With that, I'm going to invite you to turn with me.
You can turn in your worship guide or in your Bible or in your phone.
No matter where you turn with me, remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us that his word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold.
And it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
And so that's why we read now Daniel 11, starting at verse 1.
And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.
And now I will show you the truth.
Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them.
And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.
Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and 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 posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled.
For his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these.
Verse 5.
Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he,
and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority.
After some years they shall make an alliance,
and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement.
But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure.
But she shall be given up in her attendance, he who fathered her, and he who supported her in those times.
Verse 7.
Verse 10.
Verse 7.
Verse 12.
Verse 13, for the king of the north shall again raise a multitude greater than the first,
and after some years he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies.
In those times many shall rise against the king of the south,
and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision,
but they shall fail.
Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siege works,
and take a well-fortified city, and the forces of the south shall not stand,
or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand.
But he who comes against him shall do as he wills, and none shall stand before him.
And he shall stand in the glorious land with destruction in his hand.
He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom,
and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them.
He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom,
but it shall not be to his advantage.
Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them,
but a commander shall put an end to his insolence.
Indeed, he shall turn his insolence back upon him.
Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land,
but he shall stumble and fall and shall not be found.
Verse 20.
Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of tribute for the glory of the kingdom.
But within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle.
Verse 21.
In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal magistrate has not been given.
He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant.
And from that time an alliance is made with him, he shall act deceitfully,
and he shall become strong with a small people.
Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province,
and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his father's fathers have done,
scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods.
He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time.
And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army.
And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army,
but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him.
Even those who eat his food shall break him.
His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.
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.
Verse 29.
At the time appointed, he shall return and come into the south,
but it shall not be this time as it was before.
For ships of Kittim 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.
Verse 33.
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 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.
He shall pay no attention to the god 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 honor the god of fortresses instead of these.
A god whom his fathers did not know,
he shall honor with gold and silver,
with precious stones and costly gifts.
He shall deal with the strongest fortresses
with the help of a foreign god.
Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor.
He shall make them rulers over many,
and shall divide the land for a price.
Verse 40.
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 ships.
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 silver,
and all the precious things of Egypt,
and the Libyans and the Cushites 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 devote many to destruction.
And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain.
Yet he shall come to his end with none to help him.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you and praise you again
that you have not left us alone as orphans in a merciless universe,
but instead you speak to us clearly through your word.
And so we ask that you would speak to us this morning,
that you would give us the words of encouragement that we need
as we follow you in this broken and evil world.
And we are grateful that we don't have to earn or deserve these things,
but instead we simply ask them in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
I know that some of you, maybe many of you,
consider yourselves investors of some sort.
Maybe it's simply investment in a retirement account.
Maybe you have some sort of mutual fund on the side.
Even if you're not someone who invests,
of course you see the news that happens right when markets go up and down.
People will tell you, oh, we're headed for a crash.
Maybe a recession is coming near.
There's going to be what's called a correction.
And of course, these things are true for everyone, right?
If the market goes down, everyone's affected by that at some level,
but people have different ways of responding to it and reacting to it.
And so, for example, last year in February, March,
we were under lockdown for the coronavirus.
We saw the stock market crash, right, at some level.
Now, the question is this.
If you see when you see the market crash, what is your response?
There's a variety of responses, right?
Some people see it as the time to sell.
They are taken in by the fear of the moment.
They think, well, I've lost money at this moment.
I don't want to lose any more money,
and so I'm going to sell before it keeps going down.
Other people think of this as the time to buy.
Stocks are at, there's a deal right now.
I'm going to get in and invest as much as I can
because I know it's going to go back up.
And some people simply hold on, right?
And so there's the same situation for many people,
different circumstances.
And these different circumstances, in many ways,
are affected by what your view is about history.
What do you believe about the history of the stock market?
What do you believe that the future holds for you?
It's your beliefs, it's your understanding of history
that determines your response.
Now, when all of these things were happening,
PCA pastors across the country,
we received these emails from the organization
that handles PCA pastors' retirement,
warning us not to overreact to market crashes, right?
You may see your retirement account dropping.
Don't be panicked.
So they sent us this first note that said this.
The market rewards patience and resilience.
As the following chart from the New York Times shows,
stocks generally reward investors
who look at their investment in terms of decades
and not days.
Look at their investments in terms of decades, not days.
