PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL A
kings dream and the future #2
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL A
kings dream and the future #2
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL A
kings dream and the future #2
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL A
kings dream and the future #2
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL A
kings dream and the future #2
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL A
kings dream and the future #2
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL A
kings dream and the future #2
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL A
kings dream and the future #2
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>>Announcer: It has
stood the test of time.
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God's book, The Bible
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Still relevant in
today's complex world
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It Is Written
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Sharing messages of
hope around the world!
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>>Chris: Have you ever had a
dream and not remembered it's
content? Or maybe you've had a
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dream, didn't get to the end and
went back to sleep to try to get
to the end? Today on It
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Is Written it is part 2 of the
message, An Ancient King's Dream
and the Future Foretold.
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In today's program we will build
upon what we started last week
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last week. You'll remember in
last week's show, that King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a
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dream. He knew the dream was
important, but couldn't remember
the dream and of course didn't
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know what it meant. And as we
studied the story, we noted that
Babylon's wisemen, the
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soothsayer, Chaldeans, and
astrologers were not able to
produce the dream or it's
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interpretation. This therefore
demonstrated that the Babylonian
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gods themselves were not able to
reveal the king's dream, or
provide the interpretation. The
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test was so difficult, as a
matter of fact, that the wise
men complained about it as being
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unfair. They
failed the test miserably.
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The principles that can be
extracted from that exercise can
be summed up in this way:
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only events that have an
extremely low probability of
fulfillment (like revealing
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the king's dream) strongly point
to information that comes from a
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divine source. This was the
foundational principle that we
outlined in last week's show.
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This week we will utilize that
principle to answer questions
such as: How does God choose to
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reveal Himself in a context
where those who worship Him
claim contradictory things about
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Him? Is objective, absolute
Truth possible or is it some
kind fairy tale? How do we
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know that the content of the
Bible actually comes from a
supernatural source? What is
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the correct philosophy of
history? And finally, is God a
personal being that is
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involved in the affairs of men
and women today or is Hesome
impersonal and disconnected
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being? In order to answer those
questions: We will go right to
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the dream and it's
interpretation. As a reminder,
here is the dream of
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Nebuchadnezzar, as revealed by
God to Daniel and now to the
king. Daniel 2:31-35:
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Can you imagine Nebuchadnezzar
sitting there and hearing the
dream? I can just picture
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Nebuchadnezzar scooting to the
front of the chair as Daniel
shared the dream. He may have
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even said, yes Daniel, that's
it, that's the dream, that's
what I saw. But, you know, a
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dream without it's
interpretation really means
nothing. And Daniel wasn't
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through. God not only gave him
the dream, but also the
interpretation. Let's read Dan
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2:36-45
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Amazing. Nebuchadnezzar was
given a vision that outlined the
major powers surrounding
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Jerusalem. But were and are
these things historically
fulfilled and able to be
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verified? As we look at Daniel's
interpretation of the dream, it
becomes evident that
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these metals of gold, silver,
bronze, iron, then iron mixed
with clay and finally the
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stone cut without hands, all
of them refer to kingdoms. These
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kingdoms began in Daniel's day
and end in the latter days.It is
interesting to note that the
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metals decrease in value as you
go from top to bottom of the
statue but increase in density
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and strength as you go down.
Daniel began first by informing
Nebuchadnezzar that
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the nation of Babylon of which
he was the king was represented
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by the head of gold. Daniel
stated, "you are this head of
gold." I'm sure that
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Nebuchadnezzar was happy to hear
those words. And what a fitting
description of gold symbolizing
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Babylon. Despite the glorious
nature of Babylon's kingdom,
Daniel informed the king that
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Babylon would be conquered by an
inferior kingdom, a kingdom
depicted by silver. Now let me
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pause for just a moment. This
also lends itself to a
probability check. What would
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be the probability of a
foreign resident of a conquering
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kingdom, informing the king that
his kingdom would end? I would
say very remote. For anyone, and
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a foreign national at that,
telling a king that his kingdom
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will end - would usually end on
a bad note for that individual.
Yet Daniel does just that.
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Daniel calls this kingdom by
name in Daniel 5:28. He names
this kingdom as Medo-Persia.
