Participants: Pr. Kenneth Cox
Series Code: GMTB
Program Code: GMTB000022
|
00:19 Hello and welcome to the series
00:22 Give Me The Bible. 00:25 The Bible: the book that for 00:27 thousands of years 00:28 has brought hope, encouragement, peace, and the message of God 00:33 to people from all over the world. 00:36 This series is dutifully entitled 00:38 Give Me The Bible. 00:40 The book that has survived all kinds of battles. 00:45 The book that has surfaced over and over again 00:48 as God's Word: the Holy Scriptures. 00:51 The only book that could be called the Holy Scriptures. 00:55 Translated in just about every language of the world 00:58 and continues to be relevant for this age. 01:03 And... there's a blessing promised to those that open 01:08 the pages of this book. 01:10 God comes near to them 01:13 and blesses them with the knowledge of His Word, 01:17 of His mind. 01:19 The Bible... and this is what the series is about: 01:23 God's Word. 01:25 And the speaker for this series is Elder Kenneth Cox, 01:29 an evangelist that has preached practically all over the world. 01:32 It is in his heart to bring God's message to the people. 01:37 That's why this series is entitled Give Me The Bible 01:41 because it is Elder Cox's desire to lead people to the Bible 01:47 so that they will find there God's message. 01:51 And we're dealing with prophecy in this program. 01:53 And we encourage everyone watching all over the world 01:56 to put whatever aside might cast your attention 02:00 in other directions and pay attention 02:03 as we study God's Word together. 02:05 This message comes from God's Word. 02:08 We are dealing with Bible prophecy. 02:11 Medo-Persia, an empire that came upon the scene 02:14 of the world history and has left its mark. 02:18 So we encourage you to study today in prayer... 02:21 because it is with God's help and through prayer that we 02:25 can understand God's Word. 02:26 And God's servant, Evangelist Kenneth Cox, will 02:30 lead us in this study that will surely impact your lives. 02:35 But before that, we have the privilege of listening 02:40 to music that will elevate our thoughts to heaven. 02:44 And we have Emily Felts-Jones. 02:47 And the message in song is: 02:49 All Hail the Pow'r of Jesus' Name. 03:04 All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name! 03:09 Let angels prostrate fall, 03:14 Bring forth the royal diadem, 03:19 and crown Him 03:22 Lord of all; 03:27 Bring forth the royal diadem, 03:32 and crown Him 03:35 Lord of all. 03:42 Ye seed of Israel's chosen race, 03:48 ye ransomed of the fall, 03:52 Hail Him who saves you by His grace, 03:58 and crown Him 04:01 Lord of all. 04:05 Hail Him who saves you by His grace, 04:11 and crown Him 04:14 Lord of all. 04:21 O that with yonder sacred throng 04:26 we at His feet may fall, 04:31 Join in the everlasting song, 04:37 and crown Him 04:40 Lord of all. 04:44 Join in the everlasting song, 04:50 and crown Him 04:53 Lord of all. 05:00 All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name! 05:07 Let angels prostrate fall... 05:23 Thank you, Emily, 05:24 and good evening to each one of you. 05:26 Good evening. Very happy to welcome you tonight. 05:30 Also to welcome all of you who are watching by television 05:34 or tuning in the radio. 05:37 We're very happy to welcome you 05:38 tonight and we hope that you'll 05:40 be blessed in a special way 05:42 as we continue to study prophecy. 05:45 That's what this particular series is about... 05:47 entitled Five Have Fallen. 05:51 Talking about Bible prophecy... 05:53 prophecy that God has given concerning nations 05:58 and what would happen to them. What the outcome would be. 06:01 How one would rise; another would go down. 06:04 We're going to be taking a look at that 06:06 tonight as we continue to study it. 06:08 And we hope that you'll be blessed in a special way 06:11 and it'll help you get into your Bible and study it. 06:16 Take a look at some of these things because 06:19 it is absolutely amazing how God, over and over and over, 06:25 told exactly what was going to happen to a nation. 06:28 What would happen; how it would be fulfilled; 06:31 what would take place. 06:32 And it took place just exactly as God said it would, 06:35 and you'll see some of that tonight. 06:38 Tonight we're talking about the nation of Medo-Persia. 06:43 Now, last presentation we dealt with the nation of Babylon. 06:48 The kingdom of Babylon... we talked about it. 06:51 Tonight's on Medo-Persia. 06:53 Our next presentation after this one will be on Greece. 06:59 That will be the third one. 07:01 Remember the scripture says Five Have Fallen. 07:05 We found out about the fall of Babylon. 07:08 Now tonight we're going to take a look at Medo-Persia. 