Sovereign History and the Sacred Table

• [Daniel 8](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+8&version=KJV) Prophecy [00:20:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the study of Daniel 8:9-27, noting its complexity and its focus on the 'ins and outs' of historical and future prophetic events.
• Historical Fulfillment [00:24:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that from the perspective of 550 BC, the prophecy was future, but today it is 'past perfect' as most events, such as the rise and fall of the Greek Empire, have already occurred.
• Eschatology (End Times) [00:24:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights the 'future tense' aspect of the text, specifically pointing toward the coming of the Antichrist and the ultimate return of Jesus Christ.
• Christian Living in the 'Meantime' [00:19:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses how the book of Daniel instructs believers on how to live faithfully in a pagan culture while awaiting the kingdom of God.
• Historical Fulfillment of Prophecy [00:26:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects the 'small horn' in Daniel to the historical division of Alexander the Great's empire and the rise of Antiochus IV.
• The Nature of Antiochus Epiphanes [00:29:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > An explanation of the name 'Epiphanes' (manifestation of God) versus the Jewish nickname (madman), highlighting his megalomania and self-deification.
• Persecution of Judaism [00:30:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > Details of Antiochus's atrocities, including defiling the temple, outlawing circumcision, and banning the Torah.
• Typology of the Antichrist [00:33:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes the 'little horn' of Daniel 8 (Antiochus) from Daniel 7 (the future Antichrist), while noting Antiochus serves as a type or foreshadow of the latter.
• Interpretation of Time Periods [00:37:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > A discussion on the '2,300 evenings and mornings,' rejecting date-setting theories (like the Seventh-day Adventists) and arguing for a literal day-year or day-day interpretation that aligns with the historical cleansing of the temple.
• Historical Fulfillment of [Daniel 8](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+8&version=KJV) [00:38:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor details the historical context of the 2,300 evenings and mornings, correcting date-setting errors and explaining the timeline of Antiochus Epiphanes' desecration and the subsequent Maccabean revolt.
• The Maccabean Revolt and Hanukkah [00:40:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > A narrative account of Mattathias and the Maccabean revolt, leading to the cleansing of the temple and the origin of Hanukkah, used to illustrate how attempts to wipe out the Jewish people result in their preservation and celebration.
• Antiochus Epiphanes as a Type of Antichrist [00:48:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that Antiochus is a 'foreshadow' or 'prototype' of the final Antichrist, drawing parallels between their blasphemy, satanic power, and destruction without human agency.
• Application: Sure Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy [00:51:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor transitions to applications, emphasizing the accuracy of God's word and the sure fulfillment of prophecy as a key takeaway for the congregation.
• Biblical Prophecy and the Antichrist [00:50:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy regarding Antiochus Epiphanes and the future Antichrist, linking current global events to biblical predictions.
• God's Sovereignty [00:55:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that God is in control even over evil rulers and history, encouraging trust in His governance.
• Christ as the Horn of Salvation [00:56:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies Jesus as the 'horn of salvation' from Luke 1, contrasting Him with failing earthly powers.
• Faithful Service [00:58:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages believers to 'carry on the king's business' despite darkness or discouragement.
• The Incarnation and Atonement [01:03:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that God became man not to gloat, but to die, taking on the weight of sin to provide salvation.
• Hope in the Gospel [01:02:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > Contrasting the world's lack of hope after 2020 with the biblical hope found in Christ's triumph over sin and death.
• The Lord's Supper [01:05:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > Instructions and theological reflection on partaking of the bread and cup as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice and a proclamation of his return.

• Sermon Illustration [00:20:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about watching cricket in Australia, describing it as a complicated game with many 'ins and outs.' He recounts a story by commentator Brian Johnston where an Englishman tries to explain cricket to an American using circular logic ('when he's out, he comes in... when they're all out, the side that's out in the field comes in'), illustrating the complexity of explaining Daniel chapter 8.
• Sermon Illustration [00:24:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the Roman god Janus, who has two faces looking to the past and future, as an analogy for the text of Daniel chapter 8, which looks back at fulfilled history and forward to future events.
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the harrowing story from 2 Maccabees 7, where seven brothers and their mother are tortured and killed by Antiochus for refusing to eat pork or break God's law, with the mother encouraging her sons to die nobly.
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the 'Great Disappointment' of 1844, where William Miller and Seventh-day Adventists incorrectly calculated the return of Christ based on the 2,300-day prophecy.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of Mattathias, a priest in Modin who refused to offer pagan sacrifices, killed a Jewish man attempting to comply, and fled to the hills with his sons, initiating the Maccabean revolt.
• Sermon Illustration [00:47:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, citing David Jeremiah's account that he was afflicted with a horrible disease causing his body to be eaten by ulcers and worms, leading to his miserable death without human intervention.
• Sermon Illustration [00:49:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a statue of Antiochus Epiphanes casting a shadow on a wall to illustrate how the historical figure serves as a 'shadowy outline' or foreshadowing of the character and career of the final Antichrist.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of New England's Dark Day on May 19th, 1780, where Colonel Abraham Davenport refused to adjourn the Connecticut House of Representatives, stating he chose to be found doing his duty whether it was Judgment Day or not.
• Sermon Illustration [00:53:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references an article by John MacArthur titled 'COVID World Perfectly Suited for the Coming of the Antichrist,' which argues that global war, technology, and lawlessness create a setup for the Antichrist.
• Sermon Illustration [01:04:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor quotes Jeffrey Wilson: 'our risen and glorified lord is himself our hope because his triumph over sin and death provides the objective pledge for our final redemption.'

• Pastoral Charge [00:20:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > Turn Bible to Daniel chapter 8, verse 9
• Pastoral Charge [00:22:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Hang in there with the detailed explanation of the text
• Pastoral Charge [00:44:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > Ask God for understanding of Scripture.
• Pastoral Charge [00:56:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for the nation and its leaders, and actively seek to influence the country.
• Pastoral Charge [01:00:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > Engage in God's work and remain faithful in duty rather than moping in discouragement.
• Pastoral Charge [01:02:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > Retrieve the communion cups from outside the door for themselves and their families.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > Bow heads and silently pray to thank God for Christ's sacrifice.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > Physically open the communion elements (bread and cup) and partake in them together.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:00:00] To tell you this morning, Happy New Year to everyone. It's great to gather in this year. I'm just glad that last year is over. It's the year that we're not going to name, but it is over, so we're looking forward to this year. It's wonderful to see everyone in the room this morning. If you're joining us online via the live stream, we're thankful for your presence as well. Just thank you all for joining us as we gather to worship the Lord together. If this is your first time to Faith Bible Church, if you're in the building and this is your first time, we are thankful that you're here as well. We would love to meet you and get to know you a
[00:00:30] four year after the service is over. There'll be some folks there to get to know you and give you some information about the church. And so again, thank you so much for being here this morning if
[00:00:38] you are new. Before we begin worshiping through singing this morning, there are a couple of announcements I do want to pass along. First off, this coming Saturday morning, January the 9th, is our next Man Up Men's Breakfast with Pastor Mark. And so we'll be meeting guys at 830 in the
[00:00:52] chapel to hear Mark talk about another biblical character that maybe we don't know much about.
