Participants: Pr. Kenneth Cox
Series Code: GMTB
Program Code: GMTB000028
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00:19 One of the most prolific writers
00:22 in the history of the United States if not the world 00:24 is the 19th century writer 00:27 Ellen G. White. Her books have been translated 00:29 and circulated perhaps more than anyone else 00:32 certainly in the history of this country. 00:34 One of her more inspired statements was: 00:38 "We have nothing to fear for the future 00:41 except we forget God's leadings in our past history. " 00:45 Heard a very interesting story the other day on television... 00:48 A man ran into a convenience store armed wtih a baseball bat. 00:53 He demanded from the proprietor money. 00:57 Well, instead of producing cold, hard cash 01:00 the store owner produced cold, hard steel. 01:04 He brought from beneath the counter a very large gun. 01:08 And so the two men stared at each other for a split second. 01:12 It was bat versus bullet. 01:16 And yet they saw in each other's eyes 01:19 something very strange... 01:20 something that drew them to each other. 01:22 Instead of running from the store 01:24 the man dropped the bat and then dropped to his knees 01:28 and burst into tears. 01:30 Profound weeping. 01:31 He said: "You know, I'm not a bad man. 01:33 I'm not an evil person. 01:35 I'm not... I'm not a robber or a thief. 01:37 But I've lost my job, I've lost my home, 01:40 I've lost my car, I've lost my savings. 01:44 I'm out of everything. I'm out of gas, 01:46 I'm out of a home, I'm out of a job, 01:48 and I'm running out of time and I've got to feed my family. 01:51 That's the only reason I am here. " 01:53 Well, the proprietor of the store put down the gun, 01:58 went into his own pocket, 02:01 and gave the man $40 and a loaf of bread. 02:03 The two men embraced, 02:06 and then he walked out of the store. 02:09 All of this was caught on the store's 02:12 video surveillance camera, 02:14 and we saw it there on the television set. 02:17 When I saw that it occurred to me 02:19 nothing is promised to us. 02:22 Though we sit with jobs and homes, we are just one accident, 02:28 one sickness away from poverty. 02:31 You can go from well-to-do to welfare 02:37 almost in an instant. 02:39 You can go from being very rich and satisfied 02:41 to being very poor and hungry almost in an instant. 02:44 And we've seen it over and over and over and over in these days 02:48 in which we find ourselves. 02:49 You can't really trust your bank account. 02:53 You can't really trust your stocks and bonds. 02:57 You can't really trust in tomorrow. 03:00 You can only trust in Jesus. 03:03 And that is why this particular study, 03:05 this particular series of studies 03:07 given to us by Evangelist Cox are so very, very important 03:10 for us... because they point us to the One that we can trust. 03:15 So that when you can't see tomorrow, 03:18 you can look back to the prophetic history of the past 03:20 knowing that the same God who got you to today 03:24 if you hold onto His hand 03:26 will lead you safely home. 03:29 My name is C.A. Murray, and it is my privilege on behalf of 03:32 Elder Kenneth Cox and the entire team here at 3ABN 03:35 to welcome you to this very vital, very fine series 03:39 that we are calling Was, Is Not, and Yet Is. 03:42 And I'm enough of a Bible student to know 03:44 that when we talk about "spake as a dragon, " 03:47 all of God's people need to perk up their ears 03:50 because God is going to hold through Evangelist Cox 03:53 a mirror to our eyes this day 03:55 and force us to look at ourselves. 03:58 Now all of these messages are good. 04:00 But if there is a series of messages that you want to buy 04:03 and ruminate over and take home and study, 04:05 it is these messages that we are entertaining 04:07 during this particular session. 04:09 Very vital messages including today's 04:12 for our walk as we try to walk this road that leads to glory. 04:16 Elder Cox has been given a very special gift. 04:19 And the Lord will call upon that gift today as we look at 04:22 Spake as a Dragon. 04:24 But before he comes for us 04:26 Larry Blackwell is here, and he's going to be singing 04:28 an old standard: "Just a Closer Walk With Thee. " 04:46 Just a closer walk with Thee, 04:53 Grant it, Jesus, 04:56 if it be. 05:01 Daily walking 05:04 close to Thee. 05:08 Dear Lord, let it be... 05:12 let it be. 05:17 Just a closer walk with Thee, 05:24 Grant it, Jesus, 05:27 if You please. 05:32 Daily walking 05:35 close to Thee, 05:39 Let it be, 05:41 dear Lord, let it be. 05:47 When my feeble life is o'er, 05:55 Time for me 05:58 shall be no more; 06:03 Guide me gently, 06:06 safely o'er 06:10 to Thy kingdom shore, 06:14 To Thy shore. 