07:11 So we hope that as you pick up your Bible 07:16 and read that you'll begin to see how God has outlined it 07:22 step by step by step. 07:24 And these prophecies that we are dealing with 07:26 will take us through these five nations, 07:29 but it doesn't stop there. 07:30 Our next series after this one will continue that. 07:34 So for this series and the next series 07:36 we're going to be into Bible prophecy. 07:39 And we hope that it will help you in your understanding of 07:43 God's Word in a special way. 07:45 But tonight, we're looking at the 07:49 Are you enjoying Emily? Are you enjoying her music? 07:53 Very much so. Appreciate her music, 07:56 and I know that I've been blessed by it. 07:58 I hope that you are. 08:00 Tonight she's going to sing I Want To Know More. 08:18 A minister was calling 08:21 to people on the street: 08:24 "Won't you come out of the cold? 08:27 Come in and have a seat. " 08:31 And since she had no place to go 08:34 she wandered in and sat alone... 08:37 hoping that nobody else would see. 08:43 She wasn't really listening, 08:46 and yet somehow she heard 08:49 a precious name that eased her pain 08:55 there among his words. 08:59 And she said: "I want to know more; 09:04 tell me about Him. 09:07 I want to hear His name. 09:13 And I want to feel the power of mercy 09:18 touch me again and again. " 09:28 Down at the end of Main Street 09:31 forgotten one more time, 09:34 lies a battered, broken soul 09:37 someone left behind. 09:40 A rugged man in a ragged heap 09:44 this time hard times played for keeps. 09:47 So alone he's not sure he's alive. 09:53 But then he sees her bending down, 09:56 and as she spoke he heard 09:59 a precious name that eased his pain 10:04 there among her words. 10:08 And he said: "I want to know more; 10:14 tell me about Him 10:17 'cause I want to hear His name. 10:22 And I want to feel the power of mercy 10:28 touch me again and again. " 10:34 Oh, the precious name of Jesus 10:37 can lift the lowest heart 10:40 and find the lost, forgotten dreams 10:43 and hide them from the dark. 10:46 Mentions of His mercy, 10:50 whispers of His grace, 10:52 can only leave the longing soul 10:56 just one thing to say. 11:00 "Oh, I want to know more; 11:06 tell me about Him 11:09 'cause I want to hear His name. 11:14 And I want to feel the power of mercy 11:20 touch me again and again. 11:27 Tell me about Him 11:29 'cause I want to hear His name. 11:35 Yes, I want to feel the 11:38 power of mercy 11:41 touch me again and again. " 12:10 Our Heavenly Father, tonight we come to You - 12:14 One who knows the end from the beginning. 12:19 One who sets up kings 12:22 and takes them down. 12:24 Lord, as we look at Your Word 12:27 and look at prophecy tonight, 12:29 help us to see and to understand 12:32 Your greatness, Your leading, 12:36 Your guiding... that we might place our faith and our trust 12:42 in what You have said and realize that it will take place 12:47 just as You said it would. 12:50 Give us faith and understanding we pray in Christ's name, 12:54 Amen. 13:00 In Revelation the 17th chapter there is a beast. 13:06 A woman is riding on this beast, 13:09 and this particular beast has seven heads. 13:13 It says here: 13:26 Now these seven heads on this beast... 13:29 the scripture also tells us that they are seven kings. 13:46 These are seven kings. Those seven heads on that beast 13:51 are seven heads of different beasts 13:54 representing different nations. 13:57 Just like last night we studied about Babylon, 14:00 and Babylon is pictured in 14:02 Daniel the 7th chapter 14:04 as a lion. 14:06 So on this beast, one of the 14:08 heads would be the head of a lion because it would 14:11 represent Babylon. 14:13 And it says those seven heads are seven kings 14:17 or kingdoms if you please. 14:19 And that's what we're looking at, 14:21 and we will be going through that step by step 14:24 as we take... go through this study, 14:26 particularly on Five Have Fallen. 14:29 Now last night as we talked about this we found that 14:33 Babylon came in... Nebuchadnezzar did... 14:37 came in, overthrew Judah. 14:40 And he took the people prisoner, captive. 14:44 Sacked the city; destroyed the temple 14:48 and took the people back to Babylon. 14:52 This is the journey that they took, and I told you last night 14:57 that this was a place - Middle East - where you have 15:01 all these nations, and this was what was called 15:04 The Fertile Crescent. 15:06 And if you look at the map and you look at the green 15:09 line there, you can see the travel that they took 15:14 going up the Jordan River. Up to the top of it 15:18 then coming across and coming down the Euphrates River 15:21 and bringing it down to Babylon. 15:24 That was a trip of about 1,500 miles. 15:28 So they are taken to Babylon. 