Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20020303.htm

DANIEL: HOPE FOR TODAY'S DISILLUSIONED YOUTH
Part IX: God's Blessing In REPEATEDLY Letting Us Face Upsetting Evil
(Daniel 8:1-27 with 7:1, 24-27; 5:1-4, 18-28)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Last week, we learned God allows us to face evil to create a reaction of holiness in us for us to separate from evil.

Yet, there are TIMES when no matter how hard we PRAY or WANT to do and believe what is RIGHT, God lets us FACE upsetting evil to our HEIGHTENED frustration:

(1) This past week, a member in our Church talked with me of a Christian relative who repeatedly struggles with the efforts of a Charismatic friend to "get her saved!" This Charismatic is trying to get her to speak in tongues so she can allegedly escape hell!

The relative has told this Charismatic the thief on the cross in Luke 23:39-43 went to heaven without speaking in tongues, but the Charismatic has responded, saying, "The thief on the cross was in a different dispensation than are we! Since the Holy Spirit has come, we now must speak in tongues besides trusting Christ to escape hell!"

Personally, I marvel at this Charismatic's belief in light of what POST-PENTECOST Scripture says: (1) Ephesians 2:8-9, written for the POST-PENTECOST, CHURCH ERA, states: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (2) I am also amazed the Charismatic has not heeded Romans 3:1-4:25 where Paul shows PRE-LAW ABRAHAM was justified by faith ALONE (Rom. 4:9-10) as was DAVID who was UNDER the LAW (Rom. 4:6-8) and as are believers in the PRESENT CHURCH era (Rom. 3:1-31) so that ALL who are saved in ALL of HISTORY [pre-, mid- and post-Mosaic Law] are saved by FAITH ALONE!

So, I found myself asking, "WHY does this belief of ADDING the WORK of TONGUES SPEAKING to FAITH to escape hell in GLARING CONTRAST to what Scriptures written SPECIFICALLY for the CHURCH ERA even LABOR to SAY ever PLAGUE Christians today, and that so REPEATEDLY?"

(2) I have talked with men in our Church about the evil they face at work no matter how long they pray about it! WHY does God allow our men REPEATEDLY to FACE such evil at work?

WHY does GOD LET us CONTINUALLY FACE upsetting evil or error even if we PRAY for Him to REMOVE us from it?

