Our Fascination with the Book of Daniel

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Our Fascinationwith theBook of Daniel

• Refusing the kings rations
• The fiery furnace
• Nebuchadnezzar eating grass like a cow
• The lions den
• The hand that writes on the wall

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Nebuchadnezzars Dream

• The Image Made from Different Metals
• Head of Gold Babylonian Empire
• Chest of Silver Persian Empire
• Thighs of Brass Alexanders Greek Empire
• Legs of Iron Roman Empire
• Daniel 244 In the days of those kings shall the
  Lord God of Heaven establish a kingdom that shall
  never be destroyed.

3
If Daniel is correct, and the church is the
kingdom, then where was the church during the
Dark Ages?

• Its A Fair Question!

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What Does the Bible TeachRegarding the Kingdom?

• John 1836 My kingdom is NOT of this world
• Daniel said the kingdom would be established
  during the Roman Empire.
• Matthew 32--John the Baptist urged the people to
  Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven IS AT HAND.

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What Does the Bible TeachRegarding the Kingdom?

• When Jesus began His ministry, He taught the
  people to Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven IS
  AT HAND.
• He told His disciples in Mark 91, Assuredly, I
  say to you that there are some standing here who
  will not taste death till they see the Kingdom of
  God come with power.

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What Does the Bible TeachRegarding the Kingdom?

• Paul taught that both he and the Christians in
  Colossae were members of the Kingdom in the 1st
  century He (God) has delivered us (past tense)
  from the power of darkness and conveyed us into
  the Kingdom (past tense) of the Son of His love.
  Colossians 113

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What Does the Bible TeachRegarding the Kingdom?

• John told his readers in Revelation 19 that I
  am (currently/present tense) your brother and
  companion in the tribulation and in the kingdom.

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What Does the Bible TeachRegarding the Kingdom?

• The writer of the letter to the Hebrew Christians
  (Heb. 1227) says that they have received (past
  tense) a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
• He also connects the Kingdom with the Assembly
  of the Saints

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What Does the Bible TeachRegarding the Kingdom?

• Jesus told Nicodemus (John 33-5) that the New
  Birth placed one in the Kingdom. If the New
  Birth exists now, then the Kingdom must also
  exist now!

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The Worlds ViewChurches of Christ were
founded in the 1830s byALEXANDERCAMPBELL
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Campbell came to America in 1809He was a
powerful and highly admired speaker and preacher
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100 reasonsfor not being a Campbellite

• REASON 1 The Campbellite church was founded by
  Alexander Campbell and not by Jesus Christ.
• REASON 2 The Campbellite church was founded in
  1827, nearly 1800 years too late to be called the
  true Church of Christ.
• REASON 3 The Campbellite church began in
  Virginia instead of Palestine.

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Are We Campbellites?What do we know about
Campbell?

• Spoke to Congress (June 1850)
• Praised by
• Henry Clay
• Daniel Webster
• James Madison the best and most original
  expounder of Scripture I have ever heard!
• John C. Calhoun

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Are We Campbellites?Did Campbell Start the
Church?
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Are We Campbellites?Did Campbell Start the
Church?

• Note the text on a grave marker found near
  Lexington, KY William Rogers, born in Campbell
  Co. VA July 7, 1784. United with the Church of
  Christ at Caine Ridge in 1807.
• Alexander Campbell did not come to this country
  until 1809.

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Are We Campbellites?Did Campbell Start the
Church?
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Are We Campbellites? Did Campbell Start the
Church?

• Historical Marker erected by the Massachusetts
  Bay Tercentenary Commission in 1930 near
  Lexington/Revere Church of Christ--1710.
• 100 years before Alexander Campbell came to
  America.

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If Campbell did not start the Church of
Christ, can its originbe traced backto the 1st
century?

• THE CLAIM
• The Church was established in Palestine in AD 33!

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What Are the Requirements?

• It Must Be Recognizable
• Exodus 2540 See that you make all things
  according to the pattern shown you on the
  mountain.
• Quoted in Hebrews 85.

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What Are the Requirements?

• Patterns Are Important.
• Matthew 159 In vain do they worship me,
  teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.
• Nadab Abihu (Sons of Aaron).
• Romans 154 The OT stories were written to help
  us learn. What do you think God wanted us to
  learn?

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What Are the Requirements?

