Daniel • Week 15

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Well, good morning.

If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in Daniel chapter 11.

Daniel 11 · chapter mention

If you're a first-time guest, we're excited that you're here.

We love that you're here.

We're honored that you're here.

At the end of the service, I'll be back here at our connections table.

We'd love to be able to speak with you.

We'd love to be able to shake your hand, answer any questions that you may have about our church,

so please stop by there.

We'd love nothing more than to be able to speak with you.

A lot of things going on around the life of our church.

Our men's ministry gathered a couple weeks ago.

Our women's ministry gathered this past Friday night.

Wonderful events, great times of fellowship, and there's even more that's coming up.

So I want to make sure that you get involved and get connected.

And then please, if you can, just fill out one of these cards.

It's a great way for us, if we need to be able to get in touch with you, to be able to

connect with you, to be able to pray for you, to be able to answer questions that you may

have to fill this out.

Then as you leave, this is for everybody.

Drop it off in the basket underneath that exit sign.

I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving.

I was telling a couple this morning that I got to experience first Thanksgiving yesterday.

I get to experience second Thanksgiving today.

And then I will get to experience third Thanksgiving on Thursday, which means that next Saturday,

there's probably a fourth Thanksgiving that's going to happen.

So if I show up next week in my sweatpants, just give me some grace.

All right.

But good time.

I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and your friends of who God's

got in your life.

And so this is all I'm going to say about what this week is.

Okay.

All right.

If you're, if you're, if you're from the state of South Carolina, this week probably means

a little something to you.

See, see, Michelle, Michelle goes against everything that I was going to say.

All right.

So I've heard it classified that this week is, is hate week between South Carolina and Clemson.

That, that in an ungodly manner, ungodly, you and I are to hate one another.

If you're a Tiger fan or if you're a Gamecock fan, right?

We're to hate one another.

And I think that this week of all weeks, we don't need to experience hate.

We need to experience unity, unity.

Because we're both at the bottom, right?

And in bottom, we're both, the boat is going down.

And we'll tread water and you'll tread water and Jesus loves you.

Let's get the band to come back up on stage.

No, have fun this week.

Have fun this week.

Carolina fans, love your Clemson friends and Clemson family.

Clemson people love us, all right?

We're hurting.

We're hurting.

It's tough.

It's tough.

But it's been years of struggle, you know?

And if you're here today, I just want to say, if you're here today and you do not care anything about that game, let me just say, good for you.

Good for you.

And that is where I long to be, all right?

I want to do something a little different this morning.

I was riding into the office.

Normally, this is the part during the message where I read a passage of Scripture and then we pray as we prepare to go into the sermon.

But I was listening to one of my favorite worship leaders, this guy by the name of Shane Bernard.

And he does a thing where he sings a lot of the psalms.

He puts them to music and he sings them.

And as I was coming down two-notch, a song came on my playlist and it was Psalm 143.

And I tell you guys, like, I'm not a great singer if my bad singing, if bad singing distracts you from worship, don't sit around me.

But typically, like, when I'm in my car, like, I'm loud.

I'm loud with the singing if I'm by myself.

And this morning, it was just as I listened to the words, it was just a moment for me not even to sing, but to just listen to the heart of David, found in Psalm 143.

And to allow the truth of that to be spoken over me.

So here's what I would like to do as we go into our time in God's Word.

I'd like for you to bow your heads and close your eyes.

And I would like to read over you the prayer of David, found in Psalm 143.

Hear my prayer, O Lord.

Give ear to my pleas for mercy.

In your faithfulness, answer me.

In your righteousness, enter not.

Into judgment with your servant.

For no one living is righteous before you.

For the enemy has pursued my soul.

He has crushed my life to the ground.

He has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.

Therefore, my spirit faints within me.

My heart within me is appalled.

I remember the days of old.

I meditate on all that you have done.

I ponder the work of your hands.

I stretch out my hands to you.

My soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Answer me quickly, O Lord.

My spirit fails.

Hide not your face from me.

Lest I be like those who go down to the pit.

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love.

For in you I trust.

Make me know the way I should go.

For to you I lift up my soul.

Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord.

I have fled to you for refuge.

Teach me to do your will.

For you are my God.

Let your good spirit lead me on level ground.

For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life.

In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.

And in your steadfast love, you will cut off my enemies.

And you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul.

For I am your servant.

God, we speak your word to you in prayer.

