In the Word

Pastor Mike Warren: We've come as far as verse 40 tonight, and that's where we'll pick up. So as you're turning to Daniel chapter 11, put your finger on verse 40. We're in some very interesting, as it were, times. And Daniel is writing about and we'll make correlation too, the times that you and I are living in.

Do you know that you're living, as far as I'm concerned, it's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it. You are living in the most exciting time of the church. We are living in the time when we could see the church removed. We could hear that trump sound and Jesus return for his bride. We're on the precipice of that very event. Did you know that? Are you excited about it? Are you ready for it? Are you prepared?

We were talking with the men on Monday night because we're going through First Thessalonians, and listen, every chapter, all five of them in First Thessalonians, ends with a reminder of the coming of the Lord. Paul had only been in Thessalonica for three Sabbath days, four weeks in totality, and there he plants the church, he gives them all of the basic doctrines, but he also instructs them on eschatology, the study of end times.

And listen, we're living in the end times. Ray Charles in his current condition could see that we're living in the last days. All of the markers that the Bible said would take place. Can I just give you a little bit before we get into that? Listen, Jesus was asked a very pointed question by his disciples before his ascension. "What will be the signs of your coming and the end of the world?"

And Jesus gave what we classify as Bible teachers in the first part of Matthew 24, as birth pangs. He said, "You'll see wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilence." And each one of those categories, if you go back and look and do the research, every one of them exponentially have increased in intensity and repetitiveness in the last 50 years.

But he said, those were birth pangs. He said, "But the real indicator will be the love of many will wax cold and lawlessness will abound." You see any of that going on today? But he said, the real key is that Israel will be birthed as a nation again, and then they'll take control of Jerusalem. And when you see those two things put together, the generation that sees that will not pass away till all things be fulfilled. And that was June the 7th.

I've been watching some of the history stuff that they had on their on History Channel on the Six-Day War. Very interesting, or the Yom Kippur War in '73. Do you understand when Israel became a nation in 1948, they had to fight a war for their existence in '48, again in '56, again in '67, and again in 1973. And it looks like they're on their precipice of fighting another war for their existence.

And the Bible speaks clearly to that in Psalms 83 that we've studied. So, we are living in some exciting times, and aren't you glad that Gabriel came to Daniel and said, "Listen, write these things down." Gabriel, you're not going to understand it. "Seal it up," we'll get to that tonight. "Seal it up, because it's for the end times, the last days."

And we know that as we've studied through Daniel and we've been given this, as it were, kind of an illustrated sermon of Antiochus Epiphanes being a type of the antichrist, he wasn't, as some scholars would try to tell you he is. Because Jesus came many hundreds of years later, and he was still saying, "When you see in the future the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, then you should flee."

And we're going to see that tonight where Israel flees for the last three and a half years of the Tribulation Period called Jacob's Trouble. Exciting times. We're living in exciting times where Jesus could come at any moment.

So, let's pray and we'll dive in. Father, we thank you for your word tonight. And Lord, we would ask that you would give us ears to hear what it is the Spirit is saying to the church in these last days. That Father, you would speak not just to our heads, but to our hearts. And that Lord, you would encourage us in the time we're living in, that you would encourage us to be looking up and not out. To be anticipating eagerly so for your return, and to be making ourselves ready for that moment.

So Lord, we just lift these things to you tonight and we pray that you would do that work in our hearts in the mighty name of Jesus. And all God's kids would say? Amen. I'm going to cough, hang on. Turn the microphone off so I don't cough in your ear.

Well, we came as far as Daniel 40. Let's get a run at this. Remember when we came to verse 36, between verse 35 and verse 36 there is a change that has taken place. And scholarship all agree on this. When Daniel started back in chapter 10, as Gabriel came to him, and there he is on the riverbank, and he has this vision. And as it were, he's caught up into the heavenly, and he sees these things taking place.

As he moves us through history, he's literally moving us through a physical history of 375 years that has already taken place. We have the beautiful privilege of hindsight, we who have studied world history, and we can look back, and exactly what Daniel said has already taken place up to the point of verse 35. When he walks us through the rise of Alexander the Great as he overthrows the Medo-Persians, and especially Xerxes.

And notice carefully, as we walk through these kingdoms, everything has to do with Israel. Israel is the timepiece of God. Because as he's walking us through history, as Gabriel is telling Daniel these things will transpire, he only stops at the moments where Israel is in danger or in conflict. So he moves us to Xerxes, King Xerxes, of all of the six kings of the Medo-Persian government. He just stops at Xerxes because under Xerxes' reign, Haman almost had all of Israel destroyed. You remember?

Then he moves quickly past Alexander the Great, barely mentions him, goes to the four generals or the four dividing of his kingdom or empire when he dies, and then he focuses on the northern and the southern, the Seleucids and the Ptolemy, which by the way, these wars that went on for 130 years affected Israel. Then he moves from that to the final thing with Antiochus Epiphanes, who sets himself up as a ruler, as it were, as he conquers the Promised Land, and he literally creates the abomination of desolation.

It's a type of what we're going to read about in the future. And again, we have the Maccabean wars. All points of history. And Antiochus Epiphanes is a type. He's a type of the antichrist to come. It's though God gave to Israel an illustrated, in full color, sermon that they could wrap their hands around and know what's going to happen in the future.

But when we came to verse 36, we understand that something has changed because at the end of verse 35, he says, "The time of the end is at hand." Four times he's going to mention that as we finish out chapter 11 on into chapter 12. He mentions it there in verse 35, he mentions it again as we're going to open up tonight in verse 40. He says, "And at the time of the end."

This phrase is always reserved. If you're a student of the scripture, this particular phrase is always reserved and it's always an indicator of the time just prior to the second coming of Christ, not the Rapture. In chronology, we know that after the church age is done, Jesus will come, as it were, in the clouds, Paul tells us. We're going to be caught up to meet him in the air, and that's what we call the Rapture.

Harpadzo is the Greek word where the church is caught up to meet the Lord, and we will be with him forever. We're there with him during the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and at the end of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which lasts seven years, the same time as the Tribulation down here. And we're going to see tonight that that's Jacob's Trouble as God is dealing with Israel. At the end of that, we returned with Christ. And that's when he really puts an end to human reign, and he sets up his reign, prophesied in Isaiah chapter 9.

