Man, it's great to be here tonight, and I love Pastor Jimenez, I love this church, and
I love your new film, Psychopath Reprobates. I mean, you had me at hello with that movie,
but I really enjoyed it. I was really blown away by the quality of it, and so if you haven't
seen it already, be sure to watch it before it's taken down from YouTube. And I'm excited
about the DVDs of that continuing to be circulated even after any censorship takes place with
that. Tonight I'm going to be preaching about the book of Daniel, and I'm going to preach
a sermon tonight called, Rightly Dividing the Book of Daniel. The Bible tells us in
2 Timothy 2, 15, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And there are a lot of ways that we need to
rightly divide the Bible. For example, some things in the Bible are literal, and others
are figurative. We want to make sure that we rightly divide those things. Also, when
we read the Bible, some things are being spoken by God, who never makes a mistake, who always
speaks the truth, and then other things in the Bible are spoken by human beings, who
could say things that are wrong. Even the devil himself is quoted in the Bible. And
one of the key things when it comes to Old Testament Bible prophecy is that we need to
rightly divide between that which has already happened and that which is still going to
happen. Now, when we're in the book of Revelation, it's a lot easier because the vast majority
of what's in Revelation is still going to happen in the future, and that's very obvious.
But in the book of Daniel, it becomes more difficult to figure out what has already happened
versus what is going to happen in the future. And that's what I'm going to preach to you
tonight. Now, let me just start out by just giving you a little overview of the book of
Daniel and kind of getting you up to speed with where we're going to be tonight, which
is mainly in Daniel chapter 8. But the book of Daniel is laid out in two sections. If
you cut it in half right down the middle, chapters 1 through 6 are mainly stories. And
they're very famous stories about Daniel and his friends standing up for what's right.
Some of the most famous involve Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown into the
fiery furnace, or Daniel being thrown into the lion's den. And I believe that one of
the reasons why God starts out this important prophetic book with these type of stories
is that one of the main features of the end times is that God's people are going to
be persecuted. They're going to go through great tribulations and trials and troubles.
And so part of the book of Daniel is to get us prepared for that and ready to take a stand
for God both now and in the end times. You see, we can study Bible prophecy all day long,
and we can understand every twist and turn of the chronology of the tribulation, the
rapture, God's wrath. But we need to have a practical application to our lives. And
the practical application is that you need to stand up for what's right even in the end
times. You need to be ready to die for what you believe. You need to be ready to undergo
trials and tribulations. And if you can't stand now, how are you going to stand when
things really get bad in the end times? So I think that that's part of why those stories
in Daniel 1 through 6 really focus on that. But then when you get into chapters 7 through
8, you get into the really heavy Bible prophecy of the book of Daniel. I know that when I
was a young child, I would read the book of Daniel, and I loved the stories. And chapters
1 through 6, man, I was excited. Even chapter 7 kept me interested. But when I got to chapter
8 is when I usually started to kind of fade away. And I didn't usually get to the end
of the book of Daniel when I was a child. But it's time for us as adults to grow up
and read the whole book of Daniel, right? We don't want to just selectively read the
easiest parts of scripture. But all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's all profitable
for doctrine. And chapters 7 through 12 of Daniel, while not as exciting in the story
sense, are even more exciting once you understand their implications for Bible prophecy. And
they're extremely interesting. But I think a lot of the reason why people shy away from
Daniel 7 through 12 is that they have trouble understanding it. So I hope that tonight I
can help shed some light on some of this and help you understand how to rightly divide
the book of Daniel. And again, the most important thing is what has already happened versus
what is going to happen in the future. So let's start out by just getting a quick overview
from chapter 7, okay? Back in chapter 2, there was that great image. And if you've seen Babylon
USA, you remember this, where it had the head of gold, and then it had the chest and
arms of silver, and then it had the loins of brass, and then it went down to the legs
of iron and the feet of iron mingled with clay. And if you remember, these are four
great kingdoms. The head of gold was Babylon. The silver was the Medo-Persian Empire. The
bronze was Grecia. And then you end up with the Roman Empire. And those are those four
great kingdoms that keep coming up over and over again in the book of Daniel. Well, when
you get to Daniel chapter 7, instead of an image with four sections, you have four different
beasts, okay? The first beast is like a lion, which represents Babylon. Then you've got
the bear, representing the Medo-Persians. Let's jump into Daniel chapter 7, and I want
to point out the third kingdom, which is the kingdom of Grecia. The Bible says in verse
6, After this I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four
wings of a fowl. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. And this represents
Greece. Then we go to the fourth kingdom, verse 7. After this I saw in the night visions,
and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly. And it had great iron
teeth, and it devoured and break in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it.
And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it. And it had ten horns. I considered
the horns, and behold, there came up among them, and this is key, another little horn,
before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And behold,
in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. Now
I want you to keep your finger here in Daniel 7 and go to Revelation 13. Revelation chapter
13, we're going to go back and forth a little bit right now between Revelation chapter 7.
