Take your Bibles this morning; turn to Daniel Chapter 2, if you would please. Daniel Chapter 2, and let's stand together for the Scripture reading this morning from Daniel Chapter 2. And of course, we're beginning our series as we learn about things to come over the next several weeks. And I'm so glad to welcome again many of our members that are coming back out of this pandemic, and many have had their either vaccination, or they had COVID, or whatever the case, to give the folks a level of comfort. But I'm glad that you're here. This is a wonderful crowd this morning, and we're excited about diving into this new study as we understand things to come. Daniel Chapter 2, and we're gonna read in a moment beginning in verse number 31. Now, over the next several weeks we're going to be preaching on various different subjects related to prophesy. I'm going to be preaching next week on Israel's role in prophecy, the Abrahamic Covenant and other promises made specifically to Israel. We're going to be preaching, of course, about the Rapture of the church, and then of course the tribulation period, the Great Tribulation. We're going to preach about the Anti-Christ, and what the Bible says about the Anti-Christ. We're gonna preach about the coming One World Church from Revelation 17, and of course, ultimately we'll preach about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. And so we're going to hit the highlights. And some things I always like to say when it comes to preaching on Bible prophecy – number one, these messages, they'll be deep in the sense of the material that we're looking into, but there's an expansive amount of material, and so let me say we have some good resources in the bookstore, such as Dwight Pentecost's book, Things to Come. We have some good books over there, I believe, by Dr. David Jeremiah. We have the book I passed out last week, Understanding the Times, if you'd like to get a copy. In other words, if you get interested after these messages, get some good pre-millennial, literal interpretation-type study guides that will help you follow along and maybe gain a little more knowledge.
And we do not teach and preach prophesy to try to predict who the Anti-Christ is, or when Jesus will come exactly. The Bible says, "No man knows the day nor the hour." And if you every find somebody trying to predict those things exactly, you'll know that they really don't know what they're talking about, all right? That's how many false denominations started. And you can go back to groups like the Seventh Day Adventists, who had a period in their journey where they all sat on the rooftops of their houses, waiting for Christ to return, and it did not happen. So we're not gonna try to name the name of the Anti-Christ. Besides that, some of you already know who it is, right? And it's like your boss at work, right, or the politician you like least. I did see a little comic I thought kinda tied this up, some people and their predictions, and you might enjoy this. "The world will end [laughter] November 25th." And so if you're a turkey, and you think Thanksgiving is the world's end, you might not be far from that. But anyways, we're not gonna be predictive, but the reason that I believe prophesy is important is because nothing should motivate us to live for Jesus like knowing that he's coming again. That's the real reason we preach about the things to come, is because if we really believe that Christ is coming, then it should affect the way we live our everyday lives. And I'm telling you, folks, I have seen people making decisions this last year that have nothing to do with eternity and everything to do with just feelings and emotions. And I want us to realize if Jesus is coming soon, then we oughta be living for eternity with all of our lives. And so, let's dive into this, Daniel Chapter 2. The message is entitled The Coming World Empire. We're gonna begin reading in Verse 31. "Thou, O King, sawest, and behold, a great image! This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible. The image's head was of fine gold, and his breast and his arms, of silver; his belly and his thighs, of brass; his legs, of iron; his feet, part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and break them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." And a mountain here would represent a kingdom, another rising kingdom. And the Bible says, in Verse 36, "This is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O King, are the King of Kings, for the God of Heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of Heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee the ruler over them all. Thou art his head of gold. And after these shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, for as much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things, and as iron that breaketh all these shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes part of the potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron. For as much as thou sawest the iron mixed with mirey clay, and as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with mirey clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the Kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."
And let us pray. Father, thank you for this new series, and I pray that you would enlighten us and encourage us, and then motivate us to live with eternity in mind. And I'll pray God that you will touch hearts and souls through this upcoming few months as we study together. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. You may be seated. Well, every day we hear news of globalism, and sometimes it's subtle; oftentimes it's woven into the curricula of public education; but it is a common theme in the world today. And it has been. It has been a Democratic theme. It has been a Republican theme. I remember President Bush senior constantly talking about the new world, what was it?
Congregation: Order.
