Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. The founder and perfecter of our faith. An ancient king can't sleep. He wants his dream interpreted. God's man Daniel tells of future kingdoms and the end of this age.
And a confederated Europe lies at the core of geopolitics as the end times begin. Today, how that reunification is already underway. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Irwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Irwin Lutzer is in a series on seven signs of Christ's return.
We're learning about sign number two: Europe reunited. Pastor, it's pretty clear that modern Europe and prophecy are lining up more every day. And you know, Dave. Even though we don't know the specifics, and we look at what is happening in Europe, and we ask ourselves, how is it going to come together? But actually, the Bible prophesies a time of globalism.
I'm holding in my hands a book entitled "When Jesus Returns," and the very first chapter is by Jan Markell, who's the editor of the book. And she talks about the new world order hidden in plain sight. You know, if you think that the chaos of this world is very difficult to handle, remember this: it may indeed be happening because God is planning to wrap up history. For a gift of any amount, we're making this book available for you. I think it'll be a tremendous blessing, especially as you look at various themes of prophecy and then ask yourself, "Where will I be, and how should I relate to the future?" Here's what you do: you go to rtwoffer dot com.
That's rtwoffer dot com, or call us at one eight eight eight. Two one eight ninety three thirty seven.
Now let's go to the pulpit of the Moody Church. 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 the end, but it itself will endure forever. You know what Daniel's saying. He's saying, King, you had a vision that really began from when you're ruling all the way to the end of time till the return of Jesus Christ.
The stone that is cut out of the mountain is Jesus, and Jesus comes. When does He come? When it says, verse forty-four, at the time of those kings, when there is a ten-nation confederacy. Roughly united, it is at that time that Christ comes.
Now, everyone that I know and have read agrees that when it talks about the legs of iron, that is the Roman Empire that followed the Grecian Empire. It is the Roman Empire, and yet Rome. Is no longer in existence today, as the Roman Empire. And and what do we have? We have, however, an extension, an extension of those legs in toes that are mixed with iron and clay.
And it's during those days that Christ comes. There is really no way to interpret this except to say that that there is a gap of time here. That the Roman Empire has to be revived. The legs of iron, perhaps, took place in ancient Rome during the centuries that Rome ruled. But there is still a future time when that empire is going to have ten toes, ten kings, because that's the time that Christ is going to come back and establish His kingdom.
Now you know what about the Roman Empire? You know that it existed for centuries, and according to Edward Gibbon, who wrote the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, he says that there is some disagreement as to when Rome fell because it really disintegrated from within, and so historians dated variously. But the Roman Empire has kind of what shall we say fallen apart.
Now it's been fragmented, but interestingly, during this ten-tow stage, the Book of Revelation has something to say about this too. You know, it would take too long to show all the parallels and how they fit in, so I'm just going to read a verse to you, because what this verse is going to show is that these ten kings are going to get together not by force. But voluntarily, it's going to be a voluntary federation of ten states. This is what it says. And now the imagery is not ten toes, but it's ten horns.
The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive—that means a brief period of time—will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose, and it is to give their power and authority to the beast. They give the power and the authority to the beast, and the Bible says they make war against the Lamb. Notice that. These ten toes, by the way, as we shall see in the next message, when we talk about the rise of Antichrist, this is where he's going to come from—is among those ten nation confederacy.
But you'll notice it says they give their power to the beast. It isn't forced upon them, and because they are iron mixed with clay, you'll notice it says in Daniel they are they are united, and yet they're not really united. They're maintaining some kind of identity. But it's during those days the Lord will come.
Now let me just simply remind you the fact that historically people have always tried to revive the old Roman Empire. We go back to the days of Charlemagne, Charles the Great. He was in Saint Peter's Basilica, you remember, on Christmas Day in the year 800, and the Pope, surreptitiously. You know, I don't use that word often, but I love it. I'm going to say it again.
The Pope surreptitiously came and put the crown on his head and said, "I need you." And Charles the Great became the beginning of what is sometimes called the Holy Roman Empire, which Voltaire says was neither Roman nor holy, nor was it an empire. But he became he became the civil head. He he tried to unify Europe, and the Holy Roman Empire never really unified Europe. They were all independent states, but there was a rough kind of unification. And how long did that last?
Nearly a thousand years until the time of Napoleon in 1806.
So you have the year 800 to 1800. That is a thousand years. The Holy Roman Empire had this rough, fragmented existence.
Now, after Napoleon, of course, it broke apart, and you have the end of the first Reich. That's the German word for kingdom. When I was growing up, we used to always say the Lord's Prayer in German: "Dein Reich komme, your kingdom come." That's the first Reich. Years go by, and 1871, Kaiser Wilhelm is crowned in the Hall of Mirrors in France, to spite the French. Bismarck had Kaiser Wilhelm the First crowned there in France, and why is he called Kaiser?
The German word Caesar. He is Caesar Wilhelm. The intention was to revive the Roman Empire and to finally unify Europe. If it takes war, let it be war, but let us unite Europe together in one.
