1. "Look at the awards that I have. Look at the portfolio that I have. And Daniel 11, brothers and sisters, says, if you're building it for yourself, it's all going to be gone. It's all going to be gone. And that's why King Jesus said, seek first my kingdom." [01:02:45](Download clip | Download cropped clip | Crop + Caption)



2. "Daniel 11 is confusing to us? Yes. It doesn't make sense to us? Yes. But what it teaches us is this, no matter what happens in our world, whether globally or personally, we can hold fast to the truth that God's got that, and he's got us." [01:07:56](Download clip | Download cropped clip | Crop + Caption)



3. "We can rest at night, no matter what's going on in our world, no matter how chaotic it gets, that God is in control. He was then, and he is now. And we can rest in that. And we can live in that. And we can hope in that. And we can obey in that, because God has got this, and he's got us." [01:08:26](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



4. "But the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. When they stumble, they shall receive a little help." [01:09:29](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



5. "Some of the wise shall stumble so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time." [01:09:29](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



6. "We are a vapor. We're here today. We're gone tomorrow. So folks, whatever kingdom you're building for yourself, if you think it's going to last, Daniel 11 is an open rebuke against you. It isn't going to last." [01:05:10](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



7. "Kingdoms have come and gone and they still do. God was in total control then and he hasn't let that go. So amidst all this, God tells us what's going to happen 300 years before it happens. With perfection, he tells it." [01:05:40](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



8. "God is sovereign. He is ruler and reigner over all things. You hold on to your free will all you want, but you got to hold on to the fact that no matter what happens, no matter what you do, God is utterly sovereign through it all." [01:06:48](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)

Good morning, church. Pleasure to have each and every one of you with us this morning. If you'vegot a Bible, will you please turn to Daniel chapter 11 as we continue in our series, Kingdoms,Chaos, and the Sovereignty of God. And what we have before us is the longest chapter in the entirebook.It just spanned 375 years of human history. I hope you got a good breakfast. You got a lot of coffeein you because we're going to hit the ground running. But before we do, let me take a momentand just pray for our time. Father God, we just rejoice in what we've been a part of already. Wethank you, Lord, for the songs that have been selected for us to sing, how timely and appropriatethey are to communicate the truth that we'll learn about in your word today. Remind us, Lord,throughout this week, that we're going to be a part of the gospel. We're going to be a part of thegospel. We're going to be a part of the gospel. We're going to be a part of the gospel. We're going toThis very difficult passage of scripture, that you are our firm foundation, that you are the rock onwhich we stand. I thank you for Cameron's testimony to that. And I pray that we all would re-acquaintourselves and rededicate ourselves to that premise, that you are our firm foundation. You are the onewe can build our lives upon. Lord, as we look and see now more conflict in our world and more warsand rumors of wars, it's easy to think that what we're experiencing is unlike what we've ever seenbefore. But we'll be reminded today that what was true in Daniel's day is true in our day, thatkingdoms come and kingdoms go, that wars break out and wars end, and yet you reign supreme. You aresovereign. And Lord, because of that, there is work for us to do. And so I ask, Lord, amidst a verydifficult passage, a hard one, that you would re-acquaint us with your word. And I pray that wewould remember those singular truths and that we would be reminded of them, not only here in yourchurch, but in our work week and in our school week ahead. We do this all in the name of JesusChrist, our Lord, and all God's people said, amen. All right, Daniel chapter 11. Daniel chapter 11.If you don't have a Bible, hit that QR code with your phone and it will open up to our passagewhere we'll be for the entirety of our time. And it'll be really helpful for you to see what'sgoing on because it'll be all the more important.It'll be more confusing if you don't see it literally in the black and white on the page or on the screen.I've entitled this message, God's Almanac. And for our younger generations, you don't probably knowaltogether what an almanac is. But for previous generations, and especially those who are of anolder persuasion in our midst, almanacs were a pretty big deal. They were a big deal for us as acountry in the early days of colonial America. But almanacs go back 4,000 years to the Egyptiantimes. You see, the Egyptians