Daniel 11 - Resolved faith

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Good morning church. It's good to see you all here this morning. Welcome if you're joining us online as well. Welcome if it's your first time here, if you've been here for longer than I have or somewhere in between. Welcome, it's so good to gather together. Brothers and sisters in Christ this morning. If you got your Bibles there I'll invite you to open up to Daniel chapter 11. This morning we're continuing in our series through the book of Daniel. And if you've been joining with us for some time you'll know that we've been approaching Daniel through the lens of resolved faith. And I want you to turn to the person next to you. Pop quiz. Define resolved faith. Go. How'd you do? Can we actually remember? We've been saying it for the last 11 weeks. If you didn't quite get it, it's up on the screen, resolved faith is a faith that is determined, it is coming back, or firm in its purpose and intent. It's unwavering and committed. And we saw from King Nebuchadnezzar this great declaration of what resolved faith looks like. He saw it in Chaturak, Meshach and Abednego. He said of them after seeing their actions of resolved faith that they were servants who trusted in God and yielded up their bodies rather than serve or worship any God except their own God. That's resolved faith. That's what we've been looking at as we've been unpacking the book of Daniel. And before we jump into chapter 11 this morning I need to take us back a couple weeks to Daniel chapter 8 because chapter 8 and chapter 11 are directly linked. In fact what we're going to look at today is a next step, a deeper detail of what was introduced in the prophetic scripture of Daniel chapter 8. Very truly as we looked at this a couple weeks ago we saw some great imagery, the ram, the goat with a mighty horn, then four horns which grew up in its place and a little horn that arose after that. And we unpacked the significance of these things. In fact it's recorded that not only did Daniel get the prophecy but he got the interpretation from heavenly hosts as well. But very truly the ram was the Medo-Persian Empire that was to come and that that would be overtaken by the Greek Empire led by Alexander the Great. After Alexander the Great his kingdom would be divided amongst four of his lieutenants and names are up there. I'm not even going to attempt those this time. And after them would rise this little horn didn't really have a claim to the king and yet he rose up and persecuted God's people. This morning as we look at Daniel chapter 11 we receive greater prophetic details of these events. The events that had not yet happened but were being revealed to Daniel to write down as we discussed in Daniel chapter 8 to demonstrate the sovereignty of God. Very truly Daniel 11 begins verse 3 and 4 with the great king Alexander the Great. And if you remember through history or chapter 8 Alexander the Great became not so great and his kingdom got divided into his four lieutenants. And chapter 11 focuses in on two of these lieutenants. They're highlighted in green I'm not going to say their names because I can't that's just the truth okay. But we've got two of his lieutenants which take over the North Kingdom and the South Kingdom. And chapter 11 unpacks these dynasties these kingdoms over a period of time. It shows in great detail some of the conflict that they'll have with each other some some of the things that these kings and kingdoms will do. And then in verse 21 through to 45 the latter part of Daniel 11 we get Antiochus the fourth epiphanies or something like that okay. And we get a detailed description of his movements the things that he will do even though none of this has yet happened all of this seems foreign and like just wild things. Just like in Daniel chapter 8. So too in Daniel chapter 11 being more detailed you would think it's harder but as historians look at this section of scripture history has proven these prophecies are undeniably true and undeniably extremely accurate. What we see what we read unpacked in Daniel chapter 11 is so accurate that secular historians those who don't believe in Jesus those who would claim to be atheists or any other person that doesn't believe in Jesus they say there is absolutely no humanly way possible that this could have been written before the events happened it has to have been a historical account after all this has happened someone's written it down and that's the way it is but scripture refutes that. Scripture says that this was written well and truly before any of these events occurred. And so once again we have to make the decision where do you sit this morning as we approach this. For me personally no surprise I believe in a God who is sovereign a God who has all authority all power all knowledge and is in control of all things a God who very truly can reveal the future before we experience it. And so that's how we're going to approach this this morning. And over the course of the last 10 weeks we've been looking at the book of Daniel with the lens of resolve faith we've seen it demonstrated through Shadrach Meshach and Abednego we've seen it demonstrated time and again through Daniel and the way that he has lived his life a faith that is firm and unwavering. We're not going to do that this morning. This morning we're going to flip the lens a little bit and we're going to focus on what resolved faith does not look like. What resolved faith does not look like. But before we do would you join me in prayer. Lord we thank you for your word. We thank you that you our God are sovereign. Lord we thank you that we can freely read your word this morning. And we pray Lord soften our hearts. Lord by your Holy Spirit work in us and through us speak to us let us hear what it is that you're saying to us that we would be able to respond in Obey. Hence we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Now as I've preface chapter 11 so much detail so much historical evidence to back the validity of it. If we started to do that this morning we'd be here till probably two o'clock. I'm conscious that some people have lunch plans so throughout this week. Can I encourage you spend some time read