A Superior Kingdom

Open your bibles to let's see if you were listening, where do we open to today? Daniel chapter seven. I had somebody say to me today if they were surprised that we weren't going to be in Revelation today. So, no, we're in Daniel chapter seven. We've taken a hiatus from our time in Revelation. We've looked at those first five chapters in Revelation after spending time in the first six chapters of Daniel. If you'll remember, so we took a break from Daniel. We're coming back to Daniel to finish up Daniel, and so we will be here for the next I believe eight weeks if I'm not mistaken, finishing up our journey through the book of Daniel. So we are now in Daniel chapter number seven. If you'll turn your attention there, and as you turn to Daniel chapter seven, I want to remind you, thank you. I want to remind you of where we have been thus far and what transition we have experienced. If you remember in those first six chapters of Daniel. Daniel's divided really quite nicely in a couple of different ways. One way is the first six chapters of Daniel which are historical. If you will, there are some dreams that are interpreted and it's prophetical from that perspective, but it's historical. It's about Daniel and his friends who have been taken into captivity in the pre exile into Babylon, and now the exile is in full force. We watched this sort of battle between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Man. This battle manifests itself first in small ways, as Daniel and his friends, for example, refuse to eat the food that was offered to them, but then in larger ways. Nemican has a dream, and in this dream, which is very important for our text today, God basically says to him through Daniel, You're not to be all to end all, and your kingdom is not to be all to end all. Your kingdom will fall, that will be replaced by another kingdom, and that's going to continue to happen throughout history until a final eternal kingdom comes. In the very next chapter, we see this decision that has to be made whether to bow before the statue which is made in defiance of God, or to burn in the fire. After that, of course, we see that Daniel serves other kings, and there is this continued opposition between the kingdom of Kingdom of Man and the Kingdom of God, and God basically announcing his superiority to those kingdoms. Then in chapter seven we get into a prophetic portion of the book where Daniel has these visions and he gives these prophecies that have to do with the future, even beyond Israel's exile. But there is another way in which the Book of Daniel is divided, if you'll remember, the Book of Daniel is divided not only in that one way between the first six chapters and the last six chapters, but there are two other ways to divide the book. One way that we could divide the book is linguistically. There are the Hebrew sections and the Aramaic sections. The Hebrew section is chapter one and then chapters eight, and following the Arameic section is two through seven. Interestingly enough, there's something else that happens in that section. In chapters two through seven. There is a chiastic structure. And you remember we talked about chiasm. It forms kind of like a cross going in one direction and in the other direction, and it's hard to illustrate that for you, So I'll try to do it this way. I think this is the way we did it on the last time. As we talked about the chiastic structure. Here's how the letter goes. I'll use the movement of my body in order to illustrate for you what's happening in chapters two through seven. In chapter two, there is a vision. Nebrakinezer has a dream, and it's a vision of four kingdoms. Remember that that happens right here. In chapter three, there's an ultimatum. You either worship the image or you die in the fiery firm at the furnace. In chapter four there's the interpretation of the dream of nebrakin Neezer, and neberkan Nezzer is humbled. In chapter five, we start off in this same place and we have Belshazzer's vision, the handwriting on the wall that's interpreted, and then he is humbled and deposed as king. After that we come back and just like in chapter three, in chapter six, we now have either you cease worshiping God or you die in the lions den. Chapter seven goes back to chapter one and we have the image of four kingdoms, a perfect chiasm. You don't see that very often but it is very important, and it shows us that chapter seven is a bridge between the first portion of the book, which is historical, and the last portion of the book, which is prophetic. That there is a connection between the historical and the prophetic aspects of the book. That though we've turned the corner and we're talking about a different type of literature, we're still talking about the same message from the same messenger. Now, if you'll join me in first, in the first verse, you'll see something else here. We read in the first year of Belshazer, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. As he lay in his bed, rather then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. Well, a couple of things just happened. One, we are no longer going in chronological order. If you just go back to chapter six, just another verse up. We know that we're talking about Darius in the lions Den and then in verse twenty eight. So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian. So now we have another king that