He will set up his reign, and he'll rule and reign over this earth from the throne of David for a thousand years. We rule and reign with him. At the end of the thousand years, then he destroys what we know as this current earth, and creates a new heaven and a new earth where only dwells righteousness. So, this phrase, "in the end times," is always a reference when you study Bible prophecy to before Jesus returns to establish his reign that will be an everlasting reign.

And we're going to see that it points to that period of time. And it points to it in a general application, not so much in a specific, as we're going to see tonight. So, again, we have it there in verse 40, and then in chapter 12, in verse 4, we read it again. "But thou, O Daniel, shut these words up," because these words weren't for your time, Daniel. They weren't for the near future of the time that you were living in. "Shut these words up and seal up the book, even to," here again is that phrase, "the time of the end."

And then he tells us, "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." We'll look at that in a few moments. I find it interesting that we're living in a time where knowledge is increasing. I shared with you guys last week that if you go buy a computer at the computer store, before you get home, it's obsolete. Let me again share it with you and we'll share it again, that up till the 1900s, knowledge, and they have a way of measuring this, scientists do, knowledge increased. It doubled every 100 years.

You have to realize up to the 1900s, we were still traveling at the speed of horse. Think about it. Your great-grandparents, my dad, grew up in Arkansas and he plowed their garden with a mule. My dad rode a horse, that was the source of transportation during the Great Depression when he was a teenager. Every 100 years up until the 1900s, it doubled. After 1945, it doubled every 25 years. And now they're saying that knowledge is doubling every 12 hours.

Technology. I think man is getting more technical, but he's not getting smarter. I think somehow we're dumbing down as we trust technology. That's just my opinion and I'm sticking to it. You can have your warped one.

But so now we're coming and we're looking at, listen, what is just ahead for us? Because we know from the study of Revelation that recently we did on Sunday mornings, we know what the chronology is, what the order of things are concerning the time that we're living in. We know that at any moment, because every prophecy that needs to be fulfilled has already been fulfilled. The next prophetic event to take place is for Christ to return and remove his church, the bride.

And then his focus will go back on Israel, as we're going to see tonight, for that last seven years, it's the last week of Daniel's 70-week vision. God's going to fulfill that. And then when that week is fulfilled, when God is dealing with Israel again, then we return with Christ to set up his millennial reign. And for a thousand years, he'll rule and reign. At the end of the thousand years, we know that Satan is loose for a short season, as it were, we study that in Revelation. And those who would follow him at the end of the thousand years will be destroyed and we get a new heaven and a new earth.

But we're on the precipice because we know from our studies in eschatology that something's going to set this off. We know that those radicalized countries around Israel will attack. Psalms 83. We know that once they attack, they will own all of the land and the oil that was promised them for the first time in the history of Israel in the Abrahamic Covenant. Then Ezekiel 38 and 39, as we've told you before, Russia comes down with her hordes for the spoil because they need the oil.

And for every seven soldiers that come down, you can read it in the Battle of Armageddon, only one will be left to return. And they'll bury the dead for seven months, special people. And then they'll continue to cleanse the land for seven years during the Tribulation. We are on the precipice of that. Because our current administration, let me bring it into the into the reality of where we're living right now. Our current administration, and I believe God put them there.

I believe, as we're going through Daniel, remember that Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar, he told Nebuchadnezzar that the reason why you're going to be out there in the wilderness for seven years, your fingernails are going to be like claws, your hair is going to grow like feathers, and you're going to lose your mind. God will restore you. You're going to be like a stump with an iron band put around it. But the reason why God did that, very interesting. He said, "That men may know that there's a God in heaven that rules in the affairs of men."

"And sometimes he sets up the basest sort when he wants to judge a nation in places of leadership." I think God is judging America because of the sin and immorality and the lawlessness of this nation. Now, he's not judging the church, we're going to be taken out. You have to understand that when God sought to judge Egypt, he protected his people in the land of Goshen. None of the plagues, none of those ten plagues came over to them. In fact, when he got ready to really judge with that last plague of the killing of the firstborn, he made preparation as he passed over them and delivered them.

And that's always God's MO. So before he judges, when he brings absolute judgment, he removes the righteous. He did it in the days of Noah, he did it during when he was judging Sodom and Gomorrah, and he's about to do it now. We're at the time of God's judgment, not only in the United States, but on the world. Do you see what's going on in Canada and in Europe? Listen, this world is in turmoil. And Jesus told us, "When you see these things, don't look out, look up. Turn off Fox News and open your Bible."

That's where the good news is at. Amen. And the good news is, as we sang tonight, as soon as very soon, we're going to go see the king. We're getting a new body. Anybody need one of those? Yeah. And no more sorrow, pain, emotionally, physically, spiritually. No more death, no more parting. Listen, the second law of thermodynamics has ended. Things will not go from a better state to a worse state.

Listen, I've been here 27 years, and I have pictures to prove when I came here, I didn't have a gray hair in my head. This is what you guys did to me. I have hair though, and I'm glad. I told Pastor Todd because he's getting a little thin. I said, "I don't care if it turns gray, as long as it doesn't turn loose. I need it to keep my head warm. I go camping up in cold places. It's good to have hair."

But listen, we're living on the very precipice of it. Wake up, church. We're not we're not children of the night that that day should overtake us. So pay close attention as we finish out, or attempt to finish out, our studies in Daniel, there might be one more week. But he says this: "And at the time of the end."

Now, this is during the Tribulation, "The king of the south shall push against him," that is the antichrist, "and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships, and shall enter into the countries and shall overthrow and pass through." So the idea is during this seven-year period, sometimes we get this picture that when Antichrist comes into power, and he is a one-world leader, it's not going to be without conflict.

In fact, this seven years is going to be a time of conflict, and we know that from our study of Revelation. Remember when we came to chapter 6 and we saw there that the Tribulation began. The church is raptured in chapter 4, the church is in heaven in chapter 5. They're seeing Christ take the title deed to planet Earth in chapter 5 from the hand of him who sits upon the throne. He begins to loose the seals of judgment.

And we understand at that point we sing a song that only the church can sing, "Thou art worthy, because you have redeemed us from every tongue, tribe, nation, and people by your blood." That's the church. We're in heaven. And when the first seal is open, we see the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. And the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is kind of a broad-brush overview of the conflict that's going to take place during this time called Jacob's Trouble or the Tribulation. First three and a half years, we try to divide it up as the Tribulation, but it's bad.

