In the Word

Pastor Mike Warren: Put your finger there in verse 19. You've already forgiven me, right? You're ready to study. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your Word and the rest of Chapter 7. How could we ever leave that undone? So Lord, we just pray this evening that as we look at these verses, as you give to Daniel, as it were, the understanding of this vision, may you give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. So much of this has to do with the time we're living in and the things that are going to happen just after the church is gone. As we have these minds that want to know, Father, these verses are important to us. Give us clarity, we pray, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Chapter 7 is a little difficult already, and some of you have been pushing back on me somewhat because as you grow in your faith and as you grow as a Bible student and as a Bible teacher, sometimes you get a little greater clarity on certain chapters and verses than you had when you first started out. For years as a Bible teacher, as a pastor, I always taught that Chapter 7 was a reflection, as it were, of Chapter 2. In fact, if you read scholarship, if you read commentaries, they'll say the very same thing. In fact, the majority of commentaries and the majority of Christian scholarship will tell you that it is that, and the imagery somewhat fits.

But I have a different take on it now for several reasons, and I'm going to mention them to you again. The reason why I believe that Chapter 7 is not a repeat of Chapter 2. You know what happens in Chapter 2: Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. He doesn't trust the men of his court, his advisors, so he gives this incentive. He says to them as he gathers them together, "Listen, you tell me the dream and the interpretation, and then I'll know you're not lying to me. Because if you don't, I'm going to cut you into pieces and make your house a dunghill."

None of the soothsayers, none of the Chaldeans, none of the wise men of Babylon could tell Nebuchadnezzar the dream or the interpretation. He sends out his soldiers to kill all the wise men. They come to Daniel's house, and Daniel says, "Don't be hasty. Let me seek the God of heaven who is a revealer of secret things." And you know that he does, and he gives him the dream and the interpretation, and he presents it to Nebuchadnezzar.

The dream is very simple: four empires are going to come and go. You're the first; you're the head of gold. Then will come the Medo-Persians, then will come the Greeks, and then will come the Romans. The Roman Empire will never be conquered; it kind of goes down to the 10 toes, which will be 10 kings or kingdoms existing in the very last of the last days. Make note of that when a stone cut without hands, a supernatural stone, strikes those 10 kings or kingdoms which are part of the Antichrist coalition, as we're going to see tonight.

It breaks it into pieces. The governments of this world are like the chaff of the threshing floor; they go away, and this rock turns into a great mountain and rules the whole earth, which is Jesus setting up his millennial reign where he returns with the church to rule from Jerusalem on the throne of David for a millennium, for a thousand years. At the end of the thousand years, a new heaven and a new earth. We're back where we started from the very beginning. 7,000 years will have gone by from creation again to a new creation.

That's the picture of Chapter 2. Now, there are parts and pieces that he picks up on as we move into Chapter 7. But there are three things. Number one: If Chapter 7 would have been a repeat of Chapter 2, as we're going to see tonight, Daniel would not have been confused as to what the meaning of these things are. He would have understood it because it was already revealed to him. He would have just said, "Okay, this is a repeat. You're just using some different symbolism. Instead of using gold and silver and bronze and iron, now you're using beasts."

But Daniel did not understand. He was confused. In fact, we're going to see at the end of this chapter that he still was confused even after he got the interpretation because he talks about the cogitations of his mind. They were stirring as he sees this thing and he's trying to understand this imagery because there are some things in there he's having a hard time wrapping his hands around—that there could actually be a time where God's people, the saints...

And by the way, the word "saints" is used 35 times in the Old Testament, always a reference to Israel. So, as we're walking through the rest of Chapter 7, realize the church was a mystery hidden in times past. No prophet, although they hinted at it, completely understood. Paul in the New Testament was the first man that really understood the mystery hidden in times past. That's why he's the Apostle of Grace. That's why I think the Lord used him to write 14 of the New Testament letters out of the 27 New Testament letters, because he is that kind of a man that was given great insight. That's why the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, buffeted him because of the revelation that he had.

So, when we're looking at the saints here and the saints in the time of Revelation that we just studied on Sunday mornings, that's Old Testament saints. That's Israel. When we're studying biblical prophecy, make note of this: Israel and the church and the covenants given to each one are mutually exclusive. Two different people groups God is dealing with. Israel is called the wife of God; we're called the bride of Christ. Israel has a covenant of the law with all of its sacrifices and all of that stuff that goes with it; we have a covenant of grace. We're not the same. If you intermingle the prophecies with Israel and you try to apply them to the church, you'll have the church going through the tribulation. It just will not work.

You have to know, especially when we come to Chapter 9, you have to know who God is speaking to. So many people get confused because both God's people of the Old Testament, Israel, and God's people of the New Testament, the church, are both called saints because we are. But what saints and to what time period of saints is he writing? It's very important to make note of that. Daniel sees that this beast, this terrible and dreadful thing with iron teeth, makes war against the saints and he prevails. Can you imagine an Old Testament prophet trying to wrap his hands around that? Why, Lord? Why would that ever happen? And he sees the devastation that this particular person and those that are with him do to God's people. It stirred in him; it bothered him. It shook him to the core, as we're going to see, and no doubt it would if you were Daniel.

