Joseph Prince - Move From Predicament To Promotion
Let's all stand to our feet. Let's continue worshiping the Lord. You know, when you worship the Lord, you are fulfilling the very calling that God has for you. The Father seeketh such to worship him. You know, people talk about seeking God, but Jesus says the Father seeketh such to worship him, to worship him in spirit and in truth.
We worship you, Lord, tonight. We are gathered in the name of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Unto him shall the gathering of the people be and just for now, just forget your needs, forget your wants, forget your own troubles or trials that you're going through right now and just focus on the Lord. See how wonderful this Savior is. He loves you with a love that is so powerful, undying love that he left heaven's glory, came down to die for you. And today, he lives risen from the dead to watch over you, to be your high priest. There is he is at the Father's right hand. We worship you, Lord Jesus, highly exalted and glorified.
♪ Oh Lord ♪
♪ Do your wonder, Lord ♪
♪ Do your wonders now ♪
♪ Oh Lord ♪
♪ Do your wonders, Lord ♪
♪ Oh God. ♪
Look to the Lord, people. He's healing right now, he's healing the things which are impossible with men. The doctors might tell you, "This is an impossible case. You have to live with this for the rest of your life," or they might have told you that this can only get worse and worse as you grow older. The things which are impossible with man are possible with your God. With God, nothing shall be impossible. With God, nothing shall be impossible. Look to him alone right now. Look to him, amen. A neck condition that goes all the way to your shoulder, whoever that person is and you have a problem lifting your hand all the way up, lift your hand right now in Jesus's name and see what the Lord has done. Lift your hand in Jesus's name if you know the pain is gone. Don't doubt for one minute, the things which are impossible with man are possible through your God. If that you is, do a big wave. The one with the back condition, you bend your back, you have searched for the enemy, you can't find his place anymore, do a big wave. Do a big wave all across this place. The pain is gone, the pain is gone, hallelujah. Sister, what happened over here?
Female: All along I had these back pains over here stretching from the neck to think shoulder blade and miracle's happened. I can wave.
Joseph Prince: You can't do that before?
Female: Yeah, it was always very tense.
Joseph Prince: Now you can do this?
Female: Yes.
Joseph Prince: And all the way move your neck? No more pain?
Female: No more pain.
Joseph Prince: Give Jesus the praise. Now, put your hand on your wherever you have an affliction if you can. If not, just put your hand on your heart, okay. If you can, put your hand directly on that affliction. Remember this, none of us here is a healer, amen, but we know the one who is and I know that he's here right now and he's loving on you. He's just loving you tonight. I feel his power, his anointing. Thank you, Lord. It's the anointing that destroys the yoke. Doesn't just break, it destroys the yoke. It puts it to nothing. Now, whatever your affliction is, remember this, the things of God, it frustrates man because man wants things to be big, grand. You know, they want things to be hard. They want to earn it, So when the prophet told the leper Naaman, the general of the Syrian army, to go dip himself in the River Jordan, he refused at first, why? Because the River Jordan is so simple, it is too simple.
So, many of you, you don't receive, not because there is sin in your life or because God is not hearing your prayer. You are complicating things. A simple prayer, a simple act of faith will heal you. That's the reason I'm speaking by the Spirit right now. That's the right why it's okay to exercise. It's okay to have good diet, observe good diet, but if you trust in these things too much, you read up on them too much instead of spending time in the Word, your trust is in them and that's why you're always frustrated in the area of your health. You are frustrating the grace God. The things of God are simple, but powerful. Put your trust the Lord said, "Lord, I trust you for health". Now, in the name of Jesus, I come against that affliction in your body. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and I command it right now, be plucked up out of the body in the name of Jesus and be planted into sea. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen, amen.
One more time, if you know pain has left your body, whatever, all right, you feel right now that is not the same as it was before when you came, you know the pain is gone, the condition is no more there, do a big wave so that everyone can see it. Give glory to God. Look around. Now it's time to look around. Look around you. Look at all these precious hands. Look at the second tier of the people there, up there all those in the overflow, we have cameras on you. If you know the Lord has set you free, he has healed you, do a big wave. Those in the overflow, do a big wave. Look at all those precious people, amen? Praise God, praise God. Look at all you see, you can be in the overflow and God will still touch you. You can be hearing this message again and God can still touch you because God is not bound by time and space. Even you watch this in future, he's not bound by time that this message will be in the past. No, God transcends all that, amen? Praise the Lord.
Do you know you are stronger now, healthier now, younger now, more dynamic now, then you were before you came? Aren't you glad you came for Encounter Night, amen? Praise the Lord, amen. Look, even Pastor Mark, looks good. Look at pastor, even Pastor Mark looks good, amen? Praise the Lord, you can be seated. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Are you ready for God's Word? If you're not, I am. Praise the Lord. We want to give you also the Word of God every time you come to Encounter Night, if we can, we want to give you that rhema Word that God has for you and I.
Actually, I was a bit hesitant to preach this message tonight because I feel like, you know, people, they want things that speak to where they are in the present, whether they're needs or whatever, but how many know that God does not fill up pages in the Bible with words that has no purpose? And do you know that a great part of the Bible, I said a great part, not a small part, a great part of the Bible is Bible prophecy. Did you know that? Why do we study Bible prophecy? And there are modern-day Christians, many of them, they're not studying Bible prophecy and as a result, the Bible tells us that when you don't have this hope in him coming, amen, for you, there won't be that hope that purifies because everyone that has this hope of his coming, purifies himself. Another thing is that it helps you be stable in a world that is increasingly becoming more and more confused and mixed up, a world that is looking for answers and they find no answers. They find none. It will make you stable, solid.
Wisdom, the Bible says, will be the stability of your times. It will be the stability of your times, do you hear that? Wisdom is the stability of your times. Want to be like children of Issachar who knows with understanding of the times and the seasons we live in. In other words, we need to study Bible prophecy because it stabilizes us. It strengthens us. It gives us not, only the people of the world know the what of the news that's happening all over the world, but we know the why. Can I have a good amen? And that gives you an edge, amen? And when you study Bible prophecy, some people say, "Well, you know it will all pan out. Things will just work out". So, they neglect Bible prophecy and you look at them, they don't live powerful lives. They live overcoming lives because there's a reason why almost in every page of the New Testament there's a mention of the coming of the Lord. So, we need to study Bible prophecy. Can I have a good amen?
