In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the fleeting nature of worldly achievements and glory. He contrasts the temporary shine of earthly accomplishments with the everlasting shine of bringing people to Christ. The preacher also discusses the importance of sealing the book of Daniel until the time of the end, implying that its words are meant to be preserved for future generations. He highlights the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and emphasizes that it is enough for salvation. The sermon concludes with a reminder to stay focused on God's course until the end and to be about the Father's business while waiting for the return of Jesus.

It's important to remember that Daniel chapters 10, 11, and 12 are all linked together describing a common vision that Daniel had, and it's pretty extensive. We talked about it in chapters 10 and 11 last week, how it details with a very specific manner what's going to happen to the people of Israel, first under the Persian Empire, then secondly under the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great and especially his successors, and then the relationship between this prophesied great king who will terribly persecute the Jewish people and set up an abomination in the temple. We saw that this king was really a prefiguring of the Antichrist of the end times. So chapter 12, verse 1 brings us to the last part of that vision, where it says at that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never been since there was a nation even to that time. Now, it doesn't mean that what begins with chapter 12 is subsequent to where we left off in chapter 11. Actually, it's going back over this time where the Jewish people will be greatly persecuted by this prophesied person that we understand to be the Antichrist. And what it means is that at this terrible time of persecution, Michael, this great archangel, it describes him there in verse 1, as the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. It's interesting. Michael is always connected with the nation of Israel, almost having a protective role with the nation of Israel when Michael appears in the scriptures. Now, Michael shall stand up and be there as a defense for the Jewish people during this time when they are persecuted by this great king who will bring in this horrific idolatry, again, whom we understand to be the Antichrist. It's sort of a chilling phrase there in verse 1, if you notice. It said, there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time. This refers to the great time of persecution for Israel and the great time of world calamity, which is commonly known among Christians as the Great Tribulation. We call it the Great Tribulation because Jesus called it the Great Tribulation in the famous Olivet Discourse. There's another phrase for this time. It's mentioned several places in the scriptures. Another phrase for this time of history in Jeremiah chapter 30, verse 7, calls it the time of Jacob's trouble. Well, it is a time of trouble for Israel. One of the great themes of the Great Tribulation is this horrific persecution that is poured out upon the Jewish people from the Antichrist and his government. And if you want to know how terrible it is, think for just a moment about some of the horrible persecution that Israel has faced throughout its existence. You had threats such as in Bible times of the entire nation being wiped out under the plot of Haman in the days of Esther. You had in extra biblical times the horrible account of what the Romans did to the Jewish people in 70 A.D. when Jerusalem was conquered. You have the awful story of what the church did to the Jewish people throughout the centuries of the Middle Ages. It's one of the great shameful chapters in church history, how the church decided, well, the Jews are a cursed people because they rejected their Messiah. And so it's the job now, therefore, of the church to make sure that the Jews know just how cursed they are. And the church took upon itself the job of cursing the Jewish people. You think of the great pogroms against the Jewish people by the Russian government and the Spanish government and the inquisitions and all the rest of it. And then you come, of course, to the 20th century where you have the horrific Holocaust fostered by Nazi Germany upon the Jewish people. I wish I could tell you that the worst is over. Biblically speaking, I can't say that. Isn't that a frightening prospect? Look at verse 1 again. There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. You know, Jesus describing this time of tribulation upon the earth, he said that it would be the worst time, the most calamity filled period of human history ever. This is exactly what he said in Matthew, chapter 24, verse 21. For then there will be great tribulation such as not been since the beginning of the world until this time. No, nor ever shall be. With great sadness, we must say that the Bible teaches that the worst has yet to come for Israel and the Jewish people. Now, let me say this as well. Jesus said in one passage in the Gospels that it is inevitable that offenses come. But woe to him through whom they come. In other words, the worst thing that the church in general or the United States of America specifically could do is say, well, calamity is destined to come upon the Jewish people. We shouldn't worry about protecting them or befriending them. No, if calamity is to become, it will have nothing to do with us because we will be friends to God's people, the Jewish people, and we will befriend them and support their nation. I think that's just the right thing for Christians to do, not blindly, not without recognition that there may be some legitimate grievances from other sides that need to be addressed and all the rest of it. But by and large, oh, yes, we