I will read a few passages from the book of the Prophet Daniel, which he received from the Lord through vision, and which relate to the latter days—a prophecy which has not yet been fulfilled. It will be found in the 7th chapter commencing with the 9th verse—
"I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
"A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
"I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake, I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
"As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him.
"And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."
This prophecy relates to a period of time in the history of our race, when thrones are to be cast down, when kingdoms and the various governments which exist upon the face of the earth are to be overthrown; to a period when only one kingdom or one government shall have dominion, and its dominion will extend to the ends of the earth; a kingdom too which we are told, in the second chapter of Daniel's prophecy, is to be everlasting in its nature, and not like those other kingdoms which Daniel says are to be overthrown. This divine kingdom is to have a universal dominion, so far as this world is concerned. It is represented, in its beginning, as being very small, compared to a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, but which rolls forth gathering strength as it rolled, until all other kingdoms, of human invention and human authority, should cease to exist, should be broken to pieces and become, as is plainly declared, like the chaff of a summer's threshing floor, which the wind carried away and no place was found for it.
I presume there is no person in this congregation, but what will, with me, admit, that no such period has ever arrived, since that prophecy was uttered. But such a period will arrive in the history of our earth. The Prophet Daniel clearly saw that the stone, which was to be cut out of the mountain without hands, which should smite upon the toes of the image—the great image which represented the kingdoms of this world—should be a divine work, a work that the Lord himself would accomplish among men. In other words, the Lord condescended to give to one of the most powerful kings who has ever dwelt upon the earth, so far as human power is concerned, a dream which represented to him all the kingdoms of this world; but when he awoke he could not even remember the dream. It however made a deep impression on his mind, and he knew there was something very important attached to the dream. So exercised was he, that he issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of the city of great Babylon, requesting all the wise men to tell him the dream, and then to give him the interpretation thereof. If they could tell him the dream, he, of course, would have confidence in the truth of the interpretation; but if he himself were to tell the dream, if it were possible to remember it, he would not know whether the interpretation would be correct or not. Being a monarch of absolute power, he threatened death to the wise men, if they failed to tell him the dream, and also to give him the interpretation. Daniel, with his three friends who were Jews, besought the Lord in the matter, and the Lord revealed to Daniel the dream and the interpretation thereof. The dream as Daniel related it to king Nebuchadnezzar was as follows—