I'm sorry, Revelation, we're going to go back and forth a little bit right now between Revelation
13 and Daniel 7. And the main point that I want to show to you right now is that the
little horn of Daniel chapter 7 is the antichrist of Revelation 13. And that's very important,
and I want to prove that to you beyond any shadow of a doubt, that the little horn of
Daniel 7 is the antichrist of Revelation 13. Look what the Bible says in Revelation 13
verse 4, and they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshiped
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 speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given
unto him to continue forty and two months. So we see the beast here, or the antichrist,
that he has a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he continues for forty-two
months. Well, back in Daniel 7, what did it say about the little horn at the end of verse
8? It said that he had a mouth speaking great things. Look at verse 19. Then I would know
the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose
teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass, which devoured, break in pieces, and stamped
the residue with his feet, and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other
which came up, and before whom three fell, even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth
that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. Verse 21, I beheld
and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them. Now, that should
sound familiar to you from Revelation 13. Look at Revelation 13, verse 7, of the antichrist
it says it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. So
in Daniel 7 it said he made war with the saints, and prevailed against them. Revelation 13
said he made war with the saints, and overcame them. And power was given him over all kindreds,
and tongues, and nations. Go back to Daniel 7, verse 23. Thus he said, the fourth beast
shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall
devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten
horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise, and another shall rise after
them. The other one that rises after is the antichrist, the little horn. And he shall
be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings, and he shall speak great words
against the most high, just like Revelation 13, and shall wear out the saints of the most
high, and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand until
a time, and times, and the dividing of time. Now what does that mean? A time? That's one.
Times is two. The dividing of time. What's that? Three and a half. So it's saying he's
going to have dominion and power for three and a half years. What did it say in Revelation
13? Forty-two months. It's the same period of time. Verse 26, but the judgment shall
sit, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end,
and the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom and the whole heaven shall
be given to the people of the saints of the most high, whose kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey him, of course referring to Jesus Christ.
So what do we see here? Daniel gets a vision of four kingdoms. Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece,
and then the fourth kingdom, which is Rome. Okay, but the fourth kingdom not only represents
Rome, but it also represents the end times, new world order, or one world system that's
still coming in the future. Now when Christ came the first time, it was during that fourth
kingdom of Rome. But the ten kings aspect of that fourth kingdom, the ten toes of Daniel
chapter 2, or the ten horns of Daniel chapter 7, has to do with the fourth kingdom in its
future aspect in the end times, which is why it ties in perfectly with Revelation 13, where
you have the beast with seven heads and ten horns, and you have the same thing about making
war against the saints and continuing for forty-two months. That's clearly future fulfillment
in the end times. But what I want you to especially note here, and this is the most
important part of what I just explained, is that the little horn, or the anti-Christ,
he clearly comes out of the fourth kingdom. Look at verse 24 of Daniel 7. The ten horns
out of this kingdom, which kingdom? The fourth kingdom. The ten horns out of this kingdom
are ten kings that shall arise, and another shall rise when? After them. Okay, so get
the picture. You've got four kingdoms. Babylon, Medo-Persian, Grecia, fourth kingdom, which
is Rome, first time Christ came, New World Order, second time Christ comes. But where
does the little horn come into play? He comes out of the fourth kingdom after the ten kings.
Okay? Why is that important? Let's back up and let's talk about the third kingdom. What's
the third kingdom? Grecia, right? Look if you would at Daniel chapter 7 verse 6. This
is back to the third kingdom. After this I beheld and lo, another like a leopard which
had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl. The beast had also four heads and dominion
was given to it. Now, why is this significant? The reason that Greece is represented by the
leopard is because Alexander the Great was the great king that created this Grecian empire
and his army was known for its great speed. They would be able to travel over great distances
quickly. That was part of their strategic advantage, sort of a blitzkrieg that they
would use in order to defeat the enemy, which is why it's represented by a leopard. Why
does the leopard have four heads? Because Alexander the Great died a very young and
unexpected death and when he died there was no successor ready to take over after him
so his kingdom ended up going to four of his generals. Instead of one decisive leader taking
over and picking up where Alexander left off, his four generals ended up taking different
parts of the kingdom so that's why it's a four headed kingdom. It's a four headed beast
because these four different generals took over. Now let's go to Daniel chapter 8. Now
Daniel chapter 8 is a chapter that exclusively deals with the second kingdom and the third
kingdom. Now, I don't want to lose you tonight. I want you to pay attention and you've got
to put your thinking cap on because we're going deep in Bible prophecy tonight. Four
kingdoms folks, Babylon, Medo-Persian, Grecian, Roman Empire. When we're talking about Daniel
chapter 8, it covers the second and third kingdom. It's all about the Medo-Persians
and the Greeks. Now look down at your Bible in verse 3. Then I lifted up my eyes and saw
and behold there stood before the river a ram which had two horns. Now later in the
chapter it's explained that the ram that has two horns is the Medo-Persian empire.
It makes sense that it has two horns because it's the Medes and the Persians. Then the
Bible says the two horns were high but one was higher than the other and the higher came
up last. Why? Because the Persian side of it was the stronger side of the empire. It
came up last but it was the greater of the two. It ended up becoming the dominant part
of that empire. Verse 4, I saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward so that
no beast might stand before him. Neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand
but he did according to his will and became great. So there's a time when the Medo-Persian
empire is just unstoppable. I mean whatever direction they go, nobody can face them, nobody
can stand, nobody can defeat them and the Persians are stronger than the Medes. Then
it says in verse 5, and as I was considering behold an he-goat came from the west on the
face of the whole earth. Now later in the chapter the Bible flat out tells us that this
he-goat is the king of Grecia coming from the west. This is Alexander the Great, the
great king of Grecia coming from the west to conquer, coming from Macedonia or northern
Greece. And it says the he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth and
touched not the ground. Now remember, this kingdom of Grecia was represented by a leopard
which a leopard is known for one thing, it's known for being a fast animal. And the fact
that the he-goat touched not the ground, it's because this he-goat is just flying so fast
it's not even touching the ground. So it's another reference to the rapidity of the movement.
