I've entitled this message, True
History. True History. Now, I don't think
that I would be stretching things to say that you can't get true
history anywhere but in the Bible. You read a history book, and
it's gonna be jaded. It's going to give the point
of view of the different, per individual that's writing it.
If you hear somebody give their life story, their own personal
history, it'll be jaded. They'll make it sound different
than it really is. You can't get true history anywhere
but in the Bible. I was amazed at the way I was
thinking about all the things that are revealed about David's
life, I wouldn't want those things revealed about my life. I wouldn't
want anybody to find out that I'd committed premeditated cold-blooded
murder, committed adultery and covered it up. I wouldn't want
anybody to know about that, but the Bible is so accurate in giving
what really takes place. Now, true history is God's decrees
before time began coming to pass in time. And let me repeat that. True
history. God decrees the decrees that
he decreed before time began coming to pass in time. And this
covers everything. from the raising up or the destruction
of an empire to the falling of a sparrow or to the number of
hairs that are on your head. You know who won the elections
yesterday? Whoever God determined before
time began to win them. God's predestination covers everything. absolute predestination. God is God ruling in the kingdom
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Truly history is
historian. It's his story. And everything is in his sovereign
hands. And every time we worry, we act
like we don't really believe that, don't we? every time we
worry. Now, if you read the book of
Daniel, this is the theme of the book of Daniel. God is God.
God reigns. Look in Daniel chapter one. Verse nine. Now God had brought
Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.
Why did David have that favor? God gave it to him. Look in chapter
two, verse 43. And whereas thou sawest iron
mixed with clay, myrrh clay, they shall mingle themselves
with the seated men, but they shall not cleave one to another,
even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall
never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people,
but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
and it shall stand forever. Look in chapter three, verse
28. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said,
Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has
sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in
him and have changed the king's word. and yielded their bodies
that they might not serve nor worship any God except their
own God. Therefore, I make a decree that every people, nation, and
language would speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their house
shall be made a dunghill, because there is no other God that can
deliver after this sort." Chapter 4, verse 34. And at the end of the days, I'm
an epic, and Ezra lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and my understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the most high, and I praised
and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation,
and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing,
and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his
hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Chapter 6, verse 25. And this is the writing that
was written, mene, mene, tekel, upharsin. This is the interpretation
of the thing, mene, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished
it. Tekel, thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting.
Perez, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the
Persians. Who did this? God did it. God did it. I left out chapter five. Look
in verse 18. So we're going to see this is
in every chapter. O thou king, the most high God,
gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father kingdom and majesty and glory
and honor. And for the majesty he gave him
all the people, nations, and language trembled and feared
before him, whom he would he flew and whom he would he kept
alive, whom he would he set up and whom he would he put down.
Why? Because God put him in that position. Now, this is obviously
the theme of this book. Now, back to chapter seven. In the first year of Belshazzar,
king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon
his bed. And then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the
matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw my vision by night. Behold,
the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. Now this came from heaven. God is the cause of these four
beasts being raised up. Everything comes from heaven
because the heavens rule. He's the one who raised up these
four beasts and caused the striving on the sea. Now, that could be
the Mediterranean Sea, but if you read in the book of Revelation,
seas represent nations and peoples and languages. It's a vast number
of people. And so whatever is taking place,
God is causing it to take place. It comes from the heavens. And
then he names these four different beasts and describes them. And
we know from reading on the chapter that these beasts represent four
different kings, the Medes and the Persians. Before that, the
king of Babylon, then the Greeks, the kingdom of Greece, Alexander
the Great, and then the Roman Empire. That's the description
of these kingdoms and their violence. These are the same kingdoms described
in the silver image of chapter two. Now let's pick up reading
from verse eight. He talked about these four different
kingdoms, exceedingly dreadful, verse eight, violent. And I considered
the horns and behold, there came up among them another little
horn. Before whom there were three of their first horns plucked
up by the roots and behold in this horn were eyes like the
eyes of a man and a mouse speaking great things. I don't have any
doubt that what this is referring to is the Antichrist. Look in
verse 20 and 21. And of the ten horns, this is
when Daniel's being given the interpretation. And of the ten
horns that were in his head and of the other which came up and
before whom three fell, Even that horn that had eyes and a
mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than
his fellows. And I beheld the same horn made war with the saints
and prevailed against them. Down in verse 25. And he shall
speak great words against the most high and shall wear out
the saints of the most high and think to change times and laws. And they shall be given unto
his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Now
turn over to 2 Thessalonians 2 and you're going to see how
this fits the description of the Antichrist. And let me say
this about the Antichrist. The word anti doesn't mean against. It means in the stead of. That's
how he comes, in the stead of. Now look here in 2 Thessalonians
2. Beginning in verse 3. Let no
man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except
there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all
that's called God. Just like what was going on in
Daniel chapter 7. Speaking great things, there's worship so that
he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that
he is God. Remember you not that when I
was with you, I told you these things, and now you know what
withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time for the
mystery of iniquity that's already worked. Only he who now letteth,
allows it to happen, will let until he be taken out of the
way, and then shall that wicked be revealed. whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming." Now, is this just one person,
this antichrist? Well, turn to 1 John 4. I know
I'm asking you to turn to a lot of scriptures, but I want you
to see this. 1 John chapter 4. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many
false prophets are gone into the world. Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus is the
Christ, is come in the flesh, is of God, and every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not
of God, and this is that Spirit of Antichrist. Where have you
heard that it should come? And even now already, it's in
the world. So this Antichrist is not some one individual. There
might be one at this time, but anybody that doesn't preach a
gospel is Antichrist. And he tells us what the message
of Antichrist is. He denies that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh. Now, to confess that Christ came
in the flesh is to confess He was before He came. He's the
eternal Son of God. He came in the flesh. The Word
was made flesh, and He did what He came to do. He came to save
His people from their sins, and that is exactly what He did. Back to Daniel 7, verse 9. And I beheld, till the thrones
were cast down, the thrones of these four different kingdoms,
God cast them down, and the ancient of days did sit. ruling and reigning, whose garment
was white as snow, speaking of the holiness of his perfections,
and his hair as the hair of his head like pure wool, speaking
of his eternity. He never had a beginning. He's
always been. His throne was like the fiery
flame, absolute justice, and His wheels are as burning fire. He's always working. That's why
all things work together for good to them that love God. His
wheels, He's always working, always acting, controlling everything.
Verse 10, a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him.
Speaking of His judgments and His justice, thousand thousands
ministered unto Him. I think that's a reference to
the angels. And 10,000 times 10,000 stood before Him. The
judgment was set. And the books were open. Now,
we're going to talk some about real history books. Real history
books. This is true history. And I know
we read our history books and the ones that come from the United
States. I'm thankful to be here, but
they're going to have a jaded view. They're not going to have
the same thing some other country will say about the same event.
But this is the true history books that are perfectly accurate. Turn with me to Revelation chapter
20. We'll first look in chapter 12, verse 1. And at that time shall Michael
stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of
thy people. Michael means he who is God. And there should
be a time of trouble such as never was seen since there was
a nation even at the same time. And at that time, thy people
should be delivered. Everyone that shall be found
written in the book. Turn to Revelation 20 now. Revelation 20, beginning in verse
11. And I saw a great white throne
And him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them, and
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books
were opened." Perfectly accurate. The deeds of everything that
everybody had ever done. No error, no slant, no prejudice,
perfectly accurate. The books were opened and another
book was opened which is the book of life. It too was perfectly
accurate. And the dead were judged, the
dead in sins were judged out of those things which were written
in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them and they were judged every man according to
their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death and
whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast
into the lake of fire. Now we read of books and a book. Now in those books, the dead
are judged. Those who are dead in sins and
everything they've ever done, how this happens, Time's no more
at this time, because you think, how long would this judgment
last? Well, time's no more, so don't even think in those terms. Time's no more, and the dead
are judged accurately, and God's not going to have the punishment
greater than the crime. They're judged accurately from
those books. This is the true history book,
what God says regarding me and you. It's all accurate in this
book. And then there's another book.
If my name is written in that, You know what I'm going to hear
him say? Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord. And when the Lord says that,
it's not like it's really not so, but he says it anyway. No,
if my name is in that book, this is the accurate truth regarding
me. Well done. Thou good and faithful
servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Because that's
how real justification is. I really have done well. I really
am perfectly righteous. I really don't have any sin.
