In this sermon, the preacher focuses on two characteristics of the end times mentioned in the Bible. The first characteristic is that people will run to and fro, which is seen in the modern means of transportation like cars and airplanes. The second characteristic is the increase in knowledge, with the preacher emphasizing that knowledge is growing rapidly in various fields. The preacher also references verses from the book of Joel and the book of Matthew to support his points. The sermon concludes with a mention of the prophet Daniel and his rest, and a question about the timing of the end of these wonders.

Well, it's a pleasure to see you all out tonight, the last night of the meeting, meetings. I can say that it's been a real joy to be with you and to minister the Word of God amongst you, to see your interest, and I want to compliment you. I think you've done very well coming out as often as you have, with all the work and everything else. I think the Lord has been with us, and I'm sure that, you know, the Bible tells us, he that watereth shall be watered himself. You know, sometimes you think, well, it's only the listeners that are getting anything out of it, but you know, the preacher is getting a lot out of it too. And I know that I've gotten a lot out of these studies myself, because I've really been going into it. And of course, it's the first time I've ever used the chart, so you have the privilege of being the ones that were, it was broken in on. One preacher said, you don't preach a sermon really the way it should be preached until you've preached it 50 times. So, I hope that after I've had about 49 other series on this chart, I'll be able to come here for the 50th time, and perhaps we'll get a little more out of it. But it's been a real joy to be with you, and tomorrow, I'm going home tonight after the meeting, and then tomorrow morning, I'll leave for North Dakota, and hope to be there by tomorrow night and start meetings on Sunday night with our brother, Ben Tuninger, for a couple of weeks. I think we're going to use our chart, the two roads and the two destinies. And so, we will value your prayers as we are up there in that little area. It's a farming area, small assembly, but they have a desire to see something done. We hope that God will bless and use us. I might just say that our brother Fred and Fern this afternoon and I this morning were able to visit our brother Guy, and he was conscious. He talked with us. His voice and his tongue was a little thick, and his memory was not quite as clear as it used to be, but we were pleasantly surprised to see that he did recover his consciousness, and he was able to talk with us, and we think he recognized us. We're sure he recognized us, although he did not mention any of our names. Our sister Fern thinks his pulse was a little weaker, but you can talk to them more about it later. We're very happy to see the progress that he has made. And then we also saw our sister Viola, and she is also encouraged, and she hopes to be home in the near future. So, let us remember these in prayer, our brother Dick Wood and Sister Caddock and others who are ill. Let us remember them, and let us continue to pray for them. Now, let us turn to Daniel, chapter 11. We're just going to catch up a little bit tonight, and go on to the end of this book of Daniel. Daniel, chapter 11, and I want to read from the 36th verse of Daniel, chapter 11. It says, And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished. For that that is determined shall be done, neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces, and a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold and silver, and with precious stones and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strongholds with a strange God, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory, and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. And the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps, but tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. 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 await, 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 swear by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a time times and a 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. May the Lord bless to us the reading of his words. Shall we just look to the Lord in prayer? Our Father, we thank thee now for all who are here tonight. We ask thy blessing upon each one. We thank thee for the nights that we've spent together, and we thank thee for the things that thou hast brought before us from thy word. We pray that we may not be forgetful hearers of thy word, but that it may stimulate us as we realize we are living on the very threshold of these things which are about to come to pass. And so we pray for help in ministering thy word tonight, that thou will give blessing, and to thee we'll give thanks and praise, since we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Now, as we come to the last night of these meetings, I thought it would be good for just give a brief resume. Not in detail, but just give you a little brief resume leading up to where we are tonight. Now, as you notice on this chart, it is the chart on the outline of the book of Daniel the prophet. And that, of course, is the title that our Lord Jesus Christ gave to this man Daniel hundreds of years after Daniel was gone. He called him Daniel the And we want to make mention that the prophecies that Daniel gives in his book are especially concerning his people, the people of Israel. The people of Israel in relation