Episode Transcript
And now if you'll go ahead and take God's precious word, turn to the book of Daniel, chapter seven, and we'll move forward in our study of God's Word. Daniel chapter seven The tile of the mesh this morning is a body burning. A body burning. Tell you what, all these people that And they didn't uh uh they didn't decorate for Halloween very much when I was growing up. Now they decorate more for Halloween than they do for Christmas. I never see anything like it all kinds of uh skeletons crawling out of the ground and cheap blow-up things in people's yards and And uh boy, I've got a neighbor that's got skeletons that that are hitting baby dolls with a baseball bat in their front yard.
And I'm like what? And of course and and and uh I haven't seen one yet that has a Republican sign. They all have these Tal Rico signs in their yard. But uh it's amazing to me. Well I tell you what, if they like scary things All they need to do is read the book of Daniel or the book of the Revelation. They can get all the fear and fright they want, and it's real. It's real. Of body burning is what we're going to be learning about this morning. We're now in the final portion of Daniel's great vision in chapter 7, which God gave him concerning end-time events.
And these are, this is history. Remember, prophecy is history pre-written. We're reading about the future before it happens It's going to happen in the mind of God. Praise the Lord. It has already happened. And so in verse 10 last week, God sat on his throne to judge that last beastly empire that's going to be ruling. prior to Christ's return. Daniel said in verse 10, just for our context, he said, a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The judgment was set And the books were open. And now before we move to verse 11, we need to remind ourselves what has happened on earth Prior to this time, what have we been reading about before God comes to judge the world? And remember, there was a fierce Fourth Empire visualized in Daniel's dream as a fourth beast that was ruled by ten kings. visualized as horns, ten horns on that beast, and three of those kings or horns were removed and replaced with a smaller king. a smaller horn. And that little horn had a big mouth. Remember that?
And he spoke inciting words against God Now let's go back and remind ourselves what Daniel saw in verses 7 and 8 now, because we won't understand Verse 11 without remembering verses 7, 8, and 10. Daniel 7, 7 and 8 Daniel said, After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth It devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it And it had ten horns, and I considered the horns, and behold there came up among them another little horn. fr before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth speaking great things.
Now, enlarging upon this In Revelation chapter 13, verses 5 and 6, the apostle John said, And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things. What kind of great things? He says, and blasphemies. And power was given unto him, that is, unto that little horn, with the big mouth, to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God. to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle in them that dwell in heaven. So this little horn had a big mouth talking real tough against God against God's holy name, against God's gospel, and against his people. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word. We pray, dear Lord God, as we go into verse 11 this morning, that all eyes and ears will be upon you. We pray, dear Father God, that you'll teach us, Lord, as only you can, making your word clear, helping us to see it clearly, understanding it deeply And obeying it fully when we leave, Lord, we pray. Thank you for all you've done. Thank you for giving us the truth of your word. In Jesus' precious name Amen. Most of you have probably seen at some time in your life. The younger ones may not have.
Some guy talking real tough about how he's going to beat up another fella. He talks real tough when that other guy is not around. And then suddenly that other guy shows up, Brother Doug. You ever seen that before? Yeah, and they're like, whoa, well, I don't really want any trouble, you know. The other guy finally shows up And uh and and suddenly they're not so tough anymore. And uh and it w when that person either shows up or when he decides to stand up and take up for himself if he happens to be there and and on a national level. We've seen that before too. I mean the past uh couple of decades we've seen our our Iraq and Iran Talk about how they were gonna unleash their great power against the United States and but when the United States showed up Then suddenly they weren't so tough anymore.
And uh we all remember Baghdad Bob. Y'all remember Baghdad Bob? If y'all haven't seen, you don't remember Bad Dad Bob, you ought to go up Get your mom and dad to find a clip of him. It's almost like you can see the bombs in the background, and he's over there talking tough while they're they're getting blown up. It's amazing. But that's kind of what we're looking at here with this little horn. He's real tough, though, in the world. He's going to be tough against the saints. But he's speaking against God and his people.