we want to fulfill and be on the good end of fulfillment of that great promise that God gave to Abraham. I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you. Now, what will make this time so terrible? Well, Revelation chapter 12, verses 13 through 17, describes the fury of the devil directed against the Jewish people during this time. And then you have the horrific judgments coming upon the earth, which are not focused upon the Jewish people in general, specifically, I should say, but come upon the earth in general. You have the trumpets, the seals and the bowls of Revelation all describe the horrific conditions on the world generally during this time. And the Jewish people will have the double agony of living on earth that is under the great wrath of God, spoken of in the trumpet and the bowl and the seal judgments, as well as being the targets of the full fury of the devil and the Antichrist during this time. And they'll live in a world that's incredibly filled with persecution because of the judgment of God, or I should say upheaval. It's important for us to realize that the Jewish people have always been a target of satanic persecution. You look at the Jewish people and it's an absolute wonder, first of all, that so much calamity has come upon a nationality, an ethnic group. Secondly, that they have survived. You know, ethnic groups and national groups, they don't last forever. There are times when they have been so persecuted and so attacked that their numbers become so few that they just sort of, you know, assimilate into another culture. But it hasn't happened that way with the Jewish people. It's a wonder that they've been attacked so greatly. It's a wonder that they've survived. But it's also a wonder that they've thrived. Now, why have they been attacked so much? I believe that it's directly in the plan of Satan. He knows that the Jewish people are absolutely wrapped up in God's plan for the end times. And he thinks that perhaps he can derail the plan of God by eliminating this great people. Well, it won't happen, but that's what makes them targets. Look at the end part of verse one here. It says, And at that time, your people shall be delivered. Everyone who is found written in the book. See, there will be a great time of trouble, a great upheaval. But then again, the Jewish people shall be delivered. Despite all the terrors of the time, deliverance is assured. And no matter how great the attack is against the Jewish people, God promised to preserve them. And he promised to never break his promise to Abraham, where it says in Genesis 17, I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you and your generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendants after you. But I want you to notice that this promise of deliverance, especially if we consider it in the terms of eternal deliverance, it's not for every last person of Jewish heritage, but for everyone found written in the book. Not every person of Jewish heritage will be saved. Yet Israel as a whole in the end times will be known as a people who trust in Jesus as their Messiah and truly turn to the Lord. Israel still has very much a place and not a small place, a great place in God's redemptive plan. Now, it continues on here, verse two, it says, And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Now, there are some people who think that this refers to the resurrection of Israel as a nation, but the plainest meaning here, especially as we consider the flow, you know, after the conclusion of the great tribulation and at the end of the great tribulation, Jesus Christ returns in power and glory to this earth. Then you have what we might refer to as the general resurrection of the dead. And if you notice here, it says that some awake to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. You know, the Bible tells us very clearly that there are two resurrections, one for the saved and one for the damned. It's really an awesome thought, isn't it? If we really believed that every one of us would live forever, it would profoundly change our lives. You know, that is one of the great lessons of the Bible. The book of Ecclesiastes weaves it throughout the entire book. It's woven into the fabric of the book that the great problem with man is that he does not live in light of eternity. When you think about it, our life right now is just a small piece of our eternal existence. It makes all the sense in the world to prepare now, even if it was at great cost for a beneficial eternity. You look at the man or the woman who works very hard and saves and sacrifices and pours over their investments so that they can have a successful retirement. But, you know, the years that they worked are fewer, excuse me, are more than the years that they're going to be retired in all likelihood. You know, they work and save and scrimp and do all that very hard for, let's say, 40 years, for maybe 20 or 25 years of retirement. But we still think that that's a wise person to plan ahead like that, right? What would you think of the person who applied themselves diligently for seven years so that they could live well for seven billion years? What a contrast. Now, if you think about it this way, that everybody is risen from the dead. Some, it says there in verse 2, to everlasting contempt. It's not easy to talk about the terror or the agony of hell. Perhaps every one of us has someone that we know, that we suspect, perhaps we don't know for certain, we suspect that they passed into a Christless eternity. I think that there's a sense where we have to perhaps remove some of our personal feelings from this issue and consider soberly what the Bible has to say. And the Bible tells us again that the terror of hell never ends. That there is not some blissful annihilation after some period of