Mature investors often do things
that are counterintuitive.
When stocks slide, it's not time to sell them.
Rather, it's an opportunity to purchase them at a discount.
And then in this letter, they provide this picture
that shows what the stock market
has looked like over history.
And the point is to say,
if you think about this in terms of decades,
you'll have some perspective.
You won't panic in the moment
because you know this is just for a time.
It will not last forever.
Brothers and sisters, as we come to this passage,
the goal is to give us and Daniel
an understanding of how history works.
That we would not think when we look at evil in the world
in terms of days, but in terms of decades.
We would understand the pattern
of how things work in this world
so that we could respond with wisdom
rather than foolishness.
We can respond rather than react.
And so that's what we're gonna see here.
I'm gonna point out primarily three things to you.
First of all, the pattern of history.
Second of all, the control of history.
And then our response to history.
We're gonna look at the pattern of history,
the control of history, and the response to history.
Just as, if you're familiar with the markets,
you know it's always going up and down,
up and down, up and down, right?
You look at this graph that they give,
there's times when things are less,
there's times when things are more.
The same is true of history.
We see this pattern that there's a constant rise
and fall of nations.
There is a constant ebb and flow to how geopolitics work.
We see in verses two through four,
a summary of things we've seen already
in the book of Daniel,
that there's the Persian empire
that's going to lead to Alexander the Great.
Then we're gonna go beyond Alexander the Great,
verse four.
His kingdom, if you remember,
it's broken into four pieces.
And then in verses five through 20,
we see the struggle and conflict
between the king of the north and the king of the south.
The king of the south is coming from Egypt.
The king of the north is coming from Syria.
And this is the section through verse 21
where we see those rise words over and over.
Okay, so my count is that of those I gave you,
there's eight.
However, I think I read two.
I double-checked this,
and then as I was reading, I read a second raise.
So if you got nine, I don't fault you.
But this word appears over and over again.
Arise, raise, rise.
And the purpose, the reason,
the reason it's showing up over and over again
is to highlight this pattern.
As soon as one king or kingdom is powerful,
he falls and another takes over.
Alexander the Great, wow, he's so wonderful,
dies at age 33.
There's just this constant spin.
You don't expect or know,
you know no one's gonna stay in control
and power for very long.
There's gonna be this constant back and forth.
We see this between the kingdoms of the north
and the kingdom of the south.
The author is telling us here,
no sooner has one kingdom arisen
than it's replaced by another.
That is the pattern of history.
That's how things work.
So remember, things get bad with the stock market.
Often it's foolish to sell.
We think in terms of days, in terms of decades.
Things get bad in history.
It is foolish to give up.
We know from this passage,
from the way the Bible talks about history,
before too long,
that wicked kingdom and ruler will fall.
In other words, as we watch the evil in this world,
we know it is only for a time.
God is constantly bringing down
and raising up kings and kingdoms.
We have perspective.
We understand how history works.
And so I've mentioned to you before,
I'm a book by a man named Chris Wright
about the book of Daniel.
He points out that there's two errors
that we can fall into
if we don't understand the way history works.
One error is to fear the rulers of this world too much.
We forget they're just here for a moment.
God's gonna take them away.
And so we shake in fear
when we should in fact have confidence in God.
The other temptation we can fall into
other than fear is to love them
and idolize them too much.
To think that being close
to the power centers of this world
is going to be our key to success.
We see this over and over
from Christian leaders
in the history of the church
that there's something seductive
about being close to the powerful.
There's something that's wonderful
and alluring about having your picture taken
with a president or a senator, right?
These are things that people brag about.
There's something that's just alluring
about having your opinions published
in a major publication.
And remember,
wherever the power center is,
wherever the power is,
it will only be there for a time.
Don't shake and tremble
at the powers of this world.
Don't idolize them.
Don't be drawn in by them.
Be someone who's wise.
Understand how history works.
Know that as soon as one,
they'll be replaced by another.
There is a futility,
in other words, to history.
Now, if you're not a Christian,
I want to suggest to you
that this actually makes
much more sense of our world
than the views of history
that we're given in our culture.
So there's, among many,
this idea
that we're on this road to progress.
That somehow,
generation after generation,
generation,
we're going to improve morally.
We're going to transcend
the people who came before us.
They were stupid and foolish.
We, however,
are wise and enlightened.