06:18 Just a closer walk with Thee, 06:26 Grant it, Jesus, 06:29 is my plea. 06:34 Daily walking 06:37 close to Thee, 06:41 Let it be, 06:43 dear Lord, 06:45 let it be. 06:49 Let it be, 06:52 dear Lord, 06:54 let it be. 07:04 Amen! 07:06 Thank you, Larry. 07:08 And good day to each of you. 07:10 Very happy to welcome you today. 07:13 To those of you that are tuning in by radio or 07:18 watching on television, we welcome you. 07:21 Those that we have heard from from many different places 07:25 around the world, we are happy to welcome you. 07:28 Appreciate you tuning in. 07:30 We hope that the series is being a blessing to you. 07:33 This series is entitled Give Me The Bible. 07:38 That is the title for the series that covers the whole year. 07:43 That's the title of it. 07:45 And each month we do five presentations 07:49 on a given subject. 07:51 And so like this month we're doing five presentations 07:56 on prophecy on Was, Is Not, Yet Is... 08:00 which is a prophecy mentioned in Revelation the 17th chapter. 08:04 So as we've gone through this we hope that it is helping you 08:08 understand God's Word. 08:11 Today we're looking at: 08:16 That's a particular beast that we're looking at 08:19 mentioned in Revelation the 13th chapter. 08:25 So this evening... the next presentation 08:28 will be on the eighth beast. 08:30 The eighth beast... and it is the last one, folks. 08:35 That's the last one mentioned in scripture. 08:38 And so it becomes very important that you and I 08:41 put all of it together. The preponderance of evidence 08:44 there makes it clear that you and I can know exactly 08:48 what it's talking about. 08:50 Today we're thinking about Spoke as a Dragon. 08:54 And in Revelation the 13th chapter 08:57 there are two beasts. 08:58 We are looking at the second one today. 09:02 That's the one we're looking at. 09:03 We'll identify that one, and it is the seventh 09:07 And so we're going to put them all together 09:09 step by step as we take a look at what God's Word has to say. 09:13 So we're very happy to welcome all of you. 09:16 Appreciate you being here. 09:17 And we hope that the Word of God is opening up 09:22 understanding... more and more of it... 09:24 as we study these subjects. 09:26 Very happy to have Larry Blackwell with us. 09:29 He's going to sing for us the song that goes along 09:33 with our subject this morning: The Battle Hymn of the Republic. 09:46 Mine eyes have seen the glory 09:49 of the coming of the Lord. 09:51 He is trampling out the vintage 09:54 where the grapes of wrath are stored; 09:57 He hath loosed the fateful light-ning 09:59 of His terrible swift sword; 10:02 His truth is marching on. 10:08 Glory! glory, hallelujah! 10:13 Glory! glory, hallelujah! 10:18 Glory! glory, hallelujah! 10:23 His truth is marching on. 10:30 In the beauty of the lilies, 10:35 Christ was born across the sea, 10:40 With a glory in His bosom 10:43 that transfigures you and me; 10:49 As He died to make men holy, 10:54 let us live to make men free, 10:58 While God is marching 11:04 on. 11:06 Join me: 11:08 Glory! glory, hallelujah! 11:13 Glory! glory, hallelujah! 11:18 Glory! glory, hallelujah! 11:23 His truth is marching on. 11:28 His truth is 11:32 marching 11:35 on. 11:39 Marching on. 12:00 Heavenly Father, 12:03 as we open Your Word today 12:07 we ask that You will give us enlightenment. 12:13 As we take a look at this great nation, 12:18 as we take a look at all the evidence 12:22 that's in Your Word and how it has been fulfilled 12:26 so accurately. 12:28 That we might know where we are. 12:31 That we might know where we're headed. 12:34 So that we might know what we should do... 12:38 how we ought to go about doing it. 12:41 Bless each one here today 12:43 in a very, very special way. 12:47 We pray in Your name, Amen. 12:57 As we mentioned, we're looking at Revelation the 17th chapter. 13:01 That says: 13:14 Let me say to you right now 13:17 and you need to bear this in mind now very carefully 13:20 is that text must be looked at from John's point of view... 13:24 not yours. 13:26 OK? You have to look at that 13:30 from John's point of view... not yours. 13:33 John is saying "five have fallen, 13:35 one is, the other is not yet come. " 13:38 So you have to read it and understand it 13:40 from that point of view. 13:42 We have looked at these beasts 13:45 and as we have found out, beasts in the Bible 13:48 represent nations or powers. 13:51 And so you remember the first one was Babylon. 13:54 And we found out that Babylon ruled 13:57 and it was overthrown by Medo-Persia. 