{"id":18397,"date":"2017-05-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-022-the-limits-of-evil\/"},"modified":"2017-05-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-14T05:00:00","slug":"daniel-022-the-limits-of-evil","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-022-the-limits-of-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 022: The Limits of Evil"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18397","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-daniel","series_event-daniel","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Daniel 022: The Limits of Evil","sermon_date":"20170514","sermon_month":"5","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4664,"sermon_slides":4665,"sermon_mp3":4667,"sermon_id":"51417104520","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"7:7b-14","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Limits of Evil\n\n5-14-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel 7:7b-14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 22\n\nHappy Mother\u2019s Day everybody.\u00a0 \u00a0If you have a mother could you raise your hand for me.\u00a0 See, motherhood is pretty important, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 At this time we\u2019re going dismiss our children for Jr. church and let me call your attention to the Book of Daniel, chapter 7 and verse 7.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is The Limits of Evil.\u00a0 Sorry I don\u2019t have a special Mother\u2019s Day sermon for you today; it\u2019s kind of hard to tie into Daniel 7 Mother\u2019s Day, but we do want to commemorate Mother\u2019s Day as a special day and I hope the mothers feel blessed and special today.\u00a0 And as Ed mentioned even those that haven\u2019t been able to have children, it\u2019s Mother\u2019s Day for you also because you can be the mother of spiritual children.\u00a0 You know, Paul talks, does he not, about how Timothy is his what?\u00a0 Son in the faith, so Mother\u2019s Day I think we need to sort of broaden the category\u2014physical daughters, spiritual daughters.\u00a0 Mothers, of course, play a role physically and spiritually in the outworking of God\u2019s purposes.\n\nDaniel chapter 7 and verse 7, Daniel the prophet, of course, is a prophet that God raised up at a very special and strategic time in the history of the nation of Israel.\u00a0 The nation of Israel during this time period is in a time of captivity, in a time of deportation and a time of bondage.\u00a0 They find themselves outside of their land which they had been in for 800 years, 350 miles to the east of Israel in a place that we would call today modern day Iraq, or Babylon, Babylonia as it\u2019s used in the Bible.\u00a0 And God has taken His people and put them into this time of discipline which is to last about 70 years.\u00a0 And you can think how upset they would be, being away from their comfort zone, away from their familiar surroundings, being away from what they knew.\n\nAnd consequently God raises up Daniel to prophetically explain this time period.\u00a0 He explains this time period in terms of prophecy.\u00a0 He explains this time period also as we look at Daniel\u2019s life regarding how to live for God on Satan\u2019s turf.\u00a0\u00a0 And no doubt many of you are struggling with that, you find yourselves in places where your Christian worldview is no longer in the majority.\u00a0 You know, even here in the United States it\u2019s become largely that way.\u00a0 How do we live for God under professors, under politicians, under bosses that really don\u2019t get where\u00a0 you\u2019re coming from.\u00a0 The Book of Daniel is a light for us in that sense, it functions as a light shining in a dark place.\n\nDaniel 2-7, as we\u2019ve tried to argue, is structured in a very interesting way; the information at the beginning of chapter 2, you get it again as you\u2019re moving out of chapter 7.\u00a0 The information in chapter 3 is repeated in chapter 6, just like the themes in chapter 4 are repeated in chapter 5.\u00a0 And we find ourselves in chapter 7 and you say wait a minute, I\u2019ve heard this before and you would be right; you\u2019ve heard the same themes expressed in chapter 2.\u00a0 It\u2019s a time period that God gave to Daniel called the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 It\u2019s a period of time when the nation of Israel is going to be trampled down by various pagan powers.\u00a0 Daniel is given this time period because this is the time period that started with the Babylonian captivity and Daniel\u2019s prophecies tell us that this time period is going to continue right on into the second advent of Jesus Christ.\n\nSo don\u2019t expect the kingdom of God, as Daniel is given this vision, don\u2019t expect the kingdom of God to materialize until after this time period is over.\u00a0 This is instructive to us prophetically because we are still living in this very time period.\u00a0 In fact, the greatest empire of terror that Daniel saw is still yet future on our horizon, the empire of the antichrist.\u00a0 And this is where we start to get information about it, in chapter 7, really verses 7-14.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why I\u2019ve entitled this message The Limits of Evil.\u00a0 Sometimes we have a tendency to focus so aggressively on the dark side, on evil, on things that are wrong that we have a tendency to think that evil just will go on and on and on and on forever.\n\nThe reality of the situation, and I think this is one of the great distinctives of the Christian worldview is evil is finite.\u00a0 Evil is bound.\u00a0 There was a time period when evil didn\u2019t even exit.\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0\u00a0 You can read about that in Genesis 1 and 2.\u00a0 There will be a time period when evil will not exist anymore and you can read about that in Revelation 21 and 22.\u00a0 What\u2019s normal is Genesis 1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and 2 and Revelation 21 and 22; that\u2019s normal.\u00a0 That\u2019s how God created things.\u00a0 What\u2019s happening in the interim is abnormal.\u00a0 And when we live like this, with this belief that there was a time in which evil didn\u2019t exist and there will be a time in which evil will not exist, what does that give us in the present?\u00a0 It gives us\u2026 it starts with an \u201ch\u201d--- hope, that as bad as this world can get (and it can get very bad, and if I\u2019m understanding my Bible correctly it\u2019s going to get worse) but as bad as things can get that evil that expresses itself in this world will not last forever.\u00a0 In fact, God has it all on a very short leash, because some of you recently have gone through very difficult times, job layoffs, difficulties within your family, deaths in the family, and it\u2019s so tempting in the midst of those difficulties to become so discouraged because you think that what you see in front of you in terms \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of heartaches and frustrations and setbacks is just going to go on and on and on and on and on.\n\nAnd\u00a0 yet the Bible says that\u2019s not true.\u00a0 The limitations of evil\u2026 there was a time in which evil didn\u2019t exist and there will be a time in which evil will be no more.