Undeniable Truth (Daniel 8)

Intro: Have you noticed recently that figuring out what is TRUE is REALLY difficult these days?

There’s a reason why websites like Snopes.com exists… but I’m not even sure THEY are always trustworthy… sometimes I feel like I need to fact check the fact checkers...

Everyone THINKS they have irrefutable facts that support their COUNTLESS opinions… and you’re like, “OH YEAH!!! I SEE IT!!!” … until you come up against another set of facts from another perspective…

For every study that says masks are helpful, someone pulls another one out that says they are dangerous.

For every news report that says a politician is corrupt, the competing news outlet can prove that he isn't.

For every statistic there is a counter-statistic... for every story there is a counter-story.

And here’s the scary thing: we tend to believe the set of data that proves our own point. It’s called confirmation bias… and it’s literally EVERYWHERE in our society right now.

Everyone is trying to prove they are right and de-legitimize everyone else...

and it can leave your head spinning: DOES ANYONE TELL THE TRUTH... DOES ANYONE EVEN KNOW WHAT IS TRUE ANYMORE????

Answer: yes. God does. And God's people can. And when all of the dust has settled from the final battles of this earth, God's undeniable truth will prevail.

I want your soul to be refreshed this morning by knowing there is a God who will put an end to every falsehood...

A God who knows the truth from the beginning to the end and everywhere in between.

And I want you to know that you can and you must go to God for HIS truth right here in his word… HE WANTS you to know his truth…

And in order to endure in a world of sketchy facts... we MUST. HOLD. FAST. to HIS truth... because it is the only thing that will prevail in the end.

We’ve been studying the book of Daniel in our series called “Indestructible Kingdom”...

Our goal has been that we would give our UNDIVIDED ALLEGIANCE to the INDESTRUCTIBLE KINGDOM OF GOD…

And today we are going to see that this involves DISCERNING and HOLDING FAST to his undeniable truth.

Big Idea: Discern God's undeniable truth that will prevail in the end.

Context: Last week we passed through this imaginary gate that stands between chapter 6 and chapter 7 of Daniel...

It’s the gateway between the narrative portion of Daniel and the Apocalyptic portion of Daniel...

A lot of people LOVE Daniel 1-6 with the familiar stories of Daniel and the Lion’s Den… the fiery furnace… and the handwriting on the wall… and then they get to chapter 7 and they are like, “Oookaay then… I’ll just let someone else deal with that later...”

I want to URGE YOU… don’t DO THAT! This is so incredible… so faith-building… so rich!!! God has revealed himself in these chapters and we get to see him… and we get to work for it because the best things don’t come easy!

The stories lay out the legitimacy of Daniel as a prophet, the history of the Babylonian and Persian exile, as well as the themes that we see in these later chapters.

On the other hand, there are people who LOVE Daniel 7-12 because it is an excuse to be weird...

You have to know that there are couple different perspectives on how to interpret apocalyptic literature… a few different “interpretative camps” (as they are sometimes called)...

And I have to admit that the interpretive camp that our Doctrinal Guidelines for Teaching at Oak Hill falls in (which is called pre-millenialism or dispensationalism)… is the camp that can tend to attract some pretty WEIRD interpreters… )

People who try to find the final Antichrist in everyone they don’t like… Henry Kissinger… Hillary Clinton...

People who write books trying to predict the date of the Lord’s return usually believe a framework of the end times that is similar to our own...

And it’s kind of ironic because it’s the dispensationalism camp that claims literalism as its highest value… but in an attempt to be literal, sometimes its advocates press symbols too far.

Listen… I want you to know… that’s NOT what we are doing here!

My desire is that we would teach the scriptures faithfully (I don’t really care about a theological camp, ultimately)… and I believe that we can and should teach pre-millenialism without being weird.

So if you are coming from another "interpretive camp” and are assuming that we are in the same doctrinal place as like a John Hagee or Tim Lahaye, I want you to set you at ease.

And I also want you to carefully consider what is being laid out here… I try to do the same… I know LOTS of biblically faithful interpreters who land at different places on these things…

and I don’t have time to go into all the debates, but I do want to acknowledge that they exist… and give CHARITY to those who disagree on these difficult to understand things...

But ultimately, my goal is that we would walk away each week… but with the sense that while we might not figure out what every detail means, we know this book is TRUE.

That above all, we would have our hearts transformed by the TRUTH of the ULTIMATE KING of the INDESTRUCTIBLE KINGDOM...

And in today’s passage, I want us to specifically see that God's undeniable truth will prevail in the end.

