{"id":18429,"date":"2018-02-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-25T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-054-spiritual-peace-first\/"},"modified":"2018-02-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-02-25T06:00:00","slug":"daniel-054-spiritual-peace-first","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-054-spiritual-peace-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 054 \u2013 Spiritual Peace First"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18429","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 054 \u2013 Spiritual Peace First","sermon_date":"20180225","sermon_month":"2","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5503,"sermon_slides":5505,"sermon_mp3":5507,"sermon_id":"225181156249","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"11:42-45","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSpiritual Peace First\n\n2-25-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel 11:42-45\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 54\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take our Bibles if we could and open them to the Book of Daniel, chapter 11, verse 42 and as you\u2019re turning there of course we want to say a word about the home going of Dr. Billy Graham.\u00a0 We very much appreciate his life and service and how the Lord has used him so strategically to spread the gospel around the world.\u00a0 And just to sort of emphasize, one of the things that came up in the announcements, I do strongly encourage you to attend March 11 when Shahram Hadian is going to be here for both Sunday School, we\u2019re going to have a church wide Sunday School class and also the main service that follows.\u00a0 And he\u2019s one of those voices, as a former Muslim, that can affectively shine the light on the theology and ideology of Islam and its beliefs, its agenda, how to evangelize a Muslim, these sorts of issues.\u00a0 So I would encourage you to take advantage of that during our regular Sunday schedule on March 11.\u00a0 This would be something you could bring\u00a0 your friends to if you have some friends that are particularly interested in this, and of course it\u2019s all going to be livestreamed and archived.\n\nThe title of our message this morning is Spiritual Peace First.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve been in the midst of our study in the Book of Daniel, chapters 10-12, the final vision of Daniel.\u00a0 Of course, as we have reiterated over and over again Daniel saw these things described in this final vision back in the sixth century.\u00a0 And it\u2019s really an extended prophecy that begins in chapter 11 and goes through the end of chapter 12.\u00a0 Think about the things that he has revealed: information about Persia, Greece, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, Antiochus IV.\u00a0 And we\u2019re in that section where he leaps into the distant future and begins to describe things about the coming antichrist.\u00a0 Daniel has leapt in verse 35 from the past (Antiochus IV) to the yet future as he\u2019s beginning to reveal information about the coming antichrist.\n\nHere is sort of a four point outline that we\u2019re looking at as we study the antichrist: his self-magnification, we saw that, did we not, in verses 36-37.\u00a0 \u00a0Number two, his military power, we studied that in verses 38-39.\u00a0 And we\u2019re in this section here revealing the military successes, at least early on, of the antichrist in verses 40-43.\u00a0 But notice, if you will, verse 40 and 41, verses that we have already covered last time.\u00a0 [40, \u201cAt the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow\u00a0them<\/em>\u00a0and pass through.\u00a0 [41] He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many\u00a0countries<\/em>\u00a0will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon.\u201d]\n\nWe believe by and large that these sorts of warfare that are breaking out are really things that begin towards the beginning of the tribulation period, probably with the opening of the second seal judgment.\u00a0 And what is being described here is the king of the north, or Syria, and the king of the south, or Egypt, invade the nation of Israel.\u00a0 Why would they do that?\u00a0 The antichrist has come to power, he\u2019s secured world peace, but as we\u2019ll be seeing this peace that he brings in is very, very temporary and it\u2019s not long until his coalition begins to fight amongst itself.\u00a0 And these two nations, king of the north, king of the south, invade the nation of Israel.\u00a0 Why would they do that?\u00a0 Well, largely the motivation is these are Islamic countries in the last days, they\u2019re Islamic countries today, is that the nation of Israel is looked at as a\u00a0 usurper on Allah\u2019s territory.\u00a0 Any time Islam rules over a territory, in their minds that land automatically belongs to Allah.\u00a0 And Israel, with its rebirth in 1948, would be viewed as a usurper.\u00a0 Her very existence is looked at as disrespect towards Allah himself.\n\nAnd beyond that the antichrist at this time will have allowed the Jews to rebuild their temple and sacrifices will be offered up again in that tribulation temple (that would be Israel\u2019s third temple, a temple yet to come).\u00a0 And that also is an insult to Islam because that is the basic area where it is believed that Mohammed ascended back to Allah, making Jerusalem, at least today, it hasn\u2019t always been this way, but at least today in Islamic thinking Jerusalem is the third holiest site in Islam and what disrespect it would be to see the Jews offering their own sacrifices and their own religious system in Islam\u2019s third holiest site.\n\nBeyond that there\u2019s an interesting prophecy in the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 38 and it\u2019s around verse 12 and we\u2019ll be making some references to Ezekiel 38 and 39 in just a little bit, in fact, you might want to have your finger there in Ezekiel 38 and 39.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to me that Ezekiel and Daniel were contemporaries.\u00a0 In fact, Ezekiel in his book, chapter 14 and other places gives evidence that he knew Daniel.\u00a0 Did he know him in terms of a personal relationship?\u00a0 We\u2019re not sure but he certainly knew of his reputation because the two of them were both taken into Babylon in the deportation.\u00a0 They are called the exilic prophets because they both received their prophecies from God during this deportation.\n\nAnd so there\u2019s an interesting overlap, if you will, between the things that Daniel was shown by the Holy Spirit and the things that Ezekiel was shown as well.\u00a0 And Ezekiel 38:12 says something very interesting concerning the invasion of the nation of Israel in the last days.\u00a0\u00a0 He says they will do it, \u201cto capture spoil and to seize plunder,\u201d and it talks about they will view the Jews as those who have acquired cattle and goods.