At
last! The moment, you've all been waiting for--Part 3! The end of my
study on World Conquerors! This may seem a little long, and total
congratulations to those of you who have been brave enough to read
through the entire series! My deepest and most sincere thanks!
Nimrod:
He
was strong and a phenomenal leader with astounding charisma and
endurance to command the respect of almost an entire nation. He was a
"textbook hero:" he founded many cities and had the diligence and
character to see all of them thoroughly established. The Bible mentions
Nimrod as "a mighty one on the earth" and "a mighty hunter before the
Lord." It is said that he founded and ruled over as king the first
empire after the Flood. He desired to create something that could not
in any way be simulated or forgotten. He wanted to build a tower to the
very heavens. Besides his great ambition, he claimed to be virgin born,
was radically atheistic, and married his own mother. One man, Josephus,
wrote: " Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such
an affront and contempt of
God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of
great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as
if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it
was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually
changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men
from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on
his power… "Although
that part of his life is often forgotten, he is recorded in history
parallel with the tower of Babel. And, yet, Nimrod--the "virgin born
god"--died.
Alexander the Great:
One
of the greatest men in the annals of all of history to ever live and
breathe and walk among men. Some thought he was the son of the pagan
god, Zeus. Though as a child he seemed smaller and less sturdy than
other Greeks, Romans, and Macedonians in his time, he was resilient and
proved it in his years as ruler after the sudden assassination of his
father. His great desire was to unite all of the known world as was
discovered at the time. He conquered as far east as China, as far south
as India, and even marrying a woman of a foreign tribe, a great insult
to his fellow Macedonians. There is no denying that Alexander was
"great," in that he was one of the best strategical leaders of his time
and was proven by his valiance in battle; but he worshiped pagan
mythological gods, gods which he despised, was not known for heeding
the advice of his more seasoned generals, and he practiced
homosexuality. In the end, a month short of his thirty-third birthday
and three months short of his only child's birth, Alexander the Great,
the undefeated, the so-called son of the gods, died.
Adolf Hitler:
Born
into an a troubled home and beaten by his father, he dropped out of
high school as an act of rebellion against his father at age16 and
after reports of severe animosity between Hitler and several Jewish
students. He served in WWI and was temporarily blinded by a mustard gas
attack--an incident which he said was the experience that initiated his
dream to "save Germany." He entered into politics, in which several of
his oratories revealed his extreme distaste for the Jews. He wrote Mein Kampf
(My Struggle) and in a few short years was a dominant, aggressive
leader in another war, WWII. He openly admits to having read the Bible,
yet rejected it still, deeply rooted in the belief and desire to
broadcast communism and eradicate the Jews. He was magnificent in
strategics and battle plans, some even claimed he was a man possessed.
And yet, near the end of the war, and nearing defeat, Hitler committed
suicide along with his wife of barely a day. Their bodies were put in a
bomb crater, doused with gasoline, and lit on fire.
1. They were all "great" leaders.
A. Nimrod commanded the respect of thousands of people.
B. Alexander the Great led expeditions that gave him the reputation of being "undefeated."
C. Adolf Hitler commanded several missions in most of which he was successful.
2. They were all "great" dreamers.
A. Nimrod desired to build a tower that reached heaven and rule the known land.
B. Alexander the Great desired to unite all of the known world and succeeded in conquering most of Asia and Europe.
C. Hitler desired to "save Germany," and in the process managed to enslave several countries in communism.
3. They are all dead.
A. Nimrod's
tower of Babel and his first known empire is now a ruin and merits only
a half a page in the average history textbook.
B. Alexander the
Great's empire no longer exists, as it is divided into several hundred
countries. His work merits barely a chapter in the average history
textbook.
C. Adolf
Hitler's plans to "save Germany" were crushed, though some countries
still are enslaved in communism, but the Jews are still a free nation.
As a recent world power, his part in history merits several chapters,
ending in defeat.
In
the last two devotionals, I have focused on the "greatness" of these
three men. The outstanding charisma, the magnanimous dreams...Now I
focus on the last common point in their lives:
They are all dead.
