On Trial

SERMON: 2011-11-13--ac1174--on-trial SOURCE DURATION: 00:48:22.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.95 APPROVED: false REASON: The recording begins with a sermon review (segment [0]) and continues through theological exposition and scripture reading up to segment [31]. After a long musical interlude, the material resumes with a concluding prayer/benediction (segments [465]-[479]). The subsequent segments ([480] onwards) are sustained worship music and are excluded. Therefore, the main sermon content includes both the initial exposition and the final structured prayer. Acoustic segmentation found sustained music at the end edge and moved the boundary to the adjacent transcript segment. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: 00:43:14.360-00:48:22.020 ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: yes ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: end Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- Quick review for those of you that were not able to be with us last Sunday. We've been seeing together in the early part of this chapter that as Stephen expands his ministry from waiting on tables to preaching the resurrected Jesus, it's not long before he runs into a buzzsaw of trouble. Typically the trouble in this instance comes from the members of the synagogue of the freedmen. And when it becomes obvious as quickly it does that they're not able to win the discussion or the argument or the debate, they do, of course, what sons and daughters of Adam do typically in the flesh. They go underground. They begin to gossip. They begin to spread rumors. And they spread the lie that Stephen is blaspheming both God and Moses. And so he stirs up all the people and the result is that he gets arrested and he gets brought to trial. Now trial under Old Testament law was a pretty serious business not only, but it was governed by very particular rules and regulations. One of which is that you could never be convicted on the basis of gossip or slander or innuendo. You had to have witnesses and you had to have multiple witnesses. It wasn't good enough just to have one person's word for it. It had to be two or three witnesses who agreed. And so what do they do? Well, they do the same thing as they did with the trial of Jesus. They manage to procure the services of two false witnesses. And these false witnesses testify to this as we read in verses 13 and 14 of Acts chapter 6. "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place, that is the temple, and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us." And as I pointed out last week, there's an element of truth to that. Because Jesus did say destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. But they took it out of context because Jesus wasn't talking first and foremost about the physical temple. He was talking about the temple of his body, his own death, and his subsequent resurrection. I shared with you last week that this is where false witness often gets skewed, an element of truth, but then twisted in such a way as to change the real story. And I'm reminded of the little girl who was asked at school, "What does your mother do?" And it so happened that her mother worked at a major pharmaceutical company as an accountant. And so when the little girl was asked, "What does your mother do?" Well, she says, "My mother makes drugs and counts money." Makes drugs and counts money, absolutely true, but hardly makes her a drug dealer, does it? That's the impression. So as the story unfolds now then, in order for this trial to proceed, Stephen is given an opportunity to defend himself. And so that is why now the high priest asks him the question, "Are these charges true?" And all of chapter seven is Stephen's response to that question. And as we look at that chapter together then, there are two things that I want us to know. And the first is this, Stephen's speech is long and detailed. It is long and detailed. If you look this morning at the insert that has the scripture on it, you see that the chapter runs 60 verses. It is the longest single chapter in all of the book of Acts and it is by far the longest single speech. Now in a few moments I'll talk about why that is and what took him so long, but in the meantime it's sufficient to say that it illustrates why the members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen could not hold their own against Stephen. This guy was no slouch. He knew his theology, he knew his Old Testament, and he was eloquent in speech. He spoke with wisdom and with the power of God's Holy Spirit. And that of course has to be viewed in the context of Jesus' promise to his disciples in Luke chapter 12 when he says to them, "When you were brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." Don't worry about it. The words will be given to you because, you see, you'll be called to bear witness, you'll be called to bear testimony to governors and authorities and powers. Because before the end comes, every authority, every power, every system in this world will have been confronted by the message of Jesus and they will have been given the opportunity to accept it or reject it. That's why missionaries get sent out to all the nations of the world because Jesus cannot come back until every ethnic group of people have