Amen. You may be seated. Turning your Bible to Daniel chapter seven. Daniel chapter seven. Originally, I was going to try to abbreviate the reading slightly. I just think that's unwise. We're going to read the entirety of the chapter verses one through 28. Let's give our attention now to the word of God. Daniel chapter seven, beginning with verse one. In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. Daniel declared, I saw in my vision by night and behold the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea and four great beast came up out of the sea different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles wings. Then as I looked, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear, was raised up on one side, had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and it was told, arise, devour much flesh. After this, I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads and dominion was given to it. After this, I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth, devoured and broken pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it. And it had 10 horns. I considered the horns and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were the eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things. As I looked, thrones were placed and the ancient of days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire, a stream of fire issued and came out from before him. A thousand thousands served him and 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him and the court sat in judgment and the books were open. I looked then, because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking, and as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed, and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man, And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people's nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. His kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious and the visions of my head alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of things. These four great beast are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever. Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured in broken pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. And about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up, and before which three of them fell. The horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High. And the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, as for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the other kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth and trample it down and break it to pieces. As for the 10 horns out of this kingdom, 10 kings shall arise and another shall arise after them. He shall be different from the former ones, and he shall put down three kings. He shall speak words against the most high and shall wear out the saints of the most high and shall think to change the times and the law and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times and half a time. But the court shall sit in judgment and his dominion shall be taken away to be consumed and destroyed to the end. and the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high. His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, my color changed, But I kept the matter in my heart. Thus far, God's word. Let's pray together. Lord, as we come to this portion of your word, we acknowledge there are many things here difficult for us to understand. We pray that you would enable us by your power and grace by the wisdom and work of your spirit within our hearts and minds. We would see the truth, the glory, the majesty of you, the ancient of days and of the king of the Saints. The Lord Jesus Christ bless us this day. We ask for Jesus sake. Amen. Well, this morning and evening, we are looking at the Book of Daniel. This was not my original plan. I had it all mapped out every week so that I could finish the Book of Daniel by the end of my time near the end of June. But you remember those words from Proverbs 16, 9? The mind of man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps. and the funeral of my good friend a couple of weeks ago just messed my plans all up. So we're doing morning and the evening today to try to recover some ground. And when we look at this particular section of the book of Daniel chapter seven, you realize that our text is going back in time. So back before Darius the Mede and the lion's den, back before Belshazzar's feast in chapter five, we're going back to the first year of Belshazzar. And the reason for this is perhaps simply because we're dealing with a completely different theme. nature of the material that Daniel is presenting. Before, Daniel's writing had been historical narrative. Daniel was delineating the people and the times and the places and the events that had taken place during his time in Babylon. But in chapter seven and eight, that completely changes. And Daniel is now dealing almost exclusively with some very unusual visions and dreams. And as Hebrews 1 tells us, that at one point, that was a very common way for God to make known his own glory and the glory of his plan for his people. My friends, at the very outset, you and I can be very thankful today that God has spoken much more clearly about the remedy for our sin and the way of salvation through Christ. He has spoken now by His Son. He has declared it without question, without hesitation. Christ and Christ alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by Him. How would it be for us if all we had by way of revelation of God and Christ and His word and His will If all we had was pictures of beasts coming up out of the sea, great and terrifying beasts, was one who would come and destroy them. But what if that's all we had? God has spoken to us now. He has spoken clearly in the pages of the New Testament. He has laid it out for us. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and we are made alive. We are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves, but the gift of God. And yet, we must not fail to realize Daniel 7 and 8 are part of Holy Scripture. They were inspired by the Spirit of God many, many years ago. But because they were inspired, they are profitable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And one of the things that I hope to show you this morning is that the lessons given to Daniel in these visions and their interpretation are the very lessons that are given to you and me today. Think of those words of Moses in Deuteronomy 29, 29 when he says, the secret things belong to God. But the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children. So children, there's some pretty scary things in this chapter and the next, but these have been revealed to you by God. God has made known to us his purpose and plan. It is meant to give us comfort in the midst of uncertain times. And brethren, we live in some pretty uncertain times. It's meant to give us confidence in the majesty and the power of the ancient of days, whose kingdom is everlasting. and who will not fail to accomplish his purpose. That's our God. And so we want to see what Daniel saw. The four elements, you see in your notes there, four things, the four beasts. the 11 horns, the ancient of days and the son of man, and the interpretation of the vision. Let's begin then with the four beasts. Now verse one marks the time in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon. But that's not really critical to us. I think as we see this vision, we realize at the very beginning This is no ordinary vision. For Daniel, in particular, my friends, this was a heart-pounding, this was an attention-grabbing, this was a wake-you-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night kind of dream. This is a radical, extraordinary event in the life of Daniel. And at every turn, Daniel is engaged. His focus is wrapped up in this vision. This is important to him. In verses 2 and 7, he says, I saw. In verses 4, 9, and 11, he says, I watched. And then in verse 6, I looked and other places, he says, I considered. This is captivating. His attention and his thoughts, so much so that he stopped and wrote it down. Now, as I just mentioned, God has spoken to us through his son in his word. Has that word captured your attention? Has that word engaged you? Are you, on occasion, writing it down? Now, you may be one of those exceptional individuals that never forgets what you read. Most of you? Probably not. But, if that's the case, learn. Learn to write it down. And when you write it down, it helps you to remember what it says. And that is definitely something that can apply to us as it did to Daniel. But the scene of this vision begins in these opening verses with a picture of universal chaos. And so we have the four winds stirring up the great sea. The sea is often a picture, a symbol of the world. Later it's called the earth. And so the four winds are stirring up the great sea. And it says that out of this world or this sea, four kingdoms rise. Now we're jumping ahead a little bit to the interpretation. If you look over at verse 17, that is where when Daniel is being instructed in these matters, these great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which arise out of the earth. But these four beasts, represented by four creatures, We have the first one is like a lion with eagle's wings. Again, we're getting into the interpretation, but more than likely, that is Nebuchadnezzar. It's interesting that Jeremiah, when speaking of the king of Babylon, says a lion has come up out of his thicket, and Ezekiel, says that, speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, that he is like an eagle for his swiftness. The second creature is a bear. We'll get into who that applies to. The third, a leopard. And the fourth, an exceedingly terrible, terrifying beast that is strong and fierce. Now here's a word of caution. Perhaps many of you have heard the old adage, don't miss the forest for the trees. What that means is sometimes when we get so focused on the particulars, we miss the big picture. We miss the forest because we're focused on this tree and that tree. And when you look at all of these creatures, And when you look at these dreadful beasts, it's easy to become preoccupied with exactly who is that talking about? Who is the lion? Who is the bear? Who is the leopard? And who is the fourth and terrifying beast? But know this, my friends. God is not just giving Daniel an overview of the history of kings and kingdoms that are coming in the world. That is certainly what we're looking at here. This is more than just the history of kings and kingdoms. Notice that each one of these creatures, each one of these four beasts are being controlled. They're being restrained. They're being guided and governed by a power that is much greater than themselves. The lion has his wings broken off. By who? The bear is given a command, arise and devour much flesh. Well, who gave him that command? The leopard, we are told, was given by whom? Dominion over all the kingdoms. And the fourth, which seems to conquer everything else by its own will, is eventually slain. and destroyed. The point is, brethren, that all the apparent chaos produced by the kings and kingdoms of this world is being guided, is being controlled, is being governed by God's wisdom. and God's power. You remember what Nebuchadnezzar was told by Daniel back in chapter 2? When Daniel comes to Nebuchadnezzar and says, here's the interpretation of your dream, and he says, blessed be God, the God of the Bible, the God of the Jews. This God is the one who raises up kings and who puts them down. And that's exactly what we see here in the case of Daniel. God is controlling all of these beasts, as terrible and frightening as they may be, they are under the hand and authority of Almighty God. Above all, my friends, here's the point of it, This is a revelation. This vision is a revelation of God himself. That he is the one who controls all the kings and kingdoms of this world. And surely, surely this is a lesson that you and I need as much as Daniel needed it thousands of years ago. Well, secondly, and very briefly, we look at the 11 horns as Daniel thinks about the fourth beast we see in verse seven. As he's thinking about this, he says, I saw a fourth beast dreadful, terrible, exceedingly strong with iron teeth, devouring everything and trampling everything under its feet. And then he says, and it had 10 horns. Well, again, the interpretation will explain a little bit of that, but he says, then there was a little horn that rose up, in verse eight. One coming out from among them, and before whom