Author: newlifenarrabri

How One Man Changed His World

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Back in Ancient Rome the gladiators were a major source of public entertainment. They were often required to fight to their very last breath.

There were professional gladiators who were idolised as much as any professional athlete today. Sometimes slaves were forced to fight. At other times they might be required to fight wild beasts such as bears or lions.

People were not fussed as long as there was lots of blood.

In 404 B.C. a lowly monk from the East of the Empire walked into the Coliseum, and onto the arena. He shouted, “In the name of God, stop this!” The details of what followed are murky. In some accounts the spectators were enraged and stoned Telemachus to death. Others say it was the gladiators who killed him. Some accounts say that after the death of Telemachus, the spectators filed out silently, ashamed of what had happened.

The Emperor was Honorius who was a Christian. He ordered that the killing games of Rome be stopped forever.

Having observed the fall out of the murder of Charlie Kirk last week, I feel that we are at a Telemachus moment. People at the political centre, on both sides of the divide, are asking “What have we become that a man is killed for debating ideas in a university?” Thousands of people have announced they are going back to church after decades, or reading their Bible for the first time since childhood.

To a lesser extent, this is happening in the UK and Australia also. We see the trends, and we might be a few years behind the US but we are heading down a similar path.

There has never been a more critical time than this. We stand at a crossroads where we allow our civilisation to crumble, or we turn and return to the Lord.

Reflection on Daniel 7:15:28

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Scripture

“Then, the court will pass judgement, and all his power will be taken away and completely destroyed.”

Observation.

Daniel is troubled by his vision. So he approaches one of those standing by the throne and asks him what it means. He explains that the beasts are four kingdoms that arise from the earth. Daniel asks about the fourth beast, which seems the most terrible of them all. This beast is the fourth world power, that is different to the others. There are ten Kings who rule this Empire. But then another king arises who defies God and oppresses His people.

The court passes judgement on this king, and all his power is taken away, The sovereignty, power, and greatness of the king are given to God’s people This Kingdom will last forever.

Application

In the final analysis, all kings and rulers are subject to the most high God, They serve at his pleasure.

Back in the 1980s, the power of Communism seemed firmly entrenched and invincible in Europe and in what was then called the USSR. Suddenly the whole structure crumbled and everything changed.

As Daniel says, it is as if the court of Heaven had passed judgement and the power that had ruthlessly oppressed millions of people was no more.

In this vision, Daniel is considering the power of the various Empires in history. The most powerful of these was yet to come in Daniel’s time. We look back through history and we can see that Rome established a powerful Empire. But in the end, it was the people of God who prevailed

And now God’s kingdom extends to nearly every nation of the world. The gates of Hell have not prevailed against it.

Prayer.

Father, thank you for letting me share in your kingdom. May this kingdom grow and touch every person in the world. Amen.