Participants:
Series Code: HEC
Program Code: HEC000001S
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00:01 [upbeat music]
00:07 [gun shots] 00:09 [bomb exploding] 00:10 - There was a desperate hope 00:11 as the world staggered back from the unprecedented ravages 00:15 of World War One, that things could get better, 00:18 that they had to get better, that we must find a way 00:21 to prevent ourselves from ever getting that close 00:23 to the precipice again. 00:25 So at the beginning of 1919, a convention was called 00:29 in Paris, the Paris Peace Convention, 00:32 where it was agreed that war is a crime, 00:35 not just against the people who are fighting 00:37 but against the whole of humanity. 00:40 By January the 10th 1920, the League of Nations was born, 00:45 a cooperative pact between the nations of Daniel statue 00:48 to provide for the collective security of all. 00:52 And for a while everybody's hopes ran very high. 00:55 Maybe the human race had finally learned it's lesson, 00:58 maybe we could finally put an end 01:00 to many long centuries of senseless bloodshed. 01:04 [upbeat music] 01:20 All across the western world, people touted 01:22 the League of Nations as the ultimate answer, 01:26 humanity's best bet to mitigate suffering. 01:29 Even here in America, President Woodrow Wilson, 01:32 who had been very reluctant to enter the war 01:34 in the first place, boarded a train in 1919 01:38 to promote the League of Nations all across the nation. 01:42 But, of course, looking back more than 100 years later, 01:46 we know that the optimism had no basis in reality, 01:51 even though the ambitious multinational deal 01:53 provided for arbitration between bickering nations 01:56 and imposed economic sanctions on any country 01:59 that even considered war, we tragically discovered 02:03 that World War One was just the tip of the iceberg, 02:06 and the world had not yet seen the worst 02:09 that our fallen humanity has to offer. 02:12 [upbeat music] 02:14 By 1939, a new war had started 02:17 that would make World War One seem tame by comparison. 02:21 Our best estimates say that anywhere 02:23 from nine to 21 million people died 02:27 in the trenches of the Great War, 02:28 depending on what you consider a war casualty. 02:32 And that's a number that defies imagination. 02:35 But in World War Two, the number jumped 02:39 with estimates ranging from 56 to 85 million people. 02:43 It's as if the states of California, Texas and New York 02:47 all disappeared overnight. 02:50 And between 1939 and 1945, 02:53 as the human race sunk to new lows with death camps 02:57 and gas chambers, the headquarters for the League of Nations 03:00 in Paris sat vacant, a painful reminder 03:04 that Daniel was absolutely right. 03:06 The human race does not have the answers, 03:09 and the only viable solution will have to come from God. 03:15 [contemplative music] 03:25 [music continues] 03:40 [music strings] 03:46 As World War Two drew to a close, 03:49 the failed League of Nations was replaced 03:51 by another hopeful organization, the United Nations. 03:56 But again, we have failed to bring any kind of real peace 04:00 to this broken world world. 04:01 Looking from World War Two into the Cold War 04:03 and the Korean Conflict and Vietnam, 04:06 and the endless wars in the Middle East. 04:08 Well, the world is looking every bit as broken 04:11 as it always has been. 04:13 "Nation will rise against nation." Jesus warned us, 04:16 "And kingdom against kingdom." 04:18 There is no real lasting peace, 04:21 not on this side of the Second Coming, 04:23 When Isaiah tells us, 04:25 "Everything will be completely different." 04:27 [upbeat music] 04:48 "They shall beat their swords into plowshares 04:50 "and their spears into pruning hooks, 04:52 "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 04:55 "neither shall they learn war anymore." 05:00 [upbeat music] 05:08 Of course as horrific as international strife has become, 05:12 it's only a symptom of a much deeper problem. 05:16 A problem that originates strangely enough 05:18 in the very heart of Paradise, 05:20 where God had arranged for a perfect human existence. 05:24 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, 05:27 the sacred record tells us, 05:29 and there he put the man whom he had formed. 