to the nations of the world. You notice on this chart we have the expression, the times of the Gentiles. Now, that word Gentile simply means nations. It means all other nationalities except the Jews. The Jews were a distinct people from all the nations of the world. There were the Jews and there were the nations. And so the visions that we have, or the prophecies that we have in this book are concerning the times that the Gentiles or the nations were going to rule over the world and especially over the land of Palestine and the city of Jerusalem and the people, the Jews. Now, as we mentioned, Daniel saw nothing about you and me. Daniel saw nothing about this age in which you and I live. This present age is a mystery age. It is a secret which was not known in the Old Testament and was only revealed after the Jews had rejected their Messiah, after they had crucified Christ. Why then God's time clock with the Jews stopped, and for the last 1900 years since Jesus died and rose again and ascended to heaven, and ten days after he ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost, and he has been forming the church. And that work is going to continue until the church is complete, and then the Lord Jesus will take out of this world that church, those who are saved, and the clock of prophecy will again begin. Now, as we mentioned, above this blue line here, everything has been fulfilled. In every one of the chapters, it has all been fulfilled, in all 12 of those chapters. But in all 12 of the chapters, there is also an indication of this last period of time, a time which the Bible speaks of as about seven years, and these are years, or events, that are yet to be fulfilled. I remember the first time I ever came to Iowa, I think it was just shortly after World War II, and the seats were hard to get on the train. I got on the train in Chicago, and I was coming to Atlantic. And I remember that as I left Chicago, I of course, you know, that train stopped every so often, and as it passed through the small towns from Des Moines going on to Atlantic, as I passed the small towns, they just flashed by. But you know, it stopped in Davenport, it stopped in Newton, it was a train, you might say, that was traveling on a schedule, and it would stop in various places. Now, we know there are trains, or were trains like that, that passengers rode on, that traveled as it were on a schedule. Now, sometimes a train traveling on a schedule would be going along, and then it would be pulled off on a siding, and it would sit on a siding, because a special train was going to go through from a place like Chicago, perhaps to a place like California. But that train being a special, and being an express, the one train would be put off on a siding, and it would wait on that siding while that other train sped through. And when that other train passed by, why then, of course, that train comes off the siding, and it begins its journey, continues its journey. Well, that train traveling according to schedule is like Israel, you know. They were going along, point after point, until they came to a place where they crucified Christ, and God put Israel as a nation on a siding, and now there's an express going through. In other words, a company of people are being called by means of the gospel, they're being brought to the Lord Jesus, they're being saved, and when this train goes through, when this purpose is fulfilled, why that train will come off the siding again, Israel will come as it were off the siding, and this last seven years of the tribulation period will be fulfilled, and will be climaxed by the coming of Christ. Now, so we want to understand that in Daniel, we don't have anything about this period of time. We don't have anything about the church. We don't have anything about what God is doing in this present time. All that Daniel saw was from this point to that, and from that point to there. He saw nothing about this age. So it is concerning the times of the Gentiles, and we saw how that was brought before us in the vision that was given, or the dream that was given to Nebuchadnezzar, of the four kingdoms that were to rise one after the other, and the last form of that kingdom at the time of the end would be a ten-kingdom empire, and that ten-kingdom empire would be destroyed by a stone that would fall from heaven, which would destroy that image, grind it to powder, the wind would come along and blow it away, and that stone would become a great mountain filling the earth, and the Lord tells us in the second chapter of Daniel that the God will establish a kingdom which shall never pass away, which we know is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ presented to us in this little part. Now, just very briefly, in Daniel's vision of those kingdoms, Daniel saw an addition. Daniel saw that those ten kings would be ruled over by a superman who is called the little horn. God calls him a little horn because he is going to be a power, a person of intelligence, and this person would be of superhuman ability. He would be energized by Satan. He will consolidate these ten kingdoms. He will be a military genius, a political genius, an economic genius, an international genius who will harmonize and bring those ten kingdoms into a unified form that will make them perhaps the most powerful unity upon the face of the earth. And then in the eighth chapter, he brings before us that there is going to be an enemy who is going to arise against Israel, and that enemy would be to the north of Palestine. He is known as the Assyrian in Isaiah chapter 10, in