And then when we get to the second three and a half years, we call it the Great Tribulation because it's worse. But it's all no good. You don't want to be here. You know, those people that believe that they're going to go halfway through the Tribulation or all the way through, I have a verse for them. As your faith is, so be it unto you. We will pick you up on the way back. But nowhere in the scripture does it ever say that the church, in fact, it says the opposite. Paul said, "You're not appointed to wrath." And this is the wrath of God, we see it there at the end of chapter 6 of Revelation, being poured out on a Christ-rejecting world.

But there are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the very first one is the antichrist. He comes riding on a white steed, he has a bow but no arrow, to conquer. The second one, as we see there, the red horse, is war. Because this is going to be a time of unprecedented conflict. We're talking about when these things break out, hundreds and thousands and millions of people being slain during this time, followed by famine because famine always follows war. That's the black horse. And then you have the pale horse which is death.

What he's saying is the overview of this seven years is not going to be pleasant. And there's going to be a struggle. That's as we end chapter 11, Gabriel is telling Daniel, "This is going to be a time of great upheaval. This is going to be a time of great struggle." In fact, this is going to be a time where things are going to be shaken to the core like they've never been shaken before since there was a nation.

We're going to see that during this time, islands are going to flee away. Earthquakes that will shake the foundation of this world. And many scientists believe when you read the scripture there, that possibly the axis of the earth has changed. And there's tsunami, there's just all kinds of these things. And then you have all the spiritual weirdness that goes on where these things are unlocked from the pit and they come out. And there's all this weirdness. You don't want to be here.

I had a guy told me one time, "Well, you only believe in a pre-trib Rapture because you're an escapist." You should be too. Have you read the book? Are you kidding me? You'd have to be insane to want to go through that. Listen, you don't beat up your bride before the wedding day. We're the bride of Christ. And the Bible makes it clear concerning you and me, we're not appointed to wrath. But Jesus is going to come. Paul said, "Listen, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we will be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trump."

We're going to talk about that tonight, because a trump will sound and the dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. "Comfort one another with these words." And it is a comfort for me. Now, I'm of the opinion that hard times are coming to the church. I am pre-trib, but I'm not pre-trouble.

I know that we're going to be hated of all nations for his name's sake. I can see it coming down now. Did you see that in Finland, they're trying Christians right now and putting them in jail. And they're trying them for hate crimes because they're simply quoting the Bible on abortion and homosexuality, and lawlessness and immorality. And they're literally being tried as bigots, as racists, and being put in prison. That's going to come here.

Where you're going to be put on trial because you are saying something that this culture does not want to hear. You're saying that abortion is murder. It's not it's not birth control. Birth control is called abstinence. That's how you don't produce a baby. And when you get married, you want to procreate.

And by the way, sex is not for a man and a woman, it's for a husband and for a wife in that context. And God judged Israel because during the time before the Babylonians took them into captivity, they were worshiping the Lord, but they were sacrificing their illegitimate children to Molech, to one of the pagan gods. And to God, that was an abomination. That was one of the reasons Jeremiah warned them, "God's going to judge you for this."

And look what this world has done to marriage. One of the first things that God created as an institution, right there, you can see it in Genesis. When he made Adam, and Adam was told to go out and name the animals. And he said, "Oh, look at that's Mr. and Mrs. Lion, and that's Mr. and Mrs. Giraffe, and that's Mr. and Mrs. Tiger. And there's Mr. Me and no Mrs."

And I find it interesting. God created Adam out of dirt, but he created a woman out of a rib. She's been a no, I won't say that, one on the side ever since. Chuck said that one time, it didn't go over well for him either. But Chuck Smith, but you know, it's the rib because she's not to rule over man. It wasn't taken from the head or from the feet to be stomped under man, but from his side that he might embrace her and protect her.

And when Adam woke up from that deep sleep, and I think every man should be put into a deep sleep until God brings him his wife, and just go into this deep sleep and wait. And when he brought her, what was the first words that Adam said? "Whoa, man." And so he said, "I'll call her wo-man, woman." Because he was probably waking up every morning going, "I can't believe God gave me this, man. It's got all the bumps in the right places, man. And just beautiful and and her voice is so soft and just, oh man, whoa, man." That's why she got named that. If you don't believe it, read it.

But listen, we're told that this time being a great time of conflict. It's not going to be a time where this guy comes to the fore, as some would say, and it's going to be a time of peace. There's going to be battles going on for control. Although this man will rule the world and he'll be that, but the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are released in the very first opening of the very first seal. The antichrist comes on the scene, followed by war, followed by famine, followed by death.

In fact, we're told in other places that it'll take a day's wage to buy a loaf of bread. It's almost there now. I had to fill up my little Honda Civic today. I get about two weeks on a tank and it's a 12-gallon tank. And I wait till the little red light comes on now. And then I get on the phone and I do the gas buddy thing to find out the cheapest place in town. And it's still 50 bucks to fill up my little Honda with 10 gallons of gas. Or the better part of 50 bucks. There's not even enough change left over to get a hamburger. Are you kidding me? Rib eyes are way out of my price range now.

We're coming to that point, I think God is waking up the church. But there's going to be a time of difficulty. He says in verse 41, "He shall enter also into the glorious land." There's going to be conflict there. Again, as we walk through this prophecy of Daniel, as Gabriel's revealing it to him, notice that it flows through the conflict of Israel. Israel's always the focal point. The Bible says God's eyes are always and they are continually on Jerusalem.

And so now we come to the focal point of what's going to take place in Israel, in the Promised Land. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown. This is the antichrist moving in. He's going to set up his headquarters, as it were, there. We know three and a half years into it, he makes this image of himself and demands worship of it, and he puts it in the temple, the rebuilt temple. And that's when, and he sacrifices, as Antiochus Epiphanes did. He will sacrifice a pig on the altar, defile the temple, and that's where Israel's eyes are opened.

That's what Zechariah was talking about in Zechariah chapter 12, when all of a sudden they're going to realize they crucified the real Messiah, and the one that they thought that was the Messiah, the antichrist, is not the Messiah. And they're going to flee. We're going to see that tonight. It's in the text. And so he says, "They shall be overthrown, but these shall escape out of his hand." There's some whose eyes are going to be open, like Zechariah said, that are going to escape out of his hand, "even Edom and Moab and the chief children of Ammon." Do you know what these three countries represent today? If you go on a map geographically, what they represent today?

It's Jordan. Do you know that Jordan is one of the few countries that is Islamic in its religious conviction, but still has trade with Israel? In fact, when we were in Israel, a year and a half ago, two years ago, we went into Jordan. We went to Petra. We visited the city that we're going to see tonight from the scripture, that God is preparing to put his people in for the last three and a half years of the Tribulation.

