Daniel's Seventy Weeks

Praise God. You can be seated. I'd like to say as always, I'm very grateful to be here tonight. It's always such a privilege for me to come and minister to the people. We've not had big crowds here in any of this meeting. I feel like by the weekend we will have a tent full. Some people that will be here out of the state this weekend, but we are glad for those that have come. We have had a real turnover of new faces, and this, of course, is what I like, because that way we reach a lot of people. We have a couple here tonight that has come to be with us. I know their name but I can't get it to register. Brother Burton? The last time that we were here in the tent meeting, my wife and I were staying at the Howard Johnson and she met this lady who is a Sister in Christ, and she told us of her husband and they came by today and visited a little bit and said they'd be back in service with us tonight, and so they are here. We are very grateful to have them here with us tonight. Now, the Lord has been real good to us. We had a lady that came by today and she was a little bit fussy. She said she wanted to be in these services and said that we were talking about closing out on Sunday night, and she didn't think that was fair. She said the people hadn't had a chance to learn that we were here, and I think it was her, there was quite a number of people that was involved. Maybe something like twenty-five or fifty, and then another brother was telling me that they have a big church over here, not too far away and they were talking about coming over and being with us on a Thursday night. But whether we have many or whether we have few, that is not what is important. As long as I can get the gospel out this is what is important to me. 

Now, I'd like to read some over in the book of Daniel and I'd like to take my time and talk with you just a little bit. Now, almost every night, we get excited and holler at you, and I can't help but get evangelistic because I'm an evangelist and I get enthused and carried away, and when I get enthused and carried away, I holler. The Bible tells us to lift up our voices like a trumpet, and sometimes I lift up my voice like a trumpet, but I do love to talk about the scriptures and the deep things of God. Now, I didn't mean to get out in such deep water last night. We got out in deep water last night, and I didn't intend to open up as many avenues as I did in revelation last night, but the people that we had here seemed to be so hungry, so receptive until they just pulled it out and I couldn't get the stopper back. So, I finally just had to quit, because it was getting deeper and deeper and opening up so many avenues of revelation. I just didn't have the time, even in this whole meeting, to expound each one, to where we could really enjoy it and understand it. Revelation is like a family tree. How many of you know that? You know you start off with the root, and then you get up to the trunk, and after awhile, you get hundreds and thousands of little limbs that produce limbs that produce more limbs that produces limbs, and then after that, you find fruit everywhere. Isn't that right? What we try to do is stay with the trunk of the tree and just run out one limb at a time. If you are picking oranges, you can't pick all the oranges off of the tree at one time. You just have to take it a limb at a time. That way, we are able to get a little something over to you. But last night, we got so many limbs running out on the tree, and I believe quite a number of our people understood much of what was said. I know that some of it was over their heads, but I feel like there was a number of them that understood quite a lot of what we had said. 

This is the Revelation of Lord Jesus Christ. I don't make any apologizes for saying that. A lot of people would say, "Brother Pike, I don't know. I don't believe that nobody has that," but believe it or not, I've got it. It was given to me, and I'm very grateful, It was given to Paul. It was given to John. The Bible tells us that God is no respecter of persons, so He gave it to me. He didn't give it to me in a day. He didn't give it to me in a week. He didn't give it to me in a year, but He gave it to me. And today, through His grace, I do have the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It's not just something that we say or something that we advertise. We really do have the Revelation of Jesus Christ. And of course, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, as we know, is the gospel, but nevertheless, there is something that excels when you say the Revelation of Jesus Christ. You are talking about understanding the mysteries of God. Paul said, "Great is the mystery." 

A lot of people say, "Well, Brother Pike, the gospel is very simple. You just get up and tell the people about Jesus and that's all there is to it." Now, I know the gospel is simple. The Bible speaks of the simplicity of the gospel. You repent and believe on the Lord Jesus and such. But when it speaks of the mysteries of God, Paul said, "Great is the mystery of godliness." Great is the mystery of godliness. Not just a mystery, but he said that it is a great mystery. Great is the mystery of godliness. And the Bible tells us, Paul speaking, that he was made a steward of the mysteries of godliness. So then, I'm a steward of the mysteries. He has shared His mysteries with me. The Bible tells us that at the sounding of the last trump in Revelation, the mysteries of God should be finished. God intends for us to understand and to know. I know that a lot of people take the theory that there are a lot of things that God doesn't intend for us to know. But now, I would like to have the verse on that in the Bible. I'd like for somebody to quote the scripture to me where it says there are a lot of things that God don't want us to know. Right to the contrary, it says that we have an unction from the Holy One that we should know all things. Jesus said, "All things that my Father has made known unto Me, I have made known unto you." Of course, God made known unto Him everything. It is a true fact that rather than having certain things He doesn't want us to know, it is right to the contrary. He wants us to know all things. 

Not only that, but you might feel there are certain things that God doesn't want you to have, and I am speaking of right things to have, but the Bible teaches that all things are ours. Everything belongs to us and we belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. So it is a beautiful salvation. The Lord wants us to know and to understand. That is what makes us come into oneness with Him. Is that right? To know as He knows, to live as He lives, to think as He thinks, to act as He acts, makes us one with Him. So then, it is a great salvation and it is a great plan. The mysteries of God are great. The disciples asked on one accession, "Why is it that You speak to these people in parables, seeing that they understand not what you say?" Then Jesus said, "It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but unto those that are without, it is not given unto them to know." Now, it is given unto the world to hear the gospel. The gospel must first be preached in all the world for a witness and then shall the end come. So it is given to every human being to hear the gospel, but it is only given to the church, the true believers, the saints of God, to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. 

You would say, "Brother Pike, why does God make a difference? Why are the mysteries reserved for the church?" Because the mysteries will translate you in your spirit and human body to where you can not die. When you understand the mysteries and they are applied like they should be applied at the precise moment, the precise time, then God takes you away into another dimension, into another world. That's why the Bible says that such a one was caught up into the third heaven. See, he was a steward of the mysteries, and being caught up into the third heaven he said, "Behold I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep," that is die, "but be changed." Now, at Lystra, when Paul was stoned just outside the city and left for dead, it could very well have been at that time that his spirit departed from the body and went into the third heaven. He later got up after they thought he was dead and walked back into the city, much alive. But whatever, he said "Whether in the body or out of the body, he said I cannot tell, but such a one I knew Him. He was caught up into the third heaven and saw things that was not lawful for him to utter." And so, we are caught up into another realm with God when we come into the mysteries of Jesus Christ. Do you love the Lord? All right. 

