Episode Transcript
Welcome to Countdown. Back to the future. This presentation is going to be one that really interests you, I'm sure. Pompeii and blood on the moon. What on earth is all that about? I want to bring you to the city of Pompeii. It's a fascinating city to visit. We were just there a few weeks ago. Pompeii, of course, is not far from Naples in Italy, down, of course, south of Rome. But Pompeii had very large houses. Some of the homes had piped water in them. Amazing. When you think this is going back 2,000 years ago, you could come down here to the Forum, this is the marketplace, and begin your day of business. Maybe if you were one of the women, you'd come here to the wool merchants, buy some wool and some things for your family so that you could make the clothes and so on. Then, of course, you want to come down to the baker shop to get your bread and lots of bakery shops in this part of Pompeii. Then maybe you were on the run. You know, you're pretty fast, so you're going to get some fast food on the run. Bit like Maccas, you know, fast foods. They had lots of these sort of corner stores throughout the city of Pompeii. Well, in the afternoon, maybe you want to relax, come down here to the theater and watch your favorite actors do drama. If you're more sporty, well, come down here to the great theater that they had to watch the gladiators kill each other, because that was fun for the Romans back then. They enjoyed violence, one of the reasons why Roman civilization collapsed, according to historians like Sir Arnold J. Toynbee. Well, in the evening, you could come to the bathhouse because the Romans had their great bath houses. Cold bath, warm bath, hot bath. All of it was supplied for the people of Rome. Other people had other things to do at night. They found the brothels in Pompeii as well. There are some things that have been discovered in Pompeii that we couldn't show in a program like this. Ever visit the Naples Museum? You'll see what I mean. Some of the things that took place in this city were almost beyond the pale of belief. Someone actually scrawled these words on one of the homes of Pompeii, Sodom and Gomorrah. And archeologists believe this must have been some Jewish people who did this, because the Jews had that in their book, didn't they? The story of Sodom and Gomorrah comes from the Old Testament, the Bible. But that was a bit what life was like in Pompeii. A city given to pleasure, a city of materialism, a city of immorality in many ways. But they had their religion. I guess you have to have some sort of religion to sort of help your conscience a bit. But let me tell you, religion never bothered anybody's conscience in terms of pulling it in the right direction, because, you know, with temple, prostitution and such things with some of the religions of the day, it beggars belief to think what went on in some of these places I mentioned. In Corinth, they had a temple that was believed to be served by a thousand prostitutes. But always in the background in Pompeii was this mountain called Vesuvius, a volcano. It had been dormant for about seven or 800 years. But in AD 62, Mount Vesuvius rumbled and caused an earthquake which destroyed much of the city of Pompeii. But the people went about life as usual, did a bit of rebuilding, but continued life in the fast lane. Then in AD 79, Mount Vesuvius started to rumble yet again. But the people went down their streets, business as usual. And then on August 24, AD 79, Mount Vesuvius just blew its top and it rained red hot pumice on the city of Pompeii for three days and completely buried this city. And archaeologists have been digging it up, excavating it for the last couple of hundred years. And they found the last tragic moments of a city that failed to heed the warning signs. They found the shapes of the bodies of people in contorted stages as they were overwhelmed by this cataclysmic volcano's eruption. What a tragedy that they failed to heed the warning signs. There are great warnings that come to us today from Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. But we'll come back to that toward the end of the presentation. We need to go back to the Book of Revelation. Remember, we saw in the first part of the seven seals, which we looked at in our last presentation, we saw that in the throne room of God. On the throne itself was God the Father, and in his hand he had a scroll book that was sealed with seven seals. We notice that this was the title deeds of something that was purchased. It was the title deeds we discovered of our lost inheritance that was redeemed by Jesus Christ at Calvary. The Lamb, he takes this scroll book and he breaks the seals one by one. We notice. Why does he do that? Because he's seeking to restore to us our lost inheritance, which is what the title deeds stand for. And we notice that for the last 2000 years, Christ has been working toward the return for his people so that they can have the lost inheritance when he returns. We've noticed in the first