punishment. Now, this passage denies a rising doctrine within the church, what we might call a modified annihilationism. Annihilationism is the teaching that the damned don't continually exist in agony and hell, but that they just cease to exist. They're annihilated. Well, there's a doctrine that we might call modified annihilationism, creeping into the church today, which teaches that the damned exist for some period of time in the agonies of hell and then they perish and are annihilated. Friends, I honestly wish that I could stand before you here this evening and teach that that was true. But I can't, because it's not what the Bible says. It's not an issue of what you want or I want or some fancy theologian wants or what a public opinion poll says people want. The issue is simply this, that the Bible says that unjustified sinners are sent to hell and they suffer torment, not just for a while, but for all of eternity. You say, why? You see, one of the great reasons why theologians want to say that, well, perhaps hell isn't eternal, is because they fear that an eternal hell makes God seem cruel, seem unjust. Let me say two things about that. First of all, people go to hell for only one reason. They don't want God. And it's hard for us to say that, because most everybody seems to act as if they want God. But if you want God, you'll come to him as he is in Jesus Christ. Do you understand that Jesus is the perfect representation of God the Father? Perfect. And to surrender to Jesus is to surrender to God. To obey Jesus is to obey God. I don't know if you're familiar with some of the writings of C.S. Lewis. There's a brilliant fiction book called The Great Divorce, where he speaks of a busload of people from hell, like I say, it's fiction, who somehow end up in their bus in heaven. And they get out and check out heaven for a while. And you know what? They don't like it. Well, not that they like hell, but they don't like heaven. There's a sense in which their life is demonstrated. They're not suited for it. But the other aspect of it is, is I would say that logically, hell must be eternal. Because it's where imperfect beings pay a continual penalty for their sins. That God isn't some monster that delights in torturing beings. Don't think that for a moment. God's just fair. When you pay for your sins, when you perfectly pay for your sins, you'll be forgiven. The problem is, is that every being in hell is an imperfect being. And how many imperfect payments fulfill a payment? None. You can never perfectly fulfill a debt making imperfect payments. Friends, that's why the noblest man or woman in the world could not die for our sins. We needed a perfect man, a perfect being to offer a perfect, perfect sacrifice for sins. When you all boil it down, there's only two places in the universe where sin is going to be resolved. One is on a hill called Calvary, where Jesus Christ died to take the judgment that guilty men and women deserved. And number two is in hell, where imperfect sinners will have to make a continual payment, an eternal payment of sin, because they can never make a perfect payment of sin. Let me say one other thing, too, before we go on. It's very common for people to think that this is somehow unfair of God. Oh, wait a minute. You mean I got to come and believe in Jesus or I got to go to hell? You're going to send me to hell if I don't believe in Jesus? I love when people say that, like I'm going to send them to hell. People think there must be some other way. Isn't it enough just to live a good life, to be a good person, to be sincere, all the rest of it? Listen, if you think that there should be some other way to be saved, then I'll tell you what. You go up to Jesus hanging on the cross, tortured in all of his agony, not just physically, but spiritually, enduring the wrath of God the Father that you and I deserved. You go up to Jesus hanging on the cross. You look at it in all of its horror, in all of its pain and suffering, that this was Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, who walked the ivory palaces of heaven and came humble as a man and lived and walked for 30 years, not just to punch a ticket to say I paid for the sins of the world, but to fully identify with guilty men and women in birth and growing up, in life, in everything. You look at that Jesus hanging on the cross, and then you look up to God the Father in heaven and say, you know, that's pretty good, but it's not enough. You should have done more. Honestly, now, what more could God do than die on a cross for your sins? Are you going to say that's not enough? That's a great opening bid, God, but what else are you going to do? Put it in those terms, it's pretty shocking that any one of us would think that what Jesus did on the cross wasn't enough and there must be some other way. God, God went to the fullest extent. He did everything that deity could do to bring salvation to man. Now, it's up to whether or not man will receive it. Going on here now in verse 3. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. You know, you have this thing where in the midst of this great wickedness coming in, in the end times, there will be great opportunity for people to shine brightly in the world and to be, you know, find great glory, so to speak, in turning many people to Christ. And they'll shine that way, if you noticed it, forever and ever. Isn't that great in verse 3? You know, the brightness of God's wise ones and the brightness of those who turn many to righteousness. It's going to last forever. I mean, think of all the great things you can accomplish in this world that the glory or the fame of it is so fleeting. You think of it right now and it's vividly on my mind because I think it's so overdone every year when they have the Academy Awards. And, you know, people act like the world should just spin on who's going to win best actor or whatever. You know, and these actors and actresses, for them, it's just their whole life. There's tears streaming down. You like me, you really like me and all the rest of it. Well, I would be surprised if there's a single person in this room could name me the Academy Award winners for best actor and actress for the last 10 years. Like who? What? And that's fleeting, isn't it? I'm a big baseball fan and I might be able to tell you what teams won the World Series the last 10 years, but I'd have to stop and really think about it. And I'm a big baseball fan. I mean, glory is fleeting. It really is. Even the highest levels of achievement and glory in this world are fleeting. Look at it here. You bring people to Christ and you're going to shine like a star forever and ever. It doesn't diminish one bit. It endures. And so many of the things that we put our effort into, they might be good things, they might be fine. But even if they do succeed, they only give what we might call a temporary shine. But it's worth it to invest our lives into the things that last forever and ever. Verse four. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase. See, it implies here that the words that this book should be shut up safely until the time when they were needed. Seal the book, authenticate it, but preserve it till when? Until the time of the end. Daniel's prophecy certainly was of some value in his own day. But this tells us plainly that there would come a day, the time of the end, when his prophecy would be of even more importance. And therefore, it was important to shut up the words and to seal the book until the time of the end. Now, in this time, he characterizes it, verse four, by saying, many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase. That's an interesting phrase. Many shall run to and fro. Some people think that that's a prophecy of the rapidly expanding sophistication of travel that would happen in the end times. Which really is amazing when you think about it. When you think about the distance you can travel in a day today, compared to the distance you could travel in a day a hundred years ago, it's staggering. I mean, I suppose pretty much you could literally almost fly around the world in a day on commercial airliners. I mean, think about that. How far could you go in a day a hundred years ago? You know, I don't know as far as a train could take you. Trains back then probably went about 40, 50 miles an hour. That's staggering to think of that. But honestly, that's really not what it's talking about here. The idea behind running to and fro has the idea of searching after knowledge. The idea is that people would run about trying to find answers to important questions, especially in reference to future events. In other words, there's going to be a great curiosity, a great investigation into the times of the end, and then the knowledge shall increase. By the way, you should know that amazingly that's true in the scope of church history. There was certainly interest in prophetic things in the church throughout all the history of the church, but not like there was in the 19th century. In the middle of the 19th century began a period in church history over the last 150 years where there has been an intense interest in end times things unparalleled in the course of church history. And I think this is exactly what this prophecy is speaking about. Many shall run to and fro, shall diligently investigate the things of these prophecies and knowledge shall increase. Verse five. Then I, Daniel, looked and there stood two others, one on this river bank and the other on that river bank. And one said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be? Then I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times and half a time. And when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. So Daniel is in the presence of a couple of angelic beings and apparently the angelic beings are asking one another about the fulfillment of these things. You can be certain, I suppose, that they're doing this for Daniel's benefit. I wouldn't be surprised if they're kind of, you know, play acting. One asked the question that he knows the answer of, of course, but he wants to hear him give the answer in Daniel's presence. Have you ever done that? I've done that sometimes. It's an effective and fun way of preaching the gospel to people where, you know, you'll work together with a partner and you'll sit in a public place and one guy will play as if he's the, you know, the evangelized and the other plays as if he's an evangelist. And, you know, you just kind of get a conversation going clearly that other people can hear around. You hear people kind of bending their ears to hear the conversation. Come up with a lot of great objections and such. But it's well, I've had fun with it. That's all I'll say. But the question is, how long is this going to be? In other words, this great time of trouble that's prophesied to come upon the Jewish people. How long will it last? And we're fascinated, might I say, staggered to see what the answer is. Did you see what it is? Time times and half a time. That's biblical lingo for three and a half years. Time in the singular is one year times in the dual. Believe it or not, Hebrew has a dual tense, singular, dual, and then more than two. So it's one and two and one half. Three and a half years is what this is indicating. So this great time of horrible persecution will last for three and a half years. And it's interesting to see that this period of three and a half years described in so many other places in Scripture is a key aspect of God's redemptive plan, because the last portion of Daniel's 70 weeks, the last seven year period is divided into two, three and a half year