1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 We've all been hurt. We all have scars. And through a relationship with Jesus Christ, 2 00:00:07,500 --> 00:00:14,500 we can all overcome and we can all be healed. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. 3 00:00:14,580 --> 00:00:21,580 Hey everybody, welcome back to this sanctuary. So another year has gone by and I have once 4 00:00:21,580 --> 00:00:28,580 again made my annual trek out to OKC to go and hang out with some of my favorite people. 5 00:00:29,580 --> 00:00:35,580 And it's always good to go back out there. You know, it's good to have the fellowship. 6 00:00:35,580 --> 00:00:39,580 It's good to have the camaraderie and the love. And something that has always stuck 7 00:00:39,580 --> 00:00:45,580 out is the testimony. Every single year I get to go out, I get to hang out with all 8 00:00:45,580 --> 00:00:52,580 these amazing people and I get to hear these amazing testimonies. And it's always gotten 9 00:00:53,580 --> 00:01:00,580 me thinking that a lot of times people are out there, they're giving testimony and they 10 00:01:02,580 --> 00:01:09,580 don't even realize it. God's light is shining through us and lighting not only our paths 11 00:01:09,580 --> 00:01:15,580 but the darkness that others around us have been dealing with. The fact that we share 12 00:01:15,580 --> 00:01:22,580 so much is part of what makes coming together so electric. You know, a little bit of common 13 00:01:23,580 --> 00:01:30,580 ground that you might have with someone is what turns the field drastically. You go from 14 00:01:31,580 --> 00:01:36,580 going in and just having this little, you know, I'm meeting a couple of people and 15 00:01:36,580 --> 00:01:43,580 suddenly having this leveled huge field very quickly. Alright? And that's going to be 16 00:01:43,580 --> 00:01:48,580 what I'm talking about today. So we're going to get some legalistic jargon out of the way 17 00:01:48,580 --> 00:01:55,580 real fast. So go ahead, open your Bibles up, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 10. And the 18 00:01:56,580 --> 00:02:03,580 Bible says, on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled by the 19 00:02:03,580 --> 00:02:10,580 day's holy people and to be marveled at among all those who believed, this includes you 20 00:02:12,580 --> 00:02:19,580 because you believed our testimony to you. So this is identifying testimony as witness. 21 00:02:20,580 --> 00:02:27,580 It is a form of evidence. A very legalistic definition even by today's standards. You 22 00:02:27,580 --> 00:02:32,580 know, hello law and order, I wish I kind of had a little soundtrack button for that at 23 00:02:32,580 --> 00:02:39,580 this moment. So, you know, it is, it is extremely legalistic. Now, we're going to go a little 24 00:02:41,580 --> 00:02:48,580 bit further here. Flip over to Psalm 119 and we're going to look at verse 88. So Psalm 25 00:02:48,580 --> 00:02:55,580 119 verse 88, the Bible says, In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the 26 00:02:57,580 --> 00:03:04,580 statutes of your mouth. Even better, look at Isaiah chapter 8 verse 16. In Isaiah chapter 27 00:03:05,580 --> 00:03:10,580 8 verse 16, the Bible says, bind up this testimonial warning and seal up God's instruction among 28 00:03:10,580 --> 00:03:17,580 my disciples. And emphasizes this in Isaiah 8 20 in which the Bible says, consult God's 29 00:03:20,580 --> 00:03:25,580 instruction and the testimonial warning if anyone does not speak according to this word, 30 00:03:25,580 --> 00:03:32,580 they have no light of dawn. What is all this? Well, simply put, it's the scriptures as the 31 00:03:32,580 --> 00:03:39,580 revelation of God's will. You know, people say, oh, I don't know what God wants from 32 00:03:40,580 --> 00:03:47,580 me. And they're right, they don't. And you know why? It's because they don't read the 33 00:03:49,580 --> 00:03:56,580 scripture. They don't read God's word. They have a Bible and it sits there and it collects 34 00:03:56,580 --> 00:04:02,580 dust. You know, you go into a parking lot outside of a church on any given Sunday, you 35 00:04:02,580 --> 00:04:06,580 just kind of walk through, there's a good chance you'll probably even see a Bible that's 36 00:04:06,580 --> 00:04:12,580 been sitting in that back window, you know, just collecting dust and it's faded and crudded 37 00:04:12,580 --> 00:04:17,580 and just kind of worn out and falling apart because, you know, the sun's done its damage. 