Peter Tan-Chi - Are You Ready?
Greetings in the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Today, people are asking, "Are we living in end times? What's happening"? Let me tell you why they're asking these questions. Because in our generation, for the first time, we are impacted by this pandemic. It is global in scope. People are all affected, rich, poor, powerful, not powerful, famous, not famous, regardless of your social status. I'm sure you know, people who have died. And that's why the question is very relevant. Are we living in end times? Today, we will begin a new series. It's called End Game. Are you ready? I want to begin with a study of biblical prophecies. Why do we study biblical prophecies? To grow our faith, because our faith is anchored on God's word.
You cannot grow your faith apart from God's word. But if you study Bible prophecies it will validate the reliability, the accuracy, and the truthfulness of God's word. You see, how will you put your faith in God's word if you have doubts? For many people, their faith is anchored on feelings, and that is the problem. Our faith must be anchored on the objective truth of God's word, God's promises. By studying prophecy, your faith will grow because you'll realize how accurate, how reliable, how true the Bible is. Why? Almost one third of the Bible are prophecies; they're predictive prophecy. And there are no other books comparable to the Bible. All other religious books do not have the kind of prophecy that the Bible has. From nations, from events, up to today, right before our eyes, we're seeing biblical prophecies fulfilled, especially when you look at Israel, when you look at Europe.
That's why it is important to study biblical prophecies because it'll validate the character of God. It will validate how faithful, how powerful and how true God is when it comes to fulfilling His promises. And above all, studying biblical prophecies will help you understand the end. It will give you peace. It will give you security. You will not be rattled. Even if circumstances around you, around us, is shaking, scary. Why? Because you know the end game. You know what's going to happen at the end, and the Bible is very clear. The Bible tells us, ultimately, what is the end game, and it will help you make wise decisions. In Isaiah 44:6-7, the Bible tells us clearly, God says, And then He continues, Notice what it says, God is saying, "You tell Me what's going to happen in the future". And that's how you can tell whether you are God or not.
In Isaiah 46, verses 9 and 10, the Bible tells us, That is why we study biblical prophecy, because it validates the word of God. It validates the accuracy, the truthfulness of God's word. God is saying, "Test me! I will tell you before it happens". Today we will begin with the book of Daniel. Why Daniel? Daniel is one of those amazing prophetic books. It was written in the sixth century B.C. Daniel served under four different kings. He served different empires. But what's amazing is this: the prophet Daniel was quoted by none other than Jesus when he talks about end times. And the word picture used by Daniel, the symbolism, is also repeated in the book of Revelation. So the book of Daniel is foundational. The prophecy has a lot of progressive parallelism. What do I mean?
It tells us what's going to happen in the future, and then a few chapters down, it repeats. No wonder the book of Daniel is attacked by a lot of liberals. Why? Because they cannot believe how accurate the book of Daniel is. You see, the book of Daniel prophesied about world empires, and what was so shocking to them: it all came true. In the prophecy of the book of Daniel 2, I'd like to highlight the reality that God knows everything. He is sovereign. He is in control of history. I'd like you to know: the end game of God is the reality of the coming of His kingdom. And lastly, I'd like to highlight the grace of God. God in His grace chose to reveal His prophecy to King Nebuchadnezzar because God wanted King Nebuchadnezzar to be prepared. God wanted the king to repent. Let's begin.
In Daniel 2, let's read, Here's the background: King Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. Notice the grammar: plural. Apparently, that same dream kept coming back and he was so troubled. The Bible says, "his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him". He could not sleep! You know, I'm discovering something: many times when God wants to get our attention, God moves in mysterious ways. He knows how to get the attention of this particular king: sleeplessness. The Bible tells us he was anxious. The truth is God wants to communicate with us, He wants to speak with us, but we don't listen. We're too busy pursuing our own agenda. My question is this, are you able to be sensitive enough to listen to the Lord? God does not always speak to us in dreams.
Today, He speaks to us through His word, through the Holy Spirit, through the pastors, through your Bible teachers. Are you learning to listen to the Lord? What is so amazing about the king is the king was very wise. He told his wise men, "Tell me the dream, and then tell me the interpretation". Why did the king do that? Because the king knew that should he tell them the dream, the interpretation can be as subjective as possible. He wanted to be sure that these people know exactly the meaning of the dream. The wise men told the king, Do you know what they are saying? "King, what you are requesting is impossible. You are telling us to tell you what is your dream; secondly, you are telling us to interpret it. It's impossible". Because of this, the Bible tells us, the king got so angry. He was so angry, he decided all of these wise men, so-called magicians, should all die.
