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HopeLives365

Mark Finley

What Was Elvis Presley Looking for in Bible Prophecy?

Elvis Presley, known as the King of Rock and Roll, was 1 of the best-selling music artists of all time.

His record sales in his lifetime alone totaled about 500 million.

But there's 1 thing that you may not be aware of regarding Elvis Presley.

He was deeply interested in Bible prophecy.

He read a number of books on Bible prophecy.

And we might ask the question, what fascinated him about prophecy?

Why is it that he continued to look into the Bible, he had 3 Bibles incidentally, and try to discover what the future held?

1 of the books in his library was a book by Uriah Smith called Daniel and Revelation.

And that particular book looks at Daniel and Revelation verse by verse.

And particularly in the section on the book of Revelation, it outlines the 7 great events that will take place before the coming of Jesus.

Could it be that Elvis probed the book of Revelation and was interested in those events?

What do these 7 events have to do with your life and mine?

But before we delve into that, a little background on Elvis and why he was so interested in prophecy.

Surprisingly, it was gospel music that had the greatest influence on Elvis Presley's life.

Throughout his career, he kept returning to gospel music.

There were times after his shows that he would gather his staff in his room and gather other backup singers, and they would sing gospel music for hours and hours and hours.

Joe Machino, who was a former member of the Imperials, a gospel group that traveled with Elvis, wrote a book called The Gospel side of Elvis.

He remembers how Elvis loved to sing gospel music.

And he said this, he said, that's what he wanted to do.

Then he came off stage and he was Elvis Presley from Tupelo, Mississippi, that was brought up in the church and wanted to sing gospel music.

You may remember that Elvis's last Grammy was the gospel song, He Touched Me.

Elvis's friend Joe, 1 of the Imperials, gave him a Bible.

Elvis was going through a very difficult time, very challenging time in his life with his well-known drug addiction, etc.

And Joe said to Elvis, Elvis I've got something for you.

I know you're struggling and I know you're having a hard time, but every answer you need is in this book, So all you have to do is read it." Now I was intrigued by the statement, every answer you need is in this book.

That's what Joe said it to Elvis And that was so true.

Every answer we need is found in the Word of God.

Every answer about salvation today, every answer about life and its complexities and its challenges, And every answer about the future is found in the Word of God.

It speaks of hope today, tomorrow, and forever.

It reveals a Christ that is our Savior, our Redeemer, our intercessor, and our coming king.

Its predictions have proven accurate for thousands of years, and they enable us to face the future with greater confidence.

Let me take you to to Graceland for a moment.

Elvis' mansion near Memphis, Tennessee, It attracts 650, 000 visitors every single year.

Now, while a friend of mine was visiting Graceland not long ago, he looked at the different bookcases.

And in this 1 bookcase, or actually on a table, he actually saw this stack of books with the book that I mentioned earlier, Daniel and Revelation.

Elvis had that book, Daniel and Revelation, by Uriah Smith in Graceland and, you know, he would make notations in his books.

Elvis was fascinated with the prophecies in Daniel, fascinated with the prophecies in Revelation.

And you know, he's not the only Hollywood personality that is fascinated with those prophecies.

You know, in a generation seeking to face the future with greater confidence, the source of truth about end times is found in the Bible, particularly in the book of Revelation.

The Bible begins with a perfect world in Genesis.

It ends with a perfect world in Revelation.

Revelation 21 and 22 talk about the new heavens and the new earth that God will create.

But between Genesis 2 and Revelation 21, from Genesis 3 to Revelation 20, we have this great conflict, this cosmic controversy between good and evil in a generation seeking to face the future with hope.

Now let's briefly discuss the prophecies in the book of Revelation, and I'm going to take you through the 7 great events that the Bible predicts will take place just before the coming of Jesus.

Now, many people, when they think about revelation, think about beasts and mystic symbols.

Revelation chapter 1, verse 1, begins this way.

"'John, an old man, is exiled on the isle of Patmos.

There are deeply etched lines upon his face.

The emperor, Domitian, has exiled John to Patmos to silence his voice.

But there that island is illuminated with the glory of God.

And an angel comes down and reveals to him the truths about end time.

And we read in Revelation 1, verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly come to pass.

And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

So the book of Revelation is not a closed book.

It is the revelation of Jesus, where Jesus reveals his triumph over the principalities and powers of hell in the great controversy between good and evil.

It unmasks the deceptions of Satan, so God's people can be prepared for what's gonna come.

It says the revelation of Jesus Christ, where did he get it?

When God gave it to Jesus, what did he do with it?

So the book of Revelation comes from God to Jesus, to the angel, to John, and John writes it down.

Not some human message, not some Hollywood fictitious drama, but we read God's everlasting message.

Now, the final book of Revelation is this unfolding of God's plan.

The main theme of Revelation is the return of Christ to this world.

Revelation 1-7 says, Behold, he comes with clouds, and every eye will see him.

The coming of Christ will be a glorious, climactic event.

Now, not only will the righteous see Him come, but the wicked also, the unsaved will see Him come.

In that great sermon on end time events in Matthew 24, verse 30, the Bible says, then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven.

Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn.

They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven and with power and great glory.

And he'll send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet.

They'll gather together his elect from the 4 winds from 1 end of the heaven to the other.

So when Christ comes to gather the elect, the tribes of the earth, the unsaved see him coming.

Jesus came quietly once as a babe in Bethlehem's manger.

The Bible says he comes with clouds and Every eye will see him.

And in Matthew chapter 24, it says, the tribes of the earth will see Jesus when he comes.

Christ comes, power, glory, Christ comes.

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What Was Elvis Presley Looking for in Bible Prophecy?

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