\u00a0 [Ezekiel 38:12, \u201cto capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are\u00a0now<\/em>\u00a0inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.\u2019\u201d]\n\nApparently the nation of Israel is sitting on a lot of wealth; its estimated that mineral deposits, even in the Dead Sea, are very, very expensive.\u00a0 Israel did discover natural gas just off their border in the Mediterranean Sea. If you Google sometime \u201coil in Zion\u201d\u00a0 you\u2019ll learn about an oil company that claims it\u2019s very close to discovering oil in that part of the world.\u00a0 And that also, I believe, furnishes part of the motivation of this attack.\u00a0 They come against the nation of Israel, Ezekiel 38:12, \u201cto capture spoil.\u201d \u00a0Some people have said just remove the first two letters of spoil and you\u2019ll see what these nations are interested in.\u00a0 That\u2019s sort of a humorous way (if there is a humorous way) of looking at this.\n\nBut whatever the reason, whatever the motivation, you have Syria and Egypt fragmenting what the antichrist has set up, this delicate orbit of power and disrupting it.\u00a0 And they, consequently, invade.\u00a0 And one of the things to understand is at this time in history is an attack on Israel is an attack on the antichrist.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that the antichrist is pro Israel, it\u2019s just that he\u2019s the one that\u2019s guaranteed her peace, thereby giving her a false sense of security, thereby allowing her to rebuild her temple (that he himself will betray Israel midway through the tribulation period) and stop them from offering sacrifices in their temple.\u00a0 Daniel\u2019s prophecies have been very clear on this.\u00a0 But at this stage the antichrist looks at an attack on Israel as an attack on him since he\u2019s the one that has allowed them to, with the peace treaty, continue to exist.\u00a0 And I would guess most likely rebuild the temple.\n\nAnd so what you have described in verses 40 and 41, we looked at those briefly last time, is the antichrist makes a strong move into Syria and into Egypt to regain control.\u00a0 And as he makes this move into those areas the text is clear and it says he goes into other nations as well, just to maintain the balance of power.\u00a0 More on those nations in just a little bit.\n\nBut it is interesting to note that at the end of verse 41 the Bible is very clear that three territories will not fall under the antichrist\u2019s grip or jurisdiction.\u00a0 Those three nations are Moab, Ammon and Edam and we said last time that those nations exist in the nation that is adjacent to the land of Israel, to the east, an area called Jordan.\u00a0 And in Jordan there is a place called Petra and it\u2019s generally believed by many Bible scholars that this is the area that the Jews will flee to once the temple is desecrated.\u00a0 It\u2019s apparently a place of safety, security and provision.\u00a0 The antichrist controls everything but some\u00adhow these three nations escape his grip and it\u2019s reasoned by many people that this is where the Jews will flee once the temple is desecrated.\n\nYou might recall last time we made reference to the fact that Jesus, in Matthew 24:15-20, told the Jews living in this future time period to flee into the wilderness when they see their temple desecrated.\u00a0 I think there is an allusion to this flight also in the Book of Revelation, chapter 12 and verse 6.\u00a0 [Matthew 24:15-20, \u201cTherefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader under\u00adstand), [16] then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. [17] Whoever is on the house\u00adtop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. [18] Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. [19] But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! [20] But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 12:6, \u201cThen the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days\u201d]\n\nAnd because Petra in Jordan escapes the antichrist\u2019s grip it\u2019s largely believed that this is the area that the Jews will flee to, a place called Mount Seir.\u00a0 And when you go to the land of Israel you can often take an extension and see what that territory is like. It\u2019s interesting how specific the Bible is with its plethora of predictions.\n\nNow just to show you that I\u2019m not making these things up let me quote someone much wiser than myself in these matters.\u00a0 Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, in his book, Footsteps of the Messiah<\/em>, he says of the passage that we\u2019re looking at here, \u201c\u201cThe passage states that while the Antichrist will conquer the whole world, three nations will escape his domination: Edom, Moab, and Ammon. All three of these ancient nations currently comprise the single modern kingdom of Jordan. The city of Bozrah in Mount Seir is located in ancient Edom or southern Jordan. Since this area will escape the domination of the Antichrist, it is logical for the Jews to flee to this place. Thus, God will provide a city of refuge outside the Antichrist\u2019s domain for the fleeing Remnant. It will be a very defensible city located in Mount Seir\u2026Furthermore, as they flee and while they are living there, food and water will be miraculously provided.\u201d\u00a0 [(2003). The Footsteps of the Messiah : a study of the sequence of prophetic events <\/em>(Rev. ed., p. 297). Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries.]\n\nI love this idea in the Scripture that no matter how severe a trial is God always provides for His people.\u00a0 Aren\u2019t you glad about that, as you look at your own life and your own struggles and your own trials, your own perhaps shrinking budget, your own circumstances with layoffs and health scares and all of the things that we face in a fallen world.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it encouraging to know that God, by His very nature, is a provider for His people.\u00a0 And this is what He does in the midst of this difficult time in Israel\u2019s history.\n\nYou see, this chapter, it\u2019s tempting to read this and see everything there is to see about the antichrist and I think if we\u2019re seeing the antichrist and only the antichrist here we\u2019re missing the point because we\u2019re also supposed to see Jesus Christ as that fourth man in the fire that we read about way back in Daniel 3, that shows up and ministers to His people in the most difficult and the most adverse of circumstances.\n\nBut we move on and we come to verse 42, notice what it says: \u201cThen he\u201d that\u2019s the antichrist, \u201cwill stretch out his hand against\u00a0other<\/em>\u00a0countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape.\u201d\u00a0 Here goes the antichrist trying to regain control of things.\u00a0 And so he invades the nations that invaded Israel, including Egypt which would be the king of the south, Egypt coming from (as we have studied) the Ptolemy dynasty down south.