 Beginning at verse one reading to verse eight Daniel chapter seven in the first year of Val Shazard king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head well On his bed then he wrote down the dream telling the main facts Daniel spoke saying I saw in my vision by night Behold the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea And four great beasts came up from the sea each different from the other The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings I watched till its wings were plucked off And it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man and a And a man's heart was given to it Suddenly another beast a second like a bear it was raised up On one side and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth And they said thus to it arise Devour much flesh After this I looked and there was another like a leopard Which had on its on its back four wings of a bird The beast also had four heads and Dominion was given to it After this I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast dreadful and terrible exceedingly strong It has huge iron teeth It was devouring breaking in pieces and trampling the residue With its feet It was different from all the beasts that were before it And it had 10 horns I was considering the horns And there was another horn a little one coming up Among them before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots And there In this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man And a mouth speaking pompous words John walford who is a great bible exposer great bible teacher, especially uh knowledgeable as it related to prophecy and In the book of revelation and daniel especially John walford said the seventh chapter of daniel provides the most comprehensive And detailed prophecy of future events to be found anywhere in the old testament As we begin chapter seven chapter seven begins the prophetic section of what is the book of daniel Chronologically these events occur between the events just to give you background between the events that are recorded Actually in chapters four and five Chapter four closed with the testimony of nebuchadnezzar chapter five began with the fall of babelan And so that would make the date of uh of this particular Chapter the vision in all the dream that would make the date 553 bc which would be 14 years before the fall of babelan And so what we have here in this chapter is a prophetic picture And we just looked at it. We'll be seeing that in some detail in a moment But we have a prophetic picture of four great world empires The empires are babelan meadow persia grease and roam And it ends with a picture of the return of christ and the establishing of his kingdom And that's pictured by a fifth and final kingdom one. He says it does not pass away. We'll see that in verse 14 So this prophetic picture specifically relates to events in what are called the latter days Now this was first revealed in chapter two and in daniel chapter two verse 28 It said there is a god in heaven who reveals secrets and he has made known to king nebuchadnezzar What will be in the latter days? And so this is actually something that relates to what we've we've already seen in previous chapters Now when we were looking at the first six chapters remember that the king of babelan nebuchadnezzar had had two dreams that were interpreted by daniels But in this chapter it is daniel who receives a communication in a dream now The bible records that god spoke in times past in various ways And as i was thinking about this and introducing this when you look at the fact that he's receiving a dream And that god is going to give to him prophetic insight and when you consider the fact That he already had dealt with daniel had already dealt with dreams On on two different occasions in uh in the first six chapters and all I thought i'd remind you of a few things that god in in uh in times past has spoken to and communicated In a variety of ways and and so think of this for a moment like he might speak directly He did so to jobe you see when we went through the book of jobe that he actually Said to him gurg yourself as a man and answer some questions god spoke to jobe He spoke to abraham. He spoke to moses. He spoke to samuel. He spoke to elisha There were times when he actually audibly would communicate. We know that There were times that he spoke through angels He did that When he was ministering to joshua an angel spoke to joshua He even used a donkey He used a donkey to speak a warning to a false prophet by the name of baylam He uses dreams. He did so when he ministered to jacob and jacob had a dream about a ladder that attached to earth to heaven jacob's ladder he saw that in in jenesis chapter 28 And later on in the gospel of john in chapter one verse 51 Jesus told us that he was that ladder that jacob was speaking about and dreamt of He also obviously has directed people through his word He directed people through what is called the the book of the law, which is his word So there are various ways that god speaks and god speaks through prophets The book of heber's tells tells us that in in chapter one verse one where it simply says in In the past god spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways And so this is what is happening here in chapter seven God is speaking to daniel daniel is a prophet and he's speaking to him in a dream And the dream is prophetic In numbers 12 verse 6 god said if there's a prophet among you I the lord make myself known to him in a vision. I speak to him in a dream And so daniel has had a dream And verse one tells us that the lord is speaking to him And daniel is writing down He says in verse one the last portion in verse one of chapter seven It says he wrote down the dream telling the main facts And so he writes down the essentials Now in verse two daniel spoke saying I sign my vision by night behold four winds of heaven So these are the main facts. These are the main facts that he wrote down He speaks of the four winds of heaven There are different ways to look at this the four winds of heaven could speak of the four corners of the earth We saw that in revelation seven one After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth Holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth on the sea or on any tree So there are commentators who