And I often thought before I visited the place, how is he going to do that? I mean, I've seen Raiders of the Lost Ark. You ride down this little narrow thing, and then there's there's Petra. Wow, doesn't look all that big. No, when you come into that first area, that's called the Treasury. And by the way, that's just a facade. I mean, you walk up to it and they got little rooms carved, not even as big as the sanctuary, and it's just a facade. They called it the Treasury.

Then you take a hard right and you go into this vast area that when Paul spent three days in Arabia, most scholars believe that that's where he spent it was in Petra. Petra boasted over 330,000 people as a population during the times of Paul, during the times of Christ. It's massive. There's a Roman garrison there that was stationed there during Paul's time, and Paul, being a Roman citizen, would have fled there because he would have been protected by Rome, having full citizenship. And those, I believe, is where he spent.

Well, we know that God's going to protect Israel's health from this, we're going to read the scriptures, from this attack of the wicked one when their eyes are opened. And there are Christian businessmen today that have put New Testaments in these 55-gallon drums, put that stuff in there that keeps moisture out, and sealed them up and they are waiting for Israel when they get there so that when their eyes are open, they're going to need to catch up and get up to speed on what the New Testament has to say about the true Messiah. Amen.

So they're going to flee there. In fact, let's read a few verses in Revelation. Now we studied this stuff not so long ago, so it'll be familiar to you. But in Revelation chapter 12, verses 1 through 6, we have the appearance of this wonder in heaven. It's one of the wonders that we see as John is being revealed by Jesus these things that are going to go on. He said, "And there appeared this great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and with the moon, and under her feet, and upon her head where the crowns of 12 stars."

Well, we know who that is. That is Israel. And so it says, "And she being with child," that we know that the Messiah came out of the loins of Israel, "travailing to give birth, and pain to be delivered." "And there appeared another wonder in heaven, this great red dragon, having seven heads and 10 horns, and seven crowns upon his head," we know who that is, that's Lucifer. "And his tail drew a third part of the stars from heaven, and cast them to the earth." We know that when he rebelled, he took a third of the angels with him. Michael, as we're going to see tonight, and his angels fought against Lucifer and literally banned them as it were, cast them out, won the battle.

And then it goes on to say, "And she brought forth a man child," that's the Messiah, that's Jesus, "who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne," after the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension. "And then it says, and the woman fled into the wilderness." Now we're jumping to the time just ahead. Because their eyes are going to be open and they're going to flee to the wilderness, it says, "where she hath a place prepared of God, and they shall feed her, listen, a thousand, two hundred, and threescore days." That's the last half of the Tribulation period.

Other verses talk about this. In fact, Isaiah chapter 16, verses 1 through 5 in the Old Testament, tell us about this event that when the antichrist comes to the fore and he comes into power and finally three and a half years into this Tribulation, he does this thing in the temple, the rebuilt temple, and he defiles it like Jesus said he would, as Daniel recorded, their eyes are open, they're going to flee to Petra.

And in Isaiah saw this a hundred years before Israel went into captivity even in Babylon. Listen to what he says in chapter 16, verses 1 through 5. "Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land of Sela." Sela is Jordan. It's what we're talking about now. "To the wilderness unto the Mount of the daughters of Zion." And the idea what Isaiah is saying, "Is there needs to be a place prepared for God's people during this time of difficulty."

And he goes on to say, "For it shall be that the wandering bird cast out of the nest." Because when this antichrist offers the abomination of desolation and their eyes are open, he's going to seek to destroy them. They're going to flee. The Bible says he's going to come after them like a flood, but they will escape. They're going to escape into Jordan, into this area of Sela. And he says, "Well, in fact, out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be a forge of Arnon." They're going to be a fortress for them is the idea.

"Take counsel, execute judgment, make thy shadows as the night and the minute of the noon day. Hide the outcast." "Hide those that are now fleeing for their lives, as Antichrist is pursuing and as they're wandering. Let my outcast dwell with thee, Moab." "Let my people be accepted to you there in Jordan is the idea. Be thou a covert to them, and from the face of the spoiler. For the executioner is at the end." His time is short. He's got three and a half years left. We're going to return with Christ to destroy him. He's going to seek to destroy Israel before that happens, and you need to be protected to God's people because the time is at the end.

And then he says, "The spoiler ceaseth, the opposition and it is consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established. And he shall set upon it with truth in the Tabernacle of David," this is when Christ comes to set up the Millennial Reign, "judging and seeking judgment, and hastening unto righteousness." So, Daniel is describing these events that are so clear in detail in other passages like we just studied through Revelation and in Zechariah, and in Ezekiel. So it's important to understand we're living in a time where when this war breaks out in the Middle East, spoken of in Psalms 83, followed by Ezekiel 38 and 39, when Russia comes down now to take from Israel the spoil of the oil.

When the dust settles from that event, listen, and the smoke clears, millions of people are going to be dead. The world is going to be in turmoil. And they're going to look for a man who has all the answers. Daniel said, "He will come in through intrigue and through peace will he conquer." He'll make a covenant with Israel to calm down. Daniel 9 says, "Build your temple." And somehow he will satisfy, as it were, what is left over of Islam. Because that's what will be destroyed. God's going to judge that false religious system.

But in this time, there's still going to be conflict. Because no sooner does the antichrist come forth to conquer, then comes war and famine and death. Not a not a good time. And so here we have Gabriel, as it were, the messenger of God, describing to Daniel what these things are going to look like. Let's read on. He says, "He shall stretch forth his hand upon the country and the and the land of Egypt shall not escape, but he shall have power over the treasury of the gold and the silver and the precious things of Egypt and of Libya and of Ethiopia shall be at his step."

So there's going to, like I said, this area is going to be in conflict. Then he says, "But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and to utterly take away many." And so in the last days, when he knows his time is short, again, he's going to try to destroy what's left over of Israel. He's going to go to war with these kings of the north and the kings of the south. He'll hear tidings of the River Euphrates being dried up and the kings of the east coming. It's going to be a time of great conflict.

"And he shall plant the tabernacle of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain," that's when he sets up that abomination of desolation. And then it says at the end of this simply, "Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him." We know what the end of the story is. We know that we return with Christ, and this is a scene, this is a scene when all of these wars and conflict. This is what you have to take away from this. And all of the scholars believe this is the scene of the preparation for the last and final battle, which is what? Armageddon.

