Honduras and twice in Venezuela. We speak to Kevin Pina, a journalist and Haiti expert. For our Campaigners for Black Lives series, we speak with Evan Bunch of Dignity and Power Now about the latest controversy around the findings that LAPD officers illegally stopped Black drivers. Also, our Weekly Earth Minute with Anne Petermann of Global Justice Ecology Project.
One Simple Word To Increase Acceptance, Confidence, and Power Now! In any given moment you are either saying “yes” to yourself and your life, or saying “no.” This unconscious stance determines how you feel, your resourcefulness, and your ability to create the confidence and the life you truly want. Join Dr. Aziz as he guides you to say YES to more and more of your life now.
One Simple Word To Increase Acceptance, Confidence, and Power Now! In any given moment you are either saying “yes” to yourself and your life, or saying “no.” This unconscious stance determines how you feel, your resourcefulness, and your ability to create the confidence and the life you truly want. Join Dr. Aziz as he guides you to say YES to more and more of your life now.
The Justice Teams Network is a new project aimed at challenging dominant narratives of police shootings and helping communities find healing. Building on models developed by the Anti Police Terror Project and Dignity and Power Now, the network brings together activists with training in investigation, community support, and communication to deal with the aftermath of police violence, and works on policy to prevent it. I spoke with Justice Teams Network director Cat Brooks, who has also just decided to run for Mayor of Oakland, California. When the cops kill somebody, the responding organization, whether it’s APTP, or somewhere else, our Facebook pages go off, our Twitter pages go off, our personal phones go off, We then send an email out to a list of about 500 people who are trained and are active in the database, who are trauma-informed investigators. That means they have been trained on how to engage communities and people that have dealt with various traumas. They go to the scene, they talk to community members. They look at the pictures. They scour the scene for any video footage that might be in existence of the incident. Sometimes the will pick up evidence that might be helpful that the cops leave behind. Then, hopefully, the find someone that is connected to the family at that scene. If they don’t, they come back to social media and they scour social media. Because, inevitably, in this day and age someone who was there has posted something to Twitter. Once we have connected with the family, we have got two primary agenda items. One is to, within 24 hours, either hold a vigil or support the community in holding their own. The second, of course, is to see what they need. Then, in talking to the family, it is about finding everything out about the person that was killed. So, the news by that time, of course, has come out and said, “Oh, the police shot a black man--black suspect is actually how they say it most of the time--He had a gun and he stole a lollipop and he stole a lollipop in 1922 from Samuel Adams.” as if whatever happened in 1922 has anything to do with why he’s dead now. We then come out with our narrative, the family’s narrative, “They liked the color blue, they went to church on Sundays. They were parents. They took care of their mother.” Just humanize them, because...when you talk about people, like dentists, students, mothers, lawyers, cashiers, whatever, we are having a different conversation. Then, from there, we connect them to our legal team, which is pro bono legal support, and then we support them with communications, legal, fundraising—they have to hold a funeral, often have to raise money for independent autopsies because often the one you get comes from law enforcement, they’re not going to challenge what law enforcement said happened. Then, we walk with them, and that is a long walk because while the story is in the media for a week, maybe two, for families, this is years and years and years, it never ends. The pain never ends. Interviews for Resistance is a syndicated series of interviews with organizers, agitators and troublemakers, available twice weekly as text and podcast. You can now subscribe on iTunes! Previous interviews here.
Today we’re talking with Prentis Hemphill, former Healing Justice Director of the Black Lives Matter Network. We talk about the ways anti-Blackness shapes all of us to deny our own humanity, the role of shame, how we heal so we can give our unique contribution, avoidance, the Black Lives Matter Healing in Action toolkit, how healers are real people with limitations who aren’t better than anybody else, and belonging as a decision we make, not an external condition. ABOUT OUR GUEST: PRENTIS HEMPHILL Prentis Hemphill is healer, Somatics practitioner, teacher, writer and organizer who works at the intersections of healing and justice. As the former Healing Justice Director at Black Lives Matter, Prentis committed to supporting and nurturing the brilliant strategies of organizers and healers to address trauma, move through conflict and center wholeness in the BLM network and in the broader movement for Black freedom and liberation. Prentis continues their ongoing work as a teacher of somatics and personal transformation with Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD), a training program for Black organizers throughout the US, and with generative somatics, which is focused on bringing a politicized Somatics practice to movement building organizations. Prentis has worked for years with communities developing transformative responses to violence and envisioning new ways of being together, including work with generationFIVE and Communities United Against Violence. Prentis is committed to transformation on the cellular level and the belief that who we are and how we are in our most intimate spaces is vital for our collective liberation. PRACTICE:Download the accompanying practice called “Reflection on Belonging” to hear Prentis lead you through cultivating a sense of belonging within yourself that is untouchable by external conditions. It is a political act to claim a belonging and dignity that cannot be threatened by inequality or oppression, and am emotionally empowering act to resource ourselves with this very real human need to know we belong. You don’t need anything except a quiet space for this practice. Practices post on Thursdays. RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE: National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network Black Emotional and Mental Health Project Dignity and Power Now in Los Angeles Healing in Action: A Toolkit for Black Lives Matter Healing Justice & Direct Action JOIN THE COMMUNITY:Sign up for the email list to hear when new episodes drop at www.healingjustice.org Follow us on Instagram @healingjustice, like Healing Justice Podcast on Facebook, and tweet at us @hjpodcast on Twitter We pay for all costs out-of-pocket and this podcast is 100% volunteer-run. Help us cover our costs by becoming a sponsor at patreon.com/healingjustice THANK YOU:Content editing this week by Yoshi FieldsMixed and produced by Zach Meyer at the COALROOMIntro and Closing music gifted by Danny O’BrienAll visuals contributed by Josiah Werning
Today's theme: Me Too Movement People across the world are writing "me too" on social media to raise awareness of sexual assault and harassment. The phrase began trending on Twitter and has been posted by millions of Facebook users after people were asked to share their experiences in light of allegations against Harvey Weinstein. And here in Korea, a string of workplace sexual harassment exposes here in recent weeks has triggered angry calls for boycotts of the companies involved. The internet age has better equipped people to deal with these issues. We look into how a hashtag became a rallying cry against sexual harassment. >>>The Conversationalist with Jen Schradie Research Fellow at Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, France sociologist who studies digital activism “As someone who studies digital activism and things do or don't take off in the cyber world, what can you tell us about the recent eruption of the Me Too hashtag? It's been around since 2006 so what has precipitated this latest viral incarnation?” & Jayda Rasberry Organizing director for Dignity and Power Now, dealing with sexual harassment in the women's jail and prisons recently took part in the Me Too Survivors March Rally in LA as a speaker “There has been talk about those that have come forward being reluctant to name their attackers. Do you think this is something that should be addressed? Do we need to start bringing more names into the equation? Or is it enough that people are able to finally relieve themselves of the burden they've been carrying alone?” >>>Media Monster An Open Secret An Open Secret is an American documentary film directed by Amy J. Berg exposing child sexual abuse in the film industry in California. The film features interviews with victimized performers, who were targeted when they were young boys, as well as industry figures, the predators themselves, and journalists. >>>Next week: Alcohol (in time for 연말회식, year-end gatherings)
Even if you have been through something that kind of shook your self-esteem or poked holes in your confidence, courage is a part of every human-beings heritage. You are built to bounce back. If you want a better life, you have to go get it. Pat's special guest today is LeeAnn Werner Jackson who can tell us all about claiming the life you know that you deserve. She will share about her journey into the millionaire's circle. It was not easy, but she made the decision to get her best life and you can, too. Bounce-back-ability at Pat Council Live. Click Here. Live with Power Now. Click Here. Find out more about Isagenix. Click Here.
How is the Black Lives Matter movement reshaping models of social movement leadership? We continue our ongoing conversation on Black Lives Matter with another of the movements cofounders, Patrisse Cullors. Patrisse is an artist, organizer and freedom fighter. She is also the founder and executive director of Dignity and Power Now, based in Los Angeles. Among her projects are the Coalition to End Sheriff Violence, and she recently directed a theatrical piece titled POWER: From the Mouths of the Occupied, based on community stories of police violence. Also in this episode, artist and revolutionary Kai Lumumba Barrow discusses her new "visual opera," set to premiere in New Orleans on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and Laura explores the links between police violence in the US and internationally.
It's been two weeks now since a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old named Michael Brown, and the community is still experiencing the aftermath. The school year in Ferguson was supposed to start on August 14, but it was delayed due to the unrest, leaving students who rely on school meals with fewer options. And business closures have left some residents out of work and short on money. This week we check in with a St. Louis food bank to see how they're responding to folks in their community who need help putting food on the table. UofL student Brina Joiner traveled to Ferguson, and stops by our studio to tell us what she saw there that we aren't seeing on the news—and to share some much-needed optimism with us and our fruitcakes. Joiner tells us it's important for young people to make the trip, because history is unfolding there. "I have to go to Ferguson," she says. "I have to see what's happening. I have to make my voice be heard, to create that change. To create what comes next." Our other guest this week would agree. Patrisse Cullors, of Dignity and Power Now, along with our friend Darnell Moore, is organizing a freedom ride to Ferguson for Labor Day weekend. It's part of the Black Lives Matter movement they started after the shooting of Trayvon Martin. She says showing solidarity in times of protest is important, and even more effective when done in person. "There's nothing like having an actual body on the front lines with you," she explains, "to say I am here with you. I am your ally. I am not going anywhere." In our Juicy Fruit segment we lighten things up with the news that Oxford Dictionaries has added one of our favorite phrases to their list: throwing shade. Unfortunately they got the definition a bit wrong. They also added some other terms, and Jaison gives Kaila a pop quiz to see how many she can define. And new pictures of Queen Latifah and her presumed girlfriend on vacation in Italy lead us to to wonder, will she ever come out? And does it actually matter any more?
This week on Strange Fruit, UofL student Brina Joiner traveled to Ferguson, and stops by our studio to tell us what she saw there that we aren't seeing on the news. We also speak with Patrisse Cullors, of Dignity and Power Now, about the Freedom Ride to Ferguson she's co-organizing with our friend Darnell Moore. They're traveling as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, and while there are many ways to help, she says being there to protest in person has its own importance: "There's nothing like having and actual body on the front lines with you to say I am here with you. I am your ally. I am not going anywhere." And we check in with a St. Louis area food bank to see how the unrest (and delayed school year) is affecting food security and hunger in their community. Strange Fruit posts on Friday afternoon at strangefruitpod.org, and airs Saturday nights at 10pm on 89.3 WFPL.