Belshazer's gone, He's been replaced by Darius, Darius has had his reign. We've even talked about the reign of Cyrus. Now in chapter seven it says in the first year of Belshazer, so we're no longer going in chronological order. That's the first thing that we understand that Daniel is no longer telling us just the story of their captivity in Babylon. There's the second thing that we understand here Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Now we know there's a distinction. Earlier on in the first six chapters, Daniel is known by his ability to interpret other people's dreams and other people's visions. That's how he comes on the scene. In chapter two, Nebkonzer has a dream, if you'll remember, and that dream was parallel to the dream here in Daniel chapter seven with the four kingdoms and the way that they're represented. But nebucon Nezar has the dream, and he calls all of his men in in order to interpret the dream, but he won't tell them what the dream is. They say, King, this is this is not right, this is not fair. No king has ever asked his people to do this for him. No one can do this for the king king says, you either do this or kill everybody. Daniel finds out about it, and he goes and prays, and God gives him the interpretation of nebuk Nezer's dream. Now it's not nebek Neezar's dream, it's Daniel's dream. This is different. Daniel is now not interpreting the dreams and visions of others in order to establish himself. By the way, you remember, after he interprets this dream, he establishes himself and he becomes the most powerful among all of these prophets. Now, not only is he not interpreting somebody else's dream, but it's his own. But if you'll remember, during Belshazer's reign, the handwriting on the wall is seen. Bel Shazer has no idea what to do, and it's not until the Queen mother says, hey, I remember this guy named Daniel. There's another great irony. The great irony is in chapter two. There's the vision of four kingdoms, And the vision of four kingdoms comes to Daniel. He interprets someone else's dream, and it makes him the second most powerful man in all of Babylon. Now he's under the reign of Belshazar and they don't even remember who he is. Somebody has to tell the king who he is. He's no longer enjoying that kind of authority in Babylon. And it's at this time that God comes to him with a dream and division of his head as he lay in his bed at night, at this time, when he's an old man. Here's the other irony. In chapter two, he's a young man, late teen's, early twenties. In chapter seven, under the reign of Belshazar, he's an old man, a very old man, probably beyond his seventies. So a young man interpreting a dream and becoming powerful versus an old man having a dream in the midst of a time when he has been completely and utterly forgotten. Also remember he interprets the dream for nebekan Nezzer, and nebekan Nezer is utterly transformed. First he's utterly transformed into a beast of a man, which is rather important. And then God transforms him again, puts him in his right mind, and he praises Almighty God. It's amazing the transformation that we see in nebecon Nezer. Now you're the second most powerful man in Babylon and the most powerful man in Babylon seems to have had a conversion, and in the very next chapter he's gone, and there's a king who doesn't know your name. Can you imagine what this period in Daniel's life must have been like. He saw what happened in Nebacon Nezer, it had to have encouraged him. He's looking forward to the time when this is all over. He's familiarizing himself with the prophecy of Jeremiah. He understands that there is an end out there to this exile. And now the king, who it would seem would have become an ally is gone, and another king who doesn't know him is there. He's utterly forgotten. And then one night God comes to him and a vision and a dream. You see, earlier on God's message was to Babylon. Now God's message is to Israel. Earlier, God's message came through Daniel. Now God's message comes to Daniel. Now God is speaking to his people in order to encourage them in the midst of their exile. But not just to encourage them to get through their exile. This encouragement has to do with much much more well. And now we get into the vision and as we get into the vision. The first part of the vision is the turbulent arc of history. Look beginning of verse two. I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of Heaven were stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles wings. Then I looked. Then as I looked, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, And the mind of a man was given to it. And behold another beast, A second one like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and it was told a rise, devour much flesh. After this I looked and behold another like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this, I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful, and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold there came up among them another horn, one little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold in his horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. What a vision. It's a vision that is like the first vision in that you have these four different creatures, and earlier you had the four kingdoms represented. But it's a vision unlike the other because of the idea of zoomorphism war that