[00:00:57] And so, guys, we'd love for you to be there for that.
[00:00:59] We would ask you that you sign up on the current sign-ups page on the Faith Bible website just so we'll know how many guys are going to be there and can order food for that and all of those good things.
[00:01:09] Second, our ladies' Bible studies start the week of January the 17th.
[00:01:12] We have studies that meet on Sunday evenings and Tuesday mornings and one Wednesday a month.
[00:01:17] And so, ladies, lots of opportunities for you to get involved in Bible studies.
[00:01:20] And we'd love for you to be a part of that.
[00:01:21] You can also find information on the current sign-ups page on the Faith Bible website about that as well.
[00:01:26] and then lastly our next new member connection workshop is coming up on sunday january the 24th at 6 p.m in the uh in the chapel and this event this workshop is basically for those people who
[00:01:38] are new and want to find out more about faith bible church if you want to maybe join the church or again just find out more information about faith bible we'd love for you to be there that's
[00:01:47] a free event as well there's child care for that and so that's going to be on sunday january the 24th at 6 p.m. in the chapel. Our call to worship this morning comes from Ezra chapter 3, verses 10
[00:01:59] through 11. There, Ezra says this, when the builders had laid the foundation of the Lord's temple, the priests dressed in their robes and holding trumpets, and the Levites descended from Asaph holding symbols, took their positions to praise the Lord. As King David of Israel had
[00:02:15] instructed. They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, for he is good. His faithful love endures, for to Israel endures forever. Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord's house had been laid. Pray with me this morning. Father,
[00:02:33] we do come before you. Father, give us a heart right now, God, to praise you and worship you.
[00:02:40] Give us a desire to see you glorified in all that we do. I pray that as the morning progresses, father that we would hear from you um that you would be honored by what you hear from us we love
[00:02:50] you we thank you for your love focus our hearts upon you right now and you alone you are deserving of our praise it's in christ's name we pray all of these things amen well good morning let's stand

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:03:02] and lift our voices together.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:03:03] Should nothing of our efforts stand No legacy survive Unless the Lord does raise the house In vain its builders try Those tomorrows gain Tell me what is your highest that vanishes at dawn Let's declare that our hope is in him
[00:06:48] Magnify Christ this morning with our entire lives as we start this new year together

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:10:48] Psalm 34 says this I will bless the Lord at all times His praise shall continually be in my mouth My soul shall make its boast in the Lord The humble shall hear of it and be glad
[00:11:01] Go magnify the Lord with me And let us exalt his name together

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:11:07] Be lifted high

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:16:02] It would be our sole focus as we start into this new year That all of our heart, soul, mind and strength would be That everything that we have Would be directed in worship to you today
[00:16:16] Thank you for the privilege of being able to gather And to lift our voices to you And now for the privilege of being able to open your word And to be taught God change us by the power of your word

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:16:27] and it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, welcome to 2021 here at Faith Bible Church.
[00:16:37] 2020 is now officially in the rearview mirror, and a little rejoicing there. Thanks to all of you, though, for joining us here this morning. We appreciate you, those of you who are in person, present here with us, those of you online. Your presence means a great deal to us, and
[00:16:52] we really do thank God for each and every one of you. Thank you for being here with us. If you're visiting. We're especially glad that you've joined us as well, so welcome. At the end of the service
[00:17:02] today, we'll celebrate the Lord's Supper. This is a first Sunday of the month, first Sunday of the year, so I just want to remind you of that so you can make sure you have the elements that are
[00:17:10] provided out in the lobbies, and to just be preparing your hearts for that as well. Let's open in prayer this morning as we begin this new year together. Let's commit ourselves and our church and our families to the Lord for this coming year. Our Father, we come before you this
[00:17:26] morning. And as we look back on 2020, we thank you for your faithfulness to each and every one of us.
[00:17:33] We remember those great words of Scripture, great is your faithfulness, your mercies, they're new every morning. Father, we thank you for your watch care over us this last year, each and every one of us, our families. We thank you for your sustaining, strengthening grace for
[00:17:46] us. We thank you for your provision and protection for our church in 2020. And Father, we anxiously anticipate what you have for us in the new year. Father, fill us with anticipation and excitement.
[00:18:01] Father, we ask you for help for our nation as we enter into a new year and to a new administration and with the upcoming elections in Georgia and all the things that are happening. Lord, we
[00:18:09] commit our country to you. We pray, Father, that you would reach down and continue to have your hand of blessing upon us, even though we don't deserve it. We thank you, Father, for your grace
[00:18:21] to us. Father, for each one of us, for our own lives, for our church, our families, we pray that you'd enlarge our vision for what you want to accomplish through our lives. That you'd deliver
[00:18:32] us from the curse of complacency. You'd keep us from discouragement. That you'd fill our hearts, every one of us, Father, with hope and joy in you. Father, I pray for all of our members here
[00:18:43] at Faith Bible Church, for their work that they put their hand to each week, businesses they may work for or may own. We ask for your good hand of blessing and prosperity, Father, to be upon each
[00:18:55] one in this coming year. Fathers, we launch into this new year. Help all of us to keep in step with the Spirit. Help us never to get out of step with you. And now, Fathers, we prepare to open the Word
[00:19:06] of God together. We pray that you'd prepare our hearts to receive your inspired, inerrant Word.
[00:19:12] We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, to begin 2021, I want to get back to our study of the book of Daniel that we left off late last year. I'm excited to come back to this study.
[00:19:25] We've titled the study of the book of Daniel, The End Time and the Mean Time. And if you've been with us, if you're with us last fall and as we began this study, you know that the book of Daniel
[00:19:35] tells us a lot about the end times. It tells us about really the sweep and the scope of this entire age leading up to ultimately the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. But it also tells us
[00:19:47] how to live in the meantime, how to live as we're awaiting the coming of the kingdom of Jesus Christ to this earth. In fact, in the book of Daniel, Daniel lives in a pagan culture,
[00:19:58] much like our culture today. And it tells us how you and I live as we await the coming of Christ.
[00:20:05] Now, we left off a few weeks ago in Daniel chapter 8. So if you'll take your Bible and turn there with me, that's where we're going to pick back up in Daniel chapter 8 and verse 9.
