It’s All Part of the Plan

I'm going to roll right into this because I've got so much to talk about today because we're kind of skipping over some stuff and I'm going to come back at a later date and maybe dig into chapter 9 a little bit more. I'll be dealing with chapter 9 and Daniel a little bit more at another time, but I'm going to pop back and talk about chapter 9 a little bit while I'm dealing with 10, 11, and 12 and then closing this series on Daniel. Let me mention this before I forget. Next week, guys, next week we will not be meeting in person. The hotel has an event here and I know I'm really sad about that.

Yeah. Oh, help me, you know. That's kind of one of the hiccups of being a mobile church. At times we have things like that and you're afraid to do an outside service because you never know what the weather would be like in November, right? You might come and you'll be freezing.

So what we're encouraging to do, we're going to have an online-only service, online-only service. So let your friends know, let anybody else know that might be missing today so they don't show up and nobody's here. Or maybe those who are visiting that you know, let them know to come back the following week and we'll rock right back into this. But next week, we're just going to call it Sabbath Sunday. We have people who set up and break down every week here, get here early.

Praise God for those people. These lights don't help themselves up. This screen doesn't come up on its own. The tech stuff back there, hard stuff. A lot of hard work goes into this, guys.

We love our city and we love the lost and we love you and we pray for you and we just thank God that we are able to do this. But next week, we will be going online. So what I encourage you to do is get with your small groups. Get with your friends. Make like a house church out of it.

Why don't you do that? Like just bring some people over that you're connecting with on a regular basis here in the church and just break bread together. Do communion together. Worship together with us online. And then we'll be right back here in this room the following week.

Okay, guys? Okay, guys? We are not going anywhere. All right. So I better get this illustration right because my wife is a huge fan of the Harry Potter novels.

In the sixth Harry Potter book, there is a scene that might be one of the most confusing and bewildering moments in literature. Albus Dumbledore, the wise sage schoolmaster and father figure of many of the students, including Harry Potter, is severely weakened through a battle with Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. And as the battle is ending, he's barely standing. And this other guy named Severus Snape, he's a schoolteacher at Hogwarts and Harry's enemy. For the most part, if you want to call it that, throughout the series, is standing in front of him with his wand, and Dumbledore is completely vulnerable before him.

And there's always this uncertainty about Snape. Snape seems to have this loyalty towards Dumbledore, but you're just not quite sure about him. And as you see, he's standing in front of Dumbledore at his weakest moment. And as Dumbledore makes eye contact with Severus, he says, Severus, please. And at that moment, instead of helping him, he aims his wand straight at him and kills him.

And it seems like the ultimate act of betrayal. A moment when evil triumphs over good and all is lost. It's just this wrecking moment in literature as you're reading through these books. But in the next book, you learn that Professor Dumbledore had secretly confided to Snape that he was dying of a slow, irreversible curse. And that though his death, he could grant, and through his death, he could grant to Harry a power that Harry couldn't have as long as Dumbledore was living.

A power that would defeat the evil one. So Dumbledore makes Snape promise that at that moment, Snape, let me die. And suddenly the meaning comes all out. You know, Dumbledore pleads, Severus, please. It all makes sense at that moment.

Dumbledore's death was not an act of chaos or betrayal. It was according to the plan. Great stories in history and throughout go through chapters. Maybe they're great endings and they triumph at the end. But they go through times of difficulty, times of confusion, times of darkness, and times of betrayal.

And tedious and tragic things happen. In life, a lot of things turn out that way. In the end, be well. Things in the end turn out well. But there aren't without chapters in our life where we are going through really dark and difficult times.

And that's Daniel's message in chapter 3. Excuse me, in these last three chapters. Things are dark, he says, and they're about to get darker. But don't despair because it's all according to plan. The title of my message today is all according to plan.

It's all a plan. And make no mistake, the backdrop of Daniel is grim. Okay? It's heavy stuff. And the world in the foreseeable future in Daniel's time doesn't look very good.