somehow these kingdoms being represented as animals. As these visions come, there are several things that we need to take note of. First, there's a reference to the four winds of heaven. The idea of the four winds of heaven stirring up the sea is an idea of turmoil that has come. It's not a turmoil that is a sort of natural turmoil, but a supernatural turmoil. So when his vision begins, it is a vision of turmoil, and it's a turmoil that goes in this transition from one beast to another beast to another beast. Listen to what Ernest Lucas says, the phrase the four winds of Heaven is common in Acadian literature. Outside Daniel, the only occurrences in the Hebrew Bible are in Jeremiah forty six thirty six, Ezekiel thirty seven to nine, and Zachariah two six. All these, like Daniel, have a Babylonian connection. Ezekiel prophesied in Babylon, Zachariah was with a group of Jews who had returned from the exile there, and Jeremiah was addressing Elam at a time when it and Judah were under Babylonian rule. So this phrase would not have been uncommon or unknown to Daniel, and it would have been common and known because of where he was in exile. But the idea is clear. It's the idea of turmoil. It's the idea that the future is turbulent. God is not promising Daniel that after the exile comes, everything will be okay, everything will be at peace, and that the world will be a nice place. In fact, he's guaranteeing the opposite. The world is never going to be a nice place until the incomes. The world is always going to be a turbulent place. It's also interesting that these images are found in Josea and Jseiah chapter thirteen, verse seven and eight. God speaks about himself and he says, so I am to them like a lion, like a leopard. I will alert beside the way. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs. I will tear open their breasts, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rip them up. Same imagery. So this imagery is not foreign. There's also an interpretation provided, which is incredibly important, because if all we had was this part of the passage with no interpretation provided, we would be in all kinds of trouble. Amen. The interpretation is provided later, and in the interpretation, here's what we discover. The beasts equal kingdoms, four separate beasts, four separate kingdoms. The other thing that we get is this, these beasts are ripped presented as violent beasts because the art of history is a turbulent one and there is a violent transition from kingdom to kingdom. There is always a violent transition from kingdom to kingdom. Men, once they have power do not normally give up that power. Amen. It's usually taken from them by force. When nations become powerful nations, it's usually because they became so by force. They demonstrated it by force. And when the most powerful nation in the world falls from becoming from being the most powerful nation in the world, it is because another nation has replaced it, or at least another nation has destroyed it. That's the way history goes. It is violent, it is turbulent. We are not living in a world where we can depend on man to about utopia. That's what we believe in our current existence, that somehow, if we just do things right, we can bring about a utopia somehow, if we just lived the way that we're supposed to somehow, and you hear this a lot, somehow, if the church could just be the church, we wouldn't have all these problems in the world. Newsflash, that's the opposite of what God says in Daniel chapter seven. Doesn't matter what the church is being. The world is a turbulent and violent place. We see this by those four winds. Listen to this. John Calvin puts a fine point on it, as only Calvin Ghan. Now the kind of trouble is expressed by the word for beasts proceed out of the sea. Hence that concussion, those storms, and that confused disturbance of the whole world through one kingdom succeeding another. It can scarcely happen that any kingdom can perish without involving others in its ruin, a single edifice can scarcely fall without the crash being heard far and wide and the earth seeming to gape at its overthrow. Then what must happen when the most powerful monarchies so suddenly perish? Hence, in this verse, Daniel shows how the world is like a troubled sea. Since violent change among its empires were then at hand, it's the same now violent change among empires. You also see that there's a providential transition between empires. God is not surprised that one empire rises and another empire falls. God knows that these empires are going to rise and these empires are going to fall. In fact, we know from Acts chapter seventeen that God has ordained even our habitation, even the limits of where we live. God has drawn on borders providentially throughout the history of the world. There are borders that are drawn, and men don't go beyond those borders. It is God who determines what nations rise and what nations fall. God is not sitting back wondering who's going to win what. God is in control, and it is his providence that orders these things. There's also a definite end to the progression in transition. This doesn't just happen indefinitely. It happens until all that God intends to accomplish is accomplished. Here's one likely progression. The most common understanding of the progression of these four beasts that God starts from what Daniel knows and moves to what he does not