14:01 Medo-Persia overthrew Babylon, 14:04 and then Medo-Persia was overthrown by Greece. 14:09 And then Greece ruled for a period of time 14:12 and was overthrown by pagan Rome. 14:16 And pagan Rome ruled until 476 AD 14:21 and was overthrown by papal Rome. 14:25 Now this particular beast you must pay very careful 14:30 attention to because this one plays a very important role. 14:36 So follow it very, very carefully. 14:39 We've studied about this one. 14:40 Revelation the 13th chapter the first beast - 14:43 the non-descript beast there - we've studied it. 14:46 We found out that it represented papal Rome. 14:49 Papal Rome fell to? see how you're doing. 14:53 Well, papal Rome fell to Atheistic Communism. 14:59 1991 AD it fell. 15:02 And so we have those six. 15:06 This is the one John says "is. " 15:09 "Five have fallen, one is. " 15:12 That is the sixth one, and today we're taking a look 15:15 at the seventh one. 15:18 That's the one... the one that was to come. 15:20 That's the one we're looking at. 15:21 We're going to go to Revelation the 13th chapter 15:26 and go to verse 1 because I just want to establish this 15:30 beast. We have looked at this beast. 15:32 We have identified this beast already in the previous series 15:37 entitled Five Have Fallen 15:39 we deal with this beast. And it says: 16:04 So it's identifying this beast for you. 16:15 We clearly identified this beast. 16:18 I gave you eight points of identification 16:20 that will fit no other power on the face of the earth. 16:25 Only that beast does it fit. 16:28 So when it comes to identifying it, the scripture is absolutely 16:33 crystal clear. 16:34 What I want you to look at 16:36 is we find that this beast, papal Rome, 16:39 was overthrown in 1798 AD. It says: 16:52 That is when papal Rome was overthrown: 16:56 1798 AD. 16:58 OK. That's important because 17:02 when we're coming down in Revelation 13 17:05 and we come to verse 10, 17:07 it has this to say: 17:19 The papal power had led people into captivity. 17:23 The scripture said it's going to go into captivitiy. 17:26 It had killed with the sword. 17:28 Said it would be killed with the sword. 17:30 That's the prophecy there made. 17:33 That happened in... 1798 AD. 17:38 So watch what happens. Look at verse 11: 17:50 So the scripture is telling you just as this beast in 17:54 Revelation 13 is going down... 17:58 He said: "I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. " 18:02 Now what becomes extremely important here 18:05 is the time element. 18:07 There is no other power 18:10 but the United States of America 18:13 that will fit this time sequence. 18:15 None other. 18:17 So it says that as this beast of Revelation 13 18:20 was going down, he said: "I saw another beast 18:24 rising up out of the earth. " 18:27 So we have it clearly there. 18:29 I don't know how many of you remember a man by the name of 18:33 John Wesley? 18:35 John Wesley was really the one 18:37 who established the Methodist church. 18:40 A great preacher of righteousness. 18:42 Tremendous individual. 18:44 John Wesley had a little bit of a... I don't know what... 18:48 what you want to call it... but one of the things he 18:50 did was that when he was studying, if he came across 18:53 or had some thought or came across some information 18:56 about something, he would jot it on a piece of paper 18:59 and file it. And he did this 19:02 on the book of Revelation, quite a bit of it. 19:04 He would just jot notes about the book of Revelation 19:07 and file them away. 19:08 So when he died, they took those 19:11 and published them. And you can buy a book called 19:14 Notes on Revelation by John Wesley. 19:16 Concerning these two beasts, 19:19 one here... these two beasts in Revelation 13, 19:23 listen to his comments: 19:27 Now he's talking about this second beast - 19:29 the two horned beast. 19:40 Well, if you study that prophecy about the first beast, 19:44 that forty-two months came to an end in? 19:47 1798 AD. 19:49 Do you notice when John Wesley wrote this? 19:52 1752 AD. 19:56 See, he understood exactly what was happening. 19:59 He said: "This second beast can't be very far off 20:02 because he's got to appear at the end of the forty-two 20:05 months of the first beast. " 20:07 And just exactly on time, it was there. 20:10 All the beasts that took place 20:15 had to come into this series of time. 20:19 Well, look at a few events with me. 20:21 The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth when? 20:26 See how well you're doing on history here. 20:28 How are you doing? When did they land at Plymouth Rock? 20:31 1620 AD... right. Landed at Plymouth Rock. 20:35 And the Pilgrims began to set up livelihood. 