15:31 They spend 70 years in Babylon, 15:36 and last night we talked about Nebuchadnezzar, his rule there. 15:40 We talked about Belshazzar, his grandson. 15:44 Nabonidus, his son. 15:46 Those 70 years we talked about last night. 15:49 I want to share a text with you found here in the Bible. 15:52 I don't have it on the screen, 15:53 but it's found in Jeremiah... Jeremiah the 29th chapter, 15:58 and verse 10. Jeremiah 29:10. 16:02 I want you to listen to what it says. 16:04 You understand that Jeremiah lived just at the time before 16:10 the children of Israel were carried captive to Babylon. 16:13 That's when Jeremiah lived. 16:14 This is what he said: 16:17 "For thus saith the Lord, " I am reading verse 10, 16:20 after 70 years are completed at Babylon. 16:25 After 70 years are completed at Babylon 16:31 I will visit you and perform My good word toward you 16:36 and cause you to return to this place. " 16:39 So here you have a prophecy 16:42 by Jeremiah when he's told the Jewish people 16:45 that they're going to go to Babylon. 16:46 They're going to spend 70 years there and at the end of 16:51 that 70 years then He's going to bring them back 16:55 to Jerusalem. 16:57 That's a prophecy that God gave concerning the Jewish people. 17:02 Tonight, that's where we're at in this study. 17:06 The 70 years has just come to an end. 17:10 Something is about to happen. 17:14 Watch: 17:17 Isaiah 44:28. Now you understand from your Bible 17:22 that Isaiah lived before Jeremiah. 17:25 You understand that? 17:27 OK. Isaiah lived before Jeremiah, 17:31 and he says this: 17:36 Now here Isaiah is calling Cyrus by name. 17:41 Folks, this is written 150 years 17:46 before Cyrus was born. 17:50 OK? Now we're talking about Bible prophecy. 17:52 If you have some question in your heart and in your soul 17:55 about the authenticity of this book 17:59 and its accuracy, you need to take a good look at that. 18:02 150 years before Cyrus is born 18:05 God said this about him: 18:15 What did He just say in the previous verse? 18:17 He said: "When the 70 years is completed, 18:20 then I'll bring you back. " 18:22 Watch. OK. 18:32 150 years before Cyrus is ever born 18:36 God said what he would do. 18:39 Said: "You're going to go back. 18:40 You're going to send the people. 18:41 Foundation's going to be laid for the temple. 18:44 They're going to come back to Jerusalem" 18:46 just as God prophesied it would. 18:49 This was Cyrus. 18:51 Now history and lore kind of gives you 18:57 uh... some background to this that I think helps us see 19:04 a conflict. 19:06 A conflict of gigantic proportions. 19:10 A conflict between good and evil. 19:13 Because here God has laid it out clearly 19:16 that Cyrus is going to do this. He's prophesied it. 19:19 Well, up in Persia there's a king... Astyages. 19:25 Astyages is the king in Persia. 19:29 He has a dream. 19:32 In the dream his daughter, Mandane, 19:36 out of her is flowing water. 19:39 So much so in this dream that it filled the whole city 19:44 and then filled the whole kingdom. 19:46 Well, Astyages went to his wise men and asked them 19:50 what does this mean? 19:52 And they said: "Oh, that means your offspring - your grandson - 19:57 is going to take over the kingdom. " 19:58 That's what they told him; that's what that means. 20:01 Now back then, folks, there wasn't a great lot of... 20:06 What should I say? love. 20:09 A great lot of emotion connected with relatives. 20:13 And so Astyages, the grandfather, 20:17 took the baby grandson - which was Cyrus. 20:22 Took the grandson. Went to his captain of his army 20:27 and said: "Take the child out and kill him. " 20:32 Well, Harpagus - the guard or the head of the army - 20:36 took the child out, but he just didn't have the heart 20:39 to kill it. 20:41 So he gave it to the head shepherd, the king's shepherd, 20:46 Mithradates, and told Mithradates to do it. 20:51 Well it so happened that Mithratades' wife 20:55 had just had a stillborn baby. 20:58 And so when they talked it over 21:00 they decided they'd keep the baby 21:02 and raise it as their own son. 21:04 So they did. 21:06 They raised the child, and when he was a child 21:10 I don't know how old but not - you know - 21:12 maybe 7, 8, 9 years old 21:14 he and the other children in the king's court 21:17 because he was part of that and all, 21:19 they're playing. And as they're playing, 21:23 the other children ask him - Cyrus - 21:26 to play king. 21:29 They were playing this and they said "you be our king. " 21:32 And so he said "OK. " 21:34 And while they're playing, he gave an order to one of the 21:37 other boys to do something, and he refused. 21:41 And Cyrus had him severely punished 21:46 for refusing to do it... 21:49 because he didn't obey. 21:51 Severely punished enough, folks, that it upset the boy's father. 