Introduction Well, this is our third week of looking at the supernatural life that the Apostle Paul is commanding. And these very practical commands at the end of Romans 12, the application of 11 chapters of doctrine, the foundation of the supernatural life of the Christian is the shed blood of Jesus Christ. If you have trusted in Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you have come to the cross realizing that you cannot save yourselves realizing that you cannot do enough good works to ever atone for even a single sin. You have come to Christ, you've come to the cross and you have received in his name, forgiveness for your sins. He then enjoins on you, commands this kind of a life and His commands are not burdensome. This is a marvelous life, this is the best kind of life to live. But we recognize and we've seen the last two weeks and now, this, for the third week, this is a supernatural life that Christ is calling on us to live through the Apostle Paul. And as we look today, the unifying theme of these verses that were read, Romans 12:14-21 is a life with challenging people. Now by that, I don't mean anything negative, it's just that people are challenging. I'm a challenging person, so are you. And I don't mean anything by it, other than that it's a challenge to live with other human beings in a way that honors and glorifies God. Now, I love church history, and one of my favorite one of the most thrilling stories that I've ever read from church history, centers on the Anabaptists who are our forebearers as Baptists. They are the group of people in the 16th century, during the time of the reformation, who came to the conclusion that baptism was just for believers in Christ. Came to that conclusion and for that they were persecuted by just about everybody in Europe, everybody hated these people and tried to shun them from their countries. By the mis over 50,000 of them had been executed for their faith, it was a terrible time of persecution. The story I have in mind is from the year 1569 when one of these Anabaptist brothers was fleeing for his life in the middle of the winter, and he's running, being chased by somebody who's been deputized to bring him back to justice, which means bring him back to death. He's running across a frozen river and as he's running, he's on the other side, he's just about to get away when he hears a crack in the ice and his persecutor, the man chasing him has fallen in the frozen river and is screaming for help. Now, let me ask you a question, what would you do at that moment? Some would look at that as a gift from God. I'm free, I can run away, I can get away. He didn't look at it that way at all. A human being, his life was in jeopardy, and if he didn't turn back and go back that man would drown he would die for sure. And so he went back compelled by the love of Christ as the scripture says, "The love of Christ compels us." He went back and he saved that man's life. And he ended up paying for that act by being executed for being an Anabaptist. The man himself, wanted to set William Dirk free, but the authorities caught up and they captured him and they brought him they condemned him to death for his heresy and they burned him at the stake. But what was at the heart of this man, William Dirk? His heart was, Love your enemies. Do good to those who persecute you. Friends, that is a supernatural calling isn't it? It is not natural for us to seek to love those who want to kill us. It is not natural, for us to want to save somebody who's hunting us down. It is supernatural, and that's the kind of life that Christ is calling on us to live. I. A Supernatural Life of Harmony with All People Now this morning we're going to be looking at a variety of relationships that Christ is calling on us to be supernatural in by the power of the Spirit. But first, we'll just look in an overarching way, at every human relationship. Look at verse 16, there it says, "Live in harmony with one another." "Live in harmony with one another." Now, the bottom line here is that people are complex. We are a complex physical web of hormones and nerves and drives within, physically complex. We are a complex emotional web of hurts and fears, of confidence and vulnerability, of arrogance and pride, also joy and sorrow, very complex. We are a complex mental web of convictions, of opinions, of beliefs and insights, of data and facts and figures, all woven into a unique world view. We are a complex historical web of personal history, of experiences, of cultural backgrounds, past successes and failures. That's what each one of us are as human beings, we are complex. And human beings are so complex and potent [chuckle] that some people despair from interacting well with other people and they withdraw psychologically, even physically, become reclusive, they pull back, they don't want to live with people, they're just too tough. It's too painful, it's too difficult. So they pull back. French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, wrote a play called "No Exit". And in that play, one of his characters utters the most famous line that Sartre ever, ever wrote, and that is this: "Hell is other people." Now you think about how would you live that philosophy, out? No wonder these existential philosophers were always depressed. Clearly, he's wrong, but there's something out of reality, something out of truth that flows into that bizarre way of looking and that is that human beings are difficult to get along with, except you, of course. You are sweet and gentle and loving and easy, to get along, but everyone else is a challenge, right? Well, you know, it's a challenge for all of us. Human beings are challenging beings, they're so complex that it isn't long in the Christian life before you realize the hardest thing you will do today, is to get along well with other people in a way that glorifies God. It's the hardest thing. Harder than anything else you're called to do. The Essence of the Supernatural Life: Dealing with Challenging People Now, the essence of the supernatural life is in large part dealing well in a Christ-honoring way, with other people. That's a big part of it. Christ is calling on us to live this supernatural life, it's a life that the Holy Spirit enables us by His power, and for his glory to deal well with people all over the map, who are in all different kinds of situations, socio-economically, physically, emotionally, spiritually, to deal well with each person, that's what he's calling on us to do. And the overarching command in verse 16 is "Live in harmony with one another." Now, literally the translation here is think like each other. Think the same. And so, I believe, at first blush, as you look at it, this is an in-house matter, this is from Christian to Christian. Because we share world view and convictions with other Christians and we're supposed to live out of that. We're supposed to think like other Christians and get along with other Christians. We cannot be of the same mind on ultimate matters as non-Christians. Now, this doesn't mean we're seeking difficulty with them, we'll get to that in a minute, but this is first and foremost, I think an in-house principal of seeking harmony with Christians. It does extend however, in somewhat reduced way to outsiders. Look at Verse 18. "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with all people." Do you see that? Now, you realize it isn't always totally up to you to live at peace with others. Some people are just so angry and frustrated and alienated from God, that they will not live at peace with anyone. And so, it isn't your fault, it is not you they are rejecting. They're not angry at you, they're angry at God and they're taking it out on you, and you just need to know that. But it says, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with all people." So this is just a general command Verse 16. In-House, Christian to Christian, think like each other. Outside of the circle of Christianity, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with all people." That's what it's saying here. Christ’s Example and Christ’s Power Now, Christ has given us a beautiful example of this, he lived in harmony with people of many different backgrounds. He could sit at table with tax collectors and prostitutes and not in any way be dragged down by sin, but rather he lifted them up, some of them right into the kingdom of God. And he could sit down with those folks, he could sit at table equally well with Pharisees and religious leaders, he could do that. He could relate well to a rich Zacchaeus or a religious leader like Nicodemus, these are wealthy, powerful men. He could do that. He could also deal with a sinful Samaritan woman comfortably, and talk with her in a comfortable way. As a matter of fact, it seems the only people that Christ had difficulty relating with, were those people who are so blind through their own pride and their own self-righteousness, that they felt they had no need or use for him at all. And through that blindness, they actually ascribe his works to the devil. But other than that he got along very well and lived in harmony with all different kinds of people. But praise God, Christ hasn't come only to give us an example, amen? Suppose you just look at the example of Christ, and then you're told without any help from him, be like him. How would you do? Christ as example actually condemns us, but Christ as Savior, saves us. And so Christ saves us from all of the ways that we're not like him, but having saved us, then he brings us to his example and say, "Now live like this." He gives us both the salvation and He gives us example. Now, isn't it wonderful to know within the circle of Christianity, our future is one of absolute perfect unity in heaven. We will be as one, it says in John 17, "as the Father and the Son are one." There is never a shadow or shade of disagreement between the Father and the Son. There's no disagreements in heaven, there's no factions or divisions in heaven. We will be in perfect unity. But I think the world needs to see it now, don't you? And the more the world sees Christians in unity, living in harmony with one another, the more powerfully the gospel can advance. Isn't that true, when the world sees us getting over our difficulties, resolving things well doctrinal, emotional, physical, whatever the difficulties are, that we get over it by the power of the Spirit of God, the Gospel advances. Listen to this, it says in the high priestly prayer, John 17:23, Jesus prays, "I in them and you in me," listen, "May they be brought to complete unity." See the progress. "May they be being brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and that you have loved them even as You have loved Me." So as we are gradually, consistently being brought more and more into unity, the world watches, and says, "I want to know the gospel, I want to know more about Jesus, if this is how you treat one another." It's so beautiful. So Live in harmony with one another, that is supernatural. II. A Supernatural Life of Compassion toward Emotional People The second thing that Paul talks about here is a supernatural life of compassion toward emotional people. Look what it says in Verse 15, "Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn." The challenge here are the extremes of emotion that we're dealing with here. The world is full of extreme situations from one end of the spectrum to the other. Human beings created in the image of God, we are emotional beings. We don't just react like computers, processing data. We react with feelings, we have emotions, we feel that. And so, you can respond with laughter, you can respond with tears, with great pain with great joy. It's all over the map. But what's so challenging [chuckle] brothers and sisters, is that this is going on all the time around you. Somebody's greatest day could be happening on your worst day. And how in the world can we deal with that? They are so thrilled. They're walking on cloud nine, and you're in the depths of despair, and yet the two of you have to somehow connect and somehow relate. This verse, verse 15 tells us how. "Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn." Now, the call here, is to show compassion. Another word would be sympathy. They're the same thing, we are feeling with people. We're joining our hearts together emotionally with other people. Jesus Christ was the most compassionate man in history Now, Christ did this, I think Jesus Christ was the most compassionate man in history. Wasn't it Christ who was moved with compassion when he saw the crowds and he saw that they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. He was moved with compassion when He wept over Jerusalem. Moved with compassion also, he reached out and touched a leper, a disgusting leper and said, "I am willing, be healed." Moved with compassion. Inside him something moved. He wasn't just a salvation machine without any feelings. He would see situations and he'd say, "Oh, oh." Something would move inside him. He was