[00:20:16] Now, by all accounts, 2020 was an apocalyptic year, so I think it's fitting that we begin 2021 with an apocalyptic passage.
[00:20:24] Now, as I thought about our text for this morning, I was reminded of several years ago when Cheryl and I were down in Australia, and I like to watch sports, and there wasn't any American sports on, so in the evenings to relax, I'd turn on this TV that at least
[00:20:38] a couple nights were in this hotel and watch cricket.
[00:20:41] Now, I don't know anything about cricket.
[00:20:42] I still don't.
[00:20:43] I watched it for some hours.
[00:20:45] It's got to be one of the most complicated games in the world, but there was a huge cricket match going on between Australia and England. It's a big deal. They play for the Ashes, it's called,
[00:20:54] every two years, and that goes all the way back to 1882 when Australia defeated England the first time, and they were literally in ashes over that. But anyways, a whole story to that. But I watched
[00:21:05] quite a bit of cricket, and although I didn't understand much of what was happening, the main thing I discovered is the matches are very long and complicated, and I will never understand cricket. Now, to highlight this fact, I love the story of Brian Johnston, a well-known cricket
[00:21:18] commentator, and he tells of an Englishman trying to explain cricket to an American, and here's what he said. You have two sides, one out on the field and one in. Each man on the side that's in
[00:21:32] goes out, and when he's out, he comes in, and the next man goes in until he's out. When they're all out, the side that's out in the field comes in, and the side that's been in goes out and tries
[00:21:42] to get out those coming in. Sometimes you get men still standing in and not out. When both sides have been in and out, including the not outs, that's the end of the game. And that's about what
[00:21:54] I observed when I watched this. There's a lot of ins and outs to cricket, if you will. And you totally understand it all now, I'm sure. But as I thought about Daniel chapter 8, I thought, you
[00:22:05] know, explaining Daniel chapter 8 can be a bit like describing a game of cricket. There are a lot of ins and outs here to Daniel chapter 8. A lot of history from a time period that most of us are
[00:22:18] not very familiar with. In fact, one commentator I read this week commenting on the passage we'll be studying says Daniel chapter 8 is a preacher's nightmare. Well, I found that very encouraging when I read that. But hopefully I can do a better job of explaining the ins and outs of Daniel
[00:22:36] chapter 8 here this morning than that man did explaining cricket. I'll give it my best shot.
[00:22:41] And I think if you'll hang in there this morning and some of this detail, you'll find this passage very interesting and very illuminating. So let me read Daniel 8, verses 9 to 14. We're going to
[00:22:51] cover the whole chapter, finish it, but I want to just begin with these first few verses, and then we'll begin to get into the verses. Daniel chapter 8, verse 9. And out of one of them came forth a
[00:23:03] rather small horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the beautiful land, which of course is Israel. And it grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. It even
[00:23:18] magnified itself to be equal with the commander of the host, and it removed the regular sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was thrown down. Now, on account of transgression, the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice, and it will fling
[00:23:34] truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper. Then I heard a holy one speaking and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, how long will the vision about the
[00:23:44] regular sacrifice apply while the transgression causes horror so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled? And he said to me, for 2300 evenings and mornings, then the holy place will be properly restored. Oh, may the Lord write his eternal word on our hearts this morning.
[00:24:04] Now, most of you know that January is named for the Roman god Janus, the god of beginnings or transitions or time.
[00:24:11] And Janus is usually depicted as having two faces since he looks to the past and looks to the future.
[00:24:17] And our text this morning, really, as we get into all of it, really has two faces.
[00:24:23] It's going to point us to the past, but it's also going to peer into the future.
[00:24:28] Now, we have to remember when Daniel writes this in 550 BC, it's all future.
[00:24:34] It's all future to him.
[00:24:36] None of it's been fulfilled.
[00:24:37] But as we look back today, most of what's in this chapter has already taken place.
[00:24:42] It's been fulfilled.
[00:24:44] So I've titled this morning's message, Past Perfect, Future Tense, and Present Active.
[00:24:50] Because we're going to see the past is perfect.
[00:24:52] This prophecy has been fulfilled exactly as Daniel said it would be.
[00:24:56] But there's future tense.
[00:24:57] it also looks to the future, to the coming of the Antichrist. And then it also tells us to be present in the active as we are active in the present as we await the coming of these events.
[00:25:08] So let's pick up where we left off in Daniel chapter 8. I'm going to kind of bring you up to speed a little bit. And if you haven't been with us, you can go back and listen to some of
[00:25:17] the previous messages, I hope, and you'll be right where we are. But you remember in Daniel chapter 8 verses 1 to 8 is the setting here, Daniel had a vision of a ram with two horns. And we said that
[00:25:29] ram represented the Medo-Persian Empire, the great Persian Empire that overtook the Babylonians.
[00:25:35] Then Daniel also sees a goat with a large conspicuous horn. And this goat, in fact, later in this chapter tells us that this goat represents the Greek Empire. And this big horn, this conspicuous horn on this goat represents the great leader of that empire, Alexander the Great.
[00:25:51] and we saw that last time that this goat crushes the ram symbolizing the victory of alexander the great and the greek empire over the persians now daniel's writing this 200 years before this happens and then down in verse 8 of chapter 8 it says the male goat magnified himself exceedingly
[00:26:11] but as soon as he was mighty the large horn was broken and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. And that was fulfilled historically at the pinnacle
[00:26:23] of his power at the age of 33 in 323 BC, Alexander the Great dies and his kingdom is divided into four parts to four of his generals. And that takes place in 301 BC. Now, to help us understand this
[00:26:43] or see this a little bit, I mean, you know, again, we're talking about places that are far away from us. This was Alexander's empire. And Alexander's empire gets divided up into four parts.
[00:26:53] And this part right here, all the, oops, I'm sorry. All the, I'm sorry. There we go. All this green part right here is the Seleucid part of the empire. This is by the Ptolemies. We're going to
[00:27:08] talk a lot about this in chapter 11. And of course, over here is Greece. But the key to all this green part here is the city of Antioch. And of course, right here is Israel, where Israel's right in
[00:27:17] between all of this. And so out of one of these four kingdoms, a king is going to arise. You'll notice in verse 9, so Alexander the Great dies, his kingdom's divided among four generals.