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "Though I have repeatedly PRAYED for God to keep me from having to FACE evil or its error, I still OFTEN must FACE it! WHY does God let this happen, and WHAT am I to DO about it?!"
  1. We learned in last week's message God gave Daniel a vision of the future antichrist's horrible blasphemy to drive Daniel to oppose Belshazzar's blasphemy in his day, Daniel 7:1, 24-27; 5:1-4, 18-28.
  2. YET, just two years later, God gave Daniel a SIMILAR vision of a ruler's HORRIBLE sin and persecution of Israel in GRECIAN times that would RIVAL that of antichrist's era, Daniel 8:1, 2-26:
    1. In Belshazzar's third as king, Daniel received a second vision similar to the former one about antichrist in Daniel 7, cf. Daniel 8:1.
    2. This second vision portrayed the rise of a particularly evil ruler over Israel in the period of Grecian rule whose evil would resemble that of the final antichrist (as follows), Daniel 8:2-26:
      1. Daniel saw a ram with two horns pushing westward, northward and southward at will, a symbol of the Medo-Persian empire, 8:2-4, 20.
      2. This empire was replaced by an attacking male goat from the west that traveled swiftly in the air, and had a notable horn between its eyes. This represented Alexander the Great and his Grecian conquest of the Medo-Persian empire, Daniel 8:5-7, 21.
      3. As soon as the goat's single horn was strong, it was broken and replaced by four other notable horns, Dan. 8:8, 22. We know this pictures the sudden death of Alexander the Great upon his conquest of Persia and the subsequent reign of his four generals.
      4. One of the horns produced a little horn that became very great, very evil and blasphemous, and heavily persecuted Israel, 8:9-11a. We now identify this as Antiochus Epiphanes who ruled Palestine under Grecian power beginning in 175 B. C. Antiochus went so far as to offer pig's flesh on the temple altar and terribly persecuted the Hebrew people he ruled, Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, ftn. to Dan. 8:9.
      5. Similar to the antichrist (Dan. 9:27), he replaced the Hebrew daily morning and evening sacrifices with pagan worship for 2,300 times, or for 1,150 days, 8:13-14 NIV; B.K.C., O.T., p. 1358-1359.
      6. Antiochus was defeated by the uprising Hebrew Maccabees who purged the temple December 25, 165 B. C. and whose temple rescue is celebrated by Hanukkah today, Ibid., ftn. to Daniel 8:14.
  3. Accordingly, even Daniel's HEALTH was set back by his being so TROUBLED at the EVIL he discovered would occur, Daniel 8:27.
  4. Viewing the CONTEXT shows God taught a PATTERN of VILE EVIL exists THROUGHOUT history, so ALL GENERATIONS of God's people must EACH DISCERN and WITHDRAW from it:
    1. In Daniel's era, this second vision would only have INTENSIFIED his bias against Belshazzar's blasphemy of God's in his misuse of the temple vessels in Daniel 5:1-4. This would have led DANIEL to be stronger in denouncing Belshazzar, and better able to DISCERN the meaning of God's handwriting on the wall, Daniel 5:22-28.
    2. In Israel's case, this second vision SHOULD HAVE led the people to be biased against evil and for righteousness so as to prepare her for the Messiah, Jesus Christ Who came to Israel less than 200 years after Greece's Antiochus Epiphanes was overthrown!
    3. As such, Daniel's repeated prophecy shows there are always evil parties whose beliefs and acts should so shock God's people that His people always REACT by a growth in discernment and separation:
      1. The Apostle John noted his readers knew the antichrist was going to come, the Old Testament's prophesied man of sin, 1 John 2:18a.
      2. However, John noted many antichrists, or persons LIKE the final antichrist were even then existing in the world, 1 John 2:18b!
      3. The lesson for us is that we today, as was true of God's people in Daniel's or Christ's eras, must discern and withdraw from evil:
        1. God's people today are to respond to the apostasy of men of sin they see by recognizing they can NOT be ecumenical, for some men are apostates, or even mini antichrists, 1 John 2:19.
        2. As such, WE are to rely upon the indwelling Holy Spirit to DISCERN sin and righteousness, and grow in this discernment, cf. 1 John 2:20-27 with Galatians 5:16 and Hebrews 5:11-14.
        3. In growing in discernment, we must hold to the truth, leading to our withdrawing from evil in holiness, 1 Jn. 2:19, 26, 28-29.
Application: If we are REPEATEDLY APPALLED at EVIL, we should (1) believe on Christ for salvation from sin, John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21. (2) Then, we must view our REPEATED exposure to appalling evil as GOD'S permissive effort to make our repulsion GROW DISCERNMENT between good and evil so that we SEPARATE more from evil in LIFE, Hebrews 5:11-14!

Lesson: God REPEATEDLY allows His people THROUGH HISTORY to FACE very GREAT evil and evil people (1) so as to DEVELOP their DISCERNMENT (2) so they will SEPARATE from their era's evil. >

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Several years ago, a member in our Church asked if I would speak with an associate who felt one could lose his salvation.

I agreed to do so, hoping the friend would accept the truth.

That was a big mistake! When I told this man Ephesians 4:30 in the Greek text said believers were to "stop grieving the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption," and that meant even the believer's sin could not harm his salvation status, instead of interacting with this insight, he introduced another verse and its provocative interpretation! When I answered that issue, he just moved onto another verse, and kept "moving around" like this! I saw he was only trying to find a "chink" in my theological armor rather than interact with the truth! He was using the "cunning craftiness" to "lie in wait to deceive" me as described in Ephesians 4:14!

Well, 2 Timothy 2:23 NIV commands us: "Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels." In accord with what Paul teaches there, I found I was only wasting my time and adding to my frustration by continuing to talk with this party. I thus ended the meeting and chose not to speak with him about the topic any more.

That move is one I now apply regularly in similar situations! Several times since I have broken off interacting with such parties since interacting with them is pointless! God has let me be exposed to this type of environment that I might be STOP interacting with those who really don't want the truth, but only "lie in wait to deceive" as Ephesians 4:14b puts it. God has shown me the need to WITHDRAW in true Biblical "holiness" from such interactions, cf. 1 Peter 1:15-16.



God similarly lets us CONTINUALLY FACE appalling and frustrating error or evil because He wants us (1) To DISCERN good from evil, and (2) WITHDRAW from it in Biblical holiness!