In fact, the Bible tells us that the blood will flow to the horse's bridle for 200 furlongs, over 160 miles. When we were in Israel, we went up onto a high place and you could look down over the Valley of Megiddo. And that's where this final conflict is going to take place. It's called the Battle of Armageddon, when all the nations are gathered together there, and somehow this final battle happens when God returns with us, as we're going to see, to destroy those nations that are gathered against her, against our God.

In fact, Isaiah chapter 63, verses 1 through 4 describe this. "Who is this that cometh from Edom?" The first place Christ returns to, when he returns with us, is to Edom. What's in Edom? His people. Israel, in Jordan. "Who is this that cometh with Edom, with his dyed garments from Bozrah? This is with his glorious apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength. I that speaketh in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments are like those that tread the wine vat? I have trod in my anger, I've trampled them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garment, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is mine, it's in my heart, and the year of the redeemed is come."

This is how it ends. It ends with the Battle of Armageddon, with us returning with the Lord to establish his Millennial Reign. We come back with him as it were, the first place we visit is Edom, and then we move toward Jerusalem where God's people are surrounded and half the city has fallen. Jesus will put his foot on the Mount of Olives, it will split. He will roar as a lion, and it says, "And the blood will flow."

You know, there's an old hymn we used to sing in the church. And I think we ought to start singing it again. This one part of it that just always is encouraging to me. Satan, prince of darkness, grim. One word will fail him. We are observers in this battle. The sword proceeds from his mouth as the prophets say, and they smite our enemies. And Jesus sets up his Millennial Reign.

Now, again, when you study through prophecy, especially through the lens of a Hebrew prophet, what he will do, and what Gabriel is doing with Daniel, is now we got the broad brush, and then they will come back and fill in the detail. And so chapter 12 is some detail, the first few verses. So let's read on. We can get through this tonight. We'll be living it soon, so make note.

"And at the time, this time, shall Michael stand up." This is interesting. "The great prince which standeth for the children of thy people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation to the same time, and at that time thy people shall be delivered." "Everyone that shall be found written in the book." At this time, and it's when you read it in the Hebrew, it's not a specific time, but around this time.

Well, we know that there's only one archangel when we study the scripture, and it is Michael. In fact, every conflict that is recorded, spiritually speaking, in the Bible, Michael is mentioned. We see it back in Daniel chapter 10, verse 13, when Gabriel was sent and he was in this war against the God of this world, and the demonic forces of this world, trying to reach Daniel. The moment Daniel sought his heart to pray, God sent Gabriel to bring a message to Daniel. And he fought. He said, "I fought against this for 21 days, until Michael, the great prince came and helped me."

"And he said, 'When I leave,' in verse 21 of chapter 10, 'when I leave, I got to fight against the prince of Greece, but Michael will be there to help me.'" When you read in Jude chapter 1, verse 9, you find there Michael disputing with Satan over the body of Moses. He's the one sent, as it were. And if you're going to make Satan somebody's equal, he would probably, although he's a defeated foe, he would be Michael's equal, not Jesus or God.

And so Michael is dispatched, as it were, to retrieve the body of Moses after he went up on the mountain. You remember? And God told him, "Because you struck the rock, you can't go into the Promised Land." And he breathed his last, and Michael was sent to confront Satan over the body of Moses. And then in Revelation chapter 12, and this is my favorite one, it says that a war broke out in heaven. Satan and his angels against Michael and his angels, and Michael won the battle. He's the archangel.

Well, when we get to First Thessalonians, and we've been studying this with the men on Monday night, listen to this in chapter 4, verse 16. Because in the last days, Michael's going to stand up. The first thing he's going to do, the first thing that is recorded of him doing is that he's the one who sounds the trumpet for the church to be taken home. Then as it were, he defends Israel during that seven years.

And it seems to be when the Lord returns with his army, with the host, and with his church, Michael is leading, as it were, the battle. So watch this. It says this in First Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 16 through 18. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout." You know, it's going to be sudden, and it's going to be shocking. In fact, other places Jesus said, "It'll be like a thief in the night." It'll be in a day and a time where you think not. It'll be unexpected. It'll be sudden and it'll be shocking.

Because it tells us here when the Rapture, when the church is taken home, it says that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of what? The archangel, Michael. He's the only one in scripture called an archangel. Gabriel's not called an archangel. It would seem that Gabriel is more of the messenger of God, that God sends to bring messages to different prophets. We also know that as you look through the scriptures that he is the only one that's called an archangel.

So Gabriel comes and it says with the trump of God, "And the dead in Christ shall rise first." Then we who are alive and remain, this is the Rapture, "shall be caught up." That's our word for Rapture, it's caught up, it's Harpadzo, "together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord." And again, we're told to comfort one another with these words. So in these last times, Michael stands up, as it were. He comes to the fore, this great general of the armies of heaven.

And when it's time for Christ to return with his bride, we know that Christ comes with a shout and Michael sounds, as it were, the trumpet. Because nothing can keep us. God is stronger than any force against us. Nothing can keep us from being caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Michael is a part of that. The dead in Christ will rise first, and then we who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And it says, "Listen, you need to comfort one another with these words." That's what you need to be looking at. That event is just on the horizon, as it were.

We know that this, when the church is removed, that this seven-year period has nothing to do with the church, it has everything to do with Israel. Why? Because Jeremiah the prophet tells us in Jeremiah chapter 30, verse 7, listen to this. "Alas, for that great for that day is great," he's speaking of the Day of Judgment. It's in that context. "So that none is so none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's Trouble." Why? Because God is focusing on Israel again. "But they shall be saved out of it."

It's going to be a tough time. It's going to be a time of purifying. It's going to be a time of waking up to the fact that you crucified the true Messiah, and you've accepted the antichrist to be the true Messiah when he wasn't. Your eyes have been opened, you're fleeing for your life, as it were. God's going to protect you there in Moab, in Edom, in Jordan, there in Petra for the last three and a half years. But it's going to be a time of great difficulty, as God again is trying to wake up his people to the fact that Jesus was their Messiah.

And so in the last days, Michael is going to stand up. In fact, Jesus tells us in Matthew 24, verses 21 through 22, speaking of this time of Jacob's Trouble. He says, "For then shall great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time, nor shall ever be again." When you read about the things from chapter 6 to chapter 19, listen, the Bible says men's heart will fail them for fear of the things coming upon the world. How would you like a giant-looking whatever it is, you know, it's got the face of a man and the teeth of a lion and the mane of a horse and the tail of a scorpion, and when its wings, you know, flap, it's like the sound of tanks, you know, traveling to battle. And if it stings you, you're going to be tormented for five months and you will seek death and you can't die. That's weird.