Now, Jesus assumed the Jewish people of his day, they understood Bible prophecy and he could speak freely with them. But today, many Christians, even fundamental Christians, you know, those who believe the Bible is inspired and all that, they're not studying Bible prophecy when actually, a great part of the Bible is prophecy. Many of it have come to pass but a lot more, even when entire book of Revelation has yet to happen. We know that there are new teachings coming up, and some of them claim to be people of grace. They will say that, you know, everything has all been fulfilled in the Book of Revelation. How they got that, I really do not know. They over spiritualize everything and usually people believe that also believe that there's no place for Israel. They believe in the replacement theology; but let me tell you this, they have not read Romans 9 and Romans 11 in detail. They have not meditated on that because Israel will always be here.
How can a nation, minority race, they have won more Nobel Prize than any other race combined? Why is it today they are still the number-one startup nation, besides America and all that, in terms of per capita, they're the number-one startup nation per capita. Why is it that there are ideas coming up, I mean ideas like on your way here maybe you check your Ways, right, to check for traffic jams and all that. It's an invention from an Israeli guy and even those who are not in Israel who are Jews, they are given this. For example, just the other day I was telling someone that I could have had the idea for Facebook. Imagine y'all work for me. In fact, we can employ the entire bunch of you and all those in the overflow as well, right? It's a simple ideas, right? Am I right? It's a simple idea. And yet it was given to a Zuckerberg.
Now, the amazing thing is that we have the same covenant, many of them, they don't see God the way we know him. They know him as a historical God, but in a way I talked to one the other day and, you know, it's very interesting. I looked at him and I told him about how... I didn't say it was my birthday on the 15th of May, but they celebrated their independence on 15th of May, right, last week? And do you know that it's the 70th year from 1948, right? Why is that important? Because 70 was the number of years that God said there'll be in captivity in Babylon. After that, they'll be released and they'll go back to their land, and that happened in the prophecy of Jeremiah. Jeremiah prophesied long before they went into captivity that they'll only be in captivity for 70 years. So, in a spiritual Babylon right now of all the times, Israel, I mean, you have America putting its embassy in Jerusalem, amen?
But there is something that we need to know about Bible prophecy in order for us to take the next step with the Lord in the things that God has for us. God does not put a premium on ignorance, especially Bible ignorance, amen? Can I have a good amen? Are you ready to receive a very important teaching, the ABCs of Bible prophecy tonight? What's gonna happen to you? You'll be stable, amen, and the Lord, in fact, there are a lot of moral truths that we can learn even from Bible prophecy like the case we have tonight. Are you ready? I'm so excited. I want to go right into it. This chapter is the ABC of Bible prophecy because Jesus said in Luke 21, look up here, Jesus says, "And the Jewish people, will fall by the edge of the sword," and that happened in AD 70. Jesus prophesied this before it happened and Jesus says, "They'll fall by the edge of the sword," and that's exactly what happened. The Romans came in through emperor - soon-to-be emperor. He wasn't an emperor yet. General Titus, who was the son of the emperor, later on he became the emperor of Rome. General Titus laid a siege and finally attached - the Romans attacked Jerusalem, killed the people and Jesus says, "There'll be led away captive into all nations".
So, from then unto now, you'll find Jewish people all over the world. It was since then A.D. 70. They never became a nation until 1948. They came back as a nation and then we know that even they came back in 1948, Jerusalem wasn't theirs. It was only theirs when there was a war called the Six-Day War in 1967 which is exactly 50 years from 1917 when General Allenby entered Jerusalem and invited the Jews from all over the world, especially from Europe to come back. Had they listened to that, had they come back, there won't be a Holocaust for them in Europe. So, everything is working, so 50 years from 1917 is 1967 and in an unparalleled war battle that took place seven days or six days. And on the seven day, the city was theirs. The only parallel we have is Joshua and the walls of Jericho. Six days they surrounded the walls of Jericho, on the seventh, it was theirs. So, God was repeating history. Can y'all see that?
So, Jesus is talking about that. He's referring to that. He says, "And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until". So, from A.D. 70 until 1948 or 1967 rather because 1948, Jerusalem still wasn't theirs. They came back as a nation, but Jerusalem was in the hands of the Jordanians. But in 1967, they took Jerusalem and you can see pictures, even on YouTube and all that of them approaching the Western Wall weeping, soldiers weeping because this is their dream. And Jesus said, "Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles," or non Jews, "until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled". Tonight I want to share with you the Bible prophecy, the ABCs of Bible prophecy in terms of the times of the Gentiles. If you understand this, you understand the events of the world, you understand where the focus is gonna be, you know what to prepare for because wisdom will be the stability of your times. Say, "Times of the Gentiles". What are the Gentiles? Gentiles are non Jews. Say, "Non Jews".
So, Jesus talked about the times of the Gentiles as if the disciples understood it, and they did. He talked about the time of the Gentiles expecting us to understand it, and we should. So right now, I'm gonna share with you about the times of the Gentiles. Many years before the time of Christ, going back to the 70 years of captivity in Babylon, what happened was that Israel, before their captivity, before King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to take them into captivity, God warned them again and again. God sent prophet after prophet rising early, warning them, telling them, "Do not rebel against him. Do not worship idols. Do not worship, you know, the works of their hands". God says very clearly because he's their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God said it very clearly, all right, to them.
Now, when they did, when they forsook the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that means they stopped offering sacrifices. When they worshiped other gods, they stopped offering sacrifices and the sacrifice is a picture of Jesus Christ, am I right? Which means there's nothing to cover their sins anymore, and God warned them not to do it time and time again. And many of the prophets, they were killed until finally Nebuchadnezzar came in. And the Bible says God raised Nebuchadnezzar. Now, whether you understand that clearly or not, in other words, God's dream for Israel was that they should rule from Jerusalem, they should rule and be the dominant power showing the entire earth the laws of God, the commandments of God, the standards of God, God's nature, God's style of doing things, the tabernacle, not only for Israel, but for the whole world. Israel is supposed to be a priesthood. God wanted them to be a priesthood, a lighthouse, if you would, but they failed. They rejected the call so God says, "From now on, the power will go to the Gentiles".