the first horns were plucked up by the roots. Here, this little horn, comes into the picture. Now we're gonna say more about that in a moment. For now, I want you to take note of the fact that this little horn, why is it highlighted? Why is this little horn, just a little one, in addition to all the other 10, the 10 are not even mentioned, but this one. becomes a focal point, and I think the reason for that is that this little horn is distinguished for its pride and self-exaltation and pompous words against God. So we'll stop there as far as the horns and move to the third main point, and that is the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man. Now, do you see the change that takes place here? We move from all these kings and kingdoms and beasts and creatures to the Ancient of Days. But there is a radical shift that takes place here in verse 9. It's against the backdrop of all this chaos and destruction and strife and greed and pride, and all of a sudden, the Ancient of Days comes into the picture. And do you realize what we see? We see a very calm, orderly procedure taking place in the courts of heaven. This ancient of days, I think, is clearly God the Father. And he is seen in his majesty. and in his power. He is surrounded by thousands of thousands of servants worshiping him, serving him, 10,000 times 10,000 ministering servants. But it's all, my friends, it's all unlike the hectic activity and fighting among all these beasts. Instead, What do we see? The ancient of days is sitting down. He's not anxious, he's not striving, he's not trying to create a plan that will work. He's seated upon his throne. Does that remind you of anything? I hope it reminds you of Psalm 2. Why do the people imagine this vain thing that they can rebel against God? Why do the heathen rage with their hatred against God and His honor and His glory and His will? He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. God is not troubled. by these kings and their hostility and their hatred of him and his will. The Ancient of Days, while these kings are killing each other and killing everyone that tries to resist them, the Ancient of Days is seated on his throne. And the books were open. There are multiple books in the scriptures. There is the book of life. There's the book of the lamb. There is a general book. Somewhere in there, our lives are recorded. Our works are recorded. And one day, we're gonna stand before the ancient of days. And the only way we can have peace in that moment The only way we can have hope in that moment is if we're clothed with the righteousness of Christ. We've trusted in him. We've confessed our sins to him. My friends, nothing else is going to satisfy the righteous judgment of God apart from Christ. But here, the ancient of days is seated. and without the slightest stirring of effort, without any sense of struggle. judgment proceeds from the throne. And so in verses 11 and 12, Daniel says, I watched after we see this picture of the ancient of days, in verse 11, I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking, I watched till the beast was slain. This great and terrifying beast is put to death and destroyed by the fire of God. There's no struggle for God. That beast is slain and his power is taken away. Now my friends, what an encouraging picture of God's sovereign power we have here. Here is God seated on his throne ruling and reigning, controlling, guiding, governing all the different events in this world. And he is doing it from his throne in heaven. Now, again, there are a lot of people today that are very troubled about the political landscape. in the USA, for that matter, all around the world. We see rulers that are powerful, that are cruel, that are godless, and maybe our heart trembles at the thought of what's going to happen around the world or in our own country. Do you see what God is reminding Daniel of? Daniel, I am in complete control. I am in absolute, total authority of the whole world and everything in it. And what God is reminding Daniel of, He is reminding you and I of. But, the vision is not yet complete. it gets a whole lot better. Because what happens in verses 13 and 14, I was watching in the night visions and behold, one like the son of man. Coming with the clouds of heaven he came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him and to him was given Dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people's nations and languages should serve him his dominion Is an everlasting dominion and shall not pass away It's glorious for us to see God the Father in total control. But how can we even grasp the glory? of the Son of Man coming and being given thousands, 10,000 times 10,000 to worship and serve Him, given dominion and glory and a kingdom and people and nations to serve Him and a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. Ladies and gentlemen, young people, do you realize what we're seeing here, the Son of Man in the presence of the Ancient of Days, being given all glory, honor, and power. Brothers and sisters, this is a picture of Christ in heaven. This is a picture of the resurrected, ascended Lord, seated at the right hand of God the Father. And He's ruling and reigning in His power and glory. Here is Revelation 5, 7, and 8 in microcosm. Here is the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, before whom He comes to the throne before the Father and there he is worshiped and served by 10,000 times 10,000. This is all about the glory of Christ. And here is perhaps one of the greatest aspects of that is that every single Lord's day We have the privilege, we have the opportunity to come and to sit as it were before the throne and worship the Son of Man and Son of God. To behold with our own eyes of faith the resurrected Christ. And to join with all those 10,000 times 10,000 in singing his praise and say, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive glory and honor and power and riches and blessing and strength. He is the only one who is worthy of our worship. He who was the Alpha and the Omega, the firstborn from the dead. the one who was, who is, and who is to come. Every Lord's day, we can worship him. We can enter into this scene that Daniel sees in this vision. Well, lastly, let's look at the interpretation of the vision. Daniel's seen it all. He's seen this vision. But you