It looks like it's just going to get worse. And several prophetic visions that Daniel has tells us that, right? As we've walked through the book of Daniel. And I know everyone today thinks that, you know, the world is just going to get better. And we have these people talking like, well, ultimately we'll reach like this political utopia where everybody just gets...

The Bible doesn't tell us that. Daniel doesn't tell us that. Jesus doesn't tell us that. And John certainly doesn't tell us that in Revelation, as it tells us there is a future event coming. So today we're going to dig into that.

So open your Bibles, if you've got your Bibles, to Daniel 10. Also, if you don't have your Bibles, we have the Bible app that you can go to. There's an event section that you can pull up Salt Church and find it there. And also, you have a little sheet there that you can follow along, a little cheat sheet. There might not be everything in it, so you might have to write out some things.

And I'm going to give you a lot of information today. I'm going to kind of pack a lot of information today in this series. So are you loving this series? Have you loved this series, this teaching series? So let's look at Daniel's bad news, his good news, and the conclusion of this book.

Now, I don't want you to get lost in the details. Let me just put this out there. We can typically, maybe you're one of those geeks that likes to get caught up in all the little things. And I'm one of those, you know, that likes to piece apart like little things in Scripture and figure it all out. But I don't want you to miss the main point, okay?

We're not going to get in all the details. We just don't have time to get in all the details. But the bigger point is why Daniel tells us these things. And I love what Martin Luther said in his concordance. He said, in his commentary, he said, Daniel concludes the record of his terrifying vision and dreams on a note of joy, pointing to the coming of Christ, eternal reign of glory.

And whoever wants to study them profitably dare not focus his attention on the details of the vision and dreams, but seek comfort in the Savior Jesus Christ whom they portray, and in deliverance he brings from sin and its misery. So as you look into these final chapters and even the book of Daniel, if you look really closely to the details of this vision, you will see the footsteps of Jesus walking into the corridors of history from Bethlehem all the way to the Ancient of Days on the throne. So let's look. Let's start with the bad news first. I think the bad news is a good place to start first, right?

So starting here in Daniel 10, I'm going to be bouncing around, Daniel 10. In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel. And then I, Daniel, mourned for three full weeks. Daniel received such a heavy vision, could you imagine? A heavy and disturbing vision that he couldn't do anything.

He mourned, he cried for three weeks. He says, I didn't eat any rich food, no meat, no wine entered my mouth, and I didn't put any oil on my body. So he couldn't even go across the room to put a little essential oil on him, okay? He couldn't get the essential oil thing going on the other side of the room because he just... He just...

He was just so heavy in the vision. And verse 4 and on talks about an angel that comes to confront him and begins to comfort him and begins to explain the meaning of the vision that was given to him. And what I want you to see and notice, as we talked about 7 and 8, we went from chapter 7 and 8 last week, a lot of the first vision he had overlaps with this vision. So this second vision is pretty similar and he's pointing to some of the very same things and that is whether Daniel's vision is for pagan kings or Daniel is receiving those visions himself, what we know is his visions are about kingdoms that rise up in the world. Babylon is overcome by Persia and then after Persia is Greece and after Greece is Rome and after Rome we see a future kingdom in which an Antichrist figure is set up.

So Daniel explains to us that certain elements of the first few kingdoms are a foretaste of what is to come. So remember when I talked about prophecy being here and not yet or the current event that was taking place, but yet there was a future event. So it's happening in a soon time period. But there is something that's prophesied way in the future as well. That's how we interpret and read prophecy.

And what we see in 7 and 8, if you weren't here last week, let me update you. In 7 and 8 we saw Daniel prophesied about this ruthless king that would rise up from Greece and he would be hostile particularly towards God's people and God's holy city. And the prophecy was fulfilled about 300 years after Daniel. His name was Antiochus Epiphanes around 160 BC. As predicted, he was blasphemous towards God and he was vicious towards his people.