Well, you know, of course, that failed after Germany lost World War One, 1918, and then there was another man who arose, and this other man was Adolf Hitler, and Hitler began what was known as the Third Reich. The Third Reich, the third attempt—now major attempt since ancient Rome collapsed—to unify all of Europe, and he always said that he was beginning a Reich that would last a thousand years. He knew that Charlemagne had not really accomplished it because the empire was too loosely federated. But he thought he could begin something that would last for a thousand years. It lasted twelve years and six months.
Now, today, do we begin to see this voluntary association of states in Europe coming together, not with war, not with war yet, but but with a federation, a a sense of voluntary? The Scripture says, giving their authority.
Some people have thought it would be the European Common Market. We don't know. There's always some danger in trying to read the present trends into what we are seeing. But let me give you some ideas as to how I think Europe will look under the unification. That is described here in the book of Daniel.
First of all, we can expect some kind of geographic unity—the rough outline of the old Roman Empire. It doesn't have to be the exact boundaries because those boundaries even changed. But, but roughly speaking, and that included parts of North Africa, even some of England, southern Europe. And all of those countries that were roughly the Roman Empire, we can expect them to be to be unified at least in a general sense, as the nations give their authority and their power. Secondly, we can also expect economic unity, economic unity.
Back in 1988, The Economist said, "Lo, a central bank for Europe," and it predicted the day when Europe would have a single European currency. A single European currency.
Well, wouldn't you know that on January the fourth, 1999, some twelve years or so later, what do we have? We have the euro. And and you have the euro bringing Europe together in that economic powerhouse that will be important for its survival. And what you find is now trade happens more easily, tourism is easier. It's going to be because all that you need to do is to change your money once, and then you can go from France and Germany and the different countries which now belong to this federated union.
Time magazine had its lead cover story entitled "The Future of Money." And time said that the day is going to come when cash will no longer be needed. That it is much better to have what they called electronic cash that can be sent, and therefore all transactions can be known. You can't have drug dealership where there's thousands of dollars passing in cash under the table. But what you can do is to make sure that all transactions therefore are done on a computer, and it's going to be so much easier, so. Much better, so much faster, and so much more accurate.
Now we're going to discuss that in the next message when I talk about the rise of the Antichrist. But we can expect in Europe today economic unity, political unity. I came from the National Religious Broadcasters meeting less than a month ago, and in the final banquet, my wife and I sat with a correspondent from England and also a representative from Germany, and it was interesting to hear the two of them discuss something, namely, now that Europe is having a central currency, are they also going to have a central government? Is there some place where this loose federation is finally going to have a clearinghouse, and and the feeling is beginning to grow that a country, when you have ten or twelve or fifteen different countries all using the same currency, you need some kind of centralized economic control, and central economic control means a central government. It's interesting that the conversation I had not thought.
That but that's what they were talking about.
So we can expect political unity. We can expect military unity because wherever there is wealth that is concentrated, that wealth, of course, must always be protected. And so Europe has this.
Now, this was the dream of Eisenhower. Eisenhower talked about the day when there would be the United States of Europe. He said, and the Scripture says that when you have that ten-nation confederacy. It is then that Jesus Christ will appear. Seven signs of Christ's return.
Possibly, one of the signs is what is happening before our eyes as Europe begins to come together. Let me draw some final thoughts from this passage of scripture here in the book of Daniel. First of all, remember God is in control of the nations. It is He who has ultimately the headlines in His hand. You'll notice that Daniel says that it is He who gives knowledge to the wise, and we read it there in verse twenty-one.
He sets up kings and deposes them. He sets up kings and deposes them. God is God, and here is God looking into the future. If you take the Book of Daniel and say that it was in four or five centuries BC, He's looking into the future, twenty five hundred years, or even maybe beyond our era, and He is saying, "This is what is going to happen in the end of time." And Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that talks about four kingdoms, and the fourth kingdom extends to the return of Christ all the way. He sees it.
So let us keep in mind that God is God. When you pick up the headlines and when you see things politically that are very disquieting, and you feel that there are people who are getting by, always remember that God is God. I feel so sorry for atheists. We ought to weep for atheists. We ought to weep for the naturalists who simply say that there is no God, because for them that means that there will never be justice brought to a situation, never.
It'll always be unjust. I have an atheistic friend who lives actually on the same block as we do, and because he's Jewish in his orientation, I said to him one time, "I said, do you feel a little bit disquieted? Does it trouble you to think that Hitler will never be judged?" And he did agree that that was troubling to atheists.
Well, I want you to know today that the Bible teaches that God is actively involved, but God is also judge, and therefore all the things that seem to be slipping through our fingers never escape the notice of God. Always remember, God rules. There's a second lesson Daniel can teach us, and that is that the return of Jesus Christ is certain. There are few things in life that are absolutely certain. Mathematics, I think, we would all agree, is absolutely certain.
Two plus two is equal to four. Even if other things should happen that you wouldn't expect to happen, there there's a certain amount of certainty in the connection of ideas. When it comes to other matters, nothing seems to really be certain. But there's only a few inevitabilities in history, and one is that God's word will be fulfilled, and Jesus Christ shall come. Count on it.