Now, there is a sense
in which history is moving forward.
We have greater
and greater technology.
The problem is
that has not solved
our moral problems.
Now, I don't have time today.
There's a book
that recently came out
by a man named Tim Keller
called Hope in Times of Fear.
And he talks about this phenomenon
in the very last chapter,
in chapter 12.
And he points out a few things,
one of which is that
technology has not helped us at all.
In fact,
if we look at the threats
to the world,
I think he lists five major threats
to civilization.
Technology has made,
I think,
three or four of them much worse.
And in fact,
it's technology
that allows things
like pandemics
to spread around the world
very quickly.
And so if you believe
that we are going to improve
as people morally,
you are flying
in the face
of all the evidence
and the facts.
It's the Bible
that actually gives us
a realistic view of history.
No matter how much
things improve,
the human heart
still stays wicked
and evil.
And so our only hope
is for salvation
from outside of this world.
Our only hope
is for someone
not who can change technology,
but who can change hearts.
And so as we understand
the pattern of history,
history,
we know it involves
ups and downs.
We're not taken in
by one moment.
We're not taken in
by one year
or one event.
We have a calm,
a perspective.
Just as an investor
watches the stock market
go up and down
and they know,
I'm thinking about this
in terms of decades,
we watch history
and events
and evil
go up and down
in the world
and even as we might
grieve about it,
we have a perspective
on it.
We know
how it works.
Now there's another pattern
that we're given here,
not just the pattern
of kings going up and down,
but we see the pattern
that in history
we should expect
and prepare for
the persecution
of God's people.
So this battle
between the north
and the south
takes up
verses 1
through 21 or so
and then we turn
to this new figure,
verse 21,
there's going to arise
a contemptible person
and we're told
the details
of this contemptible person
verses 21
through 35.
I'm not going to dive
into the details here
because of the link
of this passage
and the limits
of our time this morning
but I'll simply tell you
verses 21
through 35
is telling us
about the same figure
we saw in Daniel
chapter 8.
This is Antiochus IV
who is someone
who persecuted
God's people.
He brought intense
persecution
in the 2nd century BC
and I'll give you
the same quote
that I gave you
last time
in Daniel chapter 8
from a man named
David Chapman.
Antiochus IV
who styled himself
Epiphanes,
God manifest,
invaded Jerusalem,
despoiled the temple,
commanded the burning
of the scriptures,
forbade the covenant
right of circumcision,
put to death
many faithful Jews
and ultimately instituted
pagan sacrifices
in the Jerusalem temple.
In other words,
Daniel is not just prepared
for the pattern of history.
He knows persecution
is coming for God's people.
This is something
that is sure
and definite
in the future.
not only does it happen
in the 2nd century
but then we see
this twist,
this switch
in verse 36.
Up through verse 35
everything aligns
with Antiochus IV.
Verse 36
we begin to hear
things about this king
that don't line up
at all with Antiochus IV
or any other historical figure
we can identify.
And so many people believe,
scholars believe
what's being talked about here
is a future,
even future to us,
persecutor
of God's people.
So we switch
from a historical figure
that we know about
to someone,
it's a persecution
that's going to happen
in the future.
And this type of persecution
sounds like
the kind of thing
that's going to happen
at the very end of the world.
In fact,
we see that explicitly
in verse 40,
the very beginning,
we're told this king
is at the time
of the end.
And then in verse 45,
however,
so he's coming at the end,
however,
verse 45,
he's going to come
to an end.
So again,
just like rulers
and kingdoms in general,
these persecutors
who are after God
and his people
are going to come,
they're going to be powerful,
and then in a moment
they'll be gone.
And so as Christians,
we know,
as we look at history then,
it's not just
that there's ups and downs
that we keep
the long term in mind,
there is going
to be persecution.
We shouldn't be surprised
by this.
In fact,
if we're in a time
where we don't face persecution,
we should know,
oh,
we're in a strange part
of church history.
Wow,
this is not normal
for Christians
around the world
or throughout history.
And so if we are
the wise investor,
we're going to take
wise action,
we know our job is this,
we prepare
for persecution.
We're ready for it.
We know that it's
a normal,
regular part
of the Christian life.
We're students
of church history
and scripture.
We see God's faithfulness
to his people
generation after generation,
decade after decade.
We know there are times
and things that are hard
and they only last
for a time.