He's called the Hitler of the Old Testament. He slaughtered tens of thousands of Jewish men, women, and children. He desecrated the temple by sacrificing pigs on the altar and making the Jews eat the flesh of the pigs. And what we see is he committed what the Bible writers call the abomination of desolation by setting a statue of himself in the Holy of Holies in the place of God and making the people bow down to him. You can read all about this in 1 and 2 Maccabees, by the way, if they're historical books, not divine books necessarily, but you can go to the Apocrypha and read all the history and get an idea if you're a deep studier.

But anyway, Daniel explains that Antiochus Epiphanes was a type, a prefigure of something that was to come. So you see a current event take place, but he's pushing us towards, which is why we're going to bounce now to chapter 11. So if you're following along, bounce to chapter 11. And suddenly in 36, Daniel switches from talking about Antiochus to prophesying about this future king. So we see a switch take place here, and the king is called the king of the north.

He's called the king of the north. So, 36, Then this king, the king of the north, will do whatever he wants. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will say outrageous things against the god of gods, and he will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, because what has been decreed will be accomplished. He will not show regard for any other god, because he will magnify himself. In verse 38, Instead, he will honor a god of fortresses, and he will with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god.

Remember last week when I talked about he had the eyes of a man, or Daniel said he had the eyes of the man, but there was something more going on in the background, like when you look at one of those thriller movies, and those killers or whatever, and you know that there's something, or you look at that documentary, and you see that person, and you know this has the eyes of a man, but there's something more going on in the background. That's exactly what is happening here. This man will look like a man, but there's some foreign god, which we see here Satan working in the background. The Antichrist is empowered by this foreign god, namely Satan himself. And then it says this, And he will greatly honor those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over many, and distributing land as a reward.

In Daniel 7 and 8, let me just review what we talked about last week. What do we see the three things that the Antichrist would do? He's many things, but we see pointed out in the scripture. He devours much flesh. In 7.

25, his aim is to destroy. He wants to destroy people. He doubts God's word. 8.25, he publicly undermines the teaching of scripture, and he exalts man.

Again, chapter 8, verse 25. The first one, he exalts himself, and then he gets other people to exalt themselves. So you can clearly see that in today's world. In fact, 1 John 2.18 tells us, Children, it is already the last hour.

And as you have heard, the Antichrist is coming. Even now, many Antichrists have come. So what we know is that the spirit of the Antichrist is always here. Our point last week, it's here, but not yet. There is a future Antichrist prediction, but the spirit of the Antichrist, the spirit of Satan that's working in this world right now is happening.

He's devouring much flesh. We see that in just the last 100 years, right? The bloodiest century in all of history, with genocides and killings and war and abortion and all those things, and he's destroying flesh through alcoholism and drug addiction and pornography and materialism and narcissism. And he's... He's working to erode and destroy foundations of everything good, and some of you are experiencing that right now.

The eating and devouring of flesh, and He's working to make you doubt God's Word. He's making you question the Bible based on your feelings. You know, we see that today, right? If you feel the way you feel, and the Bible says differently, then it must not be correct. And we exalt ourselves, right, in the process.

We put ourselves above God. And our enemy begins to attack by making you question the Word of God about humanity, about sexuality, about salvation even, that anybody can go to heaven. And when we do that, when we look at the Bible based on our experience and our feelings rather than the absolute truth of the Word of God, we begin to flirt with hell. It’s a very dangerous place to be because Satan is very manipulative. Well, Leon, you don’t understand.

I’m feeling this way, and I’ thinking this way, and the society and culture thinks this way, and perhaps the Bible writers, look, look, God’s Word is God’s Word. And it’s not me that’s saying it, it’s the Word of God that says it. When people ask me, how do you feel about homosexuality, or how do you feel about sex before marriage? I say, it’s not about what I feel. It’s about what God says.

It’s not anything about how I feel about it, because I would get it all wrong. But it’s about, if we do not have a truth to stand on, then we have nothing. If there’s relative truth out there, if there’s like multiple truths and hundreds of truths out there, then it’s, it’ just doesn’t make sense, right? Right? It’s not even logical to have multiple truths.