Islands fleeing away. I'm glad that my children and grandchildren live in New Zealand and are going in the Rapture because New Zealand won't exist. This is a time of trouble and conflict, unprecedented. Jesus said, "There's never been a time like it before, there'll never be a time like it after." And it's all to get Israel's attention.

And he goes on to say that, "Except those days should be shortened." It's a good thing they only last seven years. "There should be no flesh saved, but for the elect's sake." For those Jews that are going to come out, and for those people that are going to turn to Christ during the Tribulation, the Bible says a multitude that can't be numbered. "For those sake shall they be shortened." This is a time of great difficulty. So we're told that in this time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince, which stands for the children of thy people. He stands for us, he stands for Israel. More particular, Israel. "And he shall be a time of trouble, such as never was before a nation or even time after. At that time, thy people shall be delivered."

We just read that where Christ returns at the very end of this conflict, and he rescues Israel, as it were. Those that are written in the book. "And many," circle the word many, if you got an old King James, it's interesting, the Hebrew word could be interpreted many, multitude, or all. Now we know from other areas of scripture that everyone is going to be resurrected. The two resurrections, nobody's going to be left behind.

Either resurrected to the Bema Seat and life or resurrected to the Great White Throne and death. And he describes it here. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall wake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt," or judgment. "And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. And they shall turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever."

A wise man, even Proverbs says, "A wise man is one who wins souls." Listen, why is the church left here? If you've gone through my doctrinal study, you come to that section on ecclesiology, not eschatology, the one before that, ecclesiology. And you are the ecclesia, the church. Why is the church here? If we're here to accept Christ as our savior, and that's the only reason, then the moment you become a believer, you should be whisked away. There's no more reason for you to be here.

But you're left here for two reasons. First, to develop a character because that's the only thing you're taking out of this life. But secondly, to be a light unto the nations. Jesus said it. "You're the salt of the earth. You're the light of the world. You're the force that's restraining absolute lawlessness. You're the force that's restraining the wicked one from being able to come upon the scene." What is your purpose? To go out in all this world and preach this gospel to every living creature. And when people get saved, then you make disciples out of them. You train them, you teach them. You don't just catch the fish and leave it flopping around on the, you know, the bottom of your boat.

How many are fishermen? I love catching those big ones. You get them in the boat and they're flopping around and they're bleeding, they're urinating, they're sliming everything. I'm just like a brand new Christian does. And then you clean them. And Jesus said, "That's your function." And here, Gabriel is telling Daniel, "Listen, great time of trouble is coming. And at the end of this great trouble, there's going to be resurrection. There's going to be resurrection to life and there's going to be resurrection to judgment. And a wise man accepts Christ so that he can be resurrected and that gift of eternal life to life."

"And if he is born again and he's wise, then he tries to bring as many people as he can into the kingdom." He reproduces himself. And I like what Chuck used to say, "Healthy sheep reproduce healthy sheep." Now you've got to figure it out because we teach you the Bible. You're well fed here. Are you healthy or are you fat? Or fluffy? Are you a fluffy sheep or are you a healthy sheep? Somebody bought me this back when I was 40 pounds heavier than I am now. I think they thought it was cute. It was convicting. And it should have been convicting. I needed to be convicted. But they bought me this little plaque that says, "You ain't fat." And it had a sheep, which is a ewe, and it spelled it E W U. "You ain't fat, you just fluffy."

Well, I don't want you to be fluffy. I want you to be healthy. Because healthy sheep, as Daniel said, speaking of the Maccabeans, "They that know their God, do great exploits." And I've been challenging the men on Monday night. I've been challenging some of you on Sunday mornings when we're going through Ephesians. Listen carefully, you have people you care about, right? That aren't saved? Do you understand if Jesus comes tomorrow and we're taken out of here, what they're going to be thrust into at the very least? And if they don't accept Christ during that, what's going to happen at the end of that? Do you care about these people? Do you love them?

You see, our message is not one of condemnation. Jesus did not come into this world to condemn anybody. He came to save, to seek and to save that which is lost. He said he never came for the healthy, he came for the sick. I qualified before I was saved. There are people out there just like I was 46 years ago that have no hope, that are groveling around in darkness, they're trying to fill their life with drugs and alcohol and immorality and everything else, and they're finding that that doesn't fit and it doesn't work. And they're coming to the end of themselves and they're in despair.

Do you know that the suicide rate among our teenagers has gone off the charts through this Covid thing? Because as they look at their world around them, they have no hope. We have the message of hope. I always share with somebody today about my conversion experience. It was like that night when I went to that Bible. It was just a miraculous chain of events that got me there. But I go to this Bible study in the mountains with a bunch of my friends that I'd partied with. Some of them I did very immoral things with. They're all there. There's like 30 of us. And when God ripped open my heart through the message of the gospel, what it felt like is I was in darkness and somebody turned the light on.

And the first thing I experienced, it was amazing to me, the very first thing I experienced was hope. God ripped open my heart, removed the darkness and put hope in me. I'm sitting there saying to myself, "Self, you need to remember this. This is amazing." Because when that guy was sharing the gospel, God ripped open my heart, poked around in things so deep that when he gave the call, altar call, "If there's anybody want to accept Christ," he never said, "Come forward." I just jumped out of my seat. It was a large living room and ran at him. I can still, Brother Arbazoo is his name. I can still remember the look on his face to this day, 46 years later.

I think he thought I was going to attack him. And I fell at his feet, on my knees. And for the first time in my life, and I'm telling you, I was a tough kid. I didn't cry. I could control that. I was a control freak. I was just stubborn. My dad would discipline me, he never spared the rod, but I wouldn't cry. All those 19, almost 20 years of pain and sorrow just just came out. But it didn't come out as pain and sorrow, it came out as joy and peace. And people kept saying to me, "Are you okay? Are you okay?" I said, "I've never been more okay."

"Why are you crying?" "These aren't tears of sorrow. I don't know." "They're tears of joy. I feel clean. I feel like I'm like I was in a dark place and somebody turned the light on. I feel hope." And then it was a funny thing because after I received Christ as my savior, I stood up, you know, to walk back to my seat. And when I stood up, I remember thinking to myself, "You got to remember this." See, I went there stone and got sobered me up. I thought that somebody had given me some bad stuff, and I was pretty upset through the half-way through that message. It was the Satan trying to distract me. God was sobering me up.