So, God's dream for them was that they should be the power. So, even the time of David and Solomon especially we see glimpses that God wanted them to be the kingdom, there'll be an example to all our kingdoms. In other words, "See what I can do with the people, with the country that follows my commandments, people that follow me, people that hear my Word, people that have me as their God". Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Look at them, they are bumper crops, their children are blessed, amen. Everything they touch prospers. The enemies come against them one way, flee before them more confused seven ways. God wanted to provoke other nations to jealousy so that they will see the true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, Israel is supposed to be a lighthouse, but Israel failed and God warned them.
So, God says, "Now the kingdom is transferred," so in that sense, God raised King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to be the first empire to fulfill the times of the Gentiles. So, Babylon came in, all right, King Nebuchadnezzar came in, took the Jewish people captive, and amongst them is Daniel and his three friends, Mishael, Azariah, Hananiah. And they followed him. Later on, their name became Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, okay? So, they were about 15 years old. Daniel was 15 years old with his friends when they were taken captive and the Bible says in a short time, he refused to compromise with the Babylonian system, refused to eat their food offered to their gods. They want to remain true to their God, amen? And in a short time, they looked better man the people of the world.
The Bible says they looked better looking. You can find that in Daniel chapter 1. Not only that, they were ten times smarter than the children of Babylon, that's in the Bible. So, they were recruited as, even as teenagers, they were recruited as the wise men of Babylon. Are you with me so far? And then one day here's where the story happens, and I need to read to you the entire account because I want this to be clearly from God's Word into your heart. Are you ready? And as you read, you will learn about the mysteries in your life that you have no answer for and how to get the answers. You will learn how to tap into God's wisdom. There are things that you cannot answer, "Why is my wife having this condition? Why is my loved one having that condition? Why is this thing happening to my business? Why is that happening to my ministry"? You ask the Lord, only God has the answer.
So, only the Lord have the answer for your condition right now, only the Lord. For someone he says, "Stop drinking milk because your body is adverse to milk," you know? He may tell you that but don't stand up and say from now on, people shall not drink milk, they should drink teh tarik. After this, bro, amen? You cannot make one answer fit all and man does not have the answer to let's follow the story. Because of time, I want to read to you the entire story. Follow me, imagine. As you read the Bible, please don't leave your imagination at home. I hope you brought it with you. I mean, you watch avengers and all that, you imagine all those things on the screen, right, or they imagine for you, but you're still using your imagination to enjoy the show. Don't imagine you you know, if you think the whole thing is "Ah, it's all false, man, it's always fiction man, it's all" You cannot enjoy, right? But this one is real. I said, it's real. It really happened. Are you with me so far?
Okay, so this happened in the third year which means Daniel was about 17 years old, very interesting. Joseph, when he was 17, he was chosen by God, amen, to fulfill a call that no one else can. Tonight you're gonna see some teenagers from that age able to tap into the wisdom God so let's follow the story right now. Chapter 1, chapter 2 of Daniel, verse 1, "Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign," which means he was 15, so he's about 17 years old now, Daniel and his three friends. "King Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, 'I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.' Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, 'O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation".
Now, they forgot, one thing about King Nebuchadnezzar, even from history, you know he's a very cruel man, very harsh man, but we thank God. I'll give you some of the good parts right now, okay? He got saved, but he's a very crafty king, very smart king. So, the astrologers, magicians and all that say, "Tell us your dream, we'll give you the interpretation". He knows, "If I give you the dream, you can say anyhow but the interpretation. So, how will I know what you have is genuine? You must tell me the dream I dreamed, then I know you have the interpretation," right? That's what he says.
All right, "The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, 'My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces," that's interesting, "and your houses shall be made an ash heap". I like the Old King James it says, "Dung hill". "However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation," not just the interpretation, but the dream, must tell me the dream first, what I dreamt. "'And its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.' They answered again and said, 'Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.' The king answered and said, 'I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.' The Chaldeans," or Babylonians, "answered the king, and said, 'There is not a man on earth," and they are right, "who can tell the king's matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.' For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon".
Don't forget, Daniel and his three friends are also among the wise men at this time. For some reason, why were not invited, maybe because they were foreigners and they didn't have the honor and the position yet. "So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch". Notice, with counsel and wisdom, 17 years old, 17 years old. He knows how to answer with counsel and wisdom. You're never too young to tap into God's wisdom and you're not too old for it, amen? In fact, when you're older, you should be more experienced, isn't it? But experience is no guarantee of wisdom. Wisdom comes from the Lord. Doesn't say, "Experience giveth wisdom," it says, "The Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding". "So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. He answered with councel and wisdom, 'Why is the decree from the king so urgent?' Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel.
So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation". Time for what? Prayer, okay? "Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven," okay? This is the first part of the story. Are you with me so far? "Daniel answered and said: 'Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His.'" Now, you would have thought that the first thing he did was to rush with the answer because he and his friends are supposed to be killed the next day, right? If it's you and I, we'll rush, right, bring me to the king straightaway. He has time to thank the Lord. He has time to give praise, okay?
"Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, Daniel answered For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings," that God removes. You are removed. God controls the affairs of man. "He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. 'I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king's demand.' Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: 'Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.' Then Arioch quickly" Quickly tells me that he's not keen to kill people also, all right?
"Brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, 'I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.' The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, 'Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?' Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said," watch this answer, "The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets". I feel like preaching right now, but whatever your needs are, there is a God in heaven who will reveal to you the secret, the answer to your need, all right? "And he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days".
Just let you know latter days last till now, that's why you need to listen. It's not just a vision of the past, a dream of the past, it lasts until now and the future that we have not yet seen. You will understand what is happening today in Europe. "Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed were these". Here comes the dream. "As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be". I like the Old King James it says, "God has made known to you what shall be hereafter". Say, "hereafter". Only God can tell you what will happen hereafter. Can I have a good amen? "But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living". You see, he knows how to give the glory to God. "It's not because I'm wiser than anyone living," he says, "but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart. 'You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze.
I think I'll show you the image right now, the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had, okay? First of all, let's see the top from the head to the feet. This was the dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had, okay? Now, this is what Daniel saw. And Daniel says, "Its head was of fine gold". See, the head, the picture of the head of fine gold? The head of fine gold. Then he says, "Its chest its breast and arms of silver". We see that, breast and arms of silver. Then he says, "Its belly and thighs of bronze," okay? Any illusion to Pastor Lawrence is just purely coincidental, okay, in all these things. "His belly and thighs are bronze or brass. Then, its legs of iron". Its legs of iron. We go all the way to the two feet with the ten toes. Watch this, "Its feet partly of iron and partly of clay". Just let you know, okay, we are living in the days of feet. I'll come to that. Its feet partly of iron and partly of clay, next.