Revive us, O God.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Fifteen weeks ago, we started in our journey in Daniel.

And this week is our next to last.

Next week we will conclude.

And then we will go into our Christmas series.

And if you've been with us and you've been journeying with us each and every week,

you know that we saw in the first six chapters of Daniel is the historical account of the man Daniel

and what God was doing in Daniel's life and those around him.

And then as we enter into chapter seven, what we begin to see is the prophetic piece of Daniel,

which is very interesting because what we find in the first six chapters of Daniel

are Daniel's ability to interpret dreams.

But then as we move forward, we see Daniel as the prophet that God has equipped him and called him to be.

And over the last several weeks, just being frank with you,

if I felt like anytime you study God's word, right, yes and amen,

it is a wonderful exercise that God takes us through,

a wonderful exercise of growing us and strengthening us and studying his word.

And even though that now at this point in time, it's hard to believe,

but I've been preaching God's word now for 23 years.

Every time I open his word, it is a wonderful exercise.

And God grows me in only the way that God can in spite of me and in spite of myself or who I am.

But I'm going to be honest with you guys, these last several chapters feels like God's taken me out on an ultra marathon.

And the deepness and complexity of the beauty of his word has been absolutely difficult and wonderful

at the same time to get in and study.

As we get into Daniel 11 this morning, I don't want to try to hide this from you.

Daniel 11 is an extremely complicated passage of scripture.

In fact, one of the authors that I read this week said, and I quote,

Daniel 11 is unpreachable.

So here's been my prayer for you guys all week,

that you do not agree with him at the end of this message.

Daniel 10 through 12 is a unit.

And this is what it gives us.

It gives us that there's roughly 400 years of history

between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament,

which is known as the silent years.

Daniel 10 through 12 and a lot of the prophecy that is there gives us certain events that will take place during that time.

And what is remarkable is that this passage actually contains the most fulfilled prophecies,

historically speaking, that have already happened in the course of our world.

So that what we can do, and it's what we are going to do to some degree,

is look at what God reveals to Daniel, the prophetic word that he gives him,

and that you and I can look back into the pages of history and see,

oh yeah, this absolutely did take place.

This isn't speculation.

This isn't the what ifs.

That what God said would happen is what happened,

and Daniel was faithful to record it.

And so this is what we'll look at and see for most of chapter 11,

and then at the very end, there'll be some five application points or questions

to kind of drive home for us.

So last week when we found Daniel in chapter 10,

he's frustrated and he's defeated.

He's had enough.

He's sick and tired.

He's at a spot of his relationship with God is as strong as Daniel's relationship with God,

but yet Daniel is at a point of frustration with his people, with God's people.

You see, because Daniel was reading in the book of Jeremiah,

and he saw where God's people who were in Babylonian captivity

would be kept for their land for 70 years,

but that 70 years has come to an end.

In fact, we see that in the first year of Darius,

that the announcement has made that the Jewish people can return to their land.

And if you're thinking, well, both, that should make Daniel excited.

But the problem with that making Daniel excited is only about 4% returned.

The rest had settled into their new pagan life, their new pagan lifestyle.

And Daniel, who's roughly about 85, 86, 87 years old, during this time,

it is broken for the people's disobedience.

And he's been pleading with God to forgive them and to restore them.

And God is extending his grace upon grace upon grace.

And the people are ignoring and ignoring and ignoring.

And this has been the battle that we see all the way back to in Deuteronomy,

where God tells his people, right, you are my people.

But if there's this disobedience that's there,

if there's this disobedience for me,

then I'm going to work and I'm going to allow and I'm going to cause

and I'm going to create these difficulties for you

so that you'll return to me, that you'll repent to me.

But as hard-headed as they are, they're not getting it.

And so what God is going to give for Daniel in this is a prophetic vision

about how God is going to keep his people under conflict,

that God's going to keep his people scattered

with a hope of bringing them back to repentance.

Bringing them back to repentance.

Folks, one of the largest misunderstandings that you and I have about repentance

is that repentance is the punishment.

Folks, repentance isn't the punishment.

Repentance is the healing.

As we take all that is broken, all that is messed up,

and we bring it before a holy God

who our sin is repulsive to him.

Every bit of it.

He is perfect and holy and good and righteous

and we are none of those things.

But in repentance, we can come to him.

And in forgiveness, we experience his grace and his mercy.

But they won't listen.

So God gives Daniel this vision.

So if you would join me, we're going to read the first four verses of Daniel chapter 11.