Micah chapter 5. He is known as the little horn in Daniel 8, and he is known as the king of the north, as we were speaking of him last night in the 11th chapter of Daniel. And then we saw how that with this enemy against them, there is going to rise one amongst them, and that's what we are speaking about tonight from Daniel chapter 11. We were speaking last night about the end to Christ, who is going to rise in the land of Israel. He is going to be their king, and he is going to be the one who is going to make an agreement with this political head of the west, and a covenant is going to be formed of which we read when we were speaking about the ninth chapter. And this covenant is a covenant of protection under which this king, this political head, agrees to allow them to carry on their worship, to function and be preserved. I don't know exactly what he'll get in return for that agreement, but undoubtedly he'll get something perhaps. He will be guaranteed or promised the resources of Palestine, because we know that Palestine is a land that is wealthy in oil, it is wealthy in minerals, it is wealthy in chemicals. And living as we are in a mechanical, technical age like we are, when chemicals and minerals and these things are becoming of such vital importance and necessity, we can understand how this agreement would be a mutual agreement. But it tells us that as we read in the ninth chapter, he is there going to form a covenant, an agreement which will undoubtedly guarantee that the people of Israel will be preserved and kept secure from this enemy who is to the north of them. Now they also have an enemy to the south of them, as we are going to see. And as we read last night in the king of the south, the king of the south we saw was Egypt, and the king of the north we know is Syria. And this in turn is backed by a powerful ally, one who supplies them with the necessities and helps them, and who is a powerful ally to them. Because we read, we read in Daniel chapter 8, that this person has power, but it's not his own power. In other words, he's got a force behind him. And we know how today in the Middle East, Russia is seeking to gain more and more of a foothold, and how they are strengthening Egypt for instance. Well, undoubtedly the king of the north will also have an ally. I don't know whether it will be Russia, I don't know whether it will be China, but I'm quite sure that it'll be one of those two powers. And so we find that in the middle of this tribulation period, in the middle of the seven years, we find that this beast, this political head, does away with all religion. Not only in Christendom, but he does away with all religion in Judaism as well. In other words, he does away with their sacrifices, causes their sacrifices to cease. He has an image of himself set up. The antichrist declares that he is God, and so here he commands all to worship. And as we were reading last night from the 13th chapter of the book of Revelation, all will have to receive a mark in their forehead or in their hand or they won't be able to buy or sell. Whosoever will not bow to and acknowledge this beast, this political head, why of course he will have to be put to death or he will flee for his life. And so we find when we come to the 11th chapter of Daniel, this is where we were when we stopped last night, where we saw that the antichrist is exalted and the antichrist is an agreement with this political head and how he causes him to be worshipped as we have in the 39th verse. And then in the 40th verse we find that action begins. Now the Bible tells us that there is going to be a war that is going to be so devastating and so awful, a war such as the world has never seen. A war that is going to involve, as we will notice in a little while, such tremendous numbers of people that the world has never seen anything like it. And here I believe in this 40th verse is how this war is going to start. It tells us here in the 40th verse, and at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him. Now who is he going to push against? He's going to push against the antichrist, the one who is the king in Palestine, the one who has done away with the worship of the Jews and has set up the image of the beast in the temple and no doubt set about, just as our president discovered in China and just as other dictators have done, we know from the last world war as well as from Russia when Stalin was in control, everybody put the state first, everybody put Hitler first, everybody honored and acknowledged Hitler, away with all religion. Religion was driven into the underground. The same in Russia when Stalin was in control. It was statues of Stalin, it was pictures of Stalin, it was allegiance to Stalin, it was honor to Stalin and just as it is in China today. Well I believe that God gives us, as it were, specimens of what is going to happen. Those of us who lived during world war two, we remember how people actually called Hitler a beast because he recognized no laws, he recognized no principles, he formed his own laws, he carried on his own principles, he did what he wanted and the result was that there was nobody that could control him. He formed his own laws. Well that's just specimens to us of what this person is going to be who renounces God, who does not acknowledge anybody but himself and so we find in the middle of this tribulation period when this image is set up, we find that the king of the south pushes at him, that's Egypt. Now we know that today Egypt is threatening to fight Israel. Egypt today is saying well we're going to fight