\u00a0 He subdues Egypt, he gets Egypt back under control and in the process, according to verse 42, apparently he\u2019ll invade a host of other countries as well, that are mentioned by name a little bit later in the chapter.\n\nTake a look, if you could, at verse 43, notice what it says, \u201cBut he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 One of the things to understand about this man, the antichrist, is he\u2019s a man of materialism.\u00a0 He\u2019s very interested in money and material things.\u00a0 We saw a reference to that back in verse 38, didn\u2019t we?\u00a0 It says of the antichrist, \u201c\u2026 he will honor him<\/em> with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures.\u201d\u00a0 That is something that is normal to a human being who has rejected the true God.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve rejected the true God and His revelation and His provision and His security, which He gives to every child of God, then you\u2019re trying to get\u00a0 your bases covered through other means.\u00a0 You still have a need for meaning, you still have a need for security, and this is why those that reject God are so interested in finances and so interested in money.\u00a0 The problem with people is not that they have money, it\u2019s that their money has them.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that they own possessions, that\u2019s not a sin, it\u2019s that their possessions own them, where they look at things as their security blanket and their savior.\u00a0 And people have a tendency in our fallen world, having rejected God, to chase after these things.\n\nAnd what a dangerous game that is.\u00a0 The Bible calls it the love of money.\u00a0 Paul spoke to this in 1 Timothy 6:9-10.\u00a0 He says, \u201cBut those who are rich\u2026 those who want to get rich, excuse me, the sin is not being rich, the sin is wanting<\/u> it.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBut those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. [10] For the love of money\u201d not money but \u201cthe love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.\u201d\n\nI can\u2019t think of a more accurate verse in God\u2019s Word than that one I just read.\u00a0 Everything God says is accurate but that one certainly leaps out to me because it describes the wreckage that people make of their lives when they make money a god (god little g).\n\nYou know, you think of Judas, the disciple that betrayed Christ, and why did he sell out?\u00a0 It was money, and it was such an inconsequential sum of money that you sort of look at Judas\u2019 decision as just foolishness, you\u2019ve sold out the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver?\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s all it took?\u00a0 That was your price?\u00a0 And you see, this is what we are like when we don\u2019t have Christ in our lives.\u00a0 There is no sense of security, there is no sense of shelter, there is no sense of day by day provision and so you know what, I\u2019ve got to get my bases covered.\n\nAnd it\u2019s very common for the godless to pursue money and yet this is why these nations will invade Israel in the last days, it\u2019s all about follow the money.\u00a0 The antichrist, as he reasserts to or attempts to regain control over his disintegrating empire, it\u2019s very clear there in verse 43 that he\u2019s invading these nations also because of their treasures, and gold, and also their silver.\u00a0 [Verse 43,\u00a0 \u201cBut he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; \u201c]\n\nAnd as we continue on in verse 43 it gives the nations by name that he will continue to invade.\u00a0 It says, \u201cof Egypt,\u201d that would be the king of the south, \u201cand Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels.\u201d\u00a0 So it\u2019s interesting as you look at this map, he has already sort of taken care of Syria, but then he goes down into Libya and also Egypt and it\u2019s interesting here, he goes into Ethiopia.\u00a0 Now Ethiopia, if you have the New American Standard Bible you\u2019ll see how that word is translated \u201cEthiopia,\u201d it\u2019s interesting that when\u00a0 you study this in Hebrew, the actual language that was used, it\u2019s not Ethiopia, that was provided by the English translators, the word actually is Cush.\n\nNow Josephus, the great first century Jewish historian, has a book called Antiquities<\/em>, where he traces where Noah\u2019s various descendants settled.\u00a0 Josephus defines Cush as Ethiopia; for of the four sons of Ham, time has not at all hurt the name of Cush; for the Ethiopians over whom he reigned are even to this day, both by themselves and by all men in Asia called the Cushites,\u201d that\u2019s Josephus in his Antiquities 1.6.2<\/em>.\u00a0 Josephus says Cush is actually Ethiopia.\n\nThe Ryrie Study Bible indicates that the ancient country of Ethiopia encompassed far more territory than the modern day country of Ethiopia since the ancient country of Ethiopia indeed included the northern Sudan.\u00a0 Interesting.\u00a0 The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia says this concerning Cush: \u201cThe designation \u2018Ethiopia\u2019 is misleading for it did not refer to the modern state of Ethiopia.\u00a0 Cush bordered Egypt on the south, or the modern day Sudan, thus Cush is most likely the modern day Sudan.\u201d\n\nSo it\u2019s interesting, the antichrist to get control of things not only goes into Syria and Egypt to regain control but he stretches his reach even further into Libya and I would say what we would call today modern day Cush, or the modern day Sudan.\u00a0 So he\u2019s not been able to extend his reach to the east, Edom, Ammon and Moab, but he is able to extend his reach to the south, Egypt, Libya and Cush.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that interesting.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting how specific the Bible is about these prophecies.\u00a0 Here\u2019s three countries he won\u2019t get control of, those would be the ones there in Jordan.\u00a0 Here\u2019s three people groups that he will get control of, these are nations down south.\n\nAnd you say well pastor, are you really expecting this to be fulfilled exactly like it\u2019s written?\u00a0 I don\u2019t even have to answer that question, do I, because we\u2019ve gone through Daniel 11 in great detail, I\u2019ve shown you over and over again how Daniel\u2019s past prophecies were fulfilled with precision.\u00a0 I even mentioned a little bit earlier how Judas sold out for thirty pieces of silver.\u00a0 In fact, Zechariah predicted that exact amount in the betrayal of Christ.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t say Judas is going to sell out for 28 pieces or 29 pieces or 31 pieces, exactly 30.\u00a0 And God, when He says something, moves heaven and earth to see that it reaches its realization or else God is a liar.\u00a0 Three countries escape in the east but three countries down south do not escape.\n\nNow you look at these countries, you look at, for example, Egypt, Libya, and the Sudan; think of the havoc that these countries have caused, not the people mind you but the governments.