21:55 And the boy's father went to Astyages, the king, 21:59 and said: "You know, what's going on here? 22:02 This other kid punished my son so bad. " 22:05 And so Astyages, the king, called in Cyrus. 22:09 And he asked him... he said: 22:11 "You know, what are you doing here punishing this kid? " 22:14 And Cyrus said: "They asked me to be king. " 22:16 And said: "I gave him and order and he refused... 22:19 and therefore I have every right to punish him. " 22:22 And as the king looked at him, 22:25 he could see the similarity between himself and the boy. 22:29 And he began to recognize that this was more than 22:34 just a coincidence. 22:35 And began to inquire into it and found out 22:37 that this was his grandson. 22:39 And just as had been prophesied, 22:43 as Cyrus grew older he took over the kingdom 22:48 and literally had to face his grandfather in two wars. 22:54 But overthrew them, and Cyrus took over 22:58 the country of the Persians. 23:00 Now, close by to the Persians, folks, 23:04 are the Medes. 23:06 The Medes and the Persians are so closely connected 23:11 linguistically that they don't have any trouble 23:14 understanding each other. 23:15 And Cyrus took it upon himself, 23:18 believed that he was there 23:20 to unite the two kingdoms together. 23:23 That's why this is called the Medes and the Persians. 23:28 Because he felt he could unite the two kingdoms together. 23:33 Herodotus said this concerning the people at that time: 23:41 He's talking about Cyrus. 23:54 He was a tremendous leader. 23:57 A tremendous king is what Cyrus was. 24:02 OK. So, taking a look at this you're seeing now 24:06 what Medo-Persia took over. 24:08 Now you remember, Babylon took over part of that. 24:12 But if you'll look at it carefully, 24:14 you can see that Medo-Persia has extended the kingdom 24:18 and taken over a whole lot more territory. 24:21 They're ruling great parts of Mesopotamia at this time. 24:26 All right, now listen. Here, I marvel 24:31 at how God so accurately tells exactly 24:34 what's going to take place. 24:36 This is in Isaiah again... Isaiah 45 verse 1. 24:39 And it says: 24:59 Here in God's Word, 150 years before Cyrus is even born 25:04 God is telling exactly how he is going to overthrow 25:09 the city of Babylon. 25:10 That's what's here in this prophecy. 25:13 Line it up and saying this is exactly how you will 25:15 overthrow the city of Babylon. 25:18 And you remember as we took a look at the city of Babylon 25:21 Nebuchadnezzar had built a city that he considered 25:25 and everybody else considered impregnable. 25:28 Couldn't get inside it. 25:30 It had two rows of walls around the city. 25:33 A mote in between. 25:36 One of those walls was over 85 feet high. 25:41 Two chariots could race side by side around the top of it. 25:45 It was considered something that could not be taken. 25:50 Cyrus is taking his army, and they've gone up 25:53 and they've met Nebuchadnezzar's son, Nabonidus, 25:56 in battle and have overthrown him. 26:00 Then Cyrus has sent his captain and other people 26:06 on to take the city of Babylon. 26:09 They've gone to take the city of Babylon. 26:12 They've surrounded the city of Babylon, folks. 26:16 The people of Babylon have gone up on top of the wall 26:22 and threw food to Cyrus and laughed at him. 26:27 They had enough food inside that city 26:30 to last them for 40 years without ever going outside. 26:34 So it was considered... You couldn't get in it 26:38 and the people inside felt perfectly safe. 26:40 These people are feeling so safe... 26:44 I mean, the city is under siege. Do you understand that? 26:48 They've been surrounded by a foreign army. 26:51 It's under siege, and they're having a party. 26:55 I mean, that's literally what's going on here. 27:04 They're having a party while the city's under siege. 27:07 You can certainly see they don't feel any concern 27:11 about what's taking place. 27:13 Kind of reminds me of something. 27:15 Reminds me of something called AIG. 27:20 You know what I'm talking about? 27:22 I mean, here we are in this and they're out having a party. 27:24 Very much. Here they're having their party... 27:28 Cyrus has his army march down the Euphrates River. 27:34 And at a selected spot he had them dig canals. 27:39 And then they found out that on this night 27:42 Belshazzar was having this big party. 27:44 And on that night they broke the dam or the 27:49 levee to those canals and diverted the River Euphrates 27:52 into those canals. And he and his men 27:55 marched up the muddy bottom of that Euphrates River. 28:01 The guards that took care of the two lead gates 28:07 were drunk, 28:09 and Cyrus and his men marched inside the city. 28:13 Nobody tried to stop them in any way. 28:17 Marched in and took Babylon that night. 