Israel, we're going to drive them out of the land that they possess, we're going to regain everything that we wanted. Well so far Egypt hasn't been able to do anything, they haven't dared to do anything but the Bible tells us here when this event happens, it tells us the king of Egypt shall push at him but it also says the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships. Now here we have also from the north, the king of the north, Syria coming against him. We find this Grecian horn, we find this horn who is the enemy of Israel, he comes against him with such tremendous power it says he shall enter into the countries and shall overflow and pass over, he shall enter also into the glorious land and many countries shall be overthrown. Now you know we're not left in doubt, the Bible gives us another graphic description of this event if you'll just turn to the prophecy of Joel for a few moments. Hosea is after the book of Daniel and after the book of Hosea comes the book of Joel, just two books after the book of Daniel. And notice here we have a description of the army that is coming against this king in Jerusalem, against the Antichrist. Now notice in Joel chapter 2 and verse 1 he says, Ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain, that all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand, a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains, a great people and a strong. There hath not ever been the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. Yea, and nothing shall escape them. Now I want you to notice the description that he gives of them. Now you know this was given of course in the ancient days when they had only horses and chariots and so on. They didn't have any modern mechanized warfare, but I want you to notice how the prophet describes it. He doesn't say it was horses. He doesn't say they are riding actual horses and chariots. Notice what he says. He says, The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen so shall they run, like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble. As a strong people set in battle array, before their face the people shall be much pained. All faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men. They shall climb the wall. What climbs the wall? The instruments that these men are using. What more graphic picture you might say of our modern tanks? They shall run like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains. They shall run like mighty men. They shall climb the wall like men of war. They shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks. Neither shall one thrust another. They shall walk every one in his path, and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city. They shall run upon the wall. They shall climb up upon the houses. They shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them. The heavens shall tremble. The sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army. Now, these armies of the king of the north are the Lord's armies. In other words, the Lord is going to use this king of the north to chasten the people of Israel because they have rejected Christ, but because they have accepted the antichrist, and they have debased themselves to the grossest immorality, the idolatry rather, and so the Lord is leading this army. Oh, you say, well, that can't be so. Well, just turn for a moment to the tenth chapter of Isaiah where you have the same army, and notice what is brought out here in the tenth chapter of Isaiah where we have a description of this same army. He says in the fifth verse of the tenth chapter of Isaiah, O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the street. And then notice in the thirteenth verse, or the twelfth verse, Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion, and on Jerusalem I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks, for he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent, and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man, and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith, or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it, as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood? Now there you have brought before us, the Lord says, I'll use them, I'll use them until they accomplish my purpose. And what is his purpose? His purpose is to bring this nation of Israel down to its knees. Because if you look at the book of Joel, back again to the second chapter, and notice in the 11th verse where we stop for a moment, it says, The Lord shall utter his voice before his army, for his camp is very great, for he is strong that executeth his word, for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it? Therefore also now saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents of them of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return, and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God? You see, his object in punishing this nation with this terrible catastrophe is that he might bring this nation to repentance. That's what God's object always is. It's to bring people to repentance, to bring people to the place where they'll humble themselves and acknowledge their sins, and turn to him. That's why God does some of the things that he does in some of our lives today. People wonder, well, why does God send this into my life? If there is a God, why does he allow this to come into my life? Why does God strike me with this sickness and lay me down upon my back? Or why does God take this loved one away from me and leave me all to myself? Why does God do this? You know why