05:31 And out of the ground, the Lord God made every tree grow 05:34 that is pleasant to the site and good for food. 05:38 Now, a river went out of Eden to water the garden, 05:41 and from there it parted and became four river heads. 05:45 The precise location of that garden 05:48 was lost a very long time ago, 05:50 buried under many long centuries of desperate heartbreak 05:53 that altered the very face of God's creation. 05:57 We have no idea where the garden was, 05:59 but almost everybody instinctively knows 06:02 that it was there at some point, 06:04 because there's something very deep in the human heart 06:08 that keeps reminding us that the world we live in 06:11 is not the way it's supposed to be, that something is wrong. 06:16 As the sorrowful author of Ecclesiastes reminds us, 06:19 "God has put eternity in our hearts." 06:23 So at every graveside, at every crime scene, 06:26 at every battlefield and by every hospital bed, 06:30 there is something from Eden still wrenching our hearts, 06:34 constantly reminding us that this world as it is right now, 06:38 is not the way it's supposed to be. 06:41 We still compare this broken existence 06:43 to something much better from our very distant past, 06:47 because God has made sure that we would never be 06:50 completely satisfied with anything less than him. 06:56 "I will put enmity between you and the woman." 06:58 God told the serpent. 07:00 It was a divine safeguard, a way to make sure that 07:03 our hearts would never be completely comfortable 07:06 with a world governed by fallen angels, 07:09 because that is in fact what we created 07:12 the moment we handed our God given dominion over this planet 07:15 to a jubilant Lucifer, who now claimed it as his own. 07:24 [Indian inspired music] 07:28 In India, in the city of Agra, 07:30 stands one of the most magnificent monuments 07:32 to broken hearts ever created, the Taj Mahal, 07:37 often called a teardrop on the cheek of time, 07:39 it was built in the middle of the 17th century 07:42 by the Mughal Emperor Shan Xiao Han, 07:44 when his favorite wife died, 07:47 giving birth to their 14th child. 07:50 [slow strings music] 07:52 in the throes of unbearable grief, 07:54 he decided to build her an extravagant tomb, 07:57 a structure that many people consider 07:59 to be the most beautiful building in the world. 08:03 But what many people miss when they visit 08:06 this famous landmark, is the unique layout of the grounds 08:09 in front of the monument. 08:12 It's based on what might be the oldest landscape design 08:16 in the world, dating all the way back to 08:18 at least Cyrus the Great or maybe even much earlier, 08:22 to an ancient time that now lies obscured 08:25 under the murk of ancient history. 08:28 Have a look at the Taj Mahal from space and you'll see it, 08:33 it's a garden with a fountain of water in the middle 08:36 known to the ancients as the fountain of life. 08:40 And from that point, there are four rivers 08:41 that run to the edge of the garden just like 08:44 the four rivers that ran from Eden 08:46 in the first days of human life. 08:49 The design is known simply as a walled garden, 08:53 or in the Persian language, a Paradeisos, 08:57 the root of our word Paradise. 09:01 It's a Paradise Garden, walled off from the world 09:05 for the exclusive use of a king. 09:07 And in this case, what you find 09:09 is the tomb of his beloved wife just outside the wall, 09:13 a monument to the Kings unbearable grief. 09:16 And the message to the world is clear, 09:19 one day, the king hopes that his beloved bride 09:22 will join him again, in the delights of the garden. 09:27 It's the story of this natural enmity 09:30 the human race has with the ravages of sin. 09:32 It's the story of Eden, the story of a Creator King 09:36 whose bride was stolen by sin and death. 09:39 And while she must die on the outside of the garden, 09:43 because that's how sin works, 09:45 the king has never abandoned hope. 09:47 He knows that the dominion of fallen angels 09:49 will not last forever, 09:52 and if his people would only choose him, 09:55 they could once again walk in Paradise. 