started seeing that certain things in this world should be written downand be shared with the future because they may inevitably run into the same thing in their owntime. And having that recorded history might be of great value. Well, almanacs really became a bigthing in America right before the Revolutionary War. In fact, a very famous almanac was writtencalled the Poor Richard's Almanac. It was started by Benjamin Franklin.Franklin started in 1739. And Benjamin Franklin really believed this was important for thisfledgling continent. And the reason why is all these new explorers and people had come to Americaand they didn't know a lot about where they lived. And so starting to write down some of theimportant things of when seasons began and when they ended. When should you plant crops and whenshould you harvest them? What type of different meteorological events,seemingly come and go with the passing of time? What things are on the calendar? All of that wasso important in colonial America. And so when he stopped doing the almanac, he did it for onereason. That was because he had a country to help build. And he took time away from that PoorRichard's Almanac to focus in on creating the country that we live in. But then another grouptook on this almanac. It's the Farmer's Almanac. And that went on from Benjamin Franklin's timeeven all the way today. And so that's why it's so important. And so that's why it's so important.You could go to Amazon. You can probably find it in your local grocery stores where you can see a2024 almanac, which will tell you all the information of previous years and then tellyou what you can look forward to in this year that we're in now. It would have told you inprevious almanacs that a Monday in April 2024, there would be a total eclipse and where it wouldbe seen and where it could be experienced. This is the type of stuff that almanacswere made of. There was one final almanac that was a famous one, and that was Gray's SportsAlmanac. And this is for my generation, because in the second Back to the Future movie, this isthe point of contention. The bad guy gets the almanac from earlier, and he goes to the future,and he begins to start betting on future events, of which Marty McFly has to go and take care ofit. So some of you have no idea what an almanac is. Now you don't know who Marty McFly is.I've lost you.I've lost you already. Now the cool thing about the Gray's Sports Almanac is that it playfullyand laughingly said that the Cubs would finally win the World Series in 2015. They were off oneyear. Pretty amazing thing that they would be that close on the historic win for the Cubs.But with all of that, you ask the question today, Tim, what in the world, why are we talking aboutalmanacs? And it was when I saw this quote that I thought this was a really great question.It's a great way to explain what we're going to see in Daniel 11. Almanacs are like old friends,one person said. You turn to them for advice, comfort, and nostalgia. But it's the second partof the quote that I think is most apt for Daniel chapter 11. They hold the wisdom of the past,guiding us to understand the present, and give us a glimpse into the future. I believe that inDaniel chapter 11, we've got a whole bunch of history, and we're going to talk about thatin some detail. But I believe knowing that we're going to see a lot of history, and we're going tothe history of Daniel 11, helps us to better understand our present. What are we to be doingnow? How are we to live? What are we to position our lives around? And what are the priorities thatwe ought to have? But I also believe, and we as a church believe, that after our passage in Daniel11, and the latter part of Daniel 11 into Daniel 12, that it turns from history, and yes, eventurns from the present, and it moves to the future. And I believe that in Daniel 11, we're going toI'm sorry, future things. And next week, we're going to pick this latter part of the chapter up,and we're going to learn that some of the things that we saw in history are previews to what thefuture may unfold in the days, possibly years, decades, or maybe centuries to come. We don'tknow, nor do we know the hour or date that we've been told by our Savior that he's left to theFather. And so we've got this passage in front of us. A couple things that I want to say about thispassage. Number one, it is a difficult passage. For those that are in small groups every week, oursmall groups study the passage before us as preachers get up and preach it. And I got toimagine in every small group, upon coming to group and reading it, I think the overwhelming answerfrom people was, what in the world did this passage say? How many had that as a response? Let's justsee a show of hands. Be humble enough, the rest of you are liars. I appreciate it. Because this passageis really, really hard to understand. This passage doesn't make sense. This passage had medealing with trying to figure out, and I appreciate our tech team, how do I help communicatethe complexities of this passage in a way that can be understood and that we can move quicklythrough