realize he's not quite sure exactly what this means. I mean, this is not exactly crystal clear. So Daniel asked for help in verse 16. He says, I came near to one of those who stood by and asked him the truth of all this. In response, he gets a very truncated, simple explanation. in verse 17. Well, the four beasts are the four kingdoms of the world, and the saints of the Most High are gonna receive the kingdom in the end. Well, when we compare Daniel's vision with Nebuchadnezzar's dream, remember, Nebuchadnezzar saw the head of gold, the chest, and then the thighs, and then the feet, Four kingdoms. And when we compare Daniel's vision with Nebuchadnezzar's dream, there are obvious parallels here. We're dealing with four kingdoms. And I think it's safe for us to say, based on the book of Daniel and other passages of scripture that speak in similar ways, the first beast is Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. The second beast is Darius and Cyrus, or Medo-Persia. The third is Alexander the Great and the kingdom of Greece who with the speed of a leopard conquers the entire known world. And then the last beast we have here is probably the kingdom of Rome in which it conquers even more and spreads its power across the globe. Now at this point, Daniel seems to focus his attention on the fourth beast, and particularly on the little horn. So in verses 23 and following, Interpreter spells it out for Daniel. The fourth beast is the fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from other kingdoms, shall devour the whole earth. Ten horns are ten kings, and out of them shall arise one other that will be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three other kings. But he will speak pompous words and persecute the saints of the Most High, and intend to change the law and the times, and the saints shall be given into his hand for a time." Now, Daniel sees this picture of this fourth kingdom. It is a very sobering picture of a kingdom of great power and immeasurable cruelty. But what stands out here is this little horn. And he's known particularly by his hatred of God and of God's people. He persecutes the saints. His goal is to remove God's law from society. And when we see that, this has led many people to say, there's no question, there's no doubt here, this is Antiochus Epiphanes. All the persecution of the saints that he engaged in and all the corruption that he wrought in his time. But the problem with that is that the fourth kingdom appears to continue to the coming of the Son of Man. And the fourth beast is destroyed by the Son of Man. And that means we would have a problem if this was Antiochus Epiphanes. Because Antiochus died in the second century BC. Others have said this was Nero, Calvin said it was the Caesars of Rome. Others have said Hitler. I remember as a young man, it was Gorbachev. because he had this big mold or whatever it was on his forehead. And oh, that's who, that's the antichrist. And so people have come up with all kinds of different things that this must represent. I believe there is a better way for us to look at these words rather than trying to identify some specific individual. I'll give you a teaser, it's gonna be different when we get to chapter eight and the little horn there, because then it's very specific. But here, the little horn, I believe, represents the ongoing, persistent opposition of this world to the word and will of God. It's not one particular individual. But it's the ongoing hostility and hatred that this world has for God and his kingdom. And we see it. Daniel saw it then. It followed through all the four major kingdoms of the earth till the time of Christ. Christ saw it. You and I see it today. This is the overall opposition to the kingdom of God. If we look at it in that way, then the point of this chapter changes. Instead of identifying a particular individual, we see three overarching principles that we can take from this chapter in our own lives. Number one, the conflict between the kingdoms of the earth and the kingdom of God will continue till the end of time. My friends, we don't need to be surprised when we see the godless of this world railing and advancing their perversions and anti-God thinking and living. However, we do need to pray because it's going to get worse. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world that are being persecuted for the name of Christ. We need to be involved like Daniel. We need to be watching. We need to be looking. We need to be taking note of what's happening and praying for our brothers and sisters in the Lord. God is in control of it all. He is ordering, he is directing, he is restraining all the kingdoms of this earth. And he's gonna use it all. We might not understand how or why, but God is in control and he's gonna use it all. for his purposes and for his glory. Lastly, in the end, God is going to destroy the wicked and he's going to bring his children, his followers, into a kingdom of righteousness that will have no end. My friends, are you part of that kingdom? Right now, we might see times where wickedness seems to be prevailing, or we might see times of great revival in the churches, but in the end, God is going to bring an end to the wicked, and he's going to bring the righteous into his kingdom. Are you in Christ? Have you trusted in Him? Are you part of that kingdom that God will bring about through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Maybe you could take some time this afternoon and read Ephesians 1, how God chooses us from before the foundation of the world. how he predestines us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, how he forgives our sins in Christ by his blood, how he gives us an inheritance in him who works all things according to his own will. At the end of the day, My friends, Daniel 7 is a revelation of God himself. Let us see him. Let us worship him. Let us serve him. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you. For these words, difficult though they may be to understand and to apply, yet we see clearly your power and your grace through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. Would you bless us this day as we seek to worship and serve him? We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Let's take a few moments, meditate and pray over the things we've seen here.