38 00:04:17,580 --> 00:04:23,580 You know, a lot of people, you know, the Bible is the number one thing that's going to be 39 00:04:23,580 --> 00:04:30,580 sold around the world is the Bible. So many are sold and so regularly, they don't even 40 00:04:30,580 --> 00:04:36,580 put it on the list because, I mean, it's just the champ. The champ is not dethroned, ever. 41 00:04:36,580 --> 00:04:42,580 All right? That's how popular it is. Yet people don't ever even look at it. You know, they 42 00:04:42,580 --> 00:04:47,580 might open it up once or twice once they get it, but then that's it. You know, so what 43 00:04:47,580 --> 00:04:53,580 is Scripture? It's the very Word of God. This is God's way of talking to us, you know, 44 00:04:53,580 --> 00:04:58,580 first and foremost. You know, binding up and sealing God's instruction there in verse 45 00:04:58,580 --> 00:05:04,580 16, it's talking about writing down His Word and passing it along to the next generation. 46 00:05:04,580 --> 00:05:09,580 You know, we have our Bible today because past generations ensured that His Word was 47 00:05:09,580 --> 00:05:14,580 preserved and passed it to us, you know, and now we've inherited that same message. 48 00:05:14,580 --> 00:05:21,580 You know, it's on us to become those scribes. You know, over the years, that's why they 49 00:05:21,580 --> 00:05:25,580 talk about like the scrolls and everything because, you know, whatever form was used 50 00:05:25,580 --> 00:05:31,580 at that time, you know, it's moved forward. You know, and of course, as time goes and 51 00:05:31,580 --> 00:05:36,580 the way, you know, people talk to the different dialects, different languages, you know, as 52 00:05:36,580 --> 00:05:40,580 the vernacular changes, of course, you know, the wording changes a little so that it can 53 00:05:40,580 --> 00:05:45,580 still speak to the people, still get the same message across. You know, it's like even 54 00:05:45,580 --> 00:05:49,580 here in the U.S., people talk about the Bibles and they're like, oh, it's not the original? 55 00:05:49,580 --> 00:05:54,580 Well, hey, guess what? You can go out there and you can get yourself a Bible written in 56 00:05:54,580 --> 00:06:00,580 Greek or Hebrew and neither one of those is going to be the same as it was back then because 57 00:06:00,580 --> 00:06:04,580 of the same reasons, the way people speak and the way that the language has changed 58 00:06:04,580 --> 00:06:10,580 over the years. If you were able to actually go out and find something in the original, 59 00:06:10,580 --> 00:06:16,580 good luck with that unless you're a scholar that works in that field and has access to 60 00:06:16,580 --> 00:06:22,580 those libraries physically, the odds of you actually seeing that kind of stuff is next 61 00:06:22,580 --> 00:06:27,580 to nil. But even then, you go through and you read it, you know, it's people struggle 62 00:06:27,580 --> 00:06:31,580 just to decipher the King James version. It's like this is it. I don't read shit. I don't 63 00:06:31,580 --> 00:06:37,580 read Shakespeare. What is this? Nobody talks in these and vows anymore. And it's the same 64 00:06:37,580 --> 00:06:42,580 kind of thing. All right. A little bit of rabbit trail there. Like I said coming back, 65 00:06:42,580 --> 00:06:46,580 we've inherited the same mission, you know, to as you know, as people and generations 66 00:06:46,580 --> 00:06:51,580 have gone past to become the scribes that pass on the mission, you know, to pass on 67 00:06:51,580 --> 00:06:57,580 the word, you know, years pass, you know, called scribes, you write it down. Even you 68 00:06:57,580 --> 00:07:04,580 think of even older times, you know, how were things passed along in the oral traditions, 69 00:07:04,580 --> 00:07:09,580 you know, song and story and all that kind of stuff, you know, and I guarantee you, you 70 00:07:09,580 --> 00:07:14,580 know, I know that there's someone out there who's like, what do you mean? I'm on a I have 71 00:07:14,580 --> 00:07:18,580 a mission here. You know, you weren't expecting to be told it. But hey, guess what? Here we 72 00:07:18,580 --> 00:07:26,580 are. And we do. And it's amazing, because we've all been doing it all along. And I 73 00:07:26,580 --> 00:07:35,580 think that's why it's so important to be here for so long. Just being here and listening, 74 00:07:35,580 --> 00:07:41,580 you know, it's because you believe in that mission of not leaving a fellow warrior behind. 