\u00a0 Not only throughout human history but actually as I speak they continue to be troublemakers.\u00a0 Look at the problems Egypt has caused for the nation of Israel.\u00a0 I mean, after all, it was under Egypt and in the time of Moses that the nation was taken into Egyptian captivity for 400 years, which is an awful long time when you think about that.\u00a0 Think of, for example, Libya, think of a man who actually caused terrorism and killed some American servicemen back in the 80\u2019s, a man named Muammar Gaddafi from Libya, ruled Libya with an iron grip for decades.\u00a0 Think of the attacking of our embassy in Benghazi, Libya.\u00a0 And I mentioned that Ethiopia here or Cush is probably the Sudan; that is one of the areas in the world where one of the greatest genocides is taking place as I speak.\n\nIt is interesting to me that God in His holiness does not let people off the hook because the anti\u00adchrist coming forward is part of the judgment of God.\u00a0 You should not think of the antichrist as somebody that comes on the scene and God doesn\u2019t know what\u2019s going on.\u00a0 No, not at all!\u00a0 Revelation 6:1-2 predicts him coming on the scene as Jesus is in heaven, Revelation 5, opening the first seal of a seven seal scroll.\u00a0 [Revelation 6:1-2, \u201cThen I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, \u2018Come.\u2019 \u00a0[2] I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.\u201d]\n\nThe judgment of God is manifested on the earth many different ways in the tribulation period but he is manifested primarily and principally (at least early on) through the antichrist.\u00a0 You don\u2019t want me as your Savior, Jesus Christ says, fine, I\u2019ll give you what you want; I\u2019ll give you an antichrist.\u00a0 And one of the most frightening words or concepts I know of in the Bible is described there in Romans 1 where I believe it says about three times God gave them over.\u00a0 They had rejected a revelation of who He is through creation, they had suppressed it, they had come up with silly intellectual arguments to say God doesn\u2019t exist.\n\nAnd you reach a point in your degradation and your depravity where God just says do what you want.\u00a0 God won\u2019t bother you anymore.\u00a0 And that is sort of how to look at the antichrist, this figure that the world has always wanted, having rejected Jesus and he in essence becomes a manifestation of the judgment of God, and he is used strategically by God here.\u00a0 Now the antichrist probably doesn\u2019t know he\u2019s working for God.\u00a0 He probably thinks he\u2019s doing these things out of self will, as Daniel 11 keeps saying.\u00a0 But it\u2019s really God using him, and he begins to attack the nations that have been such troublemakers, Egypt, Libya, and the Sudan.\n\nOne of the things to understand about God is He keeps a record of sins.\u00a0 Did\u00a0 you know that?\u00a0 Genesis 15:16, God says, \u201cthe iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 2:5 says this: \u201cBut because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you\u201d and this is frightening language, \u201care storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.\u201d\u00a0 All of these nations, all of these people that somehow think they\u2019re getting away with something, the only thing that\u2019s happening is the fullness of wickedness is being filled up and eventually it fills up to a point where nothing else can happen but the cup starts to run over and the judgment of God breaks loose on planet earth, and God is recompensing in judgment all those that committed such evil and atrocities.\n\nAnd when I see this side of God I see the nature of God I\u2019m so grateful today that I am clothed with the righteousness of God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, because the only thing that protects a person in this day of calamity and in this day of judgment is the fact that Jesus stepped into history and bore the wrath of a holy God in our place.\n\nWe continue on into verse 44 and verse 45 where we learn that eventually the antichrist, having some initial successes, comes to his end and we conclude this chapter with his military defeat, verses 44 and 45.\u00a0 Look what it says here: \u201cBut rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him,\u201d and what is happening here is the antichrist\u2019s empire is disintegrating; the promise of worldwide peace and global peace, although attained temporarily, is short lived.\u00a0 And how different it is when Jesus Christ is going to rule and reign over this wicked world for a thousand\u00a0 years.\n\nIsaiah 9:6-7 says, \u201cFor a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.\u00a0 [7]\u00a0 There will be no end to the increase of His<\/em> government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.\u00a0 The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.\u201d\n\nWhy is it that the antichrist\u2019s empire is so short lived but Jesus Christ\u2019s empire, not only does it go through a thousand years it lasts throughout the ages.\u00a0 Have you ever asked yourself that?\u00a0 Why is the quest for peace in the world always short-lived?\u00a0 And here\u2019s the answer that I think is true:\u00a0 Jesus deals with the root of the problem.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I entitled this message Spiritual Peace First.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to me that Jesus, when He came into this world, didn\u2019t offer world peace; He said that was coming one day but He came into the world to deal with the root of the problem that serves as the impediment to world peace.\u00a0 And what is that?\u00a0 It\u2019s the fact that we are born into this world with a nature that\u2019s at war with God.\u00a0 That is the state of Adam\u2019s descendants.\u00a0 And until that problem is corrected, it doesn\u2019t matter how someone politically solves this problem or that problem all it is, is a temporary fix because it never deals with the root of the problem.\n\nWhat does Jesus give us?\u00a0 Number 1, peace with God.\u00a0 Romans 5:1 [\u201cTherefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d]\u00a0 The enmity that we had with God, the war that you were in with God, it\u2019s called off the moment you trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior.\n\nAnd then Jesus takes it a step further and number 2, He gives us experiential peace.\u00a0 Positional peace, number 1; experiential peace, number 2.\u00a0 This is what Jesus is talking about when He says, \u201cMy peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0[John 14:27]\n\nPhilippians 4:7 says, \u201cAnd the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting how a Christian can walk through a horrific storm, literally or metaphorically, and there\u2019s something inside that child of God that gives them a sense of tranquility when the world looks at that and scratches their head and saying you should have hit the panic button a long time ago.\u00a0 And yet you don\u2019t.