1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,200 I want to invite you to open to Daniel chapter 1. 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:09,960 Daniel chapter 1 you'll see on the screen we have here. 3 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,040 We're going to learn for some lessons from Daniel and Daniel 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:15,520 is a book of 12 chapters. I have up there Daniel one 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:18,200 through 12. We are not going to go through 6 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:21,840 each and every chapter this morning as a expository. 7 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,360 So we're just going to kind of skip over and hit some high 8 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,520 points, kind of be moving back and forth through some scripture 9 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:30,920 to hopefully learn some things from Daniel. 10 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:39,320 This is almost 10 years before Ezekiel was exiled, nearly 20 11 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,080 years before the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. 12 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:48,480 King Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon comes into to Jerusalem and 13 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:53,040 Judah and begins to plunder the temple and the city there and 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,080 listen to Daniel starting in verse 1 of chapter 1, it says 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,680 there in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of 16 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,680 Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and 17 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,600 besieged it. And the Lord gave Joy Kim 18 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,520 Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with some of the 19 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,480 articles of the House of God, which he carried into the land 20 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:16,800 of Shinar to the House of his God. 21 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,600 And he brought the articles into the treasure of the House of his 22 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:25,040 God. Then the king instructed Aspen, 23 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:29,400 as the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of 24 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:32,480 Israel and some of the King's descendants and some of the 25 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,480 kings of the of the nobles, young men in whom there was no 26 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:38,880 blemish, but good looking, gifted and all. 27 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,360 And all had wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to 28 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:46,120 understand who had the ability to serve in the King's palace 29 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,400 and whom they might teach the language and literature of the 30 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,800 Chaldeans. So in addition to the 31 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,280 Nebuchadnezzar bringing in and, and sieging Jerusalem and 32 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:04,280 bringing in these young, young men to serve him there, it 33 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,800 wasn't just those youths that were brought in, but it to his 34 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:09,600 royal family. But we'll notice there in verse 35 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,680 2 that they also took articles from the temple. 36 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,480 And we see was from it was common for the Babylonians to 37 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,880 when they would go to war and to siege these cities, they would 38 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,520 take the, the items that maybe that city was using to worship 39 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,160 their gods. And it would bring him into the, 40 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,080 the, the temple of the Babylonians for, for their God. 41 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,640 They would assume that the Babylonian gods are superior to 42 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:38,840 the God or gods that they had overtaken. 43 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,920 And so they would also take and plunder from the temple of God 44 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:45,920 of the people that they were overtaking and bring it back 45 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:49,720 into their temple as a sign of superiority to other gods. 46 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,360 Well, the Babylonians were going to have some learning to do 47 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,360 during that time because of those things that they were 48 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:01,800 doing. We're going to learn how, and 49 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,480 the whole point of this book of Daniel is to show that there is 50 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:10,320 one God supreme over all, sovereign over all, and he is 51 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,280 worthy of all praise. There's one God who is sovereign 52 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,640 over all things, past, present and future. 53 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,000 And that really is the message of the book of Daniel to prove 54 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,840 that. And the book of this, this point 55 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,240 of this book is to show the Israelites and the Babylonians 56 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:30,920 and every other nation that there is no other God like the 57 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:37,280 God of Israel. And these Hebrew boys, Daniel 58 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,160 and his friends are going to be an instrument in the hands of 59 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:45,600 God to show his great glory. So I want us to see what that 60 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,240 means for our lives in this, you know, today. 61 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,640 What does the book of Daniel teach us today? 62 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,800 Daniel chapters one through 12 and the first six chapters are 63 00:03:55,800 --> 00:04:00,880 basically you see a story in each chapter of those first six 64 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:04,880 chapters and then visions and revelations in the last 6 chap 6 65 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,280 chapters. So we're going to skim through 66 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:12,440 these and learn how to have a God centered perspective on our 67 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:17,440 lives in the back of Daniel. God humbles the proud. 