And it says the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And of course the notable horn is
Alexander the Great. Let's keep reading, verse 6. And he came to the ram that had two horns,
which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with collar against him. Now
what does collar mean? Collar means extreme rage. Or if you want to pronounce it like
James White, it's choler. Okay. But he also pronounces a do, a do, like do, a deer, a
female deer. So basically this word is supposedly an archaic word, choler. Well no, it's not
pronounced choler, it's collar. Now have you ever heard someone described as a choleric
person? Someone having a choleric personality? What does that mean? It means they're a really
angry person. Okay. So this rough goat, which is Alexander the Great, he comes up against
the ram. He comes up against the Medo-Persian empire, and he's angry. He hates them, right?
And he wants to defeat them. He was moved with collar against him, which is like wrath
or rage or anger. And he smote the ram and break his two horns, and there was no power
in the ram to stand before him. But he cast him down to the ground and stamped upon him,
and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. So he wipes out this
Medo-Persian power. Therefore, the he goat waxed very great, and when he was strong,
the great horn was broken, and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds
of heaven. Now remember the four wings and the four heads? Now it's the four notable
ones. So when Alexander the Great dies, there are four notable ones who rise up to take
his place. It says in verse 9, and out of one of them came forth a little horn. Okay.
So let's stop here and understand this. So after Alexander the Great dies, his untimely
death around the age of 32, there ends up being four different kingdoms. It ends up
being broken up into a kingdom that's in Macedonia and Greece. There's a kingdom in Asia Minor.
There's a kingdom in Mesopotamia and a kingdom in Egypt. So it ends up being broken up into
these different geographic sections. Okay. And these four geographic sections, they have
four different generals who led them and eventually became kings and had descendants and dynasties
that ruled in these four areas. Now the two most important of these areas are known as
the Seleucid Empire in the north, which is out of Mesopotamia, Babylon, that area, the
Seleucid Empire in the north, and the Ptolemaic Empire in the south. Now when we say the south,
we're talking about Egypt. So the Ptolemies are ruling in Egypt, okay, but it's a Greek
dynasty that's ruling down in Egypt. And then you have the Seleucid kings that are ruling
up in Mesopotamia. Later in the book of Daniel, these are going to be called the king of the
north and the king of the south. So there are four kingdoms, but two of them are the
most important, right? Everybody following so far? The king of the north, king of the
south, the Seleucid king and the Ptolemaic king, those are the kingdoms. Out of one of
them came forth a little horn. Now do you remember in Daniel 7, there was a little horn,
the little horn, right? What kingdom did that little horn come out of? The little horn
came out of a fourth kingdom that came after the Greeks are already done with everything
that they're going to do, right? The Romans have taken over, and then after the ten kings,
the little horn came up, and we know that that little horn is the Antichrist. But this
little horn, notice where he comes into play, he comes out of one of these Greek kingdoms.
It's a different guy. Everybody paying attention? So, this guy comes out of one of those four
kingdoms, and he waxed exceeding great toward the south and toward the east and toward the
pleasant land. And it waxed great even to the host of heaven, and it cast down some
of the host of the stars to the ground and stamped upon them, yet he magnified himself
even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away and the
place of his sanctuary was cast down. Now, history tells us that this man is known as
Antiochus Epiphanes, okay? One of the Seleucid kings of the northern kingdom known as Antiochus
Epiphanes, he did this. He ended up going into Judea, he ended up fighting against Jerusalem,
he ended up polluting the temple, and he ended up, the Bible says, taking away the daily
sacrifice and casting down the place of the sanctuary. In fact, this man, Antiochus Epiphanes,
who the Bible calls here the little horn in Daniel chapter 8, he also declared himself
to be God. In fact, there are ancient coins that have been dug up that show his face on
them and they say, Antiochus Epiphanes, God manifest, that he's basically a manifest God.
Now, who do we know as God manifest in the flesh? Jesus Christ. The Bible says in 1 Timothy
3.16, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world,
received up into glory. So we know that it's Jesus Christ who was manifest in the flesh.
Now, what is a person called that would take the place of Jesus Christ, that would seek
to have the same attributes as Jesus Christ, that would be instead of Jesus Christ saying,
no, I'm God manifest in the flesh, that would be an anti-Christ. The prefix anti in anti-Christ
means in the place of. It doesn't mean against. A lot of people think it means anti, like,
hey, I'm anti-abortion, like I'm against abortion. That's not what that prefix anti
means in this context, because anti has a couple different meanings. Anti-Christ means
one who is in the place of Christ instead of Christ. Well, that's what this guy, Antiochus
Epiphanes, was, this little horn. What did he do? He basically said, I'm God manifest
on earth. And what did he do? He caused the daily sacrifice to cease. Let's keep reading.
The Bible says in verse 12, and a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason
of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it practiced and prospered.
Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake,
how long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice? And watch this next phrase,
and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden
underfoot. And he said unto me, unto 2,300 days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
So here's what I want to point out here, is that this guy, the little horn, who is a Greek
king, he's out of one of the four Greek kingdoms, notably the king of the north, the Seleucid
king, and he is an anti-Christ who has a what? An abomination of desolation. He has a transgression
of desolation that he's associated with. He's taken the daily sacrifice away. I mean,
does this sound kind of familiar? Look what the Bible says in Daniel 8.20, the ram which
thou sawest, having two horns, are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is
the king of Grecia, and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Who's
the first king? Alexander the Great. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it,
the four generals, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
They're not going to be as powerful as Alexander the Great. Look at verse 23, and in the latter
time of their kingdom, so as we're toward the end of that third kingdom, which is the
kingdom of Grecia, but we're not yet into the fourth kingdom, which is the Roman Empire,
in the end of their kingdom, the Bible says, in the latter time of their kingdom, verse
23, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance and understanding
dark sentences shall stand up. Now what does that mean, a king of fierce countenance and
understanding dark sentences? When we think of one who understands dark sentences, this
is somebody who's into the dark arts. This is somebody who's into sorcery, witchcraft,
black magic, just that which is satanic and occultic. That's what this guy is into. And
his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power. Where's this guy getting his power
from? He's getting his power from the devil. It's not his own power. He's into dark arts
and dark crafts. It's witchcraft. It says, his power shall be mighty, but not by his
own power, and he shall destroy wonderfully and shall prosper and practice and shall destroy
the mighty and the holy people. So he's up against the Jews. And through his policy also,
he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand. We think of craft like witchcraft. And he
shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many. He shall also stand
up against the prince of princes, but he shall be broken without him. Now here's the key
thing here to understand. These are two different people. In Daniel 7, the little horn clearly
comes after the ten kings of the fourth kingdom. In Daniel chapter 8, there's no way around
it. The little horn comes toward the end of the third kingdom before the fourth kingdom
has even started because they are two completely different people. So what that means is that
Antiochus Epiphanes, history tells us in 167 BC, set up the transgression of abomination
of desolation. He did that when he set up a statue of an idol. He set up a statue of
Zeus in the temple, and he desecrated the temple and persecuted the Jews and things
of that nature. But in chapter 7, we're talking about the end times Antichrist who is going
to set up an image as well. Now go to Matthew 24. Let's take this into the New Testament
now. Matthew chapter 24. Let's talk about the abomination of desolation. Now here's
what I don't want you to misunderstand because here's what we've learned so far. We've learned
that there was already an abomination of desolation. It already happened. 167 BC. Done. It already
happened. There was already an Antichrist even before the first coming of Christ. Antiochus
Epiphanes during the Greek empire that came before Christ and that did a lot of the same
things as the Antichrist in Daniel chapter 7, but it's a different person because the
timing is off by hundreds of years. It's not even in the same era. It's not even in the
same kingdom. Now where a lot of people make a mistake with Bible prophecy is they say,
oh, this stuff already happened. A mistake that people often make is they say, well, this happened
in the past. This already all is fulfilled. It's done. And there's a false doctrine out
there called preterism you might have heard of. Or you might have heard of it described
as historicism. And what we believe is called futurism because we believe that all this
stuff is going to happen in the end times. We believe that there's going to be a one
world government. There's going to be an Antichrist. There's going to be the mark of
the beast and that all these things are still coming in the future, but there's a false
doctrine out there that says, oh, it already happened. Now this false doctrine about it
already having happened comes in a few different flavors, but a lot of them will say, hey,
you know, Antiochus Epiphanes, it already happened. Well, guess what? It already happened
and it's going to happen again because there's two different little horns. There's two different
Antichrists. There's the Antichrist before the first coming of Christ and there's going
to be another Antichrist before the second coming of Christ. And so it's going to happen
again. And the proof is comparing Daniel seven and Daniel eight. When you compare Daniel
seven with Daniel eight, you cannot come to the conclusion, oh, it's the same guy. Two
totally different kingdoms. One's coming out of Greece. The other one's coming out of the
fourth kingdom. Totally different. Now, another proof that this hasn't all already happened
is what it says here in Matthew 24, 14 in this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come. Look at verse
15. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
stand in the holy place. Whoso readeth, let them understand. Then let them which be in
Judea flee into the mountains. Now, what in the world sense would it make for Jesus to
say, hey, listen, when you see the abomination of desolation, you better head for the hills.
What sense would that make if it had already happened a couple hundred years earlier? It
wouldn't make any sense, would it, to say, hey, watch out for this in the future. But
the reason it does make sense is when you understand that it happened in the past and
it will happen again in the future, there was a foreshadowing in the Old Testament and
the major fulfillment is in the future. You see, that's how a lot of Bible prophecy is.
A lot of Bible prophecy has like an immediate meaning to that prophet, but then there's
a future fulfillment that's off the future. If you study the Old Testament, there are
all kinds of day of the Lord's that happened back then. Minor day of the Lord's, but the
big day of the Lord is always in view. It's prophesying that as well. Think about the
book of Jonah. I mean, when you read the book of Jonah, Jonah is in the belly of the whale,
but when he prays out of the belly of the whale, part of the time he's talking about
seaweed being wrapped around his head. Well, that's literal for back then, but part of
the time he talks about crying to God out of the belly of hell. Well, we know that Jonah
was not in hell. He talks about going down to the bottoms of the mountains. The whale
didn't swim that deep, okay? He didn't actually go down to the bottoms of the mountains. He
didn't have the earth with her bars around him forever. He was prophesying of Christ.
It was Christ who was in hell for three days and three nights. It was Christ who went down
to the bottoms of the mountains. It was Christ who had the earth with her bars about him
forever, not Jonah. So it switches back and forth between Jonah talking about himself
and talking about Jesus Christ. That's why when the Ethiopian eunuch is reading Isaiah
53, he said, is this prophet talking about himself or is he talking about some other
man? And of course, the most important aspect was talking about Jesus. Well, that's how
it is with Old Testament Scriptures. Yeah, Jonah is talking about himself, but the most
important aspect is what he's saying about Jesus. When David said, thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to seek corruption, that's
talking about Jesus. And all throughout the Old Testament, we have a literal immediate
fulfillment and then we have a greater fulfillment in the future. That's a very common theme
in Scripture. And with Daniel, there's no guessing because he flat out tells us, look,
there's going to be a little horn. There's going to be a transgression of desolation.
