Discover Prophecy

Discover the Prophecy That Changed World History

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. David Klinedinst

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Series Code: DPR

Program Code: DPR000001A


00:07 Heavenly Father, Lord we
00:11 come here tonight, from all different walks of life
00:15 Lord but the one thing we have in common,
00:19 we recognize Jesus Christ as our Savior
00:23 Lord you have promised that where two or three people are
00:27 gathered in Your name that you would be present
00:31 So we wanna ask tonight that the same Holy Spirit
00:35 that inspired the authors of scripture would be present here, that you would
00:39 write on our hearts and mids the lesson that you want us to hear this
00:43 evening. Most of all Lord, we pray we want
00:47 to have an experience with Jesus tonight. We want to see Him in the
00:51 center of this prophecy. We want to know that we have
00:55 assurance through Him. So now we pray for Your guidance
00:59 We pray for your understanding, and we ask that you would help us.
01:03 To see light, to see your truth. This we ask
01:07 and pray, in Jesus name, amen.
01:11 It was January 16 of the year
01:15 2009. It was a frigid night
01:19 in northern New Jersey. The temperature had actually
01:23 plummeted to about eight degrees. But despite the cold weather,
01:27 there was a nineteen year old girl who was getting ready to go
01:31 to a party with her three friends. But that night,
01:35 her three friends deceived her. No sooner
01:39 did she get into the car, then they proceeded to drive to
01:43 an isolated part of the county, pull to the side of the road, they
01:47 grabbed their friend by the hair, drug her out of the car,
01:51 and then threw into the nearby woods. Then they drove off
01:55 and abandoned her on what was a bitterly cold night.
01:59 She was left just wearing her dress, a thin jacket,
02:03 and one shoe. For the next hour she walked up and down
02:07 that snowy road desperately looking for help.
02:11 And during that time, five motorists passed her way, none of them
02:14 stopped to help her. Finally there was one man who
02:18 was on his way to work. He saw the condition that she was in, and
02:22 he stopped and drove her to the nearby Inglewood hosiptal,
02:26 and medical center. By the time she got there,
02:30 her feet were already experiencing frostbite.
02:34 Four days later, her friends were charged with
02:38 kidnapping, assault, and conspiracy charges.
02:42 Sources say that were arguing over a man. But whatever the argument
02:46 argument was about, one thing is for sure, this girl was left
02:50 traumatized. She was betrayed and deceived by
02:54 people who were supposed to be her friends.
02:58 And it left her asking the question, "Who can
03:03 I trust?" You see, now what does that have to do with our topic tonight?
03:07 All of us have probably gone through experiences
03:11 in life, that have eroded our trust in people. And sometimes
03:15 that issue of trust can even effect our spiritual life and our
03:19 relationship with God. Because then we begin the question, "Can
03:23 I trust God? Can I really trust
03:27 that the Bible is true? Can I truly believe
03:31 that God is in control of the future?"
03:35 So tonight I want to open up our seminar by sharing with you a prophecy that
03:39 answers all three of those questions. It is a prophecy that answers all three of those questions.
03:43 It is actually found in the book of Daniel Chapter 2. And I would like you to
03:47 turn there in your Bibles. This is one of the most dramatic prophecies
03:51 that you will find in scripture. It covers a span of
03:55 about 2500 years and it predicts the rise and fall
03:59 of four world empires. How many did I say?
04:03 Four. It goes from the time of Babylon and stretches all
04:07 the way to the end of end of time where we are today.
04:11 This prophecy is going to do three things. Number one,
04:15 It is going to show us that we can trust the Bible as
04:19 an inspired word from God. It is going to show us that
04:23 the future is still under God's control.
04:27 And it is going to confirm to us that Jesus is indeed
04:31 coming soon. So I want you to take your Bibles, and by the way you are gonna
04:35 notice in this seminar, a lot of times I will only the reference
04:39 on the screen for you. I will not always spell out the
04:43 verse because I want you to look it up in your own Bibles.
04:47 I believe there is something special when people come together and open up
04:51 the Word of God for themselves, it does something to the
04:55 heart and to the mind. So a lot of times I want you to bring your Bibles with you
04:59 whatever version you have, and I want you to look it up with me
05:03 so that we are studying scripture together. So how many people are in Daniel 2 right now, can I see your
05:07 hands? Alright, Daniel chapter 2, and just as I begin
05:11 to read verse 1, I want to give the background to this chapter,
05:15 so that we can understand this prophecy. You are gonna be
05:19 introduced to a king known as Nebuchadnezzar.
05:23 In history, he came to the throne around 604
05:27 B.C. and was the leader of the Babylonian empire.