chapter 11 alongside a commentary. Be enriched be blessed by God's faithfulness and the historical fulfillment that's come through here. But for now would you join me as we read verses 27 to 45. And as for the two kings their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table but to no avail for the end is yet to be at the time appointed. And he shall return to his land with great wealth but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant and he shall work his will and return to his own land. At the appointed time he shall return and come into the south but it shall not be this time as it was before for the ships of Kittum shall come against him and he shall be afraid and withdraw and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant 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 and many shall join themselves to them with flattery and some of the wise shall stumble so that they may be refined purified and made white until the end of time for it is still awaiting the appointed time. And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every God and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished for what is the creed shall be done. He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other God for he shall magnify himself above all. He shall honour the God of the fortress instead of these a God whom his fathers did not know. He shall honour with gold and silver with precious stones and costly gifts. He shall deal with the strongest fortress with the help of a foreign God. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honour. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price. At the time of the end the king of the south shall attack him but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind with chariots and horsemen and with many sheeps and he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through. He shall come into the glorious land and tens of thousands shall fall but these shall be delivered out of his hand, Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver and of all the precious things of Egypt and the Libyans and the Kushites shall follow in his train. But news from the east and the north shall alarm him and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and to devote men to destruction and he shall pitch his royal tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain yet he shall come to his end with none to help him. This is the word of the Lord this morning. As I said this morning we're actually going to look at what result faith does not look like. By doing that we're going to pull out some of the key characteristics that we see out of these kings. It's going to be up on the screen so we're going to breeze through it with a bit of speed but this will be available for you. Verse 27, the first way that these kings are described, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They will lie to each other at the same table but to no great benefit. Verse 28, these kings will have great wealth but their hearts shall be set against the holy covenant. He shall work his will and return to his land. When others oppose him, verse 30, when they come against him, when they oppose him, he shall be afraid and withdraw. He will be in rage and take action against God's people. The king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every God and shall speak astonishing things against the God of God's. He shall pay no attention to any other God for he shall magnify himself above all. Those who acknowledge him, he will load with honour. He'll make them rulers over men. Verse 43, he shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver and of all the precious things of Egypt. Verse 44, news from the east and the north shall alarm him and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and to devote many to destruction. What a list, hey? Just in the latter part of Daniel chapter 11, these are the ways that the kings are described. These are the characteristics that are prominent enough to be written down for us to read. Tell you what, it's not a very flattering list when we look at it really. And yet church, we need to be aware that at least for some of our lives, these are the characteristics of us. As we read through this list, it is accurate for me and for you and for all of humanity while we don't have Jesus. Very truly, the Bible tells us that we are born into sin. Those who are parents in the room, you know that you don't have to teach a child to misbehave, you don't have to teach a child to be disobedient or to rebel, we're born that way. Very truly, in our sinfulness, our hearts are bent on doing evil, on rebelling against God. We lie to each other. That's the reality of our sinfulness. We lie to each other. Even if we have great wealth, our hearts at some point in our lives before Jesus, our hearts are set against God and His holy covenant. Rather than His will be done, we desire my will be done. And because we're in that state of rebellion, because we seek to find our own purpose, our own security, because we try to attain our own power, our own authority, when others come against us, when others oppose us, when others challenge us, very truly, we become afraid and withdraw why, because we know that what we're building our lives on is not solid. It will not stand the test of genuine truth and opposition. When we are opposed, when things go wrong in our life, we blame God. We take action against His people. When something doesn't go the way that we thought it should, we blame God. How could you do this? How could you bring me into a sinful world? How could you allow this to happen? Like the kings here, we desire to do our own will. My plan for my life, we exalt ourselves and magnify ourselves above God. Not His will, my will, because I am the most important thing. The world tells me I can do whatever I want. As long as I put my mind to it, God doesn't matter. We exalt ourselves above Him. We say despicable things against God. We reject Him. And in our sinfulness, when others choose to flatter us, we'll honor them as well. If they build us up, come along for the ride. I like you. We set our lives to chase after gold and silver, precious treasures, because it