WORLD OF THE UNGODLY.
We turn now to Daniel's panoramic prophecy in chapter 2 of his vision. King Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream that he couldn't recall. He called in all of his magicians and astrologers and sorcerers and Chaldeans, demanding that they tell him his dream and the interpretation on bane of death if they should fail. Of course they were powerless to come up with the answer. They begged for the King to be more reasonable but he would not change his decree that they should all die Word, in the meantime reached Daniel's ears and he begged audience with the king, and it was granted. He begged a stay of execution, and said there was a God in heaven that could reveal secrets. And he and his three friends, Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego went to prayer. And God revealed the dream to Daniel and its interpretation. Daniel said that in the King's dream he saw a great metallic man with a head of gold (representing the Babylonian Empire), and breast of silver (representing the Medo-Persian Empire) and the mid-section of brass, (representing the Grecian Empire) and hips and legs of iron (representing the Roman Empire) and the feet, a mixture of iron and clay.
Then Daniel saw a stone cut out of the mountain without hands and it smote the image upon the feet, brake them to pieces and the whole image came crashing down, and turned into power and the wind took it away.
Then the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. So, Daniel gave the king the interpretation of the dream. He said King Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold. After him would arise another kingdom, inferior, represented by the silver breast. And then a third kingdom of brass which should conquer the world. That was to be followed by a fourth kingdom as strong as iron. This iron kingdom would be divided into two legs of the great image. Finally, the feet of iron and clay, and the ten toes. And in the days of the ten kings, represented by the ten toes, the God of heaven would set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed. The king was thunderstruck and fell from his throne onto his face. He worshipped the God of heaven and made Daniel the prime minister of the kingdom.
In the first division of this message we followed the Jewish people as they journeyed across the centuries from the time of Christ to His return to this world to catch away His bride and make ready to set up His kingdom in the world.
Now, we are about to watch the wicked, secular, Gentile caravan, travel from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to the 2nd coming of Christ. This Gentile period covers approximately 2,500 years.
The four World Empires succeeded each other through this period of time. Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman. The first was the Babylonian period (Dan. 2:38): "Thou, O king art the head of gold." The second, the Medo-Persian (Dan. 5:30-31). This was the night Bel Shazzar was slain and the kingdom fell into the hands of Darias the Mede. The third kingdom, (Grecian) (Dan. 8:20-21). The ram herein described having two horns represent the kings of Medo and Persia, and the rough goat was the King of Grecia. The fourth kingdom was Roman (Daniel 9:26). This refers to the General that was to destroy the city of Jerusalem and the temple. And history tells us that the Roman legions under Titus destroyed the city in 70 A.D.
The Babylonian Empire lasted 68 years (606 B.C. to 538 B.C.). It was conquered by the Medes and the Persians and the head of gold passed away. The Medo-Persian Empire lasted 208 years (538 B.C. to 330 B.C.). This kingdom was conquered by the Greeks under the leadership of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was first a great general. Then he was a great flop. He conquered the world and couldn't conquer himself. He died an alcoholic at the age of 33 years, and the Grecian world empire lasted only 8 years (538-530 B.C.), and it passed into history. Finally came the iron hips and legs of the Roman empire. Rome became universal in 30 B.C. In 304 A.D. the Roman Empire was rent into Eastern and Western Rome, symbolized by the two legs of the metallic man.
Today we are down in the feet of the image (iron and clay -- strength and weakness mingled together). Actually, history has already moved out into the toes with the recent completion of the ten nation confederacy -- the European Common Market. We are now standing on the "cuticle" of the roots of the toenail of the Great image.
The next move is for the stone to be cut out of the Mountain and smite the image and the entire world system, as we have known it, will collapse. This Rock (Christ) which shall utterly destroy the world's system and grind it to powder, will set up His Kingdom which shall last forever. "whosoever shall fall upon this stone (Christ) shall be broken (because a broken and contrite heart is softened by repentance.) but on whosoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." If you, my friend are still hooked on the sins of this world, and are neglecting to turn your life over to Christ in unconditional surrender, when this world's system collapses, you will collapse with it, and will be cast into hell forever.
Christ's frown will fall upon you one day if you continue to reject Him. His curse will fall upon you also when He shall say, "Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matt. 25:41).
We have been drifting for 2,500 years from gold to silver; from silver to brass; from brass to iron, and from iron to a combination of strength and weakness in symbol of iron and clay. We have developed more power in the world than the world ever thought of and we are the weakest. The lead nations have stockpiled enough nuclear missiles to kill every man, woman and child in the world twelve times, and they are still stockpiling more. We wonder how many more they think they are going to need. Strength and weakness -- iron and clay! We have developed power enough to put men on the moon and bring them back, and send vehicles to Venus, but when little Castro barks, we cower like a whipped dog. Iron and clay!