heard the good news of Jesus and have had an opportunity to make a decision. Will you follow him? Will you acknowledge him as God's anointed one? Will you usher in the kingdom of God or will you reject him? And as you've often heard me say, when the curtain falls in history, you're either in or out, there is nobody in between. So Stephen speaks boldly and he bears witness to Jesus. But there's a second reason, then, why this speech of his here in Acts chapter seven is so long, and that is because he takes the time to trace all of Israel's salvation history. And let me take just a few moments and try to walk you through that as quickly as we can so that you've had a chance to get the flavor of that. And you may not have time to read that whole chapter in the service this morning, but do take it home and look it over carefully and you'll get an idea of what it is that Stephen is after. He begins in verse two and three with a story of Abraham. He says, "Brothers and sisters, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia. Before he lived in Heron, leave your country and your people, God said, and go to the land. I will show you." Israel's history, in a very real way, always begins with Abraham. Why? Because with Abraham, God began a new phase of redemption history. Up until the time of Abraham, God was dealing with all the nations of the world and picking out His own people here and there, wasn't getting in very far. So with Abraham, God decides that from now on, He is going to choose a particular people to whom He will reveal Himself, where He will keep the testimony to Himself alive, a people who can walk in relationship with Him, who can model for the nations of the world what the kingdom of God should look like, and through whom redemption would one day come through the Christ to all the nations of the world. And that was the function of Abraham. And so as the passage goes on, and you can see it in the verses that you have before you, he develops the story of Abraham and how Isaac was born, and then Jacob, and then the twelve sons of Jacob, who eventually become the tribes of Israel. So having told the story of Abraham, now in verse 9, he turns to Joseph. And Joseph was God's provision to keep Israel alive in a time of severe famine. You know the story, I don't need to elaborate upon it, Joseph is very important in biblical redemption history, because he also becomes prime minister of Egypt, and that story sets the stage then for Israel's bondage enslavement to Egypt, where they are enslaved for what? Over four hundred years. So done with Joseph, in verse 20 and following, he picks up the story of Moses. And Moses was critical to the Old Testament story, because he was the one chosen of God to take on Pharaoh, and to be chosen of God to deliver Israel from Pharaoh's power, to lead them through the wilderness, and to bring them to the edge of the promised land. He was also instrumental then in receiving the Ten Commandments from God, and he was instrumental in building the Tabernacle. So that leads then, in verse 45, to Joshua, very short reference to Joshua, but Joshua, whose name means Jesus, was the one chosen to lead the people of God into the promised land to subdue the enemies, and to give rest to the nation of Israel. Then in verse 45, we have the story of David, who wanted to build the temple but wasn't allowed because he was a man whose hands were filled with blood. And then, of course, his son Solomon was finally authorized to do that, and Stephen makes a point of pointing out that even back then, the temple which these Jews of his day so revered was, in fact, but an illustration, if you will, a shadow of the things to come because he says, "God is too big to live in a building made with hands." But the temple was God's visible presence among His people during the days of Israel. So he traces that whole journey all the way through David and Solomon, and he even refers to the exile where God sent them because they were unfaithful to Him. So now here's the big question. Why does he spend all this time relating the history, you know, to the Sanhedrin? This is like reading the Bible to a seminary Bible professor. They knew that story. What's Stephen's point? Well, his point is twofold, and it's very important to understand each of these. First of all, he tells the story to illustrate and to demonstrate that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the promises that God made to Israel in the Old Testament. Let me say it again. Please listen carefully. Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise that God made to Israel in the Old Testament. As Paul says in the New Testament, all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ Jesus. Why is that important? Well, what was the criticism that was raised by the members of the synagogue and by the Sanhedrin against Stephen and against the whole early church? Well, you remember what it was. You're preaching a gospel that is at odds with everything that we have been brought up with. And so in verse 14, we read these words, we have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy. That's pretty strong language. Words of blasphemy against this holy place and against the law. And then verse 14, "We have heard him say that as Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us." And so they think they are fully justified in snuffing out this heresy that is going to be destructive to their temple and that is going to lead them away from serving the true God. Because remember, they got sent into exile because of their disobedience and now they have learned their lessons so well that when the truth comes along, they still cannot recognize it because they are so attached to the ways of the fathers. And what's Stephen's response? He says you're creating a false dichotomy. You're making a separation where there is no separation. You're getting bent all out of shape because you don't understand the point of the Old Testament. And he says this message of the gospel, far from being at odds with everything that you have learned your whole life long, is actually the fulfillment of what God has been promising to you in the Old Testament. And so now, again, he goes through all these facts of history to show how in Christ these promises are fulfilled. And so the promise to Abraham was that his offspring would inherit the world. And he says Jesus is the offspring of Abraham who by his obedience unto death was exalted king of kings and lord of lords. He has received the inheritance of the whole world. He before him every knee will bow, he is the fulfillment of all God said and all God promised. And Joseph, he's the fulfillment of Joseph because he saves his people from the famine, if you will. He is the bread of life and he is the fulfillment of Joseph because just as Joseph by his character and by his obedience ended up becoming prime minister of Egypt, so this Jesus, rejected and despised by his brethren, becomes lord of lords and king of kings. And this Moses, he says, remember he says Moses said, "The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like myself, him you shall listen to." Well, he says, "Guess who Jesus is." Jesus is the prophet who was promised to you and just as Moses was used of God to deliver you out of Egypt, to lead you into a covenant relationship with God and to guide you through the wilderness, so this Jesus, the son of God, will be with you always to the end of the age. He will deliver you from sin, Satan and all the power of the world and he will present you before God in the promised inheritance without spot or wrinkle or blemish. Now you can see that if you were a believer and you heard Stephen preach like this, isn't there something inside you that begins to stir and that says, "Wow, I never saw this before." But he's not done yet. He goes on to David or on to Joshua first and he shows how Joshua is fulfilled in Jesus who brings us into the true promised land, a new heaven and a new earth before whom every obstacle and every pagan nation will one day yield. And then he goes on and he talks about how Jesus is the fulfillment of the tabernacle and how he is the fulfillment of the temple. And I'm reminded of the words of Jesus in John 1 verse 14, verses we often quote in the context of Christmas, the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us and in Greek that word is tabernacle, he tabernacled among us. And so just as in the Old Testament God's presence was made manifest to the nation of Israel first in the tabernacle and then later in the temple, the place where you would go to meet up with God and the place you would go for healing, restoration and power. So Stephen says, "Jesus, Jesus, in Him the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily," as the Apostle Paul said later on. And his whole point is instead of thinking that we're preaching a new gospel, he says, we are preaching the fulfillment of everything that you have grown up with. And if you really knew Abraham as you say that you do, and if you really knew the God of the Old Testament as you say that you do, then you would know that this Jesus that we are preaching is the fulfillment of all the promises made in the Old Testament. And that's why in Luke chapter 24 verse 27, Jesus after His resurrection on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples, the Bible says this concerning Him, "And beginning with Moses and the prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning Himself." In all the scriptures, and you remember in that story how suddenly their eyes were opened and Jesus revealed Himself in the breaking of the bread and all of a sudden they clued in, "This was that." And their hearts were so thrilled that they got up and they walked all the way back to Jerusalem and they said to the rest of the disciples, "We have seen the Lord." And the apostle or Jesus Himself in John chapter 5 verse 39 and 40 in conversation with the religious leaders of His day makes the same kind of observation. He says, "You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that do what, testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you might have life." It was St. Augustine I believe many years ago who said, "The new is in the old contained and the old is in the new explained." The new is in the old contained and the old is in the new explained. So here you have one reason why Stephen gives this whole long speech, it must have taken him a long time and you can imagine they sat there twiddling their thumbs. He wanted to show them that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the promises