Which turn back to Daniel chapter
11. And I sure hope I'm saying this
with the proper reverence. And we can never say anything
with the proper reverence. But I've entitled this message,
God being God. God being God. Daniel chapters 10 through 12
all go together. Look at chapter 10, verse 1. In the third year of Cyrus, king
of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called
Belteshazzar. And the thing was true, but the
time appointed was long. It was a long way off. And he
understood the thing and had an understanding of the vision. And chapters 11 and 12 are the
details of that vision that the Lord gave him. And in this 11th
chapter, he gives 375 years of prophecy of things that had not
yet taken place. But all of these things are historically
verified that they did take place. And what I think is so interesting
about this chapter, 120 times we read the word shall. 120 times
this shall take place. This shall take place. Hold your finger there and turn
to Isaiah chapter 46 for just a moment. Verse 9. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there
is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning. And from
ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying, my
counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country,
yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it. I will also do it. Now, Daniel goes beyond that
375 year period where he talked about some 38 different events
that shall take place, which have all been verified historically. I mean, these are things that
history says, yes, They've taken place. As a matter of fact, the
higher critics have said that Daniel probably wrote this centuries
later and was presenting these things that he knew that happened
historically as if they were prophetic. And that's the people
who don't really believe the Bible is the word of God. But
he tells exactly what's going to take place for the next 375
years. And then he goes beyond that, like that passage of scripture
I was just reading when we open this service. The last part of
chapter 11, he talks about the time of the Antichrist. And then
in chapter 12, we read where he talked about the Judgment
Day and people being judged out of the book. the book of life
mentioned in the Old Testament. He talked about the resurrection,
people being raised from the dead, some to salvation, some
to everlasting contempt. And he talked about the final
state of believers. Now he actually said in verses
8 and 9 of chapter 12, I don't know what all this means. He
couldn't see, he was writing everything from the future and
he couldn't tell what part was when. He didn't know he was talking
exactly about the future, but such we have it. All these shalls,
this is God being God. Now, like I said, I read in this
chapter at least 38 events that he prophesied would take place.
Look in verse two of chapter 11. And now will I show thee the
truth. Verse one, also I in the first year of Darius, the mead
even I stood to confirm and to strengthen him. This is the Lord
speaking. And now I will show thee the truth. Behold, there
shall stand up yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall
be far richer than they all. And by his strength through his
riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great
dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand
up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the
four windows of heaven, and not to his posterity, nor according
to his dominion which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked
up, even for others beside those." Now, all of these events took
place. He's talking about Alexander
the Great at this time, and his posterity didn't get his kingdom.
It was given to four different generals. And all of these events
are true. Now, I've even read where people
say, if you need proof that the Bible's the inspired word of
God, read Daniel chapter 11, because all of these things did
take place. But here's the deal. I don't
need proof that the Bible's the word of God. I already know it
is. I don't need proof that God exists. I know he is. And when
people try to use that kind of argument to say, well, we see
this proves the Bible's true. I don't need that to prove the
Bible's true, but I believe everything in the word of God. Now, everything
in this chapter is said to be according to God's appointment,
purpose, and will. Look in verse 27. And both these kings, you're
talking about something else. Both these kings' hearts shall
be to do mischief and they shall speak lies one to another at
one table. Boy, it sounds like today, doesn't
it? But it shall not prosper. Yet the end shall be at the time
appointed. Verse 29, at the time appointed. Who appointed this time? God
did. At the time appointed, he shall return and come toward
the south, but it shall not be as the former or the latter.