[00:27:30] And then it says in verse 9, and out of one of them, that is out of one of these four divisions of Alexander's kingdom, came a small horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south,
[00:27:41] toward the east and toward the beautiful land. And again, it's this empire here, this part of the empire. And again, this little horn, his name is going to be Antiochus Epiphanes. And of course, the city right here is the city of Antioch that he is named after. So Alexander's empire is divided
[00:28:03] up. And again, the Bible's predicting all this 200 years before it happens. So out of one of these kingdoms, this little horn arises. And we know from history that this little horn here is symbolic of a tyrant named Antiochus IV. Again, these horns in Scripture are often symbolic of
[00:28:20] kings or leaders. And Antiochus IV is one of the cruelest tyrants of history. He ruled from 175 to 164 BC over all this large area right here that was centered in Syria. Again, but just to the
[00:28:36] north of Israel. Now, if you know anything about your history, the Bible, the Old Testament ends around 400 B.C. with the book of Malachi. And then it picks back up in about 5 B.C. with the
[00:28:49] birth of John the Baptist and Jesus. So we have what's called 400 silent years. And it's often called the intertestamental period, the time between the testaments. That's when these events are taking place. And if you want to do some really, really interesting reading, read the
[00:29:06] books of 1 and 2 Maccabees. You can find them online. It's part of the Apocrypha. It's actually part of the Catholic Bible, but it's not part of the Protestant Scriptures. There are a lot of
[00:29:16] reasons for that, but it's fascinating history, and it tells all about this time period, 1 and 2 Maccabees. But this man Antiochus gave himself the name Epiphanes. You all know the word epiphany.
[00:29:29] It means to, you know, something to appear or to be illustrious or glorious, because he claimed to be the manifestation of God. In fact, he even had the word theos, which means God, put on coins
[00:29:41] minted with his picture on them. And it just so happened that his picture on the coin just happened to look like the face of the god Zeus. But you can see here these coins that were minted with
[00:29:52] the picture of Antiochus Epiphanes on them. Now, this man does all that he can to annihilate the Jewish religion. They're literally hideous stories of his atrocities. In fact, if you read Maccabees, some of them I don't want to tell. I mean, they'll give people nightmares they're so
[00:30:11] bad. I mean, he was a madman. In fact, he called himself Antiochus Epiphanes, the illustrious one or the one who is God manifest. But the Jews called him Antiochus Epiphanes, which means a madman. A little play on words there. But he was a megalomaniac. And the initial act of his reign
[00:30:30] of terror against the Jews was he removed the high priest and replaced him with someone who would be favorable to him, who just happened to be the highest bidder for the office.
[00:30:40] And he devastated Jerusalem in 168 BC. He defiled and desecrated the temple in 167 BC.
[00:30:49] he brought a pig to the temple he slit the pig's throat he sacrificed it on a sacred altar collected the blood of this pig and sprayed it all over the temple in the inner sanctum
[00:31:01] of the holy place of god obviously of an unclean animal he erected a shrine to zeus in the temple put an idol of zeus in the temple in the holy of holies turned it into a pagan shrine and again
[00:31:15] the idol there of Zeus, again, just also kind of happened to look like Antiochus Epiphanes as well when you looked at it closely. But the temple area, the holy temple was turned into a pagan
[00:31:26] shrine. People came there and had sexual relations. It was turned into a place of prostitution.
[00:31:32] He prohibited Jewish worship. He removed every vestige of Judaism. In fact, basically you could say that Antiochus Epiphanes made Judaism a crime in Israel. I mean, outlawed circumcision.
[00:31:45] You know, every Jewish boy was to be circumcised, and these women who circumcised their sons, he had them killed and their sons as well.
[00:31:54] And again, I won't tell those stories.
[00:31:56] They're horrid stories.
[00:31:59] He demanded that they treat the Sabbath like every other day.
[00:32:03] That's just some of what this man Antiochus Epiphanes did.
[00:32:07] And knowing these facts about him helps us understand better this text of Daniel's prophecy, because this prophecy is a prophecy about Him and His activities.
[00:32:17] Now let's get into verse 9 and look at the experience of the vision.
[00:32:20] One of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the east and toward the beautiful land, again, which is the land of Israel.
[00:32:29] And it grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth and trample them down.
[00:32:38] The host of heaven here, I believe, is Israel.
[00:32:42] it's the Jewish people, because down in verse 11, it refers to the commander of the host, which of course is God. So he's picturing the Jewish people here as stars, because remember again, when God promised Abraham he would give him a people, he said they'd be like the stars
[00:32:58] of heaven. So it's picturing the Jewish people here that he's going to persecute. It even magnified itself to be equal with the commander of the host, and it removed the regular sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was thrown down.
[00:33:13] Now, I want to make a comment here.
[00:33:14] I don't want to get into this too detailed, but back in chapter 7 of Daniel, you remember there in chapter 7, verse 8, we met a little horn.
[00:33:22] Does anybody remember that from a few months ago?
[00:33:25] A month or so ago?
[00:33:27] So we met a little horn in Daniel 7.
[00:33:29] Now, this is another small horn here, but they're not the same.
[00:33:34] The little horn in Daniel 8 is not the same as the little horn in Daniel 7.
[00:33:38] In Daniel chapter 7, that little horn there, that's a first reference really in Scripture to the coming Antichrist.
[00:33:45] That horn in Daniel 7 arises from the fourth kingdom, which is Rome. He's future, and he's the Antichrist. In Daniel 8, this horn arises from the third kingdom, which is Greece. He's passed, and he is this one we know as Antiochus Epiphanes. But we're going to see as we go along
[00:34:04] that I believe Antiochus Epiphanes, this little horn in Daniel 8, is a picture or a type or a foreshadow of what that ultimate Antichrist is going to be like. He's a foreshadow of him.
[00:34:18] Now, these verses here spotlight what we've already described. Look at verse 10. Again, this horn is going to defeat the Jewish people. He's going to cause some of the host and the stars to fall to the ground and trample on them. Antiochus Epiphanes was responsible for the death
[00:34:34] of 80,000 Jews and 40,000 more were enslaved. And he defiled the sanctuary. We've described that already. He removed the regular sacrifice, verse 11, and the place of the sanctuary was thrown down. It doesn't mean the temple was destroyed, but it just means it was desecrated.
[00:34:52] It was thrown down. And on account of transgression, the host will be given over to the horn. That means the Jewish people, along with the regular sacrifice. And he will fling truth to the ground
[00:35:04] and perform its will and prosper.
[00:35:08] So he's going to defeat the saints, defile the sanctuary.
[00:35:11] He's going to destroy the Scripture.
[00:35:14] Antiochus Epiphanes outlawed the reading of Scripture and burned every copy of the Torah, the Jewish law that he could get his hands on.
[00:35:22] In fact, anyone caught with a copy of the sacred books or obeyed the law of God was put to death by order of the king.
[00:35:30] Now there's all kinds of stories from Maccabees we could read, but I want to share one story with you and you can go read the whole chapter on your own.
[00:35:39] It's a harrowing story.
[00:35:40] 2 Maccabees chapter 7.