And when God shows up, he won't be so tough anymore. This king from this beastly kingdom, he was talking real tough against God's kingdom And I'm sure Daniel must have been watching in this vision with great intrigue as the little horn was boasting about he was uh overcoming God and overcoming God's kingdom and destroying God's church and then all of a sudden guess who shows up? God does. The ancient of days shows up, sitting on a fiery throne with burning fiery wheels, in a stream of fire, a river of fire coming out from his throne. And Daniel is watching in this vision, he's like, hmm, this is about to get very interesting now, you know Okay, tough guy, let's see what you're made of. Let's see what you're going to do now. Let's see just how tough this little horn is.
Daniel said in verse eleven, look there with me now. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake In other words, he had been listening to his boasting. He watched to see now what would become of all the arrogant, blasphemous, boasting words that evil ruler spoke. He washed to see what he would do now that God was sitting on his fiery throne in judgment against him. Would the horn on this beastly kingdom be powerful enough to back up all the words he spoke against God? Would he be able to overcome God's kingdom? Last year, thieves entered a famous French museum. Perhaps you saw it on the news whenever it happened. And they did so in broad daylight and they stole valuable crown jewels.
Y'all remember seeing that on television or in the news? They were in and out in just a few minutes. It's quite fascinating. They took the jewels with no resistance from the museum. How about that? How did they do it? They put on a couple construction vests. They just went right up there to the window. Cut right through, entered right in, put on some construction vests, disguised themselves as construction workers. And here's the most important part.
They acted confident in what they were doing. I've noticed that being in law enforcement and working thieves and uh uh con men and things like that uh in my time and In confidence, there's a reason they call it confidence, right? Con man or a confidence job. Con doesn't mean convict I mean it can mean, but in the in the sense of being a con man, it's talking about confidence, building confidence. Well these people acted very confident in what they were doing. In some recent uh training I took at the courthouse, they warned us. that people gain access to places where they don't belong by acting confident in what they're doing.
They just walk right in like they own the place. I belong here. How are you this morning? Good to see ya, you know. Walk right in like they own the place, and people assume they must know what they're doing. They must belong here, and that's what they thought about these people coming in uh to this museum Uh but they were there to steal, just like the devil. When people appear confident it causes other people to think, hey, they know what they're doing. And so what happens is the people begin to believe in what they're doing. And they will believe this wicked ruler at the end of this world because of his great boasting.
And it's getting closer day by day when this person's going to show up, when this beastly empire is going to take form. But if there's one thing we've learned from studying God's word, it's this. Though men may boast great things against God, Like Nimrod in the book of Genesis, like Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, like Goliath when he came up against David, though they speak great words, their confidence fails. when God's judgment comes against them. Because their strength fails and comes short of their boasting. But unlike sinful men, God is all-powerful. His strength never fails. And his word is true. So if God says he's going to overcome an ungodly tyrannical empire that's headed up by the devil, and he's going to raise his people up from the dead, and they're going to rule and reign and conquer.
forever and ever at the end of this world. That's exactly what God is going to do. We don't have to watch at the end of this world with curiosity. And wonder what's going to happen. We're going to be able to watch it in this world with confidence, expecting and knowing what's going to happen. God will always do what he says, no matter how difficult that may seem to be. This is important for us to understand because as we get near the end of time, we are going to witness the formation of this beastly empire. The church, whoever's alive at that time, is going to witness the the the the the rising of these ten horns The falling of the three.
They're going to witness this little horn. They're going to witness the persecution. They're going to experience the persecution. And it's going to seem like this beast is unstoppable.
And nothing's gonna put him down with his great boasting. But you remember, his words may be loud. But God's words are true. He will overcome. Nothing's too hard for God. God will always do what he says no matter how difficult it is. It is Jeremiah chapter 32, verse 27. Jeremiah 32, 27. Behold, I am the Lord the God of all flesh.
Is there anything too hard for me? And the course that's a rhetorical question. The answer is no. Nothing is too hard for God. So we don't have to worry about whether or not God is going to follow through on his promises to us. The truth is man can't do anything without God. We owe every breath we take to God our ability to not only breathe but to speak and to act. It comes solely from the Lord.