20:39 Built their villages and colonies began to form. 20:43 And finally the United States - or those 13 colonies - 20:48 decided they wanted to be free. 20:52 They did not want to be under the control of England. 20:56 And when I went to school 20:59 they... they said the thing that we did was... 21:02 we had the Boston Tea Party. 21:05 You remember that? 21:07 And says they were rebelling against taxes. 21:10 Have you ever gone back and read the taxes back then? 21:14 Man, I'd accept them with open arms today. 21:18 I mean gladly... gladly. 21:20 But they rebelled; they went against it. 21:23 And we find that in 1776 AD we had what? 21:28 Declaration of Independence. 21:31 Are you watching the time element? 21:33 See? The Declaration of Independence: 1776 AD. 21:38 The Bill of Rights: 1789 AD. 21:42 Bill of Rights was adopted 1791 AD. 21:46 The beast went into captivity when? 21:48 1798 AD. 21:50 He said: "I saw as this beast was going into captivity 21:53 I saw another one rising up. " 21:56 So just exactly as one goes down 22:00 the other one is coming up 22:01 as the scripture said it would. 22:12 The beasts that we have studied like those in Daniel 7 22:15 or this one here in Revelation 17... 22:19 All those beasts came up out of what? 22:22 Water. But this one came up 22:25 out of the earth, just exactly as it is described 22:31 on the Statue of Liberty. 22:33 That's how this nation came into being: 22:36 "Give me your tired, your poor... " 22:53 That's the way this country was settled. 22:55 You see water in Bible prophecy represents people, 22:59 nations, tongues. 23:01 And so this nation didn't come about as a result 23:05 of great masses of people. 23:07 It came about as our forefathers came over here, 23:11 like your forefathers, and they settled in this country 23:15 and it came up - if you please - out of the earth. 23:20 The way that it arose. 23:29 I highlighted certain words in this text because it 23:33 helps identify what's happened. Horns on the beast represent 23:38 power. Some of those beasts have horns that 23:42 have crowns on them which meant that they'd 23:44 basically be ruled by a monarch. 23:46 Or some don't have crowns 23:49 but the horns represent the source 23:51 of that particular beast's power. 23:54 This beast had two horns like a lamb. 23:59 Well this country was established basically 24:04 on two principles. 24:06 Are you acquainted with this man Josiah Quincy? 24:08 Huh? Not acquainted with him? 24:11 Well, he signed the Declaration of Independence. 24:15 He's one of those, you know. 24:18 If you ever go to Boston, 24:19 you want to go down to Quincy Market. 24:21 You know? But he's a... This is what he said. Listen: 24:47 Said: "This... we're going to make it 24:50 because God is on our side. " 24:52 Are you acquainted with this man, huh? Patrick Henry. 24:56 What did he say? 24:57 "Give me liberty or give me death. " 25:00 What else did he say? 25:04 Nobody knows? 25:05 I'm going to read to you some things that he said here. 25:08 This is what he said: 25:17 I hope you're getting a little bit of the sense 25:20 of what these forefathers believed and where they stood. 25:23 Because Josiah Quincy said: "With the God of armies 25:26 on our side we can't lose. " 25:27 Here Patrick Henry said: "God is the One that presides, " 25:31 These were God-fearing men and women 25:34 that stood for what God's Word said. 25:37 "over the destinies of nations and will raise up 25:41 friends for us. " 26:02 This is what he said. 26:04 Said: "I'm not going to be chained. " 26:06 But you see they believed. 26:08 They said one: "We want a nation without a king. " 26:14 "We want government by the people, for the people, 26:17 and through the people. 26:18 This is how we want government. 26:20 And we want to give everybody the right 26:23 to worship according to the dictates of their conscience. " 26:26 And our country was built on those two principles, 26:30 and those two principles is what has held us in good stead 26:34 down through the years. 26:35 And help us if we give them up, folks. 26:39 All right. It goes on and says: 26:49 Two horns like a lamb. 26:51 Well, if you pick up God's Word 26:54 and you begin to read through it, 26:56 in the Bible who does the lamb represent? 27:01 Yeah, it represents Jesus Christ. 27:04 Two horns like a lamb meant that the country 27:08 would be gentle, it would be Christlike in character. 27:12 That's what it's saying. 27:14 It had two horns like a lamb. 27:26 Another one: Revelation 5:12: 27:39 So to be... have two horns like a lamb meant that it 27:43 would be Christlike in character. 