gives us some sense of security, some sense of accomplishment, some sense of power and wealth. If we've got money, I can do whatever I want. I can get out of the finds. I'm safe. And yet at our core, we know that it isn't as secure as we lie to ourselves to make ourselves believe. Very truly, when rumors come, when news comes from east and north, we are alarmed. In our sinful pursuits, we destroy others and do damage to the world in which we live. Church, this is our sinful state. Each and every one of us have lived in this way, in rebellion against God, putting ourselves as the highest of priority in our lives, following the whims of our sinful desires over God. All of us, whether currently or historically, have had a lack and absence of faith. All of us have lived in rebellion against God, just like these kings. And yet here in 2026, we have the benefit of hindsight. Even then, God had revealed himself again and again and again. But here we stand this morning having declared it with our lips, having partaken and heard of communion, having heard the good news of Jesus. They're very truly, even though each of us can relate with these characteristics, each and every one of us are sinful, have been sinful, that Jesus Christ paid the price for your sin and my sin. That God loved you and me so much that he sent Jesus, that we should not perish as a result of our sin. But that when we confess our sin, when we receive his free gift of forgiveness, when we make him Lord and Savior, the good news of the gospel is we are saved. And church, there were those with resolved faith, as we've seen, even before Jesus had died on that cross. We've seen it in Chaturak Meshach, Abednego. We've seen it in Daniel. We need to highlight something that's relevant for our lives today and is so prevalent in chapter 11 of Daniel. God is sovereign. All power, all authority, all control remains in him. Let's just do a brief flick through some key things of those verses again. Verse 27, And as for the two kings, their heart shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail. Why? For the end is yet to be at the time appointed. God was still in control. Verse 29, At the time appointed, he shall return and come into the south. The king thought it was his will, his desire. God had appointed the time for him to return. Verse 35, And 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. Verse 36, And the king shall do as he wills, he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every God, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished. For what is decreed shall be done. Church, God is sovereign. There's nothing that we do today that escapes his knowledge. There's nothing that we can hide from him now. There's nothing that they could hide from him back then. There is nothing that is outside of God's control. He knows the appointed time. And church, as we've declared this morning through communion, we not only remember Jesus, but there is an appointed time yet to come. Jesus will return. He says, Do this in remembrance of me until I come again. Church, God is sovereign. And just like there was an appointed time being spoken of here, there is an appointed time to come where Jesus Christ will return. Let's change lens just for a moment. Let's look a little bit at a resolved faith. We see it in verse 32. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. The people who know their God will 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 little hope, and many shall join themselves to them with flattery. And some of the wise shall stumble so that they may be refined, purified, made white, until the time of the end for it still awaits the appointed time. Even in the midst of persecution that was to come back then that has already occurred now, God's people had resolved faith. Those with resolved faith stood firm and took action. The wise among them taught others of the hope that they had in God. Even while they were being persecuted by sword and flame, they stood firm and took action in their world. Church resolved faith is daily deciding to be a disciple of Jesus. It's not a one and done type of thing. Resolved faith is something that is built over time. Whilst we are saved, the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we are then commanded, we are invited to be disciples who follow Jesus each and every day, who grow deeper in our relationship with Him, who obediently follow all that He has called us to do. And in a world that is increasingly persecuting the Gospel, resolve faith looks like standing firm and taking action to share the good news of Jesus. So I wonder when was the last time you shared Jesus with someone who didn't know Him? The reality is until Jesus comes again, we're in what they call the here and not yet, fully saved, fully righteous and yet still fully battling with sin. There's going to be times in our walk with Jesus where we stumble, where we fall, where we make mistakes, where we need to return to the foot of the cross to confess our sins, to ask for forgiveness. And yet even here in Daniel 11, we're told that those with resolved faith stumbled, but God was still at work. Very truly, when we accept Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit. We have God indwelled in us. He's refining us, purifying us and making us holy until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time. Jesus has not returned yet, but He is coming. And if you've accepted Jesus, the Holy Spirit is at work in you, growing deeper in relationship and obedience. I wonder, do you actively participate? Are you actively aware of what God is doing in you and through? Have you made the decision to daily be a disciple, surrender completely and to obey God's will for your life? Each of us are sinful. And yet God is sovereign. God has a plan. God has always had a plan and God is actively working to make his plan come together. Jesus will return. And if you've accepted Jesus, then despite the stumbles, the Holy Spirit is at work in you and through calling you to continually come to the foot of the cross, to confess your sin regularly, to ask for forgiveness and to stand firm and take action in obedience to God's leading in this world. Let's look back at