Number one: Daniel would have understood that this was a repeat. He would have had clarity on that because it was already revealed to him. Number two: In verse 7, there's a word there—it's "before." Let's read it and then we'll try to tie a knot in it. He says there in Chapter 7, verse 7, "And after this I saw in this night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and it brake in pieces, it stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from the other beasts (that was the lion, the bear, and the leopard that's in the previous verses). It was diverse before it."

So these were diverse from all the other beasts that were before it, and it had 10 horns. These 10 horns, they correlate with the 10 toes of Daniel Chapter 2. This is where it kind of comes into play, but it's in the very last part of it. Again, scholarship has tried to make the lion and the bear and the leopard fit with Babylon, the Medo-Persians, and the Greeks, but it doesn't. Because that word "before," Gamma dama in the Aramaic, it means literally "to stand before," "in the presence of." And the idea is that an inferior stands before a superior. It cannot be interpreted in succession, like Daniel's vision back in Chapter 2.

There were the Medo-Persians that were overtaken by the Babylonians, overtaken by the Medo-Persians, who were overtaken by the Greeks, who were overtaken by the Romans. These came in succession. And as he sees this lion and this bear and this leopard standing before this dreadful beast, they're all existing at the same time. That word means that these other three—the bear, the lion, and the leopard—are standing in the presence of this beast that has these iron teeth that is dreadful, that stamps, that's going to make war against the saints and prevail. Daniel is seeing that. So, the word there for "before" indicates that this is not a succession; this is something all happening at once.

And then the last of these things as we see in verse 17, that he says that these beasts shall arise. In the Aramaic, it is in the future tense. Daniel was living at the time of the first, the Babylonian head of gold. He will live through at least into the early stages of the second of these empires, the Medo-Persian. He will meet Cyrus at the gates of Babylon and tell him that "you've been written about in Holy Scripture 200 years before you ever were." And because of that, Cyrus will spare Jerusalem and won't destroy it. Cyrus actually gets down and gives honor to this prophet Daniel.

For that reason too, number three: it can't be a repeat of Chapter 2 because number one, Daniel would have understood it, the word for "before" would not have been used making these things happen all at the same time, and it wouldn't be in the future tense. But what does fit? Let's, by way of review, look at Chapter 13 of Revelation. We studied this not so long ago on Sunday mornings. What does fit is the first eight verses of Revelation Chapter 13.

John is standing. John said, "I stood upon the sands of the sea, and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea." The sea is always a type of humanity. Some of the references you can look up are Isaiah 57:20 and some other verses, but the sea is always a representation of humanity. The foaming of the sea is a representation of humanity. John is seeing the same thing that Daniel saw. This is a repeat. Chapter 13 of Revelation is a repeat of Daniel Chapter 7.

John is saying, "I'm standing on the seashore of humanity, and I watch this beast. It rises up out of the sea. It has seven heads and 10 horns, and upon the horns 10 crowns." So these are kings or kingdoms, these are forces that coalesce together with the Antichrist to bring about this one-world government. "And upon the heads, names of blasphemy." So we know the time that John is seeing and John is writing is during the tribulation. We're going to see he's referencing Chapter 7.

Watch as we read on in verse 2: "And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion: and the dragon (that's that fourth beast) gave him his power." These three powers are empowered by the wicked one, this man that is actually Satan incarnate, this dragon. "And his seat, and he had great authority. And I saw one of the heads as though it were wounded to death." In the Old Testament, we're told that the Antichrist will be wounded. His right eye will go dark, there will be a wound upon his head, he's going to lose the ability of one of his arms, and it's going to be as though he were dead, and then he's going to, as it were, raise from the dead. Because the Antichrist, the one who's against Christ, is going to mock Christ by trying to emulate Christ even in the death, burial, and resurrection.

Here John says, "I saw this one as though one of the heads were wounded with a deadly wound; and it was healed: and all the world wondered after this beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast." So, Satan worship is going to be prevalent. That's why I tell you when we went through Revelation, that last three and a half years when the Antichrist comes into the rebuilt temple and offers the abomination of desolation which Daniel speaks about, which Jesus quotes concerning Daniel in the New Testament, when that happens from that last three and a half years, I think that whatever divides the fourth dimension from the third dimension is going to get real thin. It's going to be a very wicked time of demonic activity.

This is what John is seeing. They worshipped the dragon that gave power unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast saying, "Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" And there was given unto him a mouth—make note of these things because we're going to see this imagery again in the last part of Chapter 7 of Daniel—"Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemy; and power was given unto him (listen carefully) to continue for 42 months." So this exposure of who this man is—because the first three and a half years, we know as we study through Revelation that actually Israel is going to think that this is the Messiah. They're going to hail him as their Messiah.

And then three and a half years into the seven-year period of the tribulation, as he goes into the temple and offers, as it were, the abomination of desolation and he defiles the temple which Jesus will cleanse when he comes back, their eyes are going to be opened. Zechariah Chapter 12 says they're going to mourn like someone has lost their own son because they're going to realize they crucified the true Messiah, they rejected him, and this is the false Messiah. They're going to flee, the Bible says. I believe to Petra. God's going to protect this nation of Israel for the last three and a half years.

But it tells that he has power now, this man of sin, this man that's completely filled with Satan, controlled by Satan. It says in verse 6, "And he opens his mouth in blasphemy against God, he blasphemes his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven." See, we're outside of his reach—them that dwell in heaven, us. He's still cursing at us, shaking his fist. He can't reach us. "And it was given unto him (listen carefully, verse 7) to make war with the saints." Not the church. The church is in heaven at this time; we left in Chapter 4. And Chapter 6, the tribulation began.