know. The first beast being Babylon, that first lion with the wings and the wings being taken off and then having to stand like a man being Babylon. This makes sense, especially when you understand the other prophets and the way they speak about Babylon. It also makes sense when you understand the way that the first vision progressed beginning with Babylon. Second beast the Medo Persian Empire, the third beast the Greek Empire, and the fourth beast the Roman Empire. One possible progression do we know for certain? No, we don't know for certain, because that much is not given to us. But we know that the progression of these four empires fits within the confines of what God has revealed. Here's the second thing that we see, the sovereign, unchanging reign of God. First, we see these visions that if this vision is all that we have, then all that we've just been told is that the world is a terrible place and it's going to be continue to be a terrible place. And we're going to go from kingdom to kingdom, and the empire to empire, from one violent empire to the next violent empire, from one turbulent overthrow to the next turbulent overthrow. That's the way it goes, and that's all we have to hope for. God, bless you have a nice day. But that's not it. As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames. Its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him. A thousand thousand served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. Amen Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. There's a turbulent sea, there's trouble brewing. They're violent kingdoms that devour one another and devour the known world, kingdoms that rise up and then fall as a more vicious, more violent, more wicked kingdom comes out after it. And all of a sudden, Daniel says, and I looked, and there was a throne that was above all these other thrones. In fact, it was the only throne. It was the only true kingdom. And on this throne sat the ancient of days. Do you remember this picture from our time in Revelation. This is a picture of God sitting enthroned as a judge. He's enthroned above it all. Notice that God does not come out of the sea like the rest of the beast. So what Daniel is not saying is that somehow God is competing with the rest of these entities, and then eventually God's kingdom reigns. Here's what we know by that the Kingdom of God is not a geopolitical kingdom. Amen, Daniel does not say, I saw these four beasts, and then all of a sudden, there's another beast, and that beast is God's kingdom represented that finally, after these other kingdoms, and he defeats the You no, that is not how it happens. That's not the picture. God is enthroned above these kingdoms. And in fact, God is enthroned while these kingdoms are going from bad to worse, while these kingdoms are replacing one another, God continues to be enthroned above it all. He is also the righteous judge. His name the Ancient of Days. He is eternal. These other kingdoms are temporal. He's on a throne, which means he has authority. His authority is above the authority of these kingdoms. The white hair, purity, holiness, righteousness. What do these other people have. They have violence, That's how they do their business with violence. How does he do his business with purity and holiness and righteousness. There is the fire. The fire represents judgment. This is good news. These kingdoms come in this turbulent world and they wipe one another out, and as you look on could look in despair. But the Ancient of Days sits enthroned, and he says, not only is my kingdom above all other kingdoms, but all of these kingdoms shall be judged for the way they conduct themselves. You know, there's this thought process out there that says that, you know, the kingdoms of this earth and the kingdoms of this world are really not accountable to God because they haven't entered into a covenant relationship with God. And so it's okay for us to talk about what's biblically correct and not biblically correct for us as Christians, But it's not right for us to apply the law of God to the way other nations or other people sort of conduct themselves, or even to the way our country conducts itself, because, after all, are you know our country doesn't claim to have this covenant with God. These other countries don't claim to have this covenant with God. So how dare we open our bibles and look at what God says is right and what God says is wrong and apply that to the way nations conduct themselves? How dare we? Because the Ancient of Days sits enthroned above nations, and they will be judged by His standard and not their own. Every nation is judged by the standard of Almighty God. There is no other standard. History is not going to culminate with God saying, now, you guys said you agreed to play by my rules, so I'll judge you by those. You guys never said that you agree to that, so you get to judge yourselves. That dog won't hunt. All the nations will be judged, and they will be judged by the standard of righteousness that comes from the Ancient of Days. That's the standard by which all humanity will be judged. Every individual and every kingdom will be judged by the Ancient of Days, will be judged by his purity, will be judged by his righteousness, and all of them will be found wanting, every last one. There's another picture here, and it's beautiful. There are myriad worshipers. Again, this is not a