what resolved faith is. We see the characteristics of the kings and so let's evaluate. Let's look. Let's measure. Very truly, there are some positives for the kings who lived without any faith at all. As we read through this account of what would happen in their lives, we see that they had immeasurable treasure. They had gold and silver and precious treasure from all over the world and yet they still wanted more. It wasn't enough. They had more than they could ever use and yet it wasn't enough. Each of the kings that we read about these characteristics, they had authority over armies and nations. They had authority when they said to go do something, people would go and do it. They had authority to control people and yet it still wasn't enough. They wanted the other kings kingdom as well. As we read through their positives, we very truly see that they had power over the earth. They moved armies, they destroyed fortresses, they lived with this power and yet it was never enough. They had secured all the security that they possibly could hear on earth. They had everything they thought they needed, wealth, power, authority, comfort and yet it was never stable. It was never secure. When news came from the north or the east, they were afraid. I have to tell you, it's a devastating year. Despite all the riches, the security, the things that they had accomplished here on earth, it all came to nothing. It was all meaningless. Verse 45, the entirety of the negative side of this measure in one verse. Verse 45, in complete rebellion against God, he shall pitch his royal tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain and he is the kicker church and yet he shall come to his end with none to help him. Despite all the power, all the wealth, all the perceived security and authority despite exalting himself above God and making himself feel as though this was who he is that no one could confront him, he shall come to his end with none to help him. Joshua Bible tells us that the end is coming, that Jesus will return and that no one except the Father knows the time, nor the day, nor the hour. Jesus is coming back. Jesus will return at the appointed time and the Bible tells us on that day there will be two very distinct groups, those who have faith in Jesus, those who have resolved in their faith to be a disciple each and every day to allow the Holy Spirit, to partner with the Holy Spirit, to work in them and through them, to make them more and more like their Savior, to live lives that are in obedience to God. And of this group, the Bible says when sin is judged to its finality, Jesus will come to their side and help them. Jesus will declare I have paid for their sin. Jesus will make them right with God the Father so that you, me, all who have accepted him may live for eternity in right relationship with God, our Creator and Sustainer, completely free from sin and debt. That's good news. If you're a Christian here this morning, if you've accepted Jesus, this is good news. The day is coming when Jesus will return and we are saved, not by our own efforts, but by the blood of Jesus. And if that's you, then for each day until that day comes, we have work to do. We are part of the kingdom of heaven. We're told to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that Jesus commanded and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each day, if you've accepted Jesus, each day decide to surrender. Pray Lord, not my will, but your will be done, groaning as you decide. And then church, we have a second group on the day that Jesus returns. A group who like the kings here in Daniel 11 are still in active rebellion against God, who have put all their time, energy, focus on building up earthly security, on scraping together earthly treasures of gold and silver, of houses, of property, of whatever it may be. Those who have exalted themselves above God, who have said despicable things against the one true God. Those who live lives saying, not God's will, but my will be done, my authority be risen, my power be grown. And despite the perceived security that they may think they have, very truly on the day that Jesus comes again, they will be left like the king in verse 45. They shall come to their end with no one to help them. Church, that's heartbreaking. They will come to their end with no one to help them. If you don't yet know Jesus, can I urge you, come speak to me, one of the pastors, someone that you came with this morning. Don't let it be said of you that when Jesus comes again, no one is there to help. Because despite our pursuits on earth, despite our power, our role, our responsibilities, despite our resources, if you don't have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you haven't accepted him for the forgiveness of your sins. You shall come to your end with none to help. And church, if you do, stand firm, take action. Don't have this hope and live like the kings live. Don't have this hope and bury it away going, I'll continue to live like this because Jesus has got me. If you do that, you've missed the point. There's those who don't know Jesus. And if you do, stand firm, take action, share the good news. So that you may partner in the work that God is doing. So that less and less people will stand before Jesus with no one to help them. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for Daniel and for his resolved faith. Lord, thank you for the model that he has set. Thank you for his faithfulness in panning down these prophecies that we might live. And Lord, I pray for each and every person here this morning watching online in this room. Lord, for those who don't know you, I pray that you would draw them near to you. Lord, that they would consider seriously the gift that Jesus offers. Give them the courage to talk to a friend or family member, someone about the good news of the gospel. And Lord, I pray for each and everyone who does know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Lord, by your Holy Spirit, would you empower us? Would you continue to refine us? Would you lead us? Would you convict us? Not to live for our honor and glory, but to surrender entirely to you, for your King, for your honor, for your glory forever and ever. Amen.