05:31 Now the history books tell us, that Nebuchadnezzar was a great
05:35 military leader. he conquered many lands
05:39 and took many people groups captive. And one of the
05:43 nations that he conquered was actually the city of Jerusalem, which he
05:47 laid siege to numerous times. He took many
05:51 of the Jewish people captive, where they lived in exile in Babylon.
05:55 And one of the young men whom he captured was the prophet
05:59 Daniel. Now Daniel stayed faithful to
06:03 God even in this pagan land, and God blessed him with
06:07 talents and with capabilities and eventually Daniel
06:11 became one of the main advisors of King Nebuchadnezzar.
06:15 And one night, God gave Nebuchadnezzar a
06:19 dream or a vision about the future of the world.
06:23 And God used Daniel to give Nebucahdnezzar the
06:27 interpretation. So let us begin and get the background here
06:31 beginning in verse one. Daniel 2:1,
06:35 the Bible says, "Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar
06:39 reign, Nebucahdnezzar had" what?
06:43 Oh come on I need to hear you more than that so I know that you're there. Nebuchanezzar had what?
06:47 Dreams. "And his spriti was so troubled,
06:51 that his sleep left him. Then the King gave
06:55 the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers,
06:59 and the Chalideans to tell the King his dreams."
07:03 So they came and they stood before the kIng.
07:07 The king said to them, I have had a dream
07:11 and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.
07:15 Now I am gonna stop there before we get too far into it. The Bible tells us
07:19 that one night Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that disturbed him.
07:23 Now in our modern world today, we do not take dreams all that
07:27 seriously. We just figure, I ate too much before I went to bed
07:31 and my stomach just got upset. But in the ancient
07:35 East, dreams were very significant.
07:39 Because for a pagan king, it was believed that perhaps,
07:43 his gods were trying to contact him.
07:47 That maybe the gods were trying to communicate some important peace
07:51 of information, like whether or not he should go to war.
07:55 Or whether there was some sort of intrigue or deception within the palace.
07:59 So when a pagan king had a dream, it was taken
08:03 quite seriously. And what disturbed Nebuchadnezzar
08:07 is he could not remember the details of that dream. now is that
08:11 ever happened to you? Can I see your hands? You know you dream something at night, you know
08:15 it was scary, but the next morning when your wife asks why
08:19 you were flailing around in bed, you could not remember the details.
08:23 That is what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. And so the Bible says
08:27 that he called all of his advisors. You know, astrologers,
08:31 wizards, sorcerers, and he brought them to his throne.
08:35 and he wanted them to tell him the dream. And,
08:39 the interpretation. Now you and I in the 21st Century,
08:43 we would think that is rather strange, for a king to expect
08:47 his advisors to tell him the details of a dream that he
08:51 himself could not even remember. That sounds crazy to us.
08:55 But you have to remember something. Babylon was heavily
08:59 involved in spiritualism and these advisors, these astrologers,
09:03 and sorcerers, they claimed to have special knowledge,
09:07 not available to ordinary men.
09:11 They claimed to be able to know the secrets and mysteries of the universe that they
09:15 could contact the pagan gods and speak with them.
09:19 And let me tell you, they were paid well to do so.
09:23 And so Nebuchadnezzar figured, if the pagan gods gave me a dream
09:27 and if my astrologers can access the
09:31 secrets of the universe, they should be able to tell me what it is
09:35 that I dreamed. And when Nebucahnezzar realized
09:39 that his advisors could not do it, when he realized
09:43 that all these years they had been just lying to him and making things
09:47 up, when he came to the conclusion that he has a bunch of con artists
09:51 on the payroll he is utterly furious. And he puts
09:55 forth a rash decree that all his advisors should be executed.
09:59 You gotta understannd, in a pagan
10:03 kingdom in ancient near east, you don't go through a senate or a house
10:07 of representatives. There is no veto power. What the king says
10:11 goes because he is a dictator. And as the story goes on,
10:15 the Bible tells us that eventually the soldiers went to Daniel
10:19 to execute him. But Daniel made a request,
10:23 to see the king. And he told King Nebuchadnezzar that
10:27 "I know that my God
10:31 the true God of heaven can reveal to you the dream and
10:35 its meaning." He asked the king to give him time
10:39 to go home and to pray. And what does Nebuchadnezzar do. Remember?
10:44 He grants that request. Now folks,
10:48 that is significant. Before we even get to the details of this vision,
10:52 there is also practical lessons in the books of Daniel and Revelation.
10:56 Nebuchadnezzar did for Daniel, something
11:00 he would not even do for his own advisors, he gave Daniel
11:04 extra time, because Nebuchadnezzar knew
11:08 that Daniel was a righteous and trustworthy man. Amen?