\u00a0 You know, people that believe in reincarnation, that you just keep getting recycled back into life over and over again, have no real hope in the sense that the world that they\u2019re living in just goes on and on and on and on and on and on.\u00a0 The evolutionist has no real hope either because things over billions of years went from the goo to the zoo to you and they\u2019re going to just keep on going on and on this way through this terrible process of the survival of the fittest and the weak being dominated by the strong.\n\nAnd many people today are captured or captivated by a worldview which doesn\u2019t describe evil.\u00a0 And how different it is for the child of God to come to the pages of God\u2019s Word, like Daniel 7, where we learn that evil gets a day in the sun but it\u2019s very limited.\u00a0 And how difficult it is to live life with hope, with optimism, without understanding these prophetic Scriptures.\n\nA lot of pastors won\u2019t preach prophecy; they won\u2019t teach prophecy on the grounds that it\u2019s too hard to understand, it causes too many divisions.\u00a0 I for one am a big proponent of teaching prophecy because only by studying prophecy can you get a glimpse of\u00a0 the limitations of evil and only by understanding the limitations of evil can you understand or begin to have hope in the present.\n\nSo with that spirit, with that attitude, we turn to Daniel 7.\u00a0 We saw last week the historical setting of the book, verse 1, which indicated that Daniel saw these visions in 553 B.C.\u00a0 That\u2019s very important because Daniel is seeing these visions before they transpire.\u00a0 In other words, these visions are describing events about historical circumstances narrated in advance.\u00a0 Daniel is seeing history before it unfolds.\u00a0 Daniel is in his mid-60\u2019s at the time he receives this vision in chapter 7.\u00a0 Chapter 7 and 8, the Babylonian Empire is in power.\u00a0 A\u00a0 man named Belshazzar, the last reigning king of Babylonia is in power.\u00a0 And Daniel is essentially seeing the same thing that\u2019s described in chapter 2, the other end of this chiastic structure, that Nebuchadnezzar saw.\n\nNebuchadnezzar saw this same period of time in the form of a dazzling attractive statue.\u00a0 Daniel, of course, is seeing the exact same period of time through the revelation of four disgusting grotesque beasts.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same period of time but it\u2019s history narrated from a different point of view.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar sees it through man\u2019s point of view; it\u2019s a happy time because Nebuchadnezzar is one of the oppressors.\u00a0 Daniel sees the exact same period of time from the divine point of view, the oppression that God\u2019s people are going to go through during this difficult time. \u00a0And Daniel himself, as we will see at the end of this chapter, is troubled by what he sees, and yet he is reminded in this vision that yes, evil has its day; yes, evil does seem to get the upper hand but it\u2019s on a very tight leash; God is going to bring history to a conclusion and restart the universe just as He intended back in Genesis 1 and 2.\u00a0 And this time evil itself will be allowed no entrance.\n\nThe vision is given in verses 2-14, Daniel sees four beasts coming up out of the sea.\u00a0 As we have studied the first beast is like a lion which represents the Babylonian Empire which is the first of the four empires to trample the nation down.\u00a0 And then Daniel keeps looking and he sees the second beast, a bear, which represents the Persian empire which overthrew the Babylonian empire (in Daniel\u2019s own lifetime) and Daniel sees that second empire trampling down the nation of Israel.\n\nThen he sees a third beast in this vision, a leopard; the leopard (as we have studied) represents the Grecian Empire which would come to power long after Daniel left the scene.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the date is very significant back in chapter 7 and verse 1.\u00a0 Daniel is seeing things before they transpire and he sees Greece overthrowing the Persian empire, and then he continues to look in this vision and he sees yet another empire, that would be the Roman empire, this ferocious beast, terrible beats overthrowing the Grecian Empire.\u00a0 Keep in mind that Daniel is seeing these things, by the time you get to Rome, about five centuries in advance.\n\nAnd then Daniel continues to look and he sees an empire beyond Rome that is\u00a0 yet future, that is yet distant, even from our time period in the year 2017.\u00a0 Notice what he says here in the second part of Daniel chapter 7 and verse 7.\u00a0 He continues to describe Rome but he goes beyond Rome and He says it was different from all the beasts that were before it and it had ten horns. \u00a0\u00a0[Daniel 7:7, \u201cAfter that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast\u2014terrifying and fright\u00adening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.\u201d]\n\nMany times the Holy Spirit will take events and the Holy Spirit will present those events in a back to back fashion but it will not, the Spirit will not reveal the time period between those events.\u00a0 And you know this to be the case because this is on all your Christmas cards every year, Isaiah 9:6-7, which says, \u201cFor a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;\u201d now is that the first coming or the second coming of Christ?\u00a0 That\u2019s the first coming.\u00a0 But then the next clause says, \u201cAnd the government will rest on His shoulders;\u201d verse\u00a0 7 says \u201cThere will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forever more\u2026.\u201d\n\nNow are those latter prophecies about the first coming of Christ or the second coming of Christ?\u00a0 The second coming.\u00a0 Well, what happened to the 2,000 years or more right there in the middle of verse 6; the Holy Spirit didn\u2019t tell you about that, did He.\u00a0 It\u2019s the period of time that we call a gap, a prophetic gap.\u00a0 You say what is God doing in these gaps?\u00a0 He\u2019s doing a lot and this is where we have to go into the New Testament and study God\u2019s program for the church and reinsert His program for the church through the hindsight of history; history is 20\/20 they tell us, right there in the middle of verse 6.\n\nBut you see, the Holy Spirit just jumped right on over 2000 years or more of history without explaining it to us and we wouldn\u2019t know anything about it if we didn\u2019t have the pages of the New Testament to consult.\u00a0 And you see, that is what is happening here in Daniel 7, right in the middle of the verse, as Daniel is being given a description of ancient Rome he flashes forward to an empire that is coming, that is yet future even from our perspective, a revived Rome, an empire of the antichrist, an empire that will even be worse and more diabolical than Rome itself.\u00a0 Rome was pretty bad, it was under Rome, of course, that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified\u00a0 And Daniel sees in these prophecies something worse on the horizon.\n\nThis chart here might help, it\u2019s sort of like looking at two mountains in the distance. When you look at two mountains in the distance you see the larger mountain raised a little bit above the mountain that\u2019s closer to you and all you can see are the two mountain peaks.\u00a0 What you cannot see is the valley between the mountain peaks.