periods. Daniel 725 describes a three and a half year period that the saints are given into the Antichrist's hands. Daniel 927 describes it as the period between the breaking of Antichrist's covenant with Israel, the setting up of the abomination of desolation and the establishment of Jesus's kingdom. Daniel 127 describes the duration of the time of trouble for Israel. Revelation 11 to describes it as the period that the holy city will be tread underfoot by the Gentiles. Revelation 11, three describes it as the period of ministry for the two witnesses. Revelation 12, six and 14 describe it as the period that Israel or perhaps its remnant is preserved by God in the wilderness. And Revelation 13, five describes it as the duration of Antichrist's authority to rule, persecute and blaspheme. Taking all these things together, it's amazing how much we know about this last seven year period, especially about the last half. And then when it says and when the power of the holy people has been shattered, all these things shall be finished. The people of Israel will seem will appear to be completely crushed as these things end. But at that time, the Messiah, upon whom they will trust before he returns, he will return to rescue him. I know it sounds fantastic. I feel strange talking about these things sometimes because I'm very familiar with what the Bible says about them, and sometimes it's easy for me to forget how fantastic it must sound in the ears of those who aren't familiar with the Bible. I mean, I can just imagine somebody saying, are you telling me that the Jewish people will come and trust in Jesus as their Messiah as a whole? Not every last Jewish person, but as a whole, the Jewish people will be a Jesus as Messiah trusting people? Yes, that's what I'm telling you. The Bible says that's what will happen. Jesus said to the people of Israel, he said, you will not see me again until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Before Jesus returns to this earth, by and large, the Jewish people will have turned their hearts towards him and they will welcome him as a coming rescuer to save them from final annihilation. Verse eight, although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? I'm comforted by the fact that Daniel didn't understand it all. I mean, if he didn't understand it all being right there, it makes me feel pretty good about not understanding every aspect of these things. And Daniel is like, you know, how is this all going to turn out? I mean, this looks all pretty bad. Verse nine, here's the answer. It says, and he said, go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand. But the wise shall understand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days. But you go your way till the end, for you shall rest and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days. You know, Daniel is worried about these things. He's thinking, oh, Lord, this great time of calamity and trouble is going to come upon my people. How's it all going to turn out, God? How's it all going to happen? You know what the Lord basically tells Daniel? Daniel, forget about it. Don't worry. Go your way. I've got things under control here. I've got things under command. Go your way, Daniel. Daniel has to be content with what the Lord has revealed and to take it from there. And then he says the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. You see, these things won't be revealed in greater understanding until the time of the end. There's a sense in which these prophecies are closed and sealed up until the end times. I think, again, it's remarkable how the church has had an amazing focus on prophetic things the last hundred and fifty years and how much more has been written and understood and developed and come to in that period of time. I think, again, this is a fulfillment of this prophecy. Now, again, we shouldn't think that there was no instruction, no blessing, no benefit in these words for any generation until the time of the end. But the meaning of these prophecies would be less mysteries or less mysterious at the time of the end. By the way, one of the common arguments against some understandings of biblical prophecy is your ideas are new Christians in the early church or through the ages didn't teach these things. Your ideas are wrong because they only came about one hundred and fifty years ago. I think what Daniel says here makes perfect sense and a perfect answer to that argument. Well, Daniel said that things would be understood and unsealed and knowledge would increase at the end. Why does it surprise us to see it work out this way? Now, in that period of the time, he says, many shall be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly. It kind of has the idea of the good will get gooder and the bad will get badder. If I could speak in such broken English, you know, it's just going to go that way, that they'll be purified, made white. But on the flip side, the wicked should do wickedly. But then he comes and gives an amazing word in verse eleven. Did you notice this? It says, and from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up, there should be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. This is absolutely fascinating. Daniel says that from the time of the abomination of desolation to the final consummation of all things, you can start marking your calendar. Now, that's absolutely amazing. There will be people on the earth during the Great Tribulation. I trust that none of us will. But there will be people on the earth during the Great Tribulation will see this. And when they see the abomination of desolation, when they see the Antichrist set up an idolatrous image of himself in the temple and demand that the entire world worship it, they'll know that's the abomination of desolation. Friends, literally, you