11:12 He watched how Daniel conducted himself in daily
11:16 life. He knew he acted with integrity and with
11:20 compassion. he knew something was different about this man
11:24 who followed the God of Heaven. And as a result
11:28 Nebuchadnezzar granted him a favor. Now folks,
11:32 that says something about you and me. As disciples of Jesus Christ,
11:36 the way we live our lives everyday,
11:40 matters. The way I conduct myself in the workplace
11:44 makes a difference. The way I act in my neighborhood
11:48 the way I treat people in my own home is always a witness
11:52 to others for either good or for bad.
11:56 See, when people look at your life or mine obviously they aren't
12:00 gonna see that we are perfect, we make mistakes. But they should see
12:04 something about the character of Jesus Christ in us.
12:08 They should see something that makes the Christian
12:12 attractive to them. Nebuchadnezzar saw that in
12:16 Daniel. That's what God calls his people to do today.
12:20 So Daniel goes home, and he and his three friends
12:24 pray like they have never prayed before. I just find this interesting
12:28 instead of complaining against God,
12:32 instead of saying "Oh God you let Jerusalem be destroyed, my family
12:36 was killed, I have been living in exile for years, I will never be able to go home
12:40 and now you let this happen? Why God!" That is
12:44 what they could've done. But instead of complaing, they
12:48 just kneel down and pray. What would happen
12:52 if when difficulties came into your life
12:56 when I go through hard times, instead of always asking God
13:00 why, and complaining and blaming Him,
13:04 what might happen if I just kneel down and I pray?
13:08 I came into his presence and handed it over to Jesus.
13:12 We may find that God will deliver us
13:16 just as he would eventually deliver Daniel.
13:20 Eventually as they pray, God gives Daniel the same dream that was given to
13:24 Nebuchadnezzar. So now I wanna pick up the prophecy or the story,
13:28 in verse 31 because Daniel is now standing
13:32 before the king and he is describing to the king the vision
13:36 that he saw so let us pick it up in Daniel 2. I
13:40 am gonna start reading in verse 31. The Bible says,
13:44 and this is Daniel speaking,
13:48 You oh king were watching and behold a great
13:52 image, this great image
13:56 whose splendor was excellent stood before you. Its form
14:00 was awesome. This images head was of fine gold
14:04 , its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thigh
14:08 of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of
14:12 iron and partly of clay. Verse 34. You
14:16 watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which
14:20 struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke
14:24 them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay,
14:28 the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together,
14:32 and they became like chaff from the summer threshing floors.
14:36 The wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found
14:40 and the stone that struck the image became
14:44 a great mountain and it filled
14:48 the entire earth. Now I want to stop there for a second.
14:52 As Daniel is describing this image, Nebucahdnezzar
14:56 must have jumped out of his seat. Daniel was describing
15:00 something similar to what you see on the screen here. Now, obviously
15:04 none of us were there, we don't know what it lookedlike, but according to the Bible's description,
15:08 this is an artist's conception.
15:12 It was an impressive image that caught Nebuchadnezzar's attention immediately.
15:16 It was made of four different metals. A head of gold,
15:20 chest and arms of silver, midsection of bronze,
15:24 legs of iron, and feet part iron part clay.
15:28 And as Nebuchadnezzar watched, a great stone came out of
15:32 the heavens, struck that image in the feet, smashed it into thousands of pieces,
15:36 so that nothing was left. Then, that rock grew as big as whole
15:40 earth. I imagine, that is exactly
15:44 what I dreamed. But now, here is the question.
15:48 What was God trying to tell Nebuchadnezzar?
15:52 What was God trying to reveal
15:56 to the most powerful man in the world.
16:00 And more importantly, what is God trying
16:04 to tell you and me today.
16:08 What we are going to discover is this, Those four metals represent
16:12 four super powers that would rise to world dominance.
16:16 And this prophecy is going to walk us through history from Babylon,
16:20 until the time of Argae. And by the time we finish
16:24 this prophecy, we are going to see that God has been in control
16:28 of the past. And if God is in control of the past, I know
16:32 he is in control of the present. If he is in control of the present, then I can trust
16:36 Him to be in control of the future. And if he is in control
16:40 of the future, that means I can trust him to be in control of my
16:44 life today, with my decisions and the path that he
16:48 wants me to follow.
16:52 We can trust Jesus. So let's pick it up now
16:56 as Daniel begins to give us the interpretation of
17:00 the different parts of the image. Now we wanna go to verse 36,
17:04 of Daniel 2. The Bible says,
17:08 This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation.
17:12 You Oh King.
17:16 And who is he talking to? Nebuchadnezzar.