68 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:22,520 God humbles the proud. If you go to chapter 4, if you 69 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,200 would like, in chapter 4, at the end of the chapter, verse 28, 70 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,160 during that chapter, King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and 71 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:32,760 it's his second dream that he had. 72 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,560 And Daniel once again, just like he did with the first dream of 73 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,280 Nebuchadnezzar, he interprets that dream. 74 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:42,000 And the whole dream Daniel interpreted was about 75 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:46,160 Nebuchadnezzar and all the power that and authority and all his 76 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,120 power and authority, but it was going to be taken for him, from 77 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,760 him because of his pride. Well, Nebuchadnezzar didn't 78 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:54,880 understand that interpretation. He didn't get it. 79 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:58,720 And so when you get to verse 28, after this dream had been 80 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,480 interpreted, he's still continuing in pride. 81 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,800 It says there in verse 28. All this came upon King 82 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,680 Nebuchadnezzar, and at the end of the 12 months he was walking 83 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:10,440 about the royal palace of Babylon. 84 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:15,440 The king spoke saying, is not this great Babylon that I have 85 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:20,040 built for my royal dwelling, for royal dwelling by my mighty 86 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:22,840 power and for the honor of my majesty? 87 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,160 Just based on this verse alone, we can understand that 88 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:31,280 Nebuchadnezzar had a couple things that he was going to 89 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:33,440 learn. He was going to learn some 90 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:35,000 things that were very significant. 91 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,840 And at the core of this King's words that these words 92 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:42,480 Nebuchadnezzar, it was pride and self-sufficiency. 93 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:44,160 Look what I can do, look what I have done. 94 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:49,080 And I think sometimes we have that same kind of attitude in 95 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,080 ourselves. Sometimes, you know, sometimes 96 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:52,760 we are prone to self-sufficiency. 97 00:05:53,200 --> 00:06:01,800 Look at also in in verse 30, actually starting verse 31, 98 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:06,520 while the word was still in the King's mouth, a voice fell from 99 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,760 heaven. King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it 100 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,880 is spoken, The Kingdom has departed from you, and they 101 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,600 shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the 102 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,080 beasts of the field. They shall make you to eat grass 103 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,480 like oxygen, and seven times shall Passover you until you 104 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:26,720 know that the most High rules in the Kingdom of men, and gives it 105 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,560 to whomever he chooses. That very hour the word was 106 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:32,440 fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar. 107 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,120 He was driven from men and ate grass like oxen. 108 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,680 His body was wet with a dew of of heaven, till his hair had 109 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:45,160 grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird's claws. 110 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,840 Not a good day for Nebuchadnezzar. 111 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:56,960 Not a good day. We could see that King 112 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,400 Nebuchadnezzar was saying, I have built this great Babylon. 113 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,960 I have done it for my glory, for for look what I have done with 114 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:06,840 my own hands. That's what he was saying there. 115 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:08,760 That was the mantra of King Nebuchadnezzar. 116 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,080 We can do, he can do anything he wanted to do. 117 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,240 And that's sometimes what we see in America too. 118 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:16,040 You know, we can do whatever we want to do. 119 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,160 Let me work hard. Let me use what I've got. 120 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,040 Let me, let me build around me what I can do. 121 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,600 Let me muster up some strength in myself and do what I want to 122 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:30,200 do. You know, God is not impressed 123 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:36,160 by any one of our resumes in this room or anyone in America 124 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,320 or the world. It does not matter to Him. 125 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:44,280 It doesn't matter what we've done. 126 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:49,360 The reality is that anything that we have done, we have only 127 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,000 done it because God is sovereign and let us do. 128 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:54,640 And he's given us the power to do it. 129 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:56,760 He has given us the strength to do it. 130 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,560 The the even just the air that we breathe, the breath that we 131 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,800 just breathe. That's because God is allowing 132 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,920 us to breathe during this time, and He's able to take it away at 133 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:12,880 any time He wants to as well. So we see that the goal of 134 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:17,600 Nebuchadnezzar, who was a sinful man, his goal is to make much of 135 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,120 himself. That was Nebuchadnezzar's goal, 136 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:27,240 and God humbles him. As we just