connected to what he saw, moved with compassion. He wept at Lazarus's tomb when he saw Martha and Mary weeping, it says, "Jesus wept." "And once more deeply moved, he said, 'Where have you laid him?'" There's a compassion in Christ. I think he's the perfect embodiment of the compassion of our Heavenly Father. God, Almighty God, is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love. He has compassion. Listen to this command in Exodus 22. This is just a minor detail, but look at the compassion of God in it. Exodus 22, it says, "If you take your neighbors cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will be sleep in. When he cries out to me, I will hear for I am compassionate." He cares about somebody who doesn't have a cloak to wrap himself up in at night, God says, because of my compassion return his cloak please, before the sun goes down. Do you see the compassion of God and how much more when he heard the cries of His own people, the Israelites in Egypt and he was concerned about them because of their bondage. He was moved with compassion for them and sent Moses as their deliverer. And how much infinitely more, when God, Almighty God moved with compassion, sees us as slaves, not to making bricks without straw but slaves to sin moved with compassion. He sends His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, our God is a compassionate God. He gets emotional about the things in your life. That's why the Scripture says, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God." He has an emotional reaction to what's going on in your life. God’s Call to Us: Be Compassionate And God's call to us here is to be compassionate, to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn, he wants you to take your heart and melt it into somebody else's. That takes vulnerability, doesn't it? It takes a willingness to be hurt. A willingness to connect with somebody and find out what's going on in their situation. Well, look at rejoice with those who rejoice. Finally they get a job after months and months of being unemployed. Do you care? Does it matter to you? They're happy, they're thrilled. They finally got a job. How does it hit you? And perhaps they're celebrating the birth of their first child or their fifth child for that matter. They're delighted, they're rejoicing, they're thrilled. How about you? Perhaps they've just become engaged to the love of their life and they're so excited, stars in their eyes. Everything's so bright and wonderful. And you're thinking, "What does that have to do with me?" Well, that's up to you, what it has to do with you. The scripture here says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice." Maybe they just got an excellent grade on an exam. Or maybe they just led somebody to Christ for the first time, they finally been able to lead somebody to the Lord. Maybe they're just happy in Jesus and they want to share that with you. There's a challenge if you're not, okay. The Scripture says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice." In any case, you're to rejoice with them as though it were happening to you. And then there's the flip side, "Mourn with those who mourn." That hurts, doesn't it? You were doing fine until you met somebody who was walking around with a burden. They're under a cloud, and you're thinking, "I don't... Do I want to be dragged down into that?" But the Scripture says, "Mourn with those who mourn." Walk with them through their suffering, maybe they've lost a spouse of 50 years. Maybe they've had a miscarriage. Maybe they just got laid off from their job or they had hopes to get a job and it didn't work out. Perhaps a child is suffering in a hospital bed. Maybe they've just been diagnosed themselves with cancer, and they're going to have to have chemotherapy, or radiation. Maybe it's just a minor thing, struggling in some way. Maybe they're having marital struggles or having a hard time parenting their kids. Mourn with those who mourn. And notice what it says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn." You have to do it together, sit next to them. Look them in the face, connect with them. It's to be a community issue here, a interpersonal issue. Not just, "Well, I was happy in my room when I got home, I thought about it and I was... " They don't benefit from that at all. This is to draw us together. In order to do that, you know what, you and I, we need to get up out of ourselves don't we? We need to get out of our immediate circumstances and start thinking about other people's situations, what's facing them. Philippians 2:4 says, "Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also the interests of others." You know what the natural state that sin leaves us in is cold indifference to other human beings. The kind of thing where in the story, the good Samaritan, people, religious people can just walk by a man laying bleeding in the gutter, just walk right by and say, "It has nothing to do with me." Cold indifference. That's the natural state of our sinful hearts. I don't care, that's where we start. And the Lord is saying here in verse 15, "Care. Be compassionate, rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. " I sometimes ask, I hope my family knows I'm goofing around when I ask this question, but somebody asks, "Hon, could you get such and such?" I ask, "What's in it for me? I want to know, what's in it for me?" "Just get the thing, will ya. I need it now." But I just play with that, because that's kind of the state of the human heart, the natural state. What's shameful is, what I joke about, other times, I kind of live at other times. I want to know what's in it for me, what do I get out of this? And what the Scripture is saying is that's not the question you should be asking. The thing is, What can I give? How can I minister? How can I enhance somebody's joy, who's rejoicing? How can I minimize somebody's grief who's suffering? What's in it for you is not the question. What's in it for the brother and sister? That's it. And how can I glorify Christ? The key to the supernatural life is prayer I find that the key to this is prayer. I can't do this unless I pray for other people. If I invest in somebody's lost job, situation or in their cancer or in their desire to have a child or in some situation they bring to me, if I invest in it, like buying shares of a stock, then when it comes back, my joy is greatly increased. I care. If I invest in somebody's suffering, through prayer, I am going to care, when I see them. And if I don't, I probably won't. The key role of prayer. III. A Supernatural Life of Humility toward People “Beneath You” The third aspect here is the supernatural life of humility toward people beneath you. Look what it says in verse 16, "Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." Now, life has kind of a pecking order. I know in the British system, it's almost like a caste system, where everybody's in a certain place in the stratified social order and there's going to be people above you, they are your betters. That always bothered me as an American. Is that how to treat your betters. Saying, "Wait a minute, Aren't all men, created equal? Oh, I'm such a colonial. I'm such an American." So I look at that and it kind of bothers me. It's like, "What do you mean my betters?" But we have a pecking order here in America. It's based on socio-economic success, how well people have done financially, what kind of job they have, where they live, how they're doing. And so there's always going to be people 'above you' and people 'below you.' When I was ministering, my wife and I and our kids were ministering in Japan, I came to know there was a group there called the Barakamon who are at the lowest rung of Japanese society. And I guess in previous centuries, they had been involved in the Tanning of leather and other things and at some point that became untouchable. And so the Japanese people did not want to have anything to do with the Barakamon. They're Japanese people. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but they all know who they are, has to do with their names and has to do with their breeding and other things, and they don't want to give their sons, to their daughters or take their daughters for their sons, they don't want to intermarry with them. And so it's a big problem. Or again, in India, you've got the Dalit or the untouchable class, and again, nobody wants to deal with them. They're at the lowest rung of society, but we have it too. And here in this Scripture, the Lord is commanding on us to be... Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low station. The root of this is pride. And pride is the deadly enemy of what God's calling us to do. You're saying, well, these people can't do anything for me. All they can do is kind of make my life disorderly and messy. And so we don't want to associate with poor people or with people who are below us on the social rung. I think the command here is basically don't put on airs, don't have your nose up in the air, don't be snooty. Don't be conceited, but be willing to embrace, warmly embrace people who are of a low position. Maybe you remember when you were in high school and there were different cliques and groups in high school, the jocks, you had the Chess Club nerds. I was in the Chess Club. Alright, I admit it. I was, I like to play chess. I like math and things like that. So you can call me a nerd. But anyway, I was in a definable a group. The jocks, you've got the... Later on came the Goths, the band geeks, the cheerleaders, the burn outs, the red-necks. Hey, listen, I didn't make these things up, the preppies. And then there was the coveted in-crowd. These are all the most popular kids. And then at the mirror opposite were the losers. And if you wanted to be... If you were almost in the in-crowd, the last thing you wanted was to be seen with a loser or to be friends with a loser because you would be ostracized, you wouldn't be accepted in that in-crowd, that clique. Well, these are immature groupings in high school, but they take a different feel when you move on to adult life, and there are some people and you begin to ask that same question. I asked a minute a go, what's in it for me in this relationship, what can they do for me? And the answer is probably nothing. They can make your life difficult, they're going to be a drain on your resources, on your time and all that, and you decide, "I don't want to have anything to do with them." Woe to us if we ever do that as a church. Amen? If we will not reach out to people of low position because we're too conceited or too successful. God has positioned us here to minister to people who need Christ. To minister to them directly as we saw yesterday, in the health fair. It's a beautiful thing, and to realize how is it that the Lord Jesus Christ has approached us, how does he see us? What do we look like from heaven's perspective? And how could we ever put on airs with some other sinner who's struggling just like we are? Jesus put it this way. He said, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, if you do, they might invite you back and you'll be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be paid at the resurrection of the righteous." Jesus is telling you who to invite to your dinner party. He says invite the people who can't repay you. Invite the people who need it the most. And God is calling on us to a whole different way of viewing people, seeing them as God sees them, not in terms of how they can advance your life, stoke your ego, advance your career, not at all, but who are they, created in the image of God, perhaps brothers and sisters in Christ through faith in Christ. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. I Think about Jesus. And I mentioned earlier how Jesus reaches out to the Samaritan woman at the well. A good friend of mine told me something about this woman at the well, and I've never forgotten it. He said, "You know, the Jews were, in some sense, the rejects of the world. The Samaritans in some sense, the rejects of the Jews. The Samaritan women, rejected by the Samaritan men, and this woman rejected by the Samaritan women, because she had to go in the middle of the day and get her water because of the lifestyle she was leading. And Jesus opened himself up more to her than almost to anybody else. I know that Messiah is coming, she said, and he said, 'I who speak to you, am He.'" He said directly, I'm the Messiah. He usually didn't do that. He usually gave some kind of words that were hard to interpret and then you'd know what he was meaning. He said directly, "I'm the Messiah," to her. Incredible acceptance. She's a woman that most people wouldn't have had even a conversation with. Jesus loved her. He connected with her, even to the point of maybe scandalizing His own disciples, they were surprised that he was talking with her. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. IV. A Supernatural Life of Loving Your Enemies The final aspect here is a supernatural life of loving your enemies. I am amazed at the pervasiveness of revenge and vengeance in our culture. And not just in our culture, around the world. It is a big issue. Just look at geo-political situations, how much is it revenge at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? How much at the core of suicide bombings that are done in reprisal for something that was done by the Israeli occupying force or something like... Back and forth it goes. How much of our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan was motivated by some people, at least, not by everybody, some people as revenge for what happened on September 11th. Get them back, make them pay. I read about a group of Holocaust victims from World War II that organized themselves into a group called The Avengers. And their job after World War II was to hunt down and kill, assassinate SS members, former Nazis that were involved in the executions and in the death camps. And so they would go and find these people through research and they'd pull them out of their beds in the middle of the night, pull them out into the streets and shoot them and just leave them dead in the street. The Avengers. It was revenge that motivated a 48 year old Russian man named Vitaly Kaloyev to fulfill a two-year vendetta after his wife and daughter and son had died tragically in a mid-air collision in Europe. He systematically hunted down the Danish air traffic controller, this in July of 2002, the Danish air traffic controller, Peter Nielsen and murdered him in February 2004 for this. Personal vengeance, because this man, he feels, had ruined his life. Revenge is a major motive in much of the ugliness surrounding divorce court proceedings as people... Two people who formerly loved each other want to take as much flesh almost out of the other person, make them hurt, make them suffer. There's so much bitterness there. How about gang-related violence, in city after city in America? One gang member does something to another and then they come back and kill two of them, and it escalates. It's always with interest, the payback is always with interest, it never stays at the same level. There's so much vengeance in gang-related violence. Revenge is behind road rage. When a driver cuts somebody else off and the other one comes in flashing their high beams and honks the horn and does all kinds of nasty things, whatever, not that you've ever gotten upset when somebody's cut off and done anything like honk your horn or anything like that. There's not even the slightest motion of revenge in you, I'm sure, but there it is. Road rage, people willing even to kill over slights that happen on the road. Revenge is behind office politics and slander and gossip. It's behind the strange delight that family seem to take in the punishment of somebody who hurt their family in some way. You watch it in the local news. And it's like "they got what's coming to them," and all I think, "Oh, that's not the attitude here. You should be praying for these people, even if they did something heinous and terrible, because a far greater judgment stands over them than whatever the courts can give out here in this world." And then there's a more common level. Just in families, and in churches, somebody says something, somebody does something that you don't like, and it hurt you. And then you start thinking, "Oh, I'd like to get them back a little bit. A little bit of payback." Brother to brother, sister to sister, husband to wife, wife to husband, in the church. It happens. And here the scripture is calling us to let it go. Let it go. Do not take revenge, it says. Do not pay back evil for evil. Try to be kind to everyone. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." The root of revenge: pride Now, what is the root of revenge? Well, at the root of it is pride. It isn't just that a wrong has happened or else you'd be just as motivated when something happened to somebody else, right? You'd say, "Oh, it's the justice of the matter. It is. This thing was wrong that was done." I say, "Yeah, but wrongs like that happen around you all the time, and you don't get so motivated. " It's because it happened to you. And therefore pride is at the root of it. And so it's like, "You did such and such to me, to me. Don't you know who I am." And so we become like little gods and goddesses hunting down the perpetrators wanting to hurt them, make them punished for what they did to you. We become the center of the universe. It's so dishonoring to God, to be a little god or a little goddess trying to get back the person who hurt you. And Christ gave us a perfect example in his commands and his teachings in Luke 6, He said, "I tell you who hear me, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic." That's his teaching, but did he live it out? Did Jesus practice what he preached? Yes, he did. He's dying on the cross, and He says, "Father forgive them, they don't know what they're doing." And at the heart of that was his trust in His Heavenly Father. In 1 Peter 2:23 it says, "When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When he suffered, he made no threats, instead he entrusted himself to Him who judges justly." He just gave his case to God, just gave it to God and said, God, you deal with this. And God did. Now, look at the negative commands here. Look at verse 17. Do not repay any one evil for evil. Verse 19, Do not take revenge, my friends. Verse 21, Do not be overcome by evil. So you're in the office and you find out that somebody's been slandering you, telling something that just isn't even true, making you look bad, what do you want to do? What do you want to do? Not only do you want to vindicate yourself, you want to go beyond that, don't you? You want to hurt them back. You want to come up with some scheme, but it's going to take some cleverness on your part now. You can't do it in an obvious way that everybody can see that it's revenge. So you have to be some creative and all that. God's saying, stop all the meditation. Stop all the planning. Stop all of it. Get rid of it, and give the whole matter up to God. Do not, do not, do not. Overcoming evil with Good But he also gives us some positives here too. Look at verse 14, "Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse." Verse 17 and 18, "Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Verse 19, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath." Verse 20, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you'll heap burning coals on his head." In verse 21, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." So it's not just do not, do not, do not, he's saying actively love these people. Actively bless them. William Dirk goes back and leans down with his hand and grabs the cold hand of his persecutor and pulls him up out of the water. He loves him actively. He blessed him by saving his life. Make your life, your heart filled with activity toward people who are being wrong toward you. That's what he's commanding here. Does this sound easy to you? This is supernatural. This is something only God could work in sinners like you and me. Vengeance belongs to God Now, what are the reasons for it? Well, God says, "Do not take revenge, my friends." It says, it is mine to avenge. Verse 19, "It is mine to avenge, I will repay." That is powerful, God is basically staking out a claim here. You can take these three words "I will repay." And depending how you emphasize them you can look at each one of them, each aspect. First of all, I will repay, not you. Or you could say "I will repay." It's a promise. Doesn't it say in Galatians 6:7, "Do not be deceived, for a man reaps whatever he sows." He's not going to get away with it, nobody's getting away with anything. Every sin there is in this world will be judged either at the cross by Jesus' death or on judgment day, by that individual going to hell, that's it. And He's saying I will repay... And then I will repay. There is justice with God. So, don't take revenge, let God do it. It's his job, his role. And he will do it in God's perfect time. Now, it's a very stirring thing when he says, leave room for the wrath of God. Is that surprising to you? How would you like to heap burning coals on somebody? I want to heap burning coals on somebody. Woo, that's ugly, that's unpleasant. I read this and I said, "You know, I would have an easier time preaching it if it were written like this. 'Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for the grace of God." Do you see it? And this is a valid theme, isn't it? Because God's grace can take any bitter hateful enemy and turn them around and make them a Christian brother or sister in Christ. Look what he did to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, he converted him and he became a Christian. And those who used to be afraid of him and maybe even tempted to hate him, then loved him as a brother in Christ. So, don't take revenge because God's grace can be at work in their life. That is true but it's not what it says. There's another aspect too. Because, frankly, many of these persecutors are not going to come to Christ, and they're goanna keep on persecuting and keep on opposing their whole lives. Still, bless them. Still, love them. Still, pray for them. Because, yeah, they might someday come to Christ, but even if they don't, the ultimate wrath from God is far greater than anything you could ever do. Far greater. And so with every kind act, you're stepping aside and letting the justice of God work. And in so doing, you're heaping burning coals of judgment on their head. Matthew Henry wrestled with this and he said, "Okay, the burning coals, either it's going to melt their hard hearts into a liquid state, so that they will become Christians and your friend, or it's going to be wrath on Judgment Day. But either way, don't take revenge." Basically, the bottom line here is this, look at verse 21, only good can conquer evil. You can't conquer evil with evil. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Stephen’s example and Paul’s conversion Stephen, as he was finishing up his sermon in Acts 7, cries out by the power of God, says, "You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears, you're just like your fathers: you always resist the Holy Spirit. Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute?" Now you have betrayed and murdered the Righteous One, the Messiah." And when they heard that, they were filled with rage and they flooded out and grabbed hold of Stephen and moved into a place and began to kill him. They poured stones on him and they were murdering him. And while they are murdering him, they laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul who was approving of what was going on. But Saul watched something that day. He watched Stephen sink down and look up and see heaven open. He said, "Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." And then as he was dying, he said, "Lord do not hold this sin against them." And when He had said this, He fell asleep. Years later, I don't know how many years later, but Saul of Tarsus was on route to Damascus, the story is told in Acts 26, when a blinding light came around him, and he fell to the ground and a voice came from heaven. And someone who is better at loving enemies than anyone ever in this world, Jesus, said, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And then out of compassion, he adds this, "It's hard for you to kick against the goads…" Isn't it? It's hard for you. Out of compassion. What are the goads? Stephen was a goad. The way he died, the way he said "do not hold this sin against them." You want to be a Christian, don't you Saul? Yes, I do. And he was ready. And so the love and the compassion of Stephen toward an enemy, toward a bunch of enemies converted, in part, converted Saul of Tarsus. What about you? How are you going to deal with it the next time your husband, your wife says something unkind to you? Are you going to try to repay them? Or are you going to just give it up to God? How about here in the church, the next time somebody does something, says something, doesn't notice a good thing and you think they should thank you and they didn't notice, are you going to try to work out a little bit of revenge or are you going to give it up to God? What about to the non-Christians around who don't have the same values you do, but they try to hurt you, to attack you in the office, on the road, out in public, because they don't know Jesus and they don't know any better. Are you going to give it up to God, or are you going to try to seek revenge? And how about if it's even worse than that, if somebody kills a family member, can you be like some Christian brothers and sisters that I've seen on the local news, say, "I forgive them, I'm praying for them, that they would come to know the Lord" or are you going to be a more vindictive sort, and say, "they got what they deserved?" I pray, God, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will live the supernatural life that God has for us, to live.mClose with me in prayer.