say well the four winds of heaven could speak of the four corners of the world It can also speak though of the whole of humanity You see stirring up the great sea could speak of a commotion that's among the nations In the world and again, I'm going to be cross referencing a number of times by the way in my introduction with revelation So speaking of this great sea we saw that in revelation 17 verse one Where it says one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me saying to me Come I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters And then in chapter 17 verse 15 He said to me the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples multitudes nations and tongues And so this could be speaking of the four corners of the earth speaking of the whole of humanity And so he says I saw in my vision verse two by night Behold the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea humanity is being stirred up Verse three four great beasts came up from the sea each different From the other so the stirring up produces these four great gentile powers Now he speaks of four great Gentile powers and that corresponds numerically to nebuchadnezzar's dream Nebuchadnezzar had this dream of this this great image remember and it had four metals But daniel sees four animals Now this contrasts man's value of kingdoms With what god knows them to be Man very often values the kingdom of man And that's why you saw that nebuchadnezzar was the the head of gold because the great power great authority And all that he had was valued by man And so when you saw the image in the four different Metals that descended in value That was man's view of what man's empires are like But this particular dream that daniel has is showing us how god sees man's kingdoms God sees the brutality the inhumanity and the depravity Of the kingdoms of man and that's what you see and so he begins to describe this in verse four The first he said was like a lion. It had eagles wings And so he speaks concerning this and he says he watched till its wings were plucked off And it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man And a man's heart was given to it. And so the first is like a lion The lion is Babylon When you look at old Pictures of the the construction and all of ancient Babylon winged lions guarded the royal palaces Both lions and eagles are in in scripture scripture as well as in in just in general The lines and eagles are symbolic of royalty Lions are to this day still referred to as the king of beasts And the eagles are still referred to as the king of the birds And so like a lion Babylon was powerful swift to conquer But notice the wings that were plucked off It speaks of nebuchadnezzar's humbling and his conversion Remember how that he had gone through seven times some saying that that's seven years where he had lost his mind and and his hair had grown and his and his uh like like birds feathers and his his uh His fingernails and toenails had grown like talons and and all and remember he had lost his mind until he recognized that God is the god of the of the earth and all of that And so the wings that were plucked off would speak of nebuchadnezzar's humbling and his conversion In chapter four it says here that a man's heart was given to him And that that speaks of where he came to see that he was only a man And so we see this and then in verse five Suddenly another beast a second like a bear It was raised up on one side And had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth And they said thus to it arise devour much Devour much flesh Okay, suddenly there's this other beast. It's like a bear That would be meadow persia the second kingdom They used great amounts of troops to conquer when you look into history They would amass great troops and they would overwhelm their opponents And so The picture of their military is like the lumbering of a bear They were known to be ferocious When they attacked but they were not looked at as being majestic the way the babelonians were isaia speaks of them the meads in isaia 1318 and this is what he says He says their their bows will strike down the young men They will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children Isn't that interesting because we're seeing something like that even right now It just shows the inhumanity and depravity of these military individuals Here it says that it was raised up on one side Now all of this by the way, I should say this I'm just giving to you kind of like a a panoramic view because as we go through the next several chapters There's going to be more detail So what i'm doing is just kind of moving through this quickly to give you A foundation and then we're going to be picking this up and looking at it in more detail as we go through And so just just bear with me about that but notice it was raised up on one side Now being raised up on one side would be a picture of the unequal relationship between the meads and the persians In what is called the meadow persian empire There were actually two different people groups the meads as well as the persians The persians overwhelmed the meads And so the persians were the greater of the two groups And so in being raised on one side It would show that there was actually a superiority of one group over the other It speaks of three ribs in its mouth That could that could be a picture of the people who had been subdued by the meadow persians But others say that this may very well be simply a picture of media and persia And Babylon the three major components of what is called the meadow persian empire And so it's just a picture in that way. He's going to give us more in a moment In verse 6 he says after this I looked and there was another like a leopard Which had on its back four wings of a bird The beast also had four heads And dominion was given to it four heads. We all have four heads No, but He had it was like a leopard. He had four wings. This is Greece Now a leopard is swift And so the the wings are emphasizing the swiftness of the greek military So under alexander the greeks were like a leopard They were quick to conquer When you look at and we'll be seeing some of this later on when you look at greece and under alexander Greece conquered from macedonia to africa even into india And so they were very quick in their military and they