SEVEN PROPHETIC WORDS.

Now we come to the words – the seven words! Listen to verse 43: “And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry 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”. There you have it! “THEY SHALL NOT CLEAVE ONE TO ANOTHER.” Seven words that have crushed the dreams and spelled sure defeat for every would-be world ruler since the Caesars laid down the scepter.

Europe has tried everything. And nothing has worked. Intermarriage has not worked. Leagues and treaties and pacts have not worked. They never can work. They shall not stick. That is the divine decree.

Europe will not stick together. And as long as Europe does not stick, the world CANNOT be held together under the rule of any man. Four world empires.

But no man will ever find himself the head of a fifth universal dominion.

GOD SAYS IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!

What, then, is to follow? We have traced this divine road map down through history from Babylon to Medo-Persia and Greece and Rome. We have followed down into the toes of the image – divided modern Europe. What next?

THE LAST KINGDOM

“… in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: …” Christ Himself will be ruler of all. And His rulership, His taking over the kingdom, will come about in God’s own time and in His own way, exactly as predicted.

The great stone, representing Christ’s kingdom, was to strike the image on its feet. The Jews of Christ’s day, even the disciples themselves, expected the Messiah to set up a temporal kingdom at that time. But the hour had not come. The stone would strike the image on the feet down in the days of modern, divided Europe as we know it: in our time – not in the days of Rome, the legs of iron.

You see, when Christ sets up His kingdom, it is not to be a mere taking over of rulership. Christ might have taken over nineteen hundred years ago. The people were ready to proclaim Him king. But regardless of the impact of His teaching, this world would have remained a far from perfect place. Christ healed the sick. But there were many thousands of sick in that day who never saw the Great Healer. Christ forgave sins. But millions of sinners never came to Him for forgiveness.

It is no different today. A great programme of education might be carried out. Africa might be swept by a spirit of revival. The heathen nations might turn to Christianity. But there would still be prisons, and police, hospitals and ambulances, funerals and cemeteries. Education is not enough. Acknowledging Christ as king is not enough. The world itself and the people must be changed.

All this is in God’s plan. God has more to offer us than education and improvement. The second coming of Jesus is God’s answer. And, best of all, He will come in our day. Do you begin to see the picture? A bright picture?

Not so many years back there was talk of the world getting better, talk of brighter days ahead. Then Hiroshima changed it all. And those who had painted the brightest picture of the future dipped their brushes in black and painted doomsday across the horizon. They had no other colours. Nor have they today – not enough red, or orange or yellow to paint the faintest rays of hope across the black.

To be sure, a semblance of hope is pieced together out of guided missiles and clean bombs and a mutual fear of annihilation that is supposed to hold back the hydrogen tide. But that hope is rather flimsy. It would take no more than a single edition of the news to crush it all.

God has more than that. This seemingly endless routine of fear and frustration is not to go on for generation after generation. It is all to change – “In the days of these kings” – soon, in our day.

This world is not to be made safe by wars or weapons. It is not to be made clean by clean bombs. But it will be safe one day soon. And it will be clean. God will make it so. Not a trace of sin or its results will be left – except the scars in the hands of the Saviour. But those loving hands will have made the earth new, fashioned after God’s original plan.

No sinner will be there. Not because any man is shut out from God’s grace, but because man is free to choose. “Who shall ascend into the hill for the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?” asks David in Psalm 24. And he answers: “He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; …” God has provided for a clean earth. And He has provided for a clean heart. You and I can be ready for a place in that kingdom.

Come back with me to Calvary. When Satan nailed his Creator to a cross, he intended it to be the end of His kingdom. He intended the cross to stand between the earth and sky as a giant billboard announcing God’s defeat.

The disciples read it that way. Their hopes were crushed. But there was one who read something else than defeat in all that took place. The thief at the Saviour’s side saw painted across that intended billboard of defeat the picture of a bright new kingdom – a kingdom in which he wanted a part. He prayed that simple prayer, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” And the dying Saviour heard. The living Saviour will hear that prayer today – from your lips and from mine. That is the way – the only sure way – to have clean hands and a pure heart – and a place in His kingdom!

“LORD, PLEASE, REMEMBER ME WHEN THOU COMEST INTO THY KINGDOM.”

For further info. or studies please phone: Cell: 082 765 9498 P.O. Box 447 WHITE RIVER 1240.

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 880