17:20 You oh king are a king of kings. For the God of Heave has
17:24 given you a kingdom, and power, and strength,
17:28 and glory and wherever the children of man dwell, or the beasts of the
17:32 field and the birds of the heavens, he has given them into
17:36 your hand and has made you ruler over them all.
17:40 You are this head.
17:44 Now you see the first thing God wants Nebuchadnezzar to
17:48 understand is that he might be a powerful ruler,
17:52 he might have political dominance, and everyone may
17:56 bow to him, but God wants Nebuchadnezzar to know that the only reason
18:00 he has those things is not because he is a great military leader,
18:04 only because God in his providence allowed it to happen.
18:08 And he wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know that even he will come
18:12 to a time when his life will stand before God.
18:16 Those of us that may have power, or influence and authority, God wants us to realize that
18:20 he wants us to use those things for good.
18:24 To lift other people up and draw them closer to
18:28 the Lord Jesus. God eventually says, you Nebuchadnezzar
18:32 your kingdom of Babylon, you are this head of gold.
18:36 This part is pretty easy to understand, it is not a complex
18:40 one. Clearly God is representing the head of gold as Babylon.
18:44 Now to help us understand another part of this prophecy,
18:48 I gotta share with you a little of Babylon.
18:52 Babylon was the superpower of its day. Rising to power
18:56 somewhere around 605 BC.
19:00 Babylon was considered to be absolutely indestructible
19:04 and invincible. It was believed that Babylon
19:08 woul dnever fall, that it would last forever.
19:12 I want you to notice how this commentary, Daniel and the Revelation
19:16 I want you to notice how the author describes the city of Babylon. The author
19:20 writes, the city of Babylon was laid out in a perfect
19:24 square said to be 60 miles in circumference,
19:28 15 miles on each side, surrounded by a wall
19:32 estimated to have been 200-300 feet high and
19:36 87 feet thick with a moat, or ditch,
19:40 around this and provisions on hand
19:44 for 20 years. Now I want you to think about that
19:48 We are talking about the ancient world here. A city 60 miles
19:52 in circumference at that time was huge.
19:56 That might be a smaller midsized city today. Back then it was one of the
20:00 biggest in the world probably. It goes on to say that they had
20:04 a wall 200-300 feet high, 87 feet thick
20:08 SO if you are gonna conquer Babylon, if Babylon is gonna fall
20:12 you either gotta go through the wall, and you are not going through 87 feet of stone
20:16 or whatever it was. No battering ram would be able to do that.
20:20 You say well maybe they would go up the wall. Possibly,
20:24 but that is gonna be awfully hard when there are archers on top the wall shooting arrows
20:28 down at you and throwing boulders down on your head. That is nearly
20:32 impossible. Now if you wanted to lay siege to Babylon,
20:36 and surround it? That is fine you would cut off their food supply.
20:40 Except for one thing. Babylon had provisions on hand for how long?
20:44 20 years. That means an enemy
20:48 would have to have money enough for their army to surround Babylon
20:52 for 20 years. An utter impossibility.
20:56 I want you to notice what God says. in verse 39
21:00 God says the impossible is
21:04 going to happen. Verse 39 the Bible says,
21:08 "But after you Nebuchadnezzar,
21:12 shall arise another kingdom,
21:16 inferior to yours." Now we are gonna stop
21:20 after that half sentence. I am sure that when Daniel uttered those words,
21:24 Nebuchadnezzar didn't like that. Another kingdom after me?
21:28 And not only did God say that Babylon would fall and another kingdom would come
21:32 what kind of kingdom?
21:36 An inferior kingdom!
21:41 Now I would imagine that the guards, the soldiers, whoever was in the palace at that
21:45 time had heard those words probably in their heart ridiculed and
21:49 scorned Daniel and his God. Like Babylon is gonna fall
21:53 the superpower to a weaker and inferior nation.
21:57 That is what Bible prophecy says. So here's the
22:01 question. If God can be trusted, if
22:05 Bible prophecy is true and accurate, does history tell
22:09 us that Babylon was conquered by an inferior nation.
22:13 All you have to do is open up the history books, and the
22:17 answer is absolutely yes. For those of you who remember
22:21 history class. Tell me, what nation came on to the scene
22:25 and defeated Babylon and rose to worldwide dominance. Remember?
22:29 This is your quúfor tonight. That is right, Medo-Persia.
22:33 Medo-Persia, or some textbooks just call them the Persian empire. They are
22:37 represented by the chest and arms of silver. They
22:41 defeated Babylon and began ruling much
22:45 of the then known world. The question you might have is this,
22:49 if Persia was an inferior kingdom, and they were they were made up of two people,
22:53 the Medes and the Persians. The Persians were a little stronger than the
22:57 Medes, that is why it is called the Persian kingdom. You see well how did they defeat
23:01 Babylon? How did they go over that wall or through it? What happened?