So he can stop us in our tracks anytime he chooses. So don't be afraid when the enemy talks tough against God. Don't be afraid when the enemy talks tough against you, because God will always keep his word to his people. No what, no matter what our enemy may say, or no matter how difficult it may appear. Remember Goliath talked tough He made fun of Israel. He made fun of their God. He made fun of their army. He made fun of David. But by the grace of God it was that young man with the slingshot that killed that giant with the sword So what became then of this braggadocious beast when God's judgment came?
What's going to become of it? In the end of time when God sits on his throne. Daniel said, look back in your text, I beheld even till the beast was, say that word with me, slain. Slain. He said, I watched. I watched the whole thing play out when that beast and God came head to head. And I watched until the beast was slain. The ancient of days who sat on his fiery throne to judge, he ruled in judgment that the beast had to die. Now if the beast dies, think about it, the beast has horns. If the beast dies Then everything about that beast has to die as well, right?
If I die, then my eyes die, my ears die, my toes die, everything about me dies And so when the beast dies, everything about that beast dies, including its horns. including the little horn that spoke with a big mouth, including every part. of that beast. When God sat down in judgment, the beast had once growled so fiercely was now suddenly growling no more because God slew that unrighteous beast in his righteous judgment sitting on his fiery throne. Now, church, we have been watching A very strange and powerful thing happening in the past few years. Islam Atheism, socialism, feminism, communism, racism, and sexual perversions of all types have been uniting together in a common cause.
It's bizarrely fascinating. And you know what their common cause is? Their common enemy against the church. Their common enemy, and if it's not directly against the church, but it is, it's against the righteous principles of the church. It's against God's design for the family. It's against God's design for a nation. It's against Everything righteous in our land. These are beastly people. Now remember when when we're talking about the beast, who we're We're i we we learned this when we started seeing these beasts come up out of the sea.
W and we we saw where the Bible calls them brute beast, natural brute beast That means they're like animals. That means they are people, but like animals, they don't have the Spirit of God in them. They deny the Spirit of God. God created every man, woman, boy, and girl to be filled with his. Spirit, but when people reject God and reject the truth of the Holy Spirit, they don't possess the Spirit of truth. And that makes them like animals. That makes them just like beasts. They're just fleshly people who live by the desires of their fallen, wicked flesh. And these beastly people Are under the influence that we see today that are trying to form.
They're trying so hard to form. The devil has been trying to put together his beastly empire. Ever since Cain slew Abel. It started way back then in the Garden of Eden when he caused Adam and Eve to fall. in the Garden of Eden, when Cain slew Abel, when they tried to raise that Tower of Babel. It's been trying to happen. It's finally going to get to where there are uh so many unrighteous people in this world. That that beast is going to come together and it's going to form. And these beastly people, in the last days, are just like the beastly people today.
The beastly people we see today trying to form up and and and and gain their power in this nation and in this world. It's amazing. We're watching the same thing happening here. We're watching it in France. France in Europe. We're watching it in Africa where the Muslims are trying to take over there and kill all the Christians there. This is a global problem because it is headed up by the devil. And the people who are subscribing to this today are under the same influence of the demonic spirits that are going to be influencing the beast that we've been reading about in Daniel 7 Same devil, same demons, same cause to stand against God's kingdom.
Can you not look and see what's happening today? And then understand how what we've been reading about in Daniel 7 in Revelation is going to come to pass. I can see it. I can see it. We have never seen anything like this in our lifetimes. The level of debauchery. in our world and our nation is astounding. This demonic beast has been yearning to live for ages, and its body has been trying to form before our very eyes. And we we have been keeping these people from taking our nation over by razor-thin margins. These wicked people are relentless.
They are liars, and they are set on destroying everything that's good and holy in this world. And there is going to come a time when the body of this beast will form, and the horns will rise. And this beast will gain the upper hand in global politics. Count on it. But if you don't want that to happen in your lifetime. If it's possible. And God will, if you want to keep your country free as long as you live And don't sit at home and assume that Texans won't put these people in office here because they will. The days of good old fashion Hardworking cowboys and cowboy hats here in Texas and all that.