Who are these saints? Because the last seven years are what we call the tribulation period, the last 70-week vision of Daniel we're going to get next week as we walk through that section. God is again dealing with Israel. The time of the church is gone. It opened up with the rejection of Jesus Christ by his people Israel; they crucified him. Because they crucified him, God opened wide whosoever would come through this covenant of grace called the church. Jew or Gentile could be saved. When the church doors close and the church is removed, God will again deal with Israel. So this last seven-year period that we're reading about right now is God dealing with Israel again. It's Old Testament saints, Israel up to the New Testament, and now Israel this last seven years.

He's going to make war against the saints. We know it can't be the church. Why? Because the Bible says greater is he that is in us than he that is in this world. Because in order to be part of the church, you have to be born into it. You have to have a new birth. You have to be born again by the Spirit. And when you are born again by the Spirit, as Jesus said, "You must be born again," you are filled with the Holy Spirit. In fact, Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, tells us in one of the two prayers that he prays—it's the first of the two—that the eyes of our understanding would be illuminated, that we'd be able to understand with all the saints what is the exceeding greatness of the power of the Holy Spirit that works in us, the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in the church.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came on kings and on prophets and could leave kings and prophets. It wasn't that they were indwelt like the church. You remember David praying after he had sinned, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Cleanse me with hyssop," because there was the capacity for that to happen. But you and I, once we're born again, Jesus promised never to leave us or forsake us. In fact, he tells us greater is he that is in you than he that is in this world. He tells us the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they're mighty in God even to the point where we can pull down the strongholds of the wicked one. In fact, no weapon formed against you will prosper. This is the heritage of the saints.

In fact, we've been given armor. In fact, the Bible says it's God's armor. Helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, loins girt with truth, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, sword of the Spirit, and this wonderful thing called prayer where when we pray, God opens doors and he shuts others. So the church will never be destroyed. The church will never be overcome by the wicked one. It can't. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church. We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.

We are a unique people group, and when you read about the distinct place that the church holds in heaven, it holds a different place than Israel, because we mentioned as we walked through the 144,000 that represent Israel that are in heaven, they're of a different ranking and a different class. And then the ones who come out of the tribulation who die their martyr's death that we're talking about here and we'll talk about in the rest of Chapter 7, they're of a servant class. Only the church, as Jesus writes them in Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, only the church will be clothed in white raiment with the stephanos on their head, the victor's crown. Only the church gets to be seated on Christ's throne as he's seated on his Father's throne. You read it through and look: only the church gets to rule and reign with Christ, and only the church is promised to judge angels and to judge the things that are before us.

When Paul writes to the church at Corinth and when they're taking each other to secular court, he says, "What are you doing? Is there not a wise man among you that can discern between his brother and the differences that are going on? Do you not know that one day you as the church are going to judge angels? Can't you judge the small matters?" Listen, we're unique. If you understood what God has in store for you, you'd fall on your face every day and just thank him.

So this is not the church; this is God dealing with Israel again. And in this time, the wicked one will make war against the saints, these Old Testament saints now moving through the tribulation period. And it says to overcome them, and power was given to him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. Listen to verse 8 as we close out: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."

So that's what John sees. And if you're going to have a repeat, John is a repeat of Chapter 7, because he sees the bear, the leopard, the lion. He sees this fourth beast, dreadful. He understands that this beast will rise up out of humanity as we saw in the first part of Chapter 7, as the winds of God begin to stir upon humanity. Out comes this beast, as we know that it's just ahead for us. After he takes the church out, it will just come after that.

And by the way, you know we're on the very precipice of that. How many saw Amir on Behold Israel this week? You know he was part of the Israeli military, still connected with intelligence of Israel, that Israel is getting ready now to take out the centrifuges in Iran. They're done. They know that they stand alone. They know that America does not have their back. America's too weak. I believe America represented in Daniel Chapter 7 is the eagle with its wings plucked. Can you ever imagine a time where America has not been a world power till recently?

The last administration, North Korea, they feared Trump. "Come over, visit us. We'll stop the missile program, whatever," because they knew that when he spoke, he meant what he said. Russia, China, now we're the laughingstock. The Australians laugh at us, the down under. So I believe that that's what we're seeing. This is the imagery before us.

And so if there's a repeat, it's a repeat of Revelation Chapter 13 is repeating Daniel Chapter 7. So let's read on as we get more information. As we come to verse 19, listen to what Daniel says. Now he's had this vision of these winds, the winds of God stirring upon the sea of humanity, and he sees this beast that comes out with this iron teeth, and he sees these three other beasts—this lion and this bear and this leopard—standing before this beast. He notices this beast has seven heads, because that's what John tells, but it has 10 horns, which are the 10 toes. They do represent the 10 toes.

So he's seeing this, but he doesn't understand it. Obviously not a repeat of Chapter 2. Then he says in verse 19, "Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast." If it would have been Rome, the last of those four beasts in Chapter 2, he would have known. He said, "But I want to know, what is this fourth beast, which was diverse from the others, exceedingly dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, nails of brass, which devoured and break in pieces and stamped the residue with his feet; and the 10 horns that were in his head, and the other that came up before whom three fell (so one horn comes up and consumes three of these 10 kingdoms or 10 kings), even the horn that had eyes and a mouth speaking great things (and the idea is blasphemy), whose look was more stout than his fellows. And I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints and he prevailed against them."

