{"id":18399,"date":"2017-06-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-04T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-024-world-governments-on-the-horizon-part-1\/"},"modified":"2017-06-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T05:00:00","slug":"daniel-024-world-governments-on-the-horizon-part-1","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-024-world-governments-on-the-horizon-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 024: World Governments on the Horizon (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18399","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 024: World Governments on the Horizon (Part 1)","sermon_date":"20170604","sermon_month":"6","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4718,"sermon_slides":4719,"sermon_mp3":4723,"sermon_id":"6417935525","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"7:23-25a","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nWorld Governments on the Horizon\n\n6-4-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel 7:23-25a\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 24\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 If we could take our Bibles and open them to the book of Daniel, Daniel 7:23; maybe if God allows it, I can\u2019t promise it but, making it through the end of the chapter this morning.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is World Governments, plural, World Governments on the Horizon.\u00a0 We\u2019re seeing here in Daniel 7 predictions of two governments that are yet future; one is the world government of the antichrist, which will dominate the events of the tribulation period, and the other one is the government of Jesus Christ. So the sermon application is pretty easy, which government are you in?\u00a0 Which one do you want to be in?\u00a0 How do you get from one into the other.\n\nAnd as you\u2019re turning there, there is a lot of stuff that\u2019s going on as you can see behind me.\u00a0 The people that are watching online have no idea what all this stuff is. It just looks like one of those cool sets, but all this stuff is for VBS and we\u2019re going to be having VBS at this church, we\u2019ve got more kids signed up than we\u2019ve ever had.\u00a0 And people have been working very hard at getting this VBS going.\u00a0 VBS stands for what? Vacation Bible School.\u00a0 And Jesus loves the children, doesn\u2019t He, so this is a tremendous opportunity to reach these children for Christ.\u00a0 We\u2019re not the only church in the area doing it but we\u2019re one of many.\u00a0 And I know people are working hard at it because I haven\u2019t seen my wife for about a week.\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 I saw her next to me sitting on the front and I said oh, good morning, how are you?\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 So people are working feverously to get this going.\u00a0 So if you could just pray for people this week, even if you\u2019re not contributing directly or participating.\u00a0 Pray for me, I\u2019m a crew leader at VBS so pray for endurance because most people don\u2019t realize but VBS is a taxing week.\u00a0 So we appreciate your prayers in that area.\n\nAnd Friday was a day which took you two emotional spectrums if you\u2019re involved with Sugar Land Bible Church, in the morning Dan and Judy Poole said goodbye, not farewell, but goodbye to their daughter Karen in a memorial service at Sugar Creek Baptist Church; we\u2019re grateful that Karen is a believer and they will see her again.\u00a0 And then that evening was the wedding of Hannah Bodum who is now no longer Hannah Boden But Hannah Michael Barber.\u00a0 And Hannah of course, as you know her is a very faithful saint at Sugar Land Bible Church and sadly for us they\u2019re moving to Florida so we will not see her in the near future, although they might be visiting at certain points.\n\nI just got back and I want to thank Gabe and Jim for filling last week, from the Phropheticon in Germany, which is a Bible Conference in Germany, it\u2019s about two hours near Frankfurt and there\u2019s a picture there of all the different speakers, and most importantly the translators. \u00a0The translators just did a phenomenal job.\u00a0 You might recognize Mark Hitchcock in that group.\u00a0 The guy up front is Meno and I\u2019m not even going to try to pronounce his name but he is the pastor of the church at Jerusalem, and I said so you\u2019re the guy that Paul was raising money for in the Bible?\u00a0 He says well, I\u2019m not that old\u2026 [laughter]\u00a0 but it was kind of neat to have the pastor of the Jerusalem church there with us.\u00a0 Everything we hear about Europe in our media is always negative.\u00a0 We hear about no go zones and Muslims and liberalism and it\u2019s so refreshing to go to Europe and to see the Holy Spirit doing a work there through this conference, through Johannes Vogel and his Bible center.\u00a0 And we had 300 people show up and the crowd didn\u2019t even dissipate and so that\u2019s a big crowd for a prophecy conference in Europe.\u00a0 It\u2019s probably the most organized conference I\u2019ve ever been involved in.\u00a0 I mean, you were told when to get up, when to eat breakfast, when to talk to your translator, when to pray, and by the way, I was placed on a tight leash in terms of my speaking time,\u00a0 [laughter] which is hard, and I had this great big square that was supposed to be a clock and they stuck it right here on the pulpit\u00a0 and as you got within ten minutes\u2026and it was tricky because you have less than half the time you\u2019re used to because\u00a0 your translator takes up half the time, so we would get within ten minutes of when I was supposed to start and the thing would start to pulsate with different colors, like it was radioactive, and then if you went over it would flash overtime, overtime, overtime.\u00a0 So get any ideas here\u2026 but I\u2019ve just never been to a conference that\u2019s that well organized.\u00a0 And I asked people is this normal, and they said this is typical of the German people, highly disciplined, highly organized.\u00a0 So that was a great time as well.\n\nThere\u2019s the crowd, as we were speaking prophecy, we all taught prophecy in an uncompromised way; they took the little book that I had written on The Middle East Meltdown<\/em>, they had translated it into German and it sold out, and the gospel is in that book, so who knows what the Lord is going to do there in that wonderful land, beautiful area, and there I am speaking, there\u2019s my translator, Kristoff, who did just a fantastic, fantastic job.