Introduction: The “Burden of Bearing the Light” Okay, we're looking this morning at Philippians 2:14-18. And as you're turning there, I just want to tell you of something wonderful and remarkable that's going on in my family. For two years, we've had a kind of a mute observer in our home. His name is Calvin. He's been watching us, he's been observing. And now, he's ready to talk about it a little bit. More and more every week as a matter of fact. Just before I came up here, I asked my wife, I said, "Where's he at in his speaking ability right now?" And she said, "Well, he says, 'Mommy, have a question.'" So that means, "I have a question.'" I don't know what questions come after that, but he always has questions and he's thinking. But this is the amazing thing, what's remarkable, my wife and I were missionaries overseas in Japan, and we had the burden of learning the Japanese language. We had flash cards, we had grammar books, we had a tutor, we had exams, we drilled ourselves, and at the end of two years we were barely, I mean barely, conversational. And now it's all gone like the morning mist. I can remember how to greet, I can say a few other things but it's gone. This little kid, Calvin, a year from now will probably be conversational, no flash cards, no textbooks, no grammars, no audio tapes, no special tutoring sessions, nothing, just living. The Magnificent Gift of Language Because God has granted to us the gift of language. And his language will be English probably, I think it's going to be English. But he's not unusual, there's nothing striking about him. I'm not standing and proclaiming that my son is a super genius, he's not. But he's going to be probably conversational, if not fluent in English a year from now. And so will your children if they are at that same age and so will children all over the world in the corresponding languages that their parents are speaking to them, because God is a lingual God, He's a God of language, a God who speaks, and He has given to us the gift of language, the gift of words. Now, to me that's a phenomenal thing. Some of the best things in my life have come to me through words. If you think about history, you think about the great moments, like Abraham Lincoln speaking the Gettysburg Address and just understanding what that battle was about in just a few words. A Winston Churchill, inspiring a downtrodden nation to hope and courage at a low point. Speaking words into a microphone that just blessed. Or the poetry of John Milton, sonnets of Shakespeare. I think about these, this is high and lofty speech. But then there's the beauty of everyday language, of a husband complementing his wife for a wonderful meal made, or wife complementing her husband for the good job that he does in providing a family. Simple words of thanks and encouragement that go from one to another. Common goodness, and that's every day goodness, every day blessing. Then there's the higher forms of speech that we're called to as Christians. The speech of prayer, being able to talk to God, to speak to Him. To memorize Scripture and be able to recite it, to speak the words of God. Be able to read Scriptures, we've heard done several times this morning in the worship service. To be able to speak the words of God after Him. Well, that's high speech, isn't it? And a great joy. And then there's just worship, being able to sing to God as we've done this morning. Being able to just communicate with God through words and say, "You are a mighty God and we love you". To speak words of thanksgiving and benediction, words of blessing. It's a great gift, that's language at its best. And perhaps the highest call concerning words is the call to preach the Gospel. As it says in our text today, to hold forth or "hold out the word of life" in a dark and a crooked and depraved generation. To hold out the words of the Gospel. My salvation and yours are dependent on words, isn't that incredible? The words of the Gospel, it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. And so this is language at its best and highest but, words can also turn bad, can't they? Words can be used to devastate, to poison a relationship between a husband and wife, between good friends. Words can be used to ruin a church fellowship. Words can be used to rip and to tear and to destroy in so many ways. This is speech gone bad. And it's also mentioned in our text today. Look at verse 14, "Do everything without complaining or arguing." Those are two of the worst forms of speech. And they're so familiar to us that we just kind of almost, kind of laugh. "Oh yes, complaining my old friend, were constant companions complaining and I." And then there's arguing as well. But this is generally speech gone bad, truly. This is not what our mouth was made for. Now what's fascinating to me is that some of the weightiest things in life have no mass at all. Words have no mass and yet they're weighty and significant. Light has no mass but it's weighty. And we have the weighty burden of bearing the light. As Michael Card put it in one of his songs, "This burden of bearing the light" to a lost, a dark generation. Of sharing the Gospel. And there are times I think, to me, it feels like an overwhelming burden. To think of the darkness that surrounds us all the time and to think that we have the only hope, the message of the Gospel. And that it's up to us, under the power of the spirit to go out and share that Gospel, it feels like a burden. And it is a burden. It's a great burden that He has given to us. II. The Internal Journey: Working Hard by God’s Power Now we've seen, in the Book of Philippians, two eternal or infinite journeys. An internal journey of holiness and sanctification, whereby we grow more and more like Jesus Christ, little by little. And, also, the external journey of salvation, whereas we are preaching the Gospel. We're communicating, sharing the Gospel to the ends of the Earth making disciples. Now, we've seen recently and been focusing on the internal journey, that working out our salvation with fear and trembling. Look again at verse 12. It says, "Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." We've seen that salvation is a process. We don't get it all at once. We don't. We get justification at the beginning, by faith alone. Apart from works, we get this. And that is, full forgiveness of sins, adoption into the family of God, standing in the righteousness of Christ, that beautiful robe of righteousness, perfect righteousness. Positionally, we get that, apart from works, as a gift. Well, that's wonderful, but salvation isn't finished yet. God intends in the end that you be every bit as perfect as Jesus Christ. Perfect in your emotions. Perfect in your thinking. Perfect in your will. All of the internal parts of you, in what you delight in and what you hate. He wants you to be just like Jesus. And He wants you to be perfect externally, as well. And that is, physically, He wants you to have a perfect body. And so your salvation will be finished when you are perfect inside and out. And until then you're not finished being saved yet. Now, you can't be any more justified than you are today, if you're a Christian. You can't be any more forgiven. You can't be any more loved. You can't be seen any higher by God, but your salvation's still not finished. And so we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, that internal journey of holiness that we've been talking about. We've seen that it comes from God's greater work in us. Verse 13: "It is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." Jesus said, "I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from Me you can do nothing." And so we work because He first worked in us. And that's what we've talked about the last few weeks. Well, how does that relate to do everything without complaining or arguing, which is the very next verse? Well, I think they're intimately related. They're directly connected. The Philippian Church were having conflicts. They were having arguments. There was dissension. They were not living, in Philippians 1:27, up to the calling of the Gospel. They weren't living up to what the message that they were preaching. And so you cannot hold forth the word of life, if you're arguing and bickering among yourselves. That's how they join together. The internal journey of holiness meshes together with the external journey of worldwide evangelization. III. The External Journey: Holding Out the Word of Life to a Lost World In the juxtaposition of these two sections, Philippians 2:12 and 13, tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. And then in verse 16, it tells us to hold out the word of life to a dark and dying world. They go together. And so He wants us to make moral progress. He wants us to be more like Jesus. He wants us to stop arguing and to stop complaining so that we can more effectively hold out the word of life. That's how they work together. Now, verse 14. "Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure." Now, complaining is really a very great sin. I know we don't think of it as a great sin. We think of murder or adultery, or embezzlement, or some of these other great sins as great sins. But complaining is a great sin. It's a great wickedness because God created us to receive blessings from Him. Job put it this way, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart." So we are just in a total beggar position before God. Everything of value comes as a gift of grace. And so all of the things that come your way come from God. Complaining means, "I'm not satisfied with what you've given me." It really is anti-worship. It's exactly the opposite of worship and thanksgiving. We should be worshipping. We should be giving thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. But instead we're complaining. We Complain About Everything We complain about the weather. It's too hot, too cold, too foggy, too dewy. I don't know. I mean whatever. There's just something wrong. Too muggy. Too ice-ish a year ago. I mean just something to complain about. I saw a cartoon about this a number of years ago in which this little kid who's just nothing but a tyrant. It's Calvin and Hobbes. And this kid's sitting in the tub and his mother draws the bath for him, and he complains and says, "It's too hot!" So she fix it. He says, "Now it's too cold!" So she fixed it again. "Now it's too hot again!" So she fixed it again. "Now it's too deep." But that's us. That's the way we are no matter what God does. If you have a disposition toward complaining, that's going to be you. It's too this or it's too that. We complain about our finances we don't make enough money. Complain about our job. Our boss doesn't see all that I am and all that I could be if I would just get that promotion. We complain about our vehicle, our car, it needs repair again. Complain about our spouse. Complain about our children or our parents. They don't really see me properly the way I should be seen. They don't treat me the way I should be treated. Complain about everything. Complain about our church. It's a great sport of complaining about your pastor. It's a great disease. And I'm not just talking about... But it's endemic all over Christendom to complain about your church. We complain about everything. Now, we have great predecessors in this, Israel. The Israelites were great complainers. They really refined it to an art. Those of you that have been studying with us at night in Exodus, almost every sermon, it's about the same thing. What are they going to complain about today? Either it's water or it's food, or it's the Red Sea problem or it's some other thing. There are issues and they're constantly complaining. And they would not through... Because of their unbelief, they would not enter the promised land and so God condemned them to wander for 40 years in the desert and thereby, he condemned them to eat manna for 40 years too. Now, it's better than starving, it's better than dying. But they got tired of it, manna, morning, noon, and night for 40 years. Now, you probably would've gotten tired of it too, but it still was a great sin to complain, and so they did complain. In Numbers 21:5, it says, "They spoke against God and against Moses and said, 'why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There's no bread, there's no water, and we detest this miserable food.'" Well, you know what the miserable food was they were detesting? Miraculous bread from heaven. Manna, they detested it. God responded by sending poisonous snakes into their camp and many of them died, and so someone once said, "God threatens terrible things if you will not be happy." And it's true. God wants us to be content and happy. Two Reasons for Complaining Now, what is the root of complaining? I think two things. Number one, we forget what we truly deserve. Number two, we forget who it is that gives us everything in life. Those are two things and they're theological. We forget what we truly deserve, namely eternal condemnation in hell. Just picture yourself standing before God on Judgement Day and saying, "God, just give me what I truly deserve and nothing more. I just want what I deserve. No grace, no mercy, no handouts, just what I deserve." Do you want that? No. So, we forget. We forget what we truly deserve. One pastor has made a habit when asked, "How are you?" Or, "How are things going?" He always answers the same way, "Better than I deserve." What a thankful spirit that promotes. It's better than I deserve, no matter what is happening to me, it's better than I deserve. We forget that, we think we deserve better. "I deserve to be seen by this person better than they're seeing me." No, you don't. "I deserve better clothes than I... " No, you don't. "I deserve a better situation. I deserve better health. I deserve better health for a loved one." No, you don't. No, you don't. No, you