made in the Old Testament, but he has a second reason and that's a much darker reason. And the reason he spends so much time on this is to demonstrate to them that historically Israel has always rejected God's offer of salvation. And again, let me just quickly highlight that in his presentation. It's all good with Abraham, but when you get to Joseph what happens? Joseph is God's favor, Joseph had his father's favor. In some ways he was a miserably spoiled lad, but God seems to be able to use miserably spoiled lads and he refines them in prison and in a few other places and he makes them prime ministers of Egypt. But Joseph's brothers hated him and they sold him to slave traders and that's how he ends up in Potiphar's house and eventually he ends up in jail. They rejected Joseph, they didn't understand that Joseph was God's provision, that in the coming famine God would use him. And Joseph says many years later when he meets his brothers, "You meant it for ill, but God meant it for good." And then of course you come to the story of Moses and the story of Moses is utterly fascinating because Moses was raised in Pharaoh's court and the Bible says when he was 40 years of age it came into his mind to visit his kinsmen. Moses was never comfortable in Egypt though he was educated in the wisdom of Egypt and a man, interestingly enough in the words of Stephen, "Mighty in word and deed." And when he gets there he sees two Hebrews fighting, you know the story, and he rebukes them. And then the next day he comes back and the man turns on him and says, "Are you going to kill me the way that you killed the Egyptian?" And Moses knows that the story is known and he flees, but Stephen adds a very interesting twist to that story that you do not find in the Old Testament. And that is that Moses knew that God was raising him up to deliver the children of Israel out of Pharaoh's bondage and he thought that when he came to the aid of that Hebrew that they would embrace him as a deliverer and he got the shock of his life when instead of seeing him as a deliverer they just wrote him off, reported him to Pharaoh and they preferred their bondage instead of their loyalty. And so another 40 years go by and Moses, you know, somebody has said, "Moses spent the first 40 years of his life learning that he was somebody. The second 40 years of his life in the backside of the desert learning that he was nobody. And the last 40 years of his life learning what God can do with somebody who knows that he's a nobody." Good summary on the story of Moses, isn't it? So he gets sent in, delivers the children of Israel. You think it'd be a joyful picnic leading them out of Egypt into the promised land. I don't need to elaborate on the story for you. Uncomfortably close to our own hearts sometimes they complained, they murmured, they wanted to go back to Egypt, they had very selective memory. And upon more than one occasion they wanted to stone him and be rid of him and ultimately he lost his own cool and he was only authorized then to bring them to the edge of the promised land. You not only rejected Joseph and what he stood for through your forbears, but he says you rejected Moses. Then he goes on to point out how in this whole process then of rejection in the later history, they rejected all of the prophets that God sent to Israel. As we read in verse 52 of Acts chapter 7, "Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute that even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one?" Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? Which of course brings him to the point of his presentation and the point of his defense. Because now instead of talking about ancient history, he brings it home in a way that just blows the lid right off the assembly. Listen to these words, 51 to 53, "You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You are just like your fathers. You always resist the Holy Spirit." No little nuance there of, "Well, sometimes you always resist the Holy Spirit. Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute that even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one? And now you have betrayed and murdered him, you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels, but have not obeyed him." You stiff-necked or obeyed it. You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You are just like your fathers, you always resist the Holy Spirit. Well, he for sure did not take Dale Carnegie's course on how to win friends and influence people. And as we'll see in just a moment, that blew their tops and was instrumental in his own execution and we'll talk about that in just a moment. But before I do, let me raise this question. Why does he go out of his way to provoke the Sanhedrin? Ever think about that? I mean, were you in that situation, wouldn't you at least have tried to play nice a little bit? Yeah, you would. If you wanted to save your head, you would. But he doesn't even make an attempt to play it nice. He says, "You stiff-necked people, you uncircumcised of heart and dull of hearing, you always resist the Holy Spirit." Now, before I answer that question, let me point out that Jesus, just for the record, did exactly the same thing at his trial. He provoked the judgment, ultimately, at his trial that put him on the cross. Listen to these words from Matthew's Gospel, the 26th chapter, where we read, "The high priest," this is at the trial of Jesus, "says to Jesus, 'I charge you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.'" Remember, they had two witnesses there who said, "This man says, 'Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up,' wasn't enough to convict him. So now Jesus, are you the Christ, yes or no?" Jesus had refused to answer their questions because it was a miscarriage of justice, but the high priest had authority to demand an answer, which is what he does here. And so Jesus says, "Yes, it is, as you say. But I say to all of you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming in the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and he said, "He has spoken blasphemy. Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think? He is worthy of death." And there you have Jesus again provoking them so that they had no choice by their own standards but to nail him to the cross. Without spending a lot of time on this, please understand this, that there are two kingdoms in the world. By nature, we're all part of the kingdom of the world. And by faith in Christ, we come to God the Father. We become citizens of God's kingdom. From that point on, those two crops grow. We've often talked about it. Jesus compares it to wheat and weeds. He says, "Initially you cannot tell the difference, but let them grow and each will produce fruit according to their character." And the people of the world, what kind of fruit are they going to produce? They're going to produce a fruit that hates God and hates everybody that represents God. The children of God, on the other hand, are going to mature so they learn how to love their enemies. They've always said, "You cannot love an enemy unless you've got an enemy to love." And in this way, the harvest grows to maturity so that when judgment comes, there is no doubt as to where people stand, they're either for Jesus or they are against Jesus. I'll say it again, at the end of time, nobody straddles the fence. You either bow your knee and your heart and confess that He is Lord and that He has the right to tell you how to live, or you will ball your fists in rebellion and in anger and shout out as the people will do at the end of day for the mountains to cover them and the hills to fall upon them because of the fear and the anger and the resentment that they have towards God. So Stephen speaks the truth, he provokes, he unleashes what is really in their hearts. They can no longer contain it. They are so angry, and so he pushes them right over the edge. And so we read in verse 54, these words, "When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at Him." Where else in the Bible do you read people gnashing their teeth? In hell. Hell is a place where people are furious and they gnash their teeth because they are consumed with ongoing rebellion against the authority and the power of God. They gnash their teeth, and then, you know, then as if to rub salt into the wound. The Lord gives Stephen this revelation. He sees heaven open. Remember earlier on already, his face shone like that of an angel. I said the other time, he had half a foot in the world and he already had half a foot in heaven, which is what gave him this kind of courage in the face of this, you know, these are 70 people who were examining you who have the power of life and death over you. And Stephen loved life, I am sure, as much as you and I do. But then he sees heaven open, and then he sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he says that. He goes on to say, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Well, that is as blasphemous as you can get because it is saying the man Jesus that they had known in their lifetime was indeed the Son of God in a position of authority because being at the right hand of God means that God shares His authority with you. And so, as I said, this really pushes them over the edge. And we read these verses in 57 and 58. You got a picture of this. At this, they covered their ears and yelling at the top of their... This is like the dignified Sanhedrin. These are the cool dudes who run the whole nation and all of its religious life. They covered their ears. They yelled at the top of their voices. They all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as we wind up, there are two things there that I want to take note of, and the first is this. What they did was illegal. Remember, when they wanted to put Jesus to death, what did they have to do? They had to take him to Pilate and they had to take him to Herod. Why? Because under the Roman occupation, the Jews were not allowed to execute capital punishment. So Stephen, if they were going to put him to death, should have been taken to the secular authorities. They should have been convicted before the secular authorities and they are the ones who should have put him to death as they did with Jesus. But you see, when you're gnashing your teeth and when you're so upset that you've got to cover your ears and when you are shouting at the top of your lungs, well, you're not thinking entirely rational. And there is an anger from hell that comes loose in persecutions that is just indescribable. I mean, Michael was talking earlier about the Lord's army in Uganda, you