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Daniel is seeing here.\n\nThis is why the Old Testament prophets, without the light of the New Testament, themselves,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 Peter 1:10-11 tells us they were frustrated with their own prophecies.\u00a0 I mean, put yourself in Isaiah\u2019s shoes.\u00a0 Isaiah gets one prophecy about a suffering Messiah; he gets another prophecy about a ruling and reigning Messiah and he\u2019s saying to the Holy Spirit which is it?\u00a0 Daniel, as we\u2019re going to study in this book was frustrated with his own prophecies, he wanted to under\u00adstand, yet at specific points in this book he is told to go his way; it\u2019s not meant to be understood until a distant generation.\u00a0 And we are the generation with a full canon of Scripture that can go back and put the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together in a way that Isaiah could not do; in a way that Ezekiel could not do, in a way that Daniel could not do because they did not see what was happening in that valley the way we can through the light of Paul\u2019s letters and the New Testament.\n\nSo Daniel sees this distant vision of this horrific empire, it\u2019s what Nebuchadnezzar saw back in Daniel 2.\u00a0 Daniel saw it as a ferocious disgusting beast.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar saw it as feet with ten toes which was a mixture of iron and clay.\u00a0 And in fact, the ten toes in Daniel 2 correlate with the ten horns on this final beast that seems to be described there in the second part of Daniel 7:7.\n\nWhat did Daniel see as he looked at this distant empire?\u00a0 He saw that it was different from all the other beasts and he saw that it had ten horns.\u00a0 The ten horns are going to be explained and defined for us later on in this chapter, but the ten horns would represent a ten king or a ten region confederacy that will cover the entire earth.\u00a0 Daniel chapter 7 and verse 23 is very clear that this coming empire of the antichrist will cover all of planet earth. [Daniel 7:23, \u201cThus he said: \u2018The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.\u2019\u201d]\n\nIt will be an imitation, if you will, a duplicate of God\u2019s millennial kingdom which will replace the antichrist\u2019s kingdom and this is what Daniel is seeing.\u00a0 This becomes very instructive for us because this empire that I\u2019m describing now, the empire of the antichrist, is still future from our point of view.\u00a0 \u00a0And we can see, can we not, how the world stage is being set up for the coming of this\u2026 for lack of a better expression, new world order.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting today that politicians can\u2019t even get through speeches without talking about the world, world politics, globalism, act \u00a0locally think globally.\u00a0 I am reminded of the former Secretary of State, John Kerry, when he was dismissing a graduating class and he essentially said in his speech very recently to this graduating class, \u201cyou are graduating into a borderless world.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, in the mind of the elites, in the mind of the John Kerry\u2019s and the movers and shakers the whole thing has already been set up; the only people that haven\u2019t figured it out yet are Mr. and Mrs. America and most of the church hasn\u2019t figured it out because most pastors would rather have their hind teeth pulled than say anything about God\u2019s prophetic word, for fear that it\u2019s going to scare people, for fear that it\u2019s going to alienate people, for fear that it\u2019s going to divide their church.\n\nThe reality of the situation is God has called us to teach these things because only understanding the progress of evil and its demise gives us, number 1, realism in the present world, and number 2, optimism in the midst of it.\u00a0 How can you be optimistic about the future given the trajectory of the world without understanding the insight God has given us in prophecy where He reveals the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting that when you go into the book of Revelation, chapter 13 and verse 2 John, in the first century, A.D. is seeing the same thing that Daniel saw back in the 6th<\/sup> century B.C.\u00a0 But notice the order is changed in John\u2019s vision.\u00a0 Revelation 13:2, it says, \u201cAnd the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.\u201d\u00a0 Interesting how John in the first century, on the island of Patmos, sees the same thing; he sees a beast, a leopard, a bear and a lion but when Daniel saw the same thing in Daniel 7 Daniel saw the same animals but the order is the opposite, isn\u2019t it.\n\n[Daniel 7:4-6, \u201cThe first was<\/em> like a lion and had the<\/em> wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. [5] And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were<\/em> in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, \u2018Arise, devour much meat!\u2019 [6] After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. [7] After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.\u201d\n\nDaniel saw a lion first, then a bear, then a leopard, and then a beast.\u00a0 John sees a beast and a leopard, a bear and a lion.\u00a0 Why the difference in order?\u00a0 Because when Daniel had his vision the first empire on his horizon was Babylon; the second empire on his horizon would be Medo-Persia.\u00a0 The third empire on his horizon would be Greece.\u00a0 The fourth empire on his horizon would be Rome and then finally a revived Rome, a new world order, and then the kingdom of God would come.\u00a0 John, in the first century, is not looking forward but he\u2019s looking backward.\u00a0 So the first empire on John\u2019s horizon chronologically would be Rome.\u00a0 That was the empire that was in place when John wrote the book of Revelation.\u00a0 The next empire that would be in place from his horizon chronologically would be the leopard, or Greece.\u00a0 The third empire that would be in place would be the bear or Persia as he\u2019s not looking forward but backward.\u00a0 And the last empire that would be in place would be the lion or Babylon.\n\nSo both men, John and Daniel, are seeing the same period of time, seeing the same empires but from different chronological angles, just like Nebuchadnezzar saw this same period of time but to him he saw it from a different angle.\u00a0 It appeared as a giant statue.\u00a0 Daniel saw it as four ferocious disgusting beasts.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting the information that could be unearthed and revealed by simply paying attention to some of these prophetic facts.\n\nBut then Daniel continues to watch and he sees something called \u201cthe Ancient of Days.\u201d\u00a0 He sees in verses 9-12 the Father, God the Father, acting as judge at the end of the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 Daniel sees this whole period of time ultimately coming to an end.\n\n[Daniel 7:9, I kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took His<\/em> seat; His vesture was<\/em> like white snow and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was<\/em> ablaze with flames, its wheels were<\/em> a burning fire.\u00a0 [10] \u201cA river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened.\u00a0 [11] Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. [12] As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.\u201d]\n\nSee, Daniel was not just given a glimpse of how bad things were going to be; they were going to get bad, and as your pastor I\u2019m telling you based on the prophetic word things will continue to get bad until the kingdom of God comes.\u00a0 But Daniel was also given hope, he was shown that evil is on a leash, evil is finite, evil is limited and whatever bad things can happen in the world they\u2019re very short lived from the divine viewpoint. They will be replaced by the kingdom of God.\u00a0 And so Daniel sees \u201cthe Ancient of Days\u201d, that would be God the Father, acting as judge at the end of the times of the Gentiles.\n\nDid you know that this life ends in judgment.\u00a0 There is no escape from that.\u00a0 Many people have this idea that we just kind of get recycled and we come back as a whatever and you just go through life in another form, being recycled from one existence to the next.\u00a0 That basically comes from Eastern Mysticism.\u00a0 May I tell you here beloved, that that is not what the Bible teaches at all.\u00a0 It teaches that this life ends in judgment.\u00a0 Acts 17:31 says this, \u201cbecause He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0This life ends in judgment and that\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to understand where you, as a human being, are going to spend eternity.\n\nEven the child of God faces a judgment of a sort.\u00a0 Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, \u201cFor we must\u201d in other words, it\u2019s not optional, \u201call appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.\u201d\u00a0 Even your life as a Christian, although nothing can take away from your salvation, is going to go through an evaluation, not to determine heaven or hell but determine the rewards that you will receive above and beyond salvation itself.\n\nWhat am I trying to get at?\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to get at the fact that God is watching; God is looking.\u00a0 What is happening now is going to be evaluated; there is\u2026 we might put it this way, payday someday.\u00a0 And this is what Daniel sees, both for the believer in terms of rewards and also the unbeliever.\n\nBut notice this Ancient of Days,\u00a0 this father, we have his description, verses 9-10, his destruction of the fourth beast, verse 11, and his judgment on the other beasts, verse 12.\u00a0 Notice if\u00a0 you will chapter 7 and verses 9-10, \u201cI kept looking\u201d actually even before we get to verses 9-10, I think I may have skipped a verse, didn\u2019t I?\u00a0 I think\u00a0 I skipped verse 8.\u00a0 Verse 8 says, \u201cWhile I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.\u201d\n\nBefore Daniel sees this Ancient of Days bringing judgment at the end of the times of the Gentiles he sees this empire of the antichrist, these ten horns, these ten kings, or ten regions which will control all of planet earth and he sees amongst them a different horn, a little horn.\u00a0 This is a reference to the coming antichrist.\u00a0 And somehow this man, the antichrist will come forward, three of the ten horns will rebel against him; seven will submit to his authority.\u00a0 We get more of this description later on in Daniel 7.\u00a0 And it goes on and it describes this antichrist, this little horn possessing eyes; he\u2019s a human being.\n\nA lot of people in\u2026 well, I believe in the spirit of the antichrist.\u00a0 Well, so do I but the reality says yes, there is a spirit of the antichrist but that\u2019s not to take away from the fact that there is a literal, real human being called the antichrist on the horizon.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I think so many people in the world today, you look at them and you say they would be a fantastic antichrist.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had a couple of recent Presidents here in the United States that almost look like they were auditioning for the role or the job.\u00a0 Satan is not omniscient; he does not know when the church will be removed because you see, Paul says when the church is removed the restrainer is gone.\u00a0 Once the restrainer is gone then the antichrist will come to power. Satan, being a created being, does not know when this is going to happen.\u00a0\u00a0 So he has always had somebody waiting in the wings, somebody ready to grasp power once the restraint is gone.\n\nYes, there is a spirit of the antichrist in the world but that is not to take away from the fact that there is a literal human being called the antichrist on the horizon.\u00a0 Paul calls him the lawless one.\u00a0 One of my favorite Bible teachers like to call this coming antichrist Mr. Big Mouth because when you study the prophecies of the coming antichrist what you will discover is that there is always an emphasis placed on what this man says.\u00a0 You see it there in verse 8, having \u201ca mouth uttering great boasts.\u201d\u00a0 [Daniel 7:8]\n\nRevelation 13:5, describing this antichrist says, \u201cThere was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.\u201d\u00a0 There is such an emphasis on what the antichrist says.\u00a0 I think of so many dictators that have been able to wow the masses through their oratorical pizazz and their oratorical skills. Even looking back on those old German tapes of what happened in Nazi Germany, how Adolf Hitler was able to enthrall people based on what he said.\u00a0 How when Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba, how there are actual testimonies of Cuban women that fell in love with Castro\u2019s communist revolution simply based on Castro\u2019s oratorical skill.\n\nAnd you say well, we could never allow someone to come to power in this country, could we?\u00a0 With no resume at all, just totally based on what they say?\u00a0 That can\u2019t happen.\u00a0 Let me ask you a question.\u00a0 Who was, exactly, Bill Clinton before 1992 I think it was when he came to power.\u00a0 No one even knew who he was.\u00a0 You blink and the next thing this man is the leader of the free world.\u00a0 I could say the same thing about Barak Obama, what exactly was his resume?\u00a0 What were his accomplishments?\u00a0 Now I realize he was a community organizer but I don\u2019t even know what that means\u2026 community organizer?\u00a0 He is elected and comes to power because of what people like in terms of his vocabulary and what he says.\u00a0 I can\u2019t tell you how many people I ran into during that time period that voted for him on this excuse: he sounded Presidential.\n\nSo we are living in a time period where God is showing us that these prophecies could very easily happen, people come to power all the time, not so much based on who they are, their character, or their accomplishments, or the way they appear, or how they sound.\u00a0 And this is what Daniel is seeing here with this prophecy of the antichrist uttering great boasts.\u00a0 But fortunately the prophecies of the antichrist are followed by the prophecies of the Ancient of Days and as I mentioned before indicate that the antichrist does have his day in the sun but it\u2019s rapidly brought to an end.\u00a0 We have the description of the Ancient of Days, the destruction of the beast, and then his judgment on the other beasts.