III. NOW WE TURN TO THE THIRD SET OF TRAVELERS. WENDING THEIR RELENTLESS JOURNEY ACROSS THE SPAN OF TIME --THE NOMINAL WORLDLY CHURCH SYSTEM.
Christ gave us a clear picture of this caravan traveling from the time of His ascension and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost to His second coming, in the 2nd and third chapters of Revelation. The great Apostle of Patmos received the message and recorded it for us in the Book of Revelation, called the Apocalypse.
It is obvious that these seven churches of Asia, pictured here represent seven distinct periods of time from the day of Pentecost to the Second coming of Christ.
First is the Ephesian period (Rev. 2:1-7). This describes the spiritual state of the church of the first century, from the Day of Pentecost to the death of St. John. It was a period of warm love cooling off.
Second came the Smyrna period (Rev. 2:8-11). This extended from the year 100 to 312 -- from the death of St. John to the reign of Constantine.
Third came the Pergamus period (Rev. 2:12-17). This period extended from the reign of Constantine to the reign of Boniface the third -- from 312 to 606 A.D. This period represents the church married to the world. Pergamus means "Married."
Next came the Thyatira period (Rev. 2:18-29). This represents the church of the dark ages from Boniface the third to Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. This went from 606 A.D. to 1671. This was the period when so many heathen' practices crept into the church such as baptismal regeneration, justification by works, image worship, Mariolatry, the confessional, Purgatory, indulgences and priestcraft. It was a period of heathenizing the church, when heathen doctrines crept in that wrecked the faith, damned millions and populated hell.
Then came the Sardis period (Rev. 3:1-6). This extended from 1517 to 1738. It spanned the 16th and 17th century, from Martin Luther and the Reformation to John Wesley and the modern evangelistic movement. It was more of a reformation than a revival, but it was certainly a step in the right direction -- a step toward spiritual recovery.
Period number six is called the Philadelphia period (Rev. 3:7-13). That covered the 18th and 19th century. That was the revival period and it started off with Second Blessing Holiness as its battle cry.
They had a little strength. They were like a dead corpse coming back to life. This movement started under the ministry of George Whitefield and the Wesleys in 1739. These revival were followed by Finney and Moody until they swept great areas of the world. When Wesley was shut out of the churches be preached under the open sky. He stood on his father's tombstone and preached till the sun went down and turned the grave yard into a mourners' bench. God saved Charles G. Finney, filled him with the Holy Ghost and he left the law business and started holding revivals. Mr. Finney preached in a school house and said if he had had a sword in either hand he couldn't have cut the people off the seats onto the floor as fast as they fell under the power of God. Mr. Finney had Holy Ghost revivals. In six weeks in Rochester, N.Y. 100,000 souls found God. That is one tenth of a million in a month and a half. They say that every saloon in Rochester was closed and bartenders were praying through. They didn't merely shake the preacher's hand and sign a card. They used the mourners' bench and their converts stuck. It is said of D.L. Moody that he reduced the population of hell by a million souls. We talk about revivals, but they had them. They lived during the great revival period of Church history called the Philadelphia period.
Seventh is the Laodicean period (Rev 3:14-22). This is a period characterized by works. Work!
work! work! Most of the Christian churches have pushed the Holy Ghost out and they have taken
over His work. Multitudes are working themselves into the grave and 95% of it isn't worth a hill of frost-bitten beans when it comes to getting people out of sin and getting sin out of them.
The Philadelphia period is gone. If God should look for intercessors that know how to travail, where would He find them? This is the lukewarm period. The church is neither ice cold or red hot -- neither entirely heathen or genuinely Christian. Neither led away with false doctrines, nor thoroughly addicted to that which is true.
God said our lukewarmness makes Him sick. Most of the stuff passed off in the holiness movement today is sickening. Think of the worldliness among us and the powerlessness, and the pride and lust and contentions and strivings and feudings. It was the holiness people God was talking about when He said it made Him sick. He was not talking about the boozers and junkies and harlots out there in the world. They boasted, "We are rich and increased in goods, and have need of no thing." We are swamped with materialism. We have so many things to cool us off and bogg us down.
It takes so much of our time and money to live high that we don't have time and money for anything else. But God said of us, "And knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." That is the condition most of us holiness people are in -- blind and don't know it. God said we lost our pure, white robes of righteousness.
The church has been drifting since Pentecost. She has come through seven periods of time. We are now down to the close of the last one right now. We all have had plenty of warnings and we have no excuse for our deadness. The Fig Tree has budded and Christ is at the door. God warned us of the coming of the Laodicean condition in the powerless, worldly, materialistic church of the last days, and we are there right now.
Christ faced this last church period with the story of the ten virgins. They all slumbered and slept.
"And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all of those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out . . . and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage:
and the door was shut. (Matt. 25:1-13).
IV. THE FOURTH CARAVAN TRAVELING ACROSS THE PAGES OF TIME IS GOD'S