And that is the background of the story. And that's how Daniel got involved. The Bible tells us when Daniel heard that his life was in danger, Daniel replied. Daniel said... in other words, Daniel, by God's wisdom, God gave him the right words to appeal to the captain of the bodyguard. And Daniel said, "Please, give us more time". What's amazing was Arioch agreed. So when Daniel stood before the king, this is amazing... You know, I realized God is sovereign in this story. Why do I say God is sovereign? God, in His own initiative, gave Nebuchadnezzar the dream. God, because of His sovereignty, granted Daniel the grace so that the king will listen to him. Why? Because God has a purpose. Guess what happened? When Daniel appealed to the king, and the king granted him his request, this is what Daniel did.
Here you have the first prayer meeting composed of young people recorded in the Bible. Here was Daniel calling for a prayer gathering of young men. What does that tell you about Daniel? I realized Daniel's faith was solidly anchored on who God is. You will notice, when Daniel was in trouble, he resorted to prayer. My question to all of us is simply this: how is your prayer life? Are you facing difficult situations? Are you facing impossible situations? The good news I have for you is we have a wonderful God an all-powerful God, and He wants us to always come before Him, to tell Him our problems. How is your prayer life? After the prayer gathering, the most amazing thing happened.
The Bible tells us in Daniel 2 verses 19 and 13, the mystery was revealed. Daniel understood the mystery! And Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Do you notice how God-centered Daniel was? He acknowledges God as the one who revealed the vision. In Daniel chapter two, the whole theme is about the sovereignty of God. In God's sovereignty, it is now explained, "It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings". What Daniel is saying is God is the one in control of history. Why is this important for us to know, especially during this time of pandemic? I want you to know what Charles Spurgeon said. This is what he said. For Charles Spurgeon, knowing that God is in control is a tremendous comfort.
In other words, knowing that God is in control will help you go through adverse conditions, difficult circumstances, because you know in your heart that God is in absolute control. And because God is in absolute control, He knows exactly what is best for you and for me. Why this is so important, the Bible tells us in Romans 8: This is the sovereignty of God. He allows things to happen, but notice something? Something bad may happen with His permission, but in His sovereignty, He can make bad things that will ultimately become good. Notice what it says: "according to His purpose". The condition is this: "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God".
You see God's sovereignty does not remove human responsibility. Just because God is in control does not mean we can become careless. We've got to do our part. Our part here is to love God. In the story of Daniel, his part was to pray. We have responsibilities. God's sovereignty and human responsibility do not contradict. Notice what it says: God is sovereign. God wants us to be like His son in character: Christlikeness. What does He do? He allows circumstances. And that's why it is important that today you understand theology, the sovereignty of God, as reflected in the prophecy of Daniel chapter two. You know how Daniel answered? It is amazing! He gave glory to God!
This is his answer: "However", look at verse 28, "Daniel continued, That's the sovereignty of God. God decides whom He'll reveal His plans. In this case, God decided to show it to Nebuchadnezzar and to show it to Daniel. So this is what Daniel said: And then Daniel begins to explain the four parts: And then after explaining the characteristics, he now explained the meaning. By this time, the king was willing to believe. Why? Because Daniel knew that dream and now he interprets it, and the king knew his interpretation must be true. Daniel said, You are the head of gold. God caused you to rule over everybody". Daniel mentioned that there'll be "another kingdom inferior to you," made of silver. And then Daniel described another third kingdom, that will be made of bronze. And then he described the fourth kingdom, "as strong as iron," and then it's made of clay also.
Notice what he says: "In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay, partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom". Daniel is saying this kingdom, some parts will be strong, some parts will be weak. Verse 42: In short, it will be a divided kingdom also. My goodness! What in the world is Daniel talking about? Remember, there are many prophecies that at that time, they may not know exactly what it is saying, but when you look back at history, you can see how accurate the prophecies are. So Daniel talks about, in that statue, it speaks of four empires eventually to be destroyed by something. Let me explain. The first empire was Babylon, represented by the King Nebuchadnezzar, the head.
The second empire was the breasts and arms made of silver: that's the Medo-Persian empire, amazingly accurate. Then you have the belly and the thigh: the Greek empire. And then the last one, you have the legs of iron and feet of iron and clay, and you will see how this perfectly described what happened to the Roman empire. It was very strong, then it became weaker and weaker until it divided into the Western Roman empire and the Eastern Roman empire. The Western Roman empire, the capital was Rome; the Eastern Roman empire, the capital was Constantinople. But at the end the Eastern empire lasted longer, it lasted up to 1453 AD. Now you will think the Roman empire has ended. No, because the Bible talks about there'll be a revival, a revived Roman empire. It's called the European Union.