conquered in a very very quick fashion Now it says in notice verse 6 that the beast had four heads and dominion was given to it The four heads represent the division of the kingdom after alexander died alexander died in 323 bc So his kingdom was divided into four sections Egypt israel and arabia Came under tolami Thrace in bethynia Came up came under lecimicus Macedonia and greece came in under a man named kassander Syria babelonia and territories as far east as india came under solusis So it's just speaking of the division of the empire under alexander And then verse 7 After this i saw in the night visions behold a fourth beast dreadful and terrible exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth It was devouring breaking in pieces Trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it And it had 10 horns Notice this this is a picture of the roman empire Daniel describes the roman empire as dreadful terrible and exceedingly strong In history, it's noted that rom enslaved And killed its enemies with great violence. They actually would crush them underfoot And so what we're seeing here Is a picture of empires that will exist These are yet in the future And this is going to include and you'll see this in a moment But this is going to include the last day's pictures Because this is a fulfillment of not only what happens during the time of its original appearance But this is also a picture of what's going to take place In the future It speaks of 10 horns The 10 horns are 10 kingdoms that will exist simultaneously In a revived empire See the roman empire There are those who would argue The roman empire which is the fourth empire that is spoken of here Never really ceased to exist But that continues in various forms even to this day the united states as a form of Government that takes a lot of its cues from how rom was and so There are there are commentators who believe that that that the roman empire Never really ceased to completely exist but has influenced civilization since then But in the last days, there's going to be a revival Of this roman empire and that's what these 10 horns are pictures of and once again I'm not going to go into that yet because there is another chapter that we'll be looking at that We'll take that in some detail and try and develop that with you But he's talking about 10 actual kingdoms that will exist simultaneously in what is called a revived empire Now as this is all taking place and again, this is a panorama. This is portraying the future picture of the future He goes on to say in verse eight. He says I was considering the horns There was another horn a little one Coming up among them before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots And there in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous words We're introduced here to what has been called the little horn I have mentioned to you before those of you who are part of our church and all who have gone through studies with me That one of the titles of anti christ is the little horn That's one of the titles And so there are various titles that he's referred to as the little horn is one of them So we're introduced here in verse eight To what is called the anti christ And notice he has eyes of a man that a mouth that speaks speaks pompous words The anti christ is going to be one Who is actually making war against the lord The lord god and he is going to present himself as greater than god himself And he's going to be an arrogant military ruler When we get to chapter 11 in the book of daniel in verses 37 and 38 Daniel says he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers Or for the one desired by women Nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all Instead of them. He will honor a god of fortresses So the anti christ is going to exalt himself and again without getting ahead of myself We know that in second thessalonians chapter two That the anti christ is going to present himself as god and it's going to be demanding worship And so in daniel he's just introducing us to the idea of this one that is known in in uh christian history As the anti christ he's introducing us to this one Who is going to be a coming world ruler in a revived Empire that is It's actually a revived roman empire In revelation in chapter 13 It says they worship the dragon who gave authority to the beast and They worship the beast saying who is like the beast who is able to make war With him so we're introduced to the little horn Who's also referred to as the beast as well as anti christ and this is one who has a mouth that speaks pompous words Now in verse nine i watched till thrones were put in place And the ancient of days was seated His garment was white as snow The hair of his head was like pure wool His throne Was a fiery flame its wheels a burning fire A fiery stream issued and came forth From before him a thousand thousands ministered to him Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him The court was seated The books were opened if there's anything i think that the church has failed to do in In in recent history it's just failed to realize the incredible majesty Of god the god that we worship i really believe that i really believe that what we have done Very casually and very slowly but very surely As we have taken the majestic god that is revealed to us in scripture This picture here is an unbelievable picture of god I mean we'll look at that in a little more detail in a moment But look how he's described his garment is white as snow the hair of his head is like pure wool His throne is a fiery flame its wheels a burning fire When you look at god in this way I believe that the way people casually deal with the lord and look at god today Is a greater front to his his holiness and his majesty Yes, he is yes, he is our father and yes, he is filled with grace and grace and yes He is loving yes. He's merciful. Yes. He's compassionate. Yes. He took upon himself human flesh dwelt amongst us Yes, when you see jesus you see god Yes, jesus wept over those who were lost and and cared for those who were sick and cast out demons of those who were possessed He showed great tenderness and mercy. He allowed children to approach him He would pray for them. He would hold them in his arms and and anybody here who's ever had uh ever had a Your own child or perhaps