can start marking your calendar to the day Jesus will return. Matter of fact, I think it'll be commonly known that Jesus is coming back to the earth. And that's why armies of the world will gather together at the Valley of Megiddo. Again, the battle commonly known as Armageddon. I think in an attempt to keep Jesus from coming back to this earth, as misguided as that is trying to shoot Jesus out of the sky with an ICBM. How crazy is that? I think it'll be known because this is exactly what it says. One thousand two hundred and ninety days later. Now, this is why Jesus pointed to Daniel's prophecy of the abomination of desolation as the sign that would mark the immediacy of his return. Now, there's something very interesting about this, though, because what we have is one thousand two hundred and ninety days, which is not three and a half years. It's three and a half years plus 30 days. And then he mentions one thousand three hundred and thirty five days. You say, oh, man, what's this? Blessed is he who remains until the comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days. You can speculate a lot. Let me give you what I think is the best answer to this. I would say that at the end of three and a half years, one thousand two hundred and sixty days from the time of the abomination of desolation, Jesus Christ returns in glory to this earth. I think that over the next 30 days he establishes his government upon this earth. I mean, this is going to happen. I mean, it's almost difficult for us to imagine this, but it's going to happen real on the real physical earth. The kingdoms of this earth will no longer be ruled by man, but by Jesus Christ and his glorified saints. You and I. And that's not going to happen in a snap. I think 30 days for Jesus Christ to establish his governmental control over this earth is not unreasonable. Then I believe there will be another forty five days that was alluded to by Jesus in Matthew, chapter twenty five, known as the judgment of the nations. Because not everybody who survives the great tribulation will be allowed to go into what we call the millennial earth. But there will be a judgment, the judgment of the sheep and the goats. Do you understand that the judgment of the sheep and the goats in Matthew, chapter twenty five, it wasn't between saved and damned, but from those who were given the right to enter the millennial kingdom and those who are not. Of course, those who are not were sent to the lake of fire. But there will be many who are allowed to enter into the millennial kingdom. And so that's the best explanation I could give you there that that those are the markers at twelve hundred and sixty days after the abomination of desolation. Jesus returns in glory at twelve ninety. His government is established on this earth at thirteen thirty five. The nations have been judged and we enter into the thousand year millennial earth in some ways that the best is verse 13 says, but you go your way till the end, for you shall rest and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days. You know, Daniel's mind was filled with exciting and even frightening prophetic thoughts, and it would have been easy to allow those things to become a distraction to him instead of a blessing. So the angel concludes with an important reminder, go your way to the end. Daniel, God has a course for you to complete. Stay focused on that course until the end. In other words, friends, we we wait for the return of Jesus. We anticipate the return of Jesus. But until that time, we will be about our father's business. We will go our way till the end. There's an old story in colonial times where there was some state calling colonial Congress meeting in one of the states and all these lawmakers were gathered together and very ominously it was either an eclipse or just a very dark thundercloud that that blocked out the sun. And you know how strange it is where in the middle of the day it gets very dark and there was lightning everywhere and rain and the building was shaking. And some of the lawmakers being religious or maybe just spiritual men or superstitious men, they said, gee, maybe this is, you know, the Lord returning and, you know, we better go home. One of the lawmakers stood up and he said, well, gentlemen, I don't know if it's the Lord returning or not, but if it is, I want him to find me about my business. Let's carry on the conduct of this Congress. That should be our attitude, waiting for, anticipating, watching for the soon return of Jesus Christ, but being about our business because of it. You know, at the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus told Peter about his destiny to die as a martyr for Jesus. And Peter wanted to know about the Apostle John's destiny. And so he asked Jesus, well, Jesus, what about John? You know what Jesus answered him to paraphrase? He told Peter, it's none of your business. You follow me. It's the same way Daniel was not to spend all his time and energy speculating and worrying about things that he couldn't know. Instead, he was to simply obey the word to go your way till the end, something that every one of us has to do. So we're very excited about the anticipation of the soon return of Jesus, but we don't let it distract us from being about our father's business. We let it spur us on to more diligent service instead of distracting us from it. And Lord, that's our prayer tonight. We thank you for the book of Daniel, for the great things that you've shown us throughout this book. But Lord, we're very impressed with the thought that we need you to speak to our hearts. To keep us, Lord, on that edge of anticipating the soon return of Jesus and being about our father's business. We long for that, Lord. Do this great work in us, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.