10:01 [dreamy music] 10:04 There's another ancient story, 10:07 recording on what might be the oldest book in the world, 10:11 about a man who refused to acknowledge 10:13 the dominion of fallen angels, 10:15 a man who knew that his king would rightfully take back 10:18 what belongs to him. 10:20 At the opening of that book, 10:22 we find one of the most remarkable scenes 10:24 ever recorded by the pen of a human author, 10:27 a scene that takes place in the very presence of God. 10:33 "Now there was a day when the sons of God 10:34 "came to present themselves before the Lord 10:37 "and Satan also came among them. 10:39 "And the Lord said to Satan, 10:41 "'From where do you come?' 10:43 "So Satan answered the Lord and said, 10:45 "'From going to and fro on the earth, 10:47 "'and from walking back and forth on it.'" 10:51 The importance of that statement should not be missed. 10:54 This is not the devil making some casual remark 10:57 about what he was doing the day before this meeting, 11:00 this is a bold claim in the presence of the whole universe, 11:04 that the earth which had been the apple of God's eye, 11:07 the home of a race, made in His image, 11:10 was now the home of Satan's rebellion. 11:13 In the ancient world, you see, 11:14 the foot was a symbol of ownership, because, well, 11:18 a man was free to walk on whatever he owned. 11:20 And now that the human race had handed over 11:22 their God given dominion, Satan felt that it was his right 11:26 to show up in the heavenly Council, 11:29 as this earth's representative. 11:32 But then, God did something rather profound 11:35 in a move that gives our fallen race hope. 11:38 "Not so fast", He says, "Because even though 11:41 "you managed to deceive the whole human race, 11:43 "there is someone down there whose heart does not 11:47 "belong to you, have you considered my servant Job?" 11:51 And from that point forward, the devil did his level best 11:55 to demolish the faith of a man who refused 11:57 to believe even in the throes of untold agony 12:00 that a kingdom of fallen angels was the final word 12:03 for this corner of God's creation. 12:06 He chose to place his faith in the one who would come, 12:10 the one who said that he could crush the head of the serpent 12:13 and take back the title deed 12:15 that should have stayed with us in the first place. 12:19 Many years ago now, I conducted my very first funeral, 12:23 and as often happens with death and heartbreak, 12:25 I found myself at a loss for something, well, 12:28 meaningful to say. 12:30 So I asked if I could see the deceased woman's Bible 12:34 hoping it would provide me with some kind of inspiration. 12:38 And that's where I found it underlined by someone 12:41 who knew she only had a few weeks left to live. 12:44 "For I know that my Redeemer lives, 12:47 "and he shall stand at last on the earth. 12:50 "And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, 12:53 "that in my flesh I shall see God, 12:55 "whom I shall see for myself and my I shall behold, 12:59 "and nother. 13:00 "How my heart yearns within me." 13:04 The years went by after Job was laid to rest, 13:08 and in the fullness of time, God raised up 13:11 an entire nation of people, 13:13 descended from a Chaldean named Abraham. 13:16 And they were to remind the whole world 13:18 that the iron grip of fallen angels would not last forever 13:22 because Messiah was coming. 13:24 And even though the ultimate redemption of this world 13:27 was still in the future, they already lived 13:29 in a special covenant community where God was their king. 13:34 "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days." 13:37 the prophet Isaiah wrote in a stunning description 13:40 of what Israel was supposed to be, 13:42 "That the mountain of the Lord's house 13:44 "shall be established on top of the mountains, 13:47 "and shall be exalted above the hills 13:50 "and all nations shall flow to it." 13:53 This covenant people, was meant as a beacon of hope 13:57 to the whole world, showcasing the fact that God 13:59 had not forgotten this sinful planet, 14:02 and then he had plans to take it back, 14:04 to return us to the paradise of the garden. 14:08 But in a tragic move that has profoundly affected 14:11 the world ever since, God's covenant people suddenly decided 14:15 it wasn't enough, they wanted a worldly king, 14:19 they wanted to live like the nation's next door. 14:22 And so God let them have what they wanted 14:25 because his kingdom has never been about force. 14:28 "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you." 14:31 God told the prophet Samuel. 