There's going to be a stopping of the daily sacrifice. All these things will happen during
the end of the Greek kingdom. But then we know they're going to happen again because
Jesus is still talking about it and because Daniel 7 talks about it happening again after
the 10 kings. That's all future. That's still future to us today. So a lot of people,
they misunderstand Scripture because they think it's either or. Did it happen back
then or is it going to happen in the future? And the answer is both. It happened before
and it will happen again. Mark 13 verse 14 says the same thing. You don't have to turn
there. It says, but when you shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, standing where it ought not, let him that readeth understand. Then let
them that be in Judea play into the mountains. And again, notice when it talks about the
abomination of desolation, it talks about it standing in the holy place or standing
where it not not. And we're going to get into more about what that means. But if you
would flip over to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2.
2 Thessalonians chapter 2. So those who say it's all historical, it's all in the past,
it's all preterite. Well, it already happened with Antiochus Epiphany. Well, then why is
Jesus still talking about it? But then they say, well, you know, it happened in 70 A.D.
Well, then why is the book of Revelation still talking about it after 70 A.D.? And why is
the book of Revelation talking about all these things that clearly didn't happen in 70 A.D.?
Plagues and wrath of God that have not happened. Christ coming in the clouds, which has not
happened yet. The resurrection of all the dead, which has not happened yet. These things
are all still in the future. Yes, they happened in the past when it comes to the abomination
of desolation, but there's going to be another one. The Bible says there are many antichrists.
What does it say here in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 1?
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering
together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit
nor by word nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no
man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Now the reason that we know that the
day of Christ is not at hand, that Christ is not just going to come in the clouds at
any moment for the rapture. He could come tonight. He could come today, as we hear so
often. The reason we know that's not true is because that day shall not come, except
there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.
What does he do? He goes into the temple of God, and he exalts himself as God and above
all that is called God, and he shows himself that he is God, right? So he declares himself
to be God. This happens at the midpoint of the end times week known as Daniel's 70th
week. It happens when the Antichrist receives a deadly wound to his head. His deadly wound
is healed, and then all the world wonders after him, and they say, We need to make an
image to the beast. And when they set up that image, when that image stands in that
holy place where it ought not, when that image is placed in the place where it ought not
be, that is known as the abomination of desolation. And the Bible says, When you see the abomination
of desolation spoken of by Daniel, whoso readeth, let him understand. And it talks about how
those in Judea need to head for the hills. I'm not going to head for the hills when I
see it because I don't live in Judea. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, and when I see that abomination
of desolation stand in the holy place where it ought not, I'm going to preach harder than
I've ever preached. I'm going to just pull out all the stops. I'm going to be out soul
winning. I'm going to be trying as hard as I can to have one last hurrah, just get a
few more rewards, get a few more people saved, and preach my lungs out and preach my throat
raw. You say, well, they're going to kill you. To me, to live is Christ and to die is
gain. So what? Who cares if I get killed when there's only like a couple months left before
we're all in heaven anyway? We're all going to the same place, folks. We're all going
to get there in a few months. I'd rather go out with a bang. And I personally believe
I'm going to survive anyway. I believe it's all the liberal preachers that are going to
get their heads cut off. You know what I mean? Because God, I think, and this is just
my opinion, I could be wrong about this, but if I'm wrong, you won't be able to rub my
nose in it because I'll be dead if I'm wrong. But I think people like Brother Jimenez and
myself are going to be some of the last people that would be killed. Look, if I were God,
I'd want to protect the guys who are preaching fearlessly, and I'd make sure that the first
one in line for the guillotine is the watered-down preacher who's afraid to even preach against
the sodomites even when it's legal. He won't even take a stand now when we're not even
in the tribulation. We're not even experiencing persecution. We have the First Amendment protecting
us, and we have freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The guy who's hiding with his
tail between his legs, that's the guy that I would remove my hand of protection from,
but I'm not God. So, you know, if God in His wisdom allows Brother Jimenez and myself
to be martyred, what an honor. But I would prefer to be alive and remain under the coming
of the Lord. So that's why I'm praying always that I'd be kind of worthy to escape all these
things and to stand before the Son of Man. The pre-tribbers have never prayed that prayer
in their life because they think they're going to be beamed out before any of it anyway.
So if there's only a few people praying that, we're probably the ones who are going to get
answered. And a lot of the pre-tribbers are going to get wiped out. That's what I believe.
So I'm not going to go hide somewhere. I'm just going to preach harder and do more and
keep stoning all the way to the bitter end. That's my plan. But the Bible tells us here
that this abomination of desolation is spoken of by Daniel the prophet. Okay? Whoso read it,
let him understand. You don't have to turn there. You can if you like. But the most famous
abomination of desolation verse in Daniel is in chapter 9. Now, of course, it's mentioned
elsewhere. We saw it mentioned in chapter 8. But it was a different abomination of desolation
that already happened. It was the little horn of Daniel 8, not the little horn of Daniel 7,
not the Antichrist, but the historical figure Antiochus Epiphanes. Look what the Bible says
in Daniel 9, 27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. And in the midst
of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. And for the overspreading
of abominations, he shall make it desolate even until the consummation. And that determined
shall be poured upon the desolate. Now, it makes perfect sense. Now, flip over to Daniel 12.