God does that, my friend? Because God loves us, and because God wants us to face the fact that we're going to meet him, and that we need to get right with him. That we need to humble ourselves, and confess our sins, and accept his son who died for us as our own personal savior, so that God might bring you and me into real and true and lasting blessing. And so here we find that this army of this king of the north comes into the land of Israel. He overflows it. He overpowers it. And not only that, but you notice in the 42nd verse it says, he shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He's so powerful that he even goes down to the land of Egypt and overcomes the king of Egypt. And it tells us here, but he shall have power over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. And the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps, but tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Now what is this? Well I believe my friends that this is that which introduces and brings the other nations of the world into the conflict. I believe that as this king of the north comes down into Palestine, and sweeps over Palestine, and takes as it were the very best, and takes all of Palestine, and goes down into Egypt, and into other countries, and is victorious everywhere, the antichrist of course in Jerusalem, it doesn't seem that he has been reached by this king of the north. The antichrist no doubt sends for his ally, and I believe that when it says tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Now what are those tidings out of the east? You must remember it's east of the land of Palestine, and it's north of the land of Palestine. And if you'll look at your map, you'll notice that from the east there can come a great force. Now as I mentioned there are two books that work together. One is the book of Daniel, and the other is the book of the Revelation. Now let's turn for a moment to the book of Revelation, and I want you to notice two portions of scripture that we have here. One in the ninth chapter of Revelation. In the ninth chapter of Revelation, and notice it says in the 13th verse of the ninth chapter of Revelation, it says, And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed which were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand. Now you know friends, the Greeks of course, they had no word for millennium, or millions. So they described it this way, two hundred thousand, and then another thousand behind that. So of course two hundred with six zeros behind it means two hundred million. Now here we have an army of two hundred million, and it says I heard the number of them, and I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them having breastplates of fire and of jacinth and brimstone, and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions, and out of the mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths, and so on. Now here we have a graphic description of modern warfare, of modern armaments. We don't want to think that these are actual creatures with horses, with heads like horse, like lions, but as we think of out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone, it reminds us, or it enlightens us, and shows us our modern methods of warfare, our modern instruments of warfare. And if you turn to the 16th chapter of Revelation where you have the same thing brought before you, notice in the 16th chapter of Revelation, the 12th verse, it says, The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, just like we find in the ninth chapter of Revelation, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. Now here we have where the army of the 200 millions comes from. It comes from the east. In other words, it comes from the powers like China, Japan, and India, which I expect to be unified and working together before all this trouble in the east, or the far east, is finally settled. I'm looking for a combination of Japan and China and India, all to be brought together, or at least two of them to be brought together to form a force of this power. And notice, I saw three unclean beasts like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophets, for they are the spirits of devils, working miracles which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Now what do we have here just briefly? In Revelation 9 and 16, what we have brought before us is we have a tremendous force of 200 million men coming from the east, and we have the frogs symbolizing the propaganda power of the false prophet and the beast, and the dragon, the devil, and they are gathering their two forces together for the great day of the battle of Armageddon. Now if you'll turn to Joel chapter 3, in Joel chapter 2, you have the king of the north coming against Palestine. But in Joel chapter 3, you have this that we are talking about. And notice in the ninth verse of Joel chapter 3 what it says, Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles, or the nations, prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up, beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I am strong, assemble yourselves, and come, all ye, not heathen, but all ye nations, because it's the word that is nations in the original, all ye nations, and gather yourselves together round about. Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the nations be awakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come get you down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. What do we find? Well, I believe that what we find in Daniel chapter 11 is what is brought before us in Revelation 9 and verse 16, and also in Joel chapter 3. What is that? In Daniel 11 it says, tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. What are those tidings? I suggest that those tidings is that out of the east is coming this tremendous force, coming into the land of Palestine, and from the northern areas coming the armies of the western empire, and they're coming together. And what are they coming together for? They're coming together for that last great conflict, that which the Bible speaks of as the battle of Armageddon, when multitudes are gathered together in the valley of decision. And there, my friends, what men have been afraid of would be fulfilled. If men were left to themselves with their modern armaments, they would annihilate themselves. They would destroy themselves. Here we find this king of the north. He goes back. It says, therefore, he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many. He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. Before he can get to that battle, before he can get to these great enemies, what has happened? Well, what has happened, my friend, is what we read in the 19th chapter of Revelation. The Lord Jesus Christ comes, followed by the armies of heaven. Because you notice in Joel chapter 3 where we read, it says in Joel chapter 3 and verse 15, it says, The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake. But the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel. Now turn for a moment to Matthew chapter 24, and we'll have the actual words of the Lord Jesus himself, where you'll notice in the 28th verse of Matthew 24, you have these words, For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. What does that mean? Where the carcass is. The carcass is apostate Israel, which has given itself up to worship the beast and the Antichrist. It's a lifeless carcass, and the eagles are the nations of the world from the east and from the west. They're all gathered together there, just like we have been reading in Daniel 11, like we have been reading in Joel 3, like we have been reading in Revelation 9 and 16. All the nations of the world from the east and from the west gathered together for that last great conflict. But it says, Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, and a star shall fall from heaven. The very thing that we read in Joel. The powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back accompanied by tremendous celestial changes. The sun, the moon, and the stars are all going to be affected. And it tells us here, Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And of course, when we turn to the 19th chapter of Revelation, we find more details about it. Notice in Revelation chapter 19, we have the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It says in the 11th verse, I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture, dipped in blood. His name is called the Word of God. That's the Lord Jesus. The armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses. Now of course, let's not think of those literal horses. Somebody says, well, there are horses in heaven, aren't there? No, friends, there are no horses in heaven. This book of Revelation is a book of symbols. And being on white horses, the symbol of it is that they are coming in victorious power. They're not literal horses. But we're coming, the armies in heaven are following him. This is the believers who have been caught up to be whipped crank at the end of this age. Why, we're coming with him in glory and in power, clothed in linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. And you see how the angel calls the birds of the air, come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beasts and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. In other words, friends, they turn all their armament against this invasion from outer space. You talk about science fiction. My friends, men have never conceived a science fiction story like this. The only thing is, it's not fiction. It's going to be fact. It's not fable. The armies of heaven, an invasion from heaven, Christ followed by the armies of heaven, and the nations of the world turn their armament against them. And my friends, here's something, someone, and here's someone that modern armament has no power against. The beast and the false prophet are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire. And those that worship the beast and his image, why all those armies are destroyed by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we find, well if we had the time, we'd like to also notice what would happen to this king of the north. But nevertheless, the point that I want to bring before you is that this war ends with Christ returning. The star, the stone falling from heaven, destroying gentile world power. And when we turn to the twelfth chapter of Daniel, it says, 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 once since there was a nation even to that same time. Israel is going to pass through a time of trouble in that time such as they have never experienced before. But I want you to notice, it says, and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. Now though Israel as a whole has followed the beast and the antichrist, there is a remnant. There is a small group, just like those three young men in the burning fiery furnace, just like Daniel in the lion's den, who take the word of God. They believe in the Messiah. They're looking for the Christ. They refuse to bow to the image of the beast. They refuse to receive the antichrist. They stand true to God