14:33 "For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me 14:37 "that I should not reign over them." 14:39 It was exactly what Esau the brother 14:42 of their namesake had done. 14:43 In a moment of weakness when an immediate solution 14:46 to a temporary discomfort seemed like, well, 14:48 the most important thing in the world, 14:50 he traded his birthright for nothing but pottage. 14:55 And that's what we have to this day, 14:57 instead of living in a kingdom built by God, 15:00 we have this painful bowl of political stew, 15:03 because we handed over the keys again. 15:06 And we got a world run by fallen people 15:09 taking orders from fallen angels. 15:12 So what you find in the pages of the Bible 15:15 is a record of human kings who become more and more wicked, 15:19 until God just folds his people back 15:21 into the kingdoms of this world, 15:23 sending His people back to Chaldea 15:26 the very place that Abraham had left 15:29 in pursuit of the promise of God. 15:32 But even then, God refused to abandon hope, 15:36 that his beloved bride could come back home, 15:38 because as his people slaved in the hot Mesopotamian sun 15:43 for a king who was nothing like our Creator, 15:47 God disrupted the sleep of Nebuchadnezzar 15:49 with a startling picture of things to come. 15:52 [music] 15:53 It was true, Israel would never be the same. 15:57 There would be an endless progression 15:59 of human kingdoms pretending to run this world 16:01 with all the pain and chaos that comes with that, 16:05 until the day that God Himself takes it all back as His own. 16:10 [music fades] 16:13 [jarring music] 16:15 After 70 long years in captivity, 16:18 the people of God made their way back to the promised land, 16:21 where they began the work of rebuilding 16:23 the city and the temple. 16:26 God had given them one more chance. 16:28 70 weeks the angel Gabriel told the prophet 16:31 Are determined for your people and for your holy city. 16:35 The clock had started ticking, the kingdom must be rebuilt 16:39 because Messiah was coming. 16:42 The work however, proved to be exceptionally difficult, 16:45 they would not be working in comfort or ease. 16:48 And at one point, opposition from their Samaritan neighbors 16:51 was so overwhelming that the work slowly ground to a halt, 16:56 and God's people began to focus on their own needs instead, 17:00 they lost faith, they faltered. 17:02 And they told themselves that the time was wrong, 17:05 and some other generation would have to finish the work. 17:08 Now that ripped God's heart in two because, 17:10 the only thing he's ever asked of us is faith 17:15 and the courage to believe. 17:17 "Thus speaks the Lord of hosts say, 17:20 "this people says the time has not come, 17:22 "the time that the Lord's house should be built." 17:26 It was not at all what God had said, but for some reason, 17:30 you and I have always struggled to believe 17:32 that God will actually use us to finish the work. 17:36 And it's easy to identify the obstacles 17:38 that stand in the way, the world is too secular, 17:42 the work is too big, the population is growing faster 17:45 than we can hope to share the Gospel, 17:47 and we find studies that prove that it can't be done. 17:51 So like those people have old, 17:53 we start turning to other things. 17:55 We find reasons that some that other generation 17:57 will have to finish the work, 17:59 that it couldn't possibly be us. 18:01 And the discouragement that starts on the outside 18:04 of the church quickly moves into the pews and defeats 18:08 the people of God who really ought to know better. 18:13 So maybe, when we're tempted to succumb to the words 18:16 of these last day Samaritans, we should return to the pages 18:20 of God's book and remind ourselves that what God 18:23 has asked of his people has never been possible, 18:28 and that's the whole point. 18:30 He wants us to understand that we have never had the answer. 18:34 Don't forget, when the stone returns to crush 18:38 the kingdoms of this world, the Bible says, 18:41 "It will be cut out without human hands," 18:44 which means that the kingdom will be entirely 18:49 the act of God. 18:50 "The glory of this latter temple shall be greater 18:53 "than the former," the Prophet Haggai told God's people, 18:56 which probably created great excitement, 18:59 because when the First Temple had been dedicated, 19:01 the very presence of God had filled it 19:04 with unspeakable glory. 