Daniel 11 · chapter mention

It says,

And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede,

I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.

And now I will show you the truth.

Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia,

and the fourth shall be far richer than all of them.

And when he has become strong through his riches,

he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.

Then a mighty king shall arise,

who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills.

And as soon as he has arisen,

his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven,

but not to his posterity nor according to the authority with which he ruled,

for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.

So if you'll pause with me,

let me explain to you of what we're seeing in the prophecy that is given to Daniel.

What's given to Daniel is the prophecy of two kingdoms.

These kingdoms have been referred to previously.

Off the top of my head, I believe this is what was mentioned there in Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

And what we see is following Darius, historically speaking and prophetically speaking as well,

that there'll be three more kings and that a fourth will arise.

And guess what?

History confirms that.

That when we look at the pages of history in the Medo-Persian empire,

we see that following Darius, there was the first that ruled from 530 to 522 BC.

We see that the second ruled in 522 BC and that year alone.

And then the third ruled from 522 to 486 BC.

And then the fourth comes.

The fourth of the greatest of all the Medo-Persian kings that will come to rule.

And his name is Xerxes.

And he becomes more powerful.

And his powerful status creates within him goals that previous kings had set their eyes on

but would never accomplish.

But he decides within himself that he is going to go after Greece.

That he is going to go after Greece.

And then in 480 BC, he will attempt to invade Greece, but he's defeated.

And in that, his empire will come to an end.

And what we find between verses 2 and 3 is a gap.

That God's word doesn't give us everything,

but that what God's word does give us speaks to what is true.

There's a gap.

There's about a 150-year gap between verse 2 and verse 3.

And verse 3 describes the mighty king of Greece that we would come to know as Alexander the Great.

He would conquer, if you know your history, you know that Alexander the Great,

through his military might and his cunning ways, would conquer the known world.

He would conquer from Greece to India, from north to south into Egypt.

And this is exactly what takes place.

But at 39 years old, he dies.

And what happens during this, due to death and murders and the things that happen and take place,

whenever there's a void of power within these kingdoms,

that there would be no one from his lineage to take the throne.

And so as God's word says that his kingdom would be divided by the winds of heaven,

north, south, east, and west.

And we see that from history confirms that.

In the west, we have the Greek.

In the east, we have Asia Minor.

In the north, we have Syria.

And in the south, we'll have Egypt.

And then what God is going to do and work is that God is going to use this kingdom

as God divided the kingdom.

And he's going to use the kingdom over the next 15 verses to work in the life of Israel.

To work in the nation of Israel amongst God's people

as God works and moves in the way that only God can.

So over these next 15 verses, let me give you kind of a sneak peek into some of this.

That when it talks about the kingdom of the north, that's Syria.

And when it talks about the kingdom of the south, that is Egypt.

And we will see how they begin to play out.

So read with me verses 5 through verses 20.

Then the king of the south shall be strong.

But one of his princes shall be stronger than he and shall rule.

And his authority shall be great authority.

After some years, they shall make an alliance.

And the daughter of the king of the south should come to the king of the north to make an agreement.

But she shall not retain the strength of her arm.

And he and his arm shall not endure.

But she shall be given up.

And her attendants, he who fathered her and he who supported her in those times.

And from a branch from her roots, one shall arise in his place.

He shall come against the army and enter the forces of the king of the north.

And he shall deal with them and shall prevail.

He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods and their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold.

For some years, he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north.

Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return to his own land.

His son shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces which shall keep coming and overflow and pass through and shall carry the water as far as his fortress.

Then the king of the south, moved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north.

And he shall raise a great multitude but it shall be given into his hand.

And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted.

And he shall cast down tens of thousands but he shall not prevail.

For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude greater than the first.

And after some years, he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.

In those times, many shall rise against the king of the south.

And the violent among your people, your own people, shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision.

But they shall fail.

Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siege works and take a well-fortified city.

And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops.

For there shall be no strength to stand.

But he who comes against him shall do as he wills.

And none shall stand before him.

And he shall stand in the glorious land with destruction in his hand.

He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom.

And they shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them.

He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom, but it shall not stand or be to his advantage.

Afterwards, he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them.

But a commander shall put an end to his insolence.

Instead, he shall turn his insolence back upon him.

Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortress of his own land.

But he shall stumble and fall and shall not be found.

Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of tribute for the glory of the kingdom.

But within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle.