It makes perfect sense that it says that the abomination of desolation takes place in the
middle of the week. Why? Because how long is the Antichrist going to continue in power
after he sets himself up as God on earth? He continues in power for 42 months, which
is how long? Three and a half years. Well, that makes perfect sense if it happens in
the middle of the week and he lasts until close to the end of the week. So it all fits
like a glove. Look at Daniel 12, verse 11. You'll see what I mean. And from the time
that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that make it desolate
set up, there shall be 1,290 days. This is clearly not the abomination of desolation
spoken of in Daniel 8 with Antiochus Epiphanes, but it's the future abomination of desolation
that Jesus pointed us to and said, when you see it, them that are in Judea should head
for the hills. They're in trouble. So what is the abomination of desolation? It is in
the temple of God, a false God that set up, whether that's a man saying, I'm God manifest,
I'm going to print coins that say that, I'm going to pretend to be like the Lord Jesus
Christ even before he came the first time, or whether that's in the end times, the Antichrist
and the false prophet saying, hey, let's make an image to the beast. Let's make an image
to the one who had the deadly wound to his head and yet did live. That is what the abomination
of desolation is when it stands in the holy place where it ought not. This is where he
comes into the temple of God showing himself that he is God.
Now, last place we'll turn, Revelation chapter 13. And Revelation chapter 13 is the key chapter
on the Antichrist, on the mark of the beast, things of that nature. And it talks about
the false prophet who points people to the Antichrist. You see, God is the Trinity, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And
Jesus receives his kingdom and authority from the Father. That authority is given to him
by the Father. And the Antichrist, he gets his authority from the devil. The Bible says
the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. So just as the Father
gives Jesus a kingdom, the Antichrist's father, who his father is the devil, gives him a kingdom.
So the dragon is sort of like the father of the Antichrist. And then the false prophet
is sort of like their Holy Spirit. So it's like an evil trinity, like a satanic trinity
of dragon, beast, and false prophet. So you'll see those three mentioned together, like where
three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the dragon's mouth and out of the mouth
of the false prophet and out of the mouth of the beast. So here we see the false prophet
in verse 14, deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which
he had power to do in the sight of the beast. So in the end times, this false prophet, he's
going to perform miracles that will just wow the world into believing in him. Now think
about this. The atheists are always saying what? We need proof. Show us proof of God
and we'll believe in him. Isn't that what they say? It's what they claim. And you know
what? They're never going to see any proof. Why? Because faith is the evidence of things
not seen. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
You think God in heaven is going to come down and prove to some wicked atheist that
he exists? You know what? He doesn't have to prove anything. He just said, well, if
you don't believe in me, then just go to hell then, Stephen Hawking. Just go to hell then,
Richard Dawkins, if you don't believe in me. The Bible doesn't start out in chapter
one by saying, hey, let me prove to you God exists. It just says in the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth. I don't believe that. Go to hell then if you don't
believe that. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He that is filthy, let him
be filthy still. He that is righteous, let him be righteous still. He that is holy, let
him be holy still. Look, it's up to you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but you
know what? You have to believe on him. And if you had concrete evidence in your hand,
no faith would be required. There'd be nothing to believe in. If we could show you beyond
a shadow of a doubt, the proof that Jesus existed, here's a videotape of him dying on
the cross. Here's a video of him rising from the dead. You know, there'd be no faith needed
at that point. If we could just see and believe everything. No, we need to have faith. There's
faith. But isn't that what the atheist says? I want to see the evidence. Of course, he
hasn't seen the evidence for the big bang. You know, he hasn't seen the evidence for,
you say, well, there's evidence for that. Well, there's a lot more evidence for the
Bible than for that stuff. You say, what's your evidence for the Bible? You know my evidence
for the Bible is that everything it says ends up being true. And I'm 36 years old and I've
been testing it for the last 36 years and the Bible's always right about everything
and God's always right about everything. You say, well, that's not hard evidence. You're
right, it's not hard evidence, but I'm saved by faith, not hard evidence. Saved by faith.
Well, I believe in science. Okay, then take your science to hell with you and you could
be down in hell with a chemistry set down there and you could be down in hell doing
all kinds of experiments in your zero gravity environment. You're going to love it down
there because you're going to be in a place where scientists would love to be because
they want to know what's down in the center of the earth, don't they? They're all excited
how in 2025 they're going to drill down into the mantle and they're excited. We've only
been on the crust and we want to get down into the mantle and we can't wait till 2025.
Well, you know what? Stephen Hawking's already there waiting for you. You say, oh man, in
the year 2025, we're going to get down to the mantle. Hey, Stephen Hawking's already
been to there. He's already cruised through the mantle and made it all the way to the
core and he's already doing all kinds of zero gravity experiments down there. He's experimenting
with extreme temperatures. I mean, he's converting Kelvin to Fahrenheit to Celsius and he's got
all eternity to make those calculations down there. You know, and we live in a society
that just worships these scientists. Oh, they're so smart. No, the Bible says professing themselves
to be wise, they became fools. They're fools. They're liars. They're idiots. The stuff that
they teach is garbage and those of us that are saved, we laugh at it. We mock at it.
We scorn it. We ridicule it. It's junk to us. But to them, what do they do? They say
the same thing about the Bible. Why? Because the wisdom of God is foolishness with men.
Right? The Bible says the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. They
are foolishness unto him. This wonderful book of 1189 chapters of pure greatness on every
page as we read it, our hearts burn within us. We love the Bible. It's magnificent. There's
no book like it. There's never man spake like this man spake. You know, the atheist picks
up this book and it's foolishness unto him. I heard somebody tell me who was an atheist,
he said, I started reading Genesis and it was junk to me. The book of Genesis was just
junk. It's like, are you reading the same book of Genesis? What are you talking? And
this guy was even reading a King James because some of these other versions are total junk,
but I'm saying he was reading a King James and walked away saying it was total junk.
Why? Because his mind is blinded. It can't be discerned by the unbelieving mind. You
know, I was talking to my wife about what garbage the Apocrypha is last night because
I was reading her passages from the Apocrypha and saying, isn't this just pure garbage?