don't. We deserve hell. And the irony is that that thought is the root of great joy and happiness in life, isn't it? Because you think that way, you just accept everything as better than you deserve. Secondly, we forget from whom we get everything. We forget that God is a king providentially ruling over everything that comes our way. He has chosen this arrangement of circumstances for you today, much like a chef will choose what's on the plate that he sets before you. Some of those things will be sweet to your taste and some bitter, but God is the wise one who's chosen. And when we complain, we forget Him, we forget how much He loves us. So, we must do everything without complaining. Why Do We Argue? And what about arguing? Now, I know only some of you argue, but I'm going to speak to those of you that argue, okay? Those of you that argue, why do you do it? Is it because you have forgotten perhaps that the person you're arguing with will someday be as glorious as Jesus Christ? That someday, if you're Christians, that you will be perfectly one? Have you forgotten that? Have you forgotten the weight of glory? C. S. Lewis said that, "If you saw that person as they will someday be, you'll be as tempted to worship them, as John was to worship the angel that brought him the Book of Revelation." I know it's hard for you to think of your spouse that way, but think just with me for a moment. Think of your spouse as glorious and think of this person that you're having a hard time with, that there's broken fellowship, that someday they'll be glorious in Christ. They say, "Well what if they're not a Christian?" Well, do you realize there are far weightier issues then, than your little argument with that person? You need to be holding out the word of life to them, not arguing with them. Do everything without complaining or arguing. And why? So that we can put moral purity on display. So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe. Thus, the internal journey of sanctification makes the external journey of evangelization possible. Pure and blameless. Now, this doesn't mean perfect. You're not called to be perfect in this world. We're called to be, but we won't be. You're not expected to be, because God has not removed from us our flesh. In the end, when God separates us from the body of death, we will be pure and blameless. But these are I think provisional words somewhat like when we're speaking of Zechariah and Elizabeth, that they were blameless keeping all of God's commands, that you can in a very conspicuous way be living up to God's standard. Life a Life Worthy of the Gospel Now, this is what you were chosen for before the foundation of the world anyway. Ephesians 1:4 says, "In Him, we were chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." And so, we are called on here to live up to the Gospel that we're holding forth. That was the whole problem with the Philippians. They were under the pressure of persecution. They were called on to be witnesses for Christ. And so in Philippians 1:27, look back for a minute, it's just maybe on the same page. But 1:27 it says, "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ." Live up to your message. That's what it's saying. Live up to your message. Now one of my great heroes from church history that I just love is John Huss, and I mentioned him this past week or Wednesday mission study. But John Huss was a great man of God. And as he was about to be put to the torch, he was going to be burned at the stake in the 15th century, about 100 years before Luther, he was offered an opportunity to recant and he said, "What I have taught with my lips, I now seal with my blood." Isn't that great? What I've taught with my lips, I seal with my blood. Well, most of us probably are not going to be called to be martyrs, probably not going to be called to seal with our blood what we teach with our lips. But this Scripture here teaches us that what we teach with our lips we are to seal with our life. We're to live up to what we proclaim. Unbelievers can sniff out hypocrisy, can't they? They can kind of tell. I mean, here you proclaim a God of love and look how you treat your spouse. You proclaim a God of love and I've been to one of your church conferences. You proclaim to be preaching a sovereign God who's a king and yet you're complaining about your circumstances. It doesn't make sense. And they, I don't think, can articulate it but they just can smell hypocrisy. They know, and they'll tell you it's one of the main reasons they don't come to faith in Christ. "Churches are full of hypocrites," they say. And so our lives must match our message or we'll make no progress in evangelism at all. We must also understand our generation. It says that we live in a crooked and depraved generation. Now they can smell our hypocrisy, but let me say back to the crooked and deprived generation. We Christians live constantly surrounded by the stink of their rebellion against God. We're infected by it every day. They pour forth stuff that lures us away from Christ, and we have to understand that that is the generation we're living in and it's always been the case. It's the same every generation, crooked and depraved. Not essentially good, basically good. No, crooked and depraved. Crooked means they don't live according to the straight path, the righteous path that God has ordained. Depraved means or perverse means wicked to the core. Romans 1:28 says, "They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless" That's the crooked and depraved generation we live in. Oh they need the Gospel. They need the Gospel. And we are called on to give it to them. Our lives therefore must match our message. We must live up to the message that we preach. Jesus said, " "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." And so we're called to be stars, that's what the text says. Stars really. Mariners used to make their way across the ocean by star navigation. They'd be able to discern their position by looking at Polaris for example, the pole star that never moved. In the same manner, God is calling on Christians to be a fixed point of reference that doesn't move. We're just consistent. Our integrity speaks of truth that doesn't change. Or another illustration, the slaves before the Civil War used to work out in the fields and they would sing a song that contained code language for how to escape, "When the sun comes back and the first quail calls, follow the drinking gourd, for the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom, follow the drinking gourd." What's the drinking gourd? Well, it's the Big Dipper up in the sky and the handle pointed the way north. And there would be a guide in the Underground Railroad if they would follow the drinking gourd, if they would follow the line of the stars, they would know how to get north at night, and I think we're called to be that way. We're called to point the way to the truth by the way that we live so that people who are slaves to sin may find freedom in Christ. Hold Out the Word of Life Verse 16 it says, "As you hold out the word of life." Now here's the thing folks. I've been talking about living up to your message, but your lifestyle will save no one from their sin. I'm not meaning to be insulting. I'm not meaning to say you really won't do a good job. If you could just live better, people would get saved. I'm just saying no one will get saved by watching how well you imitate Christ. It's not God's way. God, rather, has ordained that the word of truth, the word of life will save. The Gospel message itself must be proclaimed. And so the lifestyle is really just the table setting for the real meal, and the real meal is the message of the Gospel. And so your lifestyle is the linen table cloth and it's the silver forks and knives and the best plates and goblets and all of these things set for the feast, and what is the feast? The feast is the word of God. People get saved as you hold out or hold forth the word of life. Now, there's something about holding forth in that. The guy who led me to Christ, a guy named Steve, he shared the Gospel with me through great persecution, great persecution for 18 months. I abused him, I was rude to him, I insulted him and he never gave up. He just kept sharing the Gospel. He kept holding forth the word of life. That example of perseverance and communication convicts me. So often I think, "Well, I shared once with him, that's it." Check the box, co-worker, somebody that... And you had a sharing opportunity, it didn't go well and say, "Well, at least I shared with them." Well, it's true and something's been done there. But is it done? No. We're to hold forth the word of life. I mean, consistently hold it out, say, "Here is the way, walk in it. Here is Christ." Consistency, a willingness to reach out with the Gospel. Now Paul was an example of this. He talks about his own example. He says, "In order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing," and then he says, "Even if I am being poured out like a drink offering, on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I'm glad and rejoice with all of you." He's putting himself forward as a role model. IV. Paul’s Example of Joyful Suffering (vs. 16-18) Now, today I just want to touch on this lightly because it's a big theme in Philippians and it's better spoken of at 3:17. And there he says, "Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you…" A pattern of Christianity. But here he says, "See my example. I have run the race with endurance. I have labored and now I am willing to be poured out like a drink offering." The image is, there's a good picture on the front of your bulletin there of just a pitcher of water being poured out. Drink offering is sacrificial language, and the priest would take a cup of wine probably, and poured onto the hot coals of fire of the sacrifice, and whoosh, up it would go. The fire here is the sacrifice and service coming from the Philippians faith. He said, "Even if I'm dying to help you grow more, I'm willing. I'm glad. I'm willing to die. I'm rejoicing." Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in effect said, "Though he slay me, yet will I obey him." But Paul here says, "Though he slay me yet will I rejoice in Him." And that's our calling too. Verse 18, so you too should be glad in the same way and rejoice with me, be willing to be poured out for Christ, be willing to be poured out so that others maybe saved. V. Application Now what application can we take from this? Well, first, my theology professor is talking about some of the difficulties and the depths of Scripture and how hard the Scripture can be to understand, and it can be. It's a very deep book. But he said, "I found the real problem with Scripture is not that it's too complicated, it's that it's too simple and I don't want to do what it says." [chuckle] Look at verse 14, is that complicated? Do you have a hard time understanding verse 14? Do you need somebody like me to come explain the Greek or to get to a deeper level of exegesis? Do everything without complaining or arguing. You know what complaining is, and you know what arguing is. What do you complain about the most? Think about that. You don't have to speak out. We could have a time like that, but we're not going to do that. But what moves you to complain the most? Maybe it's financial issues, maybe it's health issues, maybe it's family issues, maybe it's the church, something. We need to repent from that sin. Think of how sweet our fellowship would be with God if in the middle of one of those trials we choose instead to worship, just like Job did, instead may the name of the Lord be praised. May he be praised. I deserved hell, and God has chosen to give this to me and I will worship Him. I trust in Him. For me, I think it's the car, the automobile. I know there's not going to be any cars in heaven, or if there aren't there, they're not going to break down and cost $750. It's just not going to happen. Or if they break down and cost $750, they'll be right there, every time, and never a lack. But something better than the situation we have here. Right? I have to resolve the next time my car breaks down significantly, I'm going to trust in God and not complain. I'm not going to speak any negative words. I'm just going to trust Him. That's hard to do. And arguing, I don't want to do it anymore. It's an act of the will to not argue to say, "Our fellowship's too important for this." Now, that doesn't mean we don't work through issues with the truth. You know I believe we do that, so we can come to a genuine unity, but we're not going to argue with each other. And then finally, hold out the word of life, hold it out, come with us to the outreach today. Maybe you're teetering on the edge. You weren't sure whether you're going to come. Come, if you can. Come, hold forth the word of life. But today's outreach isn't the issue, it's seven days a week. D. L. Moody resolved that he would not go to bed every day without witnessing to somebody that day. Now that's a challenge. If you don't think it is, try it. Try it for a week. Say, "For the next seven days, I will not complain, I will not argue, and I will witness to at least one person a day for seven days." Now that's a challenge. It's a challenge. And finally, to you who are sitting and listening to me and you don't feel inside your heart that you are Christians, I can do nothing better than just hold forth the word of life to you today. It doesn't matter how much sin you've committed. It doesn't matter what you did last night. What matters is that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Paul says, "Of whom I am the worst". And that is a trustworthy saying. He came to save people like you because He suffered and died on the cross for sins that were not His own, as a substitute, that we might have eternal life. Trust in Him today.