\n\nNotice, if\u00a0 you will, verses 9-10, \u201cI kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took His<\/em> seat; His vesture was<\/em> like white snow and the hair of His head like pure wool.\u00a0 His throne was<\/em> ablaze with flames, its wheels were<\/em> a burning fire.\u201d\u00a0 Verse 10, \u201cA river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened.\u201d\u00a0 A description of God the Father bringing an end to the empire of the antichrist.\n\nThere\u2019s so many interesting things to talk about here in these verses.\u00a0 Notice it doesn\u2019t say in verse 9 throne; it says \u201cthrones.\u201d\u00a0 You would think it would say \u201cthrone\u201d given the fact that this is a description of the kingdom which is on the horizon.\u00a0 God\u2019s kingdom, it\u2019s very interesting it doesn\u2019t say \u201cthrone\u201d singular, it says \u201cthrones\u201d plural.\u00a0 Revelation 20:4 says the same thing, \u201cThen I saw thrones,\u201d plural, \u201cand they\u201d plural \u201cthat sat on them, and judgment was given to them\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Down in chapter\u00a0 7 and I believe it\u2019s about verse 27, this is where we learn that the kingdom is going to be handed over to the saints.\u00a0 [Daniel 7:27, \u201cThen the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.\u201d]\n\nWhy am I bringing this up?\u00a0 I\u2019m bringing this up for this simple fact: as a Christian, as one of God\u2019s people, you need to understand something, that you are destined for authority.\u00a0 You may not feel like it, you may not want the authority, you may not feel like\u00a0 you deserve the authority, (and you don\u2019t), but the reality is part of the grace package to you is God is going to give you a throne which you will exercise a governing role in the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 This explains Paul\u2019s frustration with the Corinthians who were suing each other.\u00a0 Can you imagine that?\u00a0 And discrediting the gospel in front of pagan judges.\u00a0 Paul says, \u201cDo you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the matters of this life?\u201d\u00a0 1 Corinthians 6:3.\n\nYou\u2019re destined for authority, you\u2019re destined for a throne, Paul says why don\u2019t you act like it.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you grow up and start living according to your identity in Jesus Christ?\u00a0 Revelation 5:10 says, \u201cYou have made them\u201d that\u2019s us, the church, \u201cto be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will\u201d what? \u201creign\u201d that\u2019s having authority \u201cupon the earth.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 What kind of authority are you going to wield?\u00a0 That depends largely on the choices\u00a0 you\u2019re making now as a Christian.\u00a0 You\u2019re destined for the kingdom, you\u2019re destined for authority; is it going to be ten cities to reign over or five?\u00a0 The issue is God is preparing you now for that role through the trial that He has you in.\u00a0 He\u2019s preparing you now for that role based on the service project that you\u2019re now involved in.\u00a0 God is using this time period to prepare us for the authority that we will wield in this coming kingdom.\u00a0 It certainly is a different way, is it not, of looking at the future.\n\nLook at the end of verse 9, it says, \u201cits wheels are a burning fire.\u201d\u00a0 [Daniel 7:9, \u201cI kept looking until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire.\u201d]\n\nDid you know that God\u2019s throne has wheels?\u00a0 You say where does it teach that elsewhere?\u00a0 Well, jot down Ezekiel 1:15-22 and Ezekiel makes another reference to the throne of God having wheels.\u00a0 [Ezekiel 1:15-22, \u201cNow as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, for each of<\/em> the four of them. [16] The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was<\/em> like sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being<\/em> as if one wheel were within another. [17] Whenever they moved, they moved in any of their four directions without turning as they moved. [18] As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes round about. [19] Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also.<\/em> [20] Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was<\/em> in the wheels. [21] Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was<\/em> in the wheels. [22] Now over the heads of the living beings there was<\/em> something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads\u201d]\n\nDo you know what\u2019s so interesting about this is Ezekiel and Daniel were the only prophets that mention wheels on God\u2019s throne and they are the only prophets that we have who received their visions outside of the land of Israel, 350 miles to the east.\u00a0 These are our two exilic prophets, prophets who prophesied during the exile, they are the only two prophets that I know of that it indicates that God\u2019s throne has wheels.\u00a0 Why is that significant?\u00a0 Because where God\u2019s people go God\u2019s throne goes.\u00a0 The church is not a building, it\u2019s the people of God, is it not?\u00a0 So guess what?\u00a0 Wherever you go who else goes?\u00a0 God goes, His throne just wheels around depending on where His people are.\u00a0 See, you might be in some circumstance in your health, some circumstance in your life, some circumstance in your finances, some circumstances in your employment where you think that somehow you are outside of the scope of God, the reign of God, the authority of God, the wheels on the throne indicate that where you go the throne goes.\n\nThis is why the book of Hebrews, chapter 13 and verse 5, God says I will never leave you nor will I forsake you.\u00a0 [Hebrews 13:5, \u201cMake sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, \u2018I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,\u2019\u201d]\n\nYou can\u2019t get beyond, as a child of God, the reach and the grip of God.\u00a0 Even in your sin itself God follows.\u00a0 This is why Paul, to the Corinthians, when they were, for lack of a better expression, shacking up with Gentile pagan prostitutes, he says don\u2019t you realize that when you do that you\u2019re bringing the Holy Spirit with you into that.\u00a0 If God follows me wherever I go that gives me hope in my present circumstances but it also tells me to be on my best behavior.\u00a0 Whatever I am doing God is involved in.\u00a0 As I\u2019m preaching right now God is involved; if I drive home today and get in an argument with my wife on Mother\u2019s Day which wouldn\u2019t be a good thing to do, God gets involved with that.\u00a0 Hope and holiness is what this idea of wheels on God\u2019s throne represents.\n\nYou go down to verse 10 and it says, \u201c\u2026 myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;\u201d \u201cThousands upon thousands were attending Him,\u201d this is a description of the innumerable angels.\u00a0\u00a0 [Daniel 7:10, \u201cA river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened.\u201d]\n\nRevelation 5:11 says, \u201cThen I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,\u201d how many angels are there?\u00a0 I can\u2019t number them.\u00a0 This is why in the Bible the angels are called what?\u00a0 Stars, they are analogized to stars.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that throughout history man in his foolishness thought he could number the stars.