read, God humbles the 137 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:34,320 proud and God exalts the humble. So we see next in verse 34 here 138 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,159 continuing on it says, and at the end of that time I, 139 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:42,640 Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding 140 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,800 returned to me, and I blessed the most high and praised and 141 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,840 honored him who lives forever. For His dominion is everlasting 142 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:54,040 dominion, and His Kingdom is from generation to generation, 143 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,760 and the all inhabitants of the earth are are reputed as 144 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,720 nothing. He does according to His will in 145 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:04,080 the army of heaven. And among the inhabitants of all 146 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:07,600 the earth, no one can restrain his Anne or say to him, What 147 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:15,440 have you done? At the same time, my reason turn 148 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:18,320 to return to me For the glory of my Kingdom. 149 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:20,160 My honor and splendor returned to me. 150 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:22,640 My counselors and nobles resorted to me. 151 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,120 I was restored to my Kingdom. An excellent majesty was added 152 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,520 to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise 153 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,000 and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are 154 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,320 truth and his ways are ways justice. 155 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:41,400 And those who walk in pride he is able to put down South. 156 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,680 Whether it's this Pagan king of Nebuchadnezzar, whether it's the 157 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,520 the young boys or the young Hebrew, Hebrew boys in this 158 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,760 story, God is showing that we are all dependent on his power 159 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:55,800 and we live for his praise. And that is really the God 160 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:58,680 centered life. God exalts the humble. 161 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:00,960 We, you know, we trust in his power, power. 162 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,720 Whether it's abstaining from the King's food that we saw in 163 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,200 chapter 1, whether it's wisdom to interpret dreams in chapter 164 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:10,880 2, whether it was living through a fiery furnace in chapter 3, 165 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,040 interpreting dreams in chapter 4, standing up against the king 166 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,080 in chapter 5. We're spending the night in a 167 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:21,680 den of lions in chapter 6, trusting in the power of God and 168 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:26,040 living for the praise of God. So I hope to show this to you 169 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,320 this morning. It was such a good study for me 170 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,080 and I'm I'm so glad that I was able to study this and learn 171 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:37,120 these things. At the end of chapter 2, if you 172 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:45,040 want to go there starting in verse 3046, Daniel interprets 173 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:49,480 Nebuchadnezzar's his first dream that God gives that God gives 174 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:55,080 Daniel the power to do. And in chapter 2 verse 46 we see 175 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:59,520 here it says then Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face prostate before 176 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,680 Daniel and commanded that they should present an offering and 177 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:06,120 incense to him. The king answered Daniel and 178 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,960 said truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings and a 179 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,480 revealer of secrets since you could reveal his secret. 180 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,160 This is astounding. This is really an amazing 181 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:19,920 picture that we see here. The most powerful king in the 182 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:25,040 world at the time, bowing at the feet of an exile from Jerusalem 183 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:29,440 and giving praise to God. Chapter 3, verse 26 after 184 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,440 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are thrown into a fiery furnace, 185 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,680 we see what happens to them. To what effect? 186 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:39,280 In verse 26 it says Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the 187 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:41,680 mouth of the burning fire and furnace and spoke, saying, 188 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:45,200 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, 189 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,640 come out and come here. And Shadrach, Meshach and 190 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:50,680 Abednego came from the midst of the fire. 191 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,520 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the King's 192 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,840 counselors gathered together, and they saw these men who were 193 00:11:57,240 --> 00:11:59,560 whose bodies the fire had no power. 194 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,200 The hair of their head was not singed, nor were there garments 195 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,600 affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. 196 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:11,360 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, 197 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:14,560 Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his Angel and delivered his 198 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:18,240 servants who trusted him. And they have, and they have 199 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:21,000 frustrated the King's word and yielded their bodies. 