So during this period of time that's discussed, Rome is the global power.

The Roman Empire is on the scene.

They are the empire of great influence in the world.

But this passage will largely focus in on the conflict dealing between Egypt and Syria.

God gives us this due to their relationship with Israel.

Now, I listened to a guy this past week who walks through verses 5 through 20 and explains every little battle and detail that's there.

And it took him three hours in order to get through all of that.

And so prayerfully, I made the decision this week for you and I to not walk through three hours of this together.

For time's sake, we can't explain every detail.

But I want to give you a glimpse of what is happening because it's extremely important.

Wars are happening.

Wars are happening.

People are trying to amass more.

Greed is dominating.

I need more land.

I need more power.

I need more people.

I need more money.

Here's something that is very interesting when we see this in the course of history.

Look back at verse 6.

After some years, this is one generation removed from Alexander the Great.

They've been divided.

After some years they shall make an alliance and the daughter of the king of the south from Egypt shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement.

But she shall not retain the strength of her arm and he and his arm shall not endure but she shall be given up in her attendance.

He who fathered her and he supported her in those times.

Here is what we see that happens in the course of history.

The leader of the section of the world that is Egypt, this king, this prince during this,

decides in order to make a peace treaty, in order to gain power, to gain influence,

that he is going to send his daughter to the north to marry the king.

But unfortunately, he was already married.

And in the conflict of what would happen, where it says right in through here, right,

to make an agreement that she shall not retain the strength of her arm, of her marriage,

she won't be given that.

That instead, he and his arm, his wife.

So his wife comes and says,

Nuh-uh, not my man, right?

Ends up killing her.

And this is what we see.

Here's the pattern that we see.

Egypt attacks Syria.

Syria attacks Egypt.

Rinse and repeat.

Rinse and repeat.

Rinse and repeat.

And for the first half of the time period, what we'll largely see is Egypt will win most of the battles.

But then on verse 12, there's a shift in their global power for a time where they're battling,

and Syria will win the battles.

And during this time, Israelites will partner with the Syrians to battle the Egyptians.

Well, in 198 B.C., 198 B.C., promise not much more history after this.

In 198 B.C., the Egyptians suffered a massive loss to the Syrians.

And as a result, Palestine would come under control of the Syrian empire.

And during that time, there would be a Syrian king who would rule named Antichus Epiphanes.

Antichus Epiphanes, who had an evil reign of terror.

In fact, in the prophecy of Daniel 11, there's a pre-prophecy in verses 18 and 19, if you'll look at those with me, concerning his defeat.

That we'll read about later on.

Afterwards, he shall turn his face to the coastlands.

This will be important.

I promise we'll read.

We'll see this in the next part.

After this, he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture them.

But a commander, that's important, a commander shall put an end to his insolence.

Indeed, he shall turn his insolence back upon him.

And then he shall turn his face back toward the fortress of his own land.

He'll flee.

He'll flee.

But he shall stumble and fall and shall not be found.

And so it speaks to this once powerful, that Rome will send a general as he looks to attack the coastland of the Mediterranean.

And in that, he is defeated.

And in that, he is sent back.

And it's where we begin to see, over and over again, the imagery of God's word playing true in history.

And folks, this is important.

And then what we'll find in verses, as we go through 11, 21 through 35,

we'll give a description of the depravity of this epiphanies, of Antioch's epiphanies.

And we'll see his depravity, but here we see his defeat.

So we're going to read the rest of Daniel 11 here in just a moment.

And it's broken up again in two sections.

And I apologize for the seminary history lesson.

But section 1, Daniel 11, 21 through 25, will deal with epiphanies.

And I'm going to say this, and catch this with me, okay?

And he is to serve as a type, a type of Antichrist.

We'll see a depth of depravity that is within him that will play out into the imagery of the coming Antichrist.

And then in verses 36 through 45, we will get a description of the eschatological Antichrist

referred to in Daniel 7, Daniel 9, 2 Thessalonians, and Revelation 13.

So let's read verses 21 through 25, and we'll begin to understand who this monster is.

In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given.

He shall come in without warnings and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant.

And from the time that an alliance is made with him, he shall act deceitfully,

and he shall become strong with the small people.

Without warning, he shall come into the richest parts of the providence.

And he shall do whatever his, he shall do neither his fathers nor his father's fathers have done,

scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods.

He shall divide plans against strongholds, but only for a time.

And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army.

And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army,

but he shall not stand, for plots have been devised against him.