[00:35:43] Here's the way the first part of it reads.
[00:35:45] There were also seven brothers who were arrested with their mother.
[00:35:49] The king tried to force them to taste pig's flesh, which the law forbids, by torturing them with whips and scourges.
[00:35:56] One of them acting as spokesman for the other said, what are you trying to find out from us?
[00:36:01] We're prepared to die rather than break the laws of our ancestors.
[00:36:05] The king in a fury ordered pans and cauldrons to be heated over a fire.
[00:36:10] As soon as they were red hot, he commanded that the spokesman of theirs should have his tongue cut out, his head scalped and his extremities cut off, while the other brothers and his mother looked on.
[00:36:21] When he had been rendered completely helpless, the king gave orders for him to be brought still breathing to the fire and fried alive in a pan.
[00:36:28] as the smoke from the pan drifted about his mother and the rest encouraged one another to die nobly i think a lot of people be encouraging each other to eat the pig's flesh at that point right
[00:36:40] encourage them to die nobly with such words as these the lord god is watching he takes pity on us as in the song which moses bore witness against the people to their face proclaiming he will
[00:36:52] certainly have compassion on his servants and you go read this chapter the whole chapter one by one He abuses these men and kills each one of them while their mother is watching.
[00:37:03] And she, since they're beginning to falter, she crawls out to him to be faithful to the Lord.
[00:37:08] And they finally take the youngest son, it says, and treat him worse than all the rest.
[00:37:11] And then finally, they kill the mother.
[00:37:14] But this is what is happening during the reign of this brutal King Antiochus Epiphanes.
[00:37:21] Now, how long is this going to last?
[00:37:23] You get down to verse 13 and 14.
[00:37:26] It says, I heard one speaking and saying, how long will the vision about the sacrifice apply?
[00:37:31] While the transgression causes horrors, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled.
[00:37:36] And he said to me, for 2,300 evenings and mornings, then the Lord, the holy place will be properly restored.
[00:37:43] So this reign of terror of this king is going to last for 2,300 evenings and mornings.
[00:37:51] Now, as you can imagine, there's been a lot of ink spilled on this.
[00:37:55] A lot of people take the 2,300 evenings and mornings to just be symbolic, but as you read through the book of Daniel, time periods seem to be literal. Some have taken this to be 2,300 years.
[00:38:08] In fact, the Seventh-day Adventists and William Miller did all kinds of calculations using this as 2,300 years and came up with March 22, 1844 as the time of the return of Christ.
[00:38:21] Of course, it was wrong, as people are always wrong when they set a date for Christ's coming.
[00:38:26] So it was later revised to October 22, 1844.
[00:38:30] When it didn't happen, it became known as the Great Disappointment.
[00:38:34] It devastated many people's lives and their faith, which again just reminds us not to set dates for the coming of Christ.
[00:38:41] When somebody sets a date for Christ's coming, you can know that's not the date.
[00:38:45] That's what I always like to say.
[00:38:46] So it's not 2,300 years.
[00:38:49] Some people take it as 1,150 days because it's 2,300 evenings and mornings.
[00:38:54] there was a sacrifice in the evening and sacrifice in the morning. And so this would only be 1150 days or about three years. But many people take it to just literally be 2300 days, which is a
[00:39:07] little bit over six years. Now, I don't want to get into this again in massive detail, but either the 1150 days or the 2300 days meet the requirement of the prophecy. If it's 2300 days, you go
[00:39:19] basically from 170 BC to 164 BC when the temple was finally cleansed and rededicated. If you take the 1150 days, it's about the three-year period from 167 to 164 when the temple was desecrated during that time. We know the ending point. Notice he says, it'll be 2300 evenings and mornings,
[00:39:42] then the holy place will be properly restored. Antiochus Epiphanes had desecrated the holy place in 167 BC, and it was restored and cleansed on December the 14th of 164 BC. And you say, well, how did that happen? Well, let me fill in a little bit more detail here for you. There was a priest
[00:40:02] living up in a rural village in Israel, a village called Modin, and his name was Mattathias.
[00:40:09] And Antiochus Epiphanes sent some of his representatives up there to get the people up there to offer pagan sacrifices. And this priest comes out there, Mattathias, and they tell them they need to offer these sacrifices. He refuses to do it. And one Jewish man steps
[00:40:23] forward to this altar to offer a sacrifice. Well, Mattathias steps forward with a sword and kills this Jewish man on the spot and kills the representatives of Antiochus Epiphanes. And he destroys the altar. And of course, he knows this is going to cause all kinds of trouble.
[00:40:39] So he basically flees to the hills with his five sons. And that begins what's called the Maccabean revolt. The Maccabees, you've heard that name I'm sure many times before, but the word Maccabees is from a word that means hammer. It was the name that was given to this family. And many
[00:40:57] went out and joined in their rebellion. And after two years of guerrilla fighting, they were able to recapture the temple and cleanse it from its defilement. And of course, that's the origin of the Feast of Dedication or Feast of Lights that's known as Hanukkah. Remember, the story goes that
[00:41:15] they only had enough of the holy oil for one day for the candles, but they burned for eight days.
[00:41:21] That's why on Hanukkah, the Jews take out a menorah, an eight-candle menorah. They burn one candle, light one candle each day until all eight of them burn brightly on the final day.
[00:41:33] But Antiochus Epiphanes tried to wipe out the Jewish people and their religion, and they end up with Hanukkah with this Feast of Lights. And of course, Jesus Himself celebrated Hanukkah. When you go over to John chapter 10, Jesus is in Jerusalem for a Feast of Dedication for Hanukkah.
[00:41:50] You know, someone pointed out years ago that every time someone tries to wipe out the Jewish people, they always end up with a holiday. Have you ever noticed that? You know, Pharaoh tried to do it.
[00:42:00] You remember back in Egypt, they ended up with Passover. And you remember that Haman tried to do it in the book of Esther, and they end up with the Feast of Purim. Antiochus Epiphanes tried to
[00:42:12] do it during this intertestamental period. They end up with Feast of Lights. And of course, Adolf Hitler tried to do it in Germany in the 1930s and 40s, and the Jewish people ended up with May the 14th, 1948, which is the rebirth of their nation. It's just a testimony again that
[00:42:29] God is going to be faithful to His covenants with the Jewish people to preserve them and to keep them. Well, down in verse 15, we leave the vision and move on to the interpretation. It came about
[00:42:41] when I, Daniel, had seen the vision that I sought to understand it, and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man. And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Uli, and he
[00:42:51] called out and said, Gabriel, give this man understanding of the vision. So we have an angel named here. This is the first mention in the Bible of a holy angel by name. His name is Gabriel,
[00:43:02] which means the strength of God or the mighty one of God. And Daniel is the only Old Testament book that mentions angels by name. It mentions both Gabriel and Michael in the book of Daniel.