27:47 And dear friend, all you have to do 27:50 is go to Washington, D.C. 27:52 Walk down through the halls of Congress 27:55 or through the Capitol. 27:57 You'll see God written everywhere 28:00 because our forefathers believed in God 28:04 and they were God-fearing men and women. 28:08 The war broke out with England. 28:12 Revolution. That was so, so hard. 28:18 I mean, you've got 13 colonies, folks. 28:21 Do you realize that by the time that war was over 28:25 all 13 colonies were bankrupt? 28:28 It had bankrupted them all. 28:32 It was so severe on them 28:35 that the lines of communication had been broken 28:39 between all of them, and so they had no communication 28:41 with each other. And because they didn't have any 28:44 communication with each other, 28:46 they thought that each one of the colonies had borne the brunt 28:50 of the war. They didn't know what their neighbor was doing. 28:53 They felt that they had been the one who had 28:55 borne all the problems of the war. 28:59 So when the war was finally over 29:02 they called a Constitutional Congress. 29:07 And they sent delegations from all the 13 colonies. 29:16 They got to the meeting, and they were so upset 29:21 with each other because they thought they had borne the brunt 29:26 of the war that they got in terrible arguments. 29:29 In fact, the delegation from New York went home 29:33 and it looked like that Constitutional Congress 29:37 was going to fall flat on its face 29:40 when a little man with glasses stood up 29:46 and he spoke these words: 30:11 Said: "We met here and prayed daily 30:16 in this room for divine protection. " 30:40 And with that speech he was able to bring them together. 30:44 They came together and they sat down and they wrote 30:48 one of the greatest articles that man has ever written: 30:52 the Constitution of the United States of America. 30:57 You see, they were... they were men and women 31:02 that feared God. 31:04 They were men and women that believed in the Word of God 31:08 and they followed the Lord. 31:11 When it came to the election of the first president 31:16 of our country, George Washington, 31:18 and he stood up and he gave his inaugural speech, 31:22 he said these words: 32:31 How true! If you haven't... 32:35 if you haven't taken the time 32:38 to go back and read how God intervened 32:43 in the war and how... the things 32:46 He did over and over 32:48 so that this country could be 32:50 an independent nation, 32:51 you ought to go back and read it. 32:54 If you don't know what to read, 32:55 go read a book called The Light and the Glory 32:58 by Peter Marshall, Jr. 33:00 Tell you of incident after incident where God intervened 33:03 in behalf of the people of the United States. 33:06 And today for us as a nation 33:12 to turn our back on what we... 33:18 our heritage... what we had before? 33:21 How horrible it would be! 33:35 If a lamb in the Bible represents Christ, 33:40 then a dragon represents the devil. 33:45 I wish... I wish that the scripture 33:50 just stopped when it just simply said that it had 33:54 two horns like a lamb. 33:56 I'm sorry that it goes on and says it would speak 34:01 as a dragon. 34:04 But God in His omnipotence, 34:10 omniscience, 34:12 knowing the end from the beginning, 34:15 knows what's going to happen. 34:17 It says that this beast that was Christlike, 34:21 gentle, would speak as a dragon. 34:25 I'm going to share with you something that I found 34:28 that I think identifies what's happening, what's taking place. 34:33 You see, you are living... 34:38 most of you have lived watching this nation 34:43 change character. 34:46 Over the last 20, 30 years 34:50 you've seen a nation completely change character. 34:55 What has brought that about? 34:56 Well you can remember, as a nation 34:59 we started out in bondage. 35:01 We were in bondage to England, 35:05 and our forefathers didn't like that. 35:08 They didn't want to be in bondage. 35:10 And so you find that they began to pray about it. 35:14 And there began to be a spiritual rebirth. 35:19 And by the way, interesting, 35:22 that at this time before the Declaration of Independence 35:24 you go back in United States history 35:26 and there was a great spiritual revival across this country. 35:30 And with that spiritual revival of faith 35:34 these people said: "We don't want to be in bondage. 35:37 We want to be free. " 35:38 And so you find that they take steps to be free. 35:43 They stand up and say: "Give me liberty or give me death. " 35:45 Courage took place, and they said: "We're going to do this. 35:50 We're going to follow the Lord. 35:51 We're going to do what He wants us to do. " 35:54 And they moved out in courage. 