What in the world is going on here? Daniel's going to talk about cogitations. I think you have cogitations when you have acid reflux. I think that these things are so disturbing, they stir in you. And Daniel is saying, "What is this? Who is this one with these 10 horns? Who is this fierce beast that rises up, as it were, in the last days during the time of the 10 kings?"

And by the way, I think—and again, you can study for yourself—Psalms 83. I think that the 10 kingdoms mentioned in Daniel Chapter 2 as the 10 toes and here as the 10 horns, that does correlate with each other because we're in the time now. Daniel sees in Chapter 7 we're in the time, we're in the last of the last days when these 10 kings will be in existence to give credence or authority or coalesce with this one-world government as the Antichrist comes to power.

I personally believe it's not the European Union. I don't believe it's the world divided into 10 sections. You can read all of this stuff, and there's so many different theories on this. I think personally it's Psalms 83. And I think that what we're seeing, the fulfillment of this part of prophecy, began back in 2011 with what we call the Arab Spring. Because when you go to Psalms 83 and you look at the 10 kingdoms or 10 kings that are mentioned there, they are those radical Islamic nations that radicalized in 2011 that surround Israel that are calling for Israel's destruction.

And when you read the first part of Psalms 83, you have Israel crying out to God for help because they know they have no other help. And they're crying out to the Lord because they said, "Your enemies and our enemies have raised their head and they're calling for annihilation; they're calling for our destruction." Never happened in any other time in history. Psalms 83 is one of those prophetic psalms never been fulfilled yet, and every scholar will tell you that. It doesn't fit anything in history past.

And then it talks about this coalescing of these 10 kings or kingdoms that are going to rise up and call for the destruction of Israel, and they will attack. And when they attack, God himself, like Old Testament stuff, shows up. You read the last few verses: he shows up and he defends Israel in such a way and in such a manner that the whole world will know that God alone has protected Israel. It's going to be like Old Testament miracle kind of a thing.

And then for the first time, when this battle is over, when the dust settles and the smoke clears, for the first time in the history of Israel, they will own all of the land and property that was given to them in the Abrahamic covenant. They've never done that yet. They've possessed parts and pieces of it. But when these 10 kingdoms—and I believe that's what he's talking about in Daniel 2 when he says they're like iron mixed with clay, they won't adhere to one another—but yet they're part of this confederation, if you will.

And the reason why they don't adhere to one another, if it wasn't for Israel, they'd be killing each other. You have to understand there's two major factions, six more on top of that. The Sunnis and the Shiites hate each other. They would kill—in fact, they're more kind to a Christian that would pay tribute to them than they are to each other, because they think the Christians are just infidels, but the other ones, as they view each other, are apostates. And so that's why I believe the iron and the clay.

But what would set off these 10 kings or kingdoms, these 10 toes or 10 horns, attacking Israel? What would set that off? Do you think if tomorrow you woke up and it was slashing all across the news—maybe not CNN or MSNBC—but if you saw it on Fox or Newsmax, legitimately so, that Israel had taken out all of the centrifuges and completely taken away from Iran its ability to defend itself or to attack Israel, what do you think those other Islamic nations would do to Israel?

Why do you think Iran is not mentioned in the first attack, but they come with the second attack from Russia? Ezekiel 38 and 39. When you read the first part of Psalms 83, you understand it's a holy jihad. It's a spiritual war because the ones who hate God's people have lifted up their heads and cry for their destruction. But the second battle when Russia comes down is for a spoil because guess what? Who will be in control of all of the oil of the world when this battle is over? Israel.

They come for the spoil and again, the prophet Ezekiel tells us that for every seven soldiers that come down, only one will be left to be returning. They'll bury the dead for seven months professionally and for the next seven years they're going to spend cleansing the land. We are on the precipice of that. That could break out at any moment.

And listen, out of those two battles comes this man of sin with all of the answers. We're going to see that as we walk through Daniel: he's a man who conquers with peace. He'll make a covenant, as we're going to see next week, with Israel to rebuild their temple. "Calm down." He's going to have a man who has all the answers and listen, these 10 kingdoms will come into power with him. Three will fall and he'll take over those three, but he's going to rise up out of the ashes of this great battle that we're on the precipice of. This is what Daniel is seeing.

But he says this guy is going to make war—this is during the tribulation—with the saints, just like John saw in Revelation 13, *until*—please circle that, verse 22. I like the *untils* of the Bible. *Until* the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.

This is how it ends, guys. Maybe a dark day before we get to that, not for us but for Israel. But at the end of the day, stop worrying about Republicans and Democrats and Trump and Biden and all of the weird Pelosis of the world and the Schumers and the McDonalds or whatever his name is—all of these political people, they're not your Savior. They are corrupt to the core. Man cannot govern himself. They're debating today in the Supreme Court whether abortion is a constitutional right or not. Why are we debating that? It's murder. Why are we making legal what God calls an abomination?

Listen, if you haven't figured it out right now, you need to stop praying for America and start praying for Americans. You need to pray for revival. You need to pray for another divine outpouring of the Holy Spirit so we can have one last harvest before God takes the church out. Didn't Jesus say to his disciples, "Listen carefully, the fields are ripe, the laborers are few, pray for laborers because night is coming when no man can labor"? It's day now; labor while you can yet labor. Because when the church is gone, the Spirit-filled church, the salt and the light of this world, then some really weird things are going to happen here.