There’s only one truth. There’s truth and not the truth. Okay? And if you don’t have a truth to stand on, then where do you go? And what do you believe?

And what can we believe about anything in this world? Right? And that’s why Pontius Pilate said it himself. What is truth? And truth was staring at him in the face.

The personification of truth. And he tries to exalt himself. He does that. His agenda, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, we see that today, right? It’s about exalting ourselves.

He exalts himself and he tells you to exalt yourself. It’s all about you. It’s all about what you have and what you can do. And you can only be happy if it’s your kingdom come, your will be done. And that’s what we’re taught.

And make no mistake about it, the spirit of Antichrist is already here. He’s working. And the bad news is this thing is going to get worse. It’s just going to progressively get worse. Look what 12.

1 says. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. Something in the future that’s just going to progressively get worse. And critics say, you know, evangelical Christians have’ have- have This persecution complex, that everyone is out there to get them, and they're over-critiquing things. And I understand it's valid.

Some of us can be quite crazy, you know, and not be real sometimes. But we understand what's going on because we understand what Daniel says. And the persecution of Christians is very real. Let's not dismiss that. It's overlooked.

In fact, Open Door Ministry did a survey in 2021 that said 340 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution, the highest in history. In one year, almost 5,000 believers were martyred because of their faith. Over 4,000 Christian churches burnt. Another 4,000 Christians were in prison, many without trial because of their faith. This is happening all over the world.

And we don't even know it. And even in our own country where we have the freedom of religion, in some places we're persecuted if we hold up our value that Scripture teaches about sexuality and gender and the way to salvation. And if we disagree with that, we're labeled bigoted or canceled or fired or whatever that looks like. It's happening all around us. George Yancey, Dr.

George Yancey, an African-American professor, said this. He wrote a book on anti-Christian discrimination in America. He said, 30% of all Americans identify conservative Christians as their least favorite group in society. And by comparison, only 31% identify Muslims that way. And here's what Dr.

Yancey said. He said, so it's fair to say that if we're concerned about anti-Muslim prejudice, and we should be, we should also at least be aware of anti-Christian prejudice. And he documents that being a professing Christian will hurt you significantly in the academic world, in the journalistic world, in the political world, the artistic world, the medical world, and the business world. And it's increasingly becoming more difficult. So forgive us if we're a little paranoid.

We're just seeing things unfold before our eyes. Persecution is taking place. And the spirit of the Antichrist is working to shape society and our institutions, fostering hate, doubt of God's word, and exalting man. And let's just be real right now. We are sending our kids into a hostile world.

If you have kids, we're sending them in there. And we can't be content with a thin layer of religiosity. Teaching them how to not curse or not have sex or who to vote for. We need to teach them that Jesus is worth living and dying for. Devout followers of Jesus.

We need to teach them to love Jesus. And love the world the way Jesus did. And be willing. To celebrate Jesus. And love the word Jesus.

And love the world the way Jesus is worth living. So thank you for joining us. And I'm going to encourage you to take a few moments of To give it all. Even our lives. So, no wonder Daniel was grieving.

He was crying. Mourning for days. I mean, it was a dark situation. And we would grieve too. The world is generally tragic.

It is tragic. Hard things are happening. In fact, Jesus said, if you follow Me, you're going to be hated because they hate Me. He said that in John 15. Be assured that you're going to go through tribulation.

He said that. And sometimes in church, we're in a hurry to rejoice, which is great. I love rejoicing and I celebrate rejoicing. And we're a church about rejoicing. And you can come in here and you can let go of all the things in the world and just love the Lord.

But sometimes we're so focused on that, we forget that right here in this building, that people are going through tribulation. People are hurting. And people are suffering. You're just suffering. You're going through it right now.

Maybe it's pressures or scorn or grief. Or maybe it's some health issue. So, it's a real thing. So, it's some bad news. But there's also good news.