Okay, let's go on reading. "You watched" He told the king, "You watched in your dream while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces". Just let you know, this is our Lord Jesus the stone, the stone that became the head of the corner, okay? Go on, "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors". Remember this, he saw this entire image standing there. All right, show them the entire imagine again standing. Okay, then a stone came and crushed its feet, smashed its feet, bringing down the entire gold, silver, bronze, and it will all be broken into pieces. And then go, back to the verse again, "The wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found". Then a wind came and just took them all away like powder, no trace of them was found. "And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth". The kingdom of Christ will finally be established on earth and it's an everlasting kingdom, okay? Now, sit back, relax. Are you ready to watch the video? Okay, watch.
And the stone became a great mountain. Mountains in the Bible is always kingdoms or a huge obstacle, depending on the context. So, finally the kingdom of Christ will be established on the earth, okay? Now, watch this, let's go down, "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory". Just let you know that he's the only one that God directly gave power to among all the kings, the heathen kings, okay? The rest are actually just successive empires but none of them that followed, as the Bible said that God gave him, the king, this power. So, this is directly from the Lord. "And wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all, you are this head of gold".
Have you noticed that the phrase "King of kings," some of you are jealous about that because it's a phrase used for our Lord, Jesus, right, amen? But it's because the power for Nebuchadnezzar to reign came from God directly so at that time, he's the greatest of all kings on the earth. There are other kings on the earth, but Babylon became the greatest empire because God meant it to be so. See, God governs in the affairs of man and in case you are still jealous over Jesus's role, I'm glad for that. We all want Jesus to have the preeminence. In all things, he must have the preeminence. I was looking at this one day and I noticed that God gave him dominion, all right, over the beasts of the field wherever the children of man dwelt, that's the land.
The beast of the field that's the land, and the birds of the heaven, that's the sky, right, the air, but nothing over the sea, right? Always the air, the land, and the sea. "Join the Air Force, join the Army, join the Navy". The air, the land, and the sea. But notice the sea is missing here, you know why? Because a humble carpenter would pass by the Sea of Galilee and he will say, "Cast a hook inside and the first fish that you pick up, look into the mouth. Pay the temple tax for you and me". He could walk on the storm, walk on the sea when it was stormy. No other king has this privilege, amen. I love it when we talk about Jesus. There's such an anointing, I love it. Above everyone else, above every king that ever lives, he has the preeminence. Can I have a good amen? Okay, so, "He has given them into your hand and God has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold".
So, who's the head of gold? The Babylonian empire. "You are this head of gold," okay. Verse 39, "but after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth". So, there'll be four kingdoms altogether. Here it says, "The fourth shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed," the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and you and I have a part. "And the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold". I'm reminded right now that when Christ was born, he was a stone cut out without human hands. He had no earthly father. He was planted in the womb by the Holy Spirit. He came, removed his royal regalia, amen, he is God but he became man. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He's a stone cut out without human hands, amen.
And then he also said, "Whoever this stone will fall on, will crush him to powder". Do you know he said that in the gospels? Whoever the stone falls on will crush him to powder. And these are his enemies and he's alluding to Daniel's prophecy, amen? If you refuse to flow with him, he'll come again and this time he'll come to be the conqueror, to take his rightful place. Are you with me so far, okay? We're about to expound it even more. Okay, it says that "The great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure. Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The king answered Daniel, and said, 'Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.' Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon". And the last verse of the chapter, "Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego," whose previous names in Hebrew were Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, "over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate," or in the Aramaic, it's the courts, "of the king.
Look up here. Now I'm gonna tell you the story, very easy to write down notes. Okay, I'll give you an alliteration. The fourth piece, the first one, the predicament, or you can put panic, of the wise men. We'll talk about that problem that you see in the world today. The world claims to be wise, intelligent, learned, and yet they don't have the answers for life. Many of them are still confused. Many of them, they need answers. They are in the dark when it comes to how to live the abundant life, how to have a successful family, how to live life in such a way that's moral excellence, without being bound by the corruption and the addictions of the world, how to live life that Jesus calls the abundant life. They have no idea. They can be very smart. They can have PhDs, and thank God for those who have it.
I'm not saying you cannot have the wisdom of God, but above all things, you must have the wisdom of God. All right, the first one is the predicament of the wise men. Number two is the prayer of another wise man, Daniel and his three friends. And then we'll look at the program of the eternal God. Are you ready for that? And then the promotion of God, the promotion of the man of God, okay. Daniel and his friends were promoted.
Now, in life, you find that all these principles is still true for us today. The world does not have the answer. Do you know that the Bible says that the world by wisdom does not know God? They claim, all right, the more they know, then they will know the true light, but the light of the world is just natural light. You know in the tabernacle, before you go into the tabernacle, there is a gate, right, amen? And once you enter the gate, what you have outside there is natural light, sunlight. What you have is sunlight but once you go into the tabernacle, the Mishcon, the tabernacle proper, you go into the Holy Place, once you step into the Holy Place, there's no more sunlight there. There's a covered roof, right, with the four skins. The only light there is the light of the lampstand, menorah, the light of the church. That's where you and I are today. Are you with me so far?
The world only has sunlight, natural light. You and I have the light of the Holy Spirit represented by the seven-branch candelabra, the same Holy Spirit that gave the secret of the vision or the dream to Daniel in the night vision, the same Holy Spirit. You have the same Holy Spirit. He has the answer for your life. Some of you say, "Well, I, you know, I observe not eating wheat," whatever it is. Fine, it's still the wisdom of the world, all right? "I observe not drinking milk on" Fine, but it's still the wisdom of the world. Get God's wisdom for yourself. Don't listen to whoever expert, the expert is. "All right, my blood type is like this, so I cannot eat this food because my blood type will clash".