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Medo-Persia's rise to power is
also an improbable event that we
will cover at a later time. But,
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just as silver is inferior to
gold in terms of value, so
Medo-Persia would be an
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inferior kingdom to Babylon.
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Next Daniel said that a kingdom
of bronze would conquer the
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kingdom silver. History tells us
that Medo-Persia did fall and
Greece would rise to power. In
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fact in an extremely unlikely
turn of events a young man from
Macedonia would lead
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Greece to conquer the known
world. Yet the dream continued
by the bronze or brass of
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Greece giving way to a kingdom
of iron. Once again, history
demonstrates the accuracy of
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the interpreted dream. Just as
Babylon and Medo-Persia fell, so
Greece would give way to
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what historian James Cardinal
Gibbons referred to as "the iron
monarchy of Rome." Yet in
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another interesting twist, this
kingdom of iron is not defeated
or taken over. Rather
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the dream shared that it was
divided.a mixture of iron and
clay. History would point out
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that Rome actually was never
defeated, but in fact simply
divided and this is what
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happen in the 5th century AD.
The dream was clear that Rome
would not be conquered but
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divided. Daniel was clear, there
would be no fifth world empire.
This iron clay mixed
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kingdom symbolized a divided
Rome. That divided Rome would
eventually develop into the
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modern countries of Western
Europe. But what makes the
prophecy even more interesting
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is that the Bible says that
these kingdoms would attempt to
unite with one another. In
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order to accomplish this unity,
history tells us that these
nations would mingle
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their descendants together. It's
fascinating to note that by the
time of the first world
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war, nearly all of the ruling
houses of Europe were related.
Charlemagne attempted to unite
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Europe into the old Rome,
Napolean attempted it. And
Hitler did as well. But all of
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these efforts to unite have been
prevented by 7 words in Daniel's
prophecy: they shall
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not cleave one to another. Even
in our modern day, the European
union has sought to
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unite most prominently with a
common currency. However, even
the Euro couldn't unite the
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old Roman empire. God gave a
message and it was true. The
methods of military, political
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and economic unity all
failed.This friends is just as
the Bible predicted that they
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would.
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Next Daniel informs us that a
stone cut without hands would
come and strike the image on
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its feet and usher in an eternal
kingdom. The rock represents:
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Christ and His return to
re-establish the eternal
principles of His kingdom which
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are based on the Ten
Commandments The principles of
the kingdoms of the world
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represented by the metals in the
dream are in direct opposition
to and in conflict with the
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eternal principles of God. While
the stone may not seemingly have
any value, it's value is that
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it is cut without hands - not of
human origin. The metals are
manufactured and shaped,
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the stone is of divine origin
without human influence. As we
look at this dream, as
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Nebuchadnezzar looked at this
dream, there are only two
explanations for it. One, it
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is completely by chance, and the
other is that it was given by
the God of heaven. How
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probable is it that by chance
Daniel was able to outline
exactly the number of
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kingdoms, that would happen a
thousand years after he lived?
This wasn't chance. It points
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to the God of heaven as the
divine source of the information
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that we have in the book of
Daniel and in the Old and New
Testament Scriptures. My dear
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friends, based on the evidence
of probability, that stone cut
without hand which represents
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the 2nd Coming of Christ is just
as certain as the rise and fall
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of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece,
Rome, and the division of Rome.
How did Nebuchadnezzar react?
00:17:10.99\00:17:20.57
Let's read in Daniel 2:46-47
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I want you to notice what the
king did not say. He didn't say,
"that was a good guess
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Daniel, how did you do it?" You
know, the Babylonians were a
highly mathematical people,
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yet the king also did not ask
him what formula or logarithm he
used to discover the dream
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and its interpretation. That
king instinctively realized that
00:18:14.22\00:18:24.80
there was only one answer. That
answer was and is.only the true
God of heaven can do this. The
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king could trust Daniel. He
could trust the interpretation
of the dream. Daniel's God
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passed the probability test.