Let me give you three... Yeah, you said amen. I'm glad we're going... Pastor, you are just getting really dark here. This is heavy stuff.

This is Daniel. But let me share with you the good news. The suffering is limited. It won't be forever. The first point, the suffering is limited.

Daniel shows us how God is in control. He seems to be in control of every little detail. And look at 1136, for example, where he's talking about the Antichrist. Daniel says, he will be successful until the time of wrath is completed. Because what has been decreed will be accomplished.

What has been decreed will be accomplished. The time of wrath will be completed. It has been decreed by God. That's good news. Amen.

That God has already decreed it. It's all part of the plan. Dumbledore is dead, but it's all part of the plan. Things are happening underneath. It's all part of the plan.

God's got something bigger going on than we can see. And though times are hard and times seem dark and it looks bad, according to God's plan, it's a whole different way of looking at things. Because God is up to something. And one of my favorite aspects of Daniel is how specific he is. And I'm going to give you some numbers here, guys.

So you might not be able to get all this down. But I'm hoping that I can explain it in a way that you understand it. Because it's really incredible. It's really incredible how precise and how detailed prophecy is. It's not just baloney, okay?

It's not just made up, okay? It's a real thing. Look at verse... Jump back over to chapter 9, verse 24. And it says, Yes, seventy weeks.

The verse is a... 70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city to bring the rebellion to an end, to put a stop to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy One. When we see that term 70 weeks, underline that 70 weeks, a week in Jewish language means seven. That can be seven days, like a real literal week, or it can be seven years. In this case, he uses a week to represent seven years.

So how many weeks of seven years are prophesied? 70 times seven is what? 490. All you people in here that are math people, I need to silence my phone. I'm doing the one thing.

My phone's beeping over here. I know, I tell you guys to cut them off, and I've got them up here and stage on, right? 490 years. And what happens at the end of that 70 weeks, that 70 weeks, that 490 years, what it says, rebellion will be brought to an end, and a stop will be put to sin, iniquity will be atoned for, everlasting righteousness will be brought in, biblical prophecy will be fulfilled, and most holy place will be restored. And when do those 490, you're probably asking this question, when did those 490 weeks start?

Well, the next part tells us. In verse 25, it says, Know and understand this, for the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, that starts there, until an anointed one, Christ is another way, or Messiah is another way of saying, some Bibles say Messiah, the ruler, will be seven weeks and 62 weeks. And it will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat, but in difficult times, right? So when does the clock start? The issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild the temple.

That was fulfilled, right? Because we just got through Nehemiah. If we go back to Nehemiah, King Artaxerxes of Persia, around 445 BC, commissioned it to take place, right? And that was the rebuilding of the temple. And from that date, there will be seven weeks and 62 weeks.

Seven weeks is 49 years, which is roughly how long it took to rebuild the temple, okay? So that's seven weeks. We can use that. We've got to figure that in. And 62 more seven-year periods pass after that.

So in verse 26, it says, After those 62 weeks plus the first seven, the anointed one will be cut off. So what do we get from that? So seven weeks and 62 weeks is 69 weeks, right? So 69 weeks of years. And that means we close theание.

Cook at Artaxerxes, The verse 6 years. Okay. 69 times 7 is 483 years. Now you're really going to like this next part. This is powerful.

483 years after 445 B.C. when Art of Cercise issued the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, would land us where? 445 B.C.

subtract 482, 365 days in a year is 32 A.D. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The anointed one would be cut off. Isn't that amazing?

And we dare question whether God's in control. 480 years before Christ even entered the picture, it was prophesied when He would die, when He would be crucified. A God who can prophesy the details of something like that is in control of it all, wouldn't you agree? He's in control of it all. It's all part of the plan.

And then verse 26 says, Then the people of the coming ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary. That happened in 70 A.D. Remember I told you about Titus who came in and just wrecked it. 70 A.

D. after Jesus was crucified and rose again. And that happened and it was fulfilled. And then verse 27, He will make a firm covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of the week, He will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.