All right, it's not in the Bible so it's still under the wisdom of the world, okay? So, can I just say this to you? God's wisdom is the best because the wise man that was around Nebuchadnezzar when he asked them the question, they didn't have the answer, but they were the wise men of the land. So, we see the predicament of the wise men of the world. They don't have the answer. Just like Pharaoh had a dream and his wise men didn't have the answer, Joseph came and God gave Joseph the answer and then Joseph also got promoted, right? So, here we have the same scenario but my concern is that, are you trusting the wisdom of the world? Are you trusting the wisdom of man, or are you trusting the wisdom of God? For your marriage, for your health, for your life, for your ministry, are you following the ways of God?
Like I said just now during the time of healing, the Lord just gave me this. A lot of people complicate healing. They complicate prayer. When they are praying, they get discouraged because they don't sound like Pastor Henry, they don't Sunday like somebody else. They don't realize the simpler your prayer, the more powerful. The more you complicate things, "I must know the name of the spirit that's attacking me before I can get rid of the spirit". If the evil spirit can make you believe that, then he has an advantage over you. "You don't know my name. You cannot bind me". All right, all you got is do is that, "you foul spirit that's costing this problem in my child, I command you to loose him and let him go in the name of Jesus".
Simple, the more simple your prayer, the more powerful. "Father," speak from your heart. Can I have a good amen? We learned last Sunday that Queen of Sheba came to the king. All right, the king there in Solomon is a picture of our Lord Jesus in heaven today glorified, amen? And she poured out her heart to the king. All her questions, the Bible says all her questions she asked the king, the king poured back the answers from his heart. There was not a thing, one single thing that he kept from her. So friends, when you open your heart, prayer is just opening your heart to the King, okay? So, number two, the other P is the prayer of the wise men, prayer of Daniel and his three friends. This is the first time we see Daniel and his three friends praying a united prayer.
Up till now in the Bible, prayers have all been offered singly, all right? Abraham prayed alone. Noah prayed alone. They all prayed alone. This is the first time in the Bible that you have united prayer. Daniel had a problem, he asked for time from the king, and then he went to his three friends and say, "Let's pray. Let's have a prayer meeting". Friend, you can write this down, this is powerful, quite complex so you must write down. Prayer changes things. You don't like the thing that's happening right now in your relationships, in your marriage, whatever you're faced with, prayer changes things. And Daniel knew the secret. Daniel wanted time, why? Time to pray. He knew, "Give me time to pray because I know prayer changes things". Some of you, "I'll pray for you yeah, yeah, okay, you know? I'll pray for you, yes, sure". We think prayer is something to comfort. No, prayer changes things. It will change your body. It will change your relationships. It will change your future. "You have not," the Bible says, "because you ask not".
The disciples were all in the boat. Jesus was walking like I said, on the storm, on the stormy waves he was walking. Only one of them asked, "Lord, if that's you, bid me come". Jesus says, "Come". He's the only one that walked on the water. Yeah, he sank but the Lord got him out of it, but he's the only one that got to walk on the water. The rest never walked on the water; why? They didn't ask. "You have not because you ask not". You know, God told David, "David, why do you take another man's wife? If it's not enough what I give you, you can ask of me and I'll give you more". Now, in his day and age, it can mean more wives. Today, more trouble, all right? But listen, do you know what it means? You can ask God for greater fulfillment, greater intimacy, greater satisfaction, whatever, you can ask God. "Oh, God doesn't deal with this kind of thing". God deals with everything! Prayer changes things.
Now, you don't have to pray in a kneeling position all the time. You can pray all day. When you think of your young girl somewhere and all that, and the Holy Spirit bring to your mind, pray for the child. Pray as you go. Speak to God under your breath. Can I have a good amen? How many are glad that the Holy Spirit access to the most powerful man in the natural at that time, King Nebuchadnezzar? Even in his bedroom, the most private place, the Holy Spirit has access to put thoughts in his head while he's sleeping. Do you know God can put thoughts in your husband's head while he's sleeping of how valuable you are? God can put thoughts in your boss's head, amen, "You have not promoted this person. You have not increased his salary". God can do that but because you don't trust God, prayer changes things. Can I have a good amen?
You need to ask God, amen? Ask God, God has access to the very intimate counsels of the most powerful man, and in this case it was Nebuchadnezzar. And let's follow the story. The thoughts came to his mind, verse 29, I believe it is. Verse 29, "As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed". Let me tell you this, the way the Holy Spirit leads you and guide you many a times, amen, it's thoughts. He dropped gentle thoughts on your head even while you're on your bed, but you think the Holy Spirit speaks to you only in church, he doesn't, or only when you're on your knees, he doesn't. He does, okay, not necessarily in that position. He can't, but he can speak to you anytime. This man is not a worshiper of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yet the Holy Spirit visited him because of his position and thoughts come to his head. One day there came a thought in my head.
Let me tell you the thoughts that came. "Thoughts came to your mind while on your bed". Do we have the King James? I like the King James for this. "Thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed. What should come to pass hereafter"? I like the "hereafter". Do you know that God can give you thoughts about the hereafter? He can ask you to pray for something before it happens because he that reveals secrets makes known to you what shall come to pass. Yesterday, in the morning, I had a very strong urgency to pray for protection for my family. Now, because my daughter is now on mission trip in Thailand, all right, so I thought it was her so I prayed for her. You know, I prayed for God's protection.
Now, how many know that we pray protection every day? Sometimes we just pray. Sometimes we pray. So, I had the thought come to my heart to really pray seriously, so I prayed for protection for my family, for my entire family and for myself. That was in the morning. Later on, the same day yesterday, my wife and I were going for something, all right? We were at the carpark and there was a truck that was about to turn. I just parked my car and I was walking with her. We crossed the carpark road. But this truck came quite a distance away, we can still see the truck. Most likely he would have seen us, right? It's quite a distance and he's turning this way. But I didn't know that he was looking somewhere else.
We were walking, right, and I do not know until today, yesterday, what happened. He turned in so fast the next thing I know is my wife and I were out of the way. She screamed, next thing I know we were out. We're in front of the truck. The guy jammed brake behind us, we would have been killed. He was going real fast. He accelerated. He wind down the window look at me, and he has a glazed look on his face. The man is drunk. The man is under the influence. You can ask Wendy, she's here. The man is, "Uh, uh, sorry, sorry". Either he's on drugs or he's drunk. He looks drunk, his face was red and then straightaway like this, the Lord reminded me of the urgency in that morning to pray. I'm supposed to preach for Encounter Night. And you are supposed to fulfill your destiny. But many a times, you know, thoughts come and we ignore the thoughts. We ignore this, we ignore that.