19:07 But on the day of the dedication of the Second Temple, 19:10 the Shekinah did not come, 19:13 and they didn't have the Ark of the Covenant. 19:16 So how could this new temple possibly be greater? 19:20 It was because the Son of God himself 19:23 would step out from behind the veil, 19:25 and set foot on those temple grounds 19:28 as a flesh and blood human being, Emmanuel, God with us. 19:35 Therefore, in all things he had to be made 19:37 like his brethren, that he might be a merciful 19:40 and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, 19:43 to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 19:48 Where you and I had failed, the Son of God, 19:51 who was now the Son of Man would triumph, 19:55 and take back this world as his own. 19:58 The Lamb of God has defeated the powers at darkness, 20:01 at the cross and seized the title deed to this planet, 20:05 not just for him, but for anybody who wants it. 20:14 [slow music] 20:18 Today the world still lives in the shadow 20:20 of all those worldly empires. 20:23 The head of gold, the chest and arms of silver, 20:25 the belly and thighs of brass, and the legs of iron, 20:29 have all come and gone. 20:31 And we find ourselves in the toes 20:33 at the very end of the prophecy. 20:36 And the whole of creation is now groaning, 20:39 waiting for Jesus to come. 20:42 The people who live next door to us, they sense it, 20:46 they know there's something wrong because the more 20:48 our world strives for peace, the more we tried to fix 20:52 what we've done to this place, 20:54 well, the worst things seem to get. 20:56 And at some point in the not too distant future 20:59 our human race is going to try and fix it, 21:02 and we will rebuild a League of Nations, 21:06 but on a much grander scale, 21:09 because somehow we still haven't learned, 21:11 no human kingdom has ever worked, 21:15 and no human kingdom ever will. 21:18 And yet, we see the sad prediction that we're going 21:20 to try it one last time. 21:23 "The 10 horns, which you saw are 10 kings 21:25 "who have received no kingdom as yet, 21:28 "but they receive authority for one hour 21:30 "as kings with the beast. 21:32 "These are of one mind and they will give their power 21:35 "and authority to the beast." 21:39 So here we are, on the verge of the final moments 21:43 where nation is still rising against nation, 21:46 and kingdom is rising against kingdom. 21:48 And this world is eventually going to push the panic button, 21:52 because we always seem to sell our birthright 21:55 for a measly bowl of pottage. 21:58 But this time it's going to set the stage 22:01 for the final showdown. 22:04 And here we are, Gods people asked to do just one thing. 22:08 And even though people are worried that the world 22:11 always seems poised on the brink of disaster, 22:13 we know based on what God says that tanks and planes, 22:18 parliaments and kings or banks and currencies, 22:21 those aren't the real issue, because all of that 22:25 is just preparing the world to accept the wrong alternative. 22:30 The real war, the real crisis runs much deeper than that. 22:36 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood," 22:38 Paul reminds us, "But against principalities, 22:40 "against powers, against the rulers of the darkness 22:42 "of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness 22:46 "in the heavenly places." 22:50 For a lot of people this fight seems like a hopeless cause. 22:53 we tell ourselves that for now it's already over, 22:56 maybe some other generation will have to finish the work 22:59 because our congregations are aging, 23:01 and our pews seem to be half empty. 23:05 And we can point to the very Samaritans 23:07 who tell us it's true, we are defeated. 23:11 But what we're really telling ourselves 23:13 is that God has made a horrendous mistake, 23:16 that God has told his church a lie, 23:19 because the way the Bible reads 23:20 there is anything but defeat on the horizon. 23:24 "After these things," The Bible says 23:26 "I saw another angel coming down from heaven, 23:29 "having great authority and the earth 23:31 "was illuminated with his glory." 