Even those who eat his food shall break him.

His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.

And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil.

They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail.

For the end is yet to be at the time appointed.

And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant.

And he shall work his will and return to his own land.

At the time appointed, he shall return and come into the south.

But it shall not be at this time as it was before.

For the ships of Ketem shall come against him.

And he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant.

He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant.

Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress,

and shall take away the regular burnt offering,

and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.

He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant,

but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.

The wise among the people shall make many understand,

though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame by captivity and plunder.

When they stumble, they shall receive a little help,

and they shall join themselves to them with flattery.

And some of the wise should stumble,

so that they may be refined, purified, and made white until the time of the end,

for it still awaits the appointed time.

Antichius Epiphanes is a monster.

He's an absolute monster.

He comes to power, not through election,

not through family lineage,

but as is spoken about in the prophetic word,

which is spoken about in the course of history,

he comes to power through smooth talking.

He comes to power through lies and deceit.

He comes to power by betraying himself to be something that he's not,

and even early on throughout his reign,

will gain land and treaty as a result of this.

In 169 B.C.,

he returned back to Syria following a war,

and he found that there had been a Jewish insurrection

that had been taking place.

He didn't capture those who were involved.

He didn't capture the group that was trying to rebel against him.

Instead, he ended up killing 80,000,

80,000 men, women, and children

to punish the nation

for the insurrection that had taken place.

And this would speak to

how he would handle any threat of defeat

that he would face.

So in Daniel 1130

speaks of a specific time

where he was defeated.

This is the part that connects us

back with what we had just read

at the end there in verse 18.

Here's what happened.

Antiochus decided once again

to attack Egypt

as he set his eyes

on the coastland

of the Mediterranean.

And here's what happened.

Once he decided to attack Egypt,

Rome,

the power of Rome,

decided to help the Egyptians.

Go back and read verse 30 again with me.

For the ships of Ketem

shall come against him

and he shall be afraid

and withdraw

and turn back

and be enraged

and take action

against the Holy Covenant.

Here's what history tells us.

That when Rome has the appeal

from Egypt

that this is what's going to happen,

Rome sends a general,

remember earlier in verse 18

it says a commander,

that's known as the fleet

of Ketem

and they go there

and they defeat him

and they humiliate him

and he's forced to set his eyes

back on his homeland

and he's forced to return back.

Well, here's the thing.

He's not willing to say,

you know what?

I took my shot

and I missed.

He's not willing to say,

you know what?

They had more than I had

and I need to learn my lesson

and go back to where I came from.

These aren't things

that encapture his mind

and instead he decides,

even though there's not

a single person of Israel

who is fighting with him,

that he will take out his anger.

He will take out his defeat

and instead he will punish

the Jewish people.

So here's a glimpse

into what this man does.

He sent mercenaries

to Jerusalem

who come waving the banner

of peace

only to attack on the Sabbath,

their day of rest,

their day of worship,

and killed many

and then looted the city,

looted the temple.

He then lied

to the Jewish people,

deceived the Jewish people,

and convinced many

to abandon their faith

and follow him.

He made all Jewish practices illegal.

He made offering sacrifices,

offerings,

worship in the temple,

prayer,

reading of Scripture illegal.

and if you were caught

doing that,

you were punished

by death.

Since they couldn't worship

their God,

he placed himself

as God

for them to worship him.

He went into the temple

and erected

a statue

of Zeus

in ways

to destroy

the holiness.

He sacrificed

the pig

on the altar,

desecrating

the altar,

and forced

the priest

to eat

the unclean

meat.

In the course

of his tenure,

he murdered

tens of thousands

of Jewish people.

Praise God,

there were those

who stood against him.

In 163 B.C.,

he dies.

And he serves

what God

is using him as,

is he serves

as a picture

of what to come.

We can look

through the course

of history

and we can glance

and we can see

while we have not seen

the Antichrist.

We have seen

those like

an Antichrist.

We see the power

that they exude,

the characteristics

that they're

desperate for

and that fill

within them.

We see this

with Epiphanes.

We see this

with Nero.

In a lot of ways,

we see this

with Adolf Hitler.

The depravity

of the heart

of the heart

of man.

And now,

as we close

verses 36-45,

we'll see

the prophecy

that comes

for the

Antichrist.

it says,

and the king

shall do

as he wills.

He shall

exalt himself

and magnify

himself

above every

god

and shall

speak

astonishing

things

against the

god of

gods.