a spent time with babies know that Babies who are toddlers a year old two years old or whatever less than a year They they can drool all over you when when you hold them and when When they're a couple years old and you are going on a couple years old You can hold in at a certain point. They'll grab like like my kids I'll give you an example My kids when I would when they were small and just learning to walk I used to have a full beard and I would bend down. Oh and they would grab my beard And they would lift themselves up by my beard, you know, so kids can do that kids can kids can be You know Little difficult and yet. Yeah, I see jesus. I see him ministering to children They bring the babies to him so that he might bless him and he and he takes them in his arms He holds them. Yes all of that, but we fail to realize sometimes and maybe you ought to think for at least a moment Maybe this really should be the foundation of everything else. We know of him But it is really It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god Knowing therefore the terror of the lord we persuade men Paul said Knowing therefore the terror of the lord When moses went up to receive the law And they heard the the thunder they saw the lightning the people who remained below while he went on to Sinai with Joshua And moses came down from that from that encounter with god The people said to him you go and speak to him. We don't want to there was a holy terror In the hearts of the people because of the god That moses was communing with The church I think has got to come back if you don't mind The church has got to come back to an awareness of the incredible holiness of god And the church needs to come back to an awareness Of what an awesome god We worship and when you read your scriptures and you see these portraits of him There are thrones the ancient of days is one of his titles He is seated and then it describes his garment. It describes him It describes the throne the wheels of burning fire the fiery stream that is issuing And and then notice in verse 10 a thousand thousands ministered to him 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him That's incredible. That's an incredible Portrait of god that I think sometimes we forget You know We do have the ability to approach the throne Of mercy obtained grace in our time of need and thank god for that Thank god that jesus christ took upon himself my sin And and gave to me that which I didn't have his righteousness. Thank god for that. Thank god that I can call him father You know in the old testament when the lord is spoken of in the old testament. He is not referred to as father He says well, there's a scripture and I say that that will oh god our our father We are the clay and you are the potter. We are all the works of thy hand. I say it says You are our father But the way he's spoken of in that verse is that you are the creator god That's what the word father there is is referencing you are the creator of all things you are you are our father But when jesus was on earth And there are so many titles that you see in in scripture the god who heals the god who was there You know and and so many scriptures that give to us insights into who he is Jesus gave us Then the name that that that the old testament people did not possess Because when he taught us how to pray this is something that let this let this settle it please When he said this is how you are to pray what did he say he said our father who art in heaven our father See the jews knew him as creator and they knew him as healer and they knew him as supplier and they knew him in so Many different ways and the titles that he has and the various ways he's spoken of the mighty god And all these are these are all things that helped them to understand the god that they worshipped But we in the new testament are given that great revelation that he is our father and and I think that sometimes We have taken that father kind of Attitude to think that we can take advantage of him in the way that we have taken advantage of our own earthly fathers And you can't do that My mom tried to teach us how to respect my dad If there was anything that my mom worked hard at when I was a little boy It was to teach us to respect our father One of the ways that mama taught me how to respect my dad was she respected him My mom respected my dad But My dad deserved respect And I couldn't uh, believe it or not. I know these are different days now, but There was one word that I wouldn't use with my dad and that's when he spoke to me. I never said. Yeah, I never said yeah And I never would have said man or anything like that But I have seen younger people, you know talk of their father and call him their old man and this and that That was an attitude to disrespect that I never was trained to have I was trained that my father and my mom would say this my mom would say your father provides Your father works hard Your father goes to work early in the morning. He comes home late in the evening And david you have shoes on your feet pants on you have a shirt you have You have food on a table and it all comes because your father works for you. So you show him respect So I was raised that way you show your father respect But sometimes guys i'll be honest with you in the church the way people Act around the lord and and yes, he's present with us by the way the way they they speak or act They don't realize how holy he is So the only way that I have the ability to go into the throne room of grace and obtain mercy in my time of need Is through the shed blood of jesus christ and and because he died on that cross for me He has made heaven accessible to me and in prayer and in fellowship. I'm speaking to the ancient of days And this is the picture you have here. He's referred to in that way. He is the ancient of days the eternal one And so he says here in verses 9 and 10 he said I watched till thrones were put in place and the ancient of days was seated Obviously this being a future event So he has a vision of heaven and what he's actually seeing is judgment You're going to be seeing the the final judgment of the nations The last ruler of the times of the Gentiles Destroyed with his empire We see a fifth kingdom revealed That brings in the rule of god all of this is part of this Notice in verse 10 how he says