geopolitical kingdom. The picture here is one of worshippers from all over the world. It's not as though here's what didn't happen. Daniel didn't see a vision. And then there's these four beasts that come up. And after these beasts come up, there's something else that comes up that looks like worshippers. They're from somewhere else. No, the Ancient of Days is enthroned, and thousands of thousands and ten thousands of ten thousands are worshiping him. Where are they from? They're from all of the kingdoms, over all of the earth, over all of time. The Ancient of Days has worshippers everywhere. The Ancient of Days does not compete with kingdoms. The Ancient of Days reigns over these kingdoms, and inside all of these kingdoms there are those who worship the Ancient of Days. By the way, is not Daniel an example of that? Who is Daniel? Is he a Babylonian? No, But he serves Babylon, and he served Babylon proudly. In fact, he was a great servant in Babylon, a noted servant in Babylon. There were Babylonians who did not serve Babylon as well as David served Babylon. Did he serve the Medo Persians? Yes, he absolutely did. But was he a med Was he a Persian? No? He was not. He was one of the thousands of thousands and ten thousands of ten thousands. He was a worshiper of the Most High God. Even though he existed within the confines of at least two of these kingdoms that are represented by these beasts, God's people worship him regardless of their geopolitical affiliations. So we are always assigned dual citizenship. Amen, And it's okay that we're assigned dual citizenship. So there's a ditch on both sides of the road. There's a ditch on this side of the road over here that would say, well, you know, there's this kingdom that I serve and this kingdom that I live in, the earthly kingdom whatever that is among these beasts, and I will serve this kingdom, and I will wait until that final manifestation of God's kingdom, because then I will go soay, no, absolutely not, that's wrong. You do not serve this kingdom as though the Kingdom of God doesn't exist. There's another ditch on the other side of the road. I serve the Kingdom of God. Therefore I have nothing to do with the kingdoms of this world, because after all, they're wicked. That's not Daniel's example. Daniel's example is I serve the Ancient of days. And for right now, he happens to have me in Babylon. Oh excuse me, they just got wiped out. He happens to have me in Meato Persia. And so I serve, and I serve faithfully, and I serve so faithfully as a citizen of the Kingdom of God that the people in the Kingdom of Man feel like they can't even do their work without me. Why would that be because the only thing these beasts can produce is beasts, amen, That's all they can produce. That's the only thing the kingdoms of this world can produce. How and where do you find individuals who rise above the fray? How and where do you find individuals who are not defined by the chaos of the four winds of heaven and the sea. Where do you find individuals who are not reverning lions, who are not wild bears, who are not leopards, who are not trampling out and killing in order to gain power. Where do you find people who are not like that? Around the throne of the Ancient of Days, That's where you find them. And if you're a kingdom that comes to power by devouring and destroying, then all you're going to produce is devourers and destroyers. And in the midst of that, it's an unbelievable sight when you see the worshippers of the Ancient of Days. And as though that were not enough, now we see a picture of the son of Man. I looked Verse eleven. I look then, because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed. Remember this is a fourth beast, This fourth beast. By the way, this fourth beast is, it's not we don't know what the animal is. It's just a beast. He didn't even have a name for it. We know a lion and with wings, and then we know there's a bear on its side, you know. And he's violent because he's got ribs in his mouth. And we know that we had this leopard, and this leopard has been given dominion. And now we know that there's this fourth beast. We don't know what kind of beast it is. We just know he's not like the rest. He's a beast, unlike anything that anybody's ever seen. But he's violent, he's vicious, he's murderous. I looked him because of the sound. Remember these ten horns. Then there's one little horn. Three other horns fall before this little horn. And as I looked, the beast was killed and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. That's very important. There's the already not yet God destroys these beasts, and yet they still remain for a season and a time. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like the son of Man. And he came to the ancient of days, and was presented before him, and to him was given dominion and glory, and to kingdom, that all people's nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. There he is, He's not a beast. His dominion shall have his kingdom shall never be destroyed. And it is not geopolitical, which means it is not an individual nation, which means it ain't America. Amen, somebody, it's not America. It's not America. Do you know what America is. America is just another beast proceeding forth out of the turbulent sea. That's what America is. And that's all America is. Praise God for the prosperity of the citizens of the Kingdom of God in the midst of this geopolitical entity. But this geopolitical entity is just another beast, and it will pass away. It will pass away, it will pass away. It will pass away. Because all geopolitical entities pass away. There's only one ever life kingdom, and it's not the United States of America. There's only one everlasting dominion, and it is the everlasting dominion of the Son of Man, of Jesus Christ himself. It's an everlasting dominion that is not one with bombs or bullets, and it's not retained with violence. It's an everlasting dominion that was one through a voluntary, vicarious death on a cross. It's an everlasting dominion that overcomes death, hell, and the grave. Here's what I want to know. How does a beast destroy something that's already died and rose again. The answer, it doesn't, It doesn't, it doesn't. His arrival is signaled by the death, by the death of the fourth Beast. And note he comes with the clouds and that beautiful. His title is familiar. We hear this, the son of Man. He's given dominion by the Ancient of days. His dominion is everlasting. His kingdom is contrasted with the four prior kingdoms. Theirs are inaugurated by violence, His by violence done to him. There's taken by force. His is granted by the Ancient of days. It's geopolitical. His is global universal. There's flow in progression from one to another. His has no end. That is the kingdom to which Daniel belonged. That is the kingdom to which we belong. Here's the great irony. We go to Daniel chapter seven, and people spend years years trying to interpret all the little details of the four beasts there in that first paragraph. Well, what is this? Well, what's that? Well? What's that bear? Well, what's that this? Or what's that that? And we get mired down in all of this trying to figure out out there somewhere where is this coming from? Where is that coming from? Folks read Daniel chapter seven. Where is your attention supposed to go to the Ancient of days and the Son of Man and to the kingdom that will never end. I don't have to know who those are the beasts are. All I have to know is that they are an example of the kingdoms of men that come and go. They are violent and ungodly, and I live for the kingdom that has no end. Then we see a picture of the saints who received the kingdom. Less we get ahead of ourselves. Look beginning of verse fifteen. As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head had alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he said to me, I'm sorry. So he told me, and made known to me the interpretation of the things. These four beasts are four kings who shall arise on the earth, But the Saints are the most high, shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and forever. Isn't that simple? We get all blogged down on this. Daniel goes, hey, can you explain this to me? Yep, four beasts, four kingdoms, But there's another kingdom that's coming, and the Saints are the most I God are going to inherit that one, really, because I mean, who are the ten horns? Yeah, these four beasts, there are four kingdoms, and you know they're gonna come and go, But there's another kingdom that's gonna be given to the Saints. Yeah, but what about the one little horn. Who's that. Yeah, there's four kingdoms, see, and then after that there's this kingdom that the saints are going to inherit. Well, these words that he's saying, what are these words? Yeah, let me tell you one more time what this is all about. It is really simple. There are kingdoms that come and kingdoms that go, but the one you're waiting for doesn't come and go. It lasts forever. That's what's important in Daniel chapter seven. What about this final conflict in consummation. This is important, and this is why Daniel is disturbed. Beginning of verse nineteen. Then I desire to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with his feet, And about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and the mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. And I looked as I looked, this horn made war with the saint. He wants to know about this horn, right, don't we all want to know about that horn? How do you see this vision in Daniel Chapter seven and come away going, yeah, I'm good. I don't need to know anymore. I want to know what the horn is. I want to know what that's all about. Daniel gets it. Here's what it's all about. Not important that he knows who this is what is important. Here's what's important. The Horn made war with the Saints and prevailed over them until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, as for the fourth Beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, And it shall devour the whole earth and trample it down and break it to pieces, as for the ten horns. Out of this kingdom, ten kings shall rise, and another shall arise after them. He shall be different from the former ones, and he shall put down three kings. He shall speak words against the Most High. He shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times in the law, and they shall be given into his hand for a time times and half a time. There's that picture again of three and a half time one times two that gives you three and half a time, that gives you three and an Remember three and a half from revelation, the picture of broken seven. Something that is not brought to fruition or completion. But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away to be consumed and destroyed. To the whole heaven. I'm sorry to the end, and the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the Most High. His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey him. Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart. That last phrase is important. All of this is good, and it's important. These four kingdoms represent the progression of the kingdoms of men until finally the Son of Man comes and establishes that everlasting kingdom. And he comes and he establishes that everlasting kingdom, and he takes his dominion, and he's done that already, but it's not yet consummated. For what do we know, Because here's what's interesting. Daniel doesn't go away from this vision after this explanation shouting for joy. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart. What's alarming, Daniel, You were just told that after this progression, the Ancient of Days comes, And that's no, here's what he was told. What he was told is that the Son of Man comes and he establishes this forever kingdom. But he will be opposed. He will be opposed mightily, and he will be opposed violently. And that phrase there does not do justice when it says he will wear out the Saints. Great persecution is coming. Remember we're dealing with violent beasts. And these violent beasts don't just fall down before the Ancient of Days without a fight. And their opposition is personified by this single horn representing a single authority. And he not only speaks out against the Saints and challenges the Saints, but he also wears them out. He kills the Saints. There is great persecution against the Saints, and this great persecution is a broken seven. In other words, if it was a seven, it would be the complete persecution and destruction of the Saints of God. But it stops before it comes to completion, and then God delivers his people. The good news is we belong to the kingdom that does not end. The bad news is the beasts hate us because of it. The good news is we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. The bad news is the world hates us because we belong to him. The good news is we have inherited a kingdom that will never end. The bad news is we live in the midst of kingdoms that are not our kingdom. The good news is Christ is coming to consummate his kingdom and to set all things right. The bad news is it hasn't happened yet. You see when awful things happen to the Saints. And I'm gonna go back to this again, especially during this election season, because I'm hearing it and I'm hearing it and I'm hearing it and it's wrong. It's absolutely wrong. Things are bad because the Saints are not being the Saints. Things are bad because the Church is not being who she's supposed to be. There's several things wrong with that. Here's the first thing. Don't bad mouth the Bride of Christ. She is who he says she is. The Church is everything that she's supposed to be. The Church is everything that she's supposed to be. When people say that, you know what they mean. They look at the Church as though we are a geopolitic entity, and they say, if we used our numbers to overwhelm their numbers, then we could force our morality on them. That's not the way it works. And the other thing is most of the stuff that goes by the name church out there is not the church. It's not the church. They do not belong to God, they do not worship Christ. They are man centered dens of iniquity, synagogues of Satan all over us that go by the name church. They don't think biblically, don't act biblically. There are some under the sound of my voice right now, you come to church, but you're not the church. You're not born again, you have not been transformed. You come here because you believe it's good. It's better than not coming here. But your allegiance is to the Kingdom of man not to the Kingdom of God. Are country is filled with people like that who claim Christianity. That doesn't mean that the Church is not doing and being what the Church is supposed to do and be the Church. That's how you define the Church. Amen. The Church is doing and being what she's supposed to be. Here's the second thing. The second thing is how can you read Daniel chapter seven and come away with an interpretation that says, these beasts wouldn't be so beastly if the Christians were just better. Really, you can't get there from here. They hate the saints and they wear out the saints. Here's the third problem. That doesn't work anywhere but America. Here's what I mean by that. We're experiencing the difficulties that we're experiencing because the Church is not being the church. But here we are the freeze people on the face of the earth, still to this day, the freest people on the face of the earth. Amen, that's us, the most prosperous people on the face of the earth, like, by far, the most prosperous people on the face of the earth. But things are bad here because we're not doing and being what we're supposed to do and be. Can I ask you a question, what does that say about our brothers and sisters in China who love God and serve God and die for the faith in many instances? Is the Chinese government communists because they're not being real Christians? What about our brothers and sisters of Zambia or Uganda, or Somalia or the Sudan our brothers and sisters who serve God with the last full measure, die for their faith enslaved by Muslims? Is that happening because they're not