He shall

prosper

until the

indignation

is accomplished.

For what is

decreed

shall be

done.

He shall

pay no

attention

to the

god

of his

fathers

which is

the one

beloved

by women.

He shall

not pay

attention

to any

other god

for he

shall

magnify

himself

above all.

He shall

honor the

god

of

fortresses

instead

of these.

Of

god

of whom

his

fathers

did not

know

he shall

honor

with

gold

and

silver

and

precious

stones

and

costly

gifts.

He

shall

deal

with

the

strongest

fortresses

with

the

help

of a

foreign

god.

Those

who

acknowledge

him

shall

load

with

honor.

He

shall

make

them

rulers

over

many

and

shall

divide

the

land

for

a

price.

At

the

time

of the

end

the

king

of the

south

shall

attack

him.

But

the

king

of the

north

shall

rush

upon

him

like

a

whirlwind

with

chariots

and

horsemen

with

many

ships

and

he

shall

come

into

countries

and

shall

overflow

and

pass

through.

He

shall

come

into

the

glorious

land.

Folks,

this is

Israel.

And

tens

of

thousands

shall

fall

but

these

shall

be

delivered

out

of

his

hand.

Edom

and

Moab

and

the

main

parts

of

the

Ammonites.

He

shall

stretch

out

his

hand

against

the

countries

and

the

land

of

Egypt

shall

not

escape.

He

shall

become

the

ruler

of

the

treasures

of

gold

and

of

silver

and

of

the

precious

things

of

Egypt.

And

the

Libyans

and

the

Cushites

shall

follow

in

his

train.

But

news

from

the

east

and

the

north

shall

alarm

him.

He

shall

go out

with a

great

fury

to

destroy

and

devote

many

to

destruction.

And

he

shall

pitch

his

palatial

tents

between

the

sea

and

the

glorious

holy

mountain.

Yet

he

shall

come

to

his

end

with

none

to

help

him.

We

get a

description

of the

Antichrist.

And

folks,

I'll

be

honest

with

you.

While

I'm

not

trying

to

stand

here

and

I'm

not

giving

a

prophetic

word,

it's

not

that

I'm

not

trying

to,

I'm

saying

I'm

not

doing

that,

but

when

we

look

into

the

ungodly

into

the

world,

when

we

look

into

the

ungodly

of

the

leadership

of

the

world,

folks,

these

descriptions

don't

just

limit

themselves

to

biblical

times.

We

see

that

he

is

self-willed

and

he

will

do

whatever

he

pleases.

There

is no

submission

to

others

much

less

submission

to

God.

He

exalts

himself.

He

doesn't

just

see

himself

as

God-like,

he

sees

himself

as

a

God.

He

will

blaspheme

and say

outrageous

things

about

God,

but

in

this

all,

he

will

be

applauded,

he

will

be

looked

at

with

praise.

Why?

Because

he

will

be

successful.

He

will

attack

others

and

sweep

into

their

country.

He

will

invade

Israel

and

kill

many.

He

will

have

a

global

rule

for

a

while,

but

praise

God,

he

will

meet

his

end.

Very

end of

verse

45.

Yet

he

shall

come

to

his

end.

in

preaching,

what you

have to

have is

explanation

and

application.

You see,

if it's

just

explanation,

it's

just a

teachable

lesson that

we gain

knowledge

and go

from.

But

God's

word

causes us

to take

his

word

and to

apply

his

word

and the

truth

of what

God

has

for us.

Multiple

times this

week,

I thought

this,

God,

why

did

you

give

us

this

passage?

Why

did

you

give

us

this,

that

we

would

have

this

today?

Well,

here's

some

application

that I

have

for you

in

closing.

What

does God

have

for us?

Number

one,

God

writes

history

before

it's

history.

God

writes

history

before

it's

history.

depending

on your

theological

view

when it

comes

to

history,

God

either

ordained

it

or

allowed

it.

But let

me say

based off

of what

the Bible

teaches

us is

either way

you look

at it,

God's

in

control.

God's

in

control

through

Alexander

the

Great.

God's

in

control

through

Xerxes.

God's

in

control

through

the

Babylonian

captivity.

