(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

And that's it for this video, thank you for watching, and I'll see you in the next one. 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 12, 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, And this represents Greece. Then we go to the fourth kingdom, verse 7. And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 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 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. So we see the beast here, or the antichrist, that he has a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he continues for 42 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. But 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 in 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. 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 dominions 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. 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 42 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 antichrist, 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 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 did 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 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 a 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 and 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 and 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 under 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. But he also pronounces a do a doe like doe a deer a female deer. So basically this word is supposedly an archaic word choler well no it's just 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. 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. 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, 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 manifests 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 antichrist. The prefix anti in antichrist 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. Antichrist 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 in 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 antichrist 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, 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 10 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 anti-Christ 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 where 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 anti-Christ 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 anti-Christ 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. There's a false doctrine out there called preterism you might've heard of, or you might've 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 anti-Christ. 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 anti-Christ. There's the anti-Christ before the first coming of Christ and there's going to be another anti-Christ before the second coming of Christ. And so it's going to happen again. And the proof is comparing Daniel 7 and Daniel 8. When you compare Daniel 7 with Daniel 8, 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 that 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 Lords that happened back then. Minor day of the Lords, 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, you know, 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's 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 see 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 seven 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, you know, 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 read it to 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 second Thessalonians chapter two, second Thessalonians chapter number two, second Thessalonians chapter two. So those who say it's all historical, it's all in the past, it's all preterite, well, it already happened with Antioch and Epiphany. Well then why is Jesus still talking about it? But then they say, well, you know, it happened in 70 AD. Well then why is the book of Revelation still talking about it after 70 AD? And why is the book of Revelation talking about all these things that clearly didn't happen in 70 AD, 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 second Thessalonians chapter two, verse one? Now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him that you 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 exalted himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped 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 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, who so read it, let him understand and it talks about how those in Judea need to head for 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 hoorah, just get a few more rewards, get a few more people saved and preach my lungs out and preach my throat raw. You say, oh, they're going to kill you. To me to live is Christ and to die is gain. You know, 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 believe, 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. Well, I mean, look, if I were God, you know, 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, you know, 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 that 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. 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 a thousand two hundred and ninety 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's 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, right, 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, right? 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, okay? 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? That'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? He says, I want to see the evidence. Of course, he hasn't seen the evidence for the Big Bang. 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 what 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, not, 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 until 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 beat you 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. 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 about? 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? 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, 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 Shadrag, Meshag, 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 just, 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. You know, and it turns out that Haman is the 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, that 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. About 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. 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. Until an 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 atheists, 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 anti-Christ, 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 fall for the lying signs and wonders. The Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, people are going to rally. 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 Preterists or the historicists. No, no, it's futurist. This stuff is still, 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 anti-Christ. And it's interesting that the first coming of Christ was preceded by an anti-Christ. There are many anti-Christ, and then there's going to be the anti-Christ of the end times. There was a partial fulfillment of the book of Daniel in 167 B.C. with anti-Epiphanies. 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 1-6 taught you. Be ready to stand up for what you believe. And Daniel 7-12 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 chapter 7 is a great chapter on the end times anti-Christ. We saw that, the little horn. Daniel chapter 8 shows us an example of a previous anti-Christ during the Greek empire. Daniel chapter number 9 teaches us more about the abomination of desolation that's coming in the midst of that week of end times, 42 months. Daniel chapter 10-12, what most people consider the most difficult part of Daniel, let me just give you one point on that. Daniel chapter 11, everything in Daniel chapter 11 has already happened, all of it, but guess what? It's going to happen again. So you can take verses from Daniel chapter 11 and rightly apply them to the anti-Christ. 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. You'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 wanted 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'm going to 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 Antiochus 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 in Daniel 7 is a totally different guy than the little horn in 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 puffeth up, charity edifies. And I want to have knowledge and I want to impart knowledge unto 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 news feed? 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. Amen.