And I believe we can see that so clearly in Daniel 8 in this first point:

1) God's undeniable truth is evident in fulfilled prophecy. (v. 1-27)

Explain: Daniel 8 was foretelling prophecy when Daniel saw it and wrote it… but it is already fulfilled today. It doesn’t matter what interpretive camp you are in… almost all scholars agree on that (even if they disagree on some of the particulars).

So we are going to take the whole chapter this morning and see three things: God revealed the truth to Daniel, God clarified the truth, and God fulfilled the truth.

a) God revealed the truth. (v. 1-14)

Explain v. 1-14 - Pics of Ram, Goat with 1 horn, Goat with 4 Horns

Note “appeared to me” (v. 1), “I saw” (v. 2), “I raised my eyes and saw” (v. 3), I saw (v. 4), “as I was considering, behold” (v. 5),

This was not something Daniel was looking for… but it WAS something God wanted to reveal.

God is not trying to conceal himself… he is EAGER to reveal.

And he does it… for US… through the visions of his prophets… through the scriptures.

Be VERY careful with people who act like this kind of stuff just happens all the time...

“Oh yeah, Jesus took me up into heaven last week and showed me some stuff!”

That happens with a VERY small percentage of people in the Bible… and they all wrote it down in Holy Scripture.

But today, SO MANY people claim that it’s happening to them… whether through near death experiences or just visions...

It’s common to hear about even in Southern Lancaster County churches.

Typically, it is someone who is trying to be validated who will say, “I saw a vision.”

And it may sound harmless at first… but they can use that vision-telling to say whatever they want int he future.

God has revealed himself FULLY in the written word of God… that points us to the incarnate Word of God (who is Jesus) and is applied to us by the same Spirit of God who inspired the biblical writers.

But maybe you are saying, “Sure… I believe God is revealing SOMETHING true here… but with all these symbols and strange events, I’m not really sure WHAT he is trying to say.” That’s OK… Daniel didn’t either, and that’s why...

b) God clarified the truth. (v. 15-19)

2 Angels… one is Gabriel…

Overwhelming… gives him rest… but then clarifies the truth. It’s for the time of the end, many years from now (discuss later).

c) God fulfilled the truth. (v. 20-27)

550 BC - Medo-Persian Empire (11 years after Daniel’s vision) - Cyrus of Persia

335 BC - Alexander the Great begins conquering Persian Empire [show video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2VfQobm1x0 ]

323 BC - Alexander Dies, his 4 Generals, Lysimachus, Cassander, Ptolemy, and Seleucus, divide the kingdom between them.

175-164BC -Eighth king of Syria was Antiochus IV...

In 171 - Removed the legitimate High Priest from the temple… and in 167 BC (3. 5 years later), he ordered the Jews to worship Zeus in their temple… he took down all of their temple instruments that Ezra had restored… and he set up an altar in their temple and sacrificing a pig to Zeus in that place.

Took also the name Epiphanes upon himself meaning “God manifest”… claiming deity. So he goes by Antiochus Epiphanes.

He’s one of the most blasphemous characters in Jewish history.

This action stirred up the Revolt of the Maccabees… the time that is celebrated during Hanukkah...

And Antiochus died during that revolt in the year 164BC, a little over 6 years from the time he removed the legitimate high priest from the temple (2300 evenings and mornings).

Now remember… Daniel is seeing this in a vision in the year 561 BC. That’s 397 years of historical TRUTH that God is revealing to Daniel... before it even happens!

God's undeniable truth is evident in fulfilled prophecy. (v. 1-27)

So what does that mean for us? Do we just say, “Oh, that’s neat! I love history! Pretty cool!” NO! If prophecy can be seen as fulfilled like THAT, then we had better pay attention to this book… ALL of it!

If I were to tell you exactly what was going to happen to you after you walked out the door of the church today… play by play… you would be coming back to me to understand EVERYTHING! (I can’t by the way… I’m not claiming to be a prophet or anything)...

But my point is… once we discern that prophecy has been fulfilled 100%, it demands a response from us… it demands that we do three things with the truth:

Apply:

a) (Because God REVEALED the truth) RECEIVE the truth God generously gives in his word.

God is not trying to conceal himself… he is EAGER to reveal… and he does it through the scriptures.

If our Creator and Sustainer God gives his truth, We need to receive God’s word as ABSOLUTE TRUTH.

Daniel doesn’t question the accuracy of God’s truth even as he questions what it means… that’s important.

b) (Because God clarified the truth) SEEK CLARITY when you don't understand something.

Can’t just pretend it doesn’t exist.

Chew on it. Study it. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Ask a mature believer (who isn’t all about weird interpretations).

Do NOT Google it. You are likely to get more conspiracy than clarity if you Google it.

c) TRUST HIM because what he has said will come to pass.