75 00:07:41,580 --> 00:07:49,580 Now, you know, from a very military aspect and for veterans, you know, and this pertains 76 00:07:49,580 --> 00:07:54,580 to first responders and all as well, you know, that's my heart. That's what I did for a 77 00:07:54,580 --> 00:07:58,580 veteran. I mean, I don't want to leave anyone behind on the battlefield and the various 78 00:07:58,580 --> 00:08:04,580 theaters of war going on in their hearts and their minds. We often forget about the spiritual 79 00:08:04,580 --> 00:08:11,580 war that's going on in each and every single one of us, and everyone that's around us. 80 00:08:11,580 --> 00:08:18,580 We get so focused on helping each other and trying to save each other, you know, physically, 81 00:08:18,580 --> 00:08:23,580 mentally, and so on that, you know, we forget about the most important trauma that's out 82 00:08:23,580 --> 00:08:31,580 there, that's been treated, the spiritual trauma. You know, our focus is so caught up 83 00:08:31,580 --> 00:08:36,580 on just what we're seeing in front of us. Like I said, that physical, those emotional, 84 00:08:36,580 --> 00:08:41,580 the mental aspects, you know, it's very much, you know, if you would, a holistic needs type 85 00:08:41,580 --> 00:08:46,580 of approach, you know, because it doesn't do us any good. I mean, you know, are we going 86 00:08:46,580 --> 00:08:50,580 to keep someone breathing? Yes. So, I mean, don't get me wrong. Don't twist it or contort 87 00:08:50,580 --> 00:08:56,580 it. It's good. But I mean, what good is it if we're to pick up, you know, our brother 88 00:08:56,580 --> 00:09:05,580 or our sister just to leave them in condemnation? We need to ensure that they know the gospel. 89 00:09:05,580 --> 00:09:09,580 Not that they've heard, you know, a little bit of something or watched a little something 90 00:09:09,580 --> 00:09:16,580 on TV, but that they truly know the gospel. And that comes from our testimony. Okay, our 91 00:09:16,580 --> 00:09:25,580 testimony. Isaiah chapter 43, if you open up to that. So Isaiah chapter 43 verse 10. 92 00:09:25,580 --> 00:09:34,580 The Bible says, you are my witnesses, declares the Lord and my servant whom I have chosen. 93 00:09:34,580 --> 00:09:40,580 And in Isaiah 44, just a little bit later, if you were to flip over to that, so Isaiah 94 00:09:40,580 --> 00:09:46,580 chapter 44 verse eight, the Bible continues on to say, do not tremble, do not be afraid. 95 00:09:46,580 --> 00:09:55,580 Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God 96 00:09:55,580 --> 00:10:06,580 besides me? No, there is no other rock. I know not one. See, our testimony is a huge 97 00:10:06,580 --> 00:10:13,580 part of how we answer the call of the Great Commission, you know, how we go out about 98 00:10:13,580 --> 00:10:23,580 it. Our testimony is to share our personal accounts of what he has done for us in our 99 00:10:23,580 --> 00:10:31,580 lives. You know, while a lot of people out there in the world, you know, people in general, 100 00:10:31,580 --> 00:10:37,580 you don't see God directly. We don't get to come face to face and have a casual conversation 101 00:10:37,580 --> 00:10:45,580 like we would with any other Joe Schmo. However, while the people of the world don't see him 102 00:10:45,580 --> 00:10:51,580 and they don't know him, they do see his love and they do see his light. It's because it's 103 00:10:51,580 --> 00:10:56,580 reflected in us as Christians, as followers of Christ. It's reflected through our words 104 00:10:56,580 --> 00:11:06,580 and our actions, our examples. So, you know, here at this point, someone's out there thinking, 105 00:11:06,580 --> 00:11:11,580 oh boy, you still want us to go out into the world and start throwing scripture at people? 