[00:43:15] But Daniel asks for understanding. He wants to understand what's happening. And verse 17 says, so he came near to where I was standing, and when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face,
[00:43:27] but he said to me, son of man, understand the vision pertains to the time of the end.
[00:43:32] Now, while he was talking to me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground.
[00:43:36] Basically, what that means is he passed out.
[00:43:39] I mean, he did a face plant here, if you will, as he falls down into a deep sleep.
[00:43:43] And he touched me and made me stand upright.
[00:43:48] And he said, Behold, I'm going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.
[00:43:56] So Daniel passes out here, basically, just does a face plant.
[00:43:59] And Gabriel picks him up and begins to explain to him what is taking place.
[00:44:04] And by the way, this is an excellent example to all students of Bible prophecy for us to ask God for understanding, to help us understand the things that he's presented to us in Scripture.
[00:44:16] Now notice in verse 20, he's going to go now and unravel all that Daniel has seen.
[00:44:22] And he mentions in verse 20, the ram is Medo-Persia.
[00:44:26] He mentions in verse 21 that the goat is Greece and so on.
[00:44:29] In other words, the things that we've discussed already in past weeks.
[00:44:33] But now in verse 23, it says, In the latter period of their rule, when the transgressors have run their course, a king will arise.
[00:44:40] Again, this is Antiochus Epiphanes.
[00:44:42] Insolent, skilled, and intrigued.
[00:44:44] By his power will be mighty, but not by his own power.
[00:44:48] So he's going to be insolent and skilled and intrigued.
[00:44:51] Literally, he's going to understand dark sayings or riddles.
[00:44:55] This could be a reference, some believe, to the occult.
[00:44:58] that he'll have the superhuman ability to solve the problems of his day.
[00:45:03] Notice verse 24, his power will be mighty, but not by his own power.
[00:45:08] In other words, his power will come from the invisible realms of darkness.
[00:45:13] Satanic power is going to lie behind his power.
[00:45:16] And we know that satanic power lies really behind all human tyrants.
[00:45:21] And sadly, I think we're seeing more and more of that today, even in our own culture.
[00:45:25] people that have access to supernatural power that's beyond themselves you you wonder sometimes how they can accomplish the things that they do it's because there's a a dark supernatural power behind them he's going to have power he's going to be mighty but not by his own power he'll destroy
[00:45:44] to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will he will destroy mighty men and the holy place. And through his shrewdness, he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence. He will magnify himself in his heart. He's going to be a poster child for cunning and deceit, this Antiochus
[00:46:04] Epiphanes. He'll destroy many while they are at ease. He makes a treaty with them, a covenant of peace, and then while they're taking advantage of that peace, he comes in and destroys them.
[00:46:14] And notice verse 25, he will even oppose the prince of princes. He's going to set himself against God's Messiah. And then the end of verse 25, but he will be broken without human agency.
[00:46:32] Look in your scripture there in verse 24, it says he will destroy. Look down at the end of verse 24, he will destroy. Down in verse 25, and he will destroy. But then down, look at the end of verse
[00:46:44] 25, but he will be broken. He'll be broken without human agency. Antiochus Epiphanes was not killed in a battle. He was killed, he died from some horrid disease or possibly an accident. There's a couple of different accounts of his death. But here's what David Jeremiah says. He says,
[00:47:04] when the Jews cast the image of Zeus out of the temple, Antiochus was enraged. He vowed to turn the city of Jerusalem into a cemetery. On his way to Jerusalem, he was suddenly afflicted with a
[00:47:16] horrible disease that caused his body to be eaten alive by ulcers and worms. His suffering was unbearable, and the stench from his own body was so vile he couldn't even stand the smell himself.
[00:47:28] Finding it impossible to fulfill his threat, he confessed that he knew that he was suffering because of what he'd done to the Jews and their worship. He died in misery, a foolish man who thought he could resist God and get away with it. He was brought down supernaturally without a human
[00:47:45] hand touching him. Now all of this in Daniel chapter 8 was literally fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes. It came to fulfillment with direct precision, exact precision. But I believe that Antiochus Epiphanes is a foreshadow of the final Antichrist. He's a prototype or a prophetic preview
[00:48:08] of the final world ruler. And the reason I say that is, in the chapter before chapter 8 and chapter 7, the Antichrist is mentioned there. He's going to be mentioned again in chapter 9.
[00:48:19] And you think about it, why give all this information about this petty Syrian tyrant?
[00:48:24] And the reason is because he becomes a type or a prototype or a foreshadow of what the Antichrist will be like. Look back in verse 17 just for a moment. Notice it seems to be telling us here
[00:48:37] that what's in this passage goes beyond Antiochus to the time of the end.
[00:48:42] Notice he says at the end of verse 17, Son of man, understand the vision pertains to the time of the end.
[00:48:50] So it goes beyond Antiochus.
[00:48:52] Notice verse 19, I'm going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.
[00:49:02] So the reign of Antiochus is a dress rehearsal, if you will, for the reign of the Antichrist. History's going to repeat itself is basically what this passage is showing us. And so what we have here is Daniel prophesying in like 551 BC, and we have Antiochus
[00:49:22] fulfilling these prophecies, but it goes beyond him to the Antichrist. He's a type or a picture of what the Antichrist will be like. So here's the way some have pictured it. Daniel 8 shines a light at the foot of a statue of Antiochus Epiphanes. And the light leaves a shadow on the
[00:49:39] wall, and that shadowy outline marks the character and the career of the Antichrist. So he's a picture or a foreshadow or a prototype of what the final Antichrist is going to be like. And in fact,
[00:49:52] again, he's been called the Antichrist of the Old Testament. And there are a lot of parallels between Antiochus and Antichrist. We're going to talk about the Antichrist in chapter 11 in more detail. But both begin insignificantly, but increase in power and influence. They're little
[00:50:09] horns. Both of them blaspheme God. Both are Gentile rulers. We know the Antichrist is going to be a Gentile because Antiochus was a Gentile. Both claim to be God and put their image in the
[00:50:21] temple. We get to the New Testament. It tells us the Antichrist is going to sit in the temple of God and have an idol built there, an image of him, and declare that he's God, just like Antiochus
[00:50:31] Epiphanes did. It's going to come full circle. Both of them are great deceivers. Both of them are energized by Satan. It says here that he's going to have power, but he's going to be mighty,
[00:50:44] but not by his own power. The New Testament tells us that Satan is going to give his power and his authority to the Antichrist. And then both of them are destroyed without human hands. Antiochus
[00:50:56] Epiphanes gets this disease inflicted upon him by God, and the Antichrist is going to be slain by the breath of Christ's mouth.