Notice the European Union, it's a combination of the former subjects of the Roman empire. But they're not exactly united, some are strong, some are weak. We are now living in the end times. The prophecy about the fourth empire is happening right before our eyes, the revival of the old Roman empire, which is the European Union. You have to know historically, many years ago, there were many dictators who tried to divide the Roman empire. You had Hitler, Stalin, but the truth is this: at the right time, the European economic community was formed in 1957, which eventually became our current European Union, a revival of the Roman empire. Prophecy gives you the reality: we are now living in the end times. Are we ready to meet the coming King?
To understand this further, I want you to see how Daniel 7 further clarifies Daniel 2. In Daniel 7, God gave Daniel a similar vision with different symbolism to explain the four world empires. In Daniel 2, the different empires were characterized by the statue. In Daniel 7, the different empires were characterized by various animals. What do I mean? The Babylonian empire is now represented by a picture of a lion with wings. The Medo-Persian empire is characterized by a bear, and the Greek empire was characterized by a leopard with wings. Now this is uncanny because Alexander the Great represented the Greek empire, how it expanded so fast, like a leopard plus wings. How it expanded: Alexander the Great conquered that part of the world in less than 13 years. Can you imagine from Europe all the way to the Middle East, all the way to India. That's Alexander the Great.
And then lastly, you have the Roman empire. The Roman empire was characterized by something that's very unusual. It's like a very strong animal; at the same time, notice, it is not a real animal. Why? I believe it is describing the revived Roman empire today. But all of this has one conclusion: one day, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. And God's kingdom will endure forever. What is that kingdom? To understand that kingdom further, I want you to notice in verse 45, it says, God wanted the King Nebuchadnezzar to know that one day there will be a kingdom, not by human hands, not by human accomplishments. It's going to be the kingdom ushered in by none other than God Himself.
To understand this kingdom, I'd like you to go to Daniel 7. Here is now a further explanation of the fifth kingdom, the one that is made from a stone that will now occupy the whole world. And it's talking about the Son of Man. The Son of Man, "one like a Son of Man was coming, he came to the Ancient of Days". Who is the Son of Man? The Bible tells us Jesus was referring to Himself when He discussed about the Son of Man. In Matthew 26:63-65, Jesus was interrogated by the high priests. "Are you the Christ, the Son of the living God"? Did you notice: he used that messianic term. "You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, coming on the clouds of heaven". Jesus was referring the Son of Man to Himself as a coming ruler as a coming king.
This prophecy tells us that someday the kingdom of God will come, and the kingdom of God is permanent, and the kingdom of God will be governed by none other than Jesus. The prophecy about the four different world empires and the coming of the permanent eternal kingdom of God reminds me of the following lessons, especially end game. What's the end game? Are you ready? The first thing I'd like you to remember is this: that God is sovereign. History is basically His story. God controls history. Second, I want you to realize the end game is something like this: God's kingdom is eternal, man's kingdom is temporal. You will notice the description of those empires: Babylonian empire, Medo-Persian empire, the Greek empire, the Roman empire, only God's kingdom is eternal, the rest are all temporal.
What's the application? The application is simply this: whatever you and I will accomplish, whatever we strive for, the truth is this: it's all temporal. At the end of the day, only God's kingdom is eternal. This is the end game. All of our accomplishments will be nothing. It is only God's kingdom that is eternal. This reality tells me whatever you do, if it is not for God's kingdom, it will be useless. It will be meaningless. It will be temporal. I think of Alexander the Great, how he conquered the known world. At the age of 33, he died. Look at all of his efforts. Look at all of his victories. It's meaningless. You and I must understand the end game: that God's kingdom is the only one that's eternal. All earthly kingdoms, including manmade accomplishments, apart from pursuing God's kingdom is meaningless, is temporal.
I'm reminded of a close friend of mine who was in love with the Lord for a time. He was excited about the work of God. Then something happened: he fell in love with the world. In fact, he told me, he said, "Peter, if I don't make 50 million pesos a week, I am not happy". He fell in love with money. And slowly but surely, I saw his life: from serving God, he began to serve his own kingdom, his own empire. And what is so sad is during this pandemic, he died. I thought of all of his material possessions. It's meaningless. You see ladies and gentlemen, you must know the end game. What are you really pursuing? What are you really living for? The king was warned that everything will be temporal except the coming kingdom, which is going to be established by God.
