Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Guest (Male): If you're new to Bible prophecy, get set for a major dose on today's program. We'll find modern-day Europe in a king's dream. Turn to Daniel chapter two and sit back for a whirlwind tour of the future. Today, why a reunited Europe is another sign of Christ's return. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Erwin Lutzer is in a series on Seven Signs of Christ's Return. Today we turn to sign number two: Europe Reunited.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Back in 1989, Time Magazine said, "The wall crumbles overnight. Berliners embrace in disbelieving joy and a stunned world ponders the consequences." Many of us shall never forget the Berliners dancing on the Berlin Wall. You can't pick up your paper today without understanding that Europe seems to be coming together in some very interesting ways. What connection could there possibly be between a revived Europe and the return of Jesus Christ? Well, that's the topic that we have before us today.

As you know, this is a series of messages titled Seven Signs of Christ's Return. Last time, we talked about the return of Israel. Today, we speak about the unification of Europe. Now, you say, "Well, where is that found in the scriptures?" Well, what I want you to do is to take your Bibles and turn to the second chapter of the book of Daniel.

Daniel chapter two: a king, a pagan king at that time, though he was later converted, a pagan king had a dream, and he did not know how to interpret the dream. It says in chapter two, verse one, "In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His mind was troubled, and he could not sleep. So the king summoned the magicians and the enchanters and the sorcerers and the astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means."

All of his advisors standing around said, "Okay, king, tell us your dream, and we'll interpret it for you." King Nebuchadnezzar said, "No way, Jose." Now, he said it in Aramaic, but that's what he said. "No way, Jose. I know you guys. I tell you my dream, and you give me the interpretation. You're making this stuff up. But I do have an agreement to make with you. If you tell me what I dreamed, then I'll believe your interpretation. And if you don't and cannot tell me what I dreamed, then you will be cut in pieces." It's called pressure.

And they say, verse 10, "There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks. No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer. What the king has asked is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men." They're off on vacation, what are we going to do?

By the way, when you're walking in the streets of Chicago and you see those signs that say "Palm Reading" or "Astrologer" or "Horoscopes Read," some of you missed that. What you should do is to say a prayer and keep on walking. Because one of two things are true: Number one, either they're making this stuff up. And if they're too good at it and they're too specific and they know too much about you, you know that their source of information comes from the dark side of the spirit world.

The Bible is very clear. We're to stay away from such things. God calls it a personal affront. He calls it an abomination to try to seek wisdom that way and knowledge. And if they have hidden knowledge about you that could not have been received by ordinary means, clearly it's coming to them from the spirit world. And there are spirits who know a whole lot about you, by the way. So maybe there's a connection there.

But one way to call their bluff, and I don't suggest you do it because you're not supposed to go there, but one way to call their bluff would be to say, "You know, I had a dream and I've come for the interpretation." And you can just imagine them saying, "Oh sure, tell us the dream and we'll interpret it." And then you say, "You're making that stuff up. You tell me what I dreamt, and then I'll believe you." That's what the king did here, and all of them said, "We are en route to the gallows. This is not working very well."

And then Daniel steps in, who had a responsibility of being the cupbearer. He was next to the king, had responsibility, information comes to him, and he says, "I think I can help." By the way, have you ever thought of the unique providence of God in bringing Daniel to that position? And I want you to know today that you are providentially where you are: in offices, in business places, in banks and factories. God has put you there, and sometimes it is there for a specific reason at a need in time when they need you. They need you. And you know God, and you walk with God, and your resources and ability suddenly become very, very important.

That's what happened here. So Daniel prays a wonderful prayer in verse 20. He says, "Praise to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king."

The astrologers didn't know, but God knows. By the way, did you know that God knows what you're dreaming? And He not only knows the good dreams, He knows the nightmares. He knows the struggles that you have in the depths of your soul, perhaps even because of occult invasion and occult harassment in your own experience. God knows all those things. He knows, the text says, what is done in darkness because the darkness and the light are the same to Him.

So Daniel goes to the king, and I'm making a long story short here, and he says, "I want to tell you two things: I want to tell you what you dreamed and I'll tell you the interpretation." And the king said, "If you can do that, you're in. You're in. I'll believe you." Verse 31, he says, "You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay."

"While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not with human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on the threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth." And if you have not done a lot of Bible study or if you're a new Christian or you've had no orientation to the scriptures at all, you say, "What in the world does that mean?"

And if you say that, you're not alone because that's exactly what Nebuchadnezzar was saying. He said, "I had the dreams, I saw this metallic man, a huge statue, and I saw the different kinds of metal, but what could it possibly refer to?" Dreams, by the way, are very interesting. They come to us sometimes from outside the situation. You know, when you go to bed at night and you're thinking about something, oftentimes you dream about it. And my mind has such creativity; sometimes I'm overwhelmed by what I dream. But none of my dreams have ever come to pass. But this one did.

Now, Daniel says, "I'm going to give you the interpretation. So hang on, hang on. Don't be discouraged if there was too much symbolism, if you don't know what all of this metal is about." Verse 36, "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands He has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, He has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold."

So the head of gold is none other than Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian empire. Then he says, "And after you, there will be another kingdom, an inferior kingdom to yours." That is the breast and arms of silver, known as the Medo-Persian Empire. Do you see the accuracy of scripture? God says after Babylon, there's going to be an empire that's going to have two arms. And the reason it will have two is because it is Medo-Persia and its metal is inferior to gold; it is silver, but nonetheless, it is going to be in existence.

And then after that, it will pass off the scene, and he says a third ruler, middle of verse 39, "one with bronze, will rule over the whole earth." And that, of course, refers to Greece. We think of Alexander the Great, who conquered the then-known world and extended the Grecian empire as far as India. He did encompass the whole earth. That's the next empire to rise.

And then our interest is focused on the fourth empire because this is the key to where we're going. And after you, he says, another kingdom will arise. But verse 40, "Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, for iron breaks and smashes everything; and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it."

So this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united any more than iron mixes with clay. In the time of those kings—key verse here now, everybody awake—"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it itself will endure forever."

Guest (Male): I don't know about you, my friend, but I'm so encouraged when we read the Word of God and know that God has the future in His hands. Meanwhile, we here on earth want to do all that we possibly can to live a life that is pleasing to Christ. And no matter where you are on your spiritual journey, I believe that you'll be encouraged, you'll be given hope. I'm holding in my hands a book entitled Failure: The Back Door to Success. You know, it was Corrie ten Boom who said these words: that there is no pit that is so deep but that God is deeper still.

You may feel that you have made a series of wrong decisions, but this book is going to be an encouragement. It will help you on your spiritual journey. Failure: The Back Door to Success. Erwin Lutzer with part one of Europe Reunited, the second sign in a series on Seven Signs of Christ's Return. Next time, we review the dream again and explore why we're seeing it come to pass in Europe in our day.

It was Corrie ten Boom who said, "There is no pit that is so deep that God is not deeper still." Failure is like a pit, and Pastor Lutzer has written a book he calls Failure: The Back Door to Success. This life-changing book will be sent as our gift when you give a gift of any amount to support Running to Win. Just call us at 1-800-215-5001. That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to offerrtw.com. That's offerrtw.com. Or write to us at Running to Win, Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Ask about Failure: The Back Door to Success. Running to Win comes to you as a ministry of the Moody Church.