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because there\u2019s something inside of you, the Holy Spirit, Christ, Galatians 2:20, living inside of you that calms us in the midst of the storm.\u00a0 [Galatians 2:20, \u201cI have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.\u201d\u00a0 And why wouldn\u2019t Jesus do that?\u00a0 Didn\u2019t He Himself fall asleep in the middle of a storm, Matthew 8:23-25.\n\n[Matthew 8:23-26, \u201cWhen He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. [24] And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. [25] And they came to Him<\/em> and woke Him, saying, \u201cSave us,<\/em> Lord; we are perishing!\u201d [26] He said to them, \u201cWhy are you afraid, you men of little faith?\u201d Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.\u201d]\n\nThe disciples are saying Lord, don\u2019t You care, \u201cwe are perishing!\u201d\u00a0 And there He was sound asleep in the midst of a storm.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting that the Bible teaches as clearly as it can teach, that Jesus is living inside of you if you\u2019re a Christian.\u00a0 And you go through a storm and the One who was asleep in the midst of the storm is now internally calming you as you walk through your storm.\u00a0 This is the root of the problem that the antichrist can\u2019t fix and until this problem is resolved the world will always be in a state of warfare and enmity, no matter how many glib politicians, world leaders, make.\n\nAnd there are so many people that reject this provision; they like the idea of a world government, world peace, shootings in schools will be a thing of the past and they fall for that siren song not understanding that those things are the root of a much deeper problem that goes far beyond politics, and political solutions and talk shows and radio hosts; it goes into the human heart.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Jesus came into the world to fix, the heart.\u00a0 As the prophet Jeremiah articulated, Jeremiah 17:9, the heart is sick, it\u2019s deceitful, \u201cWho can understand it?\u201d [Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?\u201d]\n\nAs God looks at the hearts of people He sees a sickness in that heart and the sickness is so severe that when a person trusts Christ God doesn\u2019t just slap a coat of fresh paint over a wicked heart and try to renovate a wicked heart.\u00a0 Do you know what God does?\u00a0 He gives you a new heart.\u00a0 And we have to learn to live according to the desires of the new nature and the new heart, something greater than ourselves has to come into us.\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t have that then shootings and other things, war and all of these things continue on and on and on and on and on.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why the antichrist\u2019s empire is such a temporary fix.\n\nWe know from 2 Thessalonians 2:7 that the man of lawlessness is coming, verse 3. But verse 7 says \u201cthe mystery of lawlessness is already at work.\u201d \u00a0[2 Thessalonians 7:3, \u201cLet no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come<\/em> unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.\u201d \u00a0\u00a02 Thessalonians 2:7, \u201cFor the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so<\/em> until he is taken out of the way.\u201d]\n\n1 John 4:3 says the antichrist is coming but the spirit of the antichrist is even now in the world.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [1 John 4:3, \u201cand every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.\u201d]\u00a0 What is the spirit of the antichrist?\u00a0 It\u2019s dangling carrots in front of people through promises thinking that whatever promise somebody is making is going to fix things.\n\nAnd yet all of these cures, these so-called cures, never last because they never really get to the heart of the problem.\u00a0 The heart of the problem is not what party controls the White House; the heart of the problem is a sickness in the human heart.\u00a0 The heart of the problem is from conception; we are born into a world with a nature at war with God.\u00a0 That is our natural state in the first Adam.\u00a0 And until there is some sort of revolution from within, an internal transformation, Jesus called it the new birth, being born from above, until that is fixed the problems of earth just continue on and on and on and on and you\u2019re not going to have lasting political peace unless there\u2019s spiritual peace first.\n\nThat\u2019s why even the demonically and satanically energized antichrist, the height of satanic power, Satan\u2019s masterpiece, as he comes on the scene with counterfeit signs and wonders, even he just brings in sort of a band aid, never fixes the cure.\u00a0 And I\u2019m just wondering what promises\u00a0 you\u2019re listening to today--- by this show or this program or this regime and this will get solved in your life.\u00a0 Someone else comes along and say no, get on this program over here and this will get solved.\u00a0 And someone else says no, what you need to do is X, Y and Z and this will get fixed.\u00a0 And there\u2019s always these carrots being dangled in front of us.\u00a0 And we go for the carrot, we try the route and it never seems to permanently fix the problem because the problem is bigger than the problem; the problem itself is not the problem.\u00a0 The problem itself is we are born into the world hating God and that has to be remedied through spiritual surgery and internal transformation.\n\nBut you\u2019ll notice that the antichrist is disturbed by these rumors.\u00a0 It\u2019s very clear there in verse 44, \u201cBut rumors from the east \u2026 will disturb him\u201d you see that?\u00a0 [Daniel 11:44, \u201cBut rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many.\u201d]\u00a0 World peace has come, at least temporarily, but there\u2019s an anxious longing of the soul because the ultimate problem that human beings have are not being fixed under the antichrist\u2019s regime.\u00a0 And the spirit of the antichrist, what it\u2019s all about is as long as your circumstances are favorable you can have peace.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the world system screams at us over and over again, as long as you have health, as long as you have money, as long as you have success, as long as you have esteem, then you can be happy.\n\nEver done a word study on the word happy?\u00a0 Happy comes from the word happenstance, where we get the \u00a0word circumstance, where we get the word luck, that\u2019s happy.\u00a0 Happy is everything is okay, I can have an inner sense of wellbeing as long as my circumstances are favorable.\u00a0 And that will work for a while but you know as well as I do that your circumstances, they may be good today, they can change like that tomorrow.\u00a0 And then whatever happened to happiness?\u00a0 You see what you need is not happiness; what you need is joy, a completely different idea, where you have an inner sense of tranquility and all hell can be breaking lose in a person\u2019s life.