Like, why did anyone even translate this? It's such worthless junk. It's nonsense. I
mean, it's just crazy stuff. And it just contradicts the rest of the Bible. It's like, what in
the world? And I'm reading her this passage and she said to me, she said, you know, when
I was a kid growing up in the Catholic church, I didn't notice any difference between the
Apocrypha and the Bible. When they would read to us from the Apocrypha, she said, I went
to a summer camp one time and it was all taught from the book of Tobit. Not the Hobbit, but
Tobit. You'll be better off getting your doctrine from the Hobbit, by the way. But anyway, you
know, the Tobit was the whole theme of this week of summer camp. And she said, you know,
it didn't stand out to me as being any different than any other Bible scriptures that I'd heard.
Why? Because she was unsaved and it was all just, it's all just going right over her head.
But when you're saved, you read the Bible, there's power. You pick up the Book of Mormon,
it's like junk. You pick up the Quran, it's total junk. You pick up the Apocrypha, it's
total junk. And then these people are like, well, how do you know they put the right books
in the Bible? I mean, how do you know some of those Apocrypha books shouldn't be in there?
Have you ever read them? They're so weird. I mean, there's a part in the Apocrypha where
it's talking about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. And it's talking about
how there's a cold spot in the furnace where they are. It's like, what in the world? It's
just making stuff up. There's a part in the Apocrypha where it retells the story of Esther
and it just completely contradicts the original version. So it talks about instead of Esther
just walking in and she walks in and the king just holds out the golden scepter and says,
what is thy petition, Queen Esther? And she wants him to go to the banquet with her and
Haman and the king. In the Apocrypha, she walks in and passes out. Somebody grabs her
and then the king jumps out of his throne and runs down and he's like, oh, my dear Esther.
It's just like so cheesy. It's so corny. And it turns out that Haman is this secret agent
from the Macedonians. He's trying to overthrow the government and everything. It's just like,
what in the world? You can't find one chapter in the Apocrypha that's even worth reading.
It has any power. You can't even find one verse where you say that's a powerful verse.
But what happens when you read the Bible? I can't find one chapter in the Bible that
I don't like. I mean, think about just the book of Proverbs alone. I can't even find
a chapter in the book of Proverbs that isn't just dripping with so much wisdom you could
live your whole life on that wisdom. But 52 chapters of Ecclesiasticus from the Apocrypha
is just a cheap imitation. It's total junk. But see, the unsaved people, they can't tell
the difference, can they? To them, it all goes over their head because they're not saved.
And you know what? Whether you like this or not, that's why people can't tell the difference
between the King James and these modern versions a lot of times is because they're not even
saved. So to them, it's all going over their head. None of it's making any sense to them.
You know, but those of us that are saved, man, we hear the King James and we know it's
right. When I was a kid and I heard preachers preach from the NIV, even before this issue
was even explained to me, I remember just thinking to myself, there's something wrong
with the NIV. I can't put my finger on it. There's something wrong with that book. Why?
That's the Spirit of God where you know the voice of the shepherd and you flee the voice
of strangers. You know the difference. Well, these unbelievers, these unsaved that scoff
at the Bible, that's because they're unsaved. We scoff at them. They're a joke unto us.
But they want to see evidence, don't they? That's what they're looking for. Just show
us the proof and we'll be saved is what the atheist says. And I say to them, well, you'll
never be saved then. Oh, evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there
shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonas was three
days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth. The death barrel and the resurrection is the only
sign they're going to get. That's not enough. They're going to have to go to hell and experiment
down there. But what does the Bible say? Are you there in Revelation 13? This is where
we'll close. Verse 14, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, the false prophet
will, by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast.
And of course, the atheist, they're going to eat that up with fork and spoon when they
can see the proof, when they see the miracles that are done in the name of the Antichrist,
right? And of course, all the Charismaniacs and the Pentecostals, they're going to eat
this up. They're going to love the miracles and they're going to just, they're going to
fall for the lying signs and wonders. The Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, people
are going to rally this. This is what people want. They don't want faith. They don't want
to believe on Jesus. They want it all to be proven to them with miracles. And he's
going to say to them, halfway through verse 14, that dwell on the earth that they should
make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live. And he had power
to give life unto the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak and
cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he
causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in
their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that
had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him
that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man,
and his number is six hundred threescore and six." So in conclusion, these things are still
coming. This has not already happened. Don't listen to the Preterist or the Historicist.
No, no, it's Futurist. This stuff is still coming. The main event is still coming. Yes,
many of the events of Daniel have already been fulfilled. Everything in chapter 8 has
already been fulfilled, but there's still another event coming that's even bigger, that's
even greater. There's a tribulation coming on this earth greater than anything the world
has ever seen. There have been tribulations before, but there's going to be the greatest
tribulation. There have been earthquakes before, but there's going to be the greatest earthquake.
There's been an abomination of desolation before, but there's going to be a greater
event like that. There's even been a guy who you could point to and say, this guy was an
antichrist. And it's interesting that the first coming of Christ was preceded by an
antichrist. There are many antichrists, and then there's going to be the antichrist of
Christ of the end times. There was a partial fulfillment of the book of Daniel in 167 B.C.
with Antioch of Epiphanes. Many other things were fulfilled in 70 A.D., another partial
fulfillment, but let me assure you that the main event is still coming. The biggest event
is still going to happen, and so you better be ready for that. Now, in the end, we're
on the winning side. Jesus Christ is going to take the kingdom and rule and reign, and
we're going to rule and reign with him forever and ever, but you better be ready to stand.