200 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,360 And they should not serve nor worship any God except their own 201 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:27,960 God. Therefore, I make a decree that 202 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:31,040 any people, nation or language which speaks anything amiss 203 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,320 against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be 204 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,880 cut in pieces and their house should be made as ash heap, 205 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:42,640 because there is no other God who can deliver like this. 206 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:46,800 If we just read Daniel three, you know this really pretty 207 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,480 awesome story about some guys who were brought out of a fiery 208 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,680 furnace and stop there. You know, we miss the whole 209 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:55,080 point of Daniel. We miss the entire thing. 210 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:58,360 The whole point is the end of the chapter 4 Pagan king to 211 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:05,160 declare God worthy of praise. That was the whole purpose that 212 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,520 God put those boys through that fire was so God could get the 213 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:15,600 glory and God alone. We get into chapter 4 and it 214 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,240 starts with the praise of God, just like we read a second ago, 215 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,200 and it ends with the praise of God as well. 216 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,000 In chapter 5 we have another king, King Belchazzar 217 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:27,200 Belshazzar, who is rebuked and ultimately killed for defaming 218 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,800 and dishonouring God. And then we get to chapter 6, 219 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:34,880 and when we get to the end of chapter 6, verse 25, after 220 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,280 Daniel spends the night of den the lions and comes out alive, 221 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,920 another king wrote another king at this time, which was king 222 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,440 Darius, wrote to all the peoples and nations and languages that 223 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:48,080 dwelt on the earth. Peace be multiplied to you. 224 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:52,440 I make a decree that in every dominion of my Kingdom men must 225 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:56,520 tremble and fear before God, before the God of Daniel, for he 226 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,080 is the living God and steadfast forever. 227 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,160 His Kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and his 228 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:04,920 dominion shall endure to the end. 229 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:09,160 He delivers and rescues and he works signs and wonders in 230 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,040 heaven and earth. Who has delivered Daniel from 231 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:19,720 the power of lions. God is so passionate about him 232 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:26,120 receiving his praise that He will send his servants into a 233 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,880 furnace and or into a lion's den to bring it about. 234 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:34,240 That's how much God deserves and wants His own praise. 235 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,920 That's a God centered perspective that our lives 236 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,600 totally depend on the power of God and totally dedicated and 237 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,480 devoted to his praise. So we do not trust in our own 238 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:49,120 power and refuse to live to live for our own praise. 239 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:52,880 You know, God is the one doing the work in our lives as we 240 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:55,000 depend on him and we live for his glory. 241 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:59,120 That leads to God centered prayer. 242 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:03,920 If you go to the beginning of Daniel chapter 6, probably the 243 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:06,960 most famous story in the book of Daniel, Daniel in the lion's 244 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,880 den, the Bible talks a lot about the sovereignty of God. 245 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:11,920 And we talk about the sovereignty of God here. 246 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,040 We believe in the sovereignty of God, but there is a dangerous 247 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:19,200 temptation that we see when we totally rely and put that into a 248 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,680 different package. You know, there's a belief that 249 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:27,560 that, well, God is sovereign, OK, God is in control of 250 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:29,640 everything. Well, if God's in control of any 251 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:34,240 everything, you know, why do we need to pray? 252 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,440 Why do we pray if God's in control, if he knows what's 253 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:40,760 going to happen, if he's ordained the future and if he's 254 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,120 ordained the past, what's the purpose of prayer? 255 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:45,440 That's a very dangerous place to be. 256 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:48,240 That is not the right mindset that we need to have. 257 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,760 There's even a belief out there that there's no need for 258 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:54,840 evangelism or no need for missionary worker or, or to do 259 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:59,680 anything for the for God because of God's sovereignty, God's 260 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,040 going to save who he wants. He'll draw people to Christ, 261 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:03,920 whomever he desires. So that's it. 262 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,880 We just kind of sit back and let the world unfold the way it's 263 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,880 going to unfold. When you understand that that is 264 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:17,520 a false doctrine. This book puts the sovereignty 265 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:21,160 of God so clearly on display and emphasizes so clearly the 266 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,400 importance of prayer and the centrality of prayer in Daniel's 267 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,320 life. In verse 1 of chapter 6 it says 268 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:33,920 there it pleased Darius to set over the Kingdom 120 satraps to 269 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:37,680 be over the whole Kingdom and over there over these 3 270 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,040 governors of whom Daniel was one, and the satraps might give 271 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:44,080 account to them so that the king would suffer no loss. 272 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,640 Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and 273 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,400 satraps because an excellent spirit was in him and the king 274 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:54,920 gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. 