I. A Tale of Two Conquerors: Alexander and Christ Remarkable things from the book of Daniel, we've seen the sovereignty of God, we've seen his knowledge of the end from the beginning, the meticulous and careful way in which he's laid that out in the book of Daniel. And we come now to Daniel 8 and one of the most remarkable prophecies in the book in terms of how it lines up with popular secular knowledge of history. We come to an account of Alexander the Great. In the year 323 BC, the life of a 33-year-old man, the most successful, the most powerful, the most talented, the most visionary leader of the world had ever seen, and some people think has ever seen ended in a bout of drunkenness, in the city of Babylon. The very same place where Belshazzar's life, 200 years before, had ended in a fit of drunkenness. Alexander the Great, died because he drank too much. Move ahead three centuries or more. 30 AD, city of Jerusalem, the life of a 33-year-old man ends on a cross and whereas Alexander's death ended his reign over his earthly kingdom, Jesus death on the cross began his reign and the advance of a kingdom, which will never end. Today as we look in Daniel 8, we look at a tale of two conquerors, and one anti-Christ. We look at the tale of Alexander the Great and his successor after 200 or so years, Antiochus, an anti-Christ figure and then we look at Jesus Christ, the greatest conqueror the world has ever seen, and we're going to compare their methods and their achievements, and we're going to see the eternal kingdom of God again. The thing that's remarkable about Daniel Chapter 8 is how specific it is about the coming of a man that most people know. And I'm going to give you today a tool right in your hands that you can take into your work places and with other people in this truth questioning age that we live in and say, there is a supernatural evidence of the truth of the Bible right here in Daniel 8. Have you ever heard of Alexander the Great, well, 200 years before he was born, his kingdom and his death and the division of his kingdom was all laid out in prophetic perspective by the Prophet Daniel. Remarkable thing that I came across in my research for this sermon, about the year 330 Alexander the Great had not yet completed his conquest of the Persian empire. He was in the middle of it. He was seeking to conquer Gaza and he took a side tour up to the city of Jerusalem. The account of this is in Josephus, a first century historian, Jewish historian and he went to Jerusalem and there the high priest came out and met him in their robes, and he was so impressed with their appearance because he had had a vision. Alexander had had a vision, a dream (so the account goes) before he had ever left Macedonia, that he would come to a city in which people dressed in certain robes would come out and show him a prophecy. He had a dream, and that had encouraged him and exhorted him to begin his conquest of Asia. And now these men were coming out in these robes and it was the Jewish priest and the high priest in particular. And he brought out a copy of the Book of Daniel and he showed Alexander in Chapter 8, what we're going to study today, what was written in there about him. Alexander believed these kind of oracles. He was always going to this or that or the other oracle for predictions or prophecies about him. But here is one that have been written 200 years before he had been born and according to that prophecy he would conquer the Persian empire. I think that the high priest stopped reading too soon because it also gave a clear warning of his death at the height of his power and perhaps the high priest should have taken a moment to warn him, to make himself right with the God of heaven before he died. All of us today are facing our own mortality, and no matter how much we achieve in this world, no matter how great we are as Alexander was great in the world side, we need a savior, and we need to enter the kingdom, that we've been learning about in the Book of Daniel, namely the kingdom of Jesus Christ. God’s Purposes: Vision & Interpretation Now as we come to Daniel 8, you have to wonder why did God spell out something like this? Why is this important to God? I think, first of all, that we understand God knows the end from the beginning. He knows the future in detail and He delights to reveal some of it to us. Now, we don't know it all but we know enough to see that God holds the future in his hand. And secondly, why does he reveal it in this way? If you look and read through Daniel 8, you'll see the confusion in Daniel's mind. Daniel, one of the wisest man that ever lived. He could not understand it unless God sent Gabriel or some way to explain it and so it is also with the wisdom that comes from God. God knows all things. We know nothing unless God is pleased to reveal it to us. And so we come to Daniel 8 and what I like to do is take it in parts so that we don't get overwhelmed by what's in here. Let's look at verses 1-8 and see the vision described and then we'll interpret it. Beginning at verse 1. "In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, I, Daniel, had a vision after the one that had already appeared to me and in my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa, in the province of Elam. In the vision, I was beside the Ulai canal. I looked up and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal and the horns were long, one of the horns was longer than the other, but grew up later. I watched the ram as he charged toward the west, and the north, and the south. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great. As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. He came to towards the two horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in great rage. I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him. The goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power. The goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn, was broken off and in its place, four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven." II. The Vision Described and Interpreted Context: Time, Place, Circumstances (vs. 1-2) The context, the time, place and circumstances of Daniel's vision are given in verse 1-2, it's the third year of Belshazzar's reign. Remember, Belshazzar is the one that had had the writing on the wall. The one I described to you earlier, the one who was the final ruler of the Babylonian Empire. The one who drank a toast to the gods of wood and iron and stone from the vessels taken from the temple of the Lord, this Belshazzar. The time was probably 553 BC, about 200 years before Alexander the Great and he said that this vision came after the previous vision. Well, what vision was that? It's the vision, we just discussed over the last two weeks in Daniel chapter 7, the vision of the four beast that came up out of the disturbed and turbulent sea. And we saw that these were four great world empires; the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire and then the Roman Empire. We also saw the vision of one like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven to bring in a kingdom that will never end. And we saw that this was Jesus Christ, the Son of Man whose kingdom will never end. The place of the vision is given as the citadel of Susa. Now, this is visionary language, and so we're really not sure if he was physically in Susa or just traveled there in the Spirit as Ezekiel from time to time, would travel in the Spirit or as the Apostle John would travel in the Spirit to see visions, of heaven, but he may have been physically there because he was a high-ranking official in the Babylonian Empire, and Susa was an important city. It was the capital of the Elamites, the ancient capital of the Elamites about 250 miles east of Babylon. It would later become the capital of the Persian empire, it was the home of Nehemiah, for example, and of Queen Esther wife of King Xerxes. And as he was standing there, he was by the Ulai canal. It says this was a wide artificial canal connecting the Choaspes and the Coprates river. This is a physical place and that's where he was in his vision, so in the vision he's kind of tied to an actual city and a little detail of the city, a small canal and that's where he has his vision and what does he see in the vision? The Ram with Two Horns (vs. 3-4, 20) Well, he sees a ram with two horns. In verse 3 and 4, "I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns standing beside the canal and the horns were long, and one of the horns was longer than the other, but grew up later." Well, this must be the Medo-Persian Empire, and we know it because it says so down in verse 20, look down at verse 20, the two horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king. The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation, but will not have the same power. So we get Gabriel, the angel coming and telling us literally what this means. So we don't have any doubt at all. This is the Medo-Persian empire. And one horn is longer than the other because the Persian power was greater than that of the Medes, very specific, and then suddenly the conquests, are described in verse 4, of the Medo-Persians, "I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south, no animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power, he did as he pleased," it says, "And became great." So the Medo-Persian empire was the greatest empire that the world had seen, up to that time. It spread from northern Ethiopia, all the way to the Black Sea. It spread from the Asian or the Aegean Sea near Greece, all the way as far as the Indus River almost to India and China. It was an incredible empire, it traveled westward, northward, southward and it was totally dominant. Nobody could stand against its power. It says of the kings of Medo-Persia that they did as they pleased, or he, the goat, did as he pleased and became great. This is the ultimate desire, isn't it of human beings in vaunting themselves against God. We want to do as we please and we want to become great. We want to be worshipped like gods. That was the original temptation in the Garden of Eden. And so we see its fulfillment in these human empires, these tyrannical reigns, these kings who want to do as they please and conquer and dominate; the essence of human rebellion, against God. The Goat with One Horn (vs. 5-8, 21-22) Well, as he's watching all of a sudden comes this goat. Now, you think in a contest between a goat and a ram, the goat has no chance. The ram is bigger, it's more imposing, it's more powerful and it's got these strong horns. And along comes this goat with just one horn. Look at it again in verses 5-8. "As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. He came toward the two horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in great rage. I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him. The goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power. So Daniel is pondering this ram with the two horns, he's intensely interested, the Hebrew is very strong, he was very interested in this vision of the ram, he's mystified by it and not sure what it is. And then all of a sudden comes this goat and it's moving fast. I mean, it's flying, it's almost like a missile, it's a goat missile. Can you imagine a goat missile? And it's coming fast from the west. Versus 5 and also 21 describes him with a single prominent horn coming up from between its eyes and the origin of the goat, it says it's from the west. Well, it just so happens that Macedonia is from the west, it's coming from Greece. The Persians were never able to settle the Greeks down, there was an ongoing struggle between the two, and they never quieted them down and there was a great deal of bad blood between the Greeks and the Persians, a lot of history there. And so from the west came this goat and it's moving fast, it says it's crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. Remember in Chapter 7, what represented the Greek Empire. It was a leopard with four wings, speed, agility, that was the picture. It moved fast and it conquered fast. There's an enraged charge of the goat in verse 6-7, and a complete conquest by the goat in verse 7, and then at the height of his power, that prominent horn is cut off and the kingdom is divided into four, four equal parts, a four-fold division of the kingdom. This is the vision. III. Detailed Fulfillment #1: Alexander the Great Now, what is the fulfillment? Well, you don't read the fulfillment in scripture, you have to go to secular history, classical history to understand what happened and there is no shortage of accounts of the life of Alexander the Great. You see, Alexander was intensely interested in his legacy. He was intensely interested in history. He knew who he was or at least who he thought he was. And so it came about, his father Philip II of Macedonia had organized a coalition of Macedonian troops and they began to conquer Greece. His first conquest was over a small mining town, right near his area. This is Phillip now, his father, changed the name of that town to Philippi and we have the book Philippians from Alexander the Great's Father Philip, that was the first conquest, but at the height of his power, he was assassinated and his young son, Alexander, a mere 19 years old, took over Greece at that point. So in effect he was the first king of a united Greece because the conquest wasn't completed yet and Alexander took over. Rise to Power Now, Alexander had been born July or August perhaps 356 BC. After Alexander's life, there are lots of myths that grew up about him, about supernatural birth and other things like that but he was just a man, human being, his father was obviously wealthy and powerful and had him tutored with the best tutor available who happened to be Aristotle. So Aristotle tutored Alexander. Aristotle, one of the most famous philosophers of ancient Greece, and he tutored him in the ways of Greek culture and he became, in effect, a disciple or an apostle of Greek culture and everywhere Alexander went, he spread the Greek language and Greek culture. He had a vision of the supremacy of Hellenism of Greece and he got that from Aristotle. When he was eight years old, his father bought him a mighty war horse, a charger, a steed named Bucephalus. Nobody could even get near the horse. It was a very proud and powerful horse. Alexander was just eight years old, and he watched for a while, and he said, "Father, I'd like to try to ride him," and his father just stared at him and he said, "You're going to get hurt." He said, "I want to do it." And so, he got down there and he took the horse and turned it toward the sun and it kind of blinded it, right in the sun, and then while it was blinded and somewhat confused, he jumped up, he jumped up on his back and he conquered that horse just like that. Bucephalus rode with him everywhere he went. He became his horse and as he conquered, he went everywhere he went and his father Phillip said to him after that you'll have to find another kingdom. Macedonia, won't be big enough for you. So from the very start of his life, he was kind of groomed with visions of grandeur and conquest. Vengeance on the Persians The time came for him to invade Asia. I don't know if it was because of that vision I had mentioned earlier, where he had a dream of somebody saying, "You will conquer," but off he went. His armies crossed the Dardanelles, and they spread over into Asia Minor. Alexander the Great, went to Troy, ancient Troy, the enemy of the Greeks and he went there and he took the shield of Achilles that ancient Greek hero and he carried that with him everywhere he went, he had delusions of grandeur, always thinking of himself in this way and everywhere he