Order, the new world order. And we hear these terms – global economies, global warming. During the pandemic of COVID-19, we have heard about global immunization, and the World Health Organization, and how we need to have a global response. And so globalism is a theme of this particular age. Earlier in March, the World Health Organization released interim guidance for how digital vaccine certificates should work globally, and how that the World Health Organization has 25 governments already involved in their experiment and in their cooperative effort for a global travel vaccine. And so we are hearing more and more and more about this global concept in the culture in which we live. Now, what we're going to learn this morning, and what we're going to learn in the weeks to come, is that the Bible really does speak to many of the trends that we are experiencing now. And it may not mention specific things such as a global vaccination passport or something like that, but it does mention things that relate to doing business, or going and coming, or the centralization of power under one world ruler. And what we see in the Scripture is the direction of things until the upcoming time of the return of Jesus Christ. And it is interesting, as we come to Daniel this morning, nearly 2500 years ago, God uses Daniel as one of his prophets, and he used others. He used Ezekiel and Jeremiah – we'll see many different prophetic studies – and in the New Testament as well. But in this particular passage this morning, Daniel was of course taken captive in 605 BC. He was taken to Babylon, or to modern-day Iraq, as a Jewish captive in the kingdom. And you know that Daniel was a man of holiness. He was a man of purpose. In fact, I love to preach to teenagers about Daniel, because in Daniel 1, in Verse 8, the Bible says that he "purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself in the kingdom where he was living." What a great testimony for all of us, that even though we live in a wicked kingdom, we need to purpose in our heart that we're not gonna be defiled by this kingdom. That was Daniel's testimony. What a great testimony. Well, the Assyrians had taken the northern kingdom of Israel captive in 722 BC, and now, 200 years later, this southern kingdom of Judah is taken into Babylon, and Daniel was taken with it as one of the young princes from Israel.
During his time there, God of course elevated these Hebrew children, and Daniel became a respected man in that kingdom. And we know that the king had a dream, and that none of the wise men of the king could interpret the dream. Now this dream, as we're going to see in just a moment, was of a prophetic nature, and oftentimes God would use dreams as a form of revelatory means whereby they might know, in their period of time, the moving of God in their midst, or even in prophesy. Now we have a complete Word of God, and we follow God's Word as our prophetic utterance, as our prophesy, or as our way of living today. But in these times, these dreams were often used of God to give a glimpse into the future. And so you'll notice in the passage before us this dream. And I want you to notice in verse number 24, the Bible says, "Therefore, Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went in and said this unto him, "Destroy not the wise men of Babylon. Bring me before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation." So here we see that Daniel has an anointing on his life. He says, "Spare these wise men of yours, and bring me before the king, and let me give the interpretation." And one of the key passages to Daniel is found in Verse 27. By way of introduction, I want you to see this. It says, "Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, 'The secret which the king hath demanded, cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king.'" Let me just pause here. If you think that an astrologer, or if you think that the witches down on Lancaster Boulevard, with their little Ouija ball, if you think some of these tarot cards – if you think that's where to get your answers for life, you need Christ as your Savior this morning. And you need the Word of God in your hand this morning. Even Daniel, 2500 years ago, said, "Hey, king, I'm sorry to tell you, there's just certain things that these little play magicians are not gonna be able to figure out." But he said, "There's a God in Heaven that can help us figure it out." In fact, notice that's exactly what he says in Verse 28. "But there is a God in Heaven that revealeth secrets." Let's say that together. "But there is a God in Heaven that revealeth secrets."
Congregation: "But there is a God in Heaven that revealeth secrets."
And I'm thankful that God reveals his truth to us. And it says there, in Verse 28, "And maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the – " What are the next two words, please?
Congregation: Latter days.
" – latter days. 'Thy dream and the visions of thy head upon thy bed are these.'" And so we see this morning that there is a dream by Nebuchadnezzar that is now going to be interpreted by Daniel the Prophet. That this type of dream is not something that the unregenerate man the Bible – we'll see this in the message tonight – The Bible says, "The natural man receiveth not the things that are of the Spirit of God." These astrologers couldn't figure it out. But God gave Daniel the understanding of the dream. And in this dream we see, first of all this morning, the identity of the world's empires. The identity of the world's empires. Nebuchadnezzar had this dream in his second year reigning, about 602 BC, and it's interesting that God is giving, 2500 years ago, Daniel a comprehensive, prophetic insight. This was the most comprehensive prophetic insight ever given to a man up to this time, and amazing as we see it. We’re going to notice first of all, concerning this empire, that Nebuchadnezzar saw a symbolic image. His dream contained an image that was very symbolic. And in Daniel Chapter 2 here, in Verse 45, the Bible says, "The great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter." All right? And so Daniel is clearly establishing that what Nebuchadnezzar saw is not something that happened prior; it's something that is yet to come. And then again, in Verse 28, he said, "There is a God in Heaven that revealeth secrets and hath made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days." So this is very clearly a prophetic