Look in verse 35. And some of them of understanding
shall fall to try them and to purge and to make them white,
even to the time of the end, because it's yet for a time appointed. And the king, verse 36, shall
do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself and magnify
himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things
against the god of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation
be accomplished. For that that is determined shall
be done. Look in verse 40. And at the
time of the end shall the king of the south push at it. This
is God's purpose. Verse 45, and he shall plant
the tabernacles of his palace between the seas and the glorious
holy mountain, yet he shall come to his end. This is talking about
the end of Christ. He's going to come to a quick
end, a quick end. Why? Because when the Lord returns,
he's going to destroy him with the spirit of his mouth and the
brightness of his coming, according to 2 Thessalonians 2. And there will be nobody to help
him. Now, like I said, I've entitled
this message, God Being God. Everything that we read about
this 375-year period is all according to God's appointment, God's decree,
God's will. God controls everything. You see, He is sovereign. That's who God is. He has a will. or purpose, he's all powerful,
and he has the power to bring his will to pass, and he always
does cause his will to come to pass. Now God's independent sovereignty
is neither more nor less than God being God. I hope I say that with fear and
trembling. God being God is God controlling
everybody, everything, and every event according to His will. Whatever happens, it was God's
will that it took place. All these things shall happen
because God determined for them to happen. Our God is in the
heavens, he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. God does as he pleases, only
as he pleases, and always as he pleases. This is God being
God. He doeth according to his will
among the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand. Nobody can stop his will
from being done. None can say, what doest thou?
Give an account for yourself. You know, scripture says he gives
no account of his matters. Now, your parents, sometimes
your kids are going to say, why? You know what you're going to
answer? Because I said. because I said. And God does
not owe an explanation of what he does to anybody because he's
God. He giveth no account of his matters. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will. Now to say that God is sovereign
is to say that God reigns. That's in the scripture so much.
The Lord reigneth over the heathen. You know who's in control of
North Korea right now? God is. You know who's in control
of China and Russia? God is. You know who's in control
of all the Islamic nations? God is. You know who's in control
of the United States? God is. The Lord reigneth among
the heathen. Say ye among the heathen, the
Lord reigneth. The Lord reigneth, let the earth
rejoice. The Lord reigneth, let the people
tremble. He said, by me kings reign. Now this is what we're talking
about when we're talking about the absolute sovereignty of God.
Listen to this scripture from Isaiah 52 verse seven. How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace. that bringeth good tidings of
good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God
reigneth. That's good news, isn't it? Thy
God reigneth. Now, if you love God, you love
this. If you have no love for God,
you hate this. You don't agree with it, but
if you love God, you love it being this way. Thy God reigneth. His sovereignty covers everything,
including your free and uncoerced actions. Now you do what you
want to do, don't you? You do what you want to do. Everybody
does what they want to do. That's what you do. You can't
say the devil made me do it. You do what you want to do, and
God is completely sovereign over everything you want to do. Even the thoughts going through
your mind right now while you're listening to this message God
is completely sovereign over. Now let me show you this from
the Scripture. Turn to Proverbs chapter 16. The preparations, the disposings,
the dispositions The preparations of the heart in man and the answer
of the tongue, the answer he gives is from the Lord. Look in verse four. The Lord
has made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. Verse nine, a man's heart devises
his way. You make plans. You think I'm
gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. A man's heart diviseth his way,
but the Lord directeth his steps. Verse 33 of the same chapter,
the lot is cast into the lap. And we think of that as pure
luck, don't we? The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord. Look in Proverbs chapter 19,
verse 21. There are many devices in a man's
heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of
the Lord, that shall stand. Now, remember when he's called
the wonderful counselor, that's what that's talking about. He's
the one who counsels and decrees all things. Truly, he's the wonderful
counselor. Look in Proverbs 21 verse 1,
the king's heart president's heart, the sheik's heart, whoever's
in charge, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the
rivers of water, he turneth it, whether so ever he will. And
the Lord said, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. There's nothing insignificant
to the Lord. He knows how many hairs We have right now the Lord
said, not a sparrow falls to the ground without your heavenly
Father. Not without your heavenly Father
knowing it, but without your heavenly Father. Now this is
God being God. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. And there's this scripture we
all delight in and we know. That all things work together
for good. Everything. All things. I don't care what they are. I
don't care how painful they are. I don't care how happy they make
you or how sad they make you. All things. Doesn't matter what
it is. All things. work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Now there's nothing more comforting
to the child of God than that God is in absolute control of
everything. Does that comfort your heart?