\u00a0 And yet with modern day scientific technology and innovations and the Hubble telescope what we have discovered is that we are just a mere spec in this universe.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is there are so many stars out there they can\u2019t be numbered.\u00a0 This is why God calls the angels, many times, stars, just like the stars of heaven itself can\u2019t be numbered, neither can the angels.\n\nHe goes on in verse 10, at the end of verse 10 and he says something very important, He says in this judgment \u201cthe books were opened.\u201d\u00a0 Now I read that and I say it should say \u201cbook\u201d but it says \u201cbooks.\u201d\u00a0 And when you cross reference that with the Book of Revelation, chapter 20 and verse 12, another description of the final judgment\u00a0 it says this: \u201cAnd I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books\u201d plural \u201cwere opened; and another book\u201d singular \u201cwas opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.\u201d\n\nYou say well, what\u2019s the bottom line?\u00a0 Here\u2019s the bottom line: if\u00a0 your name is not in \u201cthe book\u201d then you\u2019re judged by the what? \u201cthe books.\u201d\u00a0 Well, how do you get your name in \u201cthe book\u201d?\u00a0 It\u2019s called the book of life because I believe it\u2019s a record of everyone who has trusted in Christ.\u00a0 If you have trusted in Christ your name shows up in a singular book, the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life, meaning that you and your sins are covered by the blood of the Lamb.\u00a0 But woe to the person whose name is not found in that book because what are they left with?\u00a0 The books, which is a record of their deeds.\n\nI for one today rejoice, remember what Jesus said?\u00a0 He said don\u2019t rejoice in the fact that the demons submit to you; rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.\u00a0 I for one today am rejoicing that I\u2019m in \u201cthe book,\u201d because you know what folks, I don\u2019t know if I want to be judged by what\u2019s in the books because throughout my life I\u2019ve done some things that maybe good in the eyes of man but also I\u2019ve done a lot of bad things and that\u2019s the only thing I\u2019m left with.\u00a0 That\u2019s the only criteria to be applied to me if my name is not in the book.\n\nHow do you get in the book?\u00a0\u00a0 You trust in what God has done in your place through the provision of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 If that has never happened the only thing you\u2019re left with is a horrific evaluation; an evaluation not only to determine your destiny in the Lake of Fire but the degree of torment that a person experiences in that Lake of Fire for all eternity, and that\u2019s what \u201cthe books\u201d (plural) are in reference to.\u00a0 Fascinating description of this Ancient of Days, now we see how the Ancient of Days overthrows the boastful little horn, the antichrist.\n\nLook at\u00a0 you will at verse 11, \u201cThen I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast\u201d that would be the antichrist with this little horn \u201cwas slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire.\u201d\u00a0 This is the second reference we\u2019ve run into in these short verses to Mr. Big Mouth, the oratory, the words, coming from the antichrist\u2019s mouth.\n\nDo you know God keeps a record of words?\u00a0 Matthew 12:34, Jesus said, \u201cYou brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.\u201d\u00a0 Why does God keep a record of words?\u00a0 Because words are a revelation of what\u2019s inside of somebody, in their heart, in their character.\u00a0 Read the Book of James, chapter 3, you\u2019ll see this very clearly.\u00a0 What comes out of someone\u2019s mouth is indicative of what\u2019s happening in their heart.\n\nCan I ask you a question?\u00a0 If praise for God coming out of your mouth?\u00a0 Is thankfulness and gratitude coming out of your mouth?\u00a0 Then praise the Lord, that\u2019s what\u2019s in your heart.\u00a0 But is gossip, derision, venom, anger, judgmentalness, anxiety, are those things constantly pouring out of your mouth?\u00a0 Then that\u2019s a window, and a warning of what is happening in your heart.\u00a0 And Jesus says, \u201cBut I tell you that every,\u201d not some, \u201cevery careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 12:36]\u00a0 I am so glad I am not going to be in that judgment.\u00a0 I am so glad that my name is in the book of life where I\u2019m not evaluated by the books and the words that I have spoken throughout the course of my existence.\u00a0 Some of those words were holy, some of them were quite depraved.\u00a0 And thus I rejoice, as Jesus told me to, that my name is in \u201cthe book\u201d, not that the demons are in submission to me but that my name is in \u201cthe book\u201d and I\u2019m not evaluated by what\u2019s in the books.\n\nHe continues on here in verse 11 and it says that this beast is going to be thrown into a place of \u201cburning fire.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 19:20 says, \u201c\u2026the beast was slain, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two [\u201cwere thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone\u201d], that\u2019s the beast or the little horn or the anti-Christ and his henchmen if I can put it that way, the false prophet who we don\u2019t know about from Daniel but we learn about from the book of Revelation, both of them re the first entrants or occupants into the lake of fire.\n\nThe devil is not immediately thrown into the lake of fire we learn from Revelation 20; he is placed in an area called the abyss throughout the thousand year kingdom because God has one final purpose for Satan, to stir up a rebellion to test what\u2019s in men\u2019s hearts at the end of the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 Notice how God keeps the devil around long enough to fulfill God\u2019s purposes and then once Satan\u2019s purposes have lived their purpose God quickly does away with Satan himself.\u00a0 Revelation 20:10 says, \u201cAnd the devil who deceived them\u201d this is after the thousand years, \u201cwas thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet\u201d they were thrown in a thousand years earlier, \u201cwhere the beast and the false prophet are [also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.]\u201d \u00a0Do you see that?\u00a0 Not where the beast and the false prophet used to be, they\u2019re still in there a thousand years later.\n\nWhy is that significant? Because there\u2019s a lot of people telling you today that hell isn\u2019t forever.\u00a0 It\u2019s called the doctrine of annihilationism, and in fact when\u2026 not if but when the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses come to your door and you get into this subject they will try to convince you of annihilation, that you don\u2019t simply go into an eternal hell, but you explode and you disappear.\u00a0 And how sad it is to see members of the Evangelical Theological Society, Clark Pinnock being one, moving into a Jehovah\u2019s Witness doctrine of annihilationism.\u00a0 Emotionally I would love to believe in annihilationism.\u00a0 The issue, though, is not what my emotions say, it\u2019s what does the Bible teach.