passage of Scripture. It speaks about things to come. It speaks about things in the latter days. Now, the dream begins with Nebuchadnezzar's own kingdom, and it begins with his kingdom of Babylon, and it does not end until the return of Jesus Christ. And some of you already caught onto that, just when we were reading the scripture just a moment ago. Now, the latter days – when you read about this phrase, and we saw that a moment ago, here in Verse 28, the latter days. The latter days are often also mentioned in the context of the fullness of time, and this speaks of the day when the Lord Jesus Christ will return. And so this is a prophecy that is spanning all of the upcoming events and kingdoms in the world until the time of Christ. Romans 11:25 says, "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the times of the Gentiles be come in." And again, this speaks of the final days of the Revelation until the coming of Jesus Christ. So, it's a symbolic image of coming kingdoms. Secondly, it is a sequential representation of these kingdoms that we're going to be studying. Here in Daniel Chapter 2 we see a giant figure of a man, and I believe we have a slide of that. And this figure of a man we're going to study this morning is also mentioned in Daniel Chapter 7. And in Daniel Chapter 7, it is a likening of four beasts. Those kingdoms are likened unto four different beasts. Daniel 7:17, and I believe you received some notes this morning, the Bible says, "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth." So we have, in this Chapter 2, this image which is going to be a division of these four different kingdoms. And then we have, in Chapter 7, four beasts that represent the same four kingdoms. And we'll see in this vision that there is greater value, and then less strength as you go down in the vision and study each of the kingdoms. In fact, every metal that is represented is going to reflect the nature of a particular kingdom, something that that kingdom was known for producing, or something they were known as, in the sense of strength. So let's take a look at this briefly. First, we read in Verse 32 about the "head of gold." This image "head was of fine gold; his breast and his arms, of silver; his belly and his thighs, of brass." The head of gold represents Babylonian kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar's own kingdom, 606 to about 538 BC. And this was what Nebuchadnezzar was reigning over, and so it is speaking of the kingdom that he ruled. And Daniel said, "This head of gold is the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar." Then we read about the silver arms and chest in Verse 32. The silver arms and chest. And we'll see that this represents the Media-Persian Empire, 538 to 330 BC. The Persian Empire. And this was the second great world empire after Nebuchadnezzar. Then we read about the brass belly and the thighs, Verse 32. This next kingdom is the Greek Empire, and this was the next great world empire. And again, this image speaking of these different kingdoms. For those of you that have perhaps been to Athens, and you've seen the Parthenon, or you've seen maybe the Colosseums, and you're reminded of really the power of the Greek Empire –
this was the empire just after the Media-Persian Empire that was the most dominant world empire of the time. Then we come, in Verse 33, to the "legs of iron; his feet of iron and part of clay." Iron is a symbol in history of the Roman Empire. And if you've been to Rome, maybe you've seen the Colosseum. Or if you've been just about anywhere in Europe, you've seen the remnants of the Roman Empire. It is the empire that was in power during the New Testament era, and it was the Roman Empire we studied just last week that was involved, obviously, in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the times of Christ – the Roman Empire. And the iron speaks of Rome's unyielding power. The legs make up almost half of the image's length, indicating that this empire would last longer than the other empires did, from 63 BC to 476 AD. The Roman Empire, an amazing, amazing empire. Roads throughout the world. Military might, unbelievably so. Then we see, coming down into the lower extremity, the toes, the toes of a final world empire. And that is mentioned in Verse 33. "And his legs of iron; his feet part of iron and part of clay." And we see that there is this clay and iron mix. And there is a continuation, or some have called it a revival, of the fourth Roman kingdom. And this really correlates with Daniel Chapter 7, so look at this in your notes as we look at these ten toes for a moment in this vision, and we'll be talking about this more a little later in the message. But in Daniel 7, Verse 7, we see this same prophesy. "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth. It devoured, and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it. And it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn." Now, these ten horns in Daniel 7, or the ten toes in Daniel 2, represent a final kingdom, or a revived Roman kingdom of ten global powers. Ten global states, ten divided geography sections, and we do not know exactly where those will be, where American fits into that. But we believe that there will be ten geographical sections of the Anti-Christ's kingdom. And so we see that these are referred to as the final outcropping or the reviving of the old Roman Empire in the latter days. Now, finally as we look at this image, we see one more thing mentioned, and I want you to notice in Verse 34. "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them. And that stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Now, this speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ's coming. He is the stone that is represented here. And this mountain is his final Kingdom, the Kingdom that is not an earthly kingdom. It is the Lord's Kingdom. It's not made of men, or of Nebuchadnezzar, or of Caesar the Great, or of some Roman emperor. It is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He is the stone. And I want you to see a great teaching of Christ. Notice in Verse 34, "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut without hands." In other words, this is not a man-made emperor. This is the stone without hands. This is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Ancient of Days. This is one of the names for Christ. He is the stone, the rock, made without man's hands.