Are you happy it's that way? God is God indeed, and not in
name only. Whatever is done is His will
being done. He's unrivaled in majesty, unlimited
in power, and unaffected by anything outside of Himself. He never
responds to anything. He is in absolute sovereign control. Now somebody's thinking, but
are not men responsible for their actions? Yes. Yes. If you sin, you can't say,
well, God in His sovereignty allowed me to do it. It's His
fault. No, it's your fault. You did what you wanted to do. You can't take away human responsibility. Thank God God is sovereign over
human responsibility. And He, because of who He is,
is able to bring good out of evil. And that's what He does.
Only He can do that. But you and I are responsible
for our actions. And until we acknowledge our
personal responsibility for our sin, we'll never ask the Lord
for mercy. It's only when your sin is all your fault, you can't
blame anybody or anything but yourself. It's only when your
sin is all your fault that you'll ask the Lord for mercy and grace
and forgiveness. These acts of wickedness that
men are guilty of in our text, these atrocities, if you read
this chapter that's so filled with them, these men will be
held responsible for their actions. And it's true, everything they
did, they did as they shall. God determined for it to be done. Isn't that glorious? I mean,
this is the God we worship. The God who has absolute control
over all things. Now, back in chapter 11, verse
5, I'm going to read a bunch of verses, and I'm not going
to make much comment about them, but look at all he says that
will take place. Beginning in verse 5, and the
king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes, and he
shall be strong above him, and have dominion. His dominion shall
be a great dominion. And in the end of the years,
they shall join themselves together for the king's daughter of the
south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement.
But she shall not retain the power of the arm, neither shall
he stand nor his arm, but she shall be given up. And they that
brought her and he that began her and he that strengthened
her in these times. But out of a branch of her roots
shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army,
and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and
shall bail against them, and shall prevail, and shall also
carry captives into Egypt, their gods, with their princes, with
their precious vessels of silver and gold, and he shall continue
more years in the king of the north. So the king of the south
shall come into his kingdom and shall return into his own land.
But his son shall be stirred up, who stirred him up, and shall
assemble a multitude of great forces. And one shall certainly
come and overflow and pass through. Then shall he return and be stirred
up even his fortress. And the king of the south shall
be moved with color, anger, and shall come forth and fight with
him, even with the king of the north. And he shall set forth
a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
Who gives it? God does. And when he hath taken
away the multitude, who took it away? The Lord did. His heart
shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many ten thousands,
but shall not be strengthened by it. for the king of the north
shall return and shall set forth a multitude greater than the
former and shall certainly come after certain years with a great
army and with much riches. Remember, this is all prophetic.
This is not things that have happened. to purge and to make them white,
even to the time of the end, because it's yet for a time appointed.
And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt
himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous
things against the god of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation
be accomplished. For that that is determined shall
be done. Remember, this is what Paul said he would do. Neither
shall he regard the god of his fathers, nor the desire of women,
nor regard any god, for he shall magnify himself above all. But
in his estate shall he honor the God of forces, might makes
right, and a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with
gold and silver and with precious stones and pleasant things. Thus
shall he do in the most strongholds with a strange God, whom he shall
acknowledge and increase with glory, and he shall cause them
to rule over many and shall divide the land for gain. And at the
time of the end, he's talking about the end time, Shall the
King of the South push at him, and the King of the North shall
come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen,
and with many ships. And he shall enter into the countries,
and shall overflow in Passover. He shall enter also into the
glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown. But these
shall escape out of his hand, and Edom, and Moab, and the chief
of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand
also upon the countries. The land of Egypt shall not escape.
But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of
silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. And the Libyans
and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. The tidings out of
the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Therefore
he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to
make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles
of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain.