a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him So judgment is being pictured here and and notice the books The books were opened here in verse 10 the books were open and that corresponds with revelation chapter 20 Verses 12 through 15 John said I saw the dead great and small standing before the throne Books were opened Another book was opened, which is the book of life The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books The sea gave up the dead that were in it death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them Each person was judged according to what he had done Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire the lake of fire is the second death If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life He was thrown into the lake of fire How does your name enter into the book of life? It's when you're saved Your name is in god's book of life And so you know as he's going through the book and it's just a picture of that But as he goes through the books, you know one of these days and I like to picture it this way It's probably not this way. I'm not teaching heresy. I'm just trying Yes, I am. No, I'm I'm just trying to illustrate it You know, I I I am sometimes in my minds. I especially when I was a young christian I would picture books literal books And it's a majestic hand going through that And then looking at different names and then finally coming to mind My name's in that book. It's been written there because I committed my heart to jesus christ And so as this is taking place in verse 11, he says I watched I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words Which the horn was speaking the antichrist was speaking I watched till the beast was slain its body destroyed given to the burning flame As for the rest of the beast, they had their dominion taken away Yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time So this scene is actually shifting back to earth and he's watching as this antichrist is speaking This is a revelation of the final fall of the antichrist that occurs At jesus's second coming In revelation 19 verses 19 and 20 I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together To make war against the rider on the horse and his army But the beast was captured and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast And worshiped his image the two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur He goes on into verse 13. I was watching in the night visions behold One like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom That all people's nations and languages should serve him His dominion is an everlasting dominion. We shall not pass away his kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed Okay, this is a picture of the second coming again. This is a panorama. This is just giving you a view of future events So he says in verse 13 behold one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven In matthew 24 verses 29 and 30 immediately after the distress of those days The sun will be darkened The moon will not give its light The stars will fall from the sky The heavenly bodies will be shaken At that time the sign of the son of man will appear in the sky And all the nations of the earth will mourn They will see the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky With power and great glory Revelation 1 7 says Behold he is coming with the clouds Every eye will see him Even those who pierced him All the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him So shall it be The lord jesus christ returns And it's a picture of coming with the clouds Of heaven i When i got saved that was that was a theme and i have to be careful. I keep looking at the time We're going to have communion tonight But i do remember i used to look at the clouds and every once in a while The clouds would seem to separate and there'd be like a giant donut in the sky I don't know better way to put it And i used to think you know one of these days the lord jesus is going to come And i used to kind of picture him coming through like it was a bullseye And he was coming through and and i had this This incredible sense that the lord was going to come at any time You know it's been 50 years you know and But i am more convinced today That he's coming soon than i've ever been I i have to be careful Because i can start rolling on this one and i won't All i know is this i see things lining up right now His coming is very soon. There's just there's just no doubt about that. Anyway, i have to go through this chapter verse 15 I daniel was grieved in my spirit within my body the visions of my head troubled me I came near to one of those who stood by asked him this would be an angel asked him the truth of all this So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things So he's asking What does this mean and he receives a general explanation? In verse 17 those great beasts which are four are four kings which arise out of the earth But the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever Even forever and ever So when he speaks of this the saints of the most high that would include old testament saints and new testament saints It would even include the tribulation saints But i want you to notice how it says in verse 18 the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom As i was reading this one of the commentators made a point that i want i want to repeat to you because it really It reminded me when you look at issues of faith and the word faith You you can have what has been called a passive faith a faith that rests But there is also a faith that we have That is called an active faith and We we rest in the promises of god, but we also are active in our faith You see that that's how the world gets saved. It's it's people like us It's people like you who who hear the word of god learn things of jesus christ and then put your faith into action You're the ones who who go out into your neighborhoods You're the one who who brings it home to your family You're the one who goes to the job site or to the school or wherever it may be and and and You have conversation with people and and they ask you well What did you do last night and you say i went to a bible study and they say bible study used to believe in that Stuff and it gives you an opportunity. Well, not only do I believe it, but