Listen, you don't want to be here. Steven Spielberg has no idea of what weird is. He's going to see weird when we get into the tribulation. And when you read the first three and a half years, people will tell you, "Well, the first three and a half years aren't so bad." Are you kidding? Have you not read the book of Revelation? "Oh, it gets a lot worse in the last three and a half years with all of the demonic stuff." But the first three and a half years is no picnic either.

But none of this can happen until we're removed. "Well, how can you say that, Pastor?" Because I'm pre-trib. "Well, why are you pre-trib, because you're an escapist?" Absolutely. Have you read what goes on? Of course I'm an escapist. I'm not a masochist. Who would want to go through that stuff? Are you kidding me?

But that's not the reason why. Because when you look through the Bible, God always has a method. When you look back at the days of Noah where the wickedness of man became so great that God even repented that he made man, what did he do when he found one righteous man and his three sons, their three wives, and his wife? Eight souls. What did he do? He rescued them. He took them out in an ark and then he destroyed the wicked. Sodom and Gomorrah—you remember the story. Jesus and the angels are on the way down to see if the city's ripe for judgment. They run into Abraham, good Jewish man, starts working on them. "Hey, for 50 would you destroy the city? For 50, would you do it for 40? How about 30? Can I hear 20?" He says no. And what did he do? He removed the righteous before he destroyed those cities. Amen.

That's God's MO. We're not going to be here when his judgment comes. What you're experiencing now is the wrath of Satan against the saints, not the wrath of God. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:9, "You're not appointed unto wrath." We've escaped that. He's coming for his bride. You don't beat your bride up before the wedding, at least you're not supposed to. And if that's gone on, you come and see me because some things need to be straightened out for sure.

But this went on *until*—and guess who comes back with the Ancient of Days? We studied that in Chapter 19, right? And let me give you a little clue: learn how to ride a horse. *Until* the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given to the saints of the most High and they possessed the kingdom. This is the second coming. This is not the rapture; this is when we return with Christ to set up his eternal kingdom that will never know an end.

I like this title, Ancient of Days. It's only used in Daniel Chapter 7. It's not used anywhere else in the Scripture. But it's used three times in Daniel Chapter 7, this title Ancient of Days. In fact, let me read you something from Psalms Chapter 90, verse 2, because this is what it's describing. In Psalms 90, verse 2 it says this—well, let me just back up to verse 1 and read you two verses: "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations." Is that not true? What he did in protecting Israel when he was judging Egypt, do you think he won't do that for us when he's judging America or this world? Absolutely.

But listen to what verse 2 says: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the worlds, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." I think that's a pretty good description of Ancient of Days. The eternal one, the everlasting one, the one who never had a beginning, the Alpha, who will never have an ending, the Omega—he's going to return in the midst of this time when the Antichrist, this man completely possessed of the devil, the devil incarnate, is attacking God's people. Jerusalem will fall to the half and God will show up. You can read it in Isaiah Chapter 63: we come with him to establish his millennial reign.

"Until the Ancient of Days came," then it says in verse 23, "Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be diverse from all other kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth and shall tread down and break into pieces the 10 horns." So this beast is going to come out of the fourth kingdom, out of Rome. Listen, we're still part of the Roman revised system. Did you know that? Rome was never conquered. Listen, we still have our arenas, and sometimes we have the saints and the lions battling it out. We have a Senate. We have that form of government. Rome was never conquered in 476 AD; it kind of just dispelled as Constantine took the headquarters from Rome and put it in Constantinople, Istanbul. The two pillars are there, one in Istanbul—all roads lead to Istanbul, all roads lead to Rome. There's the two legs. It never was conquered, and we're a part of that.

And so this beast, this Antichrist—in fact, there's a lot of indications he's going to come out of part of the old Roman Empire—he will come to the fore, and the 10 horns—this is the thing that Daniel was really concerned about—and the 10 horns out of this kingdom are 10 kings that shall arise. Again, in the Aramaic, it's in the future tense: *shall* arise. And another shall arise after them, and shall be diverse from the first and shall subdue three of them. So they have to be existing at the same time for them to rise up and him to subdue three of these 10 kings. They can't be in succession.

And so Daniel is seeing this and then he says this in verse 25, "And he shall speak great words against the most High and shall wear out the saints of the most High and shall think to change times and laws." Now, isn't it interesting when you study the book of Revelation and he begins to give us the three and a half years, 42 months, it goes back to a 360-day calendar? All of Revelation, the seven years that are recorded, go back to a 360-day calendar, not a 365 1/4-day calendar that the Roman Greco calendar is based on. In the early parts of Revelation, there are some very cataclysmic events that take place: a third of the oceans turned to blood, a third of the trees, a third of the grass, a third of the plants, a third of the streams turn to wormwood. Something cataclysmic happens; could it be that the orbit of the earth is shaken to the point where we go back to a 360-day year? Could be. A lot of scientists believe that's possible because the earth is already in a wobble. Could happen.

But he's going to seek to change not only the times but the laws. Now, Daniel told us about this back in Daniel Chapter 2, verse 20: "Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his." And listen to what he says: "And he changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he giveth wisdom unto the wise and knowledge to them that have understanding." So again, he's trying to emulate as though he had the power to change laws and times. Listen, that's in the hands of our King.