[00:51:04] And he's going to be thrown alive into the lake of fire.
[00:51:09] Now at the end of all this vision, notice what Daniel says down in verse 27.
[00:51:14] Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days.
[00:51:19] I got up again and carried on the king's business, but I was astounded at the vision and there was no one to explain.
[00:51:27] Daniel's wiped out from this vision as he sees what's going to happen in the future and where things are headed.
[00:51:33] and I want to just close this morning with four simple applications for you and me for this coming year from this passage the first one is and this is important is the sure fulfillment of bible prophecy the accuracy of God's word notice back in verse 26 right in the
[00:51:50] middle of the verse he says in the vision of the mornings and the evenings which has been told is true. It's true. And you and I can look back now and see that it's true. We've seen the ram
[00:52:04] come and go, the Medo-Persian empire. We've seen the goat of the Greek empire. We've seen Alexander the Great come and go. We saw him broken at the pinnacle of his power and his kingdom divided into four parts. We've seen Antiochus Epiphanes over 350 years after Daniel writes
[00:52:21] this prophecy, come and fulfill it with unbelievable precision. In fact, we know more about this passage than Daniel did. I mean, Daniel says he was astounded at this and wanted more understanding. We've seen it come to pass. So Alexander the Great came just as Daniel predicted,
[00:52:42] Antiochus Epiphanes came just as Daniel predicted, and the Antichrist will come just as Daniel has predicted. You and I can have confidence in the Bible. We're going to talk about this in a few weeks, but this is why liberal scholars try to say Daniel didn't write the book of Daniel. Somebody
[00:52:58] later did, because they realized if Daniel wrote it, they were dealing with the very Word of God Himself who tells us what's going to happen hundreds and in some cases thousands of years in the future. And he says, keep the vision secret. Now, literally that means seal up the
[00:53:15] vision, which doesn't mean to keep it secret, but shut it up to keep it intact or preserve it.
[00:53:21] So Daniel's told, look, this is so important. Preserve this vision and keep it intact. So you and I can know since Antiochus came, just as the Bible predicted, we can know that Antichrist is coming just as the Bible predicts as well. A couple of weeks ago, I ran across an article
[00:53:39] in Christianity and Christian Today from John MacArthur. And John MacArthur, the title says, COVID World Perfectly Suited for the Coming of the Antichrist. And here's a few things that John MacArthur says. He says, we're in a global war, and that is a setup that we've been,
[00:53:59] we're in a global world, and that is a setup we've been waiting for through redemptive history since the Lord promised that there would come in the future an Antichrist who would have a global government. We have such power over people globally, we can shut them down so they can't
[00:54:14] function. That suits the world of Antichrist. As you look at the book of Revelation, there's the mark of the beast, the number, and if you don't have it, you can't buy, you can't sell, you don't
[00:54:23] exist. Everything about you they know. The people have access to all your data. They know all of it.
[00:54:29] You can go out of existence virtually any moment, and somebody else can decide that.
[00:54:33] this is the kind of world that appears to be perfectly suited for the antichrist to come bring a certain amount of peace and the world will fall at his feet he says the bible says in the end
[00:54:44] times there will be lawlessness and there's lawlessness today in an escalating lawlessness in an effort to create more lawlessness by taking restraints away this is a world that could find itself in such chaos that the right satanic leader who promises to fix everything could be given the
[00:55:01] title of king of the world. We have the kind of weaponry that could destroy a third of the population, a fourth of the population, as you see in the book of Revelation. We have the kind
[00:55:11] of technology that can literally erase people out of existence. So it's just up to us, MacArthur says, to be sure that we're looking at the signs of the times. And again, the Bible says Antiochus
[00:55:23] Epiphanes was going to come. He came exactly as the Bible predicted. It tells us Antichrist is coming. He is going to come and fulfill the prophecies about Him just as precisely. And our world today seems to be set up for His coming. Let me say this, though. We're not looking for
[00:55:38] Antichrist. We're looking for Christ. And I believe Christ is going to come back before the Antichrist is ultimately revealed. But again, it's a call for us in these times in which we live to be ready.
[00:55:49] A second application I'd give, and this is great going into this new year and all that's happening, God is in control, even over evil rulers.
[00:55:58] God can take care of all evil human rulers.
[00:56:03] No evil power can arise without God's permission.
[00:56:07] God rules history.
[00:56:08] He rules and overrules.
[00:56:10] And even all the evil and the deceit and the corruption and all of that, God is in control.
[00:56:17] So God has 2021 covered.
[00:56:20] We need to pray for our country.
[00:56:22] We need to pray for our leaders.
[00:56:24] We need to seek God for our leaders.
[00:56:26] We need to do what we can to have influence in our country.
[00:56:29] But we have to realize that God is in control, even over the most wicked and evil of rulers.
[00:56:37] Number three, I would say this.
[00:56:38] Make sure that you know God's horn.
[00:56:41] Make sure you know God's horn.
[00:56:42] We've talked a lot about horns here, little horns and all of that.
[00:56:46] But it's beautiful.
[00:56:47] You go over to Luke chapter 1, and there's a great passage there that describes Jesus as the horn of salvation.
[00:56:54] He's the horn of salvation.
[00:56:56] One man puts it like this, a horn of God's own making is coming into the world.
[00:57:02] He's telling us that every other rule and dominion is bound to fail, but God has a horn.
[00:57:07] God has one who will rule and reign.
[00:57:09] There is no enduring dominion except that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:57:13] And then he says this, this is beautiful.
[00:57:15] When all the other horns have come and gone, God still has a horn.
[00:57:20] When rams and goats have crossed the stage of history, God has a lamb. God has a horn, and God has a lamb, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only hope that you and I have for this life and the life to come is to trust in Him. So I pray
[00:57:38] that you found Jesus to be the horn of salvation for you. He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and by simply trusting in Him and believing in Him, you can have eternal life
[00:57:49] and have your sins forgiven.
[00:57:53] You know, these are basic thoughts, but what better thoughts to go into 2021 with than that the Bible's sure.
[00:58:00] It's true.
[00:58:01] God's in control.
[00:58:03] That Jesus is our Savior.
[00:58:05] And then the final thing I would mention here is you and I are to be about the king's business.
[00:58:10] I love this last statement here in Daniel 8, verse 27.
[00:58:14] Daniel says, I got up and I carried on the king's business.
[00:58:19] That's what God wants us to be doing in this coming year, to be about the king's business.
[00:58:26] There's a story I know I've told this before, but it's so fitting for this passage, I thought.
[00:58:31] Remember back on May 19th of 1780, back in New England, it was known as New England's Dark Day.