and to Christ, and they're looking for him. And it says, their names are written in the Lamb's book of life, and they are to be delivered. In other words, when Christ comes back, he comes back to deliver them from their enemies, they whose names are written in the book. You know, friends, it's a wonderful thing to know that your name is written in the book. Whether it be in that day, or whether it be in our day, there is only one way by which we can be sure that we're saved and that we're safe. That we'll never see the terrible judgments that are described for us in the word of God. And you know how that to make sure that our names are in the book of life. No, friends, not on the church roll, not on the baptismal certificate, but in the book of life. Because the Bible tells us in the 20th chapter of Revelation, whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. The book of life, what does that mean? What does that mean, the book of life? It means the book of those who have life in Christ. Those who have come to Christ, those who believe in Christ, those who have the life of Christ within them. My friends, we're not talking about being merely religious, or being mere church members. We're talking about a real vital experience that each and every one of us needs to have. An experience with the son of God who died. Because it's only those who are written in the book of life who are going to be delivered in that day of trouble. And it's only those who are written in the book of life now who are going to be caught up when the Lord Jesus Christ comes. Lord, I care not for riches, neither silver nor gold, the hymn writer has put it. Why, I want to make sure that my name is written on that page, white and fair. How can I be sure? Well, my friends, the only way we can be sure is if we take what this book says. Take, for instance, the sixth chapter of John. You know, turn to the sixth chapter of John for a moment. You know, it's a beautiful verse. The sixth chapter of John. Notice what it tells us there in the sixth chapter of John and this 47th verse. Notice what the Lord says. He says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Isn't that wonderful? Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Truly, truly. That's what that word verily, verily means. Truly, truly, I. Who is this? Jesus. What does He? I say unto you, He that believeth on me. Now, friends, let me ask you. Do you believe on the Son? What is your attitude toward the Lord Jesus? What does it mean to you that Jesus had to die on that cross? I want to point out to you, my friends, the life of Jesus couldn't save you. If the life of Jesus couldn't save you, how could your life save you? The prayers of Jesus couldn't save you, couldn't save me. How then could your prayers save you? The good works of Jesus. And my friends, no one ever did as many good works as He did. And yet those good works could never save you and they could never save me. So how could your good works or how could my good works save you or me? My friend, the baptism of the Lord Jesus couldn't save you. He went down into the waters of baptism. But my friends, that wasn't enough. He had to do something. What did He have to do? He had to die on that cross. He had to die on that cross. There was no other way sin could be dealt with. There was no other way your sin and mine could be atoned for. The penalty of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. And someone had to pay it. And my friends, I couldn't pay it. My friends, my sins were just like this book. They were laying on me and if they had stayed on me, they would have sunk my soul down to hell. But I'm thankful there was one without sin, the Lord Jesus Christ. And on Calvary's cross and only on the cross, nowhere else, my sins were laid upon Jesus. And that's why Jesus suffered on that cross. That's why He died on that cross. There was no other way. He had to die. He had to lay down His life. The wages of sin is death. And you had to pay it. I had to pay it. Or someone had to pay it for us. Who could pay it for us? I couldn't pay it. It would have sunk my soul down to hell. You couldn't pay it. There was only one Jesus on the cross. He did. He died on that cross. Why? He died on that cross to save you and me. And He says, verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me. Not he that does the best he can. Not he that joins the church. Not he that resolves to live a good Christian life. Not he that keeps the Ten Commandments. And my friend, you can bring all of these things together and you can read them all together. Not he that does the best he can, keeps the Ten Commandments, joins the church, is baptized, partakes of the Lord's Supper. Not all of those things or any of those things could ever give you and me everlasting life. There was only one thing. What did He say? He said, verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me. He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Our friend tonight, wouldn't you like to be sure that your name is in the book of life? Wouldn't you like to be sure that your name is recorded amongst those who have life? I know mine is. Have I seen it? No, I haven't seen it. How do I know? I know because I have eternal life. He tells me I have eternal life. You turn to the third chapter of John and you see it repeated. In the third chapter of John, notice what the Lord says to us in the 36th verse. He says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abide upon him. I want you to notice it's he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. You