\n\nAnyway, we\u2019re not here to talk about that, we\u2019re here to talk about the book of Daniel, we are in the Book of Daniel, chapter 7, around verse 23.\u00a0 We know that Daniel was raised up by God strategically to be a prophet of God, not only in terms of his lifestyle, which is a role model, but also to fill in details regarding what the nation of Israel would experience during a very difficult time in their history, called the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 It\u2019s a period of time that really started with the Babylonian captivity and Daniel gives prophecies from that time period up until the return of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And in Daniel 7 he begins to talk about, in great detail, two governments that are on the horizon.\u00a0 They\u2019re still futuristic from our point of view; the empire of the antichrist, which is yet future, and then the eternal kingdom of God which will replace the kingdom of the antichrist.\n\nOne of the things we\u2019ve noted as we\u2019ve gone through this series is the book is set up chiastically; in other words, the information in chapter 2 is sort of repeated, if you will, in chapter 7.\u00a0 It\u2019s just like the information in chapter 3, you find the same theme in chapter 6; just like the information in chapter 4, you find the same kind of theme in chapter 5.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve worked our way all the way through that chiastic structure and we have been working our way through chapter 7 of the Book of Daniel which is a very, very significant chapter.\n\nWe\u2019ve seen the historical setting, verse 1, and this is where tremendous chronological information is given.\u00a0 We\u2019ve studied the fact that this took place around 553 B.C., the first year of Belshazzar, which basically indicates that Daniel was in his mid-sixties when these prophecies were given to him.\u00a0 And we have also studied the fact that the Neo-Babylonian Empire is still in place; that\u2019s the background, if you will, for chapters 7 and 8.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve also looked at the fact that Nebuchad\u00adnezzar had the same view of history in Daniel 2.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar saw it as a beautiful statue; Daniel, on the other hand, saw it as four disgusting grotesque beasts that would trample down the nation.\u00a0 And this is a terrible time period that the nation would be under beginning with the Babylonian captivity and stretching all the way forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nWhat Nebuchadnezzar saw from the anthropocentric man centered point of view was a beautiful statue Daniel saw through a theocentric Gentile point of view.\u00a0 That\u2019s why to Nebuchadnezzar the time period looked beautiful, like a giant statue, but to Daniel it looked horrific as the nation was being trampled down by various disgusting beasts.\n\nThe vision itself is given there in verses 2-14 where Daniel sees in this vision four beasts coming out of the sea.\n\n[Daniel 7:2-14, \u201cDaniel said, \u2018I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. [3] And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. [4] The 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.\u00a0 [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\u00a0 [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. [8] While 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.<\/em>\u00a0 [9] \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.\u00a0 [10] A 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.\u00a0 [13]\u00a0 kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.\u00a0 [14] \u201cAnd to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, 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]\n\nThe first beast was the lion and we said that represented Babylon.\u00a0 That was the empire in place when Daniel saw these things.\u00a0 The second beast was a bear and we said that\u2019s Medio-Persia, the empire that would follow Babylon, that\u2019s an empire that would come to power in Daniel 5 during Daniel\u2019s own lifetime.\u00a0 And then Daniel kept looking and he saw a leopard and that leopard, we indicated, was the empire of Greece, an empire that would come into existence long after Daniel had died and left the scene.\u00a0 And then finally we saw a fourth beast; Daniel just describes this beast as a terrifying beast and we indicated that was Rome.\u00a0 Rome would come to power around 63 B.C. and Rome would be the empire that would push the nation of Israel out of her homeland around A.D. 70.\u00a0 But you see, Daniel kept looking and in this vision, towards the end of it, he began to see things that really don\u2019t describe what we know of ancient Rome.\u00a0 He saw ten horns and a little horn subduing the earth.\u00a0 He saw that ten-horned nation or confederacy being catastrophically instant\u00adaneously overthrown by Christ Himself.\n\nAnd so what we believe is that is a description of the empire of the antichrist which is yet future.\u00a0 It will reach its zenith in the tribulation period and I believe that that is the empire that is being orchestrated today.\u00a0 This is the direction of the world; the world is headed in the direction of one-world government.\u00a0 And it\u2019s sort of attempting to become afraid of that, despondent about that, but the fact of the matter is the Bible was very clear that this final empire of the antichrist is only going to last three and a half years, the second half of the tribulation period.\u00a0 And it is to be replaced by God\u2019s eternal kingdom\u00a0 which will never end.\n\nSo the reality of the situation is people that have never trusted in Christ, the only thing that\u2019s in front of them is the failing system of the antichrist.\u00a0 And how different it is to be a citizen of Christ\u2019s kingdom by way of faith and understanding that this world is going to go from bad to worse yet our hope is not in this failing world and its failing systems.\u00a0 Our hope is in Jesus Christ and His kingdom that\u2019s on the horizon.\n\nThat\u2019s the kingdom that we should be praying for to arrive; didn\u2019t the Lord tell us to pray \u201cThy kingdom\u201d what? \u201cThy kingdom come.\u201d\u00a0 Is that part of your prayer life?