That

what

we

see

all

throughout

in

the

book

of

Daniel,

what

we

see

all

throughout

the

course

of

what

God

brings

us

in

his

word

is

that

God

is

in

control

and

that

it

can

be

fearful

that

when

we

look

at

the

depth

of

depravity

that

is

in

the

world

around

us

and

we

can

be

succumbed

to

the

emotion

of

fear

that

is

there

instead

of

the

truth

that

we

have

that

God

is

in

control

and

God

doesn't

wait

to

think

about

what

history

will

be

that

God

sets

the

story

of

this

world

and

the

beauty

of

that

if

God

sets

the

story

of

this

world

then

praise

God

that

he's

got

a

story

for

me

and

praise

God

that

he

has

a

story

for

you

the

question

that

I

have

for

you

this

morning

is

this

whose

story

are

you

going

after

whose

story

are

you

going

after

Daniel

didn't

go

after

his

own

story

Daniel

went

after

the

story

of

God

of

what

God

had

for

him

of

what

God

desired

for

him

you

see

Daniel

could

have

counted

himself

as

much

but

Daniel

humbled

himself

before

the

Lord

Daniel

could

have

leveraged

himself

for

rule

but

instead

Daniel

wanted

to be

obedient

to

what

God

had

for

him

you

see

Daniel

could

have

promoted

himself

and

disobeyed

God

but

Daniel

said

I

don't

care

if

it

cost

me

my

life

you

will

not

take

away

my

obedience

before

a

holy

God

who

writes

your

story

number

two

that

mankind

all

of

us

left

to

his

own

heart

his

own

will

his

own

way

simply

put

will

do

as

he

wills

the

way

that

we

see

in

the

antichrist

the

way

that

we

see

in

Alexander

the

great

the

way

we

see

in

epiphanies

is

that

every

single

time

in

their

choice

of

the

world

they

will

choose

the

lesser

they

will

choose

what

their

heart

sinfully

desires

you know

for

Daniel

it

was

the

true

count

the

cost

in

order

to

follow

God

my

question

for

you

and

I

today

will

your

heart

be

like

the

heart

of

Alexander

the

great

will

your

heart

be

like

the

heart

of

epiphanies

will

your

heart

be

like

the

heart

of

the

antichrist

and

simply

I

am

the

God

of

my

life

and

I

will

do

as

I

will

God

or

today

will

you

make

the

choice

in

the

sacrifice

today

will

you

make

the

choice

in

the

struggle

today

will

you

make

the

choice

to

choose

Jesus

and

to see

his

goodness

and

his

faithfulness

number

three

kingdoms

will

come

and

go

but

only

the

kingdom

of

Christ

will

stand

turn

back

with

me

a few

pages

in

Daniel

Daniel 7:13

chapter

7

verses

13

and

14

it's a

prophecy

about the

son of

man

this is

a

prophecy

about

Jesus

this is

a

prophecy

about

Christ

and

he

says

and

I

saw

in

the

night

visions

and

behold

with

the

clouds

of

heaven

there

came

one

like

a

son

of

man

this

is

Jesus

and

he

came

to

the

ancient

of

days

and

was

presented

before

him

and

to

him

was

given

dominion

and

glory

and

a

kingdom

that

all

peoples

nations

and

languages

should

serve

him

and

here's

the

beautiful

part

about

this

kingdom

the

kingdom

that

I'm

in

because

Jesus

has

saved

me

the

kingdom

that

you

can

be

in

because

of

the

gift

of

God

in

Christ

that

he

paid

on

the

cross

here's

the

beautiful

part

of

that

that

his

dominion

is

an

everlasting

dominion

which

shall

not

pass

away

that

is

the

things

of

this

world

fade

his

will

stand

and

his

kingdom

one

that

shall

not

be

destroyed

are

you

a

part

of

God's

kingdom

entry

into

God's

kingdom

is

not

found

in

your

ability

or

in

mine

but

it's

found

in

response

of

faith

in

Jesus

Christ

as

Lord

and

Savior

fourth

praise

God

history

allows

us

to

learn

from

the

sins

of

others

and

instead

look

to

Jesus

folks

may

today

may

we

look

to

Jesus

as

our

means

and

may

we

look

to

Jesus

as

our

model

yes

Jesus

is

our

means

of

salvation

Jesus

is

the

only

one

who

can

save

us

but

the

truth

of

God's

word

is

it's

not

check

a

box

and

move

on

from

there

that

Jesus

is

our

means

of

salvation

and

he

is

our

model

of

obedience

may

we

stop

asking

ourselves

how

would

others

handle

this

how

would

others

respond

to

this

and

may

we

start

looking

at

the

boldness

of

love

that