23:05 Well i don't have time to go through all the details tonight, I'll just give you a little
23:09 summary. If you want to read about it, read Daniel
23:13 chapter 5. it tells you it happened. You won't even have to the history books for that.
23:17 But here is what occurred. When Nebuchadnezzar died, his
23:21 grandson or great grandson eventually took over the throne. His name was
23:25 Belteshazzar. Belteshazzar was a very young a
23:29 and foolish king and actually quite arrogant. And so when the
23:33 Medo-Persian army came to attack babylon, the
23:37 do you know what he did? If you were a king and knew an enemy was coming to attack you
23:41 what do you think you would do. prepare your armies!
23:45 He decided, Babylon would never fall he threw a
23:49 party in the city and palace for his soldiers
23:53 and all his subjects. So while the enemy was outside the city,
23:57 this arrogant king is throwing a party.
24:01 So what the Medo-Persian army did is, they cut off
24:05 the river. The Euphrates River goes underneath Babylon
24:09 They cut off the river, got onto the dry river,
24:13 and walked underneath the wall to the other side.
24:17 Normally you wouldn't be able to do that because again archers would be shooting
24:21 at you and throwing boulders down upon you. Where are the Babylonian
24:25 soldiers? They're at a drunken party in the palace
24:29 So they walked right underneath the wall. Well,
24:33 when they came up on the other side, they still had to go through the city
24:37 gates which would always be locked. But because they were in a
24:41 inebriated stupor, someone left the
24:45 city gates unlocked. The medo-persian army,
24:49 marched right into Babylon and even though they were a weaker army,
24:53 and an inferior nation, it wasn't too hard to
24:57 conquer Babylon when all their soldiers are intoxicated
25:01 and that night, Babylon
25:05 fell. Was that by chance
25:09 Was that by circumstance or coincidence? No
25:13 it is because Bible prophecy said it would happen, they would be conquered by
25:17 an inferior nation. That is why we can trust
25:21 what Bible prophecy says. Can you say amen? But we have got to
25:25 move on because we have to eventually get to our day. Now, in the
25:29 second half of verse 39, notice what God says next.
25:33 Verse 39 the second half in the Bible says
25:37 "Then another, a third kingdom of bronze
25:41 which shall rule over all the earth.
25:45 Well, now God is saying that eventually Persia will pass from the scene, and
25:49 they will be conquered by a third kingdom who begins to dominate the world.
25:53 So if Bible prophecy is true, we should be able to see
25:57 that in the history books. Again for those of you who paid attention in
26:01 history class, and by the way i gotta see how honest you are.
26:05 How many of you can say, you know Pastor Dave I have to admit that
26:09 in high school I didn't pay alot of attention in history it was rather
26:13 boring. Would you be honest and raise your hands?
26:17 I've gotta admit, of course I didn't know I was gonna teach
26:22 Bible prophecy one day, but now that I know
26:26 prophecy of the Bible, history is fascinating to me.
26:30 Because I can now see God's overarching hand
26:34 all throughout history. I can see that things did not just happen
26:38 by chance and even when it seems like thigns are spontaneous
26:42 and spiraling out of control, God is still in
26:46 control. I love history now. So you tell me
26:50 what nation conquered Persia and became the next dominant power do you know?
26:54 You got it! The Grecian Empire by Alexander
26:58 the Great. I wanna share with you something about
27:02 Alexander the Great in just a minute here. In the commentary
27:06 Daniel and the Revelation, it says this about the deciding
27:10 battle between Greece and Persia. The author says,
27:14 "Suffice it to say that the deciding point
27:18 was reached on the field of Arbela in 331 BC. where the Grecians,
27:22 though only 1 to 20 in number,
27:26 as compared with the Persians,
27:30 won a decisive victory.
27:34 I don't want you to miss that. When is the last time
27:38 you heard of a nation, outnumbered 20 to 1,
27:42 winning a decisive victory in battle.
27:46 That ius nearly impossible according to human terms.
27:50 But that is exactly what happened in history. Why?
27:54 Is it because Alexander the Great was a wonderful military leader and strategist?
27:58 Oh that may be a little part of it,
28:02 but it is because Bible prophecy said a third kingdom would come
28:06 on the scene and it did.
28:10 That is why God's word can always be trusted.
28:14 Now, the leader of Greece at that time as you know was Alexander
28:18 the great. Now i want to just stop and bring out a practical lesson
28:22 before we go on in this prophecy. Do you know old
28:26 Alexander the Great was when he dominated the world?
