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Note: The lust for power, prestige, and possessions - a blood-lust for more is a dark cloud that has been cast and hangs over human history going all the way back to Genesis 4 and the story of Cain and Abel.
Daniel 10-12 is a unit, and it gives us the final vision of the remarkable book of prophecy.
What you are reading today gives us a glimpse into the history that takes place between the Old and New Testaments what is sometimes referred to as the 400 silent years.
Chapter 10 provides the context for chapter 11 and chapter 12 is the Conclusion.
Chapter 10 The spiritual battle behind the vale.
Last week Daniel gave us a glimpse behind the veil at the ongoing spiritual battle that he was constantly being made painfully aware.
Last week we are given a glimpse of the pre-incarnate Christ who comes to Daniel in the middle of his anguishing prayer.
Daniel chapter 10 concludes with Daniels visitor strengthening and encouraging Daniel.
Chapter 11 this morning begins the same way with a sense of strengthening and encouragement.
I think it is hard to imagine how intense and emotionally draining these times of prayer have been for Daniel.
Today we are going to look at God’s sovereign rule and reign over History.
Sinclair Ferguson -
“What is at stake then is a vital issue:
Does God so rule history and can He so communicate with us that His future purposes may be disclosed to us before the events?”
Daniel spends a great deal of energy and time on chapter 11 the longest chapter in the book of Daniel.
You have 2 forces engaged what appears to be a never ending battled motivated by blood thirst and desire for power.
There knowledge was obviously themselves.
The text continually tells us that “they did as they willed.”
The South was the Ptolemies in Egypt and the North was the Seleucids of Syria.
In the scope of history Egypt and Syria don’t amount to much during this period of time.
The more significant global power is Rome, the new “bad boy” on the block.
However, the reason Egypt and Syria receive so much press from Daniel is because they matter in their relationship to Israel and God’s people.
They will play political ping pong with Israel for some 175 years until the antichrist-type figure Antiochus IV appears on the scene.
This is the focus of verses 20-45.
Until then the civil war takes place between Egypt and Syria with Israel caught in the middle.
vs. 20-45
DIVIDES INTO TWO SECTIONS
vs. 20-35 Antiochus - antichrist type.
vs. 36-45 The Antichrist - the final earthly enemy of God in His people.
GOD RAISES US A CONTEMPTIBLE PERSON TO REFINE, PURITY, AND SANCTIFY HIS PEOPLE.
IS KNOWLEDGE A GOOD THING OR NOT?
vs. 32 “He shall seduce them with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.”
Note: Daniel’s vision reveals the instability of the Kingdoms of the Earth.
Evil is always unstable because it is rooted in our following our own wills instead of God’s will.
God’s will alone is stable and enduring; it alone will ultimately come to pass.
BIG IDEA: Trusting God is easier said than done.
Problem of Evil Is Main Reason for not Trusting God
More people point to the problem of evil and suffering as their reason for not believing in God than any other—it is not merely a problem, it is the problem.
A Barna poll asked, "If you could ask God only one question and you knew he would give you an answer, what would you ask?"
The most common response was, "Why is there pain and suffering in the world?"
John Stott said, "The fact of suffering undoubtedly constitutes the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith, and has been in every generation.
Its distribution and degree appear to be entirely random and therefore unfair.
Sensitive spirits ask if it can possibly be reconciled with God's justice and love."
Richard Swinburne, writing in the Oxford Companion to Philosophy, says the problem of evil is "the most powerful objection to traditional theism."
Ronald Nash writes, "Objections to theism come and go.
… But every philosopher I know believes that the most serious challenge to theism was, is, and will continue to be the problem of evil."
You will not get far in a conversation with someone who rejects the Christian faith before the problem of evil is raised.
Pulled out like the ultimate trump card, it's supposed to silence believers and prove that the all-good and all-powerful God of the Bible doesn't exist.
1.
To know God is to trust His plan
What can we know about God?
We cannot know anything about God except what He has revealed to us.
We call this the special Revelation of God reserved only for God’s children.
*Those who know God stand firm against evil gaining a foothold in the City of God.
Evil needs a willing participant in order to gain a foothold in our lives of the people of God.
It is not an inevitable thing that the Church should find themselves corrupted by the world; there must be a willingness or a blindness in the Church in order for this to happen.
We see Antiochus the symbol of all earthly kingdoms, gaining a foothold among the people of God.
Beware of Flattery and deceit.
This foothold finds itself in displayed on three levels: sound doctrine, moral purity, and spiritual awareness.
These are the same things that the Church must guard against today.
1) Sound Doctrine:
What is Sound Doctrine?
Sound doctrine is not the stuff of dry academic speculations and armchair theologians.
Sound Doctrine is teaching from God’s Word that is faithful to God’s word!
Sound Doctrine is Biblical preaching, teaching, and instruction.
If God’s word is the heart of the Church, sound doctrine is the blood pumping through it’s veins bringing life to the whole body.
How do we Protect Sound Doctrine?
First and foremost, by filling our Churches with it.
For us the danger isn’t that the Word will go un-preached; rather, it’s that we’ll fail to put it first and foremost in our lives.
Is hearing God’s word among the things i my life that must be done?
Or do I crowd it out of my schedule as an option among many other options.
When sound doctrine becomes an option in our lives we start hearing it less, and less.
The less we hear the truth, the easier it will be to twist and expose distortions in our own minds.
One way to protect sound doctrine in the Church is to identify those who rightly handle the word of God and raise them up as elders so that they can share this faithful instruction with others.
(plurality of elders who watch over one another’s lives and doctrine to provide a defense against unsound doctrine.)
The ultimate responsibility for sound doctrine does not rest on pastors alone but the entire membership of the Church.
(This is why we have a formal membership)
Listen to Paul’s shocking words to the Galatians.
Doctrine is not enough
Churches may be filled with sound doctrine but if we do not apply it to our lives and help each other do so, its only a matter of time before the truth among us will become a casualty.
The only way that we will walk together safely home is if the sound doctrine we hear brings about a sound life.
We need sound minds, we need steadfast hearts.
2) Moral Purity:
Church listen to me closely, “We must guard and maintain moral purity at all cost because there is nothing that damages our effectiveness and legacy more than moral failure in our world today.”
Note: Notice how the writer of Proverbs describes moral temptation as a woman named “folly.”
Note: This description does not mean in some way that women are more immoral than men.
This is simply a literary device to communicate truth - both to men and women.
Immoral temptation is pervasive: “Folly sits at the doorway of her house calling out to all who pass by to come and visit.”
Immoral temptation is aggressive: “There was a time in the not to far past when immorality was available but you had to know where ti find it.
Now, like never before, it comes looking for you.
It will track you down while you are on a “straight path” with no intention of being tempted or enticed.
Immorality over-promises and under-delivers: Sexual immorality promises pleasure, satisfaction, and fulfillment it cannot and does not produce.
But that does not stop it from making such outrageous claims and promises.
(the beginning of and immoral relationship is a heady rush of unleashed pleasure and awareness but the false hope leaves shame and guilt in it’s wake)
Why is Immorality such a Big Deal with God?
Paul dedicates a large portion of His letter to the Church at Corinth on Sexual immorality.
By God’s design, what we do with our bodies engages our hearts.
All sexual activity draws on the heart’s affective capacity through desire and pleasure to join the participants not only in body but also in spirit (i.e, heart).
Neuroscience has shown that sexual activity releases hormones that result in a greater commitment and trust between those who engage in sex.
These hormones are biological, they work to deepen the heart’s commitment to one’s partner by God’s design.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:17 that sex therefore, unites the temple of God with that of immorality.
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