know, false prophet really. But the wickedness that happens when people are sold out to evil is beyond imagination. And then rules don't matter, proper procedure doesn't matter, let's just get rid of him. So they drag him out and then that paragraph ends with those fascinating words, doesn't it? "The witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul." Now that's our introduction in the book of Acts to Saul, who later on becomes the Apostle Paul after his own conversion. And we'll have opportunity as time goes on, Lord willing, to look at that story in more detail. But here's the interesting thing, whose coats are put at his feet? It's the coats of the witnesses, why? Because if you were a witness at a trial and that trial convicted the person on the basis of your testimony, guess who got to be the first one to throw the stone? The false witnesses did. And the purpose of that was to keep you from bearing false witness. And the verse in the Old Testament that you've heard so many times, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," is written in that context. If you bear false witness to somebody that costs him his tooth or his eye or his life, what's done to them is going to be done to you. So here are these witnesses who undoubtedly knew that they were bearing false witness, but who are now so deep into it, they can't possibly back out anymore. They take off their coats so they can better throw the stones at Stephen, and they deliberately and knowingly perpetrate the lie and cause his death. And I submit to you that on the Day of Judgment, it will be better for the nations of Sodom and Gomorrah and the people of Nineveh who repented at the preaching of Jonah than it is for those two witnesses who so deliberately perverted the truth. And Saul, we'll see later on, gets converted even though he agrees to this because he does so ignorantly and in unbelief. And so Stephen dies, and it's a great tragedy. But out of that tragedy comes great fruitfulness, because as the story goes on, and Lord willing, we'll pick it up from there another time, what happens? Seeywide persecution breaks out. All the believers, and there may have been as many as 20 or 30,000 of them by this time, they all flee Jerusalem because Saul is hot on their tails and he is determined to put them in prison and to put them to death. He is blazing with righteous indignation thinking that he's doing God a favor. But what happens when that whole community of believers except for the apostles end up leaving Jerusalem? They get scattered. And what happens when they get scattered? They go everywhere preaching the gospel. And now you have the next phase in the book of Acts, because Jesus said, "You will be my witnesses." Where? Jerusalem. Say it with me. Judea. What's next? Samaria. And so now if you read on in Acts chapter 8, guess where the gospel goes? It goes to Samaria. And in the words of Joseph, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good." Let's leave it at that. Say it with me for prayer. It's not likely, Lord, at least in our present day and age and culture, that we will be called, as Stephen did, to lay down our lives physically for our loyalty to Jesus. We never want to rule that out, but that's certainly not where we find ourselves today. But Lord, we live in a world that is increasingly hostile to you, that increasingly looks everywhere but to Jesus for the answers that it's looking for, for a world that is falling apart. And you do call each one of us to stand up and to be counted for Jesus and to bear witness to His name. So Lord, help us to be alert to those opportunities. Help us also to be sensitive to how easily we deny you for whatever reasons. And grant us repentance. And help us to speak the truth in love and in season. And help us to never fear those who can kill the body, but rather to fear Him who can throw body and soul in the flames of fire. And then Lord, while it is still day, while we still have the opportunity to exercise freely our life of commitment to you, gather freely in worship and speak freely in our society, help us to do whatever we can to let the world know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and may you receive glory and may your kingdom be advanced, whether we live or whether we die, may you be honored in all that we do. We pray it in Jesus' name, amen. [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:43:14.360; remove through 00:48:22.000] I see the King of glory, coming on the clouds with fire, the whole earth shakes. I see His love and mercy washing over all our sins, and people sing, and people sing. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. I see a generation, I see a generation, I see a generation, I see a generation, I see a generation, rising up to take their place, with selfless faith, with selfless faith. I see a near revival, stirring as we pray and sing, for all our needs, for all our needs. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. I feel my heart and make it bleed, open up my eyes to the things unseen, show me how to love like you have loved me. Take my heart for what breaks your rule, everything I am for your kingdom's cause, as I walk from good to good, to eternity. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:48:22.000; resume after this marked segment]