So then, we get excited sometimes. We get excited and we run up and down the ramp and sometimes we run up and down the aisles and kick up the dust and kick and holler and preach and jump and scream. I do that because I get excited, but that really isn't the mysteries of God. There is no record where Jesus did that. He just simply would sit down in a boat, shove away from the shore to where the people couldn't get to Him, and He would, in a simple manner, expound the great wisdom of God. Perhaps He would lead the people out into a desolate place and sit down upon a rock, and there for hours, He would unveil the mysteries of God. The Bible tells us, on one occasion, that as He walked with them on the way to Emmaus, they said, "Did not our hearts burn within us as He opened the scriptures by the way!" And so it is. God opens the scriptures to our understanding as He walks with us. Isn't that right? When two or three gather together in His name, there is He in the midst of them. But see, we are Pentecostal people to this extent, that we have been taught that if we jump and holler and scream, then we are getting the job done. A lot of evangelists that don't spend enough time before God to understand the mysteries of God, they don't know what to tell the audience, and the only thing they know to do is to work them up into a shout, to make them feel like they are having church. then, they get the offering and dismiss and go home, and everybody says, "Hallelujah, we had a wonderful time." But you can have the same kind of time at a football game. But now, if the Holy Ghost gets in the arrangement, that's a different thing. Isn't it? It's all right to run and holler and jump and scream and have a good time in the Lord if the Holy Ghost gets into it. That's fine and I love to do it. I love to see the others shout and praise God, and lift up their hearts to the Lord, but at the same time, I love to see an audience that wants to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The world is contented to grow in the grace. They'd like to get all the grace they can, but they don't care much about the knowledge of God. When you come into the knowledge of God, then you are held accountable, but if you don't come into the knowledge of God, you perish. The Bible tells us that my people perish from the lack of knowledge. So then, if we don't get the knowledge of God we perish. Therefore, it is essential to our salvation and experience that we grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. 

A lot of people are like a thorn. You know, no matter what you tell them, no matter where they go, they always prick you in your side. They've just got a spirit and a disposition you know, like a sour lemon, but then there are others, they are not very emotional and they might not go around grinning all the time, but they have a spirit that is very sweet and very understanding and very interested in the things of God and they continue to grow into the great stature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's read just a little bit from the Book of Daniel, in the twelfth chapter beginning at the first verse, and see if we can share just a few things with you in the gospel. 

Now, I don't feel a real hunger tonight. I feel a real concern. I feel real concern, but being in the discernment of the spirit I don't feel a real hunger. Now, last night I felt a real hunger. I don't feel that real hunger tonight, but I feel a real concern. Maybe the preliminaries were so long that you got weary and you got filled up on the preliminaries and you are not hungry for the word. Maybe that's it. Maybe not. Maybe some of you have to leave early. I don't know just what it is, but you know, Paul one time preached all night. Now, don't get afraid. I'm not planning on an all night sermon, but he preached all night. Didn't he? Preached until midnight. You know why he did that? He had something to say. He had the mysteries of the kingdom of God and he had a hungry congregation. See, he had something to say and it took him a little while to get his sermon over. But I'd like to talk just a little bit to you tonight. And it depends on your hunger and concern as to what I will say. You know, it is understandable, that if you spend all day long eating and drinking in the natural, filling your belly with the husk that the swine eat, and never fast and never pray, and never study and never get spiritual minded, then you are not going to have a spiritual appetite. Paul said on one occlusion, I would like to speak unto you as unto spirituals. The church today, it would be hard to speak unto them as spirituals as a whole, and then he told them on another occlusion, and I have emphasized this a number of times in our meeting, pray that God will grant unto you the spirit of Revelation. If you do not have the spirit of Revelation, then the church should pray that God would grant unto them the spirit of Revelation, because there is a spirit of Revelation that the church needs. A lot of people say, well, Brother Pike, he was talking to the sinner and telling him to get saved when he said that. No. He couldn't have been talking to the sinner, for what would a sinner do with a spirit of revelation. So he couldn't have been talking to the sinner. He was talking to the church. See, pray that God will grant unto you, he couldn't have been talking to the sinner, cause the Bible says, we know that God hears not a sinners prayer. Is that right? See, if God hears not a sinners prayer, then how in the world could he have been talking to sinners? He was talking to the church. The church needs a Revelation. Now, every time I say that I have to stop and take a little time and explain because there is always somebody would say, Brother Pike, you've got me all confused, or you are all mistaken. You say that God doesn't hear a sinners prayer. Then for heaven's sake, how does a sinner ever get saved. Do you really want to Know? The Bible says he's elect according to foreknow- ledge. You love the Lord? Now, somebody would say, now wait just a minute, Brother Pike, don't you know he has to come and ask God to save him? But the Bible tells us that we don't even know what to pray for, but the spirit maketh intercession by searching the heart and He grants unto us what we need. Is that right? And I preached last night that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance; that you cannot repent and get them, because if you could Esau would not have been in the condition that he was in. The Bible says he sought repentance with bitter tears and found no place of repentance. So then, not everyone that saith, Lord, Lord shall inherit the kingdom of God, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Is that right? You say, but Brother Pike, what is the will of God? Jesus said, Lo, I come in the volume of the book as it is written of me, O God, to do thy will. So then, the will of God is the volume of the Book. Do you agree to that? All right, faith cometh by the hearing of the volume of the Book and it's by grace through faith that we are saved. All right, so then, let's read just a little bit from chapter twelve in the Book of Daniel. Did you know that a person that is a sinner cannot even get saved until you pray for them. Did you know that the Bible tells us that we are a royal priesthood, interceding for the people, standing in Christ's stead beseeching the people to be reconciled unto God? Did you know we are the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, members in particular, the mediator between man and God? And did you know the Bible tells us that we should pray for the people. Samuel made the statement one time, said, God forbid that I should sin against God by not praying for the people. And the Bible tells us to pray for the people that God will grant repentance unto them that are without. So it's our job to pray that God will grant repentance to our loved ones and grant repentance to them that are with-out. Because God will not hear the sinners prayer. But the Bible says, if any man be a worshippers or server of God we know that God heareth him. His ears are ever attentive to the righteous, the cry of the righteous. Chapter twelve, beginning at the first verse. 

Daniel 12:1-13 "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days."