You see, ultimately, God revealed this to Daniel, not just so that Israel would know what was coming in the next 400 years…

He didn’t reveal this to Daniel so that we can show how smart we are in figuring it all out and then just leave it there.

He revealed it so that we TODAY could discern his undeniable truth… and stand against the deceit of FUTURE people who would stand against Christ.

He revealed it so that ultimately Israel, in the final days of the tribulation, could stand against the Antichrist and enter into Christ’s kingdom...

2) God's undeniable truth is essential to prevail against future deceit. (v. 23-27)

In verse 19, Gabriel says, “Behold I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of the indignation, for it refers to the time of the end.”

But then he goes on to explain events that END 160 years before Jesus even shows up the first time!

So how are we to see this working out “in the time of the end?”

There are a lot of different interpretations to that… but I believe the most plausible is this:

That Daniel 8 is completely fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes… but that his evil standing against God foreshadows the Antichrist at the time of the end.

That in every age… especially in the final age, Antichrist’s will come… and they will deceive and they will set themselves up against God… and God’s undeniable truth will prevail.

What seems to be taught as the Bible unfolds is that there IS ONE Antichrist who will rise up in the end...

But there are also MANY antichrists who rise up… in every age… even today… who try to take glory from God.

The Apostle John wrote to the 1st Century Churches: Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. (1 John 2:18 ESV)

And what John is talking about is both world rulers like Nero or Hitler, but also false teachers even at the local church level who led people astray about who the Messiah is and what he would do”...

Anti-Christ simply means “false Christ”… in other words “False Messiah”… “False Savior King...”

And there are many of them… and they are pointing forward to one who will stand out as the Antichrist among antichrists in the end...

And all of them are like road-signs getting us ready for the end saying, “Watch out! Don’t be deceived!”

If you ever drove through North Carolina to South Carolina, they have that “South of the Border” attraction that sells Fireworks or something that aren’t legal in North Carolina… [show pic]

And they have like 3000 signs saying, “Get ready… you’re almost there!” as you drive through NC.

And rulers like Antiochus Epiphanes are like road signs so that keep God’s people alert in EVERY age, requiring that they discern his truth to prevail against the deceit of the final and worst Antichrist.

So what can we learn from this Antiochus Epiphanes that will help us today… and everyday… to discern the deceit of those who rise against Jesus?

9 Typical Characteristics of Antichrist(s):

Just so you know, when I use the word Antichrist for the rest of THIS sermon, I’m going to be talking in that more general way… not always thinking about THE Antichrist of the end…

This is something we can apply today...

And I want us to start in v. 23, where this description of the little horn begins.

1) Self-confident. (v. 23 - bold face/ fierce-looking face)

Antichrists strut their stuff and make themselves look big.

People look at them and automatically think, “This guy must be something!”

And we will need to hold onto the truth that the wise things of the world are foolishness in the eyes of God… and the strong things of the world are nothing in the eyes of God...

We can’t be impressed by what the world thinks is impressive.

This self-confident perception will also be enhanced by the fact that they are often legitimately...

2) Smart. (v. 23 - understands riddles)

Smart does not equal right or true.

There are a LOT of smart people who critique the bible… who think Science disproves it… who have false views of salvation and deny Christ’s power to save… but they are wrong.

This is why we need a firm conviction that God’s word is TRUE and that his Spirit is sufficient to reveal it to us.

Ultimately, the world worships smarts… and it can give Antichrists great influence… but it’s not going to be God’s influence… it will be:

3) Satanic. (v. 24 - power shall be great, but not by his own power)

Those who stand opposed to Christ often appear very powerful… but there is more than meets the eye.

Remember Ephesians 6 that we just finished memorizing… For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 ESV)

When we are dealing with that kind of evil and power, we have to remember this truth: Satanic rulers are more powerful than us, but they are not nearly as powerful as our God.

Belt of Truth is part of the armor of God = holds everything together.

But that doesn’t change the fact that these Antichrists are often very destructive… and that can be scary.

4) Scary. (v. 24 - fearful destruction)

Their destruction is real. And facing hardship and persecution can be really scary.

And fear is something that will test our conviction.

Remember the first chapter of Daniel… we saw that CONVICTION comes at the CROSSROADS of competing fears.

And we need to hold onto the truth that we must not fear the one who can kill the body… but to fear the one who can cast both body and soul into hell.

For us it will be scary… but for those who are on his side, it his activity will be appealing because he will appear:

5) Successful. (v. 25 - shall succeed in what he does)

This is part of what makes Antichrists appealing to so many people… they are successful...

Again… even too often believers are impressed by someone who appears to “get the job done.”