presentation of the seven seals that there are. This represents seven periods of Christian history. A sweep through time from the cross down to the end. When Jesus returns, each seal that is broken is a step toward his return and and the last empire. Remember, we saw the first three seals. We saw seal number one, the white horse, triumphant Christianity, Christianity on the move, sharing the good news of Jesus from 31 to 100 AD. Then the second seal, the red horse we saw. This represented persecuted Christianity, and this was from 100 to 313 AD. The third seal we noticed was a black horse representing apostate Christianity. Christianity that was being influenced by paganism and pagan teachings, turning away from the word of God. Now we must continue our journey with the fourth seal. We're going to continue the journey through time through the fourth, the fifth, the sixth and the seventh seals. With the fourth seal, John sees a pale horse. The Bible says when he opened, that's the Lamb. When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, come and see. So I looked and behold a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death and Hades, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the the earth. The fourth seal, this represents well what took place in the next period of Christian history. From 538 to 1517, we have what we could call deathly Christianity. What do we mean, death? How come? Well, this first of all was representing spiritual death because sadly, as Christianity took on the teachings of paganism, more and more people lost their life in Christ. Spiritual death. And you he made alive, says Paul, who were dead in trespasses and sins. When we talk about spiritual death, we mean a life that doesn't have the life of Christ in it. It's spiritual death because in him is life and without him there is no life. Life will cease eventually. You he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. So he's saying to his friends, you were once dead in sin, you were living dead in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit, who now works in the sons of disobedience. That's why we find that Jesus said these Words, the words I have spoken to you, they are spirit and they are life. You remember under the third seal, the black horse, what caused the evil to invade the church? We noticed an absence of the word of God brought famine. That's what happened in the third seal. The word of God was being altered and changed in the way it was to be applied. And so evil came in to the Christian church. And so absence of the word of God brings famine. And if famine stays on, if famine keeps up, you're going to have what? Death. In this case, spiritual death. Without the word of God, we become spiritually dead as individuals, as families, as churches, as countries. Spiritually dead, lost in sin. The Bible says. But when people come spiritually dead, they often turn on those who are following the right way and cause physical death. Their idea of how people should be treated shrinks. It's warped. And so they do things that they would never do if they were following Christ and his word. And so we enter in this time, a time of physical death. University history shows us that this period, from 538 down to 1517 as the middle Aged church or the Dark Age church, was a bloodbath, really was. Literally think of the sort of things that took place. For example, we have the Crusades where Christians went to war against Muslims just for the holy places in the Middle east and so on. Tragic, terrible things happen in the name of Christ in the Crusades. It's one reason why it's very hard to help people who are Muslims to come to Christ because of the way they've been treated by Christians. Very hard today because of those things. History is not forgotten too quickly. We have the Hundred Years War where France and England fought over religious wars and so on. During these periods, physical wars taking place and spirituality had a lot to do with these conflicts. We have the Black Death. How come it was that we have these terrible plagues in Europe? Well, one of the reasons was because the word of God was absent. You see, the Bible tells us in the writings of Moses, God gave to Moses how we can have good hygiene. When you get someone's disease, quarantine them, wash your hands after you touch a dead body. When you have been to the toilet in the desert, God says, take a shovel with you because remember Israel traveled through the Sinai Peninsula. Take a spade with you and bury your excreta. God said, it's all there in Moses writings. And if people had reading the Bible, we wouldn't have a lot of these plagues that Europe had. But without the Bible there was no Knowledge of these things. It's shocking the way sometimes people lived back then. Do you know, in some places in Europe during the Dark Ages, the potty was in the kitchen. Nice place for a potty. Right? Well, what are you going to do with this potty when it gets full? Well, you're going to wait till the night