Now then, he tells Daniel in these writings that from the time of the abomination that maketh desolate shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. According to Johns teachings the abomination of desolation comes in the middle of Daniel's last week. Right in the middle of the week he breaks the covenant. Antichrist confirms the covenant for one week. He breaks the covenant in the middle of the week for the over spreading of the abomination that maketh desolate. Daniel did not understand this because the voice said to Daniel, said Daniel seal up the Book until the time of the end, but when John saw the Revelation in his day, the voice did not tell John to seal up the Book but he said see that you seal not the sayings of this book for the time is at hand. See, here John is seeing identically the same thing that Daniel saw, but God is telling John that it is no longer a sealed Book but it is an unveiled Book and the Revelation of Jesus Christ, John, is now made known to the church. Paul said the manifold wisdom of God, even the heavenly places is now made known to the church, and so then when we read the Book of Revelation, if you'll notice at the very first chapter, at the very first words, it starts off like this; The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Is that right? And so then that is why we emphasize the Revelation of Jesus Christ because the Revelation of Jesus Christ is given to the church. Now it's not given to anybody else but it's given to the church. One thing that we want to notice, it says here that Michael shall stand up at the last days for his people. Michael, the great Prince, shall stand up at the latter time for his people and the way that Daniel knew it would be the latter time, he said, the wicked shall do wickedly but the righteous shall understand. The wicked shall not understand. And said when you see this then you will know that it's at the time of the end. Here, Michael is to sand for the people. When does Michael stand for the people? At the same time the daily sacrifice is taken away. Again we see in the Book of Revelation where John says, I be-held a wonder in heaven and I wish we had a real hunger congregation and plenty of time to go into that tonight. Maybe before the service is over we can go into it before Sunday night and maybe we'll get into that. Now, I want to take another thought tonight, but anyway, Michael, right in the midst of the week stands up for God's people. Who is God's people that God is referring to here as he speaks to Daniel. He is speaking of the Jewish people, the law, the law and the Jews, which are those that are in Jerusalem or scattered around the world. This is considered in the natural God's people and Michael is to stand for the Jewish people right in the middle of Daniel's last week, which is called the seventieth week. In the middle of the last week Michael is to stand up for the Jewish people and it is at that time that there is a great war in heaven. When this great war began there in the heavenlies, the Bible tells us that the great red dragon is cast out. At that very moment the red dragon is cast out because Michael stands for God and His people. All right. So then, we see that the twelfth chapter is telling us about Daniel's seventieth week. Now, so then, I'd like to comment just a little bit tonight on Daniel's seventy weeks. How many of you would like to take just a little time and have just a little Bible discussion. Now, on Daniel's seventieth week is where Michael stands up but there is a lot of things that take place before we ever get down to Daniel's seventieth week. There is enough that takes place concerning the earlier days in the seventy weeks. So much takes place that it would take a month to teach you the things concerning the seventy weeks of Daniel … Tape turned over … but anyway according to the Bible the angel of God appeared to Daniel while Daniel was yet down in Babylon. How many of you know what Babylon is when you go back to the scriptures and you talk about natural Babylon? How many of you know what that is? We've got a number of tapes where we preached on the city of Babylon, and we give a description of it. It's a great outstanding city and I don't have time in revivals a lot of times like this to go through it and give the descriptions of it but you can get tapes from Little Bethlehem to where we give a perfect description of it in the teachings, but I want to refer you back to Babylon. How did Babylon get started? It come from the tower of Babel right after the flood when the great hunter Nimrod, back in those days, married his own Mother. Back in that day it was the beginning of Babel, or Babylon that started a wicked thing that has been bad in the eyes of God since the days of its instigation. Every since the days of Nimrod, Babel, the tower of Babel has been an outstanding thing in the scripture and here we are back in this day coming to a confederation of nations or as I would say an-other Babel. There is another Babel about to come forth. People are coming together in such a confederation until it is becoming another Babel. Is that right? See, people are becoming so confused. They don't understand the government any more. They don't understand the laws anymore. You know there was a time a few years ago when a man could stand up and say I understand the law, but you can't understand the law anymore. You could stand up and say, I know what's going on in the government, and I'll cast my vote for it, but you don't know what's going on in the government anymore. See, it has become a modern Babylon. America is today a modern Babylon. She is a Babylon and the church is once again in a Babylonian captivity. The church has gotten into an intellectual denominational system that has robbed it of its virtues, hath robbed it of its power, hath robbed it if it's vision, and is a modern Babylon system that is going to cause the entire church to be rejected of God except for the fact that the blood of Jesus prevails. All right, so then, we get some idea of Babylon. Babylon is a great place. It was in 541 that a king by the name of Cyrus, the king of the Persians, the people there at 541, Cyrus went in and overthrew the city of Babylon by turning the water that run through the city, a river of Euphrates, turning the water in another direction and going under the gate and killing the inhabitants of Babylon and taking over. Way back there, from that very moment there is something that is out-standing, mighty and outstanding concerning God's Israel and God's spiritual Israel. From that moment on. Now, I see no way that I can get into it tonight because I don't have enough concentration and drive from the audience towards something like that but I would like to get into it tonight. I would just have loved to have been able to pick it up from the time of Cyrus back there and bring it on over until this day. From the time that the children of Israel went down into Babylonian captivity there was something mighty that started to taking place. About 721 Israel went away down into Babylonian captivity. God put them under the powers of Nebuchadnezzar, a great King of Babylon, that ruled not only Babylon, but the Bible says he ruled all the world. He ruled all nations and all kingdoms at that time. At about 606 we find Judah doing the same thing. About 606 BC we find Judah going down into Babylonian captivity and the prophet had spoken and said 70 years they will be down in Babylon. During the time that they were down in Babylon this was the time that the angel of God gave Daniel a visitation. Daniel was a young man and Daniel was down in Babylon and Daniel was concerned about his people, the Jewish people and he wanted to know when God was going to deliver his people and get the people out of Babylon and give them a chance to go back and restore the city or build up the walls of Jerusalem for the coming of the Messiah. See, Daniel knew the Messiah was coming and the prophets of old knew the Messiah was coming. As a matter of fact, they had been taught this by the prophets. They'd been tutored this by the prophets and Daniel set his face towards God. He began to fast and he began to pray. Did you know that it is when we began to fast and when we begin to pray, that is the time that God begins to communicate with us. See, the Bible says let their table become a snare unto them. One of the great problems of today is that the table is a snare unto the people. Is that right? See, they eat and they drink. One of the prophesies of the last days was that in the latter times they will be eating and they will be drinking. In the last days they will be eating and drinking. Now, there is nothing wrong with eating and drinking, is there? But see, the prophecy of the eating and drinking which would make their table a snare unto them would do away with their fasting and praying to God, that God couldn't visit them. See, it was an excessiveness of eating and drinking. Everybody picnicking. Everybody going out to the cafes. Nobody wants to stay home and cook anymore unless they have a big family reunion. There is some- thing about food on the billboards. There is something