And the abomination of desolation will occur. So after the anointed Messiah is cut off, there is one more week or seven years that we see. That's where the interpretation of the tribulation comes in. The seven year tribulation. Now there's different interpretations of this, okay?

I want to be careful. We're not going to throw rocks to other people who may not believe in a future seven year tribulation or not, okay? So this is a debate that's been going on through centuries. We all agree that Jesus Christ is coming again. Hallelujah.

Praise the Lord. But I'm going to give you two different interpretations. One is that this last week of years is not literal. It's figurative. That the week represents the final chapter of human history and we're heading towards that.

And Christ is coming. Christ comes and we're raptured up and all those things happen, right? They believe that and the dead in Christ will rise and then others and there my light is gone again. All right. Tariq, where are you, buddy?

What happened there? The second way to interpret this, okay, the second way to interpret this, y'all can listen to me, pretending you're in a podcast situation here, okay? The second way to interpret this is that the Messiah was cut off and the timeline was paused and we are now in a parenthetical period of time called the church age where God has shifted his focus and activity off of Israel and has placed it on the church. But at the end of time, when the Antichrist officially makes... His debut, and the focus re-shifts back to Israel, and we will enter the 70th week, which is that last week that's talked about, that seven-year period of tribulation and the tribulation of the book of Revelation that Daniel talks about as the 70th week.

So here's why, I'm not going to be dogmatic about this, but I'm going to tell you why I believe the second interpretation makes more sense to me, okay? And this is why I kind of go this direction. The first 69 weeks, they say, is a literal 69. We know it was a literal 69. So why would Daniel, all of a sudden, from 69 weeks, switch to a figurative final week or seven years?

Why would he do that? It just, the language doesn't work out that way. It doesn't make sense. So, that's one question. Second thing is, the book of Revelation is all about the 70th week, and they talk about a future event that will take place.

It strongly implies that something in the future is going to happen. Of course, Revelation is written to the seven churches, so something did happen in that current of time. But remember, when you read prophecy, something is happening in Revelation in that period of time, but it's also something greater happening way in the future. So, we know that something else is going to take place in the end. So, and there's a few commentators that try to argue that we're living in Revelation, or we're living in the end times right now.

This is Revelation. This is the Great Tribulation. But I just haven't found those. I'm not really sufficed with those arguments. So, and then the third reason is, and this is probably the biggest reason for me, is verse 24 says, seven weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city.

For Daniel, your people would be the Jews, and your city would be Jerusalem. I mean, it just is. He's talking about Daniel's people, because the Gentiles, the church, the church wasn't focused on Jews specifically, it was about everybody being a part of, there we go, online can see me again. I'm sure they're chiming in. I can't see, I can't see, I can't see.

You can see now. So, we see that he's talking about Israel. He's talking about Israel. Israel's going to be a part of the plan somehow. I don't know how that looks, but they're going to be a part of the plan.

And Paul even says in Romans 9 and 11 that God has temporarily put aside his focus on Israel to focus on the Gentiles, the church, but one day, one day in the future, he will reshift his heart back to Israel. So, Paul's even confirming this, that something's going to happen with Israel. Israel is still involved in the process. So, Daniel says these 70 weeks are about Israel, and we live in the in-between right now, and there's another really terrible week coming in the future. So, you say, well, that's encouraging.

I heard somebody over there. Well, that's nice. That's really nice that he... What's encouraging about that, Pastor? That it's decreed.

That God is God's plan. It's God's purposes. And that one day all of this will come to an end. The suffering will come to the end. Snape drops Dumbledore.

It's okay. The plan's already there. It's already happening, right? And that means when something feels dark and something feels chaotic to me, I can rest in knowing that God has it all in His plan. Death happens.

Hurt happens. Betrayal happens. Torture happens. Modernity happens. All these things happen.

Economies blow up. Rulers come into place. Genocide happens. All these things. But God is in the process of making it all work out for our good in His glory.