That's what Daniel 1 through 6 taught you. Be ready to stand up for what you believe.
Then Daniel 7 through 12 teaches you to understand what's coming so that you'll be prepared
for it and know what's happening so that you're not confused and disillusioned. Daniel
7 is a great chapter on the end times antichrist. We saw that, the little horn. Daniel 8 shows
us an example of a previous antichrist during the Greek empire. Daniel 9 teaches us more
about the abomination of desolation that's coming in the midst of that week of end times,
42 months. Daniel 10 through 12, what most people consider the most difficult part of
Daniel. Let me just give you one point on that. Daniel 11, everything in Daniel 11 has
already happened, all of it, but guess what? It's going to happen again. So you can take
verses from Daniel 11 and rightly apply them to the antichrist. You can apply them to end
times prophecy. Why? Because they had a partial fulfillment back then and they're going to
have an even greater future fulfillment. That's why Jesus pointed us to the book of Daniel
and said, read it, understand it, and be ready for these things. Why don't you start practicing
now by being willing to stand up for Verity Baptist Church, the pillar and ground of the
truth. Why not practicing now by standing with the man of God? Now look, this man of
God up here standing before you is not perfect. That man of God sitting over there is not
perfect. But I'll tell you one thing right now, I'm a man of God and he's a man of God.
Not saying that we're perfect. I'm not saying that we're right about everything. I'm not
saying to blindly follow us. But I'll tell you one thing, that man, Pastor Roger Jimenez,
is the man of God. He is the man that God is greatly using in this area. I don't think
there's any question about that. And if you can point to a greater man of God in this
area, then both Pastor Jimenez and myself would love to sit at his feet and learn something
from him. Because we all want to be the best Christians that we can possibly be. And we
all want to learn from each other and from other great men of God. We're not self-made
men. I mean, we grew up listening to great preaching. And my dad's here and I'm thankful
for everything that my dad invested in my life. And great teaching of the word of God
that I learned from my dad. And that we learned from Pastor Nichols. And that we learned from
other great men of God that have had influence of us over the years. But let me tell you
something. I'm convinced that Roger Jimenez is a great man of God. And I think that's
obvious to anybody who's paying attention. So why don't you stand with the man of God
now? You say, I'm willing to die for Jesus Christ. Really? Then are you willing to get
your butt in church even when there's persecution? Oh man, I'll take a stand. I'll die for
Christ. You know, I'll never deny you. Isn't that what Peter said? But you know what? Talk
is cheap. When the rubber meets the road, where are you going to be? Are you going to
be hiding? Or are you going to be standing up strong and being like Daniel where you're
not going to defy yourself with the king's meat? Are you going to be like Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego where you'd rather burn than bow? Are you going to be like Daniel chapter
6 that says, you know, oh, if I go to a Verity Baptist church, I'll be thrown in the lion's
den, throw me in. Or are you going to be like everybody else? And you know what? Don't talk
a big talk about the end times if you're not willing to get in the fiery furnace now. I'm
willing to go into the fiery furnace tomorrow if that's what God ordains. And if you're
not ready to get into a fiery furnace of just being under some fiery preaching and
being under fire from the media, right? And if you're not willing to kind of just take
a little heat from friends and family, don't tell me that you're going to actually just
dive into a literal fiery furnace and say, hey, I'd rather burn than bow. No, you wouldn't.
You'd rather bow than burn. So it's all fine and dandy to study Bible prophecy. I'm for
it, but we need to apply it to our lives. You know, it's great to understand Antioch
as Epiphanes versus the end times Antichrist that they're two different people. It's great
to be able to say, hey, did you know that the little horn and Daniel 7 is a totally
different guy than the little horn and Daniel 8? I can prove that to you. Well, what matters
is whether your little rear end is in church obeying the Bible than to just know facts,
right? Knowledge puppeth up charity edifies. And I want to have knowledge and I want to
impart knowledge onto you. And I hope that I taught you something tonight. I hope that
you walk away tonight and say, you know what? I learned something. I understand Daniel a
little more, but you know what? I also hope that you walk out of here a little stronger
than you were when you walked in. You know, can you even handle brother Jimenez's documentary
film? Psychopath reprobates. Can you even share it on your newsfeed? Are you like, well,
you know, afraid what people are going to think. I'm not afraid of what people think.
I'm afraid of what God thinks. And you know what? I'm afraid of our nation becoming
a Sodom and Gomorrah. So a great sermon like that, a great tool like that, which is a great
informational tool that can teach people and educate people, you know, that's going to
help our country last a little longer or at least help this area last a little longer
or at least help the U.S. last a little longer. You know, that's a lot more important than
just your fear of, well, I don't want people to think I hate homos. Well, you know, I do.
I hope everybody knows that about me. Did I ever mention that? I hate them. Let's
bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this great church,
Lord. And I thank you for brother Jimenez and his faithfulness over the years. And I
truly appreciate this man. And I thank you for giving Sacramento this man. My hometown,
I love Sacramento. And I thank you for giving this man for this generation, for this time
and this place. And, Lord, I pray that just as a band of men whose hearts you had touched
stayed with King Saul as he was filled with the Holy Ghost, I pray that you would touch
the hearts of many people in this area, that they would follow Pastor Roger Jimenez, that
you would touch their hearts and that just as Israelites followed King Saul and were
led to victory, I pray that men's hearts would be touched, that they would follow your
man in this area, Lord, and other great men of God in this area and in other areas, Lord.
And we thank you so much for giving us the Book of Daniel and opening our eyes to these
truths. And we ask your blessing upon the food that we're about to eat. And we ask that
you give us safety as we go our separate ways. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.