\u00a0 Is that something you\u2019re looking forward to or are you so invested in this world that you\u2019ve taken your eyes off the greatest kingdom that is yet on the horizon, the kingdom of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 That kingdom is going to be brought short, the antichrist\u2019s kingdom, by the Ancient of Days, that\u2019s the Father, verses 9-12, who will at the end of the tribulation period take the world as it exists and turn it over, verses 13-14, to the Son of man, Jesus Christ, who will rule this world from David\u2019s throne in Jerusalem for a thousand years.\u00a0 And let me tell you something, that\u2019s the only one-world government or New World Order I\u2019m interested in belonging to.\n\nDaniel, as he has this vision, now receives, verses 15-27, an interpretation of the vision.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [Daniel 6:15, \u201cAs for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.\u00a0 [16] I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: [17] These great beasts, which are four in number,<\/em> are four kings who<\/em> will arise from the earth. [18] But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.\u2019\u201d]\n\nThe vision itself really bothers Daniel; he specifically is focused on the empire of the antichrist because he sees that as the instrument that will bring the greatest suffering to the world.\u00a0 So in verse 16 he requests an interpretation, he wants more data, more information, which is provided by an angel that I think there is Gabriel.\u00a0 Gabriel gives sort of a generic description as to what is going to take place.\u00a0 But Daniel really isn\u2019t satisfied.\u00a0 There are a lot of details about this final empire of the antichrist which will be followed by the kingdom of Jesus Christ that Daniel wants more data or information on.\u00a0 So he makes that request in verses 19-22.\u00a0 [19, \u201cThen I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which<\/em> devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, [20] and the meaning<\/em> of the ten horns that were<\/em> on its head and the other horn<\/em> which came up, and before which three of them<\/em> fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts<\/em> and which was larger in appearance than its associates. [21] I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them [22] until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.\u201d]\n\nThe angel is very faithful in giving Daniel this additional information which he does in verses 23-27 so that\u2019s where we sort of pick up the story this morning.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, this interpretation, Daniel 7:23 says this: \u201cThus he said:\u201d that would be the angel, \u201c\u2018The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other<\/em> kingdoms\u201d and notice this very specifically, it \u201cwill devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s speaking there of the final realm of Gentile rule on planet earth before Jesus returns at the end of the tribulation period and sets up His forever throne and His forever kingdom.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice that this vision that Daniel saw was different; there\u2019s something about this empire of the antichrist that was different, it was unusual; it was atypical of the other beasts that preceded.\u00a0 And so Daniel is seeking information on this.\u00a0 What Daniel is seeing here is, in essence, the opposite of what Nebuchadnezzar saw.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar, back in chapter 2, around verses 40-43, say the statue\u2019s feet made of iron and clay having ten toes.\u00a0 Daniel is seeing the same period of history but he doesn\u2019t see it as feet made of iron and clay having ten toes, he sees it as a final beast not having ten toes but having ten horns.\u00a0 [Daniel 2:40-43, \u201cThen there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. [41] In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter\u2019s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. [42 As<\/em> the toes of the feet were<\/em> partly of iron and partly of pottery, so<\/em> some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. [43] And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.\u201d]\n\nIt\u2019s interesting here that in verse 23 you have one of the clearest predictions in the entire Bible that I know of, of humanity\u2019s trajectory in the end of days into one world government.\u00a0 It is interesting to me to look at the architects of the earth today, the movers and shakers, the authors, the politicians, those in the think tanks, constantly talking about world government as if one-world government is going to be the solution to all of our problems.\n\nThis is a statement from David Rockefeller, it\u2019s an interesting statement to me because it comes right out of his Memoirs<\/em>, on page 405, he\u2019s not trying to hide anything.\u00a0 He blatantly says this: \u201cFor more than a century ideological extremists\u2026have seized upon well-publicized incidents\u2026to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. \u00a0Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure--one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.<\/u>\u201d <\/em>\n\nPeople say well pastor, you\u2019re getting a little bit into conspiracy theories; well, the reality of the situation is when they come out like this and they announce what their goal is and I have the same reading comprehension ability that you have, they are making their goal very transparent.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a matter of conspiracy theories; it\u2019s a matter of simply reading what they wrote.\u00a0 I think this world today would be different if an unknown work, called Mein Kampf<\/em>, was actually read and digested and taken for value, because in that book Adolf Hitler gives us his blueprint, his strategy if you will, for world conquest and what ultimately caused World War II.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting to me that as dictators get closer and closer and closer to the end game, or their goal, they get more and more bold and more and more aggressive about announcing their intentions.\u00a0 If history teaches us anything it teaches us that despots and dictators should be taken literally and for what they say.\n\nOne of the things that\u2019s very interesting that happened May 26, while I was in Germany, a little over a week ago, is the death of Zbigniew Brzezinski.\u00a0 Most people in the world today have never heard this name.\u00a0 If you watch cable television, which is a habit I don\u2019t recommend you pick up, his daughter, Mika Brezinski is on a show called Morning Joe<\/em> with Joe Scarborough, she\u2019s a very pleasant looking, pleasant sounding person, but she is the daughter of the Brzezinski I\u2019m talking about here that passed away a little over a week ago.\u00a0 Brzezinski is the founder of what became very dominant in the Jimmy Carter administration as the Trilateral Commission. Brezinski probably has had more influence over American foreign policy than any academic I can think of.\u00a0 He has actually been called the spirit or the ghost, if you will, behind five Presidents.\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting that you can go back into his writings, here\u2019s a citation from his book, Between Two Ages, <\/em>written in 1970 where the whole blueprint is laid out for anybody that will take the time to read it, for this trajectory into world government.\n\nAnd what you have to understand when\u00a0 you\u2019re dealing with people that don\u2019t know Christ, they don\u2019t understand the Bible, they don\u2019t understand human nature, they don\u2019t really understand Bible prophecy, they look at world government as the only solution to the world\u2019s global problems.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why they, in their writings, are always denigrating, deprecating the individual nation\/state.\u00a0 They don\u2019t like it when nations do their own thing.\u00a0 What they want is people under one umbrella where they\u2019re submissive to the world government of the future. \u201cBrezinski does make a number of statements about the decline of the nation-state: \u2018the nation-state\u2019\u201d he says, \u201c is gradually yielding its sovereignty\u201d He talks about \u201cthe fiction of sovereignty.\u201d\u00a0 He talked about, in this particular book, \u201cdeveloping limitations on national sovereignty\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Brezinski: \u201cthe nation-state is gradually yielding its sovereignty\u201d (p.56); \u201cthe fiction of sovereignty\u201d (p.274); and \u201cdeveloping limitations on national sovereignty\u201d (p.296).\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era<\/em> (New York: Viking Press, 1970).]\n\nWhat national sovereignty is he talking about exactly.\u00a0 Here is a citation from the Humanist Manifesto<\/em>, page 21.\u00a0 This was published in 1973.\u00a0 The humanists have come out and they have developed a doctrinal statement; it\u2019s sort of like the doctrinal statement you would find in a local church in the sense that this is what we believe.\u00a0 And this is what they said back in 1973: \u201cWe deplore the division of humankind on nationalistic grounds. <\/strong>We have reached a turning point in human history where the best option is to transcend<\/em>\u201d notice that word \u201ctranscend, \u201ctranscend the limits of national sovereignty and to move toward<\/em>\u201d what? \u201cto move toward the building of a world community\u2026 a system of world law and world order based upon transnational<\/em>\u201d what does \u201ctransnational\u201d mean? A government that supersedes the mere nations\u00a0 of the world, like the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, \u201c\u2026 a system of world law and world order based upon transnational federal government.\u201d<\/em>\n\nThis is the end game, this is what the godless of this world want and it should come as no big shock to us that Daniel, right here in Daniel 7:23, predicted this very thing that would take place in the last days; he simply called it the empire of the antichrist, an empire that once it\u2019s in place will not solve the world\u2019s problems but will literally create hell on earth in its slavery of humanity and its opposition to the things of God.\n\nThis whole mindset is a rebellion, if you will, of what God initially established at the tower of Babel.\u00a0 You remember the story from Sunday School, Genesis 11:6, where the nations of that time came together for what I like to call the first United Nations Conference.\u00a0 \u201cThe LORD said, \u2018Behold, they\u201d as they built this stairway into heaven, \u201cBehold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.\u201d\u00a0 [Humanist Manifesto II<\/em> (1973) Page 21]\n\nGod saw the potential of evil at the tower of Babel.\u00a0 God understood what Lord Acton said, \u201cpower corrupts and absolute power corrupts\u201d what? \u201cabsolutely.\u201d\u00a0 And so it\u2019s a very dangerous thing to consolidate power into one human being.\u00a0 This is what Nimrod, whose name is mentioned in Genesis 10:8-10 was trying to build and God intentionally disrupted it because He saw the potential, not for good, but the potential for evil. [Genesis 10:8-10, \u201cCush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth.\u201d [8] Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. [9] He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, \u201cLike Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.\u201d]\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting that what man looks at as a solution God sees it through a different lens and sees it as an instrument for evil.\u00a0 And so God, through a miracle, by confounding the language, thwarted this process.\u00a0 And Satan in human history has always worked to resurrect this one-world government.\u00a0 Apparently, according to Daniel\u2019s prophecies it\u2019s a one-world government that will exist on planet earth in the tribulation period.\u00a0 It is a rejection of the different nations that God has established.\n\nYou know, there\u2019s so much talk today in the culture about borders and nations and languages and they\u2019re so much of a mindset to erase those things.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is these are things that God set up.\u00a0 These are things that God set up as a built-in check and balance system.\u00a0 It\u2019s difficult for one man to get control over the entire world and abuse his position of authority as long as there are good nations that can arise and oppose and offer a check and balance system.\u00a0 But think of the world in which there is no check and balance system.\u00a0 Think about an Adolf Hitler or a Saddam Hussein or a Fidel Castro getting hold of the only government that exists on planet earth.\u00a0 Think of the mayhem that he could create.\u00a0 Think of the enslavement that he could create.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting that when we study prophecies about this one-world government of the future the way it\u2019s described is like a surveillance society.\u00a0 It\u2019s a society or a government that keeps track of people through information from cradle to grave.\u00a0 By the way, they don\u2019t use the expression any more, \u201ccradle to grave.\u201d\u00a0 What you hear is \u201ccradle to cradle.\u201d\u00a0 Why have they switched the vocabulary?\u00a0 Because they are not interested in simply your death, they\u2019re interested in their thoughts going through to the next generation, to your children.\u00a0 So no longer is it cradle to grave, it\u2019s cradle to cradle, kind of like the way John describes it in the Book of Revelation.\u00a0\u00a0 You know the verses, Revelation 13:16-18, \u201cHe\u201d that\u2019s the antichrist, \u201ccauses all\u201d that would be the whole world, \u201cthe small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,\u00a0 [17] and he provides<\/em> that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either<\/em> the name of the beast or the number of his name. [18] Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.\u201d\n\nWe could spend all afternoon talking about these verses, couldn\u2019t we?\u00a0 But we know this much, that the empire of the antichrist is what I would call a surveillance society; freedom is gone and people are literally tracked electronically throughout the duration of their lives.\u00a0 You say well, you can\u2019t believe, do you, that such a system is on the horizon; you really are not telling us, are you, that it is within the mind of the fallen man to foist this system upon every nation on the earth, even here in the United States of America?\n\nAgain, it\u2019s just a matter of going back and reading what Brzezinski said.\u00a0 Brzezinski, in his book here, Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era<\/em>, Pages 252-53 in 1970 was very clear.\u00a0 He says: \u201cAnother threat, less overt but no less basic, confronts liberal democracy. More directly linked to the impact of technology, it involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled and directed society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite whose claim to political power would rest on allegedly superior scientific knowhow. Unhindered by the restraints of traditional liberal values, this elite would not hesitate to achieve its political ends by using the latest modern techniques for influencing public behavior and keeping society\u201d look at this, \u201cand keeping society under close surveillance and control.\u201d\n\nIt\u2019s almost like Brzezinski woke up one day, read the Book of Revelation, chapter 13, and said that\u2019s what I want.\u00a0 But we know that, of course, he was not being directed by the Holy Spirit, he was being directed by the god of this age.\u00a0 In fact, Brzezinski, when you get into his writings, has a very dim and love view of people that are religious, people like ourselves that are Bible focused, and yet he is reaching the same conclusion that Daniel said would happen in the last days.\n\nBrzezinski goes on and he says, \u201cAt the same time, the capacity to assert social and political control\u201d this is a 1968 citation, I was two years old when this citation was given, in a book called the Encounter.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cAt the same time, the capacity to assert social and political control over the individual will vastly increase. As I have already noted, it will soon be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and to maintain up-to-date, complete files, containing even the most personal information about the health or personal behavior of the citizen, in addition to more customary data. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities.\u201d<\/em> [cited in Zbigniew Brzezinski, \u201cAmerica in the Technetronic Age\u201d, Encounter (January 1968), p. 21.<\/em>]\n\nOne of the things that was fascinating to me to watch in Europe was how many times I was on camera.\u00a0 According to one article I read the average person in the U.K. is on camera somewhere about 300 times a day; they drive down the road they\u2019re on camera.\u00a0 They walk into a convenience store, they\u2019re on camera.\u00a0 We see that here in the United States developing too, don\u2019t we, the surveillance society of the last days.\u00a0 Of course we hear all the excuses of why we need this surveillance.\u00a0 The thing in my mind is what happens when this surveillance falls into the wrong hands?\u00a0 What happens when someone arises and abuses this surveillance and this technology?\u00a0 This is what the Bible is warning us about during the empire of the antichrist.\n\nI think that we are living in a time in history where technology has finally caught up with what the Bible predicts.\u00a0 Think how ridiculous Brzezinski\u2019s statements looked in 1970, prior to microchip technology, prior to the internet, prior to the advent of cameras everywhere, and yet he was seeing something that he thought and hoped would materialize, and we\u2019re living in a time period where this technology has finally caught up.\u00a0 Every Google search you do is recorded; every Facebook post you make is recorded.\u00a0 Every time you text somebody, a loved one, a friend, that\u2019s recorded.\u00a0 All of that information doesn\u2019t just disappear, does it?\u00a0 It\u2019s stored somewhere.\u00a0 And the computer is capable of generating profiles on you.\n\nWhy is it that when I order a book off of Amazon through my credit card, suddenly I get an e-mail, in my e-mail inbox that says if you liked this book you\u2019ll like this one over here.\u00a0 How do they know that?\u00a0 And you\u2019ll like this one over here.\u00a0 In other words, in a moment the computer can generate a profile on me through marketing; and it\u2019s generated on you.\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s really no problem with that but what happens if all of that technology falls into the wrong hands. It\u2019s almost as if Tim LaHaye used to say, the skids are being greased for the coming time in history where a one-world dictator, the antichrist, will come upon the scent and abuse this technology.\n\nWhat is Daniel seeing here back in the 6th<\/sup> century, Daniel 7:23, \u201cthe fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and crush it.\u201d\u00a0 This is what John sees in Revelation 13:16-18.\n\nOne of the things to understand about Satan is he is not omniscient; if he was omniscient he would be god himself.\u00a0 He\u2019s not all-knowing; neither is he omnipresent (everywhere at the same time), neither is he omnipotent (all powerful).\u00a0 The Book of Ezekiel, chapter 28:13 says this of the fall of Satan, \u201cOn the day you were created,\u201d just to get the point across Ezekiel 28:15 says, \u201cyou were blameless in your ways from the day you were created.\u201d\u00a0 Satan is a created being; he can\u2019t be everywhere at once and know everything, so what has he always lusted for?\u00a0 He has lusted after this system of control where everything is monitored, everything is regulated and through that system he can orchestrate and subjugate and enslave humanity.\n\nThe very system Nimrod was trying to build in Genesis 11 is the system that Satan himself seeks to bring back and now the technology is in place.\u00a0 You know, I used to pay almost everything with cash.\u00a0 Have you ever purchased a car lately?\u00a0 Could you go in and purchase a car with two big suitcases of cash?\u00a0 I purchased a car recently and I asked the guy, I said what would happen just hypothetically, if I was going to walk in with these two big suitcases of cash, put them on your desk and say I want that car over there?\u00a0 He said to me very nicely, well, we would have to call the FBI, we would have to call the FBA because\u00a0 you\u2019re probably laundering drugs, we would have to call the Department of Homeland Security.\u00a0 And so we\u2019re at a point now where cash is almost off the table when it comes to major purchases.\u00a0 Now why is that?\u00a0 They don\u2019t want us using cash because as long as I am using cash they can\u2019t monitor exactly what I\u2019m doing.\u00a0 My wife the other day says, Why did you eat at Arby\u2019s?\u201d\u00a0 And I said \u201ceat at Arby\u2019s, I eat at Arby\u2019s all the time.\u201d\u00a0 She never knew before because I was paying cash; well now I\u2019m\u00a0 using a credit card, it shows up on the receipt there\u00a0 your husband ate at Arby\u2019s\u2026 busted in other words.\n\nAnd this is the type of system that we\u2019re moving into.\u00a0 And we, as God\u2019s people need to be discerning about the signs of the times.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean to foist my own political beliefs on you but I feel very strongly about this.\u00a0 Dr. Jim McGowan and myself did a Facebook feed on Friday where we talked about this for an hour, you can find that on You Tube, or you can find it on the SLBC Facebook page but I was so exhilarated and happy and thrilled when the President of the United States, Donald Trump, told the Paris climate treaty folks to take a hike.\u00a0 [Clapping and a yeah in the background]\u00a0 You know, to enter into a treaty you\u2019ve got to have two-thirds of the Senate, that requirement was never satisfied; the whole thing is a bad deal; it\u2019s a bad deal for American but it\u2019s used as a pretext to suck us into world government.\u00a0 The prior President entered into treaties like this constantly and I can\u2019t tell you how happy I am and how much I\u2019m in prayer for this man; we have a President that\u2019s finally saying no to the rest of the world.\u00a0 And this is something that is what I would call a reprieve, if you will.\u00a0 Have you watched the reaction of the world media to what Trump did?\u00a0 The total meltdown and total hysterics.\n\nI was in Germany before that treaty was entered into\u2026 or revoked I should say and the Christian group that I was with told me very clearly, I want you to understand that everything you\u2019re going to hear about Donald Trump in the German media is critical and negative.\u00a0 And sure enough, as you look at different media outlets throughout Europe it\u2019s critical, negative, constantly, and to see that criticism just explode into profanity\u2026 I went to the Drudge Report and I saw a picture, if you will, of a German magazine, and I\u2019m not condemning the German people, what I\u2019m condemning is the German media, and I don\u2019t speak a lot of German but I can recognize expletives when I see them.\u00a0 I saw a picture of Donald Trump, I saw the Globe in the background, they were upset about his renunciation of that treaty and I saw expletives.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what you see all over Europe.\u00a0 And what is the crime?\u00a0 What has Donald Trump done that\u2019s so bad?\u00a0 He has said no to The New World Order. And I believe largely what happens with our rejection of the Paris Climate Accord put a monkey wrench or slowed down, if you will, our progress into one world government, which we know is on the horizon.\n\nLet\u2019s move on to verse 24.\u00a0 \u201cAs for the ten horns of this kingdom, ten kings will arise and will arise after them and be different from the previous ones and subdue the three kings.\u201d\u00a0 What does Daniel see here?\u00a0 He sees this final realm of Gentile dominion and he sees ten horns and you\u2019ll notice there in verse 24 that the ten horns are described as ten kings.\u00a0 He sees a ten king confederacy governing the entire planet.\n\nOne of the things to understand about Daniel\u2019s writings is he uses king and kingdom synonymously.\u00a0 It\u2019s like when we say the White House, we\u2019re not just talking about a house but we\u2019re talking about the governing structure of the executive branch of government.\u00a0 Daniel does the same thing; he did the same thing back in Daniel 2 related to what Nebuchadnezzar saw, the feet mixed with iron and clay.\u00a0 He said, \u201cYou, O king,\u201d that would be Nebuchadnezzar, \u201care the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the\u201d what? \u201cthe kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 See how he just switched there from \u201cking\u201d to \u201ckingdom\u201d?\u00a0 What exactly is Daniel seeing in this vision?\u00a0 He\u2019s not just seeing ten kings; he\u2019s seeing the ten kingdoms that these kings represent.\n\nOne of the things I found very interesting a few years back is The Club of\u00a0 Rome which is a one-world government organization, they have the entire planet divided up into ten governing regions.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t pick eleven governing regions, they didn\u2019t pick nine governing regions, they picked the number ten; it\u2019s quite a coincidence, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 And of course I\u2019m putting \u201ccoincidence\u201d there in quotations because Daniel is seeing these things in advance.\u00a0 He\u2019s seeing some kind of ten king confederacy not just arising out of Europe.\u00a0 I think this is the mistake people make, they look at Europe and they say it\u2019s going to be the European Common Market, the European economic community.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have any doubts that Europe doesn\u2019t play some kind of role in this but it\u2019s bigger than Europe.\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about something that governs the structure of the entire world.\n\nYou know, if you want sort of a blueprint of where the United States is headed look at Europe.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting that in the different European nations they no longer have political power, those are just nothing more than debating societies.\u00a0 The real source of power is Brussels which reigns over an entire region.\u00a0 And in fact when I was in Germany I didn\u2019t use German currency, I used something called the Euro, which allowed me to purchase things anywhere in Europe.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we call regionalism.\u00a0 And eventually I believe that what is going to happen is there\u2019s going to be ten of these regions and they\u2019re going to be dispersed throughout the entire world and those will form the backdrop of the coming world government of tomorrow.\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting that all of the criticism today is on people that want to enforce our borders.\u00a0 We frisk little old ladies before they get on a domestic flight but the border is wide open.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 It\u2019s a very simple reason, the architects of world government have already decided that America is going to be not America but a region; it\u2019ll most likely be America, Canada, and Mexico combined as a region and we will not use the dollar any more, we will use something called the Amero.\u00a0 The true source of power will not be the United States of America and Washington D.C., it will be some sort of government that reigns over that entire region.\u00a0 If\u00a0 you\u2019re interested in this the book The Late Great US.A. <\/em>by Dr. Jerome Corsi, a Harvard graduate, talks about this blueprint in depth.\u00a0 And I believe North America will be a region.\u00a0 Europe has already been conglomerated as a region and eventually what you\u2019re going to see at the end game is these ten regions disperse throughout the earth and you\u2019ll notice that this is the structure through which the antichrist will come to power because three of these regions, according to this prophecy, will resist him.\u00a0 He has to subdue three; he has to bring three under his dominion, but seven of them will acquiesce and this is the meaning of the ten horns that Daniel saw earlier, and the little horn arising amongst the ten and three horns needing to be subdued and seven horns cooperating.\n\nIf I\u2019m wrong at many of these points I\u2019ll be happy to be corrected by the Lord in heaven because I\u2019m not planning on being here when these things take place.\u00a0 I\u2019m planning on having the best seat in the house following the rapture, of the church.\u00a0 By the way, that\u2019s what they say the half hour of silence is heaven is for.\u00a0 Revelation 8 talks about there\u2019s silence for half an hour.\u00a0 Why is there half an hour of silence?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s when we readjust all of our prophecy charts.\u00a0 But we\u2019ll see, we\u2019ll see how it works.\u00a0 But these are things that Daniel is seeing in the last days.\n\nAs we move into verse 25 he begins to focus on the antichrist himself.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure how far we\u2019ll get into verse 25.\u00a0 The antichrist or this little horn that has to subdue three horns and seven horns cooperate with him is described in verse 25.\u00a0 It says, \u201cThe beast\u201d that\u2019s the little horn or the antichrist, \u201cwill speak out against the Most High.\u201d\u00a0 One of the things that\u2019s fascinating to me about this prophecy is how frequently the Holy Spirit calls our attention to the antichrist\u2019s mouth.\u00a0 Have you notice that?\u00a0 That\u2019s why one of my favorite Bible teachers refers to the antichrist as Mr. Big Mouth.\u00a0 Verse 8, you\u2019ll see a reference to him uttering great boasts.\n\nAs you move into verse 11 of chapter 7 you\u2019ll see another reference to what he says uttering great boasts.\u00a0\u00a0 You see the same emphasis there in verse 20.\u00a0 [Daniel 7:11, \u201cThen 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.\u201d\u00a0 Daniel 7:20, \u201cand the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates.\u201d]\n\nAnd now for the fourth time in the series of a very short chapter we have the fourth reference to the antichrist\u2019s mouth.\u00a0 John, in the Book of Revelation picks up on this and in Revelation 13:5-6 John says this, \u201cThere was given to him\u201d that\u2019s the antichrist, the same character that Daniel is seeing, \u201cThere was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. [6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is,<\/em> those who dwell in heaven.\u201d\u00a0 Who would be \u201cthose who dwell in heaven\u201d?\u00a0 I think that\u2019s the church; the church that the Lord has removed from the earth before these events happened.\u00a0 The antichrist sees them in heaven and blasphemes them and blasphemes God Himself.\n\nAgain, not to get overly political but I cannot tell you how many intelligent people, people even in my own extended family, people with advanced degrees, many of them voted for not this President but the prior President which shall remain nameless, and I would ask them, I\u2019d say you\u2019re a very intelligent person, the prior president has no resume whatsoever, we don\u2019t know anything about him, why would you vote for him?\u00a0 Why would a man of your academic pedigree and your intelligence vote for something or someone that you know nothing about?\u00a0 And here was the answer I got all of the time: he sounded Presidential, we like what he says, we like how he talks, we like how he articulates his ideas.