to empty it out the window. But the problem is all the other neighbours are doing the same thing. In some parts, people evidently wore some high heels sometimes to keep above this on the streets and so on. This is one of the things that caused so much plague and so on. The unhygiene of the people, very poor understanding of hygiene. But the Bible was full of principles that would have saved lives if only people had been allowed to read the Bible in their own languages. But sadly, the people were turned from reading the Bible that was forbidden to translate the Bible into the languages of the people. So they were without knowledge. And so we have those sorts of things. In other words, it was a bloodbath because of a lack of the word of God. When individuals, when homes, when churches, when nations turn away from the word of God, let me tell you, it'll always end in trouble among people. It's one of the great truths of the Bible. There was the Inquisitions. I'm sure you've heard of the Spanish Inquisition, when godly people in the church, godly priests, godly bishops, godly people in the. In the pews were killed simply because they wanted to read the Bible, they wanted to translate the Bible. Many people lost their lives. Persecution was rampant during this period of Christian history. In fact, Pope John Paul, the beloved Pope, by many of his members, before he died, he had what was known as the act of contrition. It's mentioned in Time magazine. Notice what it says. In the year, the Jubilee year and the season of the Lent, Pope John Paul II confronted the Crusades. That's the wars against the Muslims and so on. The Inquisition, like the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust, that's the Second World War, Holocaust against the Jews and the other horrors. In seeking regret for sins committed by the Church in the past 2,000 years, it's openly acknowledged that, sadly, this is what took place. That's what John was pointing out. Spiritual death, when we have an absence of the word of God, will lead to physical death. People will do things that they normally wouldn't do or certainly wouldn't do if they were really following God. Well, spiritual and physical death leads to eternal death, the ultimate, a lack of being in the last empire. We will not Be there. Notice what the Bible says. You who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world, were by nature children of wrath. That means eternal destruction, just as the others. But you know, even though people were starting to lose their eternal life as well, many people died in Dark age Europe. Dark age Europe, through those Middle Ages, who will never have eternal life because of the absence of the word of God that came into the Christian church. It's a tragedy when you think about it. But thank God he loves us. The Bible says God loves those who are dead in sin. Notice what Paul said. But God, who is rich in mercy, this is after he said, you're dead in trespasses and sins. And the wrath of God is coming on those who hold on to sin and will not let it go. Then he says these words, but. But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace, you have been saved. What a God. Paul in one place says, we were the enemies of God. Jesus died for us. As we've said before, you may run from God, but He'll run after you and I. We may hate God, but He'll love us. We may not even believe there is a God, but he'll believe in us. He'll love us as long till we die, but hoping all the time that we'll respond to that call. Adam, Eve, where are you? I love you. Come to me. Don't leave me out of your life. Because I am the source of life. What a God. God who is rich in mercy. So there we have the third, the fourth seal, the pale horse. Do you notice what's happening? As we go through time? We start with what? A white horse, Church triumphant. Then a red horse, the church in persecution. Then black evil becomes into the church. And if it's kept up, it leads to death. A deathly pale horse, where the rider is called death. What a progression. We don't need to go that way. That's why Jesus is warning us. Don't go that way. Through these four horsemen. Now we move on to the last three seals. But seal number four, 538 to 1517 A.D. what is it? Deathly Christianity. That's what this stood for. Seal number five. John sees souls under the altar. The Bible says when the Lamb, when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then a white robe was given to each of them, and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. Do you see what's happening here? Souls under the altar. What does this mean? You see souls under the altar. This represents the period from 1517 to 1750. The altar is a piece of sanctuary or temple furniture. It's the altar where the animal sacrifices were burnt. The altar, the place where they were killed and their bodies burned and so on. Right here. In other words, John is saying, this represents the fact that followers of Jesus are dying for the cause of Christ. Souls under the