• Ways to Determine Authenticity
• DNA samples
• Seed/Genetic Structure
• It Must Physically Exist
• William Jennings Bryan and Egyptian Wheat
• Ancient Chinese Lotus Seed

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The Parable of the Sower(Matthew 13)

• Seeds fall in differing soils and yield varying
  results.
• God Sower
• Seed Word of God
• Soil Hearts of Humanity
• To the extent that the seed exists, the kingdom
  exists--in the form of the seed!

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The Parable of the Sower(Matthew 13)

• The Word of God/Bible has existed continuously
  since the first century.
• To the extent that the seed exists, the kingdom
  exists!

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SOURCE

• Dr. Hans Grimm, Tradition and History of Early
  Churches of Christ in Central Europe, 1955

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• Dr. Hans Grimm, Tradition and History of Early
  Churches of Christ in Central Europe, 1955

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Dr. Hans Grimm

• There has always been a real Church of Christ in
  this world since Pentecost, and this means a
  church believing in faith, repentance, confession
  and immersion for the remission of sins--a church
  which worshipped the first day of every week with
  hymns, prayers, the Lords Supper, Bible study,
  and contribution for the saints--a church which
  worked under the oversight of bishops, deacons,
  evangelists, and pastors

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IS THERE OTHER EVIDENCE?

• 1669 In the Furness District of Lancashire in
  N.W. England there existed, during the reign of
  Charles II, a group of churches of Christ. An
  old minute-book shows they called themselves
  churches of Christ, practiced baptism by
  immersion, celebrated the Lords Supper each
  Lords Day, and were governed by elders and
  deacons. -- Dr. Robinson, Overdale College,
  Birmingham, England.

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IS THERE OTHER EVIDENCE?

• 1804 Dungannon, Ireland
• 1735 Fife District of Scotland
• 1688 Vosges Mountains, along the Rhone River
• 1600s Eastern Prussia the foothills of the
  Pyrenees Witosch Plateau in Bulgaria Zab Valley
  in Kurdistan Northern Armenia

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IS THERE OTHER EVIDENCE?

• 1500s Bohemia Moravia
• 1452-1467 Reichnau, Czechoslovakia
• 1400 Strasbourg, Germany. Traditions say the
  church existed here continuously for over 1000
  years.
• 1390 Celtic Hill, Wales
• 1162 Flanders was covered with a close net of
  small New Testament churches

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IS THERE OTHER EVIDENCE?

• 1100s Albania, Dalmatia, Brescia, Viterbo
• 1150-1180 Bulgaria, Servia
• 1115 Bosnia, Herzegovina, NE Italy
• 1071 Ukraine

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IS THERE OTHER EVIDENCE?

• 871 Taurus Mountains
• 843 Northern Syria
• 813 Cappadocia, Armenia, Kurdistan They
  called themselves simply Christians and adhered
  only to the NT as their only guide for worship
  and doctrine.

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IS THERE OTHER EVIDENCE?

• 700s Northern Spain
• 600s Kibosa, Southern Armenia Northern
  Portugal
• 500s Armenia Northern Africa
• 400s Tunisia Armenia
• 300s NW Arabia Atlas Mountains Djerba
  (Tunisian Coast)

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IS THERE OTHER EVIDENCE?

• Juan Monroy/Spain
• 1964 Worlds Fair
• Ethiopia
• Matthew
• WWII
• India
• Thomas/Madras Mountain of Thomas

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Gods Kingdom Has ExistedContinuously SinceThe
First Century

• In the form of the Seed
• In Pockets of Small Churches Scattered Throughout
  the World
• Continuously in Ethiopia, India

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WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE?

• God always opens doors for His church/Kingdom
• Palestine
• Roman Empire/Northern Africa
• Europe
• St. Petersburg/Russia (Early 1900s)
• United States
• Northeast (New Hampshire--Abner Smith)
• Appalachians (West Virginia, Ohio)
• The Bible Belt (Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas,
  Texas)
• India/Nigeria/Russia

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Dr. Hans Grimm

• In 1955, I met for the first time in my life a
  member of the restored churches of Christ of
  America. What he had to tell me was nothing
  other than the faith of my ancestors which I had
  taught and practiced all my lifethe fact that
  the Lord had built up His church beyond the
  Atlantic just in time when His last followers in
  Europe dwindled, hit me like a thunderbolt. The
  torch did not die out. God kindled it again and
  put it on a lamp-stand and it gives light for
  everyone in the house.

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In the days of those kings (the Romans) shall
the Lord God of Heaven establish a Kingdom which
shall NEVER BE DESTROYED!
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I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH AND THE GATES OF HELL
WILL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT!