{"id":18419,"date":"2017-12-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-03T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-044-how-history-glorifies-god\/"},"modified":"2017-12-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-12-03T06:00:00","slug":"daniel-044-how-history-glorifies-god","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-044-how-history-glorifies-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 044 – How History Glorifies God"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18419","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 044 - How History Glorifies God","sermon_date":"20171203","sermon_month":"12","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":5217,"sermon_slides":5218,"sermon_mp3":5221,"sermon_id":"1231795952","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"11:2-4","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nHow History Glorifies God\n\n12-3-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel 11:2-4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 44\n\nGood morning everyone.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the 11th<\/sup> chapter of the Book of Daniel, Daniel 11:2.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is How History Glorifies God.\u00a0 We are in that section of the Book of Daniel which is the final vision; we\u2019re coming to the very end of the book.\u00a0 That whole vision dealt with, in chapters 10-12, one connected interflowing thought.\u00a0 Chapter 10:1-3 you\u2019ll recall was the setting and this is where we learned that Cyrus of Medo-Persia was in power at the time Daniel had this final prophecy of his career.\u00a0 This would be the third year of Cyrus, making the date about 536 B.C.\u00a0 You should probably memorize that, 536 B.C.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because Daniel is going to see things happening, as we\u2019re going to start to unfold them today, that wouldn\u2019t happen for another 200, in some cases 400 years historically.\n\nSo Daniel is clearly seeing history in advance.\u00a0 And that, of course, is one of the great proofs of the Bible.\u00a0 I\u2019m the type of person that can\u2019t just believe in something just because someone tells me to believe it; I need some kind of authentication.\u00a0 And one of the things that we have built into the Bible is this subject of prophecy, the revelation of information before it happens.\n\nJesus, you recall, in the upper room said I\u2019m going to tell you what is going to happen so that when it does happen you may believe that I am He.\u00a0 [John 13:19, \u201cFrom now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.\u201d]\u00a0 Jesus never told people to exercise blind faith; He provided them authentication and proof.\u00a0 And this is one of the great things that we have in the Scripture\u2026 history in advance.\u00a0 You get the idea that an omniscient, all knowing God wrote this book.\u00a0 There is no similar self-authenticating sign in any other alleged holy book, whether it be the Quran or the Book of Mormon or you name it.\u00a0 This is something that is unique to the Bible.\n\nDaniel, as we have talked about, is in his mid-80\u2019s when he receives this final vision; the return from captivity is already underway.\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel remains in Babylon, which has now been conquered by the Persians, and it\u2019s at this time in his life he receives this incredible vision.\u00a0 In fact, an angel is dispatched from heaven to give Daniel this vision, verses 4-9, and then the angel starts to explain some things to Daniel once the angel arrives.\u00a0 What took you so long, would be question number one.\u00a0 Well, we have an answer to that; there was a twenty-one day, three week conflict in heaven between a good angel and a fallen angel.\u00a0 It\u2019s what we call spiritual warfare.\u00a0 And after this time of conflict was over the angel broke through and gave to Daniel this vision.\n\nThen the angel goes on and gets into the subject of why he came, the purpose of the vision, how he has come to disclose to Daniel truth about the end.\u00a0 And so chapter 10 becomes one of the great chapters, really in the whole Bible, about the reality of the invisible angelic conflict or war.\u00a0 That\u2019s why when we preached messages out of that particular chapter, I believe we preached four messages, we entitled those messages The Invisible War.\u00a0 But now the warfare has ended, at least in terms of Daniel receiving this vision, and now what happens beginning in chapter 11 and verse 2 we start to get an explanation of the content of the vision.\u00a0\u00a0 What is it that Daniel was given?\u00a0 What did he actually see?\n\nWe can outline this vision as follows: first Daniel is given some information about Persia, the empire that he was serving under at the time this vision was given.\u00a0 It reveals some information about Persia that would happen after Daniel left the scene, passed away.\u00a0 And then the next empire that we have studied would be Greece; verses 3-4 gives us some information about Greece.\u00a0 Greece would not come into existence until a couple of centuries after Daniel left the scene.\u00a0 And then we learned about the division of the Grecian Empire into dynasties. Two of those dynasties are high\u00adlighted in great depth in verses 5-20.\n\nBut one of those dynasties is very important; the Seleucid dynasty of Syria, north of Israel because from that Seleucid dynasty is going to arise a man named Antiochus Epiphanes, Antiochus IV.\u00a0 His career is revealed 400 years in advance in verses 21-35 the Holy Spirit focuses on him like a laser beam.\u00a0 He becomes the key subject.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because he is a prefigurement, he is a prototype, if you will, of what is going to be revealed in verses 36-45, a man of sin, a man of wickedness that has not yet come on the world scene, the coming antichrist.\n\nSo the Spirit of God leaps from Antiochus and goes forward into the distant future using Antiochus as an explanation of what the future antichrist will be like.\u00a0 Antiochus will be like the antichrist in miniature form.\u00a0 So the chapter concludes with an in-depth description of the coming antichrist.\u00a0 And that, chapter 11, then moves into chapter 12 where we learn about the events surrounding the antichrist, his reign of terror in the future tribulation period followed by the overthrow of the antichrist and the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth.\u00a0 So we have, as we might expect in the Bible, a very happy ending to this time of terror yet future.\u00a0 And that begins to be described in chapter 12.\n\nSo that\u2019s sort of the big picture; that\u2019s the lay of the land.\u00a0 And notice, if you will, Daniel chapter 11 and verse 2. We covered verse 1 last time, notice, if you will Daniel 11 and verse 2, it says this: \u201cnow I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece.\u201d\n\nYou\u2019ll notice this word, chapter 11 and verse 2, \u201cI will tell you the truth.\u201d\u00a0 If you back up to chapter 10 and take a look at verse 21, it says, \u201cHowever, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth.\u201d\u00a0 This vision that you\u2019re about to see Daniel is the truth; it doesn\u2019t matter whether you like the truth or don\u2019t like the truth.\u00a0 It\u2019s a truthful reality whether it is received with the right attitude of the listener or not.\n\nWe, as mere human beings don\u2019t get the option to decide if God\u2019s revelation is true.\u00a0 It\u2019s true whether I like it, it\u2019s true if I don\u2019t like it. Truth is just that, it\u2019s truth!\u00a0 Objects fall at 32 feet per second whether I like that law or not.\u00a0 Now I can rebel against the law, I can test the law, but the law is still in operation.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how we need to look at this vision.\u00a0 God is not in the interest of disclosing things to us depending upon our vote; it\u2019s true whether humanity accepts if, it\u2019s true whether humanity rejects it.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what Daniel is reminded of here.\u00a0 He is about to receive, in vision form, history in advance which is the truth.\n\nAnd he gets a description, verse 2, of the Persian Empire that\u00a0 he was serving under.\u00a0 It says, \u201cBehold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them.\u201d\u00a0 The Persian Empire, you remember, is the empire that overthrew the Babylonians.\u00a0 When Daniel was taken into captivity as a mere teenager he was taken into captivity 350 miles to the east of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians.\u00a0 And then there was a radical political sea-change in Daniel 5.\u00a0 The Persian Empire came to power about 539 B.C. and overthrew the Baby\u00adlonians without even so much as a battle, and it happened in a single night.\u00a0 And the Babylonians who felt that they were so invincible, so invulnerable because of the high walls around Babylon began to drink from the holy vessels of the temple, which had been taken along with Daniel into captivity.\u00a0 And they began to use those instruments of holiness for profane purposes.\n\nAnd this is when the miraculous handwriting appeared on the wall, mene, mene, tekel upharsin,<\/em> which simply means your days are numbered; your kingdom, Belshazzar, the last reigning king of Babylon, is about to be divided between the Medes and the Persians and in fact\u00a0 you are about to die this very night.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting how God, when He announces judgment quickly moves in and executes what He said.\u00a0 God is a God of love, God is a God of grace, those are all parts of His character, but He is also a God of holiness, who in due course, in due season executes judgment.\u00a0\u00a0 And this is what happened to the Babylonians and the Persian then came onto the scene; Daniel continued to serve in the administration of Persia.\u00a0 The Persian Empire started in Daniel 5, 539 B.C. and lasted until about 331 B.C. when a man named Alexander the Great (who we\u2019re going to talk about in detail in just a minute) came on the scene and overthrew the Persians.\n\nBabylon thought they would last forever, they didn\u2019t.\u00a0 Their empire was terminated by the Persians.\u00a0 The Persians probably thought they would last forever.\u00a0 They did not, their empire was terminated by Greece.\u00a0 Greece probably thought they would last forever.\u00a0 Greece did not last forever, their empire was terminated by Rome.\u00a0 The sad reality of world history is there is no permanent kingdom, there is no permanent empire other than the eternal kingdom of God which is on the horizon.\u00a0 We ought to learn from history and not put our hope and our trust in our political systems and our political rulers.\u00a0 We should protect those as much as we can but the reality is those are not our hope.\u00a0 World leaders, world dictators come and go; that\u2019s the ebb and flow of history.\u00a0 In fact, it is the orchestration of God Himself.\n\nPersia, you remember in Daniel\u2019s prophecy in Daniel 2 was the next empire that would come after Babylon; the head of gold would be replaced by the chest and arms of silver.\u00a0 Persia was the bear described in the vision in Daniel chapter 7.\u00a0 In Daniel chapter 8 you\u2019ll recall that Persia was the ram, the two-horned ram; probably two horns because the Persian Empire would consist of not just Persia but the Medes and the Persians.\u00a0 And so what God said would happen has happened; the Persians are now in power.\u00a0 The nation of Israel under Cyrus begins to return to the Promised Land and God begins to reveal to Daniel more information about the Persian Empire that was on the scene at the time this vision was given.\n\nNotice what it says there in verse 2 as the prophecy gets very specific.\u00a0 \u201cBehold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia.\u201d\u00a0 Now these are kings that would exist after Daniel most likely left the scene.\u00a0 As we study history we learn who those three kings are.\u00a0 They are, number 1, Cambyses<\/em> \u00a0who ruled from about 530 to about 523.\u00a0 \u00a0Sudosmyrnus who ruled for one\u00a0 year, 522 B.C. \u00a0And then Darius I who ruled from about 521 to about 486 B.C.\u00a0 Daniel is seeing these kings before they came on the scene.\u00a0 And because hindsight is 20\/20 and we have the record of history we can see how the precision of God\u2019s Word was fulfilled.\n\nThe prophecy goes on in Daniel 11:2 and after these three kings it says this: \u201cThen a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Who is this fourth king?\u00a0 The fourth king, we know from history, was a man named Xerxes.\u00a0 Xerxes would reign from about 485 BC to about 465 BC.\u00a0 Now Xerxes has another name, his name is called Ahasuerus and if you\u2019re a student of the Book of Esther you\u2019ll recognize that name.\u00a0 Xerxes was the Persian king that is featured prominently in the Book of Esther, which would also unfold during the Persian time period from about 483 B.C. to about 473-472,471 B.C.\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel is seeing the major players in the Book of Esther in advance.\n\nAnd the prophecy goes on and it begins to talk about what this man, Xerxes, would do. It says, \u201cThen a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece.\u201d\u00a0 Xerxes would launch a war (which he really couldn\u2019t win) against the Grecian Empire which is on the horizon.\u00a0 And in fact, Xerxes is a transitional figure; his actions here led to the demise of Persia only to be replaced ultimately by the Greeks.\n\nIn his great campaign against Greece from 481 to 479 BC, with an army of probably 200,000 men and a navy of many hundreds of ships gathered from all over his vast empire, Xerxes desperately sought to avenge the humiliating defeat suffered by his father, Darius I, at the battle of Marathon (490 BC). But his army was defeated north of Athens at Plataea (479 BC) just after his Navy was smashed at Salamis, to the west of Athens.\u201d\n\nJohn Whitcomb in his commentary on the\u00a0 Book of Daniel writes this:\u00a0 In his great campaign against Greece, from 481-479 B.C., with an army of probably 200,000 men and a navy of many hundreds of ships gathered from over his vast empire Xerxes desperately sought to avenge the humiliating defeat suffered by his father, Darius I at the Battle of Marathon, 490 B.C.\u00a0 But his army was defeated north of Athens at Platea, 479 B.C., just after his navy was smashed at Salamis to the west of Athens.\u00a0 [John C. Whitcomb, Daniel<\/em>, Everyman's Bible Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1985), 146.]\n\nWhat was the outcome of this battle? Well, it didn\u2019t go very well for Xerxes because the next character that\u2019s mentioned in Daniel\u2019s prophecy, beginning in Daniel 11, really starting around verse 3, is the empire of the Greeks under Alexander the Great.\u00a0 So this battle that is described here as being used as a transition leading to the demise of Persia, Persia was not finished off at this point but she was substantially weakened.\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting that the empire of Persia probably was at its height under Xerxes, but then it began to decline with this battle here, spoken of in advance by the prophet Daniel.\n\nAnd Daniel, you\u2019ll notice, doesn\u2019t even mention the next eight Persian kings that would follow Xerxes.\u00a0\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 There are eight more kings but they were of such little power, they were of such little consequence, they were of such little impact on the world stage that it\u2019s pretty clear at this point in time that the Persian Empire is diminishing.\u00a0 And Alexander the Great is on the horizon as Daniel is being given this information about the ebb and flow of history long in advance.\n\nNotice how selective the Bible is about these prophecies.\u00a0 A lot of people sort of look at the Bible as\u00a0 they would look at The Encyclopedia Britannica<\/em> or something, it ought to be some kind of comprehensive biography or history.\u00a0 In fact, the Bible has never set out to give a comprehensive biography about Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In fact, John tells us at the end of his gospel that there were many other things that Jesus said and did and John says in John 21:25 and John 20:30-31, he says if I gave to you everything Jesus said and did I suppose the world itself could not contain the books written thereof.\u00a0 [John 21:25, \u201cAnd there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.\u00a0 John 20:30-31, \u201cTherefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;\u00a0 [31] but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.\u201d]\n\nThe Bible never tries to tell us everything about the life of Christ.\u00a0 In fact, there is a section of Christ\u2019s life, in between age 12 and age 30 that we know almost nothing about.\u00a0 But what the Bible has given in terms of Christ is sufficient; it doesn\u2019t give us comprehensively everything there is to know about Christ but it\u2019s given us enough information about Christ to reveal His identity and to invoke faith on the part of people who hear it, because \u201cfaith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.\u201d\u00a0 [Romans 10:17]\n\nSo many people are bothered by what the Bible doesn\u2019t say. To be completely honest with you I\u2019m more bothered by what the Bible DOES say than what it doesn\u2019t say, because what the Bible does tell me is enough information given from God to hold me accountable.\u00a0 And it\u2019s the same with these prophecies relating to Persia and Greece.\u00a0 You don\u2019t look at these prophecies as if the Bible is telling us everything there is to know about Persia, everything there is to know about Greece.\u00a0 It\u2019s highly selective, sometimes leaping over vast sections of history, because the Bible, really at the end of the day is not so much telling us about Persia or Greece.\u00a0 It\u2019s leading to this man, Antiochus, that\u2019s the key figure.\n\nWhy is that so important?\u00a0 Because Antiochus IV is a prefigurement of the horror and the barbarity that awaits people in the tribulation period.\u00a0 Obviously here we believe in the pre-tribulational rapture of the church.\u00a0 The church will be raptured to heaven before these tribulation events unfold. But woe to those that are, as Tim LaHaye said, \u201cLeft Behind.\u201d\u00a0 What is to await them?\u00a0 What are their chances? What fate is in front of them?\u00a0 The Bible is very clear\u2014Antiochus is a prefigurement of this coming antichrist.\n\nAnd we move from Daniel 11:2 to Daniel 11:3-4 where now the subject matter changes to the next empire that was yet to come after Persia, the Empire of Greece.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, Daniel 11:3, it says: \u201cAnd a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.\u201d\u00a0 This is speaking of the Empire of Greece that would come on the scene after the decline of the Empire of Persia.\u00a0 Greece would come upon the scene 331-63 B.C.\u00a0 Daniel has much information about that empire.\u00a0 Now remember the date when Daniel saw this (I had you memorize it), what was the date?\u00a0 536 B.C. 200 years in advance Daniel is seeing these things, more than 200 years if you count the totality of the Grecian Empire. Think how long 200 years\u00a0 is.\u00a0 The United States of America has only been here for just a shade over 200 years and yet we look at that period of time as a massive time period.\u00a0 And yet God is giving to Daniel information before it occurs, the duration and the length, more than the duration and the length of the United States of America timewise.\n\nSo Greece would come. Now we\u2019ve already learned about Greece, haven\u2019t we?\u00a0 In Daniel 2 Greece was the belly and thighs of bronze in that giant statue.\u00a0 Greece was also the leopard in Daniel 7. Greece was also the goat that would kill off the two-horned ram in Daniel 8.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to me that we don\u2019t have to speculate as to who these empires are.\u00a0 It mentions Persia, right there in the passage, Daniel 8:20. It mentions Greece right there in the passage, Daniel 8:21.\u00a0 [Daniel 8:20-21, \u201cThe ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia. [21] The shaggy goat represents<\/em> the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.\u201d]\n\nIn fact, last time you might remember Daniel 10:20-21, it mentions Persia by name.\u00a0 [Daniel 10:20-21, \u201cThen he said, \u2018Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come. [21] However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces<\/em> except Michael your prince.\u201d]\n\nIt mentions Greece by name.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have to rely on the sanctified imagination to figure out what God\u2019s Word says.\u00a0 God\u2019s Word is what we would call self-interpreting.\u00a0 If we give the text enough time to sort of say what it wants to say every symbol, I believe, every vision, every beast, every horn is understandable. God did not write a book to confuse us but to help us and to edify us if we pay attention to how the Bible interprets itself.\n\nDaniel was specifically told that Greece would come.\u00a0 It says, \u201cA might king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.\u201d\u00a0 If you go back just a minute to Daniel 8:20, at the very end of the verse it says, \u201cso I\u201d that\u2019s the angel, \u201cam going forth and behold the prince of Greece\u201d this would be the demon over Greece, the fallen angel over Greece, \u201cis about to come.\u201d\u00a0 [Daniel 11:3]\n\nThis prophecy here, Daniel 8 and verse 3, was fulfilled in the rise of a man named Alexander the Great, a man who came upon the world scene with great power and great authority exactly as the Bible says.\u00a0 He would rule as he pleases, and how did he get this authority?\u00a0 Well, he was energized; in this case he was not energized by God or the Holy Spirit (which is also God) but he was energized by Satan himself. \u00a0And I believe that there are those today on the world stage that are exactly like that.\u00a0 In fact, we\u2019ve had a couple of Presidents in recent times that come to memory which I won\u2019t go into.\n\nBut you look at some of the things that these despots and these dictators do, the way they malign people, the way they mistreat people, the way their whole agenda is to control people.\u00a0 Think of Adolf Hitler, think of Mussolini, think of Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, and we could go on and on talking about people.\u00a0 And you really start to wonder what is it that makes them tick?\u00a0 It\u2019s demonic ultimately.\n\nIrwin Lutzer, a well-known pastor, wrote a book on the reign of Adolf Hitler and he talks in that book about when Hitler would give his speeches that would wow the masses; it was discernable by various experts that his voice changes.\u00a0 And\u00a0 you begin to ask yourself why is his voice changing?\u00a0 Part of the explanation could be, I believe, that someone other than Hitler was speaking, simply using Hitler\u2019s mouth as a vehicle.\u00a0 We know that Satan works this way; we know that he actually entered Judas, John 13:27, to betray Christ.\u00a0 [John 13:27, \u201cAfter the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, \u2018What you do, do quickly.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 We believe that he will have great influence over the coming antichrist who will come with counterfeit signs and wonders.\n\nI believe that about midway through the tribulation period Satan, who had been cast from heaven, will actually enter the antichrist.\u00a0 The unseen spiritual realm and world that we as mere mortals would know almost nothing about if it were not for the light of God\u2019s Word, helps so much in explaining the depravity and the wickedness of people.\u00a0 And it is a calling to us to be in intercession, to be in prayer, because the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.\u00a0 [2 Corinthians 10:4, \u201cfor the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.\u201d]\n\nWe are not called into this warfare that we are in through human weapons.\u00a0 What can a human weapon or human talent or human energy or human ingenuity, how can that stand against \u201cspiritual forces \u2026 in the heavenly places.\u201d\u00a0 [Ephesians 6:12, \u201cFor our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.\u201d]\u00a0 And yet through the armor God gives us, the full armor of God, intercessory prayer, combat suddenly becomes possible, not through our own strength but through the strength of God.\n\nSo the prince of Greece would come, Daniel 10:21.\u00a0 [Daniel 10:21, \u201c\"However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince..\u201d]\u00a0 This is what propelled this man, Alexander the Great, onto the scene and he truly did exercise great authority.\n\nDaniel 8:5-8 talks about that great authority in the vision of the ram and the goat.\u00a0 And it says this of Alexander the Great, you might recall: \u00a0\u201cWhile I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had<\/em> a conspicuous horn between his eyes.\u201d Now going back to Daniel 8:21 we know that this goat is Greece, it tells us that.\u00a0 So Greece would be represented by the first Emperor of the Grecian empire who would be Alexander the Great.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026and the goat had<\/em> a conspicuous horn between his eyes. [6] He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. [7] I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power. [8] Then the male goat magnified himself<\/em> exceedingly. [But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns<\/em> toward the four winds of heaven.]\u201d\n\nWe know that the ram is Persia, the goat is Greece.\u00a0 Daniel, in Daniel 8, is seeing the same change of power in Daniel 11:3.\u00a0 [Daniel 11:3, \u201cAnd a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.\u201d]\u00a0 The same event, different vision. God is calling Daniel\u2019s attention two times in his lifetime to this transition of power between Persia and Greece.\u00a0 Persia is not going to last forever; Greece is coming, satanically energized; Alexander the Great will come upon the scene, he\u2019ll rule with great authority and do as he pleases.\n\nYou will recall that Alexander the Great, from history, secular history, conquered the known world about the age of 32, the age of 33, and then he began to weep because there was nothing else to conquer.\u00a0 How could a man at that age have so much success and prowess in conflict, in a military campaign?\u00a0 Satan was behind it; Satan was going to use the empire of Greece, just like he used the empire of Persia, just like he used the empire of Babylon, to persecute the chosen people.\n\nSatan is going to get his work done, it\u2019s just a matter of who he\u2019s going to use.\u00a0 Just like God is going to get His work done, it\u2019s just a matter of who is God going to use? He\u2019s going to use those that know Him personally and have yielded to His purposes.\u00a0 Who does Satan use?\u00a0 Same kinds of people, people that are yielded to the forces of Satan without even realizing who they are yielding to.\u00a0 That\u2019s who Alexander the Great was.\n\nAnd it seems like somewhat of a dark scenario that we are being hit with here, but let me give\u00a0 you a bright spot on this; Alexander the Great was into something called Hellenization.\u00a0 He wanted to create a monolithic Greek culture.\u00a0 Alexander the Great consequently brought the Greek language to the known world.\u00a0 Have you ever asked yourself the question why is it that the Old Testament concludes with people speaking in Hebrew and Aramaic and the New Testament opens with a whole language that is different and it\u2019s being written in Greek?\u00a0 Answer: Alexander the Great.\n\nThe Book of Galatians, chapter 4 and verse 4 says this: \u201cBut when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus was not just dropped (and this is something good to remember) around Christmas time, as we celebrate the first advent of Christ)\u00a0 Jesus was not just dropped into history at some random time..\u00a0 The whole stage was set.\u00a0 One of the things that was in place is the Greek language which is the fullest dialect most likely known to man.\u00a0 There is one word for \u201clove\u201d in English; the Greeks had four communicating different depths and levels of love, whether it be phileo<\/em>, brotherly love, \u00e9ros, romantic love, agape, selfless love, storg\u0113<\/em>, relational love between family members.\n\nThink of the ability to express yourself in Greek that you would have no ability to express yourself in English.\u00a0 And what I\u2019m trying to say is the exact right language came into place to write the 27 books of the New Testament to record the revelation of God\u2019s only Son, Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The right language was in place because of Alexander the Great and watch this very carefully, God used a wicked man, like Alexander the Great, to accomplish God\u2019s purposes.\n\nIt\u2019s very clear here in Daniel 11:3 that when Alexander the Great would come upon the scene he would rule with great authority and do as he pleases.\u00a0 [Daniel 11:3, \u201cAnd a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.\u201d]\u00a0 Alexander thinks he\u2019s in charge, and yet God is so big, God is so great that He\u2019s actually using the sinful choices of His enemies to accomplish His will.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I decided to entitle this message \u201cHow History Glorifies God.\u201d\n\nThere is a theological system today, very aggressive Calvinism, that doesn\u2019t allow free will at all.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t allow free will in terms of people getting saved; it doesn\u2019t allow free will in terms of people making decisions against God.\u00a0 And they think that if we let this free will thing out of the bag too much God is somehow\u00a0 losing control and is being deprived of His glory.\u00a0 Let me tell you something: this is how God is glorified.\u00a0 He can use a wholly choice of people to accomplish His will and God is not limited by that. \u00a0He can use the choices of abject rejecters of God to do His will as well.\u00a0 That\u2019s how the Greek language came into place, to record the New Testament.\u00a0 Now who did God use to do it?\u00a0 He used a man who exercised great authority and did as he pleased.\u00a0 Well, guess what Alexander, you may have thought you did as you pleased but you actually did what God pleased, you just didn\u2019t know it.\n\nAnd I think when all is said and done and in glory we look back through the annals of history we\u2019re going to see this over and over and over again, how God used rebellion to accomplish His own purposes, and we just sit back and say WOW!\u00a0 Praise the Lord!\u00a0 I glorify God.\u00a0 Look at what God has done in history; only God could do that!\u00a0 You take this man, Judas Iscariot, this is what Jesus said of Judas Iscariot in Matthew 26:47-50.\u00a0 It says, \u201cWhile He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came<\/em> from the chief priests and elders of the people.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice that there\u2019s nothing here, God is not pulling any string, there\u2019s no intimation of that in Matthew 26.\u00a0 It\u2019s just Judas doing what he wanted to do.\n\nVerse 48, \u201cNow he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, \u2018Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him.\u2019 \u00a0[49] Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, \u2018Hail, Rabbi!\u2019 and kissed Him.\u201d\u00a0 These are all freewill actions of Judas, are they not. [50] \u201cAnd Jesus said to him\u2026,\u201d and this is some of the most touching words, to my mind, in the whole Bible, \u201cAnd Jesus said to him, Friend\u2026\u201d now how can\u00a0 you call someone your friend who you, through omniscience knows is about to betray you?\u00a0 But this is the unconditional love that God has for people, even people that hate God\u2019s guts.\u00a0 People today plotting against God, working against God, the reality of the situation is God loves them and has never stopped.\u00a0 And the reality of the situation is they don\u2019t know, besides what I just said is God is actually using their will to do God\u2019s will.\n\n\u201cAnd Jesus said to him, \u2018Friend, do<\/em> what you have come for.\u2019 Then they came and laid hands \u00a0\u00a0on Jesus and seized Him.\u201d\u00a0 And did you know that the moment Judas exercised his free will to reject Jesus Christ is the moment Judas was fulfilling a scripture that had been written a thousand years in advance?\n\nJohn 13:18, says, \u201c\"I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.'\u201d That\u2019s Psalm 41:9. \u00a0\u00a0[Psalm 41:9, \u201cEven my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.\u201d]\u00a0 That\u2019s a thousand years old.\u00a0 Think about that!\u00a0 Judas does what is right in his own eyes and as he does it he\u2019s fulfilling a script or a blueprint written a thousand years in advance.\n\nThis is what is happening with Alexander the Great.\u00a0 This is what is happening today with people, without them even recognizing it.\u00a0 And I think studying history under the light of Christ in eternity\u2026 you know, we\u2019re bored with history, can you imagine studying history with Jesus as your teacher, and making you aware of situation after situation after situation where this kind of thing has happened, where He has used His enemies, respecting their free will to advance his own plans.\u00a0 And we just say praise the Lord!\u00a0 The glorification of God through the study of history is something that I just can\u2019t wait for a full explanation on.\n\nSo then what came of this man, Alexander the Great?\u00a0 I\u2019m glad you asked.\u00a0 Verse 4, \u201cBut as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to others besides them.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice there that as Alexander the Great is doing what he wants, doing what is right in his own eyes, he\u2019s actually in decline; his authority is being removed.\n\nHis authority is being taken away which brings up a very important biblical principle: In God the way up is down and the way down is up!\u00a0 Look at the biblical record.\u00a0 Look at people who promote themselves, whether it\u2019s Satan, Uzziah, Herod Agrippa, and as they begin to promote themselves and do their own thing it\u2019s almost as if an invisible hand is working against them because 1 Peter 5:5 says, \u201cGod resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.\u201d\n\nThis is one of the reasons that Paul, the apostle, 2 Corinthians 12, had to be subjected to a thorn in the flesh.\u00a0 [2 Corinthians 12:7, \u201cBecause of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me-- to keep me from exalting myself! Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me-- to keep me from exalting myself!\u201d]\u00a0 Why was that there?\u00a0 To keep him from exalting himself.\u00a0 I mean, think about a guy like Paul who was taken into the third heaven and heard things that no one else has ever heard.\u00a0 Think of the temptation towards pride and yet God wanted to keep Paul that pliable, usable instrument. So He allowed some painful circumstances into his life.\n\nWe look at our trials and we curse our trials.\u00a0 The reality is the trial that you have in your body, the trial that you may have in your family, the trial that you may have in your pocketbook or your job or whatever nagging thing it is it won\u2019t go away, have you ever thought of how that is actually a gift.\u00a0 What did Paul say with this thorn in the flesh?\u00a0 \u201cThere was given to me a thorn in the flesh,\u201d he didn\u2019t see it as an unwelcome intruder; he saw it as something that God had given.\u00a0 [\u201cBecause of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me-- to keep me from exalting myself!\u201d\u00a0 2 Corinthians 12:7]\n\nNow he was human, he asked the Lord three times to remove it, and what does God say each time.\u00a0 \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you.\u201d \u00a0[2 Corinthians 12:9, \u201cAnd He has said to me, \u2018My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.\u2019 Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.\u201d]\u00a0 What if that thorn in the flesh wasn\u2019t there? \u00a0There would be just an arrogant man who would disqualify himself for usability because the way up is down and the way down is up.\u00a0 And you look at Jesus Christ, who emptied Himself and now has been exalted above every name, Philippians 2. \u00a0[Philippians 2:6, \u201cwho, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.\u201d]\n\nThe way up is down, the way down is up.\u00a0 As Alexander the Great was doing what he wanted to do, not only was he fulfilling God\u2019s Word but his own tenure as the leader of the world, even a member of the living human race was being dissolved.\u00a0 What happened to Alexander the Great?\u00a0 Well, Alexander the Great is a man who could conquer the known world but couldn\u2019t conquer\u00a0 his passions.\u00a0 He died, some say of a sexually transmitted disease, others say he died of alcoholism, debauchery\u2026.\u00a0 We look at these very successful people and we become envious of them because of what they can do.\u00a0 Have you ever asked yourself what they can\u2019t do, what they can\u2019t conquer, what they can\u2019t control?\u00a0 Because bringing those lifestyle choices under subjection you have to have God\u2019s help to do that.\u00a0 Alexander the Great probably thought he could do it all but he couldn\u2019t.\n\nHe could do certain things but other areas of his life were left unmanaged, unchecked, given over to the flesh and so he dies at age 32, some would say age 33. Because of his early death he had no immediate heir to give the Grecian Empire over to and so what happened is it was divided amongst his generals.\u00a0 And look what Daniel saw 200 years in advance when Daniel writes, \u201cBut as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up\u201d what does it say here, \u201cand parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants \u2026.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0[Daniel 11:4] You mean the Holy Spirit revealed what would happen two years before it happened?\u00a0 Yes He did!\n\nBeyond that, this is not the first time the Holy Spirit has talked about this to us. \u00a0Daniel 7:6 talks about a leopard (Greece) with four wings.\u00a0 Why four? The parceling of Alexander\u2019s empire amongst his four generals.\u00a0 Daniel 8:8 says, \u201c\u2026there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.\u201d\u00a0 Daniel 8:22 says, \u201c\u2026four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Well who are these four generals?\u00a0 There was Cassander who took Macedonia, Lysimachus who took Thrace and Asia Minor, Ptolemy who took Egypt and Seleucus who took Syria, including the land of Israel.\u00a0 That\u2019s what they got.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting to me that the most important for our purposes becomes Seleucus and Ptolemy.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because they have access to the Holy Land, the land of Israel.\u00a0 So Seleucus and Ptolemy become the focus of Daniel\u2019s prophecies from this point forward: Lysimachus and Cassander, the Holy Spirit isn\u2019t really interested in us knowing about Lysimachus and Cassander because they have no reference point to the land of Israel.\n\nYou have to understand something about God.\u00a0 When God entered into the covenant with Abraham regarding the land of Israel that became the centerpiece of divine activity.\u00a0 Ezekiel 5:5, Ezekiel 38:12, speaks of the Jews dwelling in the center of the earth.\u00a0 The word \u201ccenter\u201d there is translated navel or the bellybutton, or the center of the body. That\u2019s the land of Israel. [Ezekiel 5:5, \u201cThus says the Lord GOD, 'This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her.\u201d\u00a0 Ezekiel 38:12, \u201cto capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.'\u201d]\n\nWhat does the world community look at Israel as?\u00a0 Just an intruder,\u00a0 unwanted, obscure, in the way of progress.\u00a0 That\u2019s not how God looks at Israel.\u00a0 We need to start looking at the world the way God looks at it rather than CNN news or whoever else.\n\nAnd what happened to Alexander\u2019s empire?\u00a0 After he died and it was divided amongst these four generals it\u2019s very clear, it says, \u201cthough not to his own descendants, nor according to his own authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to others besides them.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0[Daniel 11:4, \u201cBut as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to others besides them.\u201d]\n\nThe Grecian Empire never really recovered from this.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because of what Jesus said: A house divided against itself cannot what \u201ccannot stand.\u00a0 [Mark 3:25, \u201cIf a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.\u201d]\u00a0 Daniel 8:22 talks about the division of Alexander\u2019s empire.\u00a0 It says once it\u2019s divided \u201cnot with his power.\u201d\u00a0 [Daniel 8:22, \u201cThe broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power.\u201d]\n\nMatthew 12:25, \u201cAny kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.\u201d\u00a0 In fact, Paul applies this principle to the church and he says this in 1 Corinthians 6:7, \u201cActually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?\u00a0 \u00a0This is just common sense, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 A political empire can\u2019t stand if its divided against itself.