altar. They've given their life because of their love for God and of Jesus Christ. That's what he's pointing to now. Persecution broke out markedly from 1517 onwards as many godly people in the Church began to translate the Bible into the languages of the people in large ways. In various countries, people were killed for that. William Tyndale in England, he was strangled by the soldiers of the Church and his body burned. We have terrible persecutions. It's estimated between 5 and 50 million people died through the Dark Ages, but many of them between the time of 1517 through to the 1750s. For example, I'm sure you've heard of St. Bartholomew's Massacre, a terrible thing that happened there in France, where in just one or two days, at least 20 to 30,000 people were just butchered because they just wanted to follow the Bible and they wanted the Scriptures in their own languages and so on. A terrible time of persecution. It went on in France, actually, for about 200 years. The suffering that took place by people of God during this time, we have the Martyrs Memorial. You can go to Oxford. We were there just a few weeks ago as well. And this monument represents the place where three bishops were burnt to death by the Church simply because they were sharing the good news of Jesus and wanted people to have the Scriptures and so on. I like what one of them said. As they were dying, as the flames were starting to lick up around their bodies, this is what he said. Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England, as shall never be put out. That was Hugh Latimer to Ridley, as these men died, burnt to death, a tragic Time indeed. This represents from 1517 down to 1750s, what we call the martyrs of Jesus. When many godly priests and bishops and people in the Church who were calling out for reformation, who were calling the Church to change, come back to the Bible, many of them particularly lost their lives. A tragic time indeed in the history of Christianity. Then John saw under the sixth seal, natural events take place in the world. John says now, I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its le figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded or rolled up as a scroll. When it's rolled up and every mountain and island was moved out of its place, that's an earthquake, right? And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, in other words, all people hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and the rocks and fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, that's the Father. And from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come. And who is able to stand? Wow, that's an amazing seal, the sixth seal, isn't it? But what's he saying? John is telling us here that he saw cosmic events, earthquakes, cosmic events. The sun and the moon and the stars and the. Then he saw Christ return as Jesus comes as King of kings and Lord of lords. Sadly, people will call for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them. Who's that? Well, not God's people, of course. Those who hold on to sin, who cling to it, who will not give it up, who will stay with sin and make it part of their lives, those who don't yield their lives to God, sadly, those are the ones who call for the rocks and the mountains. So from the late 1750s until the coming of Christ, that's what John is seeing here. Now, of course, this is very similar to what Jesus actually said himself when he was here on Earth. You remember, Jesus predicted these same events there in Matthew 24, as he's sitting with his followers overlooking the city of Jerusalem. Remember what he said the Bible says He tells what he gave those signs of his coming, of the end of the world. Notice he gave events from the time of the apostles and the early church. He began with that. The destruction of Jerusalem, the Time of the apostles. Then he moved down into a dark age period of tribulation where persecution would come to the Christian church and on down to the end time events. That's what he gave in broad brush strokes on the Mount of Olives. One thing after another, events dealing with his followers, the apostles and the early church, the Dark Ages and down to the end time events. Let's pick it up as he shares part of this. Jesus said immediately after the tribulation of those days, that's the Dark Ages of terrible persecution, the time of the martyrs and so on. The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, said Jesus. And they will gather together his elect, his friends. In other words, from the four winds, from one end of the heaven to the others. Did you notice what Jesus said? Very similar to what we see in Revelation. Because Jesus, the same Jesus, is sharing now with John some additional features. I want you to notice what happened toward the end of that terrible period of the death of the martyrs, when godly people were dying so much in places like France and other countries. I want you to notice on November 1, 1755, the great Lisbon earthquake took