We've actually seen
that in this series,
right?
Part of the reason
we're studying Daniel
is to know those things.
We see God's faithfulness
to Daniel.
We're reminded Babylon
was only powerful
for a time.
We are reminded
of God's faithfulness
to us.
Powers in this world
will only rule
for a time.
The foolish action
then would be
overly frightened,
overly scared
of persecution,
to abandon the faith.
That would be like
the person who sells
as soon as things
get bad, right?
They sell their stock.
What are we going to do
if and when
the stock of Christianity
in this world falls?
That's part of the warning here.
Do we sell it
or do we take
the long-term view?
Do we think
that we're looking
at decades
rather than days?
Right?
Great Depression
of the 1930s.
Wow, it's really bad.
Also, it's over.
Stock market's recovered.
Persecution,
when it comes
for God's people,
yes, it's going
to be really bad.
Also, it's going to end.
Things are going
to recover.
So we understand
and know history.
We avoid the temptation
to sell now,
to give up on God
and his church
and his ways
just because something's
bad for a moment
and for a time.
And so we're seeing here
chapter 10.
Again, we want
to be wise people.
We want to be people
who know the pattern
of history.
We see here also,
though, there's not
just a pattern to history,
there's also a control
in history.
The reason that these
things operate
in this way
that's predictable
that we understand
is that we know
that there is someone
who is in charge
of everything.
Now, in previous chapters,
when we've looked
at prophecy,
for example,
chapter 7,
I've told you,
well, you know,
there's lots of debate
among scholars
about what this means.
Some people think this.
Some people think that.
We come to chapter 8,
especially when we look
at verses 21 through 35,
there is virtually
no debate.
The reason there's
virtually no debate
is because the actions
given here
are so precise
and align perfectly
with real historical events
that have happened
in the past.
So we know exactly
what Daniel's
being told about.
Now, we could spend
an hour going through
all the debates
and the details of it.
If you want to see
everything in this chapter
and how it plays out
in history,
there's a variety
of commentaries you can get.
One of them is called
How to Read Daniel
by a man named
Tremper Longman.
I'm going to give you
one example.
So chapter 11,
look at me at verse 6.
It tells us
there's an alliance
and the daughter
of the king of the south,
remember the king
of the south's in Egypt,
shall come to the king
of the north
to make an agreement.
But she shall not retain
the strength of her arm
and his arm
shall not endure,
but she shall be given up
and her attendance.
It's he who fathered her
and he who supported her
in those times.
Well, this aligns perfectly
with historical events
that we know about.
It turns out
there was a marriage
between the daughter
of Ptolemy II
in the south
and the grandson
of Seleucus
in the north.
The grandson
had an ex-wife
who killed the daughter
of Ptolemy
and that's how
this plays out.
That's the level
of precise detail
that we have here
in this passage.
All these events here
have this similar level
of detail.
We're not going to go
into all of them.
The point is this though.
God knows the future
not just in general.
He knows it
in excruciating precision
and detail.
It's not just that God
is in control
in this big picture,
40,000 feet sort of way.
It's that God
is in control
in an on the ground,
moment by moment,
day by day sort of way.
God does not just know
the future as well.
He controls it.
Remember,
I pointed this out
when we did our
confession of faith.
The word appointed
shows up over and over again.
Verse 27,
verse 29,
verse 35.
Verse 36,
we're told what is decreed
shall be done.
Well,
who decreed it?
God decrees it.
And then,
verse 45,
remember,
we're reading about
this future persecutor.
He shall come to his end
with none
to help him.
In other words,
as we're looking
for encouragement
from God
as we face times of evil,
we're reminded
of God's precision
in his control.
God chose us
to be the people
at this church
right now,
this year,
and last year.
God chose us
as the specific people
that he wanted
to walk through
the coronavirus together
at Cheyenne Mountain
Presbyterian Church.
God chose you
to be stationed
at Fort Carson.
He decided
you wouldn't be stationed
somewhere else
in the country.
That was God's decision.
God decided
that when I bought
a house on Coolcrest,
I was going to buy
the green house
and not the blue house.
Okay?
It has a blue door.
That's another story.
We could go back
to last week's illustration.
Remember the kids
in the back of the car.
It's not just
that God is the one
driving us
and we know
that we're safe
because of it,
but God has decided
what road he's going
to be on.