\n\nThe only reason I bring this up is we are living literally in the exact same time period that Daniel spoke of where people will attach loyalty to someone based completely, not on their character, not on their accomplishments, not on their resume, but on their ability to be an orator.\u00a0 And this is the very thing that Daniel here is seeing.\n\nWell, verse 25 goes on and it says this of Daniel 7, He will \u201cwear down the saints of the Highest One,\u201d now that opens Pandora\u2019s box.\u00a0 Who are these saints?\u00a0 What are they doing upon the earth?\u00a0 Is this the church?\u00a0 If it\u2019s not the church then who is this group?\u00a0 And I\u2019m now looking at the clock and I\u2019ve got two minutes left so obviously I\u2019m not going to be able to explain all that right now.\u00a0 So that\u2019s sort of my tease to get you to come back next week as we discuss who are these saints in the midst of this time period.\u00a0 And is there really proof for this idea that the church (that\u2019s us) is going to be raptured to heaven before these things happen.\n\nBut before I dismiss you let me just bring one more point to your attention.\u00a0 We\u2019re dealing with, here in Daniel 7, two kingdoms, two world governments on the horizon\u2014the failing empire of the antichrist followed by what will start to be described in verses 26, 27 and 28, the eternal earthly rule of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And as I said before the sermon application this morning is very easy, it\u2019s just a question:\u00a0 What kingdom are you a citizen of?\u00a0 The reality of the situation is if you have never trusted in what Jesus has done for you your whole citizenship is here on the earth.\u00a0 The only thing that you are stuck with is the failing system of the antichrist and world government which is on the horizon, destined to destroy, destined to enslave and destined to be defeated.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know Christ personally that\u2019s your future.\u00a0 Your future is in the empire of the antichrist which will fail.\n\nBut how different it is when a person responds to the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit and they place their personal faith in what Jesus has done for them.\u00a0 This is what we celebrated this morning at the Lord\u2019s Table.\u00a0 You see, the fact of the matter is simply this: the story of the Bible is not what man does for God!\u00a0 What man does for God is religion; it\u2019s human works.\u00a0 The story of the Bible is not what man does for God, it\u2019s what God has done for man.\u00a0 Christianity is not about reaching up to God and climbing; it\u2019s about God reaching down to man in the person of Jesus Christ, whose final words on the cross were what?\u00a0 \u201cIt is finished!\u201d\u00a0 In other words, it\u2019s completed.\u00a0 Everything that\u2019s necessary to bridge the gap between God\u2019s holiness and man\u2019s sinfulness has been fixed.\u00a0 \u00a0Your job is to rest by faith in what He\u2019s done for you.\u00a0 Are you here today with a spirit of religion\u2014what can I do for God?\u00a0 If that\u2019s your mindset then you\u2019re stuck in the kingdoms of this world that are failing.\n\nIf, on the other hand, you\u2019re here today resting in, by way of faith, what Jesus has done for you then not only are you a member of God\u2019s royal family but you\u2019re a citizen of a coming world government on the horizon which will be far bigger, far greater and far more durable than the failing kingdom of the antichrist.\u00a0 As the Spirit of God no doubt places some of you under conviction either here or perhaps people watching online, the conviction you feel is not accidental, it\u2019s the Spirit\u2019s work, whereby Jesus said in John 16 that when the Spirit comes He \u201cwill convict the world of sin, and righteousness and judgment.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c\u2026sin,\u201d singular, \u201cbecause they do not believe.\u201d\u00a0 [John 16:8, \u201cAnd He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;\u201d\u00a0 [9] concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;\u201d]\n\nThe reality of the situation is there\u2019s only one sin that sends a person into an eternal hell and that\u2019s the sin of unbelief.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to a person\u2019s grave never having trusted in what Jesus has done for them.\u00a0 That\u2019s the only sin that really is unforgiveable and this is why the Holy Spirit comes into the world to agitate people, to annoy people of their need to place their personal faith in Jesus Christ.\u00a0 But placing your personal faith in Jesus Christ is a matter of privacy between you and the Lord.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something\u00a0 you have to raise a hand to do, walk an aisle to do, join a church to do, give money to do, it\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where you respond by faith, the best you know how, and receive a free gift from God.\u00a0 Another way of saying faith is trust, reliance, dependence, confidence.\u00a0 It\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord.\u00a0 When you say to the Lord, yes, I\u2019m trusting in\u00a0 You and what You\u2019ve done for me and not what I do for\u00a0 myself.\u00a0 It\u2019s something you can do right now as I\u2019m talking.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that you have done or now are doing then on the authority of the Word of God you\u2019ve changed your eternal destiny and your citizenship has been completely altered away from the failing systems of man to the glorious kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ which is on the horizon and you are now a citizen of it.\u00a0 If it is something you need more teaching on, more explanation on, I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray: Lord, we\u2019re grateful for Your church and Your people as we gather this first Sunday of June in a very busy time period in our lives, in our church, but we acknowledge Your truth, we rest in it, we trust in it, we thank\u00a0 You for the prophetic pages of\u00a0 Your Word which give us a clear depiction and picture of the things that are to come.\u00a0 Make us good stewards of these things.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name.\u00a0\u00a0 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