Listen, I want you guys to know something. As we're going into these last of the last days and, you know, Paul calls them perilous times, I think that spiritual warfare is going to exponentially intensify, and I think it has been intensifying. I think there are some very foul things afoot. I don't think that what we're in a battle of right now is a political battle at all. I don't even think it's a battle among the nations of this world. I think it's a battle against light and dark. And I think there are forces that God is allowing to move us toward a one-world government so the Antichrist can come to the fore. And you're not going to change that. It's dyed-in-the-wool, it's set in stone, it's prophecy.

But what we can change as we pray is people getting saved. Amen. A harvest. You need to stop worrying so much about the political scene and start worrying about the spiritual scene. Amen. You need to stop looking out and start looking up because Jesus told us when you see these things happen, look up because your redemption draws near. You need to redeem the time because the days are evil. What does it mean, redeem the time? Use it wisely. What is the wisest use of your time? The Bible says in Proverbs that they who save souls is what? Wise. Man, your ambition, your drive, every bit of the time that you have ought to be being used to be a light in dark places. It's getting darker and your light is shining brighter. And to be salt in a world that is putrefying, and I'm going to tell you, you can almost smell the stench of it, can you not? You better get real salty because in a few moments, Jesus is going to come back and it's going to be done, it's going to be over.

So he's explaining to them until the Ancient of Days come. And then he says this, let's read verse 25 again: "And he spoke great words against the most High to wear out the saints of the most High, to think to change the times and the laws; and they shall be given into his hand until (listen) time, times, and a dividing of times." So we know the time these beasts are coming up; it's the last three and a half years of the tribulation. Same wording used by John. So it's not hard to figure out what time we're talking about here; it's the last three and a half years.

But we come to verse 26. But—don't you like the *untils* and the *buts* of the Bible? It's transitional, it's comparative when you see these words. Okay, this is bad; this is Satan having his last moment. Last three and a half years, worse than bad. The veil between the spirit realm and the physical realm is really diminished. Satan's afoot, man things are happening. God's people, the Old Testament saints that are found in this time of Jacob's trouble—that's what Jeremiah calls it—are in trouble. It looks bad; Jerusalem has fallen to the half and all of a sudden, here comes the one as Isaiah prophesies in Chapter 63, one mighty to save.

The first time I read that, Isaiah, because I was reading through the Old Testament, I got saved. You know what I thought of? How many grew up during the days of Saturday morning cartoons, man? My mom used to buy chocolate milk and donuts just for us kids on Saturday morning so we could sit in front of the TV set and watch good cartoons, moral cartoons. Always had a good ending. Listen, good always won out over evil. And so I'm reading through Isaiah for the first time as a new Christian. I get to Chapter 63 and I hear a song in my head when it says, "Who is this that comes from Edom, whose garments are dyed, as it were, in the blood, trampling out the winepress by himself, mighty to save?"

Mighty Mouse! That's right! "I'm on my way!" And I just—that's the picture I had. And listen, we come with him. Mighty to save. We do not end this thing in defeat. Listen, you are more than a conqueror. Get your armor on, get some fight about you, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, get your face in the book and your knees on the ground and pray like you've never prayed before. Pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit.

Listen, I'm a part and a product of the last great revival, the Jesus People. And God used Chuck Smith. I got to set, because my pastor was Chuck Smith's nephew, many times at the pastor's conferences. I got to set at the big table. You know when you have Thanksgiving, you have the big table for the adults and you have the little table for the kids? Well, I got invited up to the big table many, many times where Chuck would be there. And that's where Dave Hawking—I met them and Paul Smith, Chuck's brother, good friend of mine, Bob my pastor for all those years. And I remember one time we're sitting at the table and it got really quiet and you know, I just listen. I didn't want to, like Lincoln said, "Keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool, don't open it up and dispel all doubt."

So I would just sit there like a fly on the wall and listen to what these great men of God had to say. And I don't know, there was a lull in the conversation and I looked at Chuck one time and I said, "Chuck, how did Calvary Chapel start?" I got involved in 1980, but it had started back ten, eleven years before I got involved. It was still a small movement when I got involved. But he said, "We fell into a revival, and our only job was to stay in it. To move in the power of the Holy Spirit, standing firmly on the authority of God's Word."

We realized that those two things had to be married together and they should never be separated: the power of the Holy Spirit to convict men of sin and of righteousness and of the judgment that is to come, and the power of the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us into all truth, to illuminate God's Word. But God's Word is the standard. Verse by verse, chapter by chapter, we lay that foundation. It's the verse on the wall when you leave here from Ephesians Chapter 2, 19 onto the end: that we are built upon a foundation of the apostles and prophets, Old Testament, New Testament, Jesus Christ who is the chief cornerstone, holds it all together.

We're built upon this foundation of God's Word and we are fitly framed together. God placed every one of you in the body of Christ as it pleased him and we're fitly framed together and we grow into this habitation of God as we are his temple by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need them both. And yet today, you don't hear much about the Holy Spirit in churches today and not much teaching of God's Word. Listen, we are committed to both of those things here.