I live by it Well, what do you and now you have opportunity to converse and to share and to talk about the things of the lord And that's how the kingdom of god has always gone forward I'll be sharing a little bit on on that the next time I occupy the pulpit on a sunday I'll be sharing some of those things because That's an active faith It's a faith that receives It's a faith that believes in and acts upon what god has said There are a lot of people who have what I would consider to be almost a dormant faith They don't do anything they they just are passive all the time But you know what when you know that that christ is returning when you know that your your friends and family and On all your neighbors that you know that they're that they're perishing without christ It just does something within you it causes you to understand the moment and the times that you're living in And to take the opportunity to share with them and and I think one of the big problems that christians have today When it comes to having an active faith is that because the cancel culture is so great today People are afraid of being cancelled, but you know what? There are so many people who are hungry to know the truth There are a lot of you know, we let all this young generation is going to hell in a handbasket You know what I'll be honest with you There are a lot of young people who are just looking for somebody sincere to tell them the truth Just tell me the truth What do you really believe and yes, they can mock you and yes, they can make you feel bad and yes They can make you feel stupid You know that happens, you know does it happen to me it can It can I can feel stupid like why can't I I don't have every every answer for every question And there are times when I well, I wish I could answer that when I can't But that doesn't mean what I that doesn't mean that what I already know isn't true It simply means that I have more growth that I need to go through So I've been I've been one of those who encourages people in this way for a long time I haven't done it enough in this church recently, but I'll be honest with you You know if we don't tell people about Jesus who is Who who's going to do that? You know, are we going to call some evangelists up and say can you go to my friend's house? We're not What we're going to do is is what we ought to do Is take the chance to tell and look at this is what I believe And again, I have to be careful Not to go too long on this but They receive the kingdom And they possess the kingdom forever That came as a result of an active pursuit In luke 16 verse 16 the law and the prophets were until john since then the kingdom of god has been preached and everyone is pressing into it Philippians 3 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of god in christ jesus luke 13 24 Strive to enter through the narrow gate For many I say to you will seek to enter and will not be able Put your faith into action and that's what they did. They received the kingdom and possess it in verse 19 I wish to know the truth about the fourth beast Which was different from all the others exceedingly dreadful with its teeth of iron its nails of bronze which devoured broken pieces trampled the residue with its feet the ten horns that were on its head The other horn which came up before which three fell Namely that horn which had eyes the mouth which spoke pompous words Whose appearance was greater than his fellows I was watching And the same horn was making war against the saints prevailing against them Until the ancient of days came and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the most high And the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. So he's seen this It would be a picture of the tribulation and the variety of things that are taking place in all of the All of the persecution and everything and there's a war that's taking place Or it's going to be a lot of persecution in the seven-year tribulation And i'm wanting to know about that he's saying But he goes on and he makes it very clear in verse 22 He says until the ancient of days came and a judgment was made in favor of the saints When he says judgment was made in favor of the saints that would speak of judgment being made in favor of these believers And he's wondering about the time that is coming The time that is coming when the saints are going to possess the kingdom And so verse 23 he said The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth which shall be different from all other kingdoms Shall devour the whole earth travel it break it in pieces The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom Another shall rise after them He shall be different from the first ones. He's speaking of antichrist and shall subdue three kings He shall speak pompous words against the most high shall persecute the saints of the most high And shall intend to change times and law. He's going to try and take god's place. He's replacing god Then the saint shall be given into his hand for a time times and half a time This speaks of the three and a half years in the seven-year tribulation the last three and a half years that are called great tribulation There'll be an intense persecution. He's saying But verse 26 the court shall be seated. They shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it forever Then the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms unto the whole heaven Shall be given to the people the saints of the most high His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominion shall serve and obey him This is the end of the account as for me daniel my thoughts greatly troubled me my countenance changed But I kept the matter in my heart The fourth kingdom is going to have worldwide sway. It's going to have tremendous power He speaks of the little horn It will be one a leader with great power. It'll be blasphemous. He will be blasphemous He will persecute the saints and as I mentioned His his time is limited. He's going to be fully exercising as much power as he can in the final three and a half years Of the tribulation But ultimately he'll be destroyed and jesus's kingdom will be fully realized on earth And notice the final kingdom is everlasting And the saints no longer are persecuted But now blessed In revelation 21 3 and 4 I heard a loud voice from the throne