it. Here's the thing. This passage is really, really difficult to understand, but thereare going to be three truths that I'm going to put on the screen as my main points. That's where Iwant you to focus.That's where I want you to walk away with. There are three truths that this passage is going to teachus, God's people, that I think is really important for today. Surely very important when we see twomajor countries in our world now throwing missiles and planes and drones back and forth. Some of youwere streaming Netflix that night and have no idea what I'm talking about right now. We have anotherseries of sermons I think we're going to be talking about, which we'll talk about in a few minutes.And I get kind of nervous about that because it's all about looking out. And it's not time to look at it.Do it later. But it sure reminds us that we live in chaotic times. We live in a time in a season wherea sermon series kingdoms chaos and the sovereignty of God is needed. And so Daniel 11 is our guidethis morning to understanding the past and giving us a better understanding of the present so thatwe can then look to the future with confidence.Daniel 11.So I want to look at three headings this morning.Heading number one is that kingdoms have come and gone and still do.Kingdoms have come and gone and they still do.What I mean by that is we're in this vicious cycle of kings and leaders and all of that.And that's what Daniel 11 is telling.This perpetual cycle of intrigue and political events that are taking place.And empires one-upping the empire before them.And the desire of kings and rulers to rule and reign for all of eternity.And that cycle was going on in Daniel 11.And it's going on in our world today.As we look at this passage, we're going to see that unfold.So let's look at Daniel 11.We're going to read part of it, stop, explain it, and then move on.And as for me, this is the angel of Daniel 10.In the first year of Darius the Mede, that is also Cyrus,of Daniel 10.It's the same guy, just different names.I stood up to confirm and to strengthen Daniel.That's what's happening.The angel's there to confirm to Daniel what's going to happenand to encourage him and to strengthen him.And now, he says, I will show you the truth.Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persiaand a fourth shall be richer than all of them.And when he has become strong through Israel,his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.Stop.The first thing that Daniel 11's going to dois this angel's going to come and tell Daniel one final vision.And this vision is connected to the other visions.The vision of Daniel 2, the vision of Daniel 8,the vision of Daniel 9.All of these different visions have taken placeand they interconnect with one another.So in Daniel 2, it's the statue.In Daniel 7 and 8, it's the lumpy, lopsided bear.Daniel says Babylon has come and Babylon has gone.Now we have the Median Persian Empire.And Daniel's question, no doubt, is this.How long is this kingdom, how long is this empire going to last?Is this the last empire?Is this the totality of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had envisioned?Or is this the last empire that Nebuchadnezzar had envisioned?Or is there something else?The angel says that the Persian, the Median Persian Empireis going to last for four more rulers.And then another empire is going to come.Now what I'm going to do on the screen is a couple of things.We're going to highlight who those four leaders are.And then I'm going to have an image on the backthat's going to help explain it.And we're going to talk through all these things.So here are the four leaders.We know this from humanism.In history, there are four leadersthat are going to rule and reign.Some for a long period of time, some for just one.This guy, Pseudo-Smerdus,he only reigned for about ten months.Very short time.But the problem with that is if we just go with those,we don't get as far as we need to to the next kingdom.And so on the screen behind you,I'm going to have all of the kings that are there.And you're going to say,well, wait a minute, the Bible's wrongbecause it says four kings are going to come.And then another kingdom will rise up.The reason why is you're going to see a lot of similar names.You're going to see Cambius, that's the first one.Then you've got Pseudo-Smerdus, that's that little one, 522.These guys go by different names, just so you know, okay?They have different names depending on who's talking about themand what name they wanted.Then you get Darius and you get Xerxes.And the Darius monarchy and the Xerxes monarchy have multiple kings.What the angel is saying is there's going to be four monarchies.And these four monarchies have to take place.It's not just four kings, but in essence four kingdomsthat are going to have to happen.So you've got Darius I, Darius II, Darius III down here,way at the bottom.You've got Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I, Artaxerxes II, Artaxerxes III,and then way at the bottom, Artaxerxes IV.And these are the Medes and the Persians coming in.Some are Medes, some are Persians, and