35:57 And with courage came liberty. 36:01 Always does. 36:02 And you go back and you can read nation after nation 36:05 that's gone through the same thing. 36:07 And they have stepped out in faith and in courage. 36:11 And as the result of that, 36:14 they were given liberty. 36:15 And as a country, all of a sudden we found ourselves 36:20 with liberty 36:22 that we could follow the Word of God, 36:26 that we could worship as we wanted to. 36:28 That we could have things that we believed were right 36:32 and that were just. 36:34 And we stood up for those things 36:35 and said: "This is what we will do. " 36:37 Out of courage, came liberty. 36:41 And out of liberty came abundance. 36:45 I mean this country prospered, folks. 36:51 We brought about the industrial revolution. 36:55 I mean changed the way things were done, and we produced 36:59 things there have never been the like of before. 37:02 Marvelous what took place. 37:04 And we found ourselves with the abundance, 37:07 and you have lived during a time of abundance. 37:12 You've had... you've had more than you deserve. 37:17 You know, you want to stop and think about it... 37:19 even, even Israel in the height of David and Solomon 37:25 never saw the blessings that you've had the privilege 37:28 of seeing. God has abundantly blessed this country! 37:34 We've been given so much. 37:37 You'd think... you'd think that since God had blessed us 37:43 and we had been given so much 37:45 that out of gratitude and love to God we would respond 37:49 and we would do the things that are right. 37:53 But instead of having abundance and sharing it with others, 37:59 we became selfish. 38:03 You know, couldn't get enough. 38:07 Hoard. Just... what is the old saying? 38:13 He who has the most toys... 38:16 We just don't seem to be able to understand 38:20 how much as a nation we have been blessed, and 38:24 how much as individuals we have been blessed. 38:28 Little problem here. 38:31 You see the Bible says: "Where there is no vision, 38:37 the people perish. " 38:42 See? And when selfishness comes in, 38:45 you lose vision. 38:48 You can't see. You can't see clearly. 38:53 You can't see what you ought to be doing. 38:55 And out of selfishness comes compliance. 39:01 You understand what I mean by that? 39:04 Oh, just go along. 39:06 You know. You certainly... You certainly don't want to 39:11 upset the apple cart. 39:12 You know. You don't go against city hall. 39:18 Well, just go along. 39:21 Be very, very lackadaisical about it. 39:26 That's what it always produces because I'm... 39:29 I'm... I'm doing quite well. 39:31 I'm doing all right and I certainly don't want to do 39:34 anything to upset that. 39:37 And out of that comes apathy. 39:39 Just settle back. 39:43 No vision. Not wanting to do anything. 39:47 Just go along. 39:51 Oh the government will take care of you. 39:55 You can depend on the government. 39:57 They'll... they'll see you've got everything you need. 40:01 Don't interfere with that. 40:05 And out of apathy, folks, 40:09 comes dependence. 40:14 Dependent upon the United States government. 40:20 95% of you out here 40:26 sitting in this audience 40:27 and those of you that are watching on television, 40:29 95% of you will retire 40:33 dependent on the United States government. 40:38 See? Apathy. 40:42 Not... not really doing anything you know. 40:45 No vision. And so we find ourselves 40:49 "Oh, let the government take care of us. " 40:51 And any time that has happened, 40:53 and it has happened today, 40:56 and I'm sorry to tell you that you're back in bondage. 41:00 So we have gone from bondage 41:04 clear around back to bondage. 41:07 And today we find ourselves exactly in that position. 41:13 I'm talking about a country who over here 41:16 had spiritual faith and courage and it moved forward, 41:20 but now it has completely changed its character. 41:25 Let me read you a statement. 41:29 You think about this very, very carefully. 41:32 It's written by Alexander Tyler. 41:35 It's what he said: 41:56 Why not? 42:10 And let me tell you something... 42:14 we have been voting money from the public treasury 42:19 since the first of this year by the billions. 42:26 You think about it. 42:28 You think about what we're doing. 42:32 When you take that are you laboring under the false 42:38 opinion that it doesn't have to be paid back? 42:44 Somebody's going to demand it from you, I'll guarantee you. 42:47 Listen as he goes on: 43:01 The candidate that says he'd give you the most, 43:04 that's who you're going to vote for. 43:05 Help me along here. 43:07 And so they get in and man, they just dole it out. 43:24 Listen to the last few words... 