[00:58:39] In the middle of the day, it got dark and it was very ominous.
[00:58:42] They've really never been able to explain what happened.
[00:58:46] There was an eerie darkness.
[00:58:48] the birds were quiet. And in Hartford, the State House of Representatives in Connecticut was meeting. And because it became so dark at midday, many of the people there believed it was Judgment Day. In fact, many of the members of the House of Representatives fell on their knees and clamored
[00:59:05] for an adjournment. But the House of Representatives, the leader of the House of Representatives was Colonel Abraham Davenport. And he rose to his feet as the Speaker of the House, and here's what he said, I'm against adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching or it's not. If it's not,
[00:59:23] there's no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles be brought in. And candles were brought in and they finished their business for that day and many days after that, right up to the present. And I like that thought because
[00:59:39] 2020 has been a dark year and none of us know what 2021 holds. But let's choose to be found doing our duty. Let's bring in candles and let's get the work for God and be about His business.
[00:59:55] Let's not find ourselves this year moping around in discouragement and looking around at the darkness around us. No, let's ask for candles to be brought in. Let's be about the King's business, doing whatever it is that God has given you to put your hand to. Let's be found faithful. There's
[01:00:13] a lot to be done in 2021. So let us like Daniel arise and let us do the king's business. Some good stuff for us. The Bible's true. God's in control. Jesus is our Savior. Let's bring in
[01:00:29] candles and be about the king's business as we await his coming. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you that in our Lord Jesus Christ, you provided for us a horn of salvation.
[01:00:43] He's the only horn that matters.
[01:00:47] We thank you that in all the talk about goats and rams that you provided a lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ who's our Savior from sin.
[01:00:57] Father, we thank you as we look out on a new year, we look out on the horizon, that we can know that your word's true.
[01:01:03] Every word of it's true.
[01:01:05] You predict the future with 100% accuracy.
[01:01:10] We can know, God, that you're in control, even over evil tyrants, even over evil and deceit and corruption in government, that you're in control. We thank you that we have a Savior. So, Father, help us to be about
[01:01:25] your business. Help us to bring in candles and keep working in the darkness as we await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Father, we pray that you'll minister to us as we celebrate
[01:01:37] the Lord's Supper together. We pray that our time of worship will be a fragrant aroma to you this morning. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Being the start of a new year, this Sunday is a

[01:01:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:01:52] great time to find ourselves together seated around the Lord's table as we take communion in remembrance of the great work that our Lord has done on our behalf. I want to remind you as a church that as we partake of these elements, we practice what's called open communion here at
[01:02:09] Faith Bible Church, which means you don't have to be a member to participate with us. But as is the custom since the early church, this meal is reserved for believers. So if you've yet to find
[01:02:21] yourself trusting in the salvation provided by Jesus Christ on the cross, we ask that you hold off in partaking with us this morning. So as you walked in this morning, you should have found these little cups just outside of the door. There are two sides to the cup, one holding the bread
[01:02:35] and wasn't holding the juice. If you've yet to grab one, I encourage you guys to go ahead and grab one or more of these for your family. So one quote I read recently said this, it's,
[01:02:45] hope is grief's best music. I think it's safe for us to say that after 2020, our world needs a bit of hope. And the Bible tells us that because of sin's disastrous effects in our lives, man was
[01:03:00] left without hope. Death would soon be the end of us all. But in the Gospels, we see something awe-inspiring. The God whom man had rejected totally in the garden brought hope to his creation by becoming man himself. It was this world that was covered by sin that God chose to
[01:03:21] send his very own son. Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ came to this earth and took on flesh.
[01:03:29] The same God who created the millions of stars we see in the sky and the tiny microscopic elements that make up our world came to be with his creation.
[01:03:40] And he did this not to gloat or to praise himself at his great work, but he came so that he could die.
[01:03:49] Unfit for a king where sin had reigned for thousands and thousands of years, God's people had continually rejected him.
[01:03:58] Christ came to earth instead.
[01:03:59] He walked with the unrighteous, ate with the sinner, lived life with the poor in spirit, all so that he might bring salvation to the world.
[01:04:10] And so the weight and burden of sin that we all carry on our shoulders, Jesus came to lift and put upon himself.
[01:04:18] Fully God and fully man, this God-man, Jesus Christ, took on flesh so that we could have salvation.
[01:04:27] in him is our hope not just for our justification but also for our future glorification the english pastor jeffrey wilson sums this up well he says our risen and glorified lord is himself our hope because his triumph over sin and death provides the objective pledge
[01:04:48] for our final redemption so because of christ's work on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, we now are able to taste eternal life with him. So today, as we are about to partake of the
[01:05:04] elements we hold in our hands, let us take time to remember that it was Christ who took on flesh so that he could sacrifice it on our behalf. Through him, we find salvation for our sins
[01:05:16] and a hope for a better tomorrow as we bask in his presence in eternity. So in eating this meal, we recognize this one great act and we faithfully place ourselves in submission to his reign over
[01:05:28] our lives. So as we continue this morning, would you bow your heads with me and silently go before the Lord as we thank him for his great sacrifice. Go ahead and peel back the layer that contains
[01:05:59] the bread this morning. The Lord Jesus on the night that he was betrayed took the bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it. After he gave thanks, he said, this is my body, which is
[01:06:13] for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Take the bread together. Feel back the layer revealing the cup. In the same way, also he took the cup after supper saying, this is the cup. This cup is the
[01:06:34] new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Let's take the cup together. For as often as you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death
[01:06:49] until he returns. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we humbly come before you with hearts of gratitude and praise for the sacrifice made on our behalf by your Son. While riddled with sin, you chose to come down to earth to be with us and to ultimately die for us. So as we enter into this
[01:07:14] new year, may we cling to the hope of the gospel that through your Son we find everlasting life.
[01:07:20] and it's his life and death that we cling to.
[01:07:25] We longingly anticipate the day when you will come again to this earth in power and glory.
[01:07:30] And as that time approaches, I pray that you would give us strength enough to go about working your will in the world, that we would go about the king's business.
[01:07:40] It's in you that true hope and life is found.
[01:07:43] So we place ourselves at your feet and we humbly submit ourselves to you this day.
[01:07:48] It's your son's name that we pray, amen.

[01:07:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:07:51] Remain standing with me as we, with a benediction.

[01:12:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:12:05] I just want to remind you, if you're new here, we have a welcome center where we would love to get to know you, out here in our lobby to the right.
[01:12:12] Also, we'll have our pastors and our elders up front if you'd like to talk to them or pray with them after the service.
[01:12:18] Hear the word of the Lord as I recite Romans 15, 13.
[01:12:22] May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
[01:12:30] Go in hopeful expectation.
[01:12:32] You are dismissed.