28:31 Guess. Yeah he was in his 30s.
28:35 He was about 33 years old when he died. Could you imagine being in control
28:39 of the world in your 30s, being th emost powerful
28:43 man in the world at that time. he had
28:47 everything that you would think a person would want.
28:51 He had power, he had fame,
28:55 he had all the wealth and money he could want, he had
28:59 any pleasure in life that he desired to have.
29:03 You what you discover? He wasn't happy.
29:07 He struggled with need in life
29:11 because some sources of history conjecture
29:15 that Alexander the Great died because he drank himself
29:19 to death. History tells us quite lightly he had
29:23 an alcohol problem. that these other things were not
29:27 giving him a source of joy and happiness, that he had to turn to alcohol
29:31 and alcohol conquered him at the age of 33
29:35 when he had all these things you would think that a person
29:39 would possibly desire. You know what that tells me?
29:43 I can spend all my life
29:47 trying to build my business to fortune
29:51 I can spend my life trying to climb
29:55 the corporate ladder and become powerful,
29:59 I could spend my life trying to build my bank account
30:03 spending 40 hours a week in front of my televison
30:07 and Bible prophecy tells us the only thing that really matters is
30:11 do I have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
30:15 The center of all prophecy. You see when I have Jesus
30:19 as my savior, and I am pointing there because they have the sign there that i
30:23 really like. The center of all prophecy. When you have Jesus Christ,
30:27 as you savior that means that the perfect life that Jesus lived,
30:31 counts for you. that he is willing to give you and I
30:35 His righteousness, and so when God looks
30:39 in the record book of your life, he does not see all your sins
30:43 and mistakes and short comings, he sees the perfect life of Jesus
30:47 that now counts for you. That is why the Bible
30:51 calls Him out substitute. What would it be like,
30:55 to think that God could look at you,
30:59 as though you are perfect.
31:03 That's what it means to have Jesus Christ as a savior. That is
31:07 really the only thing that matters.
31:11 That is why Jesus himself said in Mark 8:36,
31:15 "What does it profit a man if he should gain the whole
31:19 world, yet lose his own soul."
31:23 Eternal life through Jesus, is
31:27 worth more than anything we may try to gain
31:31 in this world. That is what I learned partly from this prophecy
31:35 and from the life of Alexander the Great. Let us move on
31:39 we have got farther to go in this prophecy. Now after Greece,
31:43 in verse 40 God says another kingdom is going to come.
31:47 Now let's begin to pick it up here because in verse 40 things will eventually become
31:51 a little more detailed. Verse 40 the Bible says,
31:55 "and the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as
31:59 iron. In asmuch
32:03 as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything,
32:07 and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces
32:11 and crush all the others.
32:15 Now we're gonna pause here for a second. Bible prophecy says
32:19 Greece would fall, a fourth kingdom would come onto the scene,
32:23 God desribes this fourth kingdom, whoever it would be,
32:27 as being strong like iron, and crushing
32:31 everything in its path. So if Bible prophecy
32:35 is true, if God can be trusted,
32:39 that means I should be able to see that in history, and when I look
32:43 back indeed, Greece was conquered by another
32:47 stronger empire. Do you know who that was?
32:51 it was the roman empire. Rome ruled the world
32:55 almost 600 years. I want you to think about that.
32:59 600 years. That is a strong empire.
33:03 And what is amazing to me. They are obviously represented by the legs
33:07 of iron on the statue.
33:11 But if you read the secular history books, many that are written by non-Christians, folk who
33:15 are not believers in God, do know what nickname
33:19 they have given the Roman empire? Take a guess.
33:23 Well I know my wife knows, they have been called
33:27 the iron kingdom. I find it
33:31 astounding that historians who knew nothing of the prophets
33:35 of Daniel 2 have given Rome a nickname
33:39 that perfectly correlates with what God said hundreds of years ago
33:43 and it is true. Rome conquered everything
33:47 in its path. They ruled the world when Jesus walked this earth.
33:51 So here is what we see thus far in this great image
33:55 4 super powers. Babylon, Persia, Greece
33:59 Rome. But now we are at a point
34:03 where the pattern of world history is going to change.
34:07 God is going to utter a prophecy that is rather amazing. Because
34:11 at this point the next verse is going to tell us
34:15 that it is not going to be a fifth world ruling empire that comes.
34:19 Because so far it has been one super power conquering another and ruling
34:23 the world. God says that pattern stops
34:27 after Rome, after the fourth kingdom. And the prophecy is going to reveal
34:31 the fourth kingdom is simply going to divide from within
34:35 into many smaller nations.