It's amazing isn't it? Nimrod
was the first known emperor after the flood. He literally built the
nations of his time from the ground, up. He commanded the respect and
the worship of an entire people. In fact, he was even so successful as
to divert their attentions from God. He built a huge tower, though
never completed, higher than any known structure in that day. In all
honesty, by any secular standard, Nimrod was a "great" man.
But, he's dead.
Alexander the Great was emperor of a huge
nation. He was fierce in battle and charismatic to move the men of his
army from sedentary all the way across the world, literally. The entire
known world at the time was conquered by Alexander. He was never
defeated in battle. So successful and so driven was he that thousands
came to believe that he was the proverbial son of their pagan
mythological god Zeus. Anyone in the secular world would be insane if
they did not admit that Alexander the Great bore his title well and
truly.
But, he's dead.
Adolf Hitler. What's to be said of him? At
one time, he was in authority and control of the lives of millions of
Germans. In his severe animosity of the Jews, he ruined the lives of
millions, murdering thousands...he had great power. In his own way, he
was equally as charismatic as Nimrod and Alexander. His great ambition
was to "free Germany." Ultimately, his dreams did not come to full
fruition, but an entire hemisphere and economy was turned upside down
in its pursuit. Some would dare call him great.
But, he's dead.
Where are their dreams now? Nimrod's tower
of Babel is in ruins. Alexander's empire is divided. Adolf Hitler's
dream was shattered with Germany's defeat. And all of them being in
some way atheistic, or humanistic are, unless by some revelation we
know nothing about, in an eternal hell. Everything they lived for, they
lost. Everything they died for is for nothing because you can't take
your treasures with you when you die. For "great" men, their success
has really done nothing. Anything gained is now eternal loss.
When a man, especially a man with great potential and great power,
does not have God, he is smart enough to realize that there is a
definite void in his life. What it is, however, he doesn't know.
Therefore, he reaches out for things--impossible things!--to fill that
emptiness inside. A great man with no direction may be great, but he is
still lost.
Hitler, Nimrod, and Alexander were great men with great potential.
But without God, they reached for things that were beyond any normal
man's grasp. They reached for things to fill that void, and look where
it's gotten them: nowhere.
What has that to do with the Christian life?
It says in 1John 4:4, "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world"
It has everything to do with the Christian life!
This verse says that God is "greater" than he that is in the world. Greater than even Satan! That means, God is
greater than those three men! That means, God is greater than any
worldly riches you could ever desire!
Wow! No matter how great that job is, no matter how great your pay is, no matter how great that idol is, our God is greater!
But
you know, just because our God is great does not give us the right to
sit idly on the side lines. Because our God is great, don't you think
we have just as much right as those men to conquer the world?
It says in Mark 16:15, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
He
said to go. Are we going to go? He said to go into all the world.
There's a whole world out there that God admonishes us to "go into."
The "whole" world! If God is greater than all who live in this world,
and He is commanding us to go, then we have just as much power behind
us, in fact, much more, to go out and conquer the world!
What are we conquering? Souls. Eternal souls. When a man with great
potential has God, and he follows Him, then he has no void in his heart
and nothing left to fill with earthly riches. What good are they to a
man who is full and content on God's grace? They mean nothing, but
since his life was eternally saved, then his drive is to broadcast that
gift. The treasures that he desires to claim are everlasting; the joy
that he endeavors to have is from God and not of the world's pleasures.
We all have that potential to do great things in us because we are
God's children. We've surrendered and accepted His will for us. But in
70 or 80 years, if Jesus does not come back, the likely fact is that
we, too, will be dead and gone. What will we leave behind? Are we going
to spend our lives grasping for petty "things?" Ask those three leaders
what they think of their "greatness" now.
Or, will we spend our lives storing treasures in heaven? Matthew 6:19-21 says, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
So, what do you say? You don't have to be a phenomenal leader and you
don't have to have humongous dreams. All you need is for your heart to
be in the right place. God will give you your calling, whether you be
in leadership and have a huge impossible dream, or whether He just
wants you scrubbing toilets. We're striving for treasures that don't
die. We're striving for goals beyond anything comparable. It's Huge!
Whatever God gives you is Huge! Because our God is greater than
everything.
So what do you say? Let's get out there and start conquering that world! Let's be World Conquerors for God!
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