about food in the magazines. Everywhere you look it's something to sharpen the appetite. Eating and drinking shall be one of the great signs of the end time. People will be overweight, weighing twice as much as they ordinarily should weigh that will be a sign of the end time. Now, don't get uncomfortable, I understand that there is a lot of good food but I'm just telling what we are suppose to do. All right. So then, we see a sign of the end time and we know for sure that the crisis is upon us. Is that right? All of this is a plan of the powers of Anti Christ, the ruler of Babylon. All right, so then, we see that Daniel as a young man was down there in Babylon. He was praying and fasting about five hundred years it was before the coming of the Messiah. Even during the time of the dark ages. The dark ages, the days of the Maccabees. It was in between the coming of the Messiah and the time of the visitation of Daniel. And so then, Daniel was praying and Daniel was fasting and by the river of Ulai God spoke to him and at the palace of Shushan God spoke to him and there God would speak to him and the angel would come down and the angel would look upon him and see him fasting and travailing, being without food for days and praying and the angel of God would say to him, O thou great, wonderful man of God. He'd say Daniel thou art a beloved man in the sight of God. You know there are people in the world that are beloved in the sight of God. They might not be great in the sight of men but they are great in the sight of God. The Lord said concerning John the Baptist, said, he shall be born and he shall be great in the sight of God and so then God has people that are great in his sight. He has always had ministers, evangelists, preachers, prophets, many people that are great in the sight of God. They are not great in the sight of the world but they are great in the sight of God. Such is the case of Daniel. Daniel is a great man here he is down in Babylon, travailing and praying. Here he is pleading with God and he keeps saying over and over. He says Lord tell me when is the captivity going to be over? When are you going to get my people out of these problems, out these groanings, out of this bondage and let them have the liberties once again? You know that's the way a preacher does. A preacher he'll pray and he'll groan and he'll fast and he'll say, God, when are you going to get the people out of Babylon? When are you going to break off the old iniquity? When are you going to do away with the lust of the flesh? When are you going to take that old carnal mind of reasoning and interest of worldly things out of them and place the mind of God within them and stir their spirits one more time toward things that are eternal? We pray, God, when are you going to do this? And so then, Daniel was praying and pleading and asking God when this great deliverance was coming and God spoke to him and told him to go back to a certain writing in the old scrolls of a great and a mighty prophet. And so he went back to the writings of a great prophet. There he began to study the books of Jeremiah and different prophets and God began to make known to him some things concerning the prophecy that the prophet had spoken that was to transpire before the ultimate release of those that were down in Babylon. You understand what I'm saying? All right. Now, then. This Daniel had numbers of visions. These visions we speak of, we've got tapes, I say this again at little Bethlehem, they've got tapes where we preach on these visions of Daniel. And we take them one at a time and break them down and tell what they mean. I can't go into that tonight, but see, I'm trying to get a thought over to you concerning the condition of the church of today, why it is that the church is not progressing in God. You know, anybody can tell that the church is not making progress in God. See, the church is like people marking time. They are not getting anywhere. They are just sick. Sick, worn out. Weary and they are just marking time. They are not really aggressive. They are not really going on. You say, but Brother Pike, God understands all of that and God is waiting for the precise moment to where he can come down here and pick us up and take us away. But that's where you are wrong. See, the Bible doesn't say that God is just going to sweep down here and get a Laodicean group of people. But the Bible says Satan shall wear out the saints of God and already the saints of God are worn out. But then it said that the saints of God shall rise and take the kingdom. That means that the saints of God has got something to do. We can't just set down and be Laodicean. We've got to get up and we've got to take the kingdom of God. Now, to take the kingdom of God we've got to have a little understanding about how to take it. Do you agree to that? We've got to have a little knowledge about what's going on. See, Daniel knew this. Daniel knew he just couldn't rise up and get his people out of captivity. He knew that there had to be something done. He had to understand something. And so then, he went to God and God and he began to plead with God and ask God to give him an understanding. And the Bible says, Daniel I'll give you an understanding. Said one of the signs of the end time is that knowledge shall increase. How many of you agree that knowledge has increased. Seminaries and learning and picnicking and everything, it's all coming about. Is that right? Another sign of the end time was, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man. You say, Brother Pike, what was the sign of the days of Noah? The Bible says, they were eating and they were drinking. They were marrying and they were given in marriage. There is nothing wrong with marriage, but see, it was an excessiveness of marrying. marrying one wife, marrying two wives, marrying three wives, always an excessiveness of marrying. It was to be that same spirit that would come back in the latter times. See, what caused God to overthrow the world in the days of Noah? It was because of the evil spirits, the powers that had gotten a hold of the people and the people had surrendered to these evil powers until God couldn't stand them anymore. What caused God to over throw Sodom and Gomorrah? It was the same sin of the end time, where the man would leave the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another. Man with man working that which is unseemly. See, at the end time all of these things was to happen again. These same demons, these same powers, was to gain the same strength over a period of years until right at the end time it would be just as it was in the first two thousand years when they gained their strength from the garden experience down to the days of Noah. When it gets that way God knows the people cannot bear up under the load. See, and when it gets that way God intervenes. See, as long as it's human beings God won't intervene. It's just human beings against human beings but when the fallen angels get so strong because of the knowledge of God and the knowledge of evil then God sends angelic forces to intervene and fight their battles for them. Do you under- stand what I'm saying? See, old Brother Daniel prayed. He couldn't carry the load by himself and so then his prayer went up to heaven and here come the angles back to help him and about that time here come a whole slew of the angels of the devil that intervened and cut them off. And then there was a great battle in the heavenlies, angels fighting against angels. Those angels, good angels, trying to come down there and get to Daniel and the bad spirits fighting against the good spirits. But old Daniel just kept ringing the prayer bells of heaven and kept fasting, kept holding on. And after awhile those angels of God plowed through that wall of resistance and came down there and stood right in the presence of Daniel and said, Daniel thou beloved man of God. Said, We heard your prayer, Son, the first day you said something. Said the very first day you called on the Lord Jesus Christ we heard you down there, but said, Daniel, we couldn't get here. Said the Prince of Persia withstood us. Hallelujah! Somebody say I love Jesus. All right. I'll get to preaching here when I said I was going to talk with you. All right. Hallelujah! All right. Now, look at it for just a few minutes now. See, as it was in the days of Noah. What was the days of Noah? What did it have to do with when we say the days of Noah? See, the Bible says, as it was in the days of Noah. What does the Bible say about the days of Noah? It says that all flesh had corrupted it's way before God. Come on now. All flesh had corrupted it's way before God. Every living person on the face of the earth had corrupted their way before God. All flesh had corrupted it's way before God. And the Bible tells us that unless God shortened the days for the elects sake there would be no flesh spared. He's have to destroy every bit of it because of corruption. Is that right? But I'm glad the blood prevailed. O Hallelujah. I'm glad the blood – It's just a little flock. But I'm glad it prevailed for just a little flock. All right. So then, Daniel was down there in Babylon. Now look at the things that was taking place. See. While this great king, Belshazzar, was down there in Babylon, something was taking place. How, in this great city, there was a river called Euphrates. It run diagonally across Babylon. Underneath this great river there was a brass chamber. It was solid brass from one end of Babylon to the other end of Babylon. A great chamber down there and along this great hallway there was banquet rooms and they thought that Babylon was so great that nothing could penetrate it's walls. It was so fabulously made that they didn't believe that anybody could get in. See, Cyrus and his army was on the outside fighting against Babylon and had been out there for many days. They didn't know what to do. They couldn't penetrate the walls of Babylon and see this great king that was in there, he got over confident. Belshazzar, coming from the son of Nebuchadnezzar. See, this man was overconfident. He thought, nobody can penetrate the walls of Babylon. So he just laughed at Cyrus, but when God gets ready to do some-thing, Beloved Friend, God is going to do it. See, God was in the move and God had moved Cyrus to over throw Babylon and though it's walls was impenetrable; yet when God moved, Cyrus just set out on the hill side and let Belshazzar laugh and dance and have a good time, because he knew what was coming. Hallelujah. He had men digging all the time to turn that water. He'd already got his plan. God had already put it in his heart. Is that right? Now then, so something was taking place. Why did God want to over- throw Babylon? Because Belshazzar stood up against God. See, Nebuchadnezzar, the forefather back there, had stood up against God and God had taken him down. Caused him to lose his mind. Let his finger nails grow out like claws and his hair like feathers. God restored him later when he repented of his sins, but see, his son Belshazzar had not repented. He stood up against the God of Gods and he told them while he was having a great feast of many of his Lords, he said go there in the house of God and said all of them beautiful vessels that they brought down here into Babylon when they over threw Jerusalem, said you bring those golden cups out, he said and Belshazzar will show you who is king. And he gave them to his wives and his concubines and he gave them to his Lord, and they had a great feast and just had a hilarious time. And just about the time he turned up one of them to take a good drink, all of a sudden he looked and something began to write on the wall. There was a hand writing on the wall and it said, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. Hallelujah. And the Bible says the old king was so shook up that he stood until his knees knocked together. He had done lost all his kingly priesthood, hadn't he? Said his knees smote together and all of his bones was out of joint. Amen. He called for the wise men and he called for the astrologers and he told them all, said come up here and tell me what's going on. He was a nervous wreck. Isn't that right? All the rest of them was waiting to see what he was going to do and the wise men couldn't help him. The astrologers couldn't help him. Nobody couldn't help him and all of a sudden the Queen said, Look here, said I remember a man. Hallelujah. Come and see a man. Said I remember a man and his name is Daniel. And I remember this man back in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, your father, and I remember when nobody else could interpret the vision, said Daniel was brought and they said the wisdom of God was in Daniel. And Daniel understood the mysteries of God. How many of you believe we ought to understand the mysteries of God? Hallelujah. It saved his life, didn't it? So then, Old Brother Daniel, he came forth. And the King said, Daniel, said would you please tell me what's going on? Hallelujah. He was really shook up. Daniel said, – There came a hand writing on the wall. Said, it said, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. Said, Belshazzar, Said God gave your father a warning. And said he was put out with the beast. And said then when God restored him, he worshipped the God of heaven. Said, but you didn't take warning, Belshazzar. You lifted yourself up against God. Folks, listen, it was in the days of Nebuchadnezzar that the Plains of Dura was brought into vision and the great image was set up in the Plains of Dura, and did you know that this very day that Jimmy Carter is from the Plains of Dura? And the plains of Dura that he is from gets its name from the same Plains of Dura that is in the Bible. Come on now. What are you saying, Brother Pike? I'm saying the world is headed for a confederation. A great confederation of nations, a great confederation of churches. There is something that is about to transpire. It's a union. What kind of union? It's a union where Christ is not the head of it. Heading up into a Babylon. All right. Just come on in, Folks, and have a seat. We are glad to have you. Have you got time to listen just a little bit? All right. So then, here is Daniel. Something is taking place. See, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. A hand writing on the wall. Some- body would say, well, Brother Pike, you mean to tell me that God just created a hand? No. There was an angel somewhere and God didn't do nothing but reveal his hand. That's all. There was an angel standing back there but God just revealed his hand as he wrote on the wall and it shook Belshazzar up. See, the angel of God was there doing the writing, but he didn't let him see nothing but that hand writing on the wall. You know what? I believe that had to do with the ministry. See, there was something that was taking place. He said, Daniel, can you interpret this thing to me? Can you tell me what is going on? Said I'm all shook up. Said if you do I'll make you third ruler in the kingdom. I'll give you scarlet and purple and chains of gold. Daniel said, King you can keep it all. Hallelujah. Said just let your gifts be to another. It's all right with me. I don't have any profit in getting those kinds of things. Said you can just keep that, but he said I will tell you the problem. And so he expounded to him. He said, Belshazzar, this very night God has weight thee in the balance and thou art found wanting. Oh, let me tell you. Don't ever get weighted in the balances of God and be found wanting. Never. Whatever you do repent of your sins, call upon the name of Jesus. Don't wait too late. When God puts you in the balances and you are found wanting trouble comes. It may be the death of your baby. It may be the death of your brother. It might be the death of your wife. your husband, your loved ones. It might be a wreck. It might be a mental break down. It could be some bad affliction. It could be cancer. It could be anything, but when God weighs you in the balance and you are found wanting there is something going to take place. All right. Daniel said, Belshazzar, you've done foolishly. Said, you should have hearkened to the voice of God, but now you have lost your kingdom. O my, you've lost your kingdom. See. Nebuchadnezzar, he walked through the temple that he had built. He walked through the great places where he had art hanging on the wall and he kept saying, look at what I've done. Look at what I've done. And God took him down and put him out with the beast. And when God let his mind come back to him, when he come back and he walked through that great temple and whatever he had built back there, that great kingdom and palace, as he walked through that great thing, he said, look what God done. Look what God done. You know when God takes you down a notch or two, then you'll see what God done. Isn't that right? I'm afraid today that the Presidents, and the Kings, and the Queens, and the rulers of the world has come to the same place and they are standing up saying look what Jimmy Carter done and look what the President done, and look what the King done, and look what the Queen done, and what the great political powers have done. And they are to king the glory away from God. See, the Bible says, God raises up one. God puts down another. God creates the good and the evil. God has His way in both. God works all things after the counsel of His own will. Why not give the glory to God? Why give the glory to men here in this world? The glory belongs to the church, which is the body of Christ. All right. So then, 541, old Belshazzar was having himself a feast and about that time, Cyrus moved in. Everything was still. He came in under the river bed with his armies. He walked in and along this river that run down through Babylon, on one end was a great big beautiful bridge, on the other end was another great big beautiful bridge. On each end of the river was a beautiful palace and then the subterranean hallway underneath of it. See, Belshazzar having his feast, it was on that time at 541 BC that Cyrus moved in there so quietly underneath the walls and right down the dry river bed until he came over to the beautiful gates. See, they had gates up on the top of the banks of this river and history tells us that they had beautiful golden leaves that