You know, in Daniel, you remember in Daniel chapter six, when he
came out of the lion's den, and he said, because innocency was
found in me. That's why I'm coming out. I'm
innocent, I haven't done anything. That's true with regard to everyone
in this book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. It's true justification. When God says to every one of
his people, well done, thou good and faithful servant, It's because
they really did do well in Christ. Whatever He did, I did. This
isn't make-believe. This is real. This is what made
the Lord say regarding that poor old publican who said, God be
merciful to me, the sinner. He said, I tell you, that man
went down to his house. What? Justified. Not merely forgiven. Not merely
pardoned. Not shown mercy. but justified. Now that is the true history
of every believer. No sin. No sin. Now, question. Which book do you want to be
judged from? Do you know that God will meet
you on the ground you come to Him? If you come only wanting
to be found in Christ, only wanting to be seen in Him where nothing
is seen but Jesus Christ, if you come on that ground, He'll
meet you on that ground. And if you come on the ground
of your works, He'll meet you on the ground of your works.
But this is true history. This is true history. What's
written in that book. Now, the day is coming when the
son of man shall come in his glory and all of his holy angels
with him and shall sit on the throne of his glory. And before
him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, and
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, saying, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world." And then he's going to be talking
about all the good things they've done. I was hungry, you gave
me meat. I was thirsty, you gave me drink.
I was sick and in prison, and you came and visited me. They're
not aware of it. When did that happen? But that's
what he says about them. He doesn't simply say, my righteousness
is charged to you, and that's why you're righteous, although
that's true. He says, well done. And to the others, he's going
to say, depart from me, he cursed into everlasting fire prepared
for the devil and his angels. Now back to Daniel chapter seven. Verse 11. I beheld then because
of the voice of the great words which the horn spake. This is
talking about the Antichrist speaking against God, speaking
against the saints. I beheld even to the beast was
slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning fire.
As concerning the rest of the beasts that had taken their dominion,
they had their dominion taken away. Who took it away? God did. What they had, he gave to them
and he took it away. As concerning the rest of the
beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were
prolonged for a season at a time. Once again, this is true history.
This is true history. This is what really happened.
I saw in the night visions and behold, one like the Son of Man
come with the clouds of heaven. What name did our Lord refer
to himself more than any other? The Son of Man. And that was
his favorite name. That was his favorite title,
calling himself the Son of Man. And this is a reference to him
He saw him as the son of God in Daniel chapter three, but
now he's called the son of man. And I saw in the night visions,
behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven
and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before
him and there was given him the son of man, the son of God, dominion and glory and a kingdom. that all people, nations, and
languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which
shall not be destroyed." Now this is a reference to the sovereignty,
the absolute rule, the lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's sovereign in creation. That
means He created everything. He's sovereign in providence.
That means whatever happens in time, He's in control of it. I don't
care what it is. He's the first cause. Somebody says, well, you
allowed that to happen. No, He caused it to happen. He's
God. He's the first cause of all things. And most especially,
He's sovereign in salvation. He is Lord, and everybody and
everything serves Him. And that's true history. That's
the way things really are. He is in absolute control. Everything
serves Him, whether willing or unwilling, they do His will. Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ
is Lord. And my dear friend, I don't ask
you to make Him the Lord of your life. He is the Lord of your
life, whether you know it or not. He is the Lord of your life. He's the Lord of the dead and
the living. He's Satan's Lord. He's Antichrist's
Lord. He's the President's Lord. He's the Atheist's Lord. He's
my Lord. He's your Lord. He's Lord. and his kingdom is not going
to pass away. Now that is true history. He is an absolute control and
everything that we see around us is temporary. It's all going
to be burned, but his kingdom is forever. It shall not be destroyed. Verse 15. Now I, Daniel, was
grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body and the visions of
my head troubled me. He still didn't know what they
meant. And I came near unto one of them that stood by and asked
him the truth of all this. So he told me and made me know
the interpretation of the things. He told me what everything means. He gave me the true history of
what is taking place. Now, those four beasts that were
so violent and scary, verse 17, these great beasts, which are
four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. And I,
love the way they rise up because it's the will of God. This came
from the heavens, if you'll remember. This came from the heavens. The
theme of Revelation, of Daniel, of the whole Bible is Jesus Christ
is going to win. There's nothing uncertain. He's
already won. He is winning and he will win. Verse 18. But the saints of the
Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever,
even forever and ever. That's every believer. We're
going to be with him on his throne. I don't know what all that means,
but it sure is glorious, isn't it? Verse 19. Then I would know
the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the
others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron and his nails
of brass, which devoured and breaking pieces and stamped the
residue with his feet. This was the strongest one. And
of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which
came up, and before him three fell, even that horn which had
eyes and a mouth, and spake very great things, whose look was
more stout than his fellows." Now, this is speaking of the
Antichrist that came out of Rome, and he speaks very great things. Verse 21, he speaks again, remember,
he tries to take the place of God. Verse 21, I beheld the same
horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them. Now,
this is what he's talking about when there's that great falling
away. Before it gets better, it's going to get worse. And
he's going to prevail against them. Maybe we'll see this at
our time. I don't know. But this is what's going to take
place until, verse 22, until the ancient of days came and
judgment was given to the saints of the most high. And the time
came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, the
fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth, speaking
of Rome, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall
devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and break it in
pieces. Rome controlled everything, and the ten horns out of this
kingdom are ten kings that shall arise, and another shall rise
after them, and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall
subdue the three kings, and he shall speak, speaking of Antichrist. Great words against the Most
High. and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and
think to change times and laws. He's gonna try to take God's
place. He thinks he can change times and laws. And they shall
be given into his hand, who gave it, God did, he who now letteth
will let, until the time and times and the dividing of time,
and the judgment shall set. That's the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's called the judgment. Oh, what a name. He's that just
one who has made a way to be just and justify the ungodly. The judgment shall sit in regal
splendor, and they shall take away His dominion to consume
and destroy it into the end. And the kingdom and dominion
and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall
be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve
him." Now, I love the way the kingdom is given to the saints.
The saints. I love that name for every believer.
Sanctified one. Sanctified one. Sanctified by
the Father in eternal election. Sanctified by the Son in redemption.
Sanctified by God the Holy Spirit in regeneration. I like to say
that. You know, I've said that over
TV and people got so upset. What are you calling yourself
a saint? Well, I am Saint Todd. That's the title of every believer.
Now. Here's true history, whose kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and
obey him. And that's what's really going
on. Hitherto is the end, the conclusion of the matter. He
starts by giving the events of the matter, what actually took
place. And he says, here's the end. God rules. You see, Christ is already won. He's already won. Christ is winning
right now. People say, oh, the church is
in such a bad shape. No, it's not. Don't talk about God's church
like that. God's church is exactly as he
would have it, exactly as he has made it. Everything is perfect. He's winning. He's won. He's
winning. He's going to win. Now, that
is true history. History is God's decrees coming
to pass and everything that happens is used for his glory and his
victory and the judgment is set. And the history books, the true
history books, will be opened. Now, why is Daniel in this chapter? As for me, Daniel, my cogitations,
and that means my thoughts, that's the way it's translated every
other time. My thoughts much troubled me,
And my countenance changed in me, but I kept this matter in
my heart." After hearing that the Lord's going to win, that
the Lord has won, that he's in absolute control, yet Daniel
says, I was troubled. I was troubled. Why did Daniel
say that? Why do me and you say it? Why do me and you say it? You
know, Lord, I believe. help thou mine unbelief. I have
a nature that always believes, but I also have another nature
that never believes. And so even after I hear the
truth, My thoughts are going to be troubled and might even
change my countenance. But that doesn't take away from
the glorious truth of true history. Jesus Christ has won, is winning,
and will win. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for thy
blessed son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who finished our salvation before
the time began, who came in time and accomplished it. and he will
return as the mighty conqueror. And Lord, we're so thankful that
everything's in your hands. These four kings, the things
that come out of them, the Antichrist, all things are under your thumb,
in your hand. You reign, and Lord, we give
thanks. Now bless this word for your
good, our good, and for your glory. In Christ's name we pray,
amen.