they're coming in.In some ways, there's a little bit of political intriguethat's happening with these families.Also in this, you can see where some of the Bible passages come.So the book of Esther comes from the reign of Xerxes,the first.And you're reading, going, wait a minute,Esther's way back in the beginning of the Old Testament.And the reason why is the Bible isn't written in chronological order.So there's different times and places.So Xerxes is where we're going to see Esther.Artaxerxes I is where we see Ezra and Nehemiah.And we see these things playing out.There's going to be four of themwho are going to rule and reign over the Medo-Persian Empire.And then another one's going to come.So let's now turn the page.The Persian Empire is going to come and go.What's going to come in its place?Let's look.It's the Grecian Empire.And notice in verse 3 it says,Then a mighty king shall arise who shall rule with great dominionand do as he wills.And as soon as he has arisen,his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven.But not to his own.Nor to his posterity.Nor according to his authority which he had ruled.For his kingdom shall be plucked upand go to others besides these.So what we have at the very bottom in the greenis Alexander the Great.He is the mighty one, the great one,who is going to come.He's going to come from the area of Greece.And by the time he's 32 or 33 years of age,he will have conquered the known world.In Daniel chapter 7 and 8,this is,A leopard that has four heads and wings.He is swift.As quickly as the Greek Empire comes,it goes.And the reason whyis because Alexander at around 33 years of ageeither is poisonedor dies of some mysterious deathat the young age of 33.As a result of that,he has no posterity.Now there's some speculation.Did he have children?If he did,they were too young.Even think about holding it for themuntil they came of age.Or he had no children at all.Alexander makes a decisionthat someone's got to rule his empire.And so he breaks up the empireinto the oversight of his four generals.The four generals we see are here.I'm going to butcher some of these names.Seleucus, who was Syria and Mesopotamia.That was his area.Ptolemy, who was over the area of Egypt.This is the one I have fun with.Lysimachus,over Thrace and Asia Minor.That's modern-day Turkey.And then Cassander,who was over Macedoniaand the homeland of Greece.Now to help understand this,because this is where we're going to be going.We've got to understand this kingdom.What happened wasis they broke up the kingdomlike this on a map.Help me out here.Thank you.And what we have is,I want you to think of these as teams.Okay?The orange hereis the Seleucus team.They oversaw Syria,Iraq, Iran,all of that area.Then the pink oneis the Ptolemy,and they oversaw Egypt,northern Africa,and all of that.Then you have two smaller ones.That is the greenand the purple.Those are our friends Cassand Lissy.Okay?Those two aren't that important.What you're going to have happenin Daniel 11,you start readingabout the kings of the northand the king of the south,the armies of the northand the armies of the south,the prince of the northand the princes of the south.And we're like,what in the world?What is going on?What Daniel is being toldis that for the next150 some years,the orange teamis going to wage waragainst the pink team.And if you notice,the army of the northand the army of the south.Why?Because Jerusalem'sright here in the middle.Israel's going to bethe epicenterof these battlesthat are going to go onfor decades.This warringthat is going to take place.That is what we seestarting in verse 5.Okay?Now what you're going to seeon the screenis all of the leaders.Let's turn the page to this.First, you're going to seethe Ptolemiesand the Seleucids.These are allof the different leaders.So when it talks aboutthe king of the north,it's talking,this is the kings of the south,it's not talking about one king,it's talking about numerous kingsover a couple hundred years of time.Then it's going to talk aboutthe armies of the northand the leaders of the north.Here they are.And notice with each one,there's a versethat's corresponding with them.So we're moving through timevery, very quickly.In a handful of verses,we will have movedabout 370 years.Okay?So we're going to keepcycling these things back.So you can kind of befollowing along.And this is going to help you.This is why it didn't makeany sense to youas you read.My job, my hope,is that it will makesome sense to you now.So let's read,starting in verse 5.Then the king of the southshall be strong,but one of his princesshall be stronger than heand shall rule his authority,shall be great,shall be a great authority.After some years,they shall make an alliance.And the daughter of the kingof the south,shall come to the kingof the northto make an agreement.But she shall not retainthe strength of her arm.And he and his armshall not endure.But she shall be given upin her attendance,he who fathered herand he who supported herin those times.And from a branchfrom her rootsshall arise in his place.He shall come against the armiesand enter the