Man, those are those are days of the past Those are days of the past. As my wife and I left our neighborhood last week, we we we passed by this house with the Talarico sign the front yard and and and all these uh Halloween decorations and we're sitting there shaking our heads and as soon as we pass, we pass by a house with no sign in the front yard. And this woman gets out wearing her rainbow t-shirt Letting everyone know where she stands sexually in this world. Listen, you better stand up and vote against this wicked Democratic Party. Because that's the party that's embracing this mindset. And thank God this beast, however, after it forms, after a few years, it will be slain when Jesus comes. But before it can be slain, it first has to form.
It first has to rise, and it first has to destroy many righteous people. Could be us It could be our children. It could be our grandchildren. The Bible says it's going to happen. And the Bible tells us that we should stand against it. And for Christians to be willing to stay at home and not vote is for them to be willing to stay home and just allow them to take us over. I know that this beast is going to rise. But it won't rise without my protest. It won't rise, and if it stays alive and I'm still here, it'll probably literally be over my dead body.
But only for a while, because I'm going to rise too.
In Daniel's vision, the beast was ultimately slain. Because it opposed God And it opposed his church. And thank God one day all the foolishness, the violence, the blasphemy, and the filthiness that we're surrounded by today, it's going to be judged by God. And the people are going to be slain. Notice that Daniel said the beast was slain. What do you mean, Brother Richard? Well, the beast wasn't caged. It was slain. I saw the other day where France said they were going to prosecute the rioters who've been plaguing their country.
Do you know how many rioters they estimated they had? Over half million people rioting. in that country. Folks, there's not enough jail cells in France to hold that many people. There's not enough hours in the day to prosecute that many people. And even if France were to get the upper hand on these people and they were to be able to control them for a time.
They would still have half a million people in their country who wanted to destroy them. That's a problem. The ancient of days, when he comes, he's not going to slap the beast on the wrist and put him on probation. He's going to slay the beast and put him down. Praise God. And remember, it's the beast That will be slain. Notice that. Daniel didn't say, I washed until the horn was slain. He didn't say that.
He said, I watched until the beast was slain, not just the little horn, not just the other horns that were on the beast. You see, this beast is comprised of the citizens of that beastly kingdom. And the whole beast is slain. The citizens Will be put down. The ones who took the mark of that beast and stood in unity against God and his church, they will be slain. For Daniel says the beast was slain, look back in your text, and his what's that next word? Body His body destroyed.
Ah, look here. You can't have a horn and you can't have a beast without a body. That horn has to be somewhere Those iron uh claw or brazen claws, I think it was, and iron teeth and all that. It's gotta go somewhere. It goes on the body of this beast And so his body was destroyed. You see, the beast will have a body. And this is why it is called Anti-Christ.
If you're taking notes, Antichrist, write down Antichrist outside of this text in your margin. Why is this beast anti-Christ? Because it counterfeits and corrupts the true Christ. What similarity can we see between the the beast here and his body and Jesus. Well Jesus has a body too, doesn't he? Say well where's his body? We're right here. It's us. It's us.
See, the true Christ has a body too. And at the end of this world, here's what we're going to have We're going to have a lamb, that's the true Christ. We're going to have a beast, that's the anti-Christian state. Okay? So the lamb is not a beast. Because a lamb was conceived by the Holy Ghost. You see? He is God incarnate. He has the Spirit within him.
The beast, however is comprised of people, remember, who have not the Spirit of God. They belong to the beastly kingdom, and they are therefore the body of that beast. Okay? The true Christ's body is his church. Those of us who believe in him as our Savior. And as the beastly body are the people who belong to the beast kingdom, Jesus' body are the people who belong to his kingdom. You see? You're going to have two kings and two bodies that are going to be fighting against each other. That's really what we're looking at.
We're looking at two kingdoms fighting against each other at the end of time. One is going to be headed up by God's Son. Belong to God himself, the creator of all. The other is going to be headed up by the devil. And the destroyer of mankind. And thank God, we belong to the body of Jesus Christ. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 22 and 23 that God God quote, hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church which is his body The fullness of him that filleth all in all.
What does that mean? Well, Jesus is our head. We comprise his body. We are the fullness of Christ, who fills all in all. And so Christ fills all things, but then we become his fullness. Just as this beast, this little horn, this little horn couldn't do anything without a body. I mean, the horn is what jabs into the into the enemy, yes. But it takes a body to propel that horn forward. You can take the the most powerful, toughest, smartest man, and you can sit him on a throne somewhere or put him in a White House somewhere, but if the people don't get behind him, he can't do anything. He's not a nation, he's just a fella.