106 00:11:11,580 --> 00:11:16,580 Well, yes and no. You know, to those who haven't been saved, to those who don't know Jesus, 107 00:11:16,580 --> 00:11:23,580 you and I are all that they're probably ever going to know of him. You know, again, this 108 00:11:23,580 --> 00:11:30,580 comes back to our words and our actions are what they see. So, do you reflect his light, 109 00:11:30,580 --> 00:11:41,580 his hope, his love, or in your jerk? What do they see? You don't have to use scripture 110 00:11:41,580 --> 00:11:56,580 to show the Lord in your life. His work is in your life. His work in your life is your testimony. 111 00:11:56,580 --> 00:12:01,580 So, you know, I have a, every year when I go out, this year was the first exception, 112 00:12:01,580 --> 00:12:08,580 we missed him, you know, but one of our buddies, our brother, Shane, he comes out and he very 113 00:12:08,580 --> 00:12:15,580 eloquent puts it, you know, if you've ever had a relationship, you can sell. And it's 114 00:12:15,580 --> 00:12:21,580 the same thing, you know, he's talking about sales, but in this respect, you know, it's 115 00:12:21,580 --> 00:12:25,580 the same thing. You know, you think about it, who all do we know? Who all is out there? 116 00:12:25,580 --> 00:12:29,580 Who all is listening? Who all is present? We've got veterans, first responders, teachers, 117 00:12:29,580 --> 00:12:38,580 cooks, construction workers, you know, you name it. Customer service, you know, representatives, 118 00:12:38,580 --> 00:12:48,580 technical support representatives are out there, truckers, bus drivers, you know, everything, 119 00:12:48,580 --> 00:12:55,580 janitors, everything, everything across the board. But here's the point, in the words 120 00:12:55,580 --> 00:13:02,580 of the electric one, it doesn't matter who you are, okay? You can be a janitor or you 121 00:13:02,580 --> 00:13:06,580 can even be a down and out living on the street kind of struggling not knowing how you're 122 00:13:06,580 --> 00:13:13,580 going to get by one day to the next. Yet, you'll still have the story of God intervening 123 00:13:13,580 --> 00:13:21,580 in your life. Who set you into the world? God. Who set you up that once in a lifetime 124 00:13:21,580 --> 00:13:30,580 trip? God. Who created those memories with friends and family? God. Who convinced you 125 00:13:30,580 --> 00:13:38,580 to make that career change? God. Who kind of nudged you into putting in for that position 126 00:13:38,580 --> 00:13:43,580 that you were really hesitating on? God. You know, who helped you to become a parent when 127 00:13:43,580 --> 00:13:49,580 you never thought you would? God. Who pulled you out of that bottle and helped you to sober 128 00:13:49,580 --> 00:13:57,580 up? God. Who pulled you out of that position that was out there where you were about to 129 00:13:57,580 --> 00:14:03,580 be killed? God. Who sent someone to you when you were hurt and might have died? God. Who 130 00:14:03,580 --> 00:14:07,580 kept you from hurting someone else? God. The reason that kept you from pulling the trigger 131 00:14:07,580 --> 00:14:11,580 when you were so convinced you were done with life? God did that. And there are so many 132 00:14:11,580 --> 00:14:17,580 things that happened in our lives, everywhere, each and every single one of us. There are 133 00:14:17,580 --> 00:14:24,580 so many blessings that we can share. That's God. What God speaks into our lives is what 134 00:14:24,580 --> 00:14:31,580 we can share with the world so they can see Him in us. I mean, you can go out there, yeah, 135 00:14:31,580 --> 00:14:36,580 you can throw scripture at people, absolutely. But to those who don't understand it, you're 136 00:14:36,580 --> 00:14:42,580 speaking in a foreign language. Look at the disciples. What did they do? Did they go to 137 00:14:42,580 --> 00:14:53,580 some fancy college? No. Now, they did spend three years learning directly from Jesus. 138 00:14:53,580 --> 00:15:01,580 So they learned a lot, yes. However, their greatest testimony was from their own experiences, 139 00:15:01,580 --> 00:15:10,580 their own relationship with Jesus and what God had done for them and their own walks. 