And he also saw a stone then, did Daniel, that came down upon the feet and crushed the entire image into powder, and then this stone grew and filled the whole earth like a great mountain. And this speaks of Christ's coming. It speaks of his establishing the Kingdom. And so you have Nebuchadnezzar, and you have the Media-Persian Empire, and you have the Roman Empire, and you have the Greek Empire, and all these empires coming down ultimately to a revival of these empires in ten sections – the ten horns, the ten toes. And all of that ultimately is destroyed by a stone that comes, a stone not made with hands. And that stone will raise up his own kingdom. And that is the reference to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he promised David that he would rule on this throne forever and forever. And so Christ comes and establishes the Kingdom. Now, the final human kingdom on earth, this ten-toed kingdom, this geographical or global kingdom that is ruled over by the Anti-Christ, will be utterly destroyed. And we'll preach in the upcoming weeks about the battle of Armageddon, and the kingdoms that will gather against the Lord Jesus Christ. But as the Ancient of Days, as the stone cut without hands, he will destroy, and disseminate this final world Kingdom. And the Bible speaks of this in Matthew 21, I believe it's in your notes, and Verse 44. "And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." And so we see here that this image is a picture of world history. Men and women think that human civilization is so strong. And I get so tickled with the United Nations or the World Health Organization, all these different groups. And I'm sure there's people that really have tender hearts in these organizations, but they seem to think somehow – NATO, all of these groups – that they have the ability to solve all of the world's problems, to bring peace to the world, and all of these things that we hear about. And yet the reality is that human civilization is not so strong and enduring. Actually, our entire civilization, according to Daniel 2, is resting on very brittle feet today, and we are not as high and mighty as we think. We have a depraved sin nature in this world, and that sin nature is a very brittle nature. And people in this world are gonna run to follow the one world leadership of the Anti-Christ, and that is not a picture of strength. That is a picture of weakness, as we will see. And so in Daniel 2:36, Daniels says, "This is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king." And so through Daniel, God gave King Nebuchadnezzar a composite history of the remaining days of the world, a prophecy of the final Gentile empires. And in this message today, we're gonna focus on one of those. We're gonna focus on the final days of the ten toes, or the revived Roman Empire, as some would refer to it. So, we see the identity of the world's empires, starting with Nebuchadnezzar, coming all the way down through the Roman Empire and, I believe, into the present day, as we see this yearning for globalization, these ten geographic areas that will form. Now, let's notice secondly the immensity of the Roman Empire, 'cause we're gonna focus on this Roman Empire mostly this morning. The Bible says of it, in verse number 40, "And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, for as much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things, and as iron that breaketh all these shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, for as much as thou sawest the iron, mixed with clay."
Now, the imperial Roman Empire, this empire that is mentioned here in verse number 40, "as strong as iron," the fourth empire displayed in the image is symbolized by its legs of iron. And Dr. David Jeremiah in his book, What In the World is Going On?, wrote these words. "And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, for as much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things, and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise." And he says here the word "iron" is used 14 times in the text, describing Rome. And when we come to this Roman Empire, we realize we're dealing with the longest-lasting and the strongest of the ancient empires, headquartered in Rome and then Constantinople, or modern-day Istanbul. And it was an amazing, strong, strong empire. The headquarters came back to Rome. Vatican City is a real emphasis in Rome, and a very strong political player even to this day. What is amazing to me about the Roman Empire, it went down to Egypt. It went as far as the Persian Gulf and Arabia, the Caspian Sea, and then all the way the other way, to England. And when you think about how they traveled, on little ships, or how they would walk long distances, that's quite amazing to me. And I really, until 15 or 20 years ago, did not fully understand how expansive the Roman Empire was, even throughout England. And it's interesting to me, Hadrian's Wall, built in the second century, stretches from Chester, England all the way to the east coast of England. The Romans marked this territory. This wall is just below the border of Scotland and England, and it is amazing to think that thousands of miles from Rome, these soldiers went to mark their territory. Maybe you already knew this. I didn't know this till some years ago. But the City of London was originally called Conidium. It was a Roman settlement, and they came up the River Thames, and they established their settlement there. So the Roman Empire was an amazing, expansive empire. The imperial Roman Empire. But what about those ten toes that come out of the legs of iron? What about this final empire that has its relativity to that Roman Empire? The Bible speaks of this again in Verse 44, "And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed." So notice this, "in the days of these kings," speaking of these ten that are going to give themselves to the Anti-Christ, as we'll see in a moment. According to Daniel, then, there is yet to be another division in the Roman Empire. Not a division of two, as indicated by the image's two legs, but of ten, as is symbolized by the ten toes. Now, again, I cannot say the boundaries of the final empire, and I cannot even predict where the headquarters will be. But I believe the final empire will have ten boundaries, and all of these giving credence to the Anti-Christ. And so this will be the final kingdom period. Warren Wiersbe said, "When you come to the iron and the clay, you have our present governments." He said, "What is the strength of democracy? It is the law. What is its weakness? Human nature." We are seeing that today, that lawlessness comes when human nature refuses to be bound by God's order and laws. And so this mixture of iron and clay is an indication of lawlessness or weakness, based upon the fact that many of these countries may claim some form of democracy, but the clay and the satanic involvement is going to represent a weakness. In fact, there will be a demonic influence, obviously, in the final empire. Verse 43 says, "Whereas thou sawest iron mixed with mirey clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men." This verse, in my studies, indicates a demonic influence. There will be a mixing with the seed of men of satanic influence, as we read in the Old Testament as well, on occasion. And this time of the ten kingdoms is going to be a time where satanic spiritualism is prevalent. People are going to be spiritual; they're not going to believe in Christ, but they're gonna be spiritual. They're gonna do meditation. They're gonna smoke marijuana. They're gonna be, you know, psychedelic and emotional and spiritual, but not in the sense that we think of spirituality. They're going to be ready for the programming of the Anti-Christ. These kings will literally give their loyalty to the Anti-Christ. So let's look at that. Revelations 17 in Verse 12. Revelations 17:12, it may be in your notes, but you might wanna open your Bible, too. Remember the ten kings are represented by the final toes of the image, also by the ten horns of Daniel. And in Revelations 17, we see it again. And by the way, the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible, so when you wanna understand these terms, you keep looking in the Scriptures and seeing them repeated; gives us enlightenment. So Revelations 17:12 says, "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten – "what's the next word?