\u00a0 You can\u2019t find that in a bottle, you can\u2019t find that in drugs, you can\u2019t find that in economic prosperity, you can\u2019t find that\u00a0 \u00a0in climbing the corporate ladder, you can\u2019t find that in hedonism or materialism.\u00a0 It\u2019s only available in one source; unless the Prince of Peace is reigning in a person\u2019s heart the problem which we have can never be permanently fixed.\n\nSo the antichrist is disturbed.\u00a0 Why is he disturbed?\u00a0 Because the circumstances are unwinding, just like many people today are disturbed over this shooting or this dip in the stock market or inflation or the price of gold or whatever.\u00a0 There\u2019s always something out there reminding us that whatever it is we were hoping in is very temporary, it\u2019s disturbing us. \u00a0And this is what the antichrist sees.\n\nIt says very clearly here that \u201crumors from the East will disturb him,\u201d now when it talks about north, south and east what you have to understand in terms of Bible prophecy is it\u2019s always relative to Israel, because Israel in the ordained plan of God is the center of the nations, Ezekiel 5:5.\u00a0 God looks at Israel as those who live at the center of the world, Ezekiel 38:12.\u00a0 [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 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\nSo north is north of Israel, east is east of Israel, south is south of Israel, and this is why rumors from the east start to bother him because there comes in the sequence of events a sixth trumpet, Revelation 9:13-16, and a sixth bowl, Revelation 6-12 where the Euphrates River itself is dried up to prepare the way for this massive army, the kings of the east, to come into the land of Israel for the final battle called Armageddon.\n\n[Revelation 9:13-16, \u201cThen the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, [14] one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, \u201cRelease \u00a0\u00a0the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.\u201d [15] And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind. [16] The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 16:12, \u201cThe sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.\u201d]\n\nAnd I think it\u2019s likely that this is the thing from the east that is bothering the antichrist.\u00a0 This whole conglomeration is now formed against him.\u00a0 East in the Scripture typically refers to Babylon, so somewhere in that area, the Euphrates River is dried up, Revelation 9, Revelation 16, and here comes this giant army from the east.\n\nNow you look at this very carefully it\u2019s not just the east that bothers him, it says, \u201cBut rumors from the East and the North will disturb him,\u201d [Daniel 11:44]\u00a0 as he watches this continual fragmentation of what he has brought into existence.\u00a0 Now one of the things I\u2019ve tried to argue is that north and south in Daniel\u2019s prophecies refer to the same north and south that we\u2019ve been reading about all the way through Daniel 11.\u00a0 Renald Showers makes that point, so I think north continues to be Syria and south continues to be Egypt and the antichrist is the disturbed by what Syria is doing and continuing to be a troublemaker, a trouble spot for him.\u00a0 But, having said all that let me show you something very interesting in the Book of Ezekiel, if you still have your finger there, assuming all the blood has not drained from the finger.\n\nEzekiel 38:6 talks about an army coming from the remote parts of the north.\u00a0 [Ezekiel 38:6, \u201cGomer with all its troops; Beth-Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops-- many peoples with you.\u201d]\u00a0 Ezekiel 38:15, \u201cYou will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north [you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army].\u201d\u00a0 Ezekiel 39:2, \u201c\u2026take you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel.\u201d\n\nWho are these nations to the north?\u00a0 I actually wrote a whole book on this called Middle East Meltdown where I tried very, very hard, as much as I knew how to document these nations.\u00a0 \u00a0[The Middle East Meltdown: The Coming Islamic Invasion of Israel<\/em>]\u00a0 You say I don\u2019t have time to read a book, just tell me the bottom line.\u00a0 So here it is\u2026 ready?\u00a0 Those nations are, number 1, Persia or Iran.\u00a0 Number 2, Rosh or Russia.\u00a0 Number 3, Meshach, Tubal, Gomer and Torgarmah or Turkey, those are the big three.\u00a0 Russia, Iran, and Turkey, those are the nations that are coming from the north.\u00a0 Daniel, I\u2019m not sure saw this, but certainly Daniel\u2019s contemporary, Ezekiel saw this very thing taking place.\u00a0 And as you pick up the news today and read the news and watch the news what you\u2019re going to see over and over again are those three players are mentioned over and over again in newscast after newscast.\n\nOne news clip says, \u201cRussia-Iran-Turkey and their meeting is message to US.\u201d\u00a0 And you\u2019re saying are you kidding me?\u00a0 Did you know that prior to the takeover of Iran by the Ayatollah, 1979, Iran was an ally of Israel and an ally of the United States?\u00a0 Do you realize that?\u00a0 Do you realize that it was Iran that helped Israel out in the Six Day War?\u00a0 An ally!\u00a0 And yet what did Ezekiel predict?\u00a0 Iran turns against Israel in the last days.\u00a0 You see Turkey here, do you know that until recent times Jews in the land of Israel vacationed in Turkey?\u00a0 There was no problem with Turkey.\u00a0 And then all of a sudden Turkey starts to shift, exactly like Ezekiel\u2019s prophecies predict.\u00a0 And now what you see is the three in our day in alignment with each other against the U.S. and against Israel.\n\nAnd I\u2019ll tell you something else that\u2019s very, very interesting is those three nations, as I speak today, are in Syria, the king of the north that we have been studying here.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that interesting?\u00a0 Look at this headline here, Russia and Iran and Turkey agree to hold Syrian \u2018congress\u2019, it goes on and it says \u201cErdogan after a meeting on Syria\u201d said this in Russia on Wednesday.\u00a0\u00a0 You mean the three nations that Ezekiel predicts, that were never in alignment with each other are now in an alignment with each other?\u00a0 And are you telling me that these three nations are in Syria, which is on Israel\u2019s northern border?\u00a0 And that\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m telling you.\n\nAnother headline says this:\u00a0 \u201cTurkey, Iran, Russia\u201d when you see those three names you ought to think Bible prophecy, \u201cTurkey, Iran, Russia to hold Syrian talks in Tehran.\u00a0 It mentions Iran, it mentions Russia, it mentions Turkey, it mentions the three together again.\u00a0 And then it says officials will hold talks concerning war-torn Syria. This, to me is staggering because I remember the old days when we used to argue about Bible prophecy, who the king of the north is.