And we believe—I pray—one more time, Father, pour out your Spirit. One more time, rise up people like Peter again to give a simple message and people pricked in their hearts come to faith in Christ, be saved before it's too late. You need to stop being... listen, I'm going to lose my mind the next time I hear a political statement. Because are you that narrow-minded? Are you that daft? Are you that deaf about spiritual things to think this is a political problem? This world is moving toward judgment. The church is going to be removed. God's Word is going to be fulfilled. This man of sin is going to come to the fore. And that seven years are going to be pretty rough until we come back, until the Ancient of Days sets up his kingdom.

So what should be the focus? Should it not be spiritual things? Listen, the devil's done a great job to put our face in things that we should not have our face in and our face away from things that we should have our face toward. Could I get an amen? So wake up, church! It's interesting when Jesus taught the parable of the 10 virgins, five wise, five foolish, did you notice that all 10 of them had to be woken up? Listen, we don't want to be woke; we want to be awake! I've been waiting to say that for a long time. We don't want to be woke; we want to be awake when Jesus comes, actively involved through the power of his Spirit, through the authority of his Word, doing what the church was always meant to do: to be the salt and the light of the world, to give a testimony to who Jesus is and see people saved and born again.

Like the young man, Todd, we prayed for him. He came by here and visited us all full of anger and drugs and paranoia maybe a year ago, over a year ago. He shows up to church on Sunday, gives his life to Christ—completely different person when he came up to the front afterwards. Humble, thanking us, tears running down his face because the Spirit of the living God through the authority of his Word touched his heart and he's saved. I don't want to talk to him about Biden and inflation and Afghanistan; I want to talk to him about the kingdom of heaven and this work of the Spirit in his heart.

And list, we want to talk about places? Let's talk about heaven. We're going there soon. We're going to have dinner with Dad in the mezzanine. This is going to be a distant memory, guys. Stop worrying about it. Do you think your God is not able to take care of you through these times? Oh, he let Israel down, didn't he, during the times he was judging Egypt? There were no miracles going on there, were there? Not one. God's people—listen, did those plagues ever go to the land of Goshen? No, they did not.

I know I'm preaching, not teaching. I'll get back to teaching in a moment. But let me preach for a moment. Did any of those plagues touch God's people? Read it again. When the cattle were diseased and dying in Egypt, what were they doing over in the land of Goshen? They were multiplying. No plague that was in Egypt ever came. There was a line of demarcation. I would have liked to have been there. Sometimes I've dreamed about having a time machine and going back to certain events and being able to witness them for myself because I could only read about them.

Can you imagine having been there when that line of... darkness one place, light on the other side? Could you have poked your finger in it? They said that they gnawed their tongues because there was something about the darkness that they felt. I think it was demonic. Flies and frogs and all... listen, all of their freshwater, their rivers, what was in the pots, the springs, the wells, all turned to blood. Not so in the land of Goshen. You think God doesn't know how to protect his people when he's judging a nation?

And what was he in the process of doing when he was judging them? Sending a deliverer. Sending a deliverer. And Moses was a type of Christ. And when they left, they left wealthy. They didn't leave paupers. They left with the gold and the jewels of Egypt. Oh, yeah, but God led them into a trap. Yeah, he did, on purpose because he wanted to test their faith. Mountain on either side, an army behind them wanting to kill them, and an ocean in front of them. And they began to complain and they didn't realize what God was about to do.

Moses, I think he had the right idea. He wants to pray, and God said, "There's a time to pray, Moses, and there's a time to move. This is a time to move. What do you have in your hand?" "Well, I got a stick." Well, that's enough. A stick in the hand of a man of God is more than enough against any of the enemies of the Lord. Amen.

Now let me tell you something. Paper is made out of what? What do you have in your hand? He said, "Point it out over the ocean, Moses." And he did. And what happened? Oh, I'd like to have been there too. Sharks looking at you! This is an ocean, not a lake! Sharks looking at you, walls of water on either side—we know that because he drowned the whole Egyptian army when they tried to cross. Could you have neener-neenered a shark on the way past? I would have!

Listen, I would have loved to have seen that. And then on the other side, they sing the song of redemption, the song of Moses their deliverer. Where's your faith? Because without it, it's impossible to please him. Because you've got to believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

Listen, this is how it ends: But (verse 26), the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and its dominion shall... listen, shall serve and obey him. Hitherto is the end of the matter.

How does it end? How does this whole thing end? With us ruling and reigning with Christ in an everlasting kingdom that will know no end, where Christ is in control. He rules with a rod of iron from the throne of David for a thousand years, and at the end of that thousand years, he creates a new heaven and a new earth, and nothing unclean will be in there. And we're going to be with our Master and our Savior forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever, and even some more evers if you can add them to the ever and forever because listen, it's world without end.

Listen to what it says in Isaiah. Isaiah the prophet in Chapter 9 says this: "For unto us (we're getting into that season) a child is born." Look at how the Messiah came into the world, so unintimidating. But more truthfully so, I think, unto us a son is given. "And the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and of his peace there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. And the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this."

I don't know where you think you're going, but I know where I'm going. I know what's ahead for me, and it's complete victory. I know what's ahead for the church: we're going to be removed and it's going to get really bad here for about seven years. And then guess what? After supper, you wipe off your face, you push away the angel food cake with all that neat frosting on it, and you hear the words of our Messiah who says, "Mount up." And when we return with him, the Bible says from his mouth will proceed a sharp two-edged sword and the blood will flow to the horse's bridle for over 200 miles.