He's decided
what speed
he's going to take it
and he's decided
where it's going.
Elections
and rulers
are not
outside of God's control.
God specifically
chose Joe Biden,
John Southers,
and Jared Polis
to rule our city,
state,
and nation.
In some way,
that's part
of his grand plan.
He's not surprised
by it.
He's using it
for his purposes.
God chose the kids
that you have.
He assigned them
to you.
God chose your spouse.
God is in control
even over the smallest
and tiniest details.
We are meant
to see this here
like Daniel
to be encouraged
in terrible
and difficult
and evil times.
When you face
challenges
and persecution
in the world,
you remember
God chose for me
to be in this situation
at this time.
And that means
that he knew
in advance
he has given me
everything I need
to stay
and stand strong.
We are able
to be encouraged
in the midst of evil
because we know
the pattern of history.
We know that God
is in absolute
and complete control
over history.
And so his people
can take hope
and courage
no matter what comes
and no matter
what happens.
And we've seen here
our encouragement,
the way that God
has given us
a pattern
and he's also
given us his control.
There's not just
a pattern
and a control of history,
we also see
our response
in history.
And I've quoted this
over and over again
through this series
and we're now at it.
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.
Now this is talking
about the persecution
that happened
in the second century.
And there were
some Jews
during this persecution
who abandoned
the faith.
Okay, so that's
what it's talking
about here
in verse 32.
There's some
that gave up Judaism.
They are the ones
who are seduced
with flattery
and violated
the covenant.
There's also those
who despite
the persecution
of Antiochus IV
remain strong
and firm.
Those are the ones
we're told here
who knew their God
that would stand firm
and take action.
And then we see
some more ideas here
verses 33 through 35.
What are these people doing?
We've talked about
the wise investor.
We also see the wisdom
among God's people.
Verse 33,
the wise among the people
shall make many understand.
Though for some days
they shall stumble
by sword and flame,
by captivity and plunder.
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.
In other words,
these people stood firm
during a time of persecution
because they knew God
and they encouraged
one another.
They made mistakes
and failed at times.
God used that
to purify them
and strengthen them.
The point for us
is this.
We know
God's faithfulness.
We know his faithfulness
in terms of facts
and history.
We know his faithfulness
here to Daniel
in this book
that we're studying together.
That's part of how
we grow in knowing our God.
We know our God
throughout church history
after the scriptures
were finished being written.
We can see his faithfulness
to the church
generation after generation,
country after country,
persecution after persecution.
We know that God
remains faithful
and delivers his people.
That is part of how
we know our God
so that we can stand firm.
We know him
not just in terms of
facts and history
though we also know
our God relationally.
Remember we talked
prior in Daniel
about the fact that
prayer is what prepares us
for what's ahead of us.
We are people
who want to know God
at a personal level.
We see his answers
to prayer over and over again
throughout our lives
so that when trouble comes
we have confidence
that he's in control.
We look back
to his faithfulness
in the past
and it allows us
to know our God
and stand firm
in the present.
Remember I talked
when we were in Matthew
chapter 21
many many years ago
in 2017
I told you
a story
about a friend of mine
dealing with
unanswered prayer
and I asked him
how he stood strong
in his faith
and he told me this
you use what you've seen
in the dark
or in the light
to help you trust
in the dark.
You use what you've seen
in the light
to help you trust
in the dark.
Brothers and sisters
if we are going to be
people who know
our God
we know God now
and see his faithfulness
in the light
so that when the dark
comes we trust him.
We are able
to know our God
to stand firm
and take action.
Now it's not just 32
but verse 33
the wise among the people
shall make many understand.
So we stand firm here
not just by knowing our God
but by doing it together.
We've talked over and over
about the fact
that God
does not just call us
individually
into a relationship
with himself
but he gives us
his people
the church
that we would be able
to remind one another
of the truth.
It would be foolish
for us
to try to stand alone.
But instead
these wise people
it's not just
that they know God
but they know each other.
It's the same thing
that we talked about
at the end of 1 Peter
that there are people
who are linking
their arms together
and singing one song
so that they would be able
to move forward
no matter what is going on
in the world.
And so I'll give you
a couple more applications
here of what it looks like
to know our God
so that we can stand firm.
To be able to talk
with one another
verse 33
the wise among the people
shall make many understand.
I'm going to give you
a very simple
and extremely boring application.