When something happens, we tell ourself, "Actually I had something in my heart towards that, towards praying for this particular relative, this friend of mine this — I just, I should have listened to that". You don't have to pray, like I said, pray simple prayers with God, a soft tongue breaks the bone. We learned that last week, last Sunday, right? A soft tongue breaks the bone. With God, simple is powerful, complicated is weak. So, I try my best to make my sermon simple. I'm not where Pastor Mark is, that's why he's so powerful, but I'm doing my best. But I guess my best. Okay, so here hereafter, God can make you know things, not know everything, but to pray for things hereafter, hereafter. We're all interested in the hereafter. The Holy Spirit will put thoughts in your mind for the hereafter.
I remember years ago, I don't know where it was but it happened, thank God, for thoughts that come to my mind talking about the hereafter. All of a sudden, young as I was, a teenager, I'm thinking, what's gonna happen if one day I passed on, you know, and where will I go, heaven or hell? Just at that point in time, it became so real to me and I say that, why am I not concerned about life after death because I'm young? All of a sudden, all the thoughts came to me. Thank God for those thoughts. Thank God there was a day that the thought came to me that Jesus is my Savior, amen? And my life has never been the same. Thank God he leads you with thoughts. Not every thought is from God. And many a times the thought must confirm the inward peace that you have, but God can also lead you with lack of peace.
You see, for me something is wrong when we say, God leads you with peace because your default mode as a Christian, your normal disposition as a Christian should always be peaceful and at rest. So, if you're always peaceful, how does God lead you with peace? Actually, God leads you when there's unrest. You make a wrong step, there's unrest. Your peace is shaken, that's how God leads you. God does not guide a parked car. He cannot say, turn left, turn right. He cannot say anything like that because you're not moving, but as you move and you sense a lack of peace, that's how he guides you. So, I understand people say God leads you with peace and all that, but actually, your default mode should be peace. It's when that peace is shaken that you know God is trying to get your attention and that is true with Nebuchadnezzar, amen?
Now, not everything that shakes your thoughts and make you worry and all that, especially worrisome thoughts and all that, is from God, okay? Don't ever accept that, amen? But God can lead you before signing something, before entering into that contract, before embarking on something, God can actually give you a lack of rest and if your spouse also feels the same unrest, you should take your time to pray 'cause prayer changes things. Can I have a good amen? Are you with me so far? Okay, let's go on, okay? And so, with God, now we come to the part where not only the prayer of the man of God, we come to the program of God, which is the main part of Bible prophecy, okay? Look first at the head, head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of partly clay, partly iron. Let's look at the head. The head is Nebuchadnezzar, Babylonian kingdom. Show them the entire thing. Let's expose the one by one successively, okay? The head of gold, Babylon empire. The breast and arms of silver, Medo-Persian empire. After the Babylonian empire which lasted for quite a few centuries came the Medo-Persia empire.
And by the way, Medo-Persian empire is a story of Esther, okay? And y'all know how the Medo-Persian empire and King Xerxes, for example, he tried to conquer Greece. Greece is the next one, all right? The belly and thighs of bronze, that's the Greek empire. How many watch the show, "Sparta, arise and defend yourselves"? Okay, that is the story of the Greek heroes, right The 300, amen? They were fighting against the Persians but ultimately, the Greeks conquered the Persians. In that particular story, the Battle of Thermopylae, or something like that, all right, they lost that thing. But in the future, Medo-Persia was succumb to the Greek, to the Greeks led by a young man called Alexander the Great, and he is the bronze of this statue, the Greek empire.
Do you know that we see the four metals mentioned here, but this is a metallic image. We also see there's another dream in Daniel chapter 7 where it's the four animals. Babylon's is lions with wings. You see that in the Assyrian and also the Ishtar gate of the Babylon, pictures of Ishtar gate, they uncovered it. All right, the Ishtar gate of King Nebuchadnezzar has lions there. Then the bear is Medo-Persian, but Greek is a leopard with two wings. You know, Alexander the Great as a young man conquered the whole known world at that time in only 12 years. It's a feat, it's an amazing feat. What takes some people almost a century, took him only 12 years then he died, and it's all prophesied. Daniel prophesied it. Daniel had a dream from God in these four animals in Daniel 7, but I'm not touching on Daniel 7, touching on Daniel 2, ABC first, okay?
So, the bronze of this statue, the Greek empire. The Greek empire was succeeded by the Roman Empire, the legs of iron, iron that destroys everything in its way. And the Roman Empire is when our Lord Jesus came because the Roman Empire expanded throughout Europe to the east all the way. And by the way, you know where was the last stop of Alexander the Great? India, all the way to India, amen? And the Greek empire, in fact, let's have a verse there in Daniel 7. Daniel 7 real quick, show them Daniel 7. "I looked, and there was another, like a leopard," the Greek, the Grecian, "which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it". When Alexander died, this leopard, when he died, his entire kingdom was divided into four empires, each one given to his four generals, and this was a dream given to Daniel in chapter 7 long before the event happened, just like the dream given to King Nebuchadnezzar long before it happened, okay?
Go back to Daniel 2, okay are you with me the picture here? Okay great, iron, Roman Empire and Roman Empire's divided into west and east, okay, the two legs, okay? The last part, go real close to the... can you see the feet? Iron and clay. Clay is man. Clay is always man. Potter's clay, in fact, the verse says, Potter's clay, man, man is democratic, okay? Iron is one man rule like Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, all one man rule, okay? That is iron. Iron and clay cannot mix yet, the kingdom of the Roman kingdom, Roman Empire will go all the way down to the feet. Do you know unto today, the Roman Empire is still around. You know where is it now? First let me show you the extent of the Roman Empire's conquest, okay? This belonged to them. Look at the map, okay? So, it include the southern part of Britain. Go all the way down, all of Europe here except for Russia, okay. Beginning part Italy all the way, northern Africa, Israel, Syria, Assyria, or Iraq. So, this is the extent.