\u00a0 A church can\u2019t stand if it\u2019s divided against itself.\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s get a little more personal here; a marriage isn\u2019t going to make it if it\u2019s divided against itself.\u00a0 You have husbands at war with wives and wives at war with husbands, and\u00a0 yet the Bible says you\u2019re one flesh.\u00a0 How are you going to move forward in God when you\u2019re at each other\u2019s throats over and over again.\n\nYou say well, Pastor, do you have any marriage advice for us? Yeah, memorize these two sentences, and not if but when a conflict comes up this week in your marriage, in your church, in\u00a0 your business, just say these two sentences; say to the person you\u2019re at war with, \u201cwe\u2019re on the same team, what can I do to help?\u201d\u00a0 Do you realize that if that came out of your mouth regularly this week in your business, in your marriage, and in your church, how different your week will be?\u00a0 It\u2019s easy, do you want to practice with me?\u00a0 First sentence, ready, \u201cWe\u2019re on the same team.\u201d\u00a0 Second sentence, \u201cWhat can I do to help?\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a simple concept as we study this life of Alexander the Great.\n\nWhat now becomes important and we\u2019re going to conclude with this, is the warfare between not four of these dynasties but two, because each of these generals created dynasties.\u00a0 The Ptolemy\u2019s created the Ptolemy Dynasty in Egypt; Seleucus created the Seleucid dynasty in Syria and what is about to happen is these two dynasties are going to duke it out for 150 years, going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth over the land of Israel.\u00a0 And Daniel sees the whole thing before it happens.\u00a0 In fact, this warfare is going to start in 323 B.C., the death of Alexander the Great and the division of his empire and it\u2019s going to last all the way to Antiochus.\u00a0 And verses 5-20 are an in depth description of history before it materializes.\n\nIn fact, liberals are so bothered by this, because they know the history, that what do they say?\u00a0 Daniel couldn\u2019t have written this, it must have been written by someone other than Daniel after the fact.\u00a0 And yet as I\u2019ll be showing you it is real history; this really happened.\u00a0 And if God is so good at predicting history that from the year 2017 is yet past why can\u2019t we trust God when He reveals history yet future.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t we believe Him when He talks about heaven or hell, angels, demons, sin, salvation?\u00a0 I mean, if God can reveal this He can reveal my destiny, can\u2019t He?\u00a0 And what is my destiny exactly?\u00a0 Well, my destiny and your destiny is to live with God in eternity, in glory, because the wages of your sin have been paid for by what Jesus did.\n\nThat\u2019s the gospel.\u00a0 Jesus entered history, He died on a cross, He rose from the dead, He ascended back to the right hand of the Father, and in the process He did whatever is necessary, whatever had to be done to bridge the gap between God and man.\u00a0 And He says to humanity simply this: I am the God of history; since I am the God who glorified Myself through history, since I know the end before it happens, and the beginning from the end.\u00a0\u00a0 I want you to trust Me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want you to work out your salvation with your own power; I want you to trust what I have done, faith alone, sola fide<\/em>.\u00a0 And in fact, if that weren\u2019t enough He says I\u2019m going to send My Spirit into the world to convict people of their need to do this, which is what the Holy Spirit is doing right now.\u00a0 You say well how do you know that?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s what Jesus said would happen.\u00a0 God said it, I believe it, that settles it!\u00a0 Amen.\n\nRight now as I speak people are being put under conviction.\u00a0 Anytime the gospel is proclaimed people are being put\u00a0 under conviction of their need to trust in Jesus and Jesus alone for their salvation and the forgiveness of their sins.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that the Holy Spirit is convicting you of right now you can do it right now as I\u2019m talking.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019re not interested in your money, we\u2019re not interested in your church membership, we\u2019re not interested in\u00a0 you coming forward and raising a hand and going through the spiritual calisthenics. What we\u2019re interested in is what the Bible says to do, which is to believe in Christ.\u00a0 The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent!\u00a0 That\u2019s it, that\u2019s what gets you saved.\n\nAnd if the Spirit is convicting, which He is, then in the privacy of your own mind, the quietness of your own thoughts you can enter the new year with a fresh relationship with the Lord, trusting in Him and Him alone for salvation.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that you have done or are doing then on the authority of the Word of God you have changed your eternal destiny.\u00a0 I\u00a0 usually say I\u2019m going to be around after the service to talk; today I\u2019m not, I\u2019m going to a conference in Dallas, the plane boards at 2:30, my wife said don\u2019t speak too long so I already blew that, didn\u2019t I?\u00a0 So pray for me as I, with the Trips\u2026. You know the Trips have a limousine company and their last name is the Trips, isn\u2019t that something.\u00a0 I love it.\n\nSo you can pray for me as I\u2019m going to be traveling.\u00a0 Shall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for Your truth,\u00a0 Your Word.\u00a0 We\u2019re grateful for Your church, and help us as we continue to grow in our knowledge of the Book of Daniel.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory. We ask 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