went, he wanted eternal glory. That's what his biographer said, he was seeking eternal glory. In lightning fashion, he went down, he conquered down the coast down into Egypt, went back up and defeated Darius the King of the Persians in two key battles; Issus and Gaugamela, two battles. And within three years, the whole world lay at his feet. Three years. Lightning conquest. Lightning Warfare, Lightning Conquest He continued to march for another 10 years, went all the way to the Indus River. His army marched with him for 20,000 miles in 10 years. Think about that 20,000 miles in 10 years. Average of 2,000 miles a year, that's a full army marching with all their equipment, incredible speed. And everywhere he went, he had victories. He never lost a battle, never a single battle. Finally, his men said, "Enough is enough. What we're going to go on into the Himalayas? We're going to go, going to continue going east?" They wanted to stop, they wanted to go home, enough was enough, and he sat down and wept because there was no where else for him to conquer. Incredible speed of assault, three years Persia destroyed, 10 years the known world, conquered. Some days he pushed his army to march 36 miles in a single day. Zeus-Ammon: the Symbol of the Horn While he was in Egypt, he was crowned Zeus Amun, the son of Zeus. On the cover of your bulletin, there's a coin there, a picture of Alexander the Great and coming out of the side of his head is a horn. This is an ancient coin from Alexandria, Egypt, the city that he established. It's still the finest port in Egypt. It's named after himself. And by the way, everywhere he went he planted cities which he named Alexandria. There are 30 Alexandrias that he started but Alexandria Egypt is the most famous of them all and there he was crowned Zeus Amun and he was declared to be a God, the son of Zeus. Do you see the horn coming out? It looks a little bit like the hair. You have to look at it a while but you see it curving around, it represents his power. It's remarkably like the vision that Daniel had had 200 years before hand. World Domination And so, he conquered from Yugoslavia to the Himalayas, 3200 miles about the distance from LA to New York and he organized an efficient Empire, and he had future dreams to build a thousand warships and conquer North Africa beyond Italy, all the way to Gibraltar; to build a road supply along Southern Mediterranean coast for all of his ships. He had a vision of a harmony of all of Asia and Europe, an intermingling of all peoples and languages and tribes. He wrote about this often. A vision of one world and one culture under the Greeks, and he would be its eternal king because he believed himself to be a God. And then he came to Babylon. Came to Babylon. No where else for him to conquer just to organize his empire that would be the seat of his power. Self-Destruction Verse 8, "The goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off." Well, this is how it happened. They were having a feast and somebody brought to him. So it goes, the story goes, the Hercules bowl, a huge bowl and no one had ever been able to drink a whole Hercules bowl of wine, and so he was challenged and he never backed down from a challenge, that's what his pride was, his ego and so he drank it to the bottom in order it to be filled again and always filled the second time, and he drank it to the bottom and died several days later from alcohol poisoning. He conquered the world, but he couldn't concur himself. Kingdom divided The height of his power is cut off now, he left no heir and so his foremost powerful generals divided the kingdom among themselves. Cassander ruled in Macedonia and Greece. Ptolemy in Egypt, Selecus in Babylonia and Lysimachus in Thrace in Asia Minor. This is a clear fulfillment of prophecy maybe the clearest detail of this entire vision, the fact that his kingdom was divided into four parts, the goat became very great verse 8, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off and in its place, four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven. Verse 22, The four horns that replaced the one that broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power, clear fulfillment of prophecy. Impact Now, what is the significance of Alexander the Great to us as Christians? Well, he's unified the world under Hellenism and therefore all of you who have studied the Bible know that the New Testament is written in what language? In Greek and why is that? Because Alexander conquered Palestine. And so many Jews were Greek speakers and the New Testament was written in Greek. Above Jesus' head when He was crucified, there was written, this is Jesus, the King of the Jews, in what languages? In latin because that was the power language of the time. In Hebrew, Aramaic because that was a religious language, and then in Greek, because that was the language of commerce and culture, and why because of Alexander the Great. But he did not leave an empire that endured for ever rather he died and his empire was divided and was never that powerful again. IV. The Vision Extended: The “Little Horn” (vs. 9-12, 23-26) The Description and Rise of the “Little Horn” (vs. 9-12, 23-36) Now, in verses 9-12, we have another vision, a vision of a little horn. "Out of one of those four horns the four kingdom that was divided, came another horn, which started small, but grew in power to the south and the east, and toward the beautiful land. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens and it threw down some of the starry host to the earth and trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the prince of the host. It took away the daily sacrifice from him and the place of his sanctuary was brought low, because of rebellion the host of the saints from the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did and truth was thrown to the ground." This rise of the little horn parallels that we've already seen in Daniel 7, the description and rise of the little horn also seen in verses 23-26. In the latter part of the rein, it says in verse 23, "when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern faced king, a master of intrigue will arise. He will become very strong but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people. He will cause deceit to prosper and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the prince of princes. Yet, he will be destroyed but not by human power. The War on the Saints and the Desecration of the Temple So there is a horn to grow up, out of this, one of these four Greek sub-empires, this little horn and who is this little horn? Well, it is Antiochus IV called The Ephiphanes. He lived in the 2nd century BC, he was not a mighty conqueror. Rather, he was a usurper, a master politician. He had the ability to work intrigue and to gain positions of power, and influence for himself. In the year 175 BC, he secured the high priesthood from the Jews and he pressured the Jews to show loyalty to Greek culture and to idolatry. Many Jews were persecuted, and put to death. Antiochus then was guilty of blasphemy, he ascended himself up to be an incarnation of Zeus, just as Alexander before him acclaimed to be, and not only that, he went into the holy of holies, into the temple itself, he cut off all animal sacrifices, all the sacrifices of God for 2300, it says mornings and evenings. Now, some people think this was 1150 full days, 1150 mornings, 1150 evenings. I think that fits better with history. We know that the Jews were commanded to offer morning and evening sacrifices and Antiochus cut those off. God had no sacrifices because of Antiochus. Rather Antiochus wanted to be worshiped. He set himself up as an incarnation of Zeus. He had an idol put in the holy of holies and even worse, he had pigs taken into the sanctuary and sacrificed, and pigs blood anointed all over the altar and in the holy of holies. Can there be a greater defilement of the temple than that? Antiochus totally usurping power, setting himself up to be worshiped and then desecrating the temple. This was a direct assault on God Himself, and the scripture says very plainly that he also will be cut off but not by human hands. Now we're going to learn more about Antiochus in Chapter 11 in Daniel 11. The Hanukkah Story: The Reconsecration of the Temple But basically what happened was he was on a trip and God struck him dead with a disease. He was dead within a week, suddenly he died. God will not forget this kind of open rebellion, and in 164 BC, just three years after he had desecrated the temple, Judas Maccabeus, (this is written in the apocryphal I Maccabeus) reconquered Jerusalem, took over the temple, had it cleansed ceremonially from all the pigs blood, and the idolatry. Re-established worship to God and they found in one part of the temple, a little vial of oil that had not been desecrated, a little bottle of oil that they could use for the burning for the light within the Holy of Holies, just enough for one day. But yet, so the story goes that, miraculously burned for eight days. And so, our Jewish neighbors celebrate Hannukah every year. Eight candles for eight days, the eight days that the temple that that oil burned miraculously after the temple had been cleansed. Specific fulfillment. V. The “Little Horns” of Daniel 8 & 7: Type and Fulfillment Now, as you look at Daniel 8 and Chapter 7, who are these little horns? Well, you have to compare them. There are some similarities. Both of them arise out of Gentile kingdoms coming from one of these beasts. There is a similar career a conquest of rivals, war against the saints, blasphemy against God, desire to be worshipped in God's temple and its demise not done by human hands, but there's some significant differences too, aren't there? This one arises out of the third beast, doesn't it? The Daniel Chapter 8 horn arises out of Greece, but the Daniel Chapter 7 horn arises out of the fourth beast. And so, what is the relationship between the two? I think it's a relationship between pattern and fulfillment. Things were acted out in history, in the 2nd century BC that we will see again at the second coming of Christ. Things were acted out by Antiochus IV fourth called epiphanies which means manifestation of God that's what he claimed to be, acted out in a small scale just in a little part of the world, that it's going to happen again at the second coming of Christ with the true anti-Christ. Type and fulfillment. It says in 1 John 2:8, "Dear children. This is the last hour. And as you have heard that the anti-Christ is coming, many anti-Christ, have now come." And so this pattern is set and it would be replayed again, just one generation after Jesus Christ when the temple that Jesus visited was destroyed and he called it the abomination of desolation. We'll learn about that in Daniel 9. But the Romans came in that fourth beast, and they destroyed and desecrated the temple, and it has never been rebuilt. Some scholars believe that the temple will be rebuilt. II Thessalonians 2 says, The anti-Christ, the man of sin will sit in God's temple and make himself out to be God in God's temple, II Thessalonians 2. And so we have a pattern, a kind of an acting out in history by Antiochus of something that's going to happen, yet in the future. VI. Application Now, as we look at this, Daniel 8, all these details, you think, "What does this have to do with me? What does this have to do with my life?" Well, first of all, I think we have to understand it relates to God's ability to know in detail the future. Does it matter to you what happens to you in the future? Does it make a difference? Would it make any difference to you to know whether you're going to heaven or hell? Would that make a difference to you? I think it would make a difference to me. I don't think it's possible to live until you're ready to die. And we know that death is coming for all of us. It came to Alexander the Great and it's coming to us. Are you ready for that? But God has given us specific promises, whoever trusts in Jesus Christ will have eternal life, and no one can take that life from us, and so God has declared the future before it has even happened. Further more, it says that some day he will return in glory to set up his kingdom. Are you waiting for that? How can you pray the Lord's prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done," without believing in a God who knows the future. And say, it absolutely will happen, and so we can pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come." And know it will certainly happen, because God has shown his track record, his specific performance in the past. I think we also need to realize that history matters. Only a handful of you are really that interested in Alexander the Great. Some of you would watch a documentary about him in UNC-TV or something like that. Others couldn't be bothered. But I think the fact of the matter is, that God cares intensely about history, he cares a lot. This is Christianity, the only religion that's woven together through historical events. Do you realize that it? It makes a difference whether Adam and Eve ever lived. It makes a difference whether there was someone named Abraham, who was called out and promises were made to him. It makes a difference whether the Jews ever lived in Egypt and were slaves, and then led out by Moses. It makes a difference. It makes a difference whether there ever was a Joshua, conquered the promised land, whether there was or was not a king David makes a difference. It makes a difference, whether there was a Jesus of Nazareth born in Bethlehem of a virgin, lived for 30, some odd years, ministered, died on the cross, rose from the dead. It makes a difference. History matters because if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, we're still in our sins. History makes a difference but your personal history makes a difference too. Remember, last week we talked about in Daniel 7, the court was seated and the books were open or what's in the books? Your history, every word you've ever spoken, everything you've ever done, it's all written down. God is a meticulous and careful historian, he cares about history and so we need a savior. Because we could look at that. Daniel said very clearly that the Alexander the Great came and was cut off in the height of his power. He needed a savior, and so do you. Jesus Christ said, "What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul. What would a man give in exchange for his soul?" Has there ever been a man who came so close to conquering the whole world as Alexander the Great and yet he could not conquer himself. But Jesus Christ came to give eternal life to all those who claimed him. I want to finish by giving a comparison. VII. The contrast between King Jesus and King Alexander: Alexander crushed His enemies, leaving them shattered and poverty-stricken Jesus saved His enemies, leaving them eternally blessed and wealthy Alexander boasted and exalted Himself Jesus was meek and lowly of heart and laid His majestic glory down in order to save us Alexander claimed to be the son of Zeus Jesus was the Son of God Alexander wept that there were no more peoples to conquer Jesus wept when Jerusalem would not believe in Him Alexander died in his early thirties in a drunken feast of pride and dissipation Jesus died in his early thirties on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for sins Alexander’s body rotted in a grave Jesus’ body rose from the dead on the third day Alexander’s soul was eternally judged for his sins Jesus is Alexander’s judge Alexander built a world-wide empire... all that remains is the reputation Christ is still building His world-wide empire... it will last eternally
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