And I believe this is because protect the things that matter most to carnal people: my rights… my money…

We are willing to overlook a lot of sinful stuff when someone is looking out for our rights and our money.

But we need to hold fast to the truth that those things are fleeting… and only God’s kingdom will remain in the end.

And to do it, they are...

6) Sneaky. (v. 25 - By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper...)

Because they are Satanic and smart, that combination will lead to being sneaky… deceiving...

And not only will they deceive… they will give a platform to other deceivers… Deception will be everywhere.

And I want to caution us here...

Because deceit doesn’t only come from news outlets and politicians.

It also comes in the form of conspiracy theories.

And Antichrists can traffic conspiracy theories to keep the masses on their side.

I want to address this because a lot of people right now are entertaining conspiracy theories about the Antichrist… specifically the mark of the beast... that are just not grounded in God’s word...

It started with social security numbers when they first came out… and then bar codes… and then credit cards… people thought these things were the mark of the beast… or at least paved the way for the mark of the beast.

And in the post-Covid-19 world, Antichrist conspiracies abound.

I want to say something carefully… the Bible never says that the Antichrist will instill a cashless society.

Now I’m neither promoting or decrying a cashless society… I’m not making a statement on those politics...

I’m just pointing out that the Bible never directly states that a cashless society is a mark of the beast or is related to the Antichrist at all.

It DOES say that the tribulation saints won’t be able to buy and sell without the mark of the beast. But to force that prophecy into saying a cashless society is a sign of the Antichrist is to take it too far.

It’s to put the Left Behind series on the same level as the Bible.

The Bible also doesn’t get so specific that we could say that the mark of the beast is some microchip or 5G or a vaccine or anything like that…

The Bible IS clear that the mark of the beast is a WILLFUL choice to give your allegiance and service to the Antichrist instead of God… it stands in contrast to the Mark of the Lamb in Revelation 7.

I read this statement that summarized the point succinctly: “There is not a single scenario in Scripture in which a person will take the mark of the beast “by accident.”

No one will sneak the mark of the beast past God’s people… those who accept the Mark will will know they are accepting it...

And God’s people won’t be fighting against it’s implementation… they will simply accept the suffering and even die for it willfully.

And with conspiracy theories out there in abundance ABOUT the end times (especially right now), it makes knowing what God’s word ACTUALLY says all the more important.

Deceit is real… and it comes in bold faced lies… and it comes in conspiracy theories too...

And if you accept conspiracy theories, you may just be playing into the hand of those who operate in the spirit of the Antichrist, seeking to deceive.

Ultimately, the Antichrist and those like him deceive so they can prove how right they are all the time… so that they can rise to an untouchable power.

7) Self-Exalting (v. v. 25b-26 - in his own mind he shall become great... rise up against the Prince of princes)

Now in the end, this is going to be an ultimate rising up against the Lord...

But do you know of any rulers even today who “have become great in their own mind?”

Who demand everyone praise them… and who silence those who question them?

Watch out for self-exalting leaders.

The truth of God’s word is clear… God will not share his glory with another. He raises up kings and tears them down.

Even at the level of the local church… he will not tolerate leaders who raise themselves up and try to diminish Christ or his work.

Honestly… when we see that kind of thing… whether in society or in the church, it should sicken us.

8) Sickening (v. 27 - I lay sick...)

If you are sickened by the way Christ’s name is trampled in this world… if you are sickened by the way HIS righteousness and justice are perverted… then you are probably holding fast to his church.

9) Subject (v. 25 - but by no human hand)

No human hand… remember the stone that destroyed the Statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2... and it turned into a mountain???

It was a stone cut by no human hand...

Antiochus… and every antichrist after him, including the last, will not be torn down by a human hand...

When they are torn down, it is the hand of God himself...

Ultimately, it will be the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Jesus, who will ultimately prevail because of the work he has ALREADY accomplished on the cross.

Remember… every ruler that stands against God is just doing so in the power of Satan...

And Jesus already had the final word on Satan when he conquered sin and death by paying the price of our sin on the cross...

We prevail because Jesus died and rose again to secure our place in the kingdom...

We prevail by the blood of the lamb and the word of the testimony that we lived like we believed he was EVERYTHING!

When we follow the anti-christ ways of this world, we follow a system that is destined for destruction...

But when we follow Jesus, we walk in the truth that will prevail in the end.

When we know Jesus… we know the truth by which our victory is guaranteed.

The key to standing up to any antichrist in any age is that we would surrender to the UNDENIABLY TRUE Christ.

This week… as in every week… pursue Christ. Pursue his truth. Get to know him. In every part of his word. In the hard parts, in the sweetly simple parts.

Let all of God’s truth point you to Jesus and set your hope on him.