34:39 Let's pick it up in verse 41 I want you to notice what God says here.
34:43 Verse 41. The Bible says, "
34:47 Where as you saw the feet and toes partly of potters
34:51 clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be
34:55 divided. Yet the strength of
34:59 the iron shall be in it just as you saw the iron mixed
35:03 with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the
35:07 feer were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the
35:11 kingdoms shall be partly strong, and partly fragile.
35:15 Or some versions say partly brittle now we are going to stop here.
35:19 God clearly says that this fourth kingdom which woul dbe
35:23 Rome would be divided. That is would not become
35:27 conquered by another superpower, the pattern is going to change. And so
35:31 if Bible prophecy is true, if it is accurate
35:35 if God can be trusted, I should be able to look back
35:39 in history and see if that actually happened, and you discover
35:43 that it did. Rome was not conquered by
35:47 anotehr power. They were invaded by many of the barbaric
35:51 tribes from the north and over the centuries they eventually divided
35:55 into many smaller nations. Some were
35:59 strong, some were weak like clay.
36:03 And over the centuries they became the nations of western Europe
36:07 that we have today. That is the divided Roman empire.
36:11 SOme were strong like iron, some were weak
36:16 like clay. In fact, the traditional date for the fall of
36:20 Rome is 476, but you realize an empire does not fall in a day.
36:24 These things happened many years over a century
36:28 but since 476, these are some of the people
36:32 groups that came out of the dividing of Rome. Now I don't want to go into a lot of detail
36:36 here because I do not want us to miss the main point. For example.
36:40 the Alamanni people group they became the Germans, well guess what country
36:44 they founded. Germany. The Burgundians became the Swiss
36:48 what country did they found? Switzerland. The Anglo-Saxons
36:52 they were the English
36:56 who founded England. So you have all these
37:00 people groups over the centuries that eventually founded the
37:04 divided nations of western europe, that is the time period that
37:08 we live in today. The days of divided nations
37:12 in Western Europe. But then
37:16 God says something astounding in verse 43
37:20 God really sticks his neck out here, and I don't want us
37:24 to miss this. Verse 43, now keep in mind
37:28 God is speaking about the nations of western Europe that
37:32 came out of Rome. Verse 43 the Bible says, "
37:36 As you saw iron mixed with
37:40 ceramic clay, they
37:44 will mingle with the seed of men
37:48 but they will not adhere one to another
37:52 just as iron does not mix with clay.
37:56 " Now if you have the King James Version
38:00 it actually uses the phrase "they shall not cleave one to another"
38:04 Do you realize those seven words,
38:08 they shall not cleave one to another,
38:12 they have stood the test of time for over a thousand years
38:16 because in this prophecy God is saying
38:20 these nations that will come out of rome, that would form the nations of western
38:24 Europe, theyw ould try to mingle with the seed of men
38:28 in other words, they would intermarry, they would try to unite together again.
38:32 And all through the middle ages, this king seeks to amrry
38:36 this queen. This prince hooks up with this princess. They make all the
38:40 different alliances to try to bring Euope back together into one
38:44 world power. But Bible prophecy
38:48 clearly said they shall not
38:52 cleave one to another and
38:56 ever since the fall of rome in 476, that prophecy
39:00 has stood true for almost 1500 years
39:04 In fact there have been many leaders that have tried to defy that
39:08 prophecy I am just gonna show you a few. Cherlemagne
39:12 in the middle ages. He tried to unite Europe, he failed.
39:16 Stalin tried it. He failed. Hiteler
39:20 just a few generations removed from us, he tried it.
39:24 In world war 2 and he failed.
39:28 You know the leader that got the closest was Napoleon.
39:32 During the french revolution if you know anyhting about history
39:36 Napoleon was conquering countrya fter country and
39:40 actually looked like he might defy this prophecy. Now it is said
39:44 that someone once went to Napoleon and
39:48 shared with him what Daniel 2 said
39:52 but Napoleon continued on anyway. But God did something so simple
39:56 as Napoleon's armies marched to battle,
40:00 God sent a few snowflakes
40:04 and those snowflakes diverted Napoleon to
40:08 Waterloo where he met his defeat.
40:12 Is that by chance? Is that an accident?
40:16 Is that just a coincidence?
40:20 No it is because Bible prophecy said they shall not cleave
40:24 one to another.even our world today
40:28 has tried to defy that. Europe ahs a common curreccny.
40:32 The Europian common market, European
40:36 airlines, but the fact remains, they are still seperate nations with separate governments.
40:40 Separate leaders, separate laws because God says.
40:44 They will never from a worldwide superpower again.
40:48 This is why i can trust what God's word says.