\u00a0 One camp would say well, the king of the north is Syria.\u00a0 Another camp would say the king of the north is Russia, Iran and Turkey.\u00a0 So which is it?\u00a0 Is it Syria or is it Iran, Russia and Turkey.\u00a0 And you know what all along we\u2019ve discovered the answer is\u00a0 yes.\u00a0 Both sides are right.\u00a0 One side looking at Ezekiel\u2019s prophecy, one side looking at Daniel\u2019s prophecy and the Lord has ordered the political orbit of the nations so that both prophecies could be fulfilled in the next second.\n\nYou say well, come on pastor, people have been predicting the end of the world for a long time.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going down that road are you?\u00a0 I\u2019m here to tell you just this, I don\u2019t have some kind of inside pipeline to God where God has told me next Tuesday this is going to happen.\u00a0 You know, for all I know the coalition could disintegrate and things could cool down and come back to the way they\u00a0 are today ten years from now or a hundred years from now.\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t know!\u00a0 I\u2019m here to tell you this: NEVER in the history of Bible prophecy or mankind have we seen the orbit of nations coming into existence exactly like Daniel and Ezekiel said would happen.\u00a0 That\u2019s all I\u2019m saying.\n\nAnd what I\u2019m saying is this: we need to start living our lives as if prophecy is a reality.\u00a0 We need to quit playing games with God and get our spiritual house in order.\u00a0 We need to start living for things that matter instead of things that are going to pass and be burned as 2 Peter 3:10 says.\u00a0 [2 Peter 3:10, \u201cBut the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.\u201d]\n\nI\u2019m not a date setter, I don\u2019t really consider myself a doomsayer, I\u2019m just saying that I\u2019ve been studying this for years and I\u2019ve never, ever, ever seen it like it is right now.\u00a0 And I remember the old days and the old debates, people scratching their heads, pontificating how this is going to happen.\u00a0 We\u2019re not in the head-scratching time any more.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s obvious how it could happen in an instant, in a nanosecond.\n\nAre you ready for the coming of the Lord?\u00a0 We believe in this church in the pretribulational rapture of the church.\u00a0 We believe that these are events of the tribulation.\u00a0 If God is setting the stage, like He is, for the tribulation period how far can the rapture be?\u00a0 And of course I could be completely wrong, maybe it\u2019ll be the next hundred years, but I\u2019ll say this much, I\u2019m going to live today as if this is my last one.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to live next week, assuming we make it through next week, as if this is the last week I\u2019ve got.\u00a0 That\u2019s what prophecy does.\u00a0 That\u2019s why God gave it under the Holy Spirit to the church of Jesus Christ.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice in verse 44, after these nations disturb him, it says, \u201che\u201d that\u2019s the antichrist, \u201cwill go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate\u201d mankind.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to keep this thing under control he says.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to bring these powers back under submission to my authority and that\u2019s what people do; they become like that when they start losing control of things.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting how rash and how angry and how venomous people can get who aren\u2019t relying on the internal work of the Holy Spirit but rather their happiness is based on their circumstances and they just start to lose their minds when things start to collapse.\u00a0 That\u2019s, in essence, what the antichrist is doing, and in the process he\u2019s destroying, it says.\u00a0 And he\u2019s annihilating, which is a great description of the devil when you think about it.\u00a0 \u201cThe thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.\u201d [John 10:10.] 1 Peter 5:8, \u201cYour adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to\u201d have a glass of ice tea with?\u00a0 \u201c\u2026seeking someone to devour.\u201d\u00a0 Never forget it.\n\nGod has a wonderful plan for your life but there\u2019s another side to this equation\u2014Satan has a terrible plan for your life and he\u2019s out to wreck it and if he can\u2019t keep you away from Christ here\u2019s what he\u2019s doing, he\u2019s going to keep you neutralized so that\u00a0 you have no effectiveness in a time period that God has put\u00a0 you in that really counts.\n\nYou see,\u00a0 you were born for the fourth quarter; we\u2019re in the fourth quarter and how silly it is to waste that because our minds are not aware of the prophetic scripts coming to pass before our very eyes.\u00a0 God did not accidentally put you into this world at the time you\u2019re in it.\u00a0 As the Book of Esther says, you were born, created for such a time as this.\u00a0 And the issue is are you seeking God, what do you want to do with my life?\u00a0 That\u2019s what you ought to be doing; that\u2019s what we ought to be doing.\u00a0 We ought to be on our faces before God saying Lord, we are living in some crisis times in history, what do You want to do with the waning moments I have left?\n\nWe continue on and we come to verse 45 and it says, \u201cHe will pitch the tents of His royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The \u201ctents of His royal pavilion\u201d is a reference to his military command and it gives two geographical indicators telling us where this command center is going to be established, where he will meet his end; he says very clearly it\u2019s between the seas, what seas would those be?\u00a0 Between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee.\u00a0 And that\u2019s a tremendous description of the city of Jerusalem which is a landlocked city.\n\nUnger\u2019s Bible Dictionary says: \u201cJerusalem is situated 14 miles west of the Dead Sea, 33 miles east of the Mediterranean, and 62 miles south of Galilee.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s between the seas.\u00a0 And it also says here that he will set up his headquarters at \u201cthe beautiful Holy mountain.\u201d\u00a0 What mountain could that possibly be?\u00a0 It\u2019s Mount Zion, located in Jerusalem, Isaiah 11:9 calls Zion\u2026 God says of Zion this is \u201cMy \u00a0holy Mountain.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 11:9, \u201cThey will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.\u201d]\n\nAnd isn\u2019t it interesting that Jerusalem and Mount Zion is called \u201choly\u201d when the people aren\u2019t acting that way.\u00a0 I had a seminary professor say this once, he said don\u2019t call that land over there holy land, there\u2019s nothing holy about that land.\u00a0 I beg to differ, God says it\u2019s holy; it\u2019s not my opinion, it belongs to God.