140 00:15:10,580 --> 00:15:16,580 In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, we're going to open up to that. In 2 Corinthians chapter 141 00:15:16,580 --> 00:15:24,580 4 verse 5, the Bible says, for what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord 142 00:15:24,580 --> 00:15:32,580 and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. It's about Jesus. Now, when we give 143 00:15:32,580 --> 00:15:40,580 our testimony, we need to remember not to put Him in the back seat. See, it's not about 144 00:15:40,580 --> 00:15:50,580 us. It's not about our accomplishments or our abilities. What it is, it is about what 145 00:15:50,580 --> 00:16:01,580 Jesus has done. People need to be introduced to Him, not us. They already see us. We need 146 00:16:01,580 --> 00:16:05,580 to be pointing the way, just like John the Baptist, we need to be pointing the way to 147 00:16:05,580 --> 00:16:11,580 Jesus. When we go out there, we're talking, we're sharing things. As my wife likes to 148 00:16:11,580 --> 00:16:16,580 say, it's not about you, Burton. Hey, it's not about me. It's not about you either. 149 00:16:16,580 --> 00:16:23,580 It's about Jesus. When people hear you preaching, I'm sorry, when you hear people preaching 150 00:16:23,580 --> 00:16:28,580 about their own ideas instead of Christ, that's when you need to watch out. You need to look 151 00:16:28,580 --> 00:16:35,580 out for those false teachers. But when they're preaching about the things that God has done 152 00:16:35,580 --> 00:16:40,580 for them personally, when they're sharing the Word with those who are ready to hear 153 00:16:40,580 --> 00:16:49,580 it, that is powerful. That's where it comes back to being a servant leader. See, serving 154 00:16:49,580 --> 00:17:02,580 people, it's not cheap. It's not. Serving people will require time. Serving people will 155 00:17:02,580 --> 00:17:15,580 require effort. Serving people will require sacrifice. And people, without a doubt, will 156 00:17:15,580 --> 00:17:23,580 disappoint you. Matter of fact, there will be some that won't even come close to living 157 00:17:23,580 --> 00:17:30,580 up to what you would expect from them. But let me remind you, the Bible tells us, we 158 00:17:30,580 --> 00:17:39,580 all fall short of the glory of God. Each and every single one of us, because it's through 159 00:17:39,580 --> 00:17:45,580 His mercy and His grace that we're saved. See, think about it. We all know those quote-unquote 160 00:17:45,580 --> 00:17:51,580 adults who still act like children. You go to work, or even if you don't work with them, 161 00:17:51,580 --> 00:17:57,580 you go someplace where you see them frequently. You're like, oh gosh, this moron again. It's 162 00:17:57,580 --> 00:18:05,580 a fact of life. So what is it about testimony then? It's the power that our testimonies 163 00:18:05,580 --> 00:18:19,580 hold. See, your testimony is a declaration of the truth of God. John chapter 8 verse 164 00:18:19,580 --> 00:18:27,580 32, the Bible says, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Just 165 00:18:27,580 --> 00:18:35,580 a few verses later, in verse 36, the Bible continues on to say, so if the Son sets you 166 00:18:35,580 --> 00:18:43,580 free, you will be free indeed. That's power. That's freedom. Jesus is the truth that sets 167 00:18:43,580 --> 00:18:51,580 us free. No matter where we are in our life or where we are in our path, that's freedom. 168 00:18:51,580 --> 00:19:01,580 Freedom from continued slavery to sin. Freedom from self-deception. Freedom from Satan. 169 00:19:01,580 --> 00:19:08,580 When we look at serving God, His truth frees us to be who He intended for us to be. We 170 00:19:08,580 --> 00:19:16,580 get to finally become the people. Now, it's not instant, of course. It takes time. But 171 00:19:16,580 --> 00:19:23,580 at that point, once we finally get to taste that freedom, we finally start changing into 172 00:19:23,580 --> 00:19:33,580 who we are supposed to be. Now, let's go back a little bit here to John chapter 4. 