28:21 The party's going on. Belshazzar's over drinking wine 28:26 out of the vessels out of the temple. 28:28 They're celebrating gods of gold and silver 28:31 and wood and stone. And it says: 28:54 Scared the daylights out of him. 28:57 That's what it did. 28:58 I mean, here this bloodless hand writing on the wall... 29:01 and he didn't know what it was about 29:05 till finally they called in Daniel. 29:20 Daniel is about 90 years old. 29:23 And they call him in and he interprets. 29:28 The hand had written on the wall 29:31 Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. 29:34 And he interpreted it. 29:36 This is what it said: 29:56 And that very night Babylon fell. 30:10 I don't quite understand what happened here, folks, 30:13 because Cyrus - as we have just talked about - 30:16 is the one that has done all this. 30:18 But the scripture says that it was given to Darius. 30:22 This is... this is Cyrus's uncle, 30:24 and I don't know if he just did it out of kindness to him 30:27 or what... put him in charge of Babylon. 30:29 But he didn't live but about two years 30:32 and then Cyrus was in control of it again. 30:35 But that's... the kingdom was taken from them at that time. 30:39 So with that I have given you some background, 30:41 helped you understand what's going to take place. 30:44 Now let's take a look at the prophecies that God has given 30:48 concerning Medo-Persia that has just overthrown Babylon. 30:52 And as I told you the other night, 30:54 one of the principles of understanding Bible prophecy 30:58 is the fact that it repeats and enlarges. 31:02 Repeats and enlarges, and you're going to see that tonight 31:06 as we take a look at what the scripture says about 31:09 Medo-Persia. 31:11 All right. We're going to go to Daniel 2. 31:14 We studied some of that last night. 31:16 Watch what it says: 31:57 So here Nebuchadnezzar has had this dream. 32:00 Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar what he has seen in this dream. 32:06 And he said this image was there 32:18 Now, Daniel is going to interpret the dream. 32:22 He's going to tell Nebuchadnezzar exactly 32:25 what he saw. This is what he saw. 32:51 So he told Nebuchadnezzar 32:53 "Nebuchadnezzar, you are this head of old. " 32:55 And I told you the reason for that was because Nebuchadnezzar 32:59 ruled 40 years of the 70 that Babylon lasted. 33:04 But please notice he's talked about Babylon. 33:07 Watch what happens next: 33:19 So he said: "After Babylon 33:22 there's going to be another kingdom that will rise. 33:25 It will be inferior to yours. " 33:28 Just the same as silver is inferior to gold. 33:34 So he said the next kingdom 33:36 would come on the scene of action. 33:38 Interesting how God takes care of all the particulars. 33:42 Puts everything together. 33:44 Because here you have the Persians and the Medes 33:48 coming together to form one nation: a coalition 33:54 of making one nation. Did you notice 33:57 that the image has two arms? 33:59 Representing Persia... Medo-Persia coming together 34:04 to form one power. 34:06 OK. Medo-Persia 34:10 overthrew Babylon in 539 BC 34:16 and she's going to last to 331 BC. 34:21 That's the time of Medo-Persia. 34:23 So we have this prophecy in Daniel 2 34:26 telling you exactly that there would be a kingdom inferior 34:30 to Babylon that was going to rise. 34:33 And it did! Just exactly as the scripture said. 34:36 Now let's go to Daniel the 7th chapter, 34:39 and we're going to continue to watch. 34:41 It says: 34:51 It says this was the second one. What was the first one? 34:55 Was the lion, OK? Babylon. 34:58 That was the lion, so keep them straight. 35:00 This is the second beast; it's a bear. 35:03 And it said it had three ribs in its mouth 35:06 between its teeth 35:08 and it says that it raised itself up on one side... 35:17 Well, I told you. The Medes and the Persians 35:22 came together. It says the bear raised itself up on one side. 35:28 The reason for that is 35:30 that the Persians were stronger than the Medes. 35:34 That's why in your history books 35:36 if you go back and study that 35:37 period of time it's called the 35:39 Persian kingdom. 35:40 It's because the Persians 35:41 were stronger than the Medes. 35:43 But that's why the bear lifted itself up on one side. 35:46 It said also that it had three ribs in its mouth. 35:51 Medo-Persia overthrew three countries. 35:55 If you can see them on the map there, I underlined them in red 35:59 so that you could pick them out. 36:01 They overthrew Babylon, 36:03 they overthrew Egypt, 36:06 and they overthrew Lydia. 36:08 Those were the three countries that Medo-Persia overthrew. 36:12 So the head of that bear in Revelation 17... 36:18 Remember? We're talking about a beast that has 7 heads. 