275 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:01,280 So the the picture here, Daniel has now grown and is now served 276 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,040 under numerous kings, when you know Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, 277 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:07,040 Darius. And it's estimated that Daniel 278 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:10,760 is now maybe in his 80s now having rule and reign in a 279 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,240 position second only to the king. 280 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,119 He is one of the three presidents, his most prompt, 281 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,160 he's the most prominent of those three. 282 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,079 And the king plans to give Daniel the Kingdom when he 283 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:27,280 passes. So his position position in the 284 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,640 Kingdom is very great at this point, verse four and five it 285 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,200 says, so the governors and Satrap sought to find some 286 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,600 charge against Daniel concerning the Kingdom, but they could find 287 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,600 no charge or fault because he was faithful, nor was there any 288 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,160 error or fault found in him. Then these men said, we shall 289 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:49,200 not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against 290 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:54,720 him concerning the law of God. These guys know that Daniel will 291 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,520 be obedient to God. They know that no matter what it 292 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,520 costs and they are so and they're starting to scheme based 293 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,680 on his integrity, integrity based on his faithfulness to 294 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:06,560 God. They and they say, you know, we 295 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:08,880 can catch him being faithful to God. 296 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,480 May that be said of us. May that be said of us, no 297 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,880 matter what the cost. Continuing verse 6 through 9. 298 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:21,120 So the governors and satraps throng before the king and said 299 00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:23,960 thus to him King Darius live forever. 300 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:26,840 And all the governors of the Kingdom and the administrators 301 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,240 and satraps, the councillors and advisers, having consulted 302 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,920 together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm 303 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:38,760 decree, that whoever petitions any God or man for 30 days, 304 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:42,480 except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 305 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:46,480 Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so 306 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:49,720 that it cannot be charged according to the law of the 307 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,840 Medes and the Persians, which do which does not alter. 308 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:57,080 Therefore, King Darius signed the written decree. 309 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:03,520 So the setup is complete. Anyone who wants to pray or 310 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:07,680 petition any, any man or God apart from King Darius will be 311 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:12,600 cast into the den of lions. So I want us to put into, you 312 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,600 know, if we can kind of put ourselves into Daniel's shoes 313 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,520 here at this time when this decree comes out, you know, 314 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:24,720 there's, if we're Daniel, you know, we could think there's all 315 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:27,760 kinds of room for justification to do things differently than 316 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,680 I've been doing before. You know, I don't want to be 317 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,240 caught praying publicly because if I get caught praying 318 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,800 publicly, I'm going to be thrown into a lion's den and I'm going 319 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:42,040 to be potentially killed at that point, you know, I can pray when 320 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:44,160 no one else is looking. I'm still praying, right? 321 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,400 And prayer is something between you and God anyway. 322 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,320 After all, God has raised me up to this position for his glory 323 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:54,280 and influence in the Kingdom. Aren't I better off to be alive 324 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:59,320 than dead for God? So there's justification maybe 325 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,600 that Daniel was. You know, going through his 326 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:07,000 head, We don't know. So what does Daniel do? 327 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:12,320 When Daniel knew the document had been signed, he went to his 328 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:15,840 house where he had the windows in his upper chamber open toward 329 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:20,000 Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three 330 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,360 times a day and prayed and gave thanks to God. 331 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:28,360 Just that he had done before. He didn't change or alter the 332 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:33,720 way he was praising God. He kept doing it just the way he 333 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,960 had done before. He prayed three times a day. 334 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:44,800 God's going to do, you know, of course, what he had planned. 