Congregation: Kings.
" – kings which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings – " notice this – "one hour with the –" what? " – Beast." So these ten geographic areas of the world in the latter moments of world history are gonna have an agreement with the Beast for about an hour. It's gonna be a short period of time that they have this agreement with the Anti-Christ. Verse 13 says, "These have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast." So though there are ten geographic kingdoms mentioned with the ten toes or the ten horns, they all have one mind. They're all kind of thinking this global thought, and they all gladly give over their freedoms, if you will. They give over their allegiance to the Beast, to the Anti-Christ. So this global sense is so strong that even though there's still some divisions, maybe some cultural identities within those ten regions, nevertheless, they all give their power and strength unto the Beast. And that might mean some form of military treaties; that might mean some form of other signed agreements with respect to giving allegiance to maybe Brussels or a place like that. But the fact of the matter is that they will be under the control of the Beast, according to Revelation 17:13. So both Daniel and the Revelation associate the Anti-Christ with this confederation of ten nations that correspond in some way to the old Roman Empire and form an outcropping of a federation of ten, a revival of that Roman Empire, as we saw in the image of Nebuchadnezzar. So there's this final kingdom period that is coming. There is this sense of preparing to give power to a central one. That sense is happening in our world today. That leads to a transference of world power. Now, the transfer of power will be brought about by mutual consent. Every member of this alliance will give it freely to the Anti-Christ. They may retain some of their own identity nationally or culturally, but they give their power to the Beast, according to Revelations 17. And this is what we see here in Revelations 17:13. "These have one mind and shall give their power and strength to the Beast." Now, that spirit – we're not saying that that's happening in the sense of literally the ten regions and the giving of power to the Anti-Christ yet. What we're saying today is that that spirit of acquiescence, that spirit of globalism, is well underway in the world today. Some years ago, Vice-President Pence, in fact, in 2010 he was in Brussels, and he was giving a speech. And again, I've heard speeches like this from Republicans and Democrats, but this particular speech by Vice-President Biden, rather, said, he said, "I believe Brussels would be more suited to be called the Capital of the Free World than Washington, DC." Biden said, "It seems to me that in this great city, which boasts 1000 years of history, and which serves as the capital of Belgium, the home of the European Union and the headquarters of NATO, that this city has its own legitimate claim to that title, Capital of the Free World." When I read that, I thought, "What an interesting thing for a vice president to say, that Brussels would be such a fitting capital of the free world." Now, you say, "Well, that was probably just diplomatic speech."
Words are words, and the fact is that he was in a globalistic type of a sense saying that Brussels would be a great capital of the free world. Last week Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was giving the administration's aims with the new budget that is coming forth, and she said, "Our goal is to fight poverty and promote inclusive global economic values." She said further, from a headline perspective, "You will see two big proposals in our budget. We are aiming to get G-20 nations to agree – " listen, now – "on a minimum global corporate tax. We want to approve $650 billion in special drawing rights that will provide US dollars to IMF, International Monetary Fund, members." So now we hear in present-day language the talk of a global tax where all of the G-20 nations would agree to an equal tax for their businesses. And these are the types of talks that are actually happening. No longer will each nation determine a tax rate, but Yellen is proposing a global corporate tax in the current language of our administration. And so we see the immensity of the original Roman Empire, but then we also see how that in the latter days these ten kings will give over to a global, centralized power. And already the talks of taxation, the talks of world health, you go on and on with just about any subject, there's a global office, there's a global concept being established. And so we see the identity of the empires in Nebuchadnezzar's vision. We see the immensity of the Roman Empire and the continuation of it in the last days before Christ establishes his Kingdom. And then I want you to see thirdly, with me this morning, the influence of this empire. The influence of this final empire referenced in the ten toes. It is first of all seen in the realigning of power, the realigning of the world's powers, again, aligning with the Anti-Christ. And we see that this iron mixed with mirey clay in Daniel 2:42, "And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken." So this final kingdom will align all the nations, both strong and weak, into one unified – as we saw a moment ago – giving their strength to the Beast. Now, how does that happen? How does the realigning of power happen? It doesn't happen overnight. Perhaps it happens through a series of world wars. It happens through a series of, perhaps, educational changes. Various different things happen to weaken the sense of, perhaps, national strength of nations and so forth. But over time, we're seeing now the conversation really take a swelling. I'll give you a few thoughts. First, you will see in the times leading into the end, a lessening of national pride. A lessening of national pride. You'll hear constantly a talk of the new world order. You'll hear protesters calling for a destruction of property, a destruction of borders, calling for socialistic and global union. That will be a common chant in the last days, because we obviously have more than ten borders right now. You're going to hear people that are calling for a destruction of the borders as we know them. You're going to see various political unions that are made. I wanna share a quote with you that I think was pretty amazing, from Sir Winston Churchill. And I'm a big Churchill fan. I've been to his birthplace, his burial ground. I've been to the Churchill war rooms, and I've read lots of his books. He was a great and courageous man who helped end World War II. But you'll be shocked with this quote, and that's why I said sometimes wars will dishearten people. And it said in 1946, following the devastation of Europe, Winston Churchill said in a speech that the tragedy of Europe could be solved if the issues of ancient nationalism and sovereignty could give way to the sense of European national grouping. He said that the path of European peace and prosperity on the world stage was clear. "We must build the United States of Europe."