00:18:36.81\00:18:39.05
What about you friend? What will
we do? The remarkable historical
00:18:41.25\00:18:47.92
fulfillment of words that were
written 2,600 years
ago.attributing those things to
00:18:48.02\00:18:57.10
chance.well that just doesn't
make sense. To be frank, it's
simply futile and dishonest to
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claim that this is all just a
coincidence. As we continue to
probe the book of Daniel for the
00:19:06.41\00:19:13.78
next several weeks, there are
many things that people try to
attribute to coincidence. But we
00:19:13.88\00:19:20.49
will see that none of this is
just by chance. What we will
find is that the symbols and
00:19:20.59\00:19:28.53
concepts found in the Bible must
be interpreted by the Bible
itself. And when done
00:19:28.63\00:19:33.54
that way, we'll see amazing
things open before our eyes.
Going to sources outside of
00:19:33.64\00:19:39.84
the Bible as an authoritative
source to explain what is in the
Bible is like depending on
00:19:39.94\00:19:47.38
the wise men of Babylon. They
just won't have the answers.
Here on It Is Written our only
00:19:47.48\00:19:56.83
textbook is the Bible. So, what
about those questions we asked
at the beginning of the
00:19:56.93\00:20:02.53
show? It is fundamental for us
to understand, that when we
consider the ultimate
00:20:02.63\00:20:09.30
questions of life we should only
trust information that comes
from sources that pass
00:20:09.40\00:20:16.78
the probability test. We are
discovering time and again that
only the Old and New
00:20:16.88\00:20:23.62
Testament Scriptures can pass
such a test. How does God choose
to reveal Himself in a
00:20:23.72\00:20:29.72
context where those who worship
Him claim contradictory things
00:20:29.82\00:20:34.20
about Him? It is very simple,
God has invited us to test Him.
We call this the probability
00:20:34.30\00:20:42.44
test. Here in Daniel 2, guessing
the contents of the dream was
impossible. Daniel's
00:20:42.54\00:20:49.54
revelation of the dream given to
him by God provided the king
with irrefutable evidence
00:20:49.64\00:20:56.85
that Daniel's
God is the true God.
00:20:56.95\00:21:03.59
Today, many religious and
philosophical documents claim
that their writings are
00:21:04.79\00:21:09.30
inspired and authoritative, even
though their statements about
00:21:09.40\00:21:13.90
God contradict one another. What
shall we trust? The Bible can be
trusted. Daniel chapter 2
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mentions specific events that
occured over a 2,600 year period
of time and history has
00:21:23.18\00:21:29.58
confirmed every detail. It would
in fact be easier to guess the
contents of a dream than to
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successfully predict 2,600 years
of human history. This is the
method that God uses in
00:21:39.66\00:21:46.63
order to reveal Himself in world
where many claim contradictory
00:21:46.74\00:21:52.21
things about Him The probability
test is the method that God uses
in order to give honest seekers
00:21:52.31\00:21:59.18
and inquirers of truth the
confidence that His Word reveals
00:21:59.28\00:22:07.29
Him to be the true God. That
also answers another question,
how do we know whether
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objective, absolute Truth is
authentic or whether it's just a
fairy tale? Let's take the 2nd
00:22:13.66\00:22:19.23
Coming of Christ as the test
case. Postmodern philosophy
claims that this is a personal
00:22:19.33\00:22:25.64
belief of Christians. Yet, since
postmoderns claim that objective
truth is impossible,
00:22:25.74\00:22:32.18
they would take the position
that the 2nd Coming is a fairy
tale. However, evidence would
00:22:32.28\00:22:39.59
suggest otherwise. Daniel 2
successfully predicted the rise
and fall of Babylon,
00:22:39.69\00:22:45.36
Greece, and Rome. It predicted
the division of Rome, and that
attempts would be made to
00:22:45.46\00:22:58.87
re-unify the old empire and that
they would fail. Once again on
00:22:58.97\00:23:06.98
the basis of the probability of
each of these events being
successfully predicted, we can
00:23:07.08\00:23:14.82
be sure that the next event is
absolutely certain. That next
event is the 2nd coming of
00:23:14.92\00:23:24.83
Jesus. This dream reveals the
truth of the matter. How do we
know that the content of the
00:23:26.50\00:23:32.27
Bible actually comes from a
supernatural source? The
contents of this dream, it's
00:23:32.37\00:23:36.68
interpretation and historical
fulfillment point to a
supernatural source. Human
00:23:36.78\00:23:43.18
guesswork, wisdom and
imagination are impossible. The
only rational explanation
00:23:43.28\00:23:50.06
is that the source of the
information arose from God who
communicated it to the
00:23:50.16\00:23:57.20
prophet. This dream also argues
for what is the correct
philosophy or understanding of
00:23:57.30\00:24:04.47
history. God is a personal being
involved in the affairs of human
00:24:04.57\00:24:12.18
beings. Unlike the wise men of
Daniel's time who believed that
the gods did not dwell with
00:24:12.28\00:24:23.32
flesh. Against the
Platonic/Aristotelian view that
history constitutes merely a
00:24:23.43\00:24:27.23
shadow of reality. Against the
higher critical view of history
in which God is unalterably
00:24:27.36\00:24:34.40
bound to the laws of nature.