were so lovely that every time you would open and shut the gate in the sun set that it would look like a blaze of fire, but that very night God had let them forget to lock those gates. So when they came in they just moved silently up the river bed, moved right up on the banks there in Babylon through the open gate right through the subterranean way and killed Belshazzar. Took the kingdom away from him. Now Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. Thou art weighted in the balance and thou art found wanting. And so then, God over threw his kingdom. But now look at that for just a minute. What does the word Mene mean? Mena. There is another word Mina, which is the same thing. It has to do with the same thing. Mena, Mena, it is a money weigh that the Jews used. See, Mena. A money weight that was equal to one thousand gerahs. See, Mena, Mena, two thousand gerahs. Twice. Mena, one thousand. Mena, another. And Tekel was equal to twenty gerahs. Are you listening now? Upharsin was equal to five hundred gerahs. You take all of that, put it together. Figure the numbers of that and see what it brings you up to. Twenty-five hundred and twenty years from the time that God overthrew Babylon and it'll figure right down to 1982, right when the entire Babylonian system of this world, the monetary system of this world will be overthrown because God had told them thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting and this great system of today is the Babylonian system and God is going to do away with it. Now, look at it for just a minute. What does that have to do with nineteen and eighty-two? Did you know it's right down there at the same time, right at the very same time that scientist are predicting a great thing? It was 1482 on October 12th when Columbus discovered America. Now, bring it on over to eighteen hundred or nineteen hundred and eighty-two, October the 12th and you will find it's just exactly according to the fulfillment of Daniel's seventy weeks, the four hundred and ninety years. What has that got to do with it, Brother Pike? It simply means one thing. That America is weighed in the balance and found wanting. The same Nebuchadnezzar, the same Plains of Dura, the same image, the same power of confusion, it's come back again. Now, you say why do you get excited over that? Because it's within four days from that time of eighty-two that scientist has already predicted that the nine planets will be perfectly in line. Unprecedented from the foundation of the world. Never before in the history of the world has it ever done that before in this manner. Every planet, nine of them, shall precisely line up in perfect lineage. And in so doing scientist have predicted that it will affect the sun. It will affect the atmosphere. It will affect all of these things, that is in our day, like our breathing, our eating, all of our activities until this great thing will cause earth-quakes, will cause people to turn into freaks. It will cause things just to be topsy-turvy, until everything that John said in the Book of Revelation will come to pass … tape turned over … Where he said the islands moved out of their places. The mountains moved out of their place. All of these things happened. In nine-teen and eighty-two scientist predicts that in nineteen and eighty-two because of these planets lining up like that there is going to be a convulsion in the earth such as the world has never known before. What is it? The overthrowing of Babylon, God doing away with the Babylon system. See, God is tired of con-fusion. America is just a great big modern confusion. Is that right? Some-thing is taking place. Something is taking place. From the time of Martin Luther, 1517 AD. when he went up to Germany and nailed his ninety-five thesis on the German church door, from that time something has been taking place. You figure up the numerical order of it and when you figure it up it again comes out to seventy, right down to the day again to show that from the time of the reformation that God was doing to the spiritual Jew just exactly what he did to the natural Jew when they went into Babylonian captivity. I wish we had more time just to go into this more thoroughly. Then 1739 AD when a man by the name of George Whitefield started that great move of God that was followed by men like Wesley and then Finney and Moody. A great revival that broke out that came all the way down until the days that we are living in, but it is easy to see that the revival fires are beginning to go out. People are beginning to lose their vision for God and they are beginning to turn to the worldly side of life and become interested in the things of the world. You say, you can't prove that, Brother Pike. But I can prove it because the Bible definitely states that the last church is a Laodicean lukewarm church. They say we are rich and have need of nothing, knowing not that they are naked and wretched and blind. Isn't that right? So then, there is a Laodicean church age. All right. Can we look at it just a few minutes more? Something is taking place. Back there at Mt. Sinai God married Israel. She made her vows to God. She said, I'll honor you. I'll obey you and God took her to wife. But when God took her into Canaan land, gave her the desires of her heart, Brother Taylor, then she sinned against God and she played the whore on God and God put her away … blank place on tape … had to pass over her before her purification. Isn't that right? Look at Nebuchadnezzar in his sin. When he went out into the wilderness, what happened to him? Finger nails grew out like claws. Hair grew out like feathers. And a voice said cut down the trees but leave the stump. Is that right? Said, it is a demand by the decree of the watcher, and said let seven times pass over it. And so then, seven times passed over it. And then after the seven years. Then God picked him up, restored him and his mind came back to him. And God set him on the throne once again. That's what happened to some of you. God picked you up. You had a good mind when you started working for God, but you played around with the devil until you went spiritually insane and now you are wandering around out there with every evil and fowl bird in a cage. Isn't that right? You have lost your spiritual mind. You've got out there in the sins and sorrows of this world and God's going to have to give you a purging to get you out of that stuff and get you back into the kingdom of God so He can restore your mind to you. The Bible says when Jesus went into the land of the Gadarenes. He went over there He restored the man to his right mind. That's what you need to do. See, clothed him in his right mind. Is that right? That's what God is trying to do to some of you. Get you back on the throne again. He that overcometh shall sit down in the throne with Me and my Father. Somebody would say, Brother Pike, it's a mighty big throne. The Bible says heaven is My throne. It's a mighty big place. Is that right? The earth is my foot stool. Lot of room up there for you to overcome and sit down in there with Him. Come on now. All right. Can we look at it just a little further, and I'll close. Got a lot to say but I know I can't say it tonight but I've done held you a long, long time but wait and let me say just a few more words and then we'll ease off and quit. All right now. Look at it. Modern Babylon. We are right back to it again. See. Seven times had to pass over Israel because Israel had done wrong, but did you know that when you figure up the time going back all the way to about seventeen seventy-five. Way back. When you figure up from this period of time you'll find out that God speaking of the seven times passing over Israel that it's happened just according to what he had said. Go back to seven twenty-one when they went down into bondage. Go back to seven, seventy-five, and see that from that time that something is taking place. Bring it all the way over to seventeen and seventy-five and see what you come up with. It was in seventeen and seventy-five that Washington was made the first general. Is that right? Chief of staff back there. It was seventeen and seventy-five. It was seven- teen and seventy-two when the great liberty bell came from over in England and there in Philadelphia they hung it up on a wooden sort of a thing to ring it and in seventeen and seventy-three they rang the Liberties of God out to the people. On that great bell of Liberty it said, Proclaim Liberty to all of the inhabitants of the land. Do you understand what I'm saying? See. America is called the new world. From the time of the reformation, from the time of Martin Luther, God was doing something. See, they were in search of a new world. American is a new world to the Christians. There is no other nation in the history of the world that ever founded their government on Jesus Christ. Christ. Is that right? Except America other than at Mount Sinai when Israel did it. How many of you know that's right? It was at seventeen and seventy-seven that the first Prayer by Reverend J. Dutch was prayed for America in Congress. A beautiful prayer because it was that we should be God's people and that our government should