You know there's an old hymn and we ought to learn it here: "Satan, prince of darkness grim, we tremble not at him. For one word will fell him." And when we see him, Isaiah says we're going to look upon him and we're going to say, "Is *this* the one that causes all the trouble?" You see, because I think he's going to have glasses on with tape on the ends and a pocket protector. I think he's a nerd. Let me let you in on a clue: he's not God's equal; he's a created being. He's not omnipresent; he's not all-powerful. Oh, he has some imps and some demons that do as much damage as they think they can.

But listen, when he tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, when he met God in a man, he was no match. Amen. He met God in a man standing on the Word of God. Amen. What are you and I? We have the Lord in us, and we're standing on what? The Word of God. And he is no match for you. Don't you put down that shield of faith and don't you drop that sword ever again. You stand up and fight for the souls of men. Amen.

Because we win in the end of this thing. I think that what Daniel's seeing is the end. I think that's what Chapter 7's about. And the saints of the most High shall inherit the kingdom, and they shall rule and reign with him forever and ever and ever and ever. Amen. The time you take your armor off is not today. There'll be a time when you can set it aside. Won't that be nice? Because it chafes sometimes, doesn't it? And you need some spiritual powder sometimes, don't you? But there's a day coming when we're not going to have to battle anymore.

But do what Paul said: "I fought a good fight, I finished the course, I defended the faith. Now I can lay it aside because there's a stephanos, the victor's crown, waiting for me in glory." Amen. I wish it was today. But I know that God has many people in this city and in this county, this state, and across the United States that aren't saved. And I want to be a part of that reaching out to them. This is a rescue mission; this is a remnant that we're looking for.

But I find it amazing that God has called us together in these last days and given us a voice that spans this whole United States and around the world. Should we not take advantage of it? Amen. How many of you have got a little fight in you? Let me tell you, if you don't, you know how you get it? Can I tell you? They that wait upon the Lord renew their strength. They mount up with wings like eagles, they run and not grow weary, and they walk and they don't pass out—they don't faint. Amen.

So you need to get so full of the Holy Spirit the devil trembles when you wake up in the morning. Amen. Demon said, "I had him yesterday, I don't want him today." That's how the demonic world ought to think about you and me. Amen. Amen. Hey, they're going to hurl their best shots at you. They're going to accuse you of everything, they're going to lie about you, they're going to bring people against you. Listen, Jesus had it all. Amen.

You know I was whining a little bit. Can I—I got two minutes left. I was whining the other day. I had a horrible week a few days ago and just whining. My wife didn't even know, but I was just whining before the Lord saying, "Man, you know, I'm just so tired of it, Lord. I'm just done, I don't want to do this anymore. I'm just, you know, just people say all kinds of mean things about you and, you know..." You've been there. You've been there.

And the Lord just said to me, "Are you better than me? They hated me. Religious people crucified me. Are you better than me? Well, of course not, Lord, I'm not better than you. Are you better than Paul? Because at the end of Paul's life, everyone had abandoned him. Demas had forsaken him, having loved this present world. And Paul was all alone at his last defense before Caesar when he was ushered out to the Appian Way and beheaded. He went out there thinking that he was a failure. That the whole thing had flopped and had no idea that the 14 letters under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that he put pen to paper to are so dear to me today. Had no idea. The impact that that man had on the world. Are you better than Paul? No, Lord. Have you resisted to the shedding of blood yet? Well, I fell down the other day. No, no, I'm talking about against sin. No, I haven't done that either. Then shut up and get up." Amen.

How many of you have heard the Lord say things like that to you? Oh, he can be brutal when we're whiners. We're not whiners, guys, we're winners. Amen. Let's stand. I've used up Todd's time, so I'll close us out in a song. Get your armor on, hold the shield a little tighter, grip the sword a little firmer, and go to work. Amen. Go to work. Because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, the host of evil in the high places, and we are more than conquerors. We just read the end of it, and guess who wins. Guess who wins! Are you a winner or a whiner? You're a winner, man.

Father, thank you that we win in the end, and you remind us of this in your Word. We thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit, the enabling of this Spirit. Lord, whatever you call us to, your calling is your enabling. You would never call us to something that you wouldn't give us the strength and the power through that work of your Spirit to do. And so, Lord, just... we need a fresh fire, a fresh anointing. Lord, we need that your Word would resonate in our hearts, that we'd hide it like David did.

Father, we need to stand on the authority of your Word. We need to be people of faith, and faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And that faith needs to be kindled in the fire of the Spirit, Lord, so that we could be used of you, Lord, in these last days. God, we have to—and I'm speaking to me now—we have to stop whining and start winning souls. We have to stop looking up and stop looking out. We have to understand that there is a dark time coming and there's a night Jesus said is going to happen where no man can labor. We have to labor while it's yet day.

Help us to do that, Father. You know, your church is such a mess. They're so worried about so many different things and they're majoring in minor things, Lord. May we major in major things, and the most major thing is the souls of men and women. Because there's a day coming when there's a period on it, like there was in the days of Noah when the door was shut, when there was in Sodom and Gomorrah when it began to rain fire and brimstone. Lord, help us. Give us the right mindset in these last days. Help us, Lord Jesus, we pray in your mighty name. And all God's kids would say, "Amen." Amen. Aren't you glad we finished Chapter 7?