173 00:19:33,580 --> 00:19:39,580 When you look at John chapter 4 verses 1 through 38, the Bible tells us about the Samaritan 174 00:19:39,580 --> 00:19:48,580 woman who met Jesus at Jacob's well. Keep in mind, she had never met Jesus before. Here's 175 00:19:48,580 --> 00:19:57,580 a woman. She had committed so much sin, so much that she went out of her way to stay 176 00:19:57,580 --> 00:20:05,580 clear of the people of her own town. People knew her. They knew exactly what was up. It's 177 00:20:05,580 --> 00:20:09,580 kind of like these days. They talk about, oh yeah, they've been around the block a time 178 00:20:09,580 --> 00:20:18,580 or two. This was that woman. She had been married several times. She was living with 179 00:20:18,580 --> 00:20:25,580 another man who wasn't even her husband. And again, like I said, she had never met Jesus. 180 00:20:25,580 --> 00:20:33,580 Yet here he is coming up to her, talking to her, and telling her about all the things 181 00:20:33,580 --> 00:20:39,580 that she had done. Her past transgressions, if you would. He's letting her know, hey, 182 00:20:39,580 --> 00:20:47,580 I know who you are. I still don't have a problem talking to you. He treated her like a human 183 00:20:47,580 --> 00:20:57,580 being. He treated her with compassion. He showed his love. Now, now she believed. It 184 00:20:57,580 --> 00:21:02,580 was life changing. And that's what's meant by life changing when people talk about life 185 00:21:02,580 --> 00:21:09,580 changing things in the Bible. So she came out of hiding. Happily, she came out of hiding 186 00:21:09,580 --> 00:21:16,580 and she ran and she started telling everyone about Jesus. Her testimony after this brief 187 00:21:16,580 --> 00:21:24,580 encounter with the Lord. And it was. It was a very brief encounter. So what happened? 188 00:21:24,580 --> 00:21:29,580 In verses 39 through 41, the Bible says many of the Samaritans from that town believed 189 00:21:29,580 --> 00:21:38,580 in him because of a woman's testimony. He told me everything I ever did. So when the 190 00:21:38,580 --> 00:21:43,580 Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them and he stayed two days. And 191 00:21:43,580 --> 00:21:54,580 because of his words, many more became believers. So what happened? Did she go into town and 192 00:21:54,580 --> 00:22:00,580 start throwing scripture around and preaching at people? You know, was that was that her 193 00:22:00,580 --> 00:22:05,580 thing? Was she out there just, you know, stay, you know, be basically becoming a street corner 194 00:22:05,580 --> 00:22:12,580 preacher and just throwing it all at people? No, absolutely not. All she did was she went 195 00:22:12,580 --> 00:22:21,580 in and she started telling people what Jesus did for her, what Jesus had told her. And 196 00:22:21,580 --> 00:22:33,580 because of her belief in him, she was free because of what the people saw in her. They 197 00:22:33,580 --> 00:22:46,580 believed Jesus changes our lives when we truly accept him. We change. And while it might 198 00:22:46,580 --> 00:22:53,580 not always seem like it because it's going to change a lot of things in your life, things 199 00:22:53,580 --> 00:22:57,580 are that some things are actually going to get hard. But everything that changes because 200 00:22:57,580 --> 00:23:07,580 of Jesus in our lives is for the better. So John chapter one, John chapter one verses 201 00:23:07,580 --> 00:23:15,580 29 through 51, the Bible tells us that John the Baptist gave his testimony of Jesus to 202 00:23:15,580 --> 00:23:21,580 two of his disciples. I talked about this not that long ago, what, two, three or maybe 203 00:23:21,580 --> 00:23:26,580 even a month ago. This maybe has been a little while. But what happened here? John the Baptist, 204 00:23:26,580 --> 00:23:31,580 he gave his testimony. He told a couple of his own disciples, his own students who Jesus 205 00:23:31,580 --> 00:23:38,580 was. He was pointing the way to Jesus. And the same thing happened. That testimony of 206 00:23:38,580 --> 00:23:48,580 one person brought more students to Jesus. So if you recall just a little bit ago, closer 207 00:23:48,580 --> 00:23:56,580 to the beginning of this, I did say, your testimony comes from what you say and what 208 00:23:56,580 --> 00:24:03,580 you do. And I'd like to share one of my