Now, why I am showing this? Because the Antichrist will come out of the revived Roman Empire. He cannot come out from Singapore because Singapore was never part of the Roman Empire. He cannot come out from North Korea because North Korea was never part of the Roman Empire. He cannot come out from China because China was never part of the Roman Empire. He must come out from the revived Roman Empire and actually, a lot of it is Europe. Can you see that? European Union, which is the call of the day, okay? Do you know their office is in Brussels. Their office is in Brussels, Belgium, the European Union. Outside their office, there's a statue of Europa, okay? This woman, see the picture of the woman sitting on the bull, this beast. What is interesting is this, you look at Revelation chapter 17 it says, "So, he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blaspheme having seven heads and ten horns".
Ten horns are the ten, the ten empires or rulership in the end times coming out from Europe. The ten toes. Most of us have ten toes. I'm referring to the ten toes of your two feet, okay? So, ten horns, horns speak of authority. So, the European Union will already they have numbers more than that, but there'll be some falling out here and there. The final one when the Antichrist comes out of the united Europe, which is the revived Roman Empire, he'll be Antichrist. He'll claim to have all the answers for the world.
Friend, we are living in these days. Are you listening? In the Book of Revelation, man will identify one another by numbers. Today it's not your name, it's your number like your registration number, everything is number. In the Book of Revelation, it talks about the bodies of the two witnesses. In Jerusalem and all the world, every tongue, every nation will see their bodies. How is that possible in the day when John wrote and penned the Book of Revelation as he received from the Lord? How can that happen when the whole world can see something happen in Jerusalem? Well, nobody is laughing anymore.
Okay, look at the last part. "The filthiness of her fornication," it will be filled with - do you realize that the world today is getting more and more, the degradation of morality is amazing. You know, many of us, even our parents' day, you cannot even imagine the kind of thing that we have to today and they accept it as normal. I want to tell you one thing, gold all the way to part clay, part iron, do you see for man, it is a degradation? It is a deterioration. Can you see? Top heavy, am I right? Gold is good metal, right? All the way on silver, then you have bronze, iron, iron, and clay. Whatever is of man, you can mark this down. If it's of man, or even you as a believer, if you start trusting your own flesh, your own efforts, you will start out well and end up bad. Your marriage, put it on the rock, the solid rock our Lord Jesus Christ.
Everything that man does is always from good to worse. When man presented the wine in the wedding of Cana of Galilee, they set out the good wine first and then when men are well drunk, they give what? Inferior wine. There's a picture right there. When Jesus came on the scene, he turned the last wine into the best wine. Friend, the Lord maintains everything and even makes it better. The world says if you live by your strength - not the world says, the world says you will increasingly get weaker and weaker. It's called the aging process but God says, "As thy days, as thy days, as thy days, as thy days, so shall thy strength be, so shall thy strength be. As thy days, so that thy strength be".
We gotta be work minded, not world minded. The world says the more days you have, the weaker you become. God says, "As your days, so shall your strength be". We gotta turn. Aren't you glad you came for this washing night? We wash away the wisdom of the world, amen? If you live by that, you'll start with new, I mean, good wine and end up with bad wine. The Lord will give you the best wine all the way. From glory is the phrase only used for God's people, from strength to strength as well, amen. Praise the Lord. Are you with me so far? Now, look at the Lord Jesus. We'll close with this. Look at the Lord Jesus in the Song of Songs. I've done this in the midweek service as well. You want that message, it's a great message about the beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ found in Song of Songs chapter 5. I described the beauty of Jesus in chapter 5 all the way from his head to his feet.
Look at Jesus. It says here, "My beloved is white," that's divine, radiant. The word there is radiant and ruddy. Ruddy is the color of Adam, red. It's a picture of divine and man, fully God, fully man. Do you see that? Okay, "Chief among ten thousand". You put the Lord Jesus Christ right in the center, whether it is Captain America, whether it's Iron Man, whether whatever it is, he is the chief among 10,000, amen? He's the fairest of 10,000. He's the most radiant, the most lovely, amen? Radiant and manly. His head is like the finest gold. Say, "The finest gold". So, we start with the head, amen, and all the way talk about his hands, talk about his even his belly where it talks about his emotions.
You know, Jesus saw the people by the mountains and they were like sheep having no shepherd and he had compassion on them. He was moved with compassion, amen? His hands were described like a ring, a barrel, whatever it touches, it always brings a complete cycle, a complete renewal, a complete restoration, amen? It talks all the way to his feet. Look at his feet now, Jesus's feet. "His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold". It starts with his head, fine gold, finest gold, right? All the way down to his feet also gold, amen? Whatever is of man starts with gold, end up with part iron, part clay. With the Lord, gold all the way down, amen. When you follow the Lord, your ending is certain. Whatever it is, if you put it on the Lord, your marriage, your business, your career, your relationship with the Lord, put the Lord first. Do it his way. Don't do it the wisdom of the world. You cannot do the wisdom of the world and expect God kind of results. Can I have a good amen?
The world says, "Don't discipline your kids," amen? Even when they're young. No, the Word says discipline. Follow the wisdom of the world and you are sure to raise up a tyrant. Trust the wisdom of God. The other day I was about to discipline my son and he looked at me he says, "Is this a punishment"? I said, yes. And he started crying, "I have failed you, I have failed mama. I'm bad. I'm so bad". Then I looked at Wendy, Wendy looked at me, "Where did he learn that"? I'm so bad, I'm so bad". I said, "Okay, I forgive you". Then he says, "No, you cannot forgive me because I'm so bad". Either he knows I preach grace a lot or something like that, but he did get the discipline, by the way. "His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars". Now church, let me just say this to you, all the way to the controversy of the confederate of ten nations in Europe, out of it will come a leader that will promise to bring answers to mankind. And it also has a supernatural power about him, and the Bible tells us its the Antichrist.
Now, what we are waiting for is not the Antichrist so please, stop looking at YouTube and all the, you know, everything on the Internet about the end times especially after I preach like this. What I do is that I stick very close to the Bible, but what some people do is that they go beyond the Bible and they even say that, "this leader is Antichrist, that leader is Antichrist, that leader is Antichrist, everybody's Antichrist, or this nation, or this group of people". At one time, it was the communist and the communist power fell and all that, then now it's somebody else. So, don't worry about anything the Bible is not clear of, just focus on what the Bible is clear. The four empires is clear and the empire of the Roman Empire goes all the way to our times.