being Christian enough? Stop that? Please, please stop that, Because every time you say that America is having difficulties because we're not being Christian enough, you spit in the face of Christians around the world who are dying, dying for their faith, where their faith is strong enough to die for their faith, and their countries look nothing like our country looks. What do we mean by that? Please stop that, please, because it's simply not true and it's grossly unbiblical. The Church when it does what it's supposed to do, when it is when it's supposed to be, the evidence of that is persecution. That's the evidence of the church. The church, and that's the picture we see in Daniel chapter seven. We live in this freak of nature called America. It's unlike anything that the world has ever seen before, and I believe we'll ever see again. It is wrong for us to take our experience and the freedoms that we've enjoyed and reinterpret the Bible. It's wrong. Now, let me quickly say, Daniel's giving us example of how to live. I don't want us in either one of those ditches. We don't belong in either one of those ditches. We don't belong in this ditch over here that says, you know, we belong to America, and it's all about America, and America's everything, and this kingdom over here is not important. Nor do we belong to the other ditch over here that says we're all about this kingdom. And forget America, York, you can burn again. There's a ditch on both sides of that road. So here's the question. What do we take away from this one? All the kingdoms of this world are temporary, including ours. All the kingdoms of this world are temporary, including ours. Two, the kingdoms of this world will always war against the Saints. The kingdoms of this world will always war against the Saints, always, always, always, we're now like them, we don't belong to them. We expose their sinfulness. They always war against the Saints. Thirdly, this persecution will ebb and flow until the end when it intensifies. His persecution will ebanflow until the end when it intensifies. It's going to get worse, not better. It's going to get worse, not better. Regardless of who wins the next election. It's going to get worse, not better. But here's the other thing. God will not forsake his people utterly, but will deliver them and give them an everlasting kingdom. God will not forsake his people utterly. God's going to give us an everlasting kingdom. So in the meantime, here's what we do. We serve just like Daniel did. That's what we do. And so we acknowledge the fact that we are in the midst of this turbulent arc of history, and that kingdoms come and kingdoms go, and this is the one that we happen to be a part of right now. And it's better for our presence, Amen, It's better for our presence. So serve like you believe that vote like you believe that live, like you believe that witness, like you believe that that this kingdom, though it be a beast, it's better for our presence. So be present in it, be active in it, be influential in it. Be what you called to be in the midst of this kingdom. And God will bless it. He blessed Daniel, and he blessed all of those kingdoms even while Daniel's there. Listen, folks, if Daniel can serve the Babylonians, certainly you can serve America. Amen, somebody do that. But finally, do not get confused how your service is a blessing to the beast. It won't make the beast be anything other than a beast. So don't expect that which you can only receive from the eternal kingdom from your temporal one. You get that. Serve your temporal kingdom, Serve our temporal kingdom. But don't serve as though your service somehow is going to turn this beast into something that's not a beast. As though your service is going to turn America into the eternal Kingdom. It will not. It will not, It absolutely will not. You can't get there from here, So we serve with that already not yet mentality, just like Daniel did, knowing that this is not final or ultimate for us, knowing that our service might be absolutely appreciated on one day and then persecuted on the next. By the way, does that mean that the church is being unfaithful? Absolutely not, absolutely not. That means that the beast is being a beast, and it will ebb and it will flow. So let me leave you with this. People out there can fret about the coming election. You may not. I'm telling you, as your pastor, you do not have permission to fret over the coming election. I forbid it. You can't do that. I just didn't. In all seriousness, though, folks, there are people running around wringing their hands, and you know what that's evidence of. That's evidence of beastly thinking, like the beast is our only hope. Hold your head up and look to the ancient of days who sits enthroned above it all, and serve like you know you have another kingdom to which you belong, Because that does two things. One, it absolutely encourages me to know that that kingdom at any moment can break in on this one and transform things. Do you know God can send revival. Amen. But then this is the other thing that it does. It lets me know that if he doesn't, that's okay, because that's the home that I'm living and looking for, not this one. I want to bless this one, but it's just a way station, that's all. That's all. Christ died and rose again that you and I might have our citizenship transformed. Live like you believe that to be true. Let's pray