Against the evolutionary view of
history in which God himself has
00:24:34.50\00:24:39.37
been evolving through the
natural process of history.
Against Marx's view of
00:24:39.47\00:24:47.42
dialectical materialism, which
is the basis and bedrock of
communism. No, Daniel 2
00:24:47.52\00:24:53.79
demonstrates that God is
actively involved in human
history culminating in what
00:24:53.89\00:25:02.80
the Bible refers to as the 2nd
Coming of Jesus Christ. We can
be sure. It is as certain as
00:25:02.90\00:25:11.24
the rise and fall of Babylon,
Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
God interacts with people
00:25:11.34\00:25:20.25
today by hearing and answering
prayer. Daniel trusted God and
tested God. We, too can trust
00:25:20.35\00:25:32.16
God. He has passed the test. He
has revealed the future. That
future is a restored
00:25:32.26\00:25:39.17
kingdom, restored to His perfect
ways. Where we can dwell
forever. Don't you want
00:25:39.27\00:25:46.88
to be a part? You can
trust Him. That is for sure.
00:25:46.98\00:25:53.25
All that I am, all that I have
00:25:54.82\00:26:00.59
I lay them down
before You, oh Lord
00:26:00.96\00:26:07.50
All my regrets, all my acclaims
00:26:07.86\00:26:13.94
The joy and the
pain, I'm making them Yours
00:26:14.30\00:26:22.08
Lord, I offer my life to You
00:26:22.38\00:26:26.51
Everything I've been
through, use it for Your glory
00:26:26.95\00:26:34.39
Lord I offer my days to You
00:26:34.62\00:26:39.06
Lifting my praise to
You as a pleasing sacrifice
00:26:39.39\00:26:50.24
Lord I offer You my life
00:26:50.87\00:26:57.25
Things in the
past, things yet unseen
00:27:00.58\00:27:06.52
Wishes and dreams
that are yet to come true
00:27:06.89\00:27:12.69
All of my hopes, all of my plans
00:27:13.06\00:27:18.97
My heart and my
hands are lifted to You
00:27:19.30\00:27:30.08
Lord, I offer my life to You
00:27:30.38\00:27:34.55
Everything I've been
through, use it for Your glory
00:27:34.88\00:27:42.22
Lord I offer my days to You
00:27:42.49\00:27:46.93
Lifting my praise to
You as a pleasing sacrifice
00:27:47.20\00:27:58.04
Lord I offer You my life
00:27:58.41\00:28:04.61
Lord I offer You my life..
00:28:05.21\00:28:12.55
..my life.
00:28:19.39\00:28:28.07
>>Chris: For today's offer, I
would like to offer for free,
the "Focus on Prophecy"
00:28:30.47\00:28:34.24
lessons. Now in addition to
that, for any size donation, I
would like to offer a portion
00:28:34.34\00:28:41.28
of the "Philosophy's Achilles
heel" series. The 2 parts -- "An
ancient king's dream and
00:28:41.38\00:28:48.76
the future fortold". Here's the
informaiton you need to receive
00:28:48.86\00:28:55.30
today's offers. >>Chris:
Friends, I hope you enjoyed
today's program. I want to
00:29:20.39\00:29:24.83
invite you to like us on our
Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/ItIsWrittenCa
00:29:24.93\00:29:31.37
nada, and there you can receive
update about the ministry,
inspirational quotes and links
00:29:31.47\00:29:36.81
to our archived programs. Join
us again next week as we
continue this series and find
00:29:36.91\00:29:44.18
certainty in God's word. Until
then remember, It Is Written,
man shall not live by bread
00:29:44.28\00:29:50.72
alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God.
00:29:50.82\00:29:57.26