favorite examples of this. And some of you may have 209 00:24:03,580 --> 00:24:09,580 heard this story before. It's history. It's not even a story. It's history. This is something 210 00:24:09,580 --> 00:24:17,580 that actually happened a long, long time ago. Those of you who study history fervently, 211 00:24:17,580 --> 00:24:25,580 military history especially, and not from the US, this didn't happen here in the US. 212 00:24:25,580 --> 00:24:37,580 Back in the US, didn't even exist yet. So in what we know today as Turkey, the Roman 213 00:24:37,580 --> 00:24:48,580 Emperor Valerius, I'm going to butcher his name here a little bit. Valerius Licinius 214 00:24:48,580 --> 00:24:57,580 went to great lengths to persecute Christians and to get them to renounce their faith. 215 00:24:57,580 --> 00:25:08,580 Now, about 320 AD, there were 40 Roman soldiers who had professed themselves as Christians, 216 00:25:08,580 --> 00:25:14,580 and they refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods, and they were being ordered to do this. 217 00:25:14,580 --> 00:25:20,580 So what happened was they were stripped of their military titles, jailed, and essentially 218 00:25:20,580 --> 00:25:30,580 tried for treason, just for professing their faith. This all took place in the winter, 219 00:25:30,580 --> 00:25:36,580 and for those of you who aren't familiar with the geography, and I know most people 220 00:25:36,580 --> 00:25:42,580 aren't because geography is kind of rough, in that area in particular, winters get really, 221 00:25:42,580 --> 00:25:50,580 really harsh, like insanely harsh. And their sentence, the sentence of these 40 soldiers 222 00:25:50,580 --> 00:25:58,580 was that they were going to be taken out to a frozen lake, stripped naked, and then sent 223 00:25:58,580 --> 00:26:04,580 out onto the lake. The soldiers, and the soldiers, more soldiers were going to, those who were 224 00:26:04,580 --> 00:26:10,580 loyal, they were going to be placed all around the lake. Basically, they were going to put 225 00:26:10,580 --> 00:26:15,580 sentries all the way around the lake to make sure that none of these men tried to escape. 226 00:26:15,580 --> 00:26:22,580 And what they did was they took, they basically set up a tent with a warm bath, so kind of 227 00:26:22,580 --> 00:26:28,580 a makeshift bath house, but they set up a warm bath just a little ways away from them 228 00:26:28,580 --> 00:26:38,580 on the shore. All right, so all any of them needed to do to be forgiven was to renounce 229 00:26:38,580 --> 00:26:45,580 their faith, and then they'd be taken straight to the bath to warm up. All right, so that's 230 00:26:45,580 --> 00:26:51,580 pretty harsh. Basically, they're being marched out, stripped naked, and being told, hey, 231 00:26:51,580 --> 00:26:55,580 you're going to go out there and you're going to freeze to death tonight unless you renounce 232 00:26:55,580 --> 00:27:05,580 your faith. Plain and simple, that's what it came down to. So they went on to show just 233 00:27:05,580 --> 00:27:11,580 how great their faith was. When they were taken out, they didn't wait for the guards 234 00:27:11,580 --> 00:27:17,580 or the other soldiers to come and strip them. They took off their own clothes and then ran 235 00:27:17,580 --> 00:27:21,580 out onto this lake like a bunch of mad men. They just ran out on the lake like, hey, check 236 00:27:21,580 --> 00:27:27,580 this out. We're good. God's on our side. Woo-hoo. And they're out there. They're very 237 00:27:27,580 --> 00:27:34,580 motivated, and they encouraged each other. And this stood well into the night, and that 238 00:27:34,580 --> 00:27:46,580 temperature, it dropped to absolutely unbearable levels. Now, when this happened, one, only 239 00:27:46,580 --> 00:27:54,580 one, a single soldier came off that lake, came out of that ice, and went to renounce 240 00:27:54,580 --> 00:28:01,580 his faith. So they took him to the bathhouse, and basically he died of shock as soon as 241 00:28:01,580 --> 00:28:07,580 he got in the tub. Plain and simple, and knowing now what we know about hypothermia and all 242 00:28:07,580 --> 00:28:17,580 that kind of stuff, we understand why. Now, upon seeing the conviction