So even people that you might really revere in history had, or have, a sense of this bringing the nations together. Perhaps you have visited Europe, and you have noticed as I did years ago, the European flag. It just amazed me, and I forget how many nations are presently, and there may have been one or two added since. But over, or at least next to, every flag in Europe is the European Union flag. And much of the European Union could be representative of the old Roman Empire, geographically speaking. And this is the prevalent flag in Europe. And rather than stamping your passport when you go in – Terry was so excited – I forget which country, maybe we were taking a trip somewhere – says, "I'm gonna get a stamp in my passport of these different countries." You know what she got? European Union, European Union, European Union. Because that's the dominant political force in Europe, and you've heard about Brexit, and how some of those people that are maybe a little older, maybe a little more conservative, who maybe have studied passages like this, were not so exited about the European Union, and they had a moment of Brexit. How that continues to play out as older people die and younger people come in is yet to be seen. But the fact is that the European Union is amazingly strong in this very moment in which we are living. This past Friday, the little climate crybaby, Greta Thunberg – maybe some of you have heard of her – she said, "I'm not going to attend the upcoming United Nations summit," she said, "unless vaccine nationalism is discontinued." Thunberg said, "Vaccine nationalism won't solve the pandemic," she argued. She's saying global problems need global solutions. So the cry of the socialist is that even if a country develops vaccines, and they had the advancement to do to, and even as they're vaccinating their country, if every other country isn't equally vaccinated at the same rate and at the same time, then she says, "I’m not even gonna go to the council on getting the vaccinations to those other countries, because I don't believe in vaccine nationalism. Global problems deserve a global solution." Now, listen, every one of us would say every person in the world deserves medical care. We all understand that. But the emphasis comes down to nationalism versus globalism in their mind, and the push – what I'm trying to say this morning – the push is towards this globalism whereby the powers of the world consent to a leader, and to a central place and person of leadership in the coming days. And so there will be a lessening of national pride. How many of you see that in our own country from time to time? A lessening of national pride. And by the way, I'm gonna address something about that at the very end, so stick with me to the very end. There will be, secondly, an increasing of centralized government. When we think about the realigning of power, there will be an increasing of centralized government. The Jerusalem Post recently wrote, "The European Union is deeply involved in Middle East politics, including sanctions against Israel. Presently the European Union is wooing members into their assembly that include terrorist states such as Syria, as recently journaled in the Jerusalem Post." Now, this is amazing to think about, when we study next week the Abrahamic Covenant, and God's view of Israel.