One of the ways
we prepare
to stand firm
is by being here
together
on Sunday morning.
This is the place
where God
grows his people
in knowing him.
This is the place
where God grows
his people
in knowing
each other.
I want you to imagine
for a second
I know many of you
take your firearms
very seriously
I want you to imagine
someone
who brags about the gun
that they have
for home defense.
Right?
And you ask them
well when was the last time
you used it?
I can't remember.
Do you ever go to the range
and practice?
No not really.
I just have it here.
Right?
We do not rise
to the occasion
we fall
to the level
of our training.
God has provided
his worship
with his people
to prepare us
and strengthen us
for whatever
is to come ahead.
And so be
with his people.
Make it a priority
to be
in worship.
Make it a priority
to worship God
and hear from him
in his word.
That is how we grow
in knowing him.
Now we've seen here
that there's this pattern
right?
There's this control
and I started out
by telling you
about the idea
of investing
that you want to make sure
you're investing
in things that are true
and wise.
You may remember
when we were in the book
of 1 Peter
at the very beginning
we were told
about our inheritance.
What it is
that we invest in
and I'm going to turn
there now.
This is what we see
in our Lord Jesus.
We're told
verse 3
blessed be the God
and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
According to his great mercy
he has caused us
to be born again
to a living hope
through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ
from the dead.
To an inheritance
listen to this
that is imperishable
undefiled
and unfading.
Kept in heaven
for you
who by God's power
are being guarded
through faith
for salvation
ready to be revealed
in the last time.
In other words
there is only one
sure and true investment.
It is the inheritance
that has been earned
for us
by Jesus Christ
and cannot be touched
by anything
in this world.
That's what it means here
that it's imperishable
undefiled
and unfading.
In other words
the only good
and true investment
is this
that we would follow
after our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ
knowing
that he has secured
for us
something that cannot
be changed
or destroyed.
he when he came
and lived
a perfect life
on this earth
the life we should
have lived
and when he died
a death
the death
that we should
have died
to take our
punishment for sin
he at that time
earned for us
something that cannot
be changed
or shaken.
In other words
we don't risk
that for anything.
No matter what comes
no matter what happens
no matter how
evil things get
we trust
in our Lord
and Savior
Jesus Christ.
Now the first
letter
that I read
to you
came at the
end of February
as the stock market
was going up
and down.
Things continued
to get worse
and so we were sent
pastors were sent
this second letter
in March
we were told this
it is very important
that investors
maintain their
long term perspective
during this very
disappointing period.
We believe
the market
is being driven
down by investors
focused on
short term
strategies.
Staying focused
on our long term
objectives
is a winning
strategy.
One of our
board members
works for a
legendary investor
who has famously
said nervous energy
is a great
destroyer of wealth.
We are in total
agreement with this
statement and would
only add that the
peace of God
which has been
given to us
through the death
and resurrection
of Jesus Christ
is our constant
hope.
brothers and
sisters
how do we
what do we do
when we are
discouraged
when we're faced
with fear
and anger
at the evil
of the world
around us.
As Christians
we know it's
very important
that we maintain
a long term
perspective
during this
very disappointing
period.
We believe
the world
or faith
is being threatened
but in fact
that's simply
a short term
strategy.
staying focused
on our long term
goals
is a winning
strategy.
And in fact
we can be
reminded of the
words of our
Lord Jesus
in Luke chapter 9
if anyone would
come after me
let him deny
himself
and take up
his cross
daily and follow
me.
For whoever
would save
his life
will lose it
but whoever
loses his life
for my sake
will save it.
For what does
it profit a man
if he gains
the whole world
and loses
or forfeits
himself?
For whoever
is ashamed
of me
and my words
of him
will the
son of man
be ashamed
when he
comes in
his glory
in the glory
of the father
and of the
holy angels.
Brothers and
sisters the
people who
know their
God
shall stand
firm
and take
action.
Let's pray.
Our father
in heaven
we praise
you and
thank you
for your
word that
you've
given us
to encourage
us and
we ask
that we
would grow
in our
knowledge
of you
that we
would be
able to
stand firm
no matter
what.
We thank
you for
the
encouragement
you give
us as we
face the
evil in
the world
around us
and we
ask that
you'd
continue
to
strengthen
us
no
matter
what
comes.
We ask
these
things in
the mighty
name of
Jesus
Christ.
Amen.