of the remaining 243 00:28:17,580 --> 00:28:23,580 39, one of the sentries who was watching, who was not a Christian, he's watching what's 244 00:28:23,580 --> 00:28:29,580 going on, and he has a vision, basically this vision of crowns on all their heads and that 245 00:28:29,580 --> 00:28:36,580 they're warm. At this point, just seeing their action, seeing their actions, the testimony 246 00:28:36,580 --> 00:28:44,580 of what they were doing, that converted him. He went and he professed his faith, stripped 247 00:28:44,580 --> 00:28:51,580 down out of his armor and his clothing, and walked out to join the other 39, therefore 248 00:28:51,580 --> 00:29:00,580 bringing their number back up to 40. And the night continued on. Come morning, those frozen, 249 00:29:00,580 --> 00:29:06,580 they were frozen stiff. Those 40, they were still there. Their number did not go down 250 00:29:06,580 --> 00:29:12,580 again. It did not change again. They were frozen stiff, yet some of them were still 251 00:29:12,580 --> 00:29:20,580 alive, barely, but they were there. So they were all taken. Those who had died, those 252 00:29:20,580 --> 00:29:25,580 who were still alive, and they were all just burned. And what they did afterwards was they 253 00:29:25,580 --> 00:29:31,580 took their ashes and they dumped it into a river. Today, they are still remembered as 254 00:29:31,580 --> 00:29:40,580 the 40 martyrs of Seabast. Their actions, the testimony in itself, and it saved one 255 00:29:40,580 --> 00:29:43,580 right off the bat, and it saved many more since. Matter of fact, their ashes, when it's 256 00:29:43,580 --> 00:29:49,580 poured into the river, people went to try to collect some of those ashes out of the river. 257 00:29:49,580 --> 00:29:55,580 That's how much it spoke even then. And you imagine, you say, hey, guess what, you're 258 00:29:55,580 --> 00:29:59,580 going out there naked and you're going to freeze to death. And in doing so, you're going 259 00:29:59,580 --> 00:30:10,580 to save so, so many. I want you to think, you know, here's the effect of all this. I 260 00:30:10,580 --> 00:30:18,580 want you to think of a candle. And you take that candle and you touch it to another. Now 261 00:30:18,580 --> 00:30:22,580 that flame's expanded. You know, it's come from dark, a little bit brighter, just a little 262 00:30:22,580 --> 00:30:26,580 bit. And then you take both of those candles and you touch a couple more candles and so 263 00:30:26,580 --> 00:30:29,580 on and so forth. If you've ever been to like a crystal candlelight service, you know what 264 00:30:29,580 --> 00:30:38,580 I'm talking about. You go from a room that is extremely dim and then eventually as all 265 00:30:38,580 --> 00:30:45,580 those candles keep getting lit and lit and lit and lit and so on and so forth, eventually 266 00:30:45,580 --> 00:30:59,580 it becomes very, very bright. Our testimony, yours and mine, that is the first candle. 267 00:30:59,580 --> 00:31:07,580 That testimony, that is the light, that light from God. You share that light. When we go 268 00:31:07,580 --> 00:31:11,580 out there, we share that light, we share our testimony and we give that glory to God when 269 00:31:11,580 --> 00:31:18,580 we do it. And we point people to God. As much as we get wrapped up in ourselves, we just 270 00:31:18,580 --> 00:31:25,580 can't forget to truly be our brother's keeper and to point the way to Jesus. We share our 271 00:31:25,580 --> 00:31:33,580 light, the light of God that's with us. We share our testimony and that spreads out. 272 00:31:33,580 --> 00:31:39,580 That is being your brother's keeper. That's answering the Great Commission. That is how 273 00:31:39,580 --> 00:31:47,580 you give your testimony. Words and actions. 274 00:31:47,580 --> 00:31:52,580 Thank you for tuning in to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. If you'd like to know more 275 00:31:52,580 --> 00:31:59,580 about our ministry, you can find us on Facebook at Be The Light Sanctuary or you can visit 276 00:31:59,580 --> 00:32:07,580 our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org. Thank you so much for listening. We'll catch you 277 00:32:07,580 --> 00:32:09,580 next time. God bless.