fortressof the king of the north.And he shall deal with themand shall prevail.He shall also carry offto Egypt their godswith their metal imagesand their precious vesselsof silver and gold.And for some years,he shall refrainfrom attacking the kingof the north.Then the latter shall comeinto the realmof the king of the south,but shall returnto his own land.His sons shall wage warand assemble a multitudeof great forces,which shall keep comingand overflowand pass throughand again shall carrythe waras far as his fortress.Then the king of the south,moved with rage,shall come outand fight againstthe king of the north.And he shall raisea great multitude,but it shall be giveninto his hand.And when the multitudeis taken away,his heart shall be exaltedand he shall cast downtens of thousands,but he shall not prevail.For the king of the northshall again raisea multitudegreater than the first.After,and after some years,he shall come onwith a great armyand abundant supplies.In those times,many shall riseagainst the king of the southand the violentamong your own peopleshall lift themselves upin order to fulfill the vision,but they shall fail.Then the king of the northshall come upand throw up siege worksand take a well-fortified city.And the forces of the southshall not standor even his best troops,for there shall beno strength to stand.But he who comes against himshall do as he willsand none shall stand before him.And he shall standin the glorious land,that is Israel,with destruction in his hand.He shall set his faceto come with the strengthof his whole kingdom.And he shall bring termsof agreementand perform them.He shall give himthe daughter of womento destroy the kingdom,but it shall not standor be to his advantage.Afterward,he shall turn his faceto the coastlandsand shall capturemany of them,but a commandershall put an endto his insolence.Indeed,he shall turn his insolenceback upon him.Then he shall turn his backtoward the fortressesof his own land,but he shall stumbleand falland shall not be found.Then shall arisein his placeone who shall sendan exactor of tributefor the glory of his kingdom.But within a few dayshe shall be broken,neither will he be broken.Neither in angernor in battle.Let's stop there.What you havein verses 5 through 20is the ongoing battlebetween the Seleucid Empireand the Ptolemaic Empireof a couple hundred years.Battles going back and forth.And what you're seeingis the days of livesof these different leadersand what's transpiringand what's happening,all being writtenwith perfect,precision.Then in verse 21,we get this new characterthat comes.And the new character,it says,is going to arisein the placeof the one who was sent.In his place,verse 21 says,shall arisea contemptible personto whom the royal majestyhas not been given.He shall come inwithout warningand obtain the kingdomby flatteries.Armies shall beutterly swept awaybefore himand brokenand even the priceof the covenant.And from the timethat an allianceis made with him,he shall act deceitfullyand he shall become strongwith a small people.Without warning,he shall comeinto the richest partsof the provinceand he shall dowhat neither his fathersnor his father's fathershave done,scattering among themplunder, spoil, and goods.He shall devise plansagainst strongholdsbut only for a time.He shall stir uphis power and his heartagainst the king of the southwith a great army.And the king of the southshall wage warwith an exceedingly greatand mighty armybut he shall not standfor plot shall bedevised against him.Even those who eat his foodshall break him.His army shall be swept awayand many shall fall down slain.And as for the two kings,their hearts shall be benton doing evil.They shall speak liesat the same tablebut to no availfor the end is yet to beat the time of the war.At the time appointedand he shall returnto his land with great wealthbut his heart shall beagainst the holy covenantand he shall work his willand return to his own land.At the time appointedhe shall returnand come into the southbut it shall not beas it was beforefor ships of Kittimshall come against himand he shall be afraidand withdrawand shall turn backand be enragedand take actionagainst the holy covenant.He's going to go afterthe people of Godand against the temple.He shall be afraidand shall turn backand pay attentionto those who forsakethe holy covenant.Forces from himshall appearand profane the templeand the fortressand shall take awaythe regular burnt offeringsand they shall set upthe abominationthat makes desolate.He shall seducewith flatterythose who violatethe covenantthat is he will flatterthe high priestwho he gets to dohis biddingand his willto defile the people of Godand it saysbut the peoplewho know their Godshall stand firmand take action.Okay so stopthere are tons of readingslike a page and a halfof the scriptures right?There's a lot there.Now let's go backto the two slidesthat we have.So go backthank you.What we've gotlet's start hereat the very bottomhere we've gotPtolemy the Philometerokay?He's the lastof the kingdomof the south.He is waging warnow let's turn the pagewithSeleucusPhilopaterokay?They are