place. Just as we come toward the end of this period. This earthquake seemed to usher in all the other earthquakes that have been taking place since as a massive earthquake. It happened on All Saints Day there in Portugal, in Lisbon. The Lisbon earthquake is estimated, had a magnitude of 8.5 to 9 on the Richter scale. That's not a little earthquake, a massive quake. In fact, it's estimated that somewhere between 10,000 to 100,000 deaths resulted from this earthquake and the tsunami that followed. Because, as you know, when an earthquake takes place near the coast, it usually is followed by a tsunami. They sure had one. It was 20 meters high in some places, and it went 240 kilometers inland in some parts of Portugal as well. And a massive earthquake and tsunami, it was felt not only in Europe, but in the Americas as well. So powerful a quake that took place there in 1755. Then, not long after May 19, 1780, there occurred what is known to historians, the dark day. We're told that in places in North America, the sun rose, as it usually does. But then, around about 9 o', clock, 10 o' clock in the morning, things began to get mysteriously dark. The cows went back to the barn. The animals, the fowls and so on went back to the roost. And we're only looking at 10 or 11 o' clock in the morning. That night, the moon appeared a blood red color. Notice what historians tell us about this event. The sun rose clear and bright and about nine darkness gradually developed. Go on to tell us. This extraordinary darkness came on between the hours of 10 and 11am and continued till the middle of the next night. Now, of course, this is written by Professor Samuel Williams. So this is recorded by people who were there at the time. Notice once more that evening the moon appeared a blood red and the earth was wrapped in imperial, impenetrable darkness. Religious people, he said, thought it a direct fulfillment of Bible prophecy. I guess you would. You'd be thinking of Revelation, chapter six. You'd be thinking of Matthew 24, the words of Jesus in both places. Because Jesus gave the revelation and Jesus spoke the words to his followers on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem. Scientists conjectured, they suggested they thought it was caused to have been from smoke from fires on the frontier. Well, whatever it was, it happened right on time. Whatever the cause was, they're not sure, but right on time after this massive earthquake comes this dark day. And then a few years later, we have the falling of the stars that took place, known as the great leonid shower of 1833. Do you know that they tell us that these stars fell at the rate of 100,000 meteors per hour? This is not. Hey, there's a shooting star. Five minutes later, there's another one. This is like rain, just these meteors falling down like a shower of rain lasted for nine hours. An incredible display. Notice what someone wrote about this at the time. No philosopher or scholar has told or recorded an event, I suppose, like that of yesterday morning. A prophet 1800 years ago foretold it exactly. John the Revelator. Amazing. You know, sometimes people don't even mention these things. But the point is they happen in a certain order. Earthquake, dark day, falling of the stars. What's going on? Supernatural signs, events, cosmic events that took place. So seal number six represents from 1750s down to the second coming of Jesus when he comes as part of that sixth seal. What does John notice next? Of course, this is the cosmic signs or the indicators of Christ's return. This period, we're moving toward the end, right down to number seven seal. Now, after this, we could have the Question here. Why did those things happen? Why was it that people called for the rocks and the mountains? Why was it that these things were taking place? Because of the next seal. Seal number seven. Silence in heaven. What does this mean? How come silence took place in heaven? Let's read what happened when Jesus breaks the seventh seal. When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven. And for about half an hour, seal number seven, quiet. Why was it quiet in heaven? How come? Why silence in heaven? Well, you will recall of just what has happened. The return of Jesus Christ. Now, what's going to happen when Jesus returns? The Bible says when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels are coming with him, so heaven's going to be empty. They're all coming with Jesus. Why are they coming? How come all the angels are coming out of heaven? Those two thirds on the side of Jesus, remember one third sided with the dragon. How come the two thirds are coming with Jesus? Well, here's why. He will send Jesus will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect. He's coming for his kids. He's coming for his children. He's coming for you and me. If we put our life in the hand of Christ, if we've given him our life, he's coming for us. He's coming to give us our lost inheritance. Coming to take us home. He's going to restore to