know, whenever I read that verse, I think of a farmer that I read about. This farmer had accepted Christ, and he hadn't been saved very long. He had accepted Christ through this verse, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he knew he was so happy he was working his tractor, and all of a sudden the thought came to him, you don't have everlasting life right now. That verse says, he that believeth on the Son hath or will have everlasting life. Which is it? Is it he that believeth on the Son hath, or he that believeth on the Son will have? It can't be that I've got it right now, is it? Maybe I don't have it right now. Maybe I'm going to have it when I die. And you know, he became so troubled he stopped his tractor, and he ran to the house, and he opened his Bible, and he read this verse, he that believeth on the Son hath, right now, everlasting life. I've got it right now. My, his joy returned, and he went back to his tractor, and he was working, singing, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And then he thought to himself, he that believeth on the Son, did I read that right? There must be more to it than that. Not just believing, there must be more to it than that. Am I sure that I read that right? Doesn't it say I've got to do the best I can? Doesn't it say I should live like a Christian? I wonder. And you know, the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed to him. Well, there should be more to it than just believing. But he couldn't stop. He couldn't get it out of his mind. So he stopped, went back home again, and opened his Bible. He that believeth, yes, he that believeth on the Son, nothing more. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Boy, that's wonderful. And again he went back to his work. And you know, he worked happily, and then a couple of hours later he thought, everlasting? Is it forever? Or is it only until I sin? Maybe it's only until I feel that I've got this everlasting, that I've got this life. And the more he thought about that, boy, that sounds reasonable. It's not forever. It must be just only for a limited time. And so he stopped again. And the third time he went back home, and he opened his Bible, and he read the verse. He that believeth, that's all. Nothing else, nothing less. He that believeth on the Son hath, right now, everlasting. It's good for ever. Everlasting life. Our friend, notice here in Daniel chapter 11, it says, or chapter 12, it says, they 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. Our friends, there are going to be those in that period of tribulation, some of whom are going to have everlasting life, and some are going to have shame and everlasting contempt. There'll be two classes then, just as there are two classes today. There are two classes. There are those in this meeting who have and will have for eternity everlasting life, and there are those who will have shame and everlasting contempt. And it says, they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end. And I want you to notice two characteristics of the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. My friends, have you and I ever lived in a day when these things were as true, these two things as they are today? Have people ever run as much to and fro as they do today? My armada and automobiles, our airplanes, our means of transportation. Why, people don't think anything of flying across the country to see a basketball game or a football game in the January. Why, people will fly all the way from Minneapolis all the way down to Florida to see a football game or to be at a football game. People travel all over the world. Has there ever been a time when people ran to and fro as they do today? Has there ever been a time when knowledge has increased as it is today? Do you know they say that in most branches of life, five years is the limit of knowledge? I mean every five years the doctor has to practically learn every five years his practice. Things are changing so fast. Knowledge is increasing so fast. Never has there been knowledge like there is today, which shows us we are in the last time. Well, I just want to go to the last verse. Notice what he says, Go thou thy way to the end be, for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the day. Daniel is told, go thy way. He's an old man at this time. And he says, for thou shalt rest. You know, Daniel is at rest today. You know where he is? He's in the presence of the Savior. When Daniel left this world, he went into the presence of the Savior, and he's at rest. Just as anyone who knows Christ, when he leaves this world, he or she is at rest with Christ. With Christ, which is far better. But I want you to notice what he says to Daniel. He says, thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. Daniel, you're going to have a place in all this at the end of the days. When all these things transpire, Daniel, you're going to have your place with Christ. You're going to come with Christ. You're going to see with Christ what transpires. And Daniel, you're going to reign with Christ, because you're going to stand in your lot. You're going to have your place. I've got a cemetery lot. When the Lord took my wife, nearly 10 years ago, I bought two lots. She's in one, and if the Lord doesn't come, why, I'll be in the other. But you know, that's not where I'm going to end. This body may be laid in that lot, but that's not the lot that this is speaking about. The lot that this is speaking of, and tonight, is this the last night of the meal? Tomorrow is Saturday, and I'm sure that you won't.