waging warwith one anotherthere's fighting going onand all of thatthey're evenlisten to thisthey're even goingto merge togetherthe king of the northand the king of the southare going to merge togetherto fight againstthis guy at the bottomAntiochus the fourthEpiphanes.Now we talked aboutAntiochus Epiphanesback in Daniel chapter 7in Daniel chapter 7chapter 8okay?And in thatwe learned that this guywas about as badas he could be.He takes all the othersyou combined all of theirbad thingsAntiochus is on theMount Rushmoreof the baddest onesGenghis KhanStalinMaoHitlerand then there'sAntiochus Epiphanesand Antiochus Epiphanesis going to be importantespecially next weekas we look to the futurebecause we believethat there are somecharacteristics of a futureAntichristthat seeminglyare close towhat we seewith Antiochus Epiphanes.Now I told you backa couple weeks agothat if you want to knowabout Antiochus Epiphanesyou want to look atfirst and second Maccabees.These are Jewishhistorical booksthat were writtenbetween the time of Malachiand the time of Matthewin that intertestamental time.They're not a partof our scripturesbut they're very helpfulin understandingwhat this Antiochus did.All of this other stuffthat I've read aboutyou can find in antiquityand in writings.There's a bookthat's writtenby a guy namedQuintus Curtius Rufus.He wrote a bookin HistoriAlexandriMagnithe history ofAlexander the Great.He pinpointsall that transpires.So here's the problem.Secular historianssay that the only wayDaniel could have done thiswas that Danieldidn't write Daniel at all.That someone wrotethe book of Daniel400 years after Daniel livedbecause of the pinpoint accuracyof everything Daniel said.What God did through an angelis he foreshadowedand foretold375 yearswith perfectionhuman history.And so we're going to getto that side of itin a momentbut let's sit just herewith all of these kingdomsand let's understanda couple of things.Kingdoms have come and goneand they still do.What does that mean for us?There are two takeawaysthat all of this historyshould cause you to do.Number one,write this down,it should give youglobal perspective.It should give youglobal perspectiveand historical perspectiveas well.You see,with every generationand we are no differentin ours,we have hubrisand arrogancebecause we use the phraseand I heard it in the newscastyesterday,the word unprecedented.Right?We heard that.We heard that with COVID.Unprecedented.We've never experiencedanything like this before.And all we have to dois if we're real good students,everything that we thinkis unprecedentedhas already happened.It's already happened.Listen,it's already happenedin our politics.It's already happenedin our society.It's already happenedin our sports world.It's already happenedin the world of intrigueand military conquest.It's happened.That's why Solomonwas 100% rightwhen he saidthere's nothing newunder the sun.Wars have come.Wars have gone.Armies have been raised upand armies have beendocked down.Kingdoms have comeand kingdoms have gone.We've been there.We've done that.What does it mean for us?We don't need to freak out.The world is goingto be like this.Jesus said this is whatit's going to be likein the last days.There's going to be warsand rumors of wars.There's going to be eclipses.Last Monday,we had a whole bunchof more Christians sayingJesus is coming back on Monday.We're all still here.Well, there's all thispestilence coming.Have you heard?Listen,two trillion cicadaare on their waysometime to arrive next month.The locusts are coming.Brothers and sisters,it has been going onfor all of human historyand it will go on to the end.And we don't needto lose our minds.We don't need to freak out.We know this truth.Jesus says I'm coming soon.That's what we put our hope in.And we keep our head downand we keep doingwhat God wants us to do.It gives us perspective.Number two,it's a word of humility.It's a word of humility.All of this intrigue,all of this coming and going of kings.Can I just sayall of them that are listedwere more powerful than I am,richer than I am,had more possessions than I did,had more prestige than I did,had more influence than I did,had more geographical spanto their kingdom than I did,and every one of themcame and went.What that means for us, church,is that you and Iare just like those kings.We're building kingdoms for ourselves.Our kingdoms aren't very big.My kingdom's about a quarter acrein the Hinkley territory.Okay?And my kingdom isn't really big.I've got a queen and three princes.And a dog.Okay?And yet I'm building this thing.And I got a couple otherside kingdom things going on.I got this catering thing that I'm doing.And,that's a big one.Man, we're big in the Fox Valley area.Big kingdom.And then I'm doing this church thing.And it's Fox Valley too.We don't have any outside of Illinois.We really don't have anything outside of Kendall,DeKalb, and Kane County.But we think we're big stuff.Look at the kingdom I'm building.Look at the awards that I have.Look at the portfolio that I have.And Daniel 11, brothers and sisters,says, if you're building it for yourself,it's all going to be