us the last empire. Going to give us our lost inheritance. That is the last empire. And what an empire is. No tears, no pain, no sorrow, no death. That's why there's silence in heaven. Because heaven is empty. Everybody's coming with Jesus. Nobody's there to sing, nobody's there to praise God. They're all coming to pick up his kids. He's coming to gather his people. Silence in heaven. So seal number seven, from the second coming of Jesus down to the fact that God gives people their home in heaven. What an amazing thing. Seal number seven, Christ comes to gather his children, hence the silence in heaven. What an amazing thing. You know, we've just very quickly traced down through time various events from the cross to the coming that lead us to when we have our lost inheritance, what those title deeds stand for, redeemed to us by Jesus. Death on Calvary. But as we've seen, these are not the only signs. Jesus gave a bunch of signs to say this is when you'll see. He's going to come. Remember wars and rumors of wars we saw, and the nations today are gathering for war. I mentioned in a previous presentation that Europe is starting to rearm again because of the concerns they have from the east, from Russia. Nations are gathering and building up their armaments. The Chinese are building up their naval forces quite strongly today, as Jesus said, people are preparing for war. Nations are angry. They're starting to warm things up. Earthquakes are on the increase, are on the rise. We saw famines. Many people hardly get a chance in life because of famines in their country. Pestilences are increasing. The superbugs are coming. That scientists tell us COVID 19 is not the last one. More is on the way. They tell us we're near the end. That's what these prophecies are telling us, my friend, we're nearing the end. This thing's not going to go on and on and on forever. There's coming an end point. Jesus is coming to give his friends their lost inheritance. He's coming to take them home. He wants them to be with him. Jesus is coming again. God gave us these indicators so we could prepare, we could make course corrections, be ready for what is going to take place. And so it was that Pompeii rose to a new day of life. People Got up on August 24, AD 79. Many of them no doubt came down these very streets. Massive city to do business as usual there in Pompeii. Others of them no doubt came to do sports and pleasures as usual, and down to the brothels, over to the sports arena, over to the theaters to watch their favorite drama. Probably some of them came to see the psychics. The psychics would read the future, they said, by the dust patterns in their bowls and basins, maybe. But they couldn't even tell what was going to happen in a couple of hours time. They didn't have a clue. It was all just guesswork. And then it happened. August 24, AD 79. Mount Vesuvius just blew its top, as we said, and it rained red hot pumice on that city for three days. I want you to imagine what it must have been like there in Pompeii on that day. And other cities around the coast, like Herculaneum, which was also overcome by this great catastrophe. Imagine people trying to rush out of the city gate to run for their life, to get out of this place, because it was being just overtaken. They tried to leave these very gates, but they left it too late. And they discovered the bodies, or at least the shapes of the bodies of the people who left things too late. The tragedy of not listening to the warning signs. I Can imagine some people came down here to the baker shop to get their bread that morning, get the bread for the family. Well, they found the bread 2000 years later there in Pompeii. But the people who came to get it, they perished in this great conflagration. The tragedy of not heeding the warning signs. Can you imagine what it must have been like for the priests of the temple here, of Apollo rushing back to get their sacred objects of religion, their statues, their idols, their paraphernalia. But they left it too late. They perished in Pompeii. The tragedy of not listening to the warning signs. I can almost imagine Pansas, here's his house. Imagine him running back to get some of his objects of art. But he left it too late and he perished in Pompeii. The tragedy of not listening to the warning signs. Pompeii has great lessons to teach all of us. And you know, today, this prophecy that we've looked at, these seven seals in these last two presentations, this one and the previous one, they show us that we're near the end. We're moving steadily toward the day when Jesus comes for his friends. What about us? Are we ready? Are you and I listening to the warning signs? Are we ready? When the rock strikes the image, the statue on the feet, Are we ready for Jesus to come? That's the question, the most important question that any of us can address. What must we do to be ready for the coming of Jesus when he brings to his friends their lost inheritance? I think probably there's no more simple story to show us how