God does his work. Jesus does his work through his church. We are his hands, we are his feet, we are his mouth while we're living in this world. These people are going to be doing the work Of their father, the devil. So God's Christ has a body, and the devil's Antichrist will have a body too. The true Christ's body will be delivered And the Antichrist body will be destroyed. When the these people take the mark of the beast, They will be identified with the beast.
Identified with the beast. So when you look in the in the in the book of the Revelation, you see these people taking this mark. They're identified. They now have become his body. Same thing when we believe on Jesus as our Savior We are now a member of His body. We belong to His kingdom. And the Bible says we're marked by the Holy Spirit. You ever heard how the Bible talks about us being sealed with the Spirit? It's not talking about a seal like a mason jar.
is talking about like a stamp of identification. And so they're going to be identified with that beast. And so what happens to the beast will happen to them. The beast, the Antichrist, will be slain, and his body will be destroyed. On the other hand, Jesus, the true Christ, he was slain on behalf of his people. He was then raised from the dead. So his body will be saved. As Jesus was delivered from the grave, so his body is going to be delivered from the grave. Now in closing, how was the beast's body destroyed? Daniel said it was destroyed.
Look back in your text and given to the burning flame That means that burning river of fire that flowed from God's fiery throne. Revelation chapter 19, and remember we learn that lakes collect Rivers flow. And so eventually that river of fire is going to flow into a lake of fire. Revelation chapter 19, verse 20 says, And the beast was taken Like caught, snared, and with him the false prophet. Remember that? A false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast.
And them that worshipped his image, these both were cast alive. into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Now isn't that something? The beast has a prophet too
Jesus has prophets. Jesus had a prophet before he came. That was John the Baptist. Jesus had more prophets prophesying of that prophet. He then after he came and died and rose again, he had more prophets speak about what we're reading about today And what ha and when we read in the the the book of the Revelation, that's a prophet that prophesied after Jesus came and was raised from the dead. But g Jesus Work miracles. His people worked miracles. And guess what?
This this antichrist, this this beast is going to have a prophet, and he's going to work miracles too. So make no mistake about it. It will be a false religious system That takes this world over at the end of time. And we'll say that again. It will be a false religious system That takes this world over at the end of time. Mark it down. It's already marked down. Just believe it.
In the book of Genesis, the people centered around a tower The Tower of Babel. That was a ziggurat. If you've ever taken my Genesis to Jesus class, that was a ziggurat. They sent around a tower. A ziggurat in the Old Testament was a place where a tower was built And they would conduct false worship at the top of that tower. So in the Old Testament, book of Genesis, the people centered around a tower to raise their false worship and rule the world. In the book of the Revelation, the people are going to center around a beast to raise their false worship and rule the world. Those who identify with the beast will be given to the burning flame.
But those who identify with the Lamb will be given the kingdom, and they shall reign and live forever and ever. And Lord willing, that's what we'll take back up in the next verse. Next Lord's Day. Aren't you glad you have a Bible? I tell you what, I'm so glad we don't have to wring our hands and wonder what's happening. All we have to do is watch it go down. Father, we thank you so much for your precious word. Thank you, Father, for the great confidence, Lord, that we have Lord, as this world moves into troubled times, Father God, what a marvelous time in the history of your world that you've allowed us to live in, Father. Lord, the saints before us They had to live by faith.
And Lord, it's time for us, your saints today, to live by faith. And Lord, we pray for our nation. We pray, dear Lord God, if it be your will, that as long as possible we'll be able to live quiet and peaceable lives, Father God, as believers in Jesus Christ. But Lord God, we know ultimately The time will come, dear Lord, when people will not endure sound doctrine. They're going to be heaping to themselves, teachers having itching ears. There'll be a great falling away from the faith. Then there'll be a great falling down of this world A great persecution of your church, and then a great judgment, which will deliver the saints who will reign forever. We thank you for that confidence in Jesus' wonderful name.
Amen.