be established upon Christ because we are the true Jew. Paul said, peace unto the true Israel. We are the true Jew. Paul said, he that is a Jew outwardly is not a Jew. There is no such thing as a natural Jew. We only refer to people as Jews because that's the way God did it. But see said he that is a Jew outwardly is not a Jew, but he that is a Jew inwardly is the true Jew. We are the spiritual Jew. God is a spirit. John 4:24 and we are spiritual sons. So America is the world. God has brought us into a new world. Now, you say, Brother Pike, surely you don't believe America is the millennium that God promised to the Jews? No. I believe this. I believe that Israel has to come to that time from about seven seventy-five over to seventeen seventy-five. It does away with the seven time that was to pass over Israel. See, Israel is out of the presence of God, Look at Israel cast out of the presence of God at Calvary. What happened? Seven church ages passes over Israel before she comes back in the end times. Isn't that right? Look at her again when the Bible says seven times is a pass over. Don't Daniel's last week which is seven years pass over? How many of you understand what I'm saying? Seven years of tribulation passed over Israel because that was the period of the purification of the wife after the child was born. She couldn't come back to her husband until that time and the Bible speaks of the man child being born and caught up to the throne. See, before the tribulation, here is a man child being born. What happens? He's caught up to heaven. What does he do? He's caught up. He rides over the tribulation period, sits down in the throne of David out in the millennium and rules with a rod of iron, cause the Bible says he was caught up to the throne. Are you listening to me? What was the Proclamation that was given? In the days of King Artaxerxes, BC 445, Nisan, the month of March, God through Artaxerxes, the King, gave a command, a decree, that Nehemiah, the cup bearer, could get wood from the kings forest and go back and build the walls of Jerusalem to his father. See, there we go fasting again. Old Nehemiah was praying and seeking God. Come before the king and the king said, Nehemiah, why are you so sad? and he said, how can I be happy? He was fasting. He said, How can I be happy? He said, The house of my father has fallen down. Nobody is there to build it up. God's spirit moved. The King said, Nehemiah, go tell them I said give you wood from the King's forest. You go build Jerusalem the way you want to build it. And even though Sanballat, the half breed, fought him, caused him a lot of trouble; yet he built the walls back to the coming of the Messiah. See, it was right there at time for the Babylonian captivity to expire. Daniel had sought it out. He knew what time they was coming out of there. They said the Lord said to Daniel. Said, Daniel, something is about to happen. Said, Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people to make and end of sin. To seal up everlasting righteousness to bring it in and to anoint the most holy. And we don't have time to go into that. But anyway, he said there is seventy weeks. Well, when Daniel began to go to the book of the Prophets and search it out, he found out that in prophecy one day equaled a year. When he figured it all up he had four hundred and ninety years and Daniel begin to realize that there was four hundred and ninety years. History tells us that there wasn't but about five hundred years from the time that Daniel was down there until Calvary, so then four hundred and ninety years. He told Daniel, He said from the going forth of the commandment to build and restore the walls back to the Messiah shall be seven weeks, three score and two weeks. Now, that's four hundred and eighty three years from that time. What time? The going forth of the commandment to restore the walls and build them back to Messiah. See, seven weeks. Seven weeks of the seventy weeks. Forty nine years. Seven weeks. They were building. Building the walls back. The half breeds withstood them. Did you know that is the trouble in the church today? It's not people that love God, but it's lukewarm people. It's half breeds. Back in the olden days, in the west, what caused the trouble? It wasn't the Indians that caused the trouble. It wasn't the white man that caused the trouble. It was the half breeds that caused the trouble. See, half breeds get in between and they don't know where to go and it always causes trouble. You get a person that's lukewarm. He said, I would that you were hot. I would that you were cold, but you get lukewarm and you get to be a half breed. And you are half in and you are half out. You cause the preacher trouble. You cause the congregation trouble. You are out there in the world messing around with the flesh just enough that the devil has got a hold of you and you can't turn a loose that old evil life of lust and you want to get in and get the things of God, and you don't want to leave the church. Somebody say I love Jesus. All right. Just a little bit longer and I promise you I'm going to close. Now. Look at it. Four hundred and eighty three years. Seven weeks, three score and two weeks to the coming of the Messiah. But he said it will be the cutting off of the Messiah. Four hundred and eighty-three years and the Messiah is going to come, but said when the Messiah comes He will be cut off. Then it happened the way that Daniel said it would happen. Glad to have you, sir. Didn't it happen that way? It happened right down to a tee just exactly like Daniel said it would happen. Forty nine years the walls were built. Four hundred and thirty-four years which was the three score and two, there at that time, that time lapsed over to the coming of the Messiah, but the whole thing together, four hundred and eighty-three years brought them right down to the very day that it was suppose to happen. Now, you figure it up. If you figure it according to the Julian calendar it won't work, It won't work. See, our days, it won't work. You can't take the three hundred and sixty-five days, one fourth in a year, and make it work. You can't do it. The Lunar calendar, three hundred and fifty-four days, it won't work. You can't figure it up to where it will come out the way the angels said. How many of you know that? It won't work that way, but you take God's calendar and you look back in the days of Noah and the five months, from the seventeenth day of the second month to the seventeenth day of the seven month, which was five which was in there. A hundred and fifty days. Round it off at thirty days per month and figure it according to God's calendar and Brother, it comes out just exactly to the tee that Jesus Christ came on Palm Sunday, the second day of April, and rose triumphantly into Jerusalem up Palm Sunday road. As a matter of fact, my wife and I were over there looking at Palm Sunday road not too long ago, right there in Jerusalem as we beheld it from the Mount of Olives, as it comes up there toward the golden gate, coming right on up to the beautiful gate, coming right on up the mountain there. Rode in just perfectly. How many of you understand what I'm saying? See, it was the seventh day, on Friday, that the Passover came of that particular year, AD 30. See, it was at that time that they had the Passover and following that brought it right on down to the very time that Jesus rode triumphantly right in to Jerusalem and they crucified Him and Messiah was cut off and when you figure it up it is exactly four hundred and eighty-three years. See, the angel said, four hundred and eighty-three years and then the Messiah shall be cut off. He said and the prince that shall come, which was Titus, the general of Rome. When this princes, 70 AD, he will destroy the city and he shall plow the city like a field and desolation shall be determined upon the city until the abomination is over and when they counted the desolation, that is the desolate lives, the people that had lost their lives. Even Titus stood up and Titus said this, he said, I am not accountable for this. He said, I come in here to fight to overthrow Jerusalem, and I am accountable in killing people, he said, but this great massacre, he said, God did it. They burned the city. He didn't even intend to burn the city. So many people were slaughtered, he said, this is the act of God. Do you understand what I'm saying? Said the prince that shall come shall destroy the city. And until the time of the end, the desolation is already determined. Now, until that which is to be poured out upon the wicked. Now, God only counts time as long as the Jews are in their home land. Now, when the Jews were scattered by Titus, the time stopped. See, there was all of Daniel's prophecy fulfilled, sixty-nine weeks, except for one week left. God scattered the Jews. Didn't count prophetic time anymore and from that time of Calvary on over even 96 AD when John was banished to the isle of Patmos. All of that time, right on down through Constantine's time, right on down through the church ages, he never counted any of it. That was called the times of the Gentiles. How many of you know that in the Bible it