When Jesus returns, what we are waiting for is not the Antichrist, but Rapture. We're waiting for the Rapture, amen? When the Rapture happens, you and I will be promoted to heaven, amen? Come on, we'll have a brand new body, a body that will never suffer disease, sickness, even boredom, and fatigue, will never die ever again, amen, forever, which is a long time people. And we are waiting for that to happen for believers. Then we go up to Jesus, his feet will not touch down in heaven. He'll call us in the midair. The Bible says we'll join him in our new bodies and then we'll be there waiting for the seven years of tribulation on earth. That will trigger off, that event will trigger off the seven years of tribulation, which is mentioned in the Book of Daniel chapter 9, maybe one of these we'll touch on it, but at the end of seven years tribulation, Jesus will return before the nations try to destroy Israel.
And we will return with him and then we'll come the rock that smash. It will put an end to all not just the Roman Empire, but the revived Roman Empire. Everything will come to and end and only one kingdom will be established in that day. Jesus will reign, from where? Jerusalem. That's what the Bible says. And then the lion and the lamb will sit down together. There'll be nothing that will hurt and destroy that new earth, amen? When he's here, nothing can hurt and destroy on the earth, amen? And the Bible says children will play at the adders' or the snakes' cave or little hole. "Nothing will hurt nor destroy in my holy mountain," the Bible says. We're waiting for that to happen. There's no more need for doctors, no more need for lawyers, no more need for anything that we are preparing in terms of protection from all the elements and all that. Everything will be right when he's here, amen? And we'll be here in our new bodies, and all the people said?
And the last part is promotion of the wise men and show them last few verses, 47, 48, 49, all right, 40 drop down all the way. "Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and he commanded that Daniel be honored. 'Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, a revealer of secrets.'" What's gonna happen when we follow the wisdom of God is that the people of the world will see our God and we want that to happen, right? But they cannot see our God when we are like them, amen. And then the Bible says, drop down, "The king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, made him ruler over the whole province". And he wasn't selfish. "Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the courts of the king". That's what the word "gate" means.
So friend, at the end, we know before Jesus returns, we know that God's people will be in a place with the answers when the world gets darker and darker, the glory of the Lord will shine on you, church, stronger and stronger. And light cannot be seen from afar. Is everything is so bright, a starry night cannot be seen if there are lights everywhere. In the city, for example, you can hardly see the stars. But a few months ago, I was in Israel and on my balcony, I brought the pastors. Lawrence was there and a few other pastors were there and we looked up, right Daniel? And we saw the stars, why? Because there's no much light around so from afar when the world is dark, they will see your light. And you know the world's getting darker and darker.
Our children must learn that something is not normal, it's wrong. We must tell them it's wrong. If a movie is wrong, tell them that it's a wrong movie. Tell them, they need your leadership. And parents when your children are small, God gives you an anointing and a power that they will listen to you. They will listen to you first, you know, before they listen to anybody. When they grow as teenagers, it's harder I agree. God can still help you, but as, when they are young, God gives you the grace and the anointing. Tell them what is right, tell them what is wrong. They believe you. They're like wet cement right with wisdom, amen. But even they're teenagers, God can give you wisdom. Make your stand as long as they're under your roof, amen? I don't know why I'm touching on this, but I plan to end off gloriously but end up on children. Okay anyway, praise God.
How many have learned something here tonight? Amen, are you ready? Praise the Lord. Stand to your feet, church. We're gonna worship the Lord, the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the King of kings as we go. You ready? Praise the Lord. And before that, if you are here, my friend, you're invited here, you do not know what's happening but one thing you do know, "I feel that what he's saying there, I don't understand everything, but I sense that I need this Jesus". Friend, this that's the Holy Spirit encouraging you to respond to him. Pray this prayer with me right now. Say, "Heavenly Father, I thank you Jesus Christ died for my sins. He was raised for my justification. Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. I trust in him. In Jesus's name, amen". If you prayed that prayer from your heart, Christ is now in your life, amen? Learn to flow with the wisdom of God. There's a wisdom of the world. It sounds so good, sounds so, you know, but it's not from God. The result looks glorious, it get worse and worse and worse, but God's ways is always stronger, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, hundredfold, amen? Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. And as we leave, I just feel like we need to worship him just once more, okay?
♪ Jesus ♪
♪ Jesus ♪
♪ Jesus ♪
♪ There's just something ♪
♪ About that name ♪
♪ Master ♪
♪ Savior ♪
♪ Jesus ♪
♪ Like the fragrance ♪
♪ After the rain ♪
♪ Oh, Jesus ♪
♪ Jesus ♪
♪ Jesus ♪
♪ Let all heaven ♪
♪ And earth proclaim ♪
♪ Kings and kingdoms ♪
♪ They will all pass away ♪
♪ But there's something ♪
♪ About that name ♪
♪ Jesus ♪
All the ladies sing... Brothers, bring your requests before God right now. Pray for your family. Pray for leadership wisdom in your marriage, in your family. Pray for wisdom for career and your ministry. God reveals secrets, secrets of things that are hidden. Is it hidden now? Prayer changes things. Ask God. Let all heaven. All together now. King and kingdoms.
♪ Oh, kings and kingdoms ♪
♪ They will all passed ♪
♪ Away but there's ♪
♪ Something about ♪
♪ Oh, kings and kingdoms ♪
♪ They will all pass away ♪
♪ But there's something ♪
♪ About that name ♪
Father, we thank you, Lord, for every person under the sound of my voice. We thank you you brought us here tonight, Lord, to encounter you. Thank you for teaching us, Lord, and giving us wisdom about the times of the Gentiles, about the times and the seasons that we are living in, Father. And as the world gets darker and darker and as we see moral degradation all around us, Lord, Father, grant us a superabundance of grace to live lives, Lord, that will shine for your glory. Let our word, Lord, be always honest and truthful, full of grace. Let our hearts, Lord, be sincere and full of integrity, Lord. Cause us, Lord, to be led by your Spirit through this dark and crooked world. Father, we pray for our children that you will teach them about you and your ways, Lord. Give us your wisdom, Lord, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the world that they'll be like Daniels, they'll be like Josephs, Esthers, and Ruth. Father, we pray, Lord, that you'll grant them moral excellence. As David prayed for Solomon, we pray, give to our children a perfect heart towards you, a heart that's inclined to walk in your ways. Thank you, Father. And as the people leave this place, we thank you for your divine protection. We never want to take it for granted, Father. Our trust is in you, Father. Thank you for protecting us from all evil. In Jesus's name, and all the people said? Amen!