saying now the dwelling of god is with men And he will live with them. They will be his people god himself will be with them and be their god He will wipe every tear from their eyes There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain For the old order of things has passed away No more fears of any sort no more No more pain No more sorrow No more tears No more mourning No more loss No more sickness Somebody has asked who is the first person you want to see when you go to heaven I think we all know who that is jesus But who else would you want to see? Who else do you look forward to seeing? Who else? Every one of us Probably has one or two three or four or more I'll see my dad. I'll see my mom I'll see my grandfather I'm going to meet my grandmother. I never knew them on earth There's a whole lot of people that one day i'm going to see I'm going to walk up to pastor chuck and see I missed you How about you? No more tears No more sorrow No more pain No more fear Except joy Can you picture that for a moment? Can you? Finally one day Will rest Finally all the labors are done All the hurts Are forgotten All the disappointments fade away Not a single tear God will wipe away our tears You hold he says I make all things new And that includes the letter that's hanging down there And daniel says My thoughts greatly troubled me After I've seen all of this All I can do is be deeply troubled because There's so much that's going to come upon the earth before The messiah arrives And so he says that he says Verse 28 this is the end of the account as for me daniel my thoughts greatly troubled me My countenance changed I kept the matter in my heart I I think that one last thought I think that as we look at the way the world is right now guys Maybe maybe our hearts ought to be stirred up a little bit Maybe maybe it's maybe we ought to Instead of being mad at so many sinners And mad at house how the world has changed so much Maybe instead of being angry all the time because I see a lot of angry christians lately I really do I wonder my goodness What I understand I understand frustration god knows I do I'm a father I had kids frustrate me to this day. I understand frustration I understand disappointment But I also understand hope I also understand a god With whom nothing is impossible I also believe that gods gospel Can still change hearts by the power of the holy spirit I believe that if I didn't I'd retire from ministry and go do something else But I believe it I believe that there's still hope for this world There is Because jesus is my hope He is my hope and I look To the blessed hope The appearing of my great god and savior jesus christ And so until that moment Let's press in Let's serve the lord Let's let's let's realize that we're in a building a building that's on fire And that We have the ability and responsibility to do everything we can to bring as many people out of that fire as we can It would be a very selfish thing for me to just run out of the building and leave everybody behind Don't we call them heroes those in 9 11 who did that kind of thing rush back to a To a building that eventually collapsed and and and killed many people who were heroes heroic who were rescuers. Well, guess what? Maybe we can do that. Maybe we should do that Maybe we have people that that god is putting in in our path that that we can influence for christ Maybe maybe that kid that bothers you so much at work Is is the next is is the next great evangelist. You don't know that You don't know that You don't know that person that you lead to christ You don't know what they're going to be but god knows what he can do with them And all he needs me to do if you will all he has commanded me to do is to share his love with people And he'll take care of the rest and so if I keep my eyes on everything that I see around me that that bothers me And it does it does The world that I live in now isn't the world I grew up in by any means But that doesn't mean that there's no hope for it Because jesus is our hope And if our hearts are troubled a bit by it Well, maybe we ought to do something To change it and what's going to change the world guides the gospel The gospel So be faithful share the lord with people pray for them And who knows that person that irritates you so much They may come to faith in christ And now you can You can see god do something wonderful. I can't tell you how many people looked at me and said that's a lost cause I can't tell you Including my mom and dad But guess what god had other plans And he has other plans for for people too. Don't forget that Anyway, may that stir your heart to do something for jesus father. We ask That even as we've just done an overview beginning Portion that's prophetic. I just ask that way the church would take Seriously the responsibilities that you've given to us To take your gospel and preach it And so lord, I asked that we would do that and And that lord we would we would realize that there's always hope with you And you do make all things new and so I pray that you would work in us to that end And perhaps as our eyes are closed there may be some in this room right now The holy spirit is speaking to and you need to get right with the lord Well before we enter into our closing with communion, if you know, you need to get right with the lord If you're watching online, you can do this obviously at home But if you're in this room and you need to get right with the lord I'd like to pray for you And if you need to would you raise your hand and let me pray for you right where you're at right now Just raise your hand father you see these hands You know the reason why they're being raised to you in Jesus name I ask that you would reach down And that you would touch each person whose hand is raised may they know That their names are in your book may they look forward To being with you one day And if there's something they're going through right now, I pray in Jesus name that you would relieve them And that you would work in them And so our hearts are open to you now Jesus washing cleanses fill us with your presence And we receive that what you are offering And we bless you for thank you. You can put your hands down In Jesus as we prepare now To receive of communion I ask that you would speak to us and meet us in a special way In your name we pray amen