23:34 And in Revelation chapter seven, John tells us, 23:36 "I looked and behold, a great multitude 23:39 "which no one could number of all nations, 23:42 "tribes, peoples and tongues, standing before the throne 23:45 "and before the lamb, clothed with white robes 23:48 "with palm branches in their hands, 23:50 "and crying out with a loud voice saying, 23:53 "'Salvation belongs to our God 23:56 "'who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.'" 24:00 And in the closing chapter of Daniel, God says, 24:02 "At that time Michael shall stand up, 24:04 "the great prince who stands watch over the sons 24:07 "of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble, 24:10 "such as never was since there was a nation 24:12 "even to that time. 24:14 "And at that time, your people shall be delivered, 24:18 "everyone who was found written in the book." 24:22 And back in Revelation again, Chapter 19, 24:25 "And I heard as it were, the voice of a great multitude, 24:28 "as the sound of many waters 24:30 "and as the sound of mighty thundering saying, 24:32 "'Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. 24:35 "'Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, 24:38 "'for the marriage of the Lamb has come 24:40 "'and his wife has made herself ready.' 24:43 "To her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, 24:46 "clean and bright, for the fine linen 24:49 "is the righteous act of the saints." 24:52 Then, in chapter 11, "Then the seventh angel sounded 24:55 "and there were loud voices in heaven saying, 24:57 "'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms 25:01 "'of our Lord and of His Christ, 25:03 "'and He shall reign forever and ever.'" 25:07 There's just no shortage of promises that 25:09 what God has asked us to do is possible, and it will happen. 25:15 So the decision really rests with us. 25:17 This time, are we going to go back 25:19 and work on something else like 25:21 the disheartened people have Haggai's day? 25:23 Or will we choose to believe that if we do 25:26 the tasks that God has laid at our feet, 25:28 the one thing he has asked us to do, 25:31 that we will actually see the feet of Jesus 25:33 walk the surface of this world. 25:36 You know, when John the Revelator, 25:37 was exiled to a barren piece of rock 25:39 in the middle of the Aegean sea, 25:41 when it looked like all was lost, God offered John hope 25:46 like he did for Daniel and Ezekiel when they were in exile. 25:50 And what God showed him was the closing of the work, 25:54 a generation that would not lose hope, 25:56 who would light up the world with the glory of Christ 25:59 in the last few moments of this world's history. 26:02 And we can choose to believe 26:05 that he saw some other generation, 26:08 some other group of people who will finish the work 26:10 after we've been laid to rest. 26:13 Or we can choose to believe that the prophet saw us, 26:19 that we have the courage to finish the work. 26:21 We can wait or we can do it. 26:25 We can lay plans, we can join hands, we can pray, 26:28 and we can take down this continent for the glory of God. 26:32 What if what we're starting right now 26:35 is the beginning of the end? 26:37 What if 2020 is the day we said, 26:40 we believe the promise of God? 26:44 Satan's work of Ruin is forever ended. 26:47 For 6,000 years he has wrought his will, 26:50 filling the earth with broil and causing grief 26:52 throughout the universe. 26:53 The whole creation has grown and travail together in pain. 26:57 Now God's creatures are forever delivered 26:59 from his presence in temptations, 27:02 the whole world is at rest and is quiet. 27:05 They, the righteous, break forth into singing 27:08 and a shout of praise and triumph descends 27:11 from the whole loyal universe. 27:13 The voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters 27:17 and as the voice of mighty thundering is heard saying, 27:20 "Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 27:25 [strings music fades] 27:31 [piano music] 27:56 - [Announcer] Voice of Prophecy is proud 27:58 to have brought you Heavens Call. 28:00 Add this inspirational presentation of Gods lasting peace 28:03 to your own video collection or share it with a friend, 28:06 a loved one or Bible study group. 28:09 To order your own copy of this very special program, 28:12 call 844-822-2943 or visit vop.com/store. 28:19 [piano music] |
Revised 2020-09-02