\u00a0 I am not at liberty to rewrite the Bible, regardless of how comfortable or uncomfortable\u00a0 a particular doctrine makes me feel.\u00a0 The devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are; a thousand years later they\u2019re still in there.\n\nYou say well, pastor, you\u2019re just trying to scare us.\u00a0 Listen, there\u2019s something to be scared of.\u00a0 If we didn\u2019t have this doctrine of eternal retribution, which is a reality in the Scripture, we would have no incentive to share the gospel with the lost.\u00a0 What\u2019s the point of translating the Bible into some foreign dialect and learning the cultures and customs of another nation to get the gospel to people if there isn\u2019t something to be feared?\u00a0 Something to be afraid of?\u00a0 At some point we need to start talking about the other side of the good news or else the good news really isn\u2019t what?\u00a0 Good news.\n\nNotice how the Scripture predicts the rise of the antichrist and then it also predicts his demise, the limitations on evil, the fact that evil has limits on it.\u00a0 This is the description of the stone that Nebuchadnezzar saw, cut without human hands, that shatters the ten toes, the ten kingdom confederacy of the antichrist and then it grows and grows and grows until it fills the whole earth.\n\nBut notice verse 12, the Ancient of Days it not just sitting in judgment on the antichrist, he\u2019s sitting in judgment on the empire orchestrated by the antichrist and in the process he says something very interesting in verse 1.\u00a0 \u201cAs for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.\u201d\u00a0 As each empire comes to an end it really doesn\u2019t come to an end, it continues into the next empire.\n\nSo Medo-Persia conquered Babylon and in the process they swallowed up the Babylonian culture.\u00a0 We have studied how the Persians did not annihilate and destroy everything that they found in Babylon. What does that mean?\u00a0 It means when the Persians came to power the spirit of Babylon continued to live in Persia.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Then Greece conquered Medo-Persia and in the process swallowed up the Medo-Persian culture, which had swallowed up the Babylonian culture.\u00a0 And then Rome would come to power and would conquer Greece and swallow up the Grecian culture which had swallowed up the Medo-Persian culture which had swallowed up the Babylonian culture.\u00a0 So even though Rome was in power Greece, Persia, and Babylon continued to live.\n\nThis is why any historian will tell you that Rome conquered Greece politically but Greece conquered Rome culturally.\u00a0 Why is it that in Rome that the Greek gods and goddesses continued on?\u00a0 Why is it that in Rome that the Greek language continued on?\u00a0 Because of what is being said here in chapter, verse 12, \u201cAs for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time.\u201d\u00a0 This is why John, in the first century, and he looks back on the whole thing, sees all four beasts.\u00a0 He says, \u00a0\u201cAnd the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.\u201d\u00a0 John sees the final empire of the antichrist and he says it\u2019s an amalgamation and it\u2019s a combination of all of them, Babylon, Greece, Persia and Rome because even though those empires were conquered politically they continued to live culturally.\n\nAnd then we come to the very end of this vision, verses 13-14 and we have a description now of the Son of Man.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, Daniel 7:13, Daniel writes, \u201cI kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven and One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.\u201d\u00a0 Now we have this figure called the \u201cSon of Man\u201d being presented to the Ancient of Days at the end time judgment when these empires are brought to an end, which is a description of God the Son, Jesus Christ, being presented to God the Father.\u00a0 I believe that what you\u2019re seeing there in verse 13 is a description of two members of the Trinity.\n\nVerse 14 goes on and it says, \u201cAnd He\u201d that\u2019s the son of man, \u201cwas given dominion, glory and a\u201d what? \u201ckingdom, that all the people, nations and men of every<\/em> language might serve Him.\u00a0 His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.\u201d\u00a0 What does Daniel see at the end of this parade of horribles?\u00a0 He sees a manifestation of the kingdom of God on the earth.\u00a0 He sees that kingdom being orchestrated by the Son of Man.\u00a0 Who is the Son of Man?\u00a0 It\u2019s the title that Jesus claims for Himself; doesn\u2019t He, many times in the Gospels.\n\nYou know, there are people today that will tell you that Jesus never claimed to be God?\u00a0 In Mark 14:61-64 it says this: But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, \u201cAre You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?<\/em>\u201d in other words, are you He?\u00a0 [62] \u201cAnd Jesus said, \u201cI am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 He just quoted the Bible there to His Jewish accusers.\u00a0 Do you know what He\u2019s quoting?\u00a0 Daniel 7, right what we\u2019re studying.\u00a0 Let me tell you something folks, they knew exactly what He said. Because Mark 14:63, it says this, \u201cTearing his clothes, the high priest said, \u2018What further need do we have of witnesses? [64] You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?\u2019 And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.\u201d\n\nJesus there just committed the sin of blasphemy in their minds because He took a Messianic title and applied it to Himself.\u00a0 This idea that Jesus never claimed to be God, never claimed to be the Messiah, I wonder what Bible people are reading when they say things like that.\u00a0 If they\u2019re reading the Bible at all?\n\nAnd what Daniel sees is the manifestation of the kingdom of God; it\u2019s what God always wanted to do, to rule through a man, Adam, and that man and woman would govern creation for God.\u00a0 But that plan was thwarted in Genesis 3 and now God\u2019s great plan comes to its fruition where He finally, God the Father, rules through a man, God the Son, the last Adam, Jesus Christ who along with His wife\u2026 who would His wife be?\u00a0 The church, that\u2019s why we said earlier that you, as the bride of Christ, are destined for a throne, just like Adam and Eve governed the world for God on God the Father\u2019s behalf, God the Son and His bride that is now His wife, which would be you, which would be me, Jesus Christ will rule and reign this world under His delegated authority for a thousand years.\u00a0 This is where human history is headed.\n\nThis is what we\u2019re to be praying for.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t Jesus teach us to pray, Matthew 16:10, \u201cThy kingdom\u201d what? \u201ccome,\u201d are you praying for this time period in history?\u00a0 I\u2019m praying for it because it\u2019s the only time in history where evil will be done away with.\u00a0 Until that time evil has the upper hand.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice that this kingdom which is coming is going to subdue all peoples, nations and men of every language.\u00a0 In other words, it\u2019s going to be worldwide.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be the real deal compared to the antichrist\u2019s cheap imitation.