Yet he shall come to his end. and none shall help him. I love that passage of scripture
in 2 Thessalonians 2 when he talks about that wicked one whom
the Lord will destroy with the spirit of his mouth and the brightness
of his coming. Yes, Antichrist is very scary,
but he's going to have an end. And then in those first few verses
we've already seen that he talked about Michael, he who is God,
standing up for his people, the great prince was standing for
the people of our children. There should be a time of trouble
such as never was since there was a nation even at the same
time. And at that time, my people shall be delivered. Everyone
that should be found written in the book, he's talking about
the book of life, the book of the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Now, let me remind you. I know
I read a very long chapter and we can see all those shalls,
but I want to close with a few thoughts about the necessity
of shall. The necessity of shall. 120 times in this chapter, shall,
and there is no salvation for me or you without the word shall. Listen to this scripture. Thou
shalt call his name, Jesus, for he, what? Shall save his people
from their sins. He shall. See, he shall save his people
from the condemnation and guilt of their sin. He makes it to
where we are not guilty. He makes it to where we're saved
from the power of our sin. Now, I know some people misunderstand
this and they think, well, if I was saved, it seems like I'd
have the power to not commit that sin and I'd have the power
to not do that horrible thing. Now, I hope you do. By the grace
of God, we ought not to ever sin. Isn't that so? We all know
I never sinned. But you have a nature that is
just as sinful and has the same passions that it did before you
were saved. You still have that nature. And there was a time with that
nature you could not believe. You were under the complete dominion
of sin. You could not repent. You couldn't see any beauty in
Christ. You're a stranger to this. But
now you do. Why? You've been saved from the
power of sin. You're now doing things that
you used to could not do. When you look to Christ, that's
something that was beyond your ability before the Lord saved
you. And we have this glorious assurance. One of these days, we're going
to be saved from the very presence of sin. No more sin. Now, what if it said, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins
if, if they turn from their sins and accept Jesus Christ as their
personal Savior. That sounds offensive, doesn't
it? Sounds ridiculous. That puts salvation in man's
hands and not His hands. I don't want it to be in man's
hands. I don't want it to be in my hands. He shall save his people from
their sins. You see, the gospel is not, I shall, if you will, it's I
will, and you shall. Turn With me a moment to Ezekiel
chapter 36, while you're turning there, listen to this gospel
promise. The seed of woman shall bruise the serpent's head. That's a promise. The seed of
woman, the Lord Jesus Christ, born of the seed of woman, the
virgin born Son of God, shall utterly crush and destroy the
serpent and bruise his head. Now I love this passage in Ezekiel
chapter 36. Let's begin reading in verse
25. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your filthiness and
from your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will
take away the stony heart of your flesh, and I will give you
a heart of flesh. And I'll put my spirit within
you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep
my judgments and do them." Now you can just go on reading all
of these, I will and you shall, in the 36th chapter. Ezekiel. Think of the Beatitudes. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. This is a verse we all love. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. You see, our salvation is found
in this word shall, isn't it? John 6, 45, and they shall all
be taught of God. Every one of them. Every man
that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me. Acts
15, verse 11, we believe that through the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. Romans 10, 13, Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 1 Corinthians
15, 54, Then shall be brought to pass the saying, Death is
swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. The
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be unto God that giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said in Colossians
3, when Christ our life shall appear. I love to be reminded of this.
My life is not the events that have happened between September
9th, 1959 and whatever today is. My life is the life of Jesus
Christ, the Lord. When Christ, our life, shall
appear. Then shall you appear with him
in glory. I will be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people." I'm thankful for the word shall
when he says it. Now, if I talk about what shall
take place tomorrow, there's nothing to it. It's me talking.
I can't make it happen. I can't make it come to pass.
But he can, and he does. And all the salvation of all
of God's people is God saying, I will, and you shall. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you're
God indeed. And Lord, we bow before your
throne. And worship seeking only to be
found in Christ. And Lord, how we thank you for
him and the complete salvation that's in him. Lord, we ask that
you would increase our faith, strengthen our faith. Lord, what
a glorious God we have and why would we ever have anything but
a firm confidence in myself. Bless this message for your glory
and our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.