43:34 You better look carefully. 43:37 You better understand what's happening. 43:49 How long they've lasted. 43:51 So we find a country that has changed character 43:55 and then we find that... find ourselves in a position 44:00 different than it's been before. 44:03 You remember a president of the United States 44:05 by the name of Richard Nixon? 44:07 Huh? Do you remember him? 44:09 OK. He wrote this book Seize the Moment. 44:13 All right, it's the subtitle 44:17 that you need to look at carefully: America's challenge 44:21 in a one-superpower world. 44:27 You see, with the fall of Communism 44:31 the United States found itself in a position 44:36 that it had never been in before. 44:39 It found itself in the position 44:42 of being a super world power without rival. 44:47 Listen. This is what they said: 45:16 They said: "We are the superpower. 45:19 No rival. We're not going to permit another rival. 45:26 And we went along year after year after year 45:30 as a superpower. 45:35 And then all of a sudden we found ourselves bombed. 45:42 We found for the first time 45:49 bombs in the form of planes 45:52 hit our country. 45:55 9/11. 45:57 Thousands of people died, 46:01 and the whole nation stood in absolute shock. 46:07 Was this possible that as a country 46:12 we found ourselves vulnerable 46:18 like we had never been before? 46:27 trying to figure out what should be done, 46:33 I'm afraid that we may have lost our bearing. 46:39 You see, true, we need to do some things. 46:44 We needed to come back, and come back to where we were. 46:49 Come back and take our stand with God. 46:54 As it says: "If these people will return to Me, 46:57 will humble themselves... " 46:59 If... if we would have come back... 47:01 that would have been one... And there was... 47:03 there was a tendency to do this. 47:05 And the people were praying and things were changing. 47:09 And then they began to say: 47:11 "Oh, things need to go back as they once were. 47:15 Need to go back to normal. " 47:16 And so we forgot. 47:20 We found ourselves, instead of depending upon God 47:25 and finding His leading and direction, 47:28 we decided that we would take care of it in our own might. 47:34 And so we launched out 47:36 to make sure that this wouldn't happen again. 47:40 And also not only to make sure it wouldn't happen again 47:43 but to make sure that other countries 47:48 would find themselves in a position 47:53 that they had to follow our leading. 47:55 We found ourselves speaking as a dragon. 48:01 Let me tell you something. Those forefathers of ours 48:05 wrote that Constitution, and they put into that 48:09 certain principles that were to guide and direct us 48:12 as a nation. 48:13 And when it came to going out 48:16 and trying to subdue other nations and making sure 48:18 that they were doing what we wanted them to do... 48:21 One of our former presidents had something to say about that, 48:25 by the name of John Adams. 48:27 I want you to listen to what John Quincy Adams... 48:30 I want you to listen to what he said. 48:52 What now? 48:56 Listen. 49:28 Listen. 49:45 Spake as a dragon. 49:55 And oh how true that is today. 50:01 Now follow carefully... 50:05 The first beast is the one in Revelation 13... 50:08 the first one. 50:17 This is what this two horned beast is going to do... 50:19 speak as a dragon. 50:34 So what is that telling us what's going to happen? 50:38 Tell you what that means. 50:40 If you make an image of something, what do you do? 50:46 If you're going to make an image of a dog, 50:48 you make it look like a cat, right? 50:50 Huh? 50:52 No, if you're going to make 50:53 an image, you make it look like 50:55 that. So if this country is 50:57 going to make an image to the first beast, 50:59 then what is it saying it's going to do? 51:02 Well, the first beast - the papal power - 51:05 that word papal means unification of church and state. 51:09 They're coming together, and it says 51:11 THIS COUNTRY will bring about a union 51:15 of church and state. 51:18 Never, never, never, dear friends, 51:22 in the history of the world 51:24 has the church ever got involved in government 51:29 that it hasn't persecuted. 51:32 Never, never has failed... I don't care what church it is. 51:36 And so when it say that they're going to come together 51:40 and they're going to make an image to the beast, 51:44 then you can rest assured 51:46 that you and I are living in those days. 51:50 THIS is what is in the process of happening today. 51:55 This is where we stand 51:57 with a nation that is speaking as a dragon. 52:03 Now: 52:17 Now this is Revelation 17. 52:19 This woman sitting on this scarlet-colored beast 52:24 which has seven heads. We have look at those 7 heads. 