40:52 But now comes the last part of the parable
40:56 or prophecy, one that to me is the most important
41:00 one. The book of Daniel was written somewhere around 500-600 BC
41:04 This was not written after all these things occurred.
41:08 And if every part of this prophecy has been fulfilled to a T,
41:12 then we know that the last part will be fulfilled
41:16 as well. The last part is this rock that flies out of the heavens.
41:20 Let us read about that in verse 44.
41:24 If you are still with me tonight, can you say amen. Alright verse 44.
41:28 The Bible says, "And in the days of
41:32 these Kings,
41:36 now what is he talking about,
41:40 the Kings the leaders of western europe. That is the period we live in today.
41:44 the God of heaven will
41:48 set up a kingdom which shall never destroyed. And the
41:52 Kingdom shall not be left to other people it shall
41:56 break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms
42:00 and it shall stand forever. And then
42:04 verse 45 end by saying the dream is
42:08 certain. The interpretation is sure.
42:12 See the prophecy says this rock this
42:16 stone that flies out of the heavens, is simply the second coming
42:20 of Jesus Christ. The coming of His Kingdom.
42:24 Because all throughout the Bible even in the old testament Jesus us
42:28 referred to as the rock, the capstone
42:32 the cornerstone, this rock that flies out of heaven
42:36 is reminding us that Jesus Christ is coming soon.
42:41 That all other kingdoms in the world will be obliterated and we can be
42:44 with Jesus forever. Somebody ought to say amen tonight
42:49 because if that part of the prophecy is not fulfilled, you and I have no hope.
42:53 Because I do not know about you, I am happy to be alive but I do not want to live
42:57 in this world forever. I am waiting for Jesus to come and this
43:01 prophecy is telling us, notice, the rock strikes the image where.
43:05 in the feet. THe time period of a divided
43:09 Europe, our time, is telling us taht
43:13 Jesus is coming very very soon. We may not know
43:17 the day or the hour, but prophecy says that it is closer than
43:21 we think. And the point is it is trying to wake us up
43:25 so that we can get close to Jesus and pay
43:29 attention to our relationship with Him.
43:33 Now one honest question we may ask before we close, is someone may ask the question
43:37 well if Rome fell in 476,
43:41 and we have had the dividing Nations of Western Europe around for a long time
43:45 probably a thousand years, why has Jesus waitied
43:49 to come? Why does it seema s though he ahs delayed
43:53 his coming. He could hve come long ago,
43:57 Well i do not claim to have alll the answers but I do think there is a verse in
44:01 the bible that gives us just a little clue. It is 2 Peter 3
44:05 verse 8 and 9. I have that on the screen for you.
44:09 The Bible says but do not forget this one thing dear friends
44:13 that with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and
44:17 a thousand years is like a day and verse 9
44:21 says the lord is not slow concerning
44:25 his promise as some count slowness, He is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
44:37 You see, the Bible tell us, God is not interested in seeing
44:41 people lost unneccesarily.
44:45 he does not enjoy seeing people perish. So God waits
44:49 as long as he can. So that people will make
44:53 a decison for him. But the truth is
44:57 earth's history is winding down and God
45:01 cannot wait forever. There will comea time
45:05 when probation will close.
45:09 And so I ahve to ask myself a ery serious question.
45:13 Is it possible that God
45:17 is waiting dor you.
45:21 Is it possible that He is waiting for you.
45:25 To make a decision.
45:29 Is it possible that he is waiting for you to accept Him as your savior
45:33 For you or me to take Him
45:37 seriously.
45:41 This invitation ot those that are living at the end of time. Revelation 3
45:45 20 the Bible says, behold I stand at the door
45:49 and knock. if anyone hears my voice
45:53 and opens the door, I will come in to him.
45:57 Friends that is a very intimate picture
46:01 that shows Jesus standing at the door of our heart knocking
46:05 because he wants to come in.
46:09 the only question that remains is do I hear
46:13 the voice of Jesus in my life. Or is the voice
46:17 of Jesus being drowned out by so many other things.
46:21 my business, my sports,
46:25 my pleasures. Because at some point I
46:29 have to decide to open the door
46:33 and to let Him in. The Good thing is Jesus
46:37 never stops knocking until time
46:41 is over. TOnight when you go home I wonder if you might
46:45 pray this prayer in your heart, that in the provacy of your home
46:49 you might say, Lord Jesus I know that you are still in control
46:53 of this world. But Lord I want you to be in control
46:57 of my life tonight I am opening
47:01 my heart to you. He has promised
47:05 he would never leave us nor forsake us.
47:09 Nor would he ever turn a soul away.


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Revised 2018-07-01