We can't see it now, but there is something happening. Steve Saint was the son of Nate Saint. Many of you probably watched a movie that was created not too long ago. We got Steve Saint. If you want to pop them up there, Tariq.

There you go. Steve Saint, he was the missionary of five. His father was one of the five missionaries that was brutally and tragically speared to death in Ecuador in 1950. And they were trying to establish a connection with an isolated tribe called the Alcus in order to bring food and supplies to them and perhaps bring the gospel to them. And when they had showed up on the beaches to greet them, they were speared to death.

And 50 years later, Steve recounted how, as a young man, he thought about and really struggled with the idea that God would allow my father to be killed when he was trying to do something good. It just didn't make sense. But he said this, but he realized that God didn't just allow it to happen. God planned it. And Steve said 50 years later, we see God used in that incident to pave the way.

And I can't say this without getting emotional about it. Pave the way for the tribe of the Alcus to be saved. Because after the murder, the wives of the five men went there and connected with the people. And they were moved by their generosity and their ability to forgive. And peace was established and eventually near the whole tribe was saved.

And because of that murder, God had a plan. And here's what he said. Several years later, in fact, Steve baptized the very man who put a spear into his father's heart. Put that picture back up there. That's the man.

The very man. And not only that, he considers him a grandfather to his kids. He passed away a few years ago, by the way. And here's what he said. Here's what Steve said.

He said, why is it that we want every chapter... It's all part of the plan. It's all part of the plan. Suffering is limited. Here's the second point, and I promise you these last two points won't be as long, okay?

That was my biggest, that was my longest point. The resurrection is eternal. The resurrection is eternal. After Daniel tells us about the time of this unfolding suffering, he goes into this statement, but at that time, all your people who are found written in the book will escape. Daniel 12, 1.

There's a book. And in verse 2, many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life and some to disgrace and eternal contempt. Just as the time of persecution is decreed, so is the resurrection. The Ancient of Days who sits on the throne has it all part of the plan. And one day, he will resurrect and he will restore.

And he will make things new. And he will wipe away every tear and every pain and every struggle. And our hope, friends, is not in a successful life. I pray for your businesses to be successful. I pray for your families to be well taken care of.

And I will pray for your marriages to be made whole. But your hope isn't in those things. Your hope is in the resurrection. Your hope is in that very thing. Our hope is in the resurrection of the dead.

Our hope is in the certainty that Satan and sin and death will be defeated and we can place our trust in the Anointed One, Jesus Christ, who covers all of our sins and restores everything. He is the Son of God and he will renew and restore all things and let us rule with him forever. That's our hope. And verse 2 says, many who sleep in the dust will awake. And verse 1 says, and only those who are found written in the book of life will escape.

This book of life is the most important book in history, guys. What is the book of life? It's those who are added to the book that have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior, have repented of their sins and have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior. That's who's written in the book. So my question is, is your name in that book?

It can be. And you can know for certain it will be. But my question for you now, well, I don't know, Pastor. Pastor, if we look over the names, would your name be there? One of the worst feelings I have is when I show up at an event or at a hotel or something like that and I think I've booked a reservation or I think I've signed up for the event and your name's not on the list.

My tag's not there. My room's not available. And you say, well, what happened? You begin to blame everything else. Maybe Miranda didn't book it right or whatever, you know, or I don't know, somebody told me something, you know, blah, blah, blah, whatever that is.

And then I begin to question myself, did I do something wrong? Did I do something wrong? Did I drop the ball somewhere? But how tragic to find out on the most important day, when you're face-to-face with God, and that list is there. That our name is not on it.

That somehow we dropped the ball and we missed it. And whose names are in the book of life? Church members? Is it the people who live mostly a good life? No.

It's those who have repented of their sins and have submitted and surrendered control to Jesus Christ and trusted Him with the hope of salvation. That's who that is. And salvation is a gift that's offered freely to all who will receive it. It's available to anyone. No matter who you are, no matter what you've done, Christ's death paid for those sins.