52:28 We've identified them. 52:29 We finished just now with the seventh one, 52:32 so we've looked at those seven heads. 52:34 All right? Watch as it says: 52:40 Now folks, don't get lost here. 52:56 So it's saying that this beast that was... 53:01 We're looking at this from who's point of view? 53:04 John's. 53:06 So John's saying this beast that was, 53:08 is not, OK? 53:13 is himself also the eighth 53:17 and that is going to go to perdition. 53:22 That's what our next presentation is about 53:25 is the eighth beast. We'll tie all that together 53:29 so you and I can know without any question of a doubt 53:34 exactly where we are in the stream of time 53:37 and that we can prepare our own hearts, if you please, 53:40 for the coming of Jesus Christ. 53:42 That's what need to be doing. 53:44 Let's bow our heads for prayer. 53:45 Heavenly Father, 53:47 we thank you for Your Word. 53:50 Thank you, Lord, that it can help us 53:53 understand what's happening. 53:57 Lord, we pray especially for this country. 54:00 We pray for our president. 54:03 We ask, Lord, that You will bless him. 54:05 Lord, when he's there in the Oval Office all by himself 54:09 and he has to make a decision, 54:12 Lord, may he seek You. 54:16 May he seek Your counsel. 54:18 May he desire to follow You. 54:20 We pray for your blessing upon our governors, 54:23 upon our senators. Lord, may this be a nation 54:27 that will follow You. 54:29 May we be the nation that we should: a nation under God. 54:33 Bless us. Help us to follow You, 54:36 walk with You in all that we do. 54:39 For this we pray in Christ's name, Amen. 54:44 Well, don't forget... the eighth beast. 54:48 We appreciate you being here. 54:49 God bless you. 54:51 Continue to stay in the Word, folks. 54:54 Have a good day. 54:57 A coal miner of old 54:59 would leave his family every day 55:00 and descend into the depths of the earth 55:03 with the certain knowledge that the smallest mistake 55:06 could keep him and others from ever seeing daylight again. 55:10 Walking along in the dark, 55:12 he could only rely upon his feeble oil lamp 55:16 to keep him alive. 55:17 He faced many dangers down there. 55:19 Rockfalls, flooding, fires. 55:22 But perhaps the danger he feared the most 55:26 was the one that he could not see. 55:28 They called it chokedamp or blackdamp: 55:31 an unbreathable mixture of gases 55:34 that could quickly snuff out his life. 55:36 Imagine for a moment the terror he felt when he realized 55:40 he had hit a pocket of blackdamp. 55:43 The sudden drop in oxygen would put out his lamp 55:46 leaving him in terrifying darkness, fumbling in vain 55:50 to relight it before he lost consciousness. 55:54 Then in the late 1800's, 55:57 a bright new light began to shine in the dark world. 56:01 Using marble-sized pellets of calcium carbide 56:05 and a few drops of water, 56:07 this new lamp produced a gas which burned six times brighter. 56:12 Not only did it make his job a whole lot easier 56:15 but it also saved lives. 56:17 You can see this tiny reflector 56:19 could focus that beam of light 56:22 on the roof of a mine so that he could detect dangerous cracks. 56:26 The lamp was also easy to re-light. 56:28 And since it required far less oxygen, 56:31 it could illuminate the way out 56:34 should they encounter the chokedamp. 56:36 What an incredible illustration this is 56:39 of the condition of fallen man. 56:42 After struggling to survive the pitfalls of life, 56:45 he suddenly realizes the danger he could not see 56:48 had left him without hope and gasping for his last breath 56:53 in utter spiritual darkness. 56:55 For him there is no eternal life through Jesus. 56:59 In fact, he may not have ever heard about Him. 57:05 But friends, just as that bright light 57:08 of the carbide lamp saved lives, 57:10 so does the light of the Bible. 57:12 We need the light of God's Word to illuminate the dark corners 57:16 of our hearts. It focuses our attention on Jesus Christ... 57:20 our only hope for salvation. 57:23 And all who read and study it 57:25 are warned about the rockfalls of life. 57:28 That's why we call this series Give Me The Bible. 57:31 We're trying our best to bring the light of God's truth 57:35 to those who are living and dying in despair. 57:38 It's our mission. It's our passion. 57:41 Won't you join us? 57:44 Please consider what you can do 57:46 for those who still don't know about Jesus. 57:48 As the Holy Spirit impresses, 57:50 you may send your tax-deductible gifts to: 58:04 Thank you for helping us to bring the Blessed Hope 58:07 to millions all around the world. |
Revised 2014-12-17