Another lesson in this end game is not only is God's kingdom permanent, eternal, Jesus is coming again as King. Are you aware that Jesus is going to come again? How should this impact your life? In 2 Timothy 4:1 and 2, this is what the Bible tells us: Jesus is going to come again to judge the living and the dead. He's going to come again, not only as King, but as the judge of the living and the dead. What does that mean? The truth is there are times when you feel that this world is not fair. You feel there is no justice; you feel so bad. I know of some wives, they live with husbands who are totally irresponsible. They go through pain. I know some people. I remember some friends of mine from China who went to jail, imprisoned for 20 years. Why? Simply because they are followers of Jesus, they were pastors. Where is fairness? Where is justice?
But the truth is this: knowing the certainty of the future, knowing that Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead, my friends, there will be justice. The reality of what's going to happen to the future should not bring fear, it should bring excitement. It should tell us that the hope of his returning is such an amazing reality! It should inspire us to live for God because eventually Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. Knowing that Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead, Paul tells Timothy in verse two, In short, for us to be ready, we need to help others be ready, and he tells us we are to be a witness. We are to preach the word, we are to share the Good News about Jesus, about Him coming again. Are you ready? Are you doing your part?
The truth of knowing the end game should really inspire us not to be afraid, not to be fearful because you know what's going to happen. Therefore, make wise decisions. Choose wisely because you know what's going to be the end, and this is what's going to be the end: the Bible tells us we will share in God's kingdom; we will reign with Him! Think about it! The Bible tells us we will be part of God's eternal kingdom. That's what the book of Daniel tells us. It will be given to God's people. He tells us explicitly in the prophecy of Daniel, this is what's going to happen: What I want to highlight is this amazing prophecy: that someday, "all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One", who are the people of the saints of the Highest One? That's you. That's me. We are God's people.
And the book of Revelation confirms this reality: that one day God's people, the saints, we will reign with Him. If God's prophecies have been fulfilled in the past, as you look at history, there are still many more prophecies that will be fulfilled in the future. But my point is this: if His promises, if the prophecies have happened already, and you have seen this, how much more will the future prophecies come true? Question: are you ready? Are you preparing for the inevitable? God extended His grace to King Nebuchadnezzar. God revealed to the king what will happen. And God pointed the king to Himself. No wonder the king fell on his face, did homage and gave orders to present to Him an offering and fragrance, incense.
Notice what the king said: God used Daniel, God used the dream to evangelize King Nebuchadnezzar. The only problem is this: did the king learn? You see, there are times in our life when God speaks to us, I call that the sovereignty of God in extending His grace. How did Nebuchadnezzar respond? In Daniel 2, it seems that Nebuchadnezzar understood that God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. However, if you go to chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, you will notice something: that man has this amazing weakness, amazing propensity to pursue personal greed, to pursue personal glory. King Nebuchadnezzar failed to recognize that the end game is all about God, is all about Jesus.
Nebuchadnezzar did not know that at the end, it's about God, not him. And sad to say, many of us are like Nebuchadnezzar. There are times when God speaks to you and you're excited, you like to hear. But if you don't make daily choices to remind ourselves that the ultimate end game is all about God, His glory, His kingdom, I'm afraid you'll pursue your own agenda. And in the pursuit of your own agenda, in the pursuit of your own kingdom, it can be your family, it can be your business, it can be your glory, the sad thing is this: everything is going to be lost. Everything will pass away.
Remember: only the kingdom of God will last forever and ever. Knowing the end game, are you ready? I'd like to give you this opportunity to really ask yourself: what are you living for? What are your priorities? Is it God's eternal kingdom or is it your own personal kingdom, your own empire, your own little world? I pray that God would speak to you and that you will not be like Nebuchadnezzar, but you will be like Daniel. Learn to choose the things that will last for eternity. And God's kingdom is coming. Jesus is coming again, and you will be part of the kingdom of Jesus. The only question is, are you prepared? Are you ready? Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, I've been living for myself. I've been self-centered. I've been worldly-centered. All I think about are material things. Today, I realize the end game. I realize, Lord Jesus, Your kingdom is the only kingdom that's permanent. You are coming again, and that You invite us to be part of Your kingdom. So Lord Jesus, today, I humble myself. I repent of my self-centeredness. I come to you, Jesus. I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Change my heart. Give me a desire to live for You and to please You. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. And amen.