\u00a0 And He bequeathed it and gave it to the Jewish people, even the temple itself as it\u2019s being trodden down by the Gentiles is still called a holy temple and a holy city, Revelation 11:2.\u00a0 [Revelation 11:2, \u201cLeave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.\u201d]\n\nYou say well Andy, we just think you\u2019re plumb crazy.\u00a0 Well, if I had time I\u2019d share this quote with you from Dr. Randall Price, who\u2019s lectured at our church before, a first rate scholar, who says exactly what I\u2019m saying, or better said, I\u2019m saying what he\u2019s saying, or better said we\u2019re both saying what Daniel said.\u00a0 Or better said we\u2019re all saying what the Holy Spirit revealed to Daniel.\u00a0 Arnold Fruchtenbaum is basically saying the exact same thing.\n\nHow does it end?\u00a0 I\u2019m glad you asked.\u00a0 Verse 45, \u201cYet he will come to his end.\u201d It\u2019s just a terse short statement that God has it under control and the antichrist, who\u2019s caused all of these problems, his days are numbered.\u00a0 [Daniel 11:45 \u201cHe will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.\u201d]\n\nAs Daniel 9:27 says, the end will be \u201cpoured out on the one who makes desolate.\u201d\u00a0 Jot down Daniel 7:11, you\u2019ll see the same thing.\u00a0 2 Thessalonians 2:8 you\u2019ll see the same thing.\u00a0 Revelation 19:20 you\u2019ll see the same thing.\n\n[Daniel 9:27, \u201cAnd he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.\u2019\u201d\n\nDaniel 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\n\n2 Thessalonians 2:8, \u201cThen that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;\n\nRevelation 19:20 , \u201cAnd the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.\u201d]\n\nIsn\u2019t it great that God has evil on a leash; we look at evil and we look at terror and we think there\u2019s no limit to it, but when you view these things with the lens of God\u2019s Word you see that God has everything under control and there is a better world coming.\u00a0 And so He will meet his end and the antichrist will die in Jerusalem.\n\nIt kind of reminds me of someone else who died in Jerusalem, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Didn\u2019t we say last week that antichrist mimics Jesus Christ at every point.\u00a0 We gave 20 parallels, didn\u2019t we?\u00a0 Here\u2019s another parallel, both die in Jerusalem.\u00a0 But how different the deaths were.\u00a0 One dies in Jerusalem trying to maintain self-centered power; the other one dies in Jerusalem as a servant to the world.\u00a0 Mark 10:45 says, \u201cFor even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.\u201d\u00a0 And look at that last clause there in verse 45, He will come to His end and yet no one will help Him.\u00a0 That is the fate of people who reject God.\u00a0 You reject God and in\u00a0 your time of need there\u2019s no one to help.\n\nIsaiah 46:1, God says to the children of Israel, a fast paraphrase, aren\u2019t you tired of carrying around these idols these giant pieces of metal that you worship, aren\u2019t you tired of it, aren\u2019t they burdensome to\u00a0 you?\u00a0 The things that you carry are burdensome, are a load for the weary, aren\u2019t you exhausted carrying these things around.\u00a0 Well, you should be exhausted because God, through Isaiah says the time is going to come when you\u2019re going to be so old and infirm that you\u2019re going to need someone to carry you.\u00a0 Do you think those idols are going to help you in your time of need.\n\nIsaiah 46:3 says, \u201cYou who have been born by Me from birth, and have been carried from the womb, even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying\u00a0 years I will bear you.\u201d\u00a0 I have done it, I will carry you and I will carry and I will deliver\u00a0 you.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been carrying you this whole time, I\u2019ve been carrying you from your birth.\u00a0 And you are walking around with these idols, carrying them around?\u00a0 You\u2019re carrying something that doesn\u2019t care about you.\u00a0 And the day is going to come when you\u2019re going to be so old, so infirmed, so weak, so sick,\u00a0 you\u2019re not going to be able to carry anything.\u00a0 You think a piece of metal is going to come to your assistance in that time of need?\n\nAnd that\u2019s why I like how verse 45 ends the chapter; the antichrist just comes to his end, no one to help him.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because this is a man that has spent his life rejecting, rejecting, rejecting, rejecting God.\u00a0\u00a0 You reject God you\u2019ve got no one to bank on but yourself.\u00a0 This is why the Book of Proverbs, chapter 24, verse 16 says, \u201cFor a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity.\n\nMay God help us to understand who our rescuer, who our Savior actually is in all this.\u00a0 And of course you can enter into that relationship with God as I\u2019m speaking by trusting in the promise that He has made to solve our spiritual enmity with God.\u00a0 You can\u2019t fix that on your own.\u00a0 You have to believe or rely upon or depend upon the man who entered history to fix it, and the only man that could fix it is Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0 And as a person comes under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and they trust in the revelation of God concerning their problem and the solution to the problem the problem is fixed.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that simple.\u00a0 Why is it that simple?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s already been fixed, it\u2019s just a matter of\u00a0 you receiving what He\u2019s done.\u00a0 See that?\n\nWe have made Christianity and the world of religion so complicated and yet the whole thing biblically is so easy; we do nothing, He does everything, we receive it as a gift by faith.\u00a0 Now I can\u2019t think of a better deal, can you, and I hope as I\u2019m speaking people listening that may not be saved, maybe they\u2019re listening on computers or whatever, they\u2019re not saved, live feeds, they\u2019re not saved, recordings there not saved, our agenda here is God\u2019s agenda which is to get folks saved, to trust in Christ.\u00a0 And so by God\u2019s grace we made it through chapter 11 which means only one chapter left.\u00a0 You said well it took ten weeks for chapter 11, how long are\u00a0 you going to be in chapter 12?\u00a0 Well, be heartened, there\u2019s 45 verses in chapter 11 and only 13 in chapter 12.\u00a0 So we\u2019re closer to the finish line than you think.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for prophetic truth and we ask that it would not just be maps and information but it would revolutionize how we think, how we live, and thank\u00a0 You for what You\u2019ve done for us and help us to walk this week under Your provision.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 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