gone.It's all going to be gone.And that's why King Jesus said,seek first my kingdom.Not your kingdom.Not your possessions.Not your prestige.Seek my kingdombecause my kingdom doesn't havemoth and rust destroying it.It goes on forever.It has been said this,that you, when you live,whatever you build in one generation,it will be forgotten.Here's why.I'm going to live, hopefully I'll live another,50 years, maybe less.Okay?You're looking at my physique going,hey, you're lucky you got 20, buddy.Okay?There's too much laughter going on.Okay?My children will remember me.They will speak, hopefully,of how I lived in my communitywith them and with their mom.They'll talk about what I didin the catering world, that kingdom.And they'll talk about what I didin the church realm.Now, my grandchildrenwill know some of that,but it won't make much sense to them.Think about what you know of your grandparents.Not that much.They want to sit down and talk with you,but you don't have any earthly time for that.And they want to tell you aboutwhat they've been buildingand hopefully that you can inherit.But think about this.You get beyond your grandparents.What do you know of your great-grandparents?How many do you know their name?I know nothing aboutmy great-grandparents.I couldn't tell you their names.I couldn't tell you what they did for jobs.The only thing I haveof my great-grandparents,besides a couple black and white pictures,the only notable thingis I had a grandfatherwho was connected with the governor of Illinoisat the turn of the centuryand he had a picture taken with himwith Teddy Roosevelt, the president.That's all I got.I don't even knowwhat my great-grandfather's name is.I just know the guy standing with himis Teddy Roosevelt.Why?Because Solomon again is correct.We are a vapor.We're here today.We're gone tomorrow.So folks, whatever kingdomyou're building for yourself,if you think it's going to last,Daniel 11 is an open rebuke against you.It isn't going to last.Your kingdom will come and goand the only thing will last,listen to me church,will be the things we do for Christ.And so this tells usmaybe I shouldn't be so muchfocused in on what I'm doingbut focused in on what God is doing.Point number two,and we're going to move quickly through these, okay,because we're running out of time,but point number twois another important truth.Kingdoms have come and goneand they still do.Number two, God was in total control thenand he hasn't let that go.So amidst all this,God tells,God tells us what's going to happen300 years before it happens.With perfection, he tells it.That means he knew exactly what was going to happen.That is, he's omniscientand he's omnipotentthat he could see through his sovereigntyall of the plans,all of the decisions,all of the intrigue,all of the treacheryof human leaders.And if he can do that with human leaders,he can do that with us.In Daniel chapter 11,there's a lot of sin.There's a lot of decisions being made.There's a lot of intrigue taking place.None of it thwarted God's sovereignty.None of it.Listen to me, friends.This is so important.God is sovereign.He is ruler and reigner over all things.Now, some of you are saying,but wait, we got free will.That's wonderful.That's great.You hold on to your free will all you want,but you got to hold on to the fact thatno matter what happens,no matter what you do,God is utterly sovereign through it all.One pastor put it this way,there's not a stray molecule in all the cosmos.Nothing.Because the second there is,if there is anything out of the control of God,God ceases to be.Be God.And we got nothing.Because if he's not in control,how can he promise the things he promises to us?And these leaders are conspiring.They're fomenting.They're doing all these things.And God says,you are playing it out perfectly.All of this is going to come together,and it's going to bring the perfect timewhere Galatians says at the right time,God sent his son to be born of a woman.To redeem those under the law.So what does that mean for us?Daniel 11 is confusing to us?Yes.It doesn't make sense to us?Yes.But what it teaches us is this,no matter what happens in our world,whether globally or personally,we can hold fast to the truththat God's got that,and he's got us.That would be a great place for a?Amen.This kills our anxiety.This eradicates our worry.This keeps us from staying up at night.That's why the prince of preachers,Charles Spurgeon said,the sovereignty of God is the pillowon which every Christian lays his head.We can rest at night,no matter what's going on in our world,no matter how chaotic it gets,that God is in control.He was then, and he is now.And we can rest in that.And we can live in that.And we can hope in that.And we can obey in that,because God has got this,and he's got us.Number three.The third thing that we can takefrom this incredibly long and difficult passageis that the future yes can feel chaotic,so trusting God is required.So let's close this out.So later on in the text,we get to, starting in verse 33,it goes this way.And I'll start in verse 32b.But the people who know their Godshall stand firm and take action.And