36:21 One of those heads is going to be the head of a bear. 36:25 We've got a lion for Babylon; now the head of the bear. 36:29 So let's continue, because God's Word continues on 36:33 talking about this particular kingdom. 36:34 We're going to Daniel 8. 36:36 Now we've look at Daniel 2; 36:38 now we've looked at Daniel 7. 36:40 And as I told you, it repeats and enlarges. 36:44 And that's what we're doing here. 37:10 You have to understand what this is talking about here, folks. 37:14 He's not in Babylon. 37:17 He's been taken in vision to Medo-Persia 37:21 where their capitol... this is before it even happened. 37:23 Daniel is taken in vision... 37:25 taken over to Shushan, province of Elam. 37:29 That is way down there right by the Persian Sea. 37:34 And that's where he's at in vision. 37:36 OK, let's see what he sees in vision. 37:53 OK. Two horns. The two horns were high. 37:57 Watch this: 38:07 Exactly what happened. 38:09 You see, the Medes were there. 38:12 The Persians came on later 38:14 but they were stronger than the Medes. 38:16 And that's the reason it says they were higher than the others 38:19 but they came on last. 38:21 That's... God's taking care of all the particulars 38:25 about this kingdom... Medo-Persia. 38:34 And those are the exact... direct directions in which 38:38 Medo-Persia went out and conquered. 38:51 I mean, they took all the territory there. 38:54 Nobody could withstand them. 38:56 Overthrew everything. 38:58 Cyrus... fantastic general, folks. 39:01 Took everything that was before him. 39:03 Now God doesn't leave you in any doubt whatsoever 39:08 as to who this ram represents. 39:19 Daniel 8:20. So the scripture very clearly 39:23 outlines it and tells you that that ram 39:26 represented Medo-Persia. No question about it. 39:29 So it became strong. 39:33 Took everything that was before it. 39:36 God took it. 39:39 OK. Now we're going to go to Daniel 11. 39:43 Daniel 11. 39:48 Now this is... this we're coming on down in time. 39:57 Now this is not Daniel talking, folks. 39:59 This is an angel that has gone there to strengthen Darius 40:05 because there's a conflict taking place here. 40:08 And so he's telling Daniel about this. 40:25 OK. So there's going to be four kings. 40:29 Said the... the fourth one is going to be richer 40:32 than all the rest of them. 40:34 Said there would be four more of them. 40:35 Folks, how can you doubt God's Word? 40:40 I do not understand how a person can read it 40:46 and God makes statements like we have just read 40:50 and doubt the accuracy of the scripture. 40:55 Because this is exactly what happened. 40:58 He said: "there's going to be four more. 40:59 The fourth one's going to be richer than all the others. " 41:02 And when you look at the scripture 41:04 that's exactly what happened. 41:13 Well, that's exactly what took place. 41:18 When Darius died, his son took over. 41:23 Cambyses took over and began to rule. 41:28 That was the next one. 41:29 Said after him there would be four more after that one. 41:33 Then after that one it says 41:35 there would be another one which was one called Gaumata. 41:39 Gaumata. Uh, how should I put this? 41:43 This was kind of a pseudo-king. 41:46 Just a fellow that came in. He ruled there and all 41:50 but really wasn't considered too much of a king. 41:54 But he ruled at that period of time. 41:57 And then after him was Darius I. 42:01 Darius came on the scene of action. 42:04 And then after Darius we have Ahasuerus. 42:10 Does that strike any bell with any of you? 42:12 Ahasuerus. You see, this is taking place 42:17 during the time of Esther. 42:21 See, this is taking place, folks, 42:24 during the time in which there was such people as 42:27 Nehemiah, Ezra, Zerubabbel. 42:31 All those are involved at this period of time. 42:34 They're people in Israel and all. 42:38 This is the time when Esther is involved. 42:44 So let's go and take a look 42:45 at what it tells us about Esther or Ahasuerus. 42:49 It says in Esther 1 verse 2: 43:00 That's where Daniel was in vision. You remember? 43:03 OK? 43:12 Now, you've got to... I just showed you the territory. 43:17 I mean, it went all the way down into Egypt. 43:22 It goes clear over to Iraq 43:27 and all through that part of the world. 43:29 In fact, the scripture says there were 120 provinces. 43:35 OK. Here he's invited in all... 43:40 he's invited in all of his officers. 43:43 All of his servants, OK? 43:54 Now you've got to look at this. 43:59 When he showed the what? 44:02 Now it said the fourth one would be what? 44:04 The fourth one would be richer than all of them. 44:08 OK. He's there showing them his riches... 