And the fact that the European Union is trying to bring Syria into the European Union tells us that this hatred towards Israel will grow in the last days. Years ago, I was preaching in Romania, and we finished the revival meeting, and we came back through to catch the airplane in Budapest. And I remember as we stayed overnight, Terry and I and some other preachers, we were walking that morning to get some breakfast. And I saw all these limousines came into a hotel, I mean, probably a couple dozen of 'em. All have the European Union flag. And it just caught my attention. I said, "Let's go see what this is." And so we ran in the hotel. We snuck past the security. And I got up to the third floor, this balcony, and we looked down below, in this open conference room. And sure enough, there was Mikhail Gorbachev and all of the leaders of the European Union. And I said to Terry, I said, "I wonder if the Anti-Christ is in that room right now." I was so curious about it all, y'know. How many of you understand? You would naturally think, "Wonder what they're talking about?" 'Cause there's gotta be something interesting. And so the paper said the next day, the Budapest Times, "Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev last week called for the European Union and Russia to put their differences aside to create a major European voice that would counteract the influence of the US in defining global politics." If we don't get Russia in, Europe won't have a big voice in the world, right? So there's this globalization; there's this realignment of world power. Where it settles, where the ten lines are, I do not know. But the fact is, we all see it happening in the day in which we live. A lessening of national pride; an increasing of centralized governance; and thirdly there will come a quest for global currency. And this is heavy underway, I believe, right now. We will see more about this when we preach about the Anti-Christ, but the fact of the matter is that this quest for a global currency will be a sign that we're coming closer to the final earthly kingdom of man. And we see this in Revelation 13. If it's in your notes, you can read it, or turn – Revelation 13:16 speaking again of the Anti-Christ. It says, "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark, or the name of the Beast, or the number of his name." Now, when I preach on the Rapture, you will understand that I believe in a pre-tribulational Rapture. I believe that God's people will be spared from the wrath to come, and that we'll not be a part of the Great Tribulation. However, much of the technology and the geopolitical movement, much of what's going to be taking place that brings to pass the devastation of the Tribulation, will be, in my mind, well underway even before the Rapture. And I believe one of those to be the technology that's necessitating or providing a one world currency. Sometimes people wonder, "Why is it that Christians don't wanna have some kind of an international indicator of their health or their finance or whatever?" How many of you know that's what some people think? Is if there's gonna be an international health indication, then maybe they'll just throw finance into that, and maybe they'll throw something else in that. Then let's find a convenient way that that can be taken so it's never lost. And so you'll find that people are asking, "Why are evangelical Christians hesitant about some form of global type of identity that deals with their health?" And I believe personally the reason that a person who has studied the Bible has these hesitancies is because we know what is coming, and it's not just about health. There will be a realigning of world power. It will be seen in a lessening of national pride, an increasing of global governance, and then a quest for global currency. Now, that realigning of power will ultimately lead to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's end with some great news, learning how we're gonna return with the Lord for his Kingdom. The Bible says, in Verse 34 of our text, "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron and the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." So Christ, the stone, will appear. The Beast, the Anti-Christ, he will bring about a peace treaty. They will say, "Peace and safety." The Bible says, "Then cometh sudden destruction," and we'll learn about the vials of judgement and the Great Tribulation. It will be a time of great devastation. And all of these nations will realize that they gave up a sovereignty, they gave into a power that utterly created difficulty and death for them. And the Bible says that at the very end of this time, the Lord Jesus will appear. Revelation 19, in Verse 11: "And I saw Heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written – King of kings and Lord of lords." Let's say that together.
Congregation: King of kings and Lord of lords.
King of kings and Lord of lords. Here are ten leaders. Here is the Anti-Christ. But one is coming whose name is King of kings and Lord of lords. And so we see the stone is defined as the Lord Jesus Christ. And the stone will rule. Verse number 44 says that the stone cut out of the mountains with hands, that he will break in pieces the iron. Christ will establish his Kingdom. And what a great day that will be. And the saints will rule and reign in this kingdom. Daniel 7:22 says it this way, "Until the Ancient of Days came – " By the way, how many of you would agree with me? Isn't that a beautiful name for Jesus?
Congregation: [Sounds of assent]
The Ancient of Days. "He is Eternal God. Before Abraham was, I am," Jesus said. He's the Ancient of Days. "Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most high, and the time came that the saints possessed the Kingdom." So, good news is, if you're saved, and you're one that is raptured with the church, then when Jesus comes, we're gonna be with him, and we're gonna be ruling and reigning with the Lord Jesus Christ in his Kingdom. John Wolverid, a great scholar, I believe from Dallas Seminary, wrote years ago, "The ten-toe stage is simultaneous. That is, the kingdoms existed side by side and were destroyed by one sudden catastrophic blow." And then he said this, "Nothing like this has ever happened in world history," and that is true. It will only happen at the coming of Jesus Christ. David Jeremiah says he tells us that this final form of the Roman Empire will be on the earth when God sets up his earthly Kingdom. So these ten toes or ten horns, these ten kings that give their strength to the Anti-Christ? That revived Roman Empire will be on this earth when Jesus Christ comes again. And he will crush them, certainly, at the battle of Armageddon, but there will be a devastation of those kingdoms that will align in the end. Now, as we close this morning, 250 years ago there was a song written by Isaac Watts. And it was based on Psalm 98; you might wanna read that this week, Psalm 98. And it was speaking of the Second Coming. And I don't wanna burst your bubble, but this song I'm about ready to read has nothing to do with Christmas! At least in Isaac Watts' initial writing. And this is what he wrote. Some of you know the words. "Joy to the – " what?
Congregation: World
Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive – what?
Congregation: Her King.
" – her King." Isn't that great? That's what Isaac Watts had on his mind when he wrote that song. Joy to the world. This tribulation, this devastation, this Anti-Christ who required the mark, who killed the faithful – this Anti-Christ is utterly destroyed. Joy to the world! The Lord is come! Oh, what a great day that will be. "Let every heart prepare him room, and Heaven and nature sing. No more let sin and sorrows grow. No thorns infest the ground. He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness, and the wonders of his love." That's the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Now, let me close with this. And some of you are Sunday school teachers, and there's new Christians in the room, and you're gonna talk to some, perhaps, who wonder about, "Well, what is all this nationalism? And aren't some of these weirdos nationalists?" and this and that. And "I hear some of these people taking this to an extreme." So let me put that into some context as I close. Let me say first of all, I love America.