speaks of times of the Gentiles. The times of the Gentiles being fulfilled. That is the times of the Gentiles. It is still the times of the Gentiles. But, Brethren, if those planets are coming together in eighty-two, if there was one week left of Daniel, which was seven years, that means we had better get on our toes. If that is going to be the pouring out of God's wrath upon this world and cause this world to go into convulsions that means something is about to happen. That means that Daniel's seventieth week, that last week is right around the corner. That means that great tribulation and that Antichrist, and I spoke of the Plains of Dura, that great image is right around the corner. There is something about to happen. You know and I know right now. That there is an oppression on the church world. They are oppressing seventeen hundred newspapers, trying to get them to stop the voice of freedom. At least a couple of dozen of TV. stations and radio stations, they have stopped them from carrying the gospel. Come on, now. I'm talking about what's happening. Your President, Jimmy Carter, has already signed the paper that says, Brother Pike and you, as a preacher, and you as a testimony for Christ, cannot testify to anybody and try to change them from their religion. It don't make any difference if they are a witch, if they are an atheist, or if they are a hypocrite or whatever you can't tell them to change. He has already signed the papers. What does that mean? Brother that means that God's going to tear their hides up. Let me tell you, God isn't going to let this world go like this, when they tell a preacher that he can't tell somebody they need to get right with God. Somebody say Hallelujah. God is going to do away with this thing. Something is about to take place, folks. We need to get up and be about the Fathers business. Hallelujah. Something is about to happen and we have got to go. We've got to do something. Time is running out. The Bible says redeem the time for the days are evil. Something has got to be done. See, if those kinds of things are happening, where are we standing tonight in the sight of God. Oh, I tell you, this is a dreadful hour. This is a sorrowful time, but the Bible says a great holy time for the Christian. Look up and rejoice, hallelujah, when our redemption draweth nigh. Glory to God. Hallelujah. That change is about to take place. And it's going to take us out of this world. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Somebody say Hallelujah. All right. So then, that means that something is about to take place, Christian Friend. Did you know, would you believe, that in the days of Queen Isabella, King Ferdinand, when they gave the charge to Columbus to come over here, would you believe that that place was before named Tarsus? How many of you know that? The place where he sailed from was before named Tarsus. You say, What has that got to do with it? The prophet even said, the Isles shall wait upon us. Even Tarsus. Isn't that right? And thy sons shall come from afar. And the sons of strangers shall build thy walls. Come on now. And they shall bring their gold and their silver with them. Is that right? Do you remember what happened about 1600 and 1602? You remember when they settled a little place up here where the Pilgrims landed when the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria came over. See. The Isles of Tarsus shall wait for thee. That place was called Tarsus. There they were. The Isles bringing their gold and silver, setting up another government. See, it's so beautifully perfect in everything that God had said would happen. Even the Prophets laid it right to the line. That means that we are right at the end of the world. Folks, this is the end of the world. How many of you believe that this is the end of the world? Sure. This is the end of the world. I just wish we had time to say something about it, but we will tomorrow night if the Lord be willing. I want you to stand with me. So much more I need to say tonight, but you have been a good audience. Can we sing a little song together? My organist is coming. Folks, I want to do something for Jesus, don't you? I don't want to stand before God empty handed. Stand there and the Lord ask me what I'd done with my life, what I'd done with my time, O how beautiful. Just think tonight what if the President of the United States or the King of a great country wrote you a letter and said, I'd like for you to go over into a certain little village and tell them something about me and when you do this I have great honors to bestow upon you. I'm going to invite you into the Palace and array you with beautiful jewels and I want to give you a title like nobody else has got. What would you do? See, and tonight we are the Sons of God. Brother Taylor sings that song, Now, are we the Sons of God. A man child is being born. Hallelujah. God is bringing forth a man child, and did you know that in as much as we are, God is saying in this few minutes that we have got left down here, tell them about me. Go over and tell them about me. And I'm going to take you and you that overcome I'm going to set you down in my throne with Me. Hallelujah. I'm going to set you down in the throne with Me. And I'm going to array you in beautiful, glorious jewels, and I'm going to give you a crown of life if you'll just testify and tell them about me. O, my! And we passed it up. The opportunity is fleeing away, Folks. The tribulation is coming. God said, Israel, go into thy chambers, go into thy chambers until the indignation be passed over. What is that indignation? That's that tribulation period when God gets upset, but see, he's got a little place called Petra. The valley of Petra. Down in the land of Moab and Edom. And the Bible says, these shall escape the hand of the Antichrist. When he puts his hand out over all of the earth, He'll take it into control but the Bible says, Moab and Edom, they are going to escape in the land of Ammon. They're going to escape and it's right there in Edom, that's where the children of Israel wandered so long in the wilderness and there's a place called the valley of Petra. Are you listening? A place called the valley of Petra. It's got an entrance about twelve to forty feet wide and the walls reach way up hundreds of feet into the air and you pass through that little old narrow passage, and then you get back there in a great big place where old ruins are, according to history, back in those old ruins where there was temples, all kind of beautiful colored terrain back there. Red, blue, purple and yellow, all that so beautiful. See, this is the chambers. Go into thy chambers, O Israel. We know that the chamber of the Lord is the name of the Lord. It's a strong tower. The righteous flee into it and they are saved, but I am speaking of natural Israel. And they go back into the valley of Petra and there they are hid away until the indignation is passed over. Tomorrow night if we have a chance I'd like to speak just a little bit concerning the book of Revelation, and what John saw and how it happened. But I want you to think about that. Israel is about ready to go into her chamber. Did you know that the Bible says, they that touch Israel touch the apple of His eye. America has always stood by Israel. She never dared to touch Israel, but she is messing around with Israel now, and did you know that Israel has always reverenced America? Never would speak bad about America, but you know what Israel said just a few days ago? Said America, if you mess with us we'll tell you to mind your own business, You touch Israel, you touch the apple of God's eye. Isn't that right? Everyone that ever rose up against Israel, everyone was always smitten of God. Germany and everyone. And did you know that right at this present time we've got a Communist leader? How many of you know that? You know they are already flying the communist flag in the United States. You know they have already got a communist leader in the U. N., never had one before, but they've got one now. And I've said this before. If you can show me any nation in the world where a communist power or a communist leader ever came in and the blood didn't run, or persecution and sorrow didn't come especially upon the church, I'll lay my Bible down and quit preaching. Brother, America as the old saying goes, has had it. She has gone communist, and I wish I had the time to give you the testimony of Russian Jew. Maybe I will one night, but I tell you what. Your nation is gone. As sure as you live, she is gone. There isn't anything you can do about it, But as He said, O Israel, go into thy chambers until the indignation is passed over, because God is fixing to tear them up. He said, Beware ye that forget God least I tear you into pieces. He said all nations that forget God shall be turned into hell. That takes in America, too. Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. I want you to let's sing this little chorus together. (Brother Pike leads singing of "They that wait upon the Lord".)

By Rev. George Leon Pike Sr.

Founder and first President of Jesus Christ's Eternal Kingdom of Abundant Life, Inc.

Holiness Unto The Lord