And when I stood up, I'm not kidding you, it felt like a physical, literal weight had been taken off my shoulders. And I can remember saying, "It felt like I stood up for the first time straight in my entire life." And I'd like to tell you, from that moment on, I served him and I was perfect and I never sinned again. Are you kidding me? What I had to do is grow in grace for myself and for others, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as Peter reminds us. And it's been a process. And it's been a journey. My justification was instantaneous, but my sanctification has been a 46-year journey. And I'd like to tell you that this is a fiery chariot. I'd have to turn in the parking lot waiting to pick me up because I'm I'm I'm done with this. I'm perfect.

There might be some red cars out there, but there are no fiery chariots. And I will be here on Sunday because I ain't perfect. But the job that is left to us is reminding people that Jesus is coming. You know, it's funny how Gabriel ends this. He says, "Listen, there's a resurrection coming. There's resurrection to damnation and resurrection to eternal life. And a wise man receives the gift of eternal life that he might be resurrected to life." And once he receives that, guess what he does? He tries to make as many people around him as he can, righteous. I did that. I witnessed to all my friends. I had this one friend that knew that I was allergic to cigarette smoke. Whatever was in the paper, whatever, just would I had allergic my eyes would slam shut, my nose would start running. Just it would really mess me up. And I was trying to witness to him and he's blowing smoke rings around my face.

And I'm going to tell you, I got to lead him to the Lord. I used to go pick my friends up. You know, I had a car that held some people. And I would pull into their driveway. I wouldn't let them sleep in. "Dude, it's church day." I'd honk my horn until they finally came out. I'm taking no for an answer. No, I'm not taking no for an answer. Get yourself into the car, we're going to church. And we'd pull up on our motorcycle and cars, and I know when we walk in church, people are like, "These people are never going to make it."

You know, the first church I showed up in, a guy actually told me when I walked in the doors, "If you can't dress any better than that, you ought not to be here." A few years later, that guy wanted me to marry his daughter. Are you kidding me? I remember what I said to him, "You need to step aside, I'm here to see Jesus if he can be found." "I'm not here for you." He didn't know. I was wearing my best. I had a nice pair of bell-bottom corduroy tan pants. Levi brand, the best you can get. You know, a pair of clean floaters. I wouldn't even wear my Converse tennis shoes. I wore floaters to church. And I wore a dress shirt. It was green with a pocket. Towncraft.

If you got a Towncraft shirt with a pocket, it's a dress shirt if you're a hippie. I didn't even wear my tie-dye there. Now if you come to my house and somebody you have, surprise me, you'll find me in tie-dye. In fact, the other day I wore it to church. I like tie-dye. I got camel tie-dye. You know, if you go into a tie-dye store and you want to bless me, buy me a large tie-dye shirt. The brighter the better. I'm a saved hippie. I still love tie-dye.

You know, when I married my wife, she wore Birkenstocks. She doesn't wear them anymore, they cost too much. We have to get the fake. You know, the you know, you get those knockoff brand that look like them. But listen, when I got saved, I I hounded people. I would pray every day, "Shall I go to McDonald's, Burger King, or Taco Bell? Lord, where do you want me to meet somebody?" I can't tell you how many people I led to the Lord back in the days when Taco Bell didn't have indoor dining, had outdoor dining, and you're on those concrete tables and benches. I led a lot of people to the Lord. Taco Bell and Burger King, McDonald's.

We used to have a saying back in those days, "77, we're on our way to heaven." Had white shirt services. "78, it'll be too late. 79, it'll be divine." We're one day closer, gang. We're on the precipice. And a wise man prepares himself and then he prepares others. Let's end this tonight. It won't take long. The rest of it's just kind of a. But thou, O Daniel, "Shut up the words and seal up the book, even to the time of the end." It's not for your time. Again, it's for the time when Jesus returns to set up his kingdom. "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."

Again, I told you, at the rate knowledge is increasing. And listen, there are people running around ever learning and ever coming to understanding of the truth. They read commentaries to a nausea and they understand it's simple. Jesus doesn't want your head, he wants your heart. He doesn't want you to be religious, he wants a relationship with you. He wants you to be born again.

Then Daniel looked, and behold, there are two more guys. Now, now he's coming back to reality. He's standing on the riverbank. And he sees two guys, one on one side and one on the other. And one said, now these two men are having this conversation, and he's eavesdropping as it were on this conversation. And one of them said to the man clothed in linen, "Which was upon the waters." Now, these two angels, one on either side, and there's a guy standing on the water in white linen. Who do you think that might be? And so they're having this conversation that Daniel can overhear. You know, "How long and what shall be the end of these wonders of these things?"

And he said, "And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, and he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and he swear by him that liveth forever. It shall be for a time, times, and a half a time." That's a Hebrew way of saying three and a half years. This great trouble, when the antichrist is revealed and the abomination of desolation, that great Tribulation is going to last three and a half years. "And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all of these things shall be finished." When God is done disciplining his people and waking them up at the end of that last 70 week of Daniel's vision, in the 70 week visions, then it will be accomplished, just like Daniel said it would be in the first part of Daniel chapter 9.

"And I heard but and I understood not." And he said, "Oh, my Lord, what shall the end of these things be?" I mean, Daniel's trying to, he's wrestling with these things. He's trying to wrap his hands around these things. "But he said unto me, 'Go thy way, Daniel, for these words are closed up.'" You're not going to understand. They're sealed, as a matter of fact, "until the time of the end." Those people will understand. And we certainly do. Many shall be purified and made white and tried. That's what goes on through the Tribulation period. That's why it's called Jacob's Trouble. "But the wicked shall do wickedly." You know, as God tries, it's interesting. When God tests us, you know, and I've often said this, and the best example I can give you, the same sun that melts butter hardens clay.

When God's trying to get your attention, one of two things happen. Either you soften. And I'm so glad 46 years ago, I softened. Or you harden. You remember when God was dealing with Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron. Ten times it says that Pharaoh hardened his heart against God's word to Pharaoh, from Moses and Aaron. Even with the signs and wonders, he hardened his heart. The last phrase is interesting because they they recorded it the same, but it's not the same. It said, "And God firmed him up in his position." Because the Spirit of God will not always strive with man.