Congregation: Amen.
I believe for the purpose of missions and preaching, and for the purpose of getting the gospel out, I believe in a strong America. I really do. I love our country. We fly our flag. We have difficulty when we see people disrespect the flag. To that extent, I am a patriot. And I'm speaking about me personally. How many believe a paster gets a personal life?
Congregation: Amen.
So I'm just telling you a little bit about your pastor. I'm a conservative, nationalistic, patriotic person, that's who I am. That's how I was raised. That's how my granddad was, my parents and so forth. That's kinda where it came from. And I believe that globalism, as we've discussed, will lead to a hindrance and limiting of the Gospel. The globalistic mindset, three pandemics from now, could be, "Y'know, we just can't do church anymore." That could become a globalistic mindset. So the more and more power that becomes centralized, there could be edicts made that literally hinder people, like right now, going to certain countries and being missionaries. It's almost impossible already in some places. So globalism is going to lead away, in my opinion, from great movements in the sense of, there will still be people saved up until the coming of Christ, but the indication is that there will be a demonic growth of spiritualism in the last days, and a Laodicean or weakened church, not a revivalistic church. And I pray for one more revival before Jesus comes. That's who I am. That's what I believe. So I love our country. There's things about it that frustrate me. There's things about our current president that frustrate me to no end, and things related to, for example life. I believe in the freedom of an unborn child to be born.
Congregation: _____.
I believe that life begins in the mother's womb. I'm frustrated yesterday that President Trump, in the speech he gave, incessantly used curse words towards other political leaders, including Mitch McConnell. I'm more of a Reagan person that way. The 11th commandment of Reagan was, "Thou shalt not criticize a member of thy own party." So I get frustrated at men on both sides of the aisle, and that's okay. Because my hope is not found in nationalism. It's not found in a political party. Come on, now. Some of you need to help me, here.
Congregation: [Sounds of assent]
That's not where my ultimate hope is. That's where I'm going with this, so stay with me. Because as much as we have national pride, there is a kingdom that deserves our greater loyalty.
Congregation: [Sounds of assent]
Because if you only wanna have national pride, one day there's gonna be 49 states that are leaning globally, and one that's holding on, and I suppose we'll all have to move there if national pride is more important than serving Jesus Christ. But somewhere along the line, like the people in China who are under the repression of Communism, who are still worshiping God in spite of potentially being in prison, there's got to be some people who say, "I love America, but there's a kingdom that I love more."
Congregation: Amen.
Is everybody with me?
Congregation: [Sounds of assent]
Okay. Turn in your Bibles to one more verse, and we'll be done. Colossians 1:13. Colossians 1:13. Last verse, we'll be done. Notice what it says. And there are many passages – As I said, we're giving a 30,000 foot view here today. But let me just close with this one on the subject of the Kingdom of the Lord. Speaking of Jesus, it says, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the – " what?
Congregation: Kingdom.
" – Kingdom." I am a part of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. I am a citizen of Heaven. Jesus is my King. This world is not my home. I am just a passing through. My first loyalty is not to a party, not to a nation. My loyalty is to my King, and my King is Jesus Christ.
Congregation: [Sounds of assent]
And if we are called to worship, and you hear that something else is going on two years from now, and everyone's saying, "Stay home and hunker down," and if you hear, "Hey, Pastor Chappell's preaching," it will not have much to do with a loyalty to a party or to a nation. It will have everything to do with my loyalty to my King, Jesus Christ.
Congregation: Amen.
Of whom the apostles said, "We ought to obey God rather than men.
Congregation: Right.
And notice Verse 14, speaking of Jesus. "In whom we have redemption through his blood." What does it way?
Congregation: ______.
I might mention this in a few weeks, and if I do in an upcoming sermon, I want you to say amen then, okay? Before I tell you what I'm gonna tell you, I want that agreement. If I say what I say in a minute, in two weeks, you still have to say amen, two weeks from right now.
Congregation: [Sounds of assent]
Okay. 'Cause I thought of this this week. I might say it more than once. Have you gotten tickled when they say, "The Pfizer vaccine is 94 percent. And the Johnson & Johnson is 97 percent cure rate"? Can I tell you something? The blood of Jesus Christ is one hundred percent.
Congregation: [Sounds of assent]
That's why he deserves my ultimate loyalty. My coming King, Jesus Christ, one hundred percent has redeemed me. And if you're here this morning and you do not know that you are ready to see Jesus Christ again; you don't know that you're saved; you don't know that your signs are forgiven; then there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. That blood can cover your sin if you would just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and keep your trust in Jesus Christ. Put your faith in him today. And Christian Friend, oh, you may get discouraged as you see the globalism, the liberalism, the knocking of our country, all these things I preached about. But lift up your heads! Your redemption draweth nigh! And his name is Jesus Christ.
Congregation: Amen.
[End of Audio]