\u00a0 The antichrist today is setting up his new world order which will be short-lived and it will be replaced by the ultimate new world order, the kingdom of God, which quite frankly is the only new world order I want to be a part of.\n\nYou say well, is this kingdom literal?\u00a0 Let me ask you a question: all the other empires in this vision, were they literal?\u00a0 Was Babylon a literal empire that governed for a literal period of time over a literal land with an actual capital?\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 Same with Persia, same with Greece, same with Rome, same with the empire of the antichrist which is yet future.\u00a0 So why wouldn\u2019t God\u2019s kingdom be the same way?\u00a0 Why wouldn\u2019t it be over a literal period of time, a thousand years, having its capital where?\u00a0 Jerusalem.\u00a0 Isaiah\u00a0 2:2-3, Zechariah 14:16-18, and over an actual piece of real estate that will be the center piece of that worldwide kingdom, the land of Israel, an area from the River of Egypt all the way to the Euphrates.\n\n[Isaiah 2:2-3, \u201cNow it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.\u00a0 [3] And many peoples will come and say, \"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.\" For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.\u201d\u00a0 Zechariah 14:16-18, \u201cThen it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.\u00a0 [17] And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them.\u00a0 [18] If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.\u201d]\n\nYou say well, it says here that it\u2019s going to last forever.\u00a0 I thought you just told us that it\u2019s going to last a thousand years.\u00a0 So is it a thousand years or forever?\u00a0 And the answer is yes, because the thousand\u00a0 year kingdom will be done away with and replaced by the eternal state.\u00a0 Revelation 21:22.\u00a0 [Revelation 21:22, \u201cI saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.\u201d]\u00a0 In other words, the Son\u2019s kingdom will be done away with and replaced by the Father\u2019s kingdom which will know no end.\u00a0 That\u2019s where evil is completely done away with; nothing wicked or impure can even enter, you see.\u00a0 There\u2019s reason to be hopeful and optimistic in the midst of despair and the empire of the antichrist today being set up right before our very eyes.\n\nOne other fast thing: don\u2019t waste your time, beloved, trying to set up the kingdom of God today.\u00a0 I can\u2019t tell you how many Christian leaders are out there trying to set up God\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0 One of the most popular, Rick Warren, he says he\u2019ll do whatever it takes to establish God\u2019s kingdom on the earth.\n\nThink about this for a minute.\u00a0 If the next kingdom on the horizon is the antichrist\u2019s kingdom, and the focus of your Christian life is trying to set up the kingdom of God on the earth, who actually are you working for?\u00a0 The antichrist, without even realizing it.\u00a0 All of these Christian leaders talk about we\u2019re going to bring in the kingdom, we\u2019re doing kingdom work, we\u2019re going to set up the kingdom of God, they are actually unwittingly setting up the wrong kingdom.\u00a0 That\u2019s why this subject of the kingdom is such a big deal because it tells you what your priority should be in the present.\u00a0 I\u2019m not setting up a kingdom, Jesus is going to do that at the end of the antichrist\u2019s reign.\u00a0 What I\u2019m trying to do is win citizens for that coming kingdom.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to reach and I\u2019m trying to teach; I\u2019m not trying to bring in kingdom conditions.\u00a0 The church is never tasked with that responsibility.\n\nI like what Hal Lindsay says, \u201cThe last days of the church on the earth may be largely wasted<\/u><\/em> seeking to accomplish a task that only the LORD Himself can and will do directly.\u201d [The Road to Holocaust<\/em>,\u00a0 269]\u00a0 Amen to that.\u00a0 All of our human efforts will not bring the kingdom of God to this earth; that has a particular time frame and a time schedule that we are to pray for.\n\nHere\u2019s what we can do: preach the gospel.\u00a0 Hold out Jesus Christ as the crucified and risen Savior.\u00a0 Invite people to trust in that provision so that they can be citizens of the kingdom when it comes on God\u2019s timing and arrives.\u00a0 Big question: where is your citizenship today?\u00a0 Stock market?\u00a0 Retirement account?\u00a0 I got news for you, your 401K is probably about a 201K now.\u00a0 Hope for the world to get better?\n\nThe reality of the situation, folks, is we\u2019re dying.\u00a0 I\u2019m dying, you\u2019re dying.\u00a0 The world is falling apart at the seams.\u00a0 The United States of America that I grew up with is gone.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to face it but it\u2019s a reality.\u00a0 My hope is not in bolstering the United States of America.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s too late in the game.\u00a0 Yes, be politically active.\u00a0 Yes, vote.\u00a0 Yes, try to hold back the hand of evil in way limited way you can.\u00a0 But the bottom line is this is a downward trajectory.\u00a0 The new world order is on the horizon.\u00a0 Rather than be hopeless and despairing recognize two things: number 1, the new world order will be limited, it will be replaced by the eternal kingdom of God.\u00a0 And number 2, recognize that you can reach out and pull people out as a drowning person being saved by presenting to them the gospel of Jesus Christ.\n\nThe gospel of Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ entered our world, paid the penalty for our sins, past, present and future. He rose bodily from the dead.\u00a0 In so doing He proved exactly who He was and by a simple act of faith or trust in what He has done, not what we do for ourselves, you\u2019re saved. If that\u2019s never happened to you, as the Holy Spirit places you under conviction, our exhortation to you is to trust in Jesus Christ.\u00a0 That\u2019s your only hope; that\u2019s the only hope for this planet; it\u2019s the only hope for this world.\u00a0 And as you do so your citizenship changes in a nanosecond from the failing systems of man to the glorious inheritance and the coming kingdom of Christ which is on the horizon.\n\nIf\u00a0 you\u2019ve never trusted in Christ you can trust in Christ right now as I\u2019m speaking.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to raise a hand to do it, walk an aisle to do it, join a church to do it, give money to do it, it\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where you trust in His provision alone as the Spirit places you under conviction.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that you need more information on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray?\u00a0 Father, we are grateful for this passage, a difficult passage to look at on a festive day like Mother\u2019s Day but we\u2019re grateful for the reminder that it gives us of the limitations of evil, the finitudes of evil, and where our real hope for the future ultimately should lie.\u00a0 We thank You for this.\u00a0 I pray You will continue to give us this mind and insight as we move through this prophetic book.\u00a0 We ask all of these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t