It atoned for it. Isn't that a beautiful thing? All other religions say, you've got to work to get to heaven. Jesus says, here it is. All you have to do is reach out for it.

It's available to you. That's why we call it a gift. The gift is available for you. You have to do nothing to receive this gift. I heard a stat that Americans last year had about 23 billion unclaimed in gift cards.

I mean, 23 billion. Just gift cards just laying around. This offer, let me just say this. This offer is worth way more than 23 billion. Don't leave it unclaimed.

Don't leave it unclaimed. If you're here today, and let's take this moment seriously, guys. This is the gospel. It's the power of Christ. It's okay to laugh at church, but this is...

I'm being very, very serious right now. Don't leave it unclaimed. Don't let the gift card sit in the cabinet. It's ready for you. Are you that person today?

I'm going to give you an opportunity to give your life to Jesus. But let me make my third point for those who are here today that trust in Jesus. The power is available now. It's available to you now. In this in-between time, Jesus has inaugurated something new.

And Daniel says this in Daniel 12, 3. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above. And those who turn many to righteousness... Underline that. Many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

Jesus talks about it this way. All authority has been given to you. Go out and make disciples. I can't preach that more. The power is available to you.

I have given you authority to preach the gospel. And repeatedly they look for, you know, this kingdom and Jesus is like, the kingdom is here now. You're looking at the kingdom. I am the kingdom. The kingdom is available.

You are the kingdom of God. Why are we looking out there? Why are we waiting for a future kingdom? The kingdom is now. And the Holy Spirit is available for you and in you now.

The power is available to you now. What are we doing, believers? Are we using, are we tapping in to the power? And the Holy Spirit is in the midst of this dark world ruled by the Antichrist. And I heard it said like this, we are to set up little outposts of the kingdom like bright stars dotted on an ink, black ink landscape.

That's who we are. We are outposts, bright outposts in this dark world. And with the power of the kingdom, we are to preach the gospel that sets people free from sin. And then work with our hands to restore justice and lift others up from poverty and break chains of addiction and oppression and promote peace. Hello, promote peace, right?

We're divided in this world. Let's promote peace. Let's be people of peace and people of hope and people of joy. And our lives should give glimpses of the coming kingdom whose power is here at work in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what it means to shine in Babylon.

This is what it means, as Daniel was saying, to live righteously in a dark world and shine and be an instrument that brings Christ's kingdom to people who desperately need it. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. That's who we are as a church and who God has called us to be. So here's the question. Are you ready to be a part of the movement?

Let's pray. Father, thank you, God, for your word. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Power is available now.

Power is working now. Holy Spirit, you're working now. If you're here today and you're ready to receive Christ as your Savior, to repent of your sins and give your heart to Christ, I'm not going to give you a magical formula. That's not how we do it. It's really from your heart.

Pray right now. I want you to pray, Lord, Lord, forgive me of my sin. I repent of my sin. I come into a relationship with you. I believe in you.

I make you Lord of my life. I believe that you died on the cross, that you rose again from the dead, and that you are king. Come into my heart. That's what you do. You pray that.

Pray that from your heart right now. Receive him. Receive him as Lord and Savior. Will you do that? And you will be written in the Book of Life.

Father, I pray over everybody that's praying that prayer right now and those who are praying for those people that are praying that prayer right now, God, that you would just come into their lives, heal them, Lord, spiritually resurrect them, Lord, make them new creations, Lord, so that they can do what you've called them to do as we see in Babylon, shine like the stars. God, I pray for our church people here, those who have followed you for a long time and those who've followed you relatively short amount of time, Lord, I pray for those people as well, God, that you would use them, inspire them to see that, God, we can live bright in a dark world. We don't have to mourn like others. Apostle Paul says we don't mourn like other people do. We don't mourn that way.

Yes, we mourn, but we don't mourn the way they do because we believe in a resurrection. And our hope should be to lead many to salvation so that they can enjoy and be in the presence and worship you forever. Amen.