the wise among the peopleshall make many understand,though for some days they shall stumbleby sword and flame,by captivity and plunder.When they stumble,they shall receive a little help,and many may join themselves to themwith flattery.And some of the wise shall stumbleso that they may be refined,purified, and made white,until the time of the end,for it still awaits the appointed time.So amidst all of this craziness of Daniel 11,God stops and tells the angel,talk about my redeemed.Talk about those who love meand who are going to endure.Tell Daniel what he's supposed to knowabout his posterity.Will there be other Daniels?And the answer is yes.But the future seems chaotic, God.That's okay,because we in the futurewill act as they did in the past.And there's a couple thingsthat I want you to see.Number one,how are we to live in the future?Well, how are we to live in in times?Notice we're to live like they did in history,that they helped others to understand.You're doing what you should be doingduring these last days.Getting together and opening the bookand sitting under teachers,and hopefully some of you being teachers,and teaching others what it meansto live for Jesus in our day.And that's what they were doing.And Ezra and Nehemiah and Haggaiand other prophets cameand opened the word.And that's what I'm hoping to do today,is to help you understandthis is how you're to live,to find truth in God's word.Number two,we're to carry one another's burdens.It says that some will stumbleby sword, by flame, by captivity,by plunder.When they stumble,they should receive help.How do we help one another?In these last days, the future,there's going to be difficult times.There's going to be hardships.There's going to be troubles.And the people of Godwould need to band togethermore than they ever did before.And it means as a church,as we are growing,we have to get out of our comfort zonesand help one anotherand carry one another's burdens.Number three,we teach the word.We carry one another's burdens.And notice,we recognize that suffering and tribulationis for our good.When they stumble,they should receive a little helpand many shall join them.And some of them shall stumble.Some of the wise will stumble.And they may be refined,so that they may be refinedand purified and made whiteuntil the time of death.Until the time of the end.So we're going to stumble and fall.We're going to lack the faithat times that we need.But God's with us.And we've got our brothersand sisters with us.And we need to recognizewhen trouble comes,we were talking about thisin my theology class last week,suffering is a good thing.Suffering helps usbecome more like Christ.It teaches us to have a hungerfor eternity,not for the temporal.But as Christians,we have been toldthat suffering is a bad thing.So we pray suffering awayinstead of prayingthat suffering would becomea part of who we are.Because that workedin Christ's life in ministry.And surely,it could be of great advantagefor us to suffer for Christ's sake.And so,how do we live in the future?We recognize and knowthat suffering will be a part of it.I know a lot of youwill be nervousand worried about thingsthat we'll share about the futurein the weeks to come.And you sit thereand you'll say,well,how can that be of any good?Well,it can bring great goodbecause suffering,James says,suffering and trialsproduces in uscharacter,hope,and perseverance.And it gives us the opportunityto look forwardto a crown of righteousnessfor all who have sufferedfor Christ's sake.And so,what does this chapter do?Hard chapter,complicated chapter,difficult chapter.What the chapter has done for us,it has told usthat kingdoms will come and go.And they still do.That God is in control.He was thenand He is now.Sit in that.Live in that.Love that.And even though the futuremay feel chaotic,we've got to trust God.And we can see that Godin Daniel 11is altogether trustworthy.He nailed it.And He's nailingwhat we need today.And we can rest in that.So let's prayand ask for God's blessingthat we would takethe truths of thisand live it outin our schools,in our workplacesin the week to come.Father God,what a morningand what a passageof Scripture.And Lord,there's so much thereand I know we came inwondering what could weglean from this.And I hope and praythat in my humble attemptto bring Your truthto my dear family,that they've received itand received it well.Lord, I pray thatwhat we sang earlierwould become our prayer.That You would beour firm foundation.You've proventhat You are an adequateand reliableand trustworthy foundationin Daniel 11.And so I praythat we will turnfrom our own foundations,from our own kingdoms,and we will runto the securityof Your foundationYour kingdom.And we'll leave itin Your handsand we'll advancewhat You wantto be advancedand we'll let goof the thingsYou want us to let go of.To do that, Lord,we need this empowermentof Your Holy Spirit.Fill us afreshand anewfor new setsof challengesand new timesof difficultythat no matterin the good,the bad,or ugly of life,we will dependwhollyon You.We do thisin the matchlessand perfect nameof Jesus Christ,Your Son.Amen.