44:22 Folks, that's saying they had a party 44:25 for 180 days. 44:27 Invited all these people in from all over his kingdom, 44:31 and here they have a party for 180 days. 44:36 Showing all of his riches 44:39 just exactly as the scripture said it would be. 44:43 Riches that he had above them all. 44:48 He was indeed a rich kingdom, but unfortunately, 44:52 he didn't use those riches as he should have. 44:57 Unfortunately, 45:00 riches and money 45:04 doesn't help us. 45:06 I'm sorry, but it doesn't. 45:10 You know, Christ said it's harder for a rich man 45:14 to get into the kingdom of heaven 45:16 than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. 45:19 Riches do not help us, folks. 45:24 We... you see it all the time. 45:27 People use it, 45:29 and it's used in the wrong way. 45:32 And here he was richer than all 45:35 of the others before him. 45:37 Had tremendous power, 45:39 but used it wrongly. 45:42 Oh dear friend, I would plead with you... 45:45 don't pray to be rich. 45:50 Don't pray to be rich. 45:55 Solomon. Solomon couldn't handle it. 46:01 Could not handle riches. 46:03 Wisest man that ever lived couldn't handle it. 46:07 I'll tell you: people that have possessions 46:12 have it at the peril of their own soul. 46:18 Just cannot... it has a way of turning your attention 46:23 and your dependency... primarily your dependence 46:26 will be on God and these people think that they are the ones 46:31 that do it and they're the ones that accomplish it. 46:33 As Nebuchadnezzar said: "Have you seen my great kingdom? 46:36 All that I've done? " 46:38 And so people that have riches have real, real problems. 46:44 And you and I need to be careful in this regard. 46:49 I want to show you what Ahasuerus did... 46:51 because this is what he did: 47:06 Wealthy. 47:10 Great power. 47:12 As the scripture said nothing stood before them. 47:17 But over in the area of Greece 47:22 power was beginning to grow. 47:25 Beginning to get a little stronger and all. 47:30 And so Ahasuerus went around 47:32 and he solicited these other kingdoms to turn with him 47:38 against Greece and to fight them. 47:41 And they did. 47:43 But unfortunately there's a man by the name of Philip II 47:50 who is now in charge of Greece. 47:53 And things are getting stronger and stronger and stronger. 47:59 You see, how much better... how much better off 48:04 he would have been to turn to God 48:07 and to have sought the Lord 48:11 and to have followed Him rather than depending upon 48:15 his riches and trying to gather other nations 48:18 and turn them against Greece 48:20 to turn away that power. But he failed. 48:24 Wasn't able to accomplish it. 48:26 And you and I need to understand that we need to be very, very 48:31 careful. Especially, folks, 48:34 and I'm just kind of talking to you out of my heart right now, 48:38 but especially people that live in the United States. 48:43 You have been blessed. 48:48 God has given you things. 48:51 And don't let the things of this world 48:57 turn your attention away from God. 49:01 Don't let that happen. 49:03 Keep your eye on the Lord. 49:06 Don't depend on money. 49:09 I mean the few things that's happened here in the last 49:12 few months ought to give you enough indication 49:15 to know that that's not very good security. 49:17 You know, it can... it can go very, very quickly 49:21 and it's gone. 49:22 You need to learn to depend on the Lord. 49:25 And as things were rising there, 49:28 well then a young man was coming on the scene of action 49:34 that nobody could stop. 49:38 Because the son of Philip II 49:43 was Alexander the Great. 49:45 He was rising. 49:49 Getting stronger all the time. 49:52 And exactly as scripture said 49:56 Medo-Persia was going to fall, 50:02 and it would fall to Greece 50:05 under the leadership of Alexander the Great. 50:09 And so in our next presentation we're going to talk about 50:12 what happened with Greece... what took place there. 50:16 But so far, as we've looked at Five Have Fallen, 50:21 well we've looked at Babylon, 50:24 which is the lion - head of a lion - 50:27 and we found that that power fell 50:30 just exactly as scripture said. 50:33 And tonight we have looked at Medo-Persia. 50:38 And Medo-Persia fell to who? 50:42 To Babylon. Medo-Persia fell to Babylon. 50:45 Babylon overthrew them. 50:47 And so you find the second one coming on the scene of action. 50:51 And then you have the third one 50:54 that comes on the scene of action 50:55 which is Greece. 50:57 And Medo-Persia fell to Greece. 