to be ready than that of Stuart Hamblin. Who was Stuart Hamblin? Well, Stuart Hamblin was a country and western singer. He was always the bad guy in the cowboy films back in the 1930s and 40s he played that part. But he had a country and western show radio program in Los Angeles back in the 1940s. And in 1949, Billy Graham, that great preacher, ran an evangelistic meeting there in Los Angeles in a big tent. And Susie Hamlin was a Christian lady who loved Jesus, and she asked her husband to take her to these meetings. And so Stuart took his wife. Well, Stuart loved the fiery preaching of the young preacher. Billy Graham at the time, very young at that time, he enjoyed it. But one night, as Billy Graham was speaking, the Holy Spirit began to convict Stuart Hamlem of his sin of his life. Because he was living a fairly way out sort of a life at this time. He was often drunk and the radio station had to bail him out a Number of times out of jail because of his drunkenness. They still wanted him on the radio show. He lived a pretty wild life. And the Holy Spirit began to speak to him about how he was living life in the fast lane and not listening to what God was trying to say to him. God began to tug on his heart that evening as Billy Graham began to speak. And Stuart Hamlin got up in that program, marched out of the tent. And as he went past Billy Graham, he sort of shook his fist. And as he went out, the tent, must have gone outside, waited for his wife. And when Susie came out after the end of the program, they drove home. In the middle of the night, Stuart Hamlin was awakened. He woke his wife up, and he said, susie, Susie, wake up. I need you to pray for me. God is calling me. He's trying to grab hold of me to say, give me your life. So he and Susie knelt down and Stuart Hamblemont gave his life to God that night. He was so excited that God had accepted him that he drove halfway across the city of Los Angeles to go to Billy Graham's motel and wake him up and tell him the news. Next day, Stuart Hamlin got on the radio program that he was running and said, hey, you people in here in Los Angeles, you need to get down to that tent and listen to that young preacher guy, because he's changed my life through what he's sharing, and God has taken control of my life. Well, that's one of the reasons that Billy Graham's crowds began to increase, because of Stuart Hamlin being changed in his life when Christ came in. A few weeks later, Stuart Hamlin is walking down the street with his friend John Wayne. I'm sure you've heard of John Wayne. Always played the cowboy, didn't he? He liked to play in the cowboy movies and so on. They're walking down the street together, and John Wayne says to Stuart, who's his friend, he says, stuart, what's this I hear that you've got God in your life? Well, said Stuart, it's no secret, John, what God can do. And John Wayne responded to Stuart, stuart, you should put those words to song. And Stuart Hamlin wrote that song, which says, it is no secret what God can do. What he's done for others, he'll do for you. With arms wide open, he'll pardon you. It is no secret what God can do. And, my friend, that's how you get ready for Jesus to come. That's how you and I can be prepared for the greatest event of the ages. To which these seven seals are pointing us to down through the ages. Jesus is working toward the time when he comes for his friends. You can be part of that. You and I can be in God's forever empire if we just put our life in the hands of this Jesus. I think we should pause to pray and thank God for these amazing prophecies and for his great love that he loves us with. Let's bow together in prayer. Oh Father, you are a wonderful God. You have such patience for us. You love us with a love that's exhaustless, a love that's infinite. Lord, may we be like Stuart Hamblin. May we yield to this God who loves us and say, lord Jesus, come into my life. My life is empty, it's hollow. I have no peace. I have no assurance of eternal life. But I want Christ may right now we just put our lives in your hands by saying, jesus, come into my life and thank you Lord. When people do that, those watching right now, they can have Christ in their life and be ready for Jesus to come. We thank you that this is not fairy tales. This is the real thing. Jesus said, he who has the son has life. And thank you Lord. If we invite you into our life right now, we're ready for Jesus to come. We thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Well, we're so glad that you were able to be with us for this presentation countdown Back to the future. We don't want you to miss our next presentation. One of the most important in our series, Omens of Allegiance. What's all that about? Well, you'll see. We're going to be talking about rest for human restlessness. You won't want to miss that. Invite a friend to watch the series with you. Send them a link. Invite them to watch 3 ABN as we continue the series countdown Back to the future. We look forward to seeing you then.