And so he says, "There's this time will have a beginning, a middle, and an end to it." And he said, "These words aren't for you, but many shall be," verse 10, "shall be purified, and made white, and tried. But the wicked shall do wickedly." They'll get harder as some will get softer. "And none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." "And for the time that the daily sacrifice," now he's giving him some indicators. "When you see the time of the daily sacrifice taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate is set up," that's three and a half years into the Tribulation, "there shall be a thousand, two hundred, and 90 days." Now, he adds 30. "And then we're going to see in a few moments, he adds some more days."

"So from the time that we returned with Christ until the temple is cleansed," because remember it's defiled, "it's going to have to be cleansed before Jesus can set up." And there's going to have to be an inauguration. There's going to be a transformation. There's about 75 days of wonderful celebration. Because then he goes on to say, "Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand, three hundred, and 75 days." It seems like there is a party. There's a celebration that's going to take place 75 days after the Tribulation ends. Do you think there might be an inauguration? And unlike Trump, when he brags about his crowd, it's going to be big. I'm going to be there. You're going to, well, hopefully, you're going to. I know I'm going to be there. Do you know you're going to be there at the inauguration? When the King of Kings takes his rightful place and sets upon the throne of David and rules with a rod of iron for a thousand years, and we rule and we reign with him.

And then he ends this thing by saying, "But go thou thy way till the end. Daniel, just head on out. For thou shalt rest. You're going to rest with your fathers. You're going to pass away." This is way off in the future. "And stand in thy lot at the end of the days." You're going to pass away. You're going to become dust, Daniel. You're going to be part of the resurrection, but you'll stand in the last days. But this isn't for you, it's for a time way off in the future. And many of the higher critics say that there's no way Daniel could have been written when it was because of the accuracy that he brings to it.

I hope you've enjoyed your study in Daniel. I've been struggling with whether we should pick up Jeremiah or Ezekiel next. I want to stay with the Old Testament. I want to stay with the prophets that concern the last days. Because I want to keep before you, there's since there's a sense of urgency. And you know, the Bible says in the last days scoffers will come and say, "Where's the promise of his coming? For since our fathers have fallen asleep, all things will remain as they are." Uniformitarianism. And to the greater part, there's a lot of the church that is not and pastors are not reminding their people, "Jesus is coming. You need to get ready. You need to be prepared. You need to be one of those five wise virgins that has the lamps burning bright and clean and plenty of oil."

Jesus said, "You need to be watching and ready and waiting because you know not the day or the hour of the Son of Man comes." And listen, all that the prophecies, take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Go study it for yourself. Every prophecy that has to precede the coming of Christ for the church has already been fulfilled. What's ahead of us is Psalms 83 and Ezekiel 38 and 39, which take place when the antichrist is coming to the fore, and somewhere in that, the church is taken out. Paul reminds us, he writes to the Thessalonians, "We can't even see who the antichrist is. We will never know him." "Because that which constrains holds him back from being revealed." And when that which is constraining him, the salt and the light of the earth, you and me, when we're removed, then he will be revealed.

I have so many people call me all the time because we're on the radio, and we did Revelation on KFIA, and we're doing it now up in Reno. And it's on the radio on Sunday mornings here in our local station, you know, "Who do you think the Antichrist is?" "I'm going to lose my mind," the next time I hear someone ask me, "because I don't care. I'm not looking for the antichrist, I'm looking for Jesus Christ. Because when he comes, I get a body like his. I get whisked away to be with him, and I will be with him forever, and I will rule and reign with him. I'll be seated on his throne, as he's seated on his Father's throne. I'm going to be granted a garment so white and so pure, I can stand in the presence of my Father, God Almighty, and not be consumed. I'm going to wear this final, the victor's crown, and I'm going to hear those words, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You've been faithful in small things. Guess what? I got great things ahead for you.'"

That's where my way point and my compass is at. And I'm going to keep reminding you, "Lay aside every distraction and every sin that does so easily beset you. Run this race as it has been set before you with endurance, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith." Keep your eyes on the prize, the blessed hope, eternal life. It's yours. It's already living in you. And one day Jesus is coming back for us. And I think it's sooner than we know. I think it's sooner than we know.

Look at how fast. Would you have thought two years ago that this world could be in this condition? It was just about this time two years ago that all this Covid stuff was coming, and all of our rights and liberties were being stripped away. And I personally believe, and you can believe what you want to believe, that that last presidential election was stolen. It was stolen in the human realm, because God had to get that man in that place of office to do what's going on right now. I can't believe that that many stupid Americans on this planet.

I think there was some deception, or seducing spirits, something happened. But I know for a fact that Biden is to be the president because God willed it. To get us to the point where America's no longer a player on the world. You wait and see in the next few years, your rights, your liberties, the constitution, the rule of law will be stripped from you. You have to do that to bring in a one-world government because Americans today, the patriots, will not stand for it. Look what's going on in Canada. And it's interesting, when we study through, you know, Ezekiel, we see that the young lions, which of Britannia, which are Canada, Australia, America. We stand at a distance when all this stuff's going on in the Middle East, and all we say is, "What are you doing? Can you see that? Aren't you seeing what's going on with Russia and China?" And what was our current administration saying? This will probably get bumped off YouTube. That's okay, you can go to the website and get this message. "What are you doing?" Because we're at the end of this.

And our hope has never been in Trump or in the Republicans, or in the independents, or any political or human government. Our hope has always been in the word of God, in Christ coming for the church. And soon we're going to go home. This ain't our home. Is it feeling less like home every day? It should. Because this ain't home. We have a home, our Father's house. Amen. Bring as many in as you can while you have time to do it. That's my exhortation to you. So let's pray.

Father, we thank you for your word tonight, and we just thank you for that work of your Spirit in our hearts. You know, so much that the church, they don't want to hear this because they're comfortable you know, in their own life. They're comfortable in this world. And the church, we who are filled with the Spirit, should never be comfortable here. We are sojourners, we're pilgrims, we're just passing through. Our hope is in heaven and it should already be owning our hearts. So Father, speak to us, Lord. Wake us up. You know, that we might be ready. But even more than that, that we might be working for the kingdom, bringing many to salvation as we can.

And so Lord, thank you for your word that tells us before these things happen, what's going to take place. I love that verse in Amos chapter 3, verse 7, that the Lord God does nothing until first he reveals his secrets to his servants, the prophets. You've already told us what you're going to do. We thank you for this wonderful book of Daniel. Now, as we finish it tonight, and as we move to the next prophetic book of the Old Testament, that will point us toward the time that we're living in. Give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church in these final moments, we would ask in the mighty name of Jesus. All God's kids would say? Amen. Let's stand and we'll