Now, here's what strikes me: here's Jesus being born in Bethlehem under Roman rule. By the way, as Palestine was in those days. You see, the Jews were under the heel. Of Roman occupation. Here's Jesus born under Roman rule, and then he comes again.
And the Scripture says that that fourth kingdom is going to last. It'll have to be revived so that Jesus Christ can come again. And you'll notice it says he is like a rock coming out of the mountain. This is verse thirty four. Not with human hands it was cut.
It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them, and the iron. And the clay and the bronze and the silver and the gold were broken to pieces, and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. He's coming back when Israel will be under Roman. Rule, because the Antichrist is going to have his peace treaty with Israel, and the simple fact is, what a difference! How he's going to come—not that little baby in the manger you could pick up and cuddle.
Now he comes as the Rock, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Romans who crucified him and nailed him to the cross. There will be a Roman ruler who will again try to defy Christ as the Antichrist. But no matter. Never mind. Jesus will show that He is King, and all others before Him as chaff.
And to think, we get to love Him, we get to love Him, and we get to rule with Him. Finally, your relationship with God today, my dear friend, is determined by your relationship with Christ. We don't know when Jesus will come. All that we can do is to see that things seem to be coming together in ways that were unthinkable even years ago. But all that we know is that come He will, and whether He comes or not, we're all going to die.
We're all going to die.
Some people die young. It comes in such a haphazard way, and then we shall be in His presence, you know. And if you are standing on your own record, you will be damned, because nobody stands in the presence of God on His own record. It's like standing ten yards from the sun, the Holy God, about whom we heard this morning. The only way you can do it is to is to flee to Christ, who is our righteousness, who is the one who makes us acceptable to the Father.
The only one qualified out there. There is no other person who's qualified. And you come to Him and you receive Him as Savior, and say, "I want to receive Him so that I too may look forward to His coming." And by the way, I just want you to know, I look forward to His coming. I'm anxious. To see Jesus now, He's with us by His Spirit.
I understand that, but wouldn't it be wonderful to see Him in person with the body that He was resurrected and the body that was taken to heaven, and to know that He is the one, and to actually see, you know, the nail prints on His hands. That's how that's how real the body is, and to know that we shall be with Him forever and ever. Isaac Watts was a great hymn writer. And one day he wrote a song that many of us sing, and we shall be singing in a moment. Jesus shall reign where'er the sun does his successive journeys run.
His kingdom spread from shore to shore till moons shall wax and wane no more. To him shall endless prayer be made and endless praises crown his head. His name, like sweet perfume, shall rise with every morning sacrifice. There are only few, few inevitabilities, and one is. That he shall come as the stone and smash everything in his way.
Let's pray. And Father, we ask that you, in these moments, might help us to love Him more, help us to share the good news that we can be forgiven and cleansed and belong to Him forever. Make us that kind of a people. We pray. Father, help us to be done with lesser things, knowing that the Lord shall come.
He shall come, and Lord, even as we see events, we pray that we might not be foolish in thinking we know times or dates or years. But Lord, we are amazed at what you are doing in the nations of the earth. Make us faithful until we see you face to face. And now, for those of you who have never received Christ as Savior, even where you are seated, you can say, "Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. Save me." Would you tell Him that, Father?
In those lives in which You've begun a work, do not leave, Lord. Do not leave them until, until. They have met you, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen.
Well, this is Pastor Luther from my heart to yours today. I want to ask you this question: Are you ready for the return of Jesus Christ? Are you ready for the way in which God is going to wrap up history? I trust that you are. Through faith in Christ, He is the Savior now, but He will come as King of Kings.
I'm holding in my hands a book entitled "When Jesus Returns," and this book actually is not a road map. It doesn't line up all of the events that are going to take place in a particular order, but rather deals with specific subjects like the Rapture. Like the glorious return of Jesus. As a matter of fact, I have a chapter in the book entitled "One Minute After You Die." It is really a book of comfort, a book of challenge, and will enable you to track what is happening today and to see that indeed the chaos is leading somewhere. For a gift of any amount, we're making this book available for you.
I sure hope that you have a pen or pencil handy, because here's the info. You go to rtwoffer dot com now. Because I think that this book is going to be a great blessing. I'm going to be giving you this contact info again, but I want to thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your support of this ministry. You've heard me say this before, but running to win is in 50 different countries in seven different languages, and we are continuing to expand because you, my friend, are partners in this ministry.
Meanwhile, until the Lord returns. What we want to do is to be faithful, and if you're thinking about the future, if you recognize that the Bible has many prophecies which have not yet been fulfilled, but you want to know how to prepare for that future, well, here's a resource: When Jesus returns. Various subjects, and various anticipations of the glory that awaits us. Here's what you do: go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com, or pick up the phone and call us at one eight eight eight two one eight ninety three thirty seven.
You've heard me say this before, but when I think of running to win, I visualize thousands of people gathered together, hand in hand, running toward the finish line. Our desire here is to get the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world, and that's why I repeatedly thank you from the bottom of my heart for being partners in this ministry. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Erwin Lutzer concluding Europe Reunited, the second sign in a series on seven signs of Christ's return.
Next time we turn to sign number three, the rise of a world dictator. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Irwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