51:00 So, get into that book. 51:02 Study it; look at it. 51:04 There's wonderful, wonderful words of life 51:09 in that book for you and for me. 51:21 Sing them over again to me, 51:27 wonderful words of life. 51:34 Let me more of their beauty see, 51:40 wonderful words of life. 51:47 Words of life and beauty, 51:53 teach me faith and duty. 51:59 Beautiful words, 52:02 wonderful words, 52:06 wonderful words 52:10 of life. 52:16 Let us pray. 52:18 Heavenly Father, 52:21 as we have looked at these nations 52:24 and how You have so clearly 52:27 outlined their rise and their fall. 52:32 Lord may we realize that You hold 52:38 this world in the palm of Your hand. 52:42 May we by faith reach out and take hold of the promises 52:48 that You have given. That we can trust You. 52:52 That we can turn our lives over to You. 52:57 That You will guide and lead and direct 52:59 if we will just seek You. 53:03 Give us understanding, Lord. 53:05 As we study these prophecies, may we sense 53:09 and may we see Your leading and Your guiding. 53:14 May we see how You told what was going to happen 53:20 before it ever took place 53:23 and how it happened just exactly like You said it would. 53:28 Help us that we may not be weak in faith 53:33 but that we will be strong 53:36 and that we'll walk with you and follow you 53:39 all the way into the kingdom of heaven. 53:42 For this we pray in Christ's name, Amen. 53:49 Well, as we continue into Bible prophecy 53:53 as I told you, our next presentation is going to be 53:57 on Greece... the third kingdom. 54:00 And so you need to be here 54:02 as we continue to study it 54:04 and see how God designed things. 54:07 There's certain things right now at this particular time 54:10 in history, folks, that we're talking about 54:12 that begin to happen that changes the course 54:15 of history for all mankind. 54:19 I'm talking about great changes that take place 54:22 right at this particular time that we're in 54:24 in which it switches and begins to change the whole course 54:28 of humanity. And so you want to be sure and be here. 54:32 Or if you're watching by television, 54:34 or listening by radio, 54:36 don't miss it as we continue to study this. 54:39 We're going to bring you step by step 54:41 right on down to the present time in which we are living. 54:45 So we hope you'll be blessed. 54:46 May God bless you; have a good evening. 54:51 The Bible says in Matthew 13:44 55:08 Every day we pass by ordinary places 55:11 that may be hiding something of incredible value. 55:14 Whether buried in a field or squirreled away in an attic, 55:18 or even an old, fallen-down house. 55:21 But imagine for a moment the thrill of stumbling 55:25 upon a treasure beyond your wildest dreams. 55:28 Will you eagerly sell everything you have 55:31 to gain something of much greater value? 55:34 Will you be willing to endure criticism of friends, 55:37 even family members, in order to obtain it? 55:40 This parable speaks of the most incredible treasure of all, 55:44 and it's hidden in God's Word. 55:47 That treasure is Jesus Christ himself. 55:52 But sadly, even those who claim Him 55:55 often don't recognize this infinite treasure. 55:59 Just watch how quickly they toss aside what the Bible says 56:03 when it becomes inconvenient. 56:07 Friends, the treasure of the gospel are hidden in God's Word. 56:11 Many of its readers have eyes, but they do not see. 56:16 They have ears, but they don't hear. 56:19 They never find its hidden treasure. 56:22 In fact, they may read it over and over 56:25 and never see it. 56:27 Even worse, many times they do see it 56:30 but think the price is too high. 56:32 Like the Jews of old 56:34 who rejected the Messiah because He was not in harmony 56:37 with their ambitious desires, 56:40 many won't seek heavenly treasure 56:42 because earthly treasure is more alluring. 56:45 They reason that if they could just obtain the things 56:48 which they desire they would have peace. 56:51 Sadly, they don't realize that they carry the disturber 56:55 of their own peace inside their hearts. 56:58 They pass by the One who declared: 57:00 "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. 57:04 Not as the world gives do I give to you. 57:07 Let not your heart be troubled, 57:09 neither let it be afraid. " 57:13 The treasure of the Bible are revealed only to those 57:17 who carefully study its pages 57:19 with a humble and searching heart. 57:21 Our whole ministry is dedicated to helping men and women 57:24 find the priceless treasure hidden in the Bible. 57:28 We pray that you will not be satisfied 57:30 with surface truths 57:32 but instead you'll want to unearth the precious gems 57:37 that others pass by. 57:38 Dig into the Bible as a miner digs into the earth 57:42 to find veins of gold. Don't give up 57:45 until you have found a relationship with God, 57:48 and then join us in spreading the good news to the world. 57:52 Please consider what you can do 57:54 for those who still don't know about Jesus. 57:56 As the Holy Spirit impresses, 57:58 please send your tax-deductible gifts to: 58:14 Your gifts help bring the Blessed Hope of salvation 58:16 to millions all around the world. |
Revised 2014-12-17