335 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,600 Daniel knows that and Daniel sees it later based on the words 336 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:54,360 that we see in Jeremiah, which shows the 70 year exiled and God 337 00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:56,200 will bring his people back. So we know what's going to 338 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,000 happen. So if Daniel knows all this, 339 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:00,120 why? Why pray? 340 00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:02,720 Why continue to pray like that? Why not just coast it out and 341 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:07,240 keep on living? God had an end and a purpose to 342 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:13,840 glorify His name. God is going to do and get the 343 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,640 praise by people who seek Him and petition Him and pray to Him 344 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,080 to make His glory known. So the sovereignty of God is 345 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:25,440 driving Daniel's prayers. That goes for us too. 346 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,560 You know, we're not just bystanders in God's will. 347 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:33,160 We're doing the work of God. We're praying to God, we're 348 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:35,480 working for him. We're serving others, we're 349 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,280 doing all that we can to serve him. 350 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,520 So we don't sit back as spectators of a sovereign God. 351 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:47,240 We, we are participants with a sovereign God to make his glory 352 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,840 known. So Daniel is praying 353 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,600 consistently. And this is certainly an area in 354 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,720 my life that I know I can improve from praying 355 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,680 consistently. And we also pray with courage. 356 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:04,800 Then Daniel knows what's going to happen and he prays anyway. 357 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,600 So he goes to his house and he opens the window. 358 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:13,040 This is not a contradiction to what we see in Matthew with the 359 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,880 words of Jesus where he warns against praying to receive the 360 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,720 praise of men. It's not a contradiction at all. 361 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,600 He says going in that in Matthew, he says go into your 362 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:25,960 room, close the door and pray to your Father unseen. 363 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,520 That's only because that we're not to be praying for man's 364 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:35,680 praise. Daniel is actually praying to 365 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,720 receive men's condemnation, if that makes sense. 366 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:41,560 He's praying because he know what's is what's going to be 367 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:49,960 coming by him praying to anybody but King Darius man is about to 368 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,520 kill him. So Daniel is saying you know, 369 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:56,240 you can take my physical life whatever the cost may be. 370 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,040 You can take my physical life and you cannot take my prayer 371 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,960 life. Prayer is non negotiable, more 372 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,680 non negotiable than breath itself to God centered man. 373 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:06,560 Prayer is more precious than life. 374 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,960 So he is thrown into a den of lines where he inevitably were. 375 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:14,080 Inevitably he prays a lot more and he spends the night before 376 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:18,800 God who shuts those lines mouth. You know, if I was thrown into a 377 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:22,240 lion's den, I don't know if I'd be closing my eyes and praying. 378 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,600 I'd be kind of on watch, on guard, looking behind me, 379 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:27,880 wondering what these lines next moves are going to be. 380 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,840 But Daniel continues to pray courageous prayer. 381 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:39,400 God receives the praise. Go to Chapter 9 in Daniel if you 382 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:42,920 have your Bibles open. We pray consistently. 383 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,120 We pray with courage and also we pray contritely. 384 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,240 Pray contritely. Daniel Chapter 9. 385 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,840 Here's Daniel, he knows the 70 week exile will be over, but 386 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,160 he's not sitting back. And he says there in verse 3. 387 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,560 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make requests by 388 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,600 prayer and supplications with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. 389 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,040 And I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession and said, O 390 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:15,280 Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and mercy 391 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:19,160 with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments. 392 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,360 We have sinned and have committed iniquity. 393 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,120 We have done wickedly and rebelled even by departing from 394 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:28,560 your precepts and your judgments. 395 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,760 He's saying the same thing over and over again, just kind of in 396 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:38,240 different words, turning aside from God's commandments and 397 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,160 God's rules. We read the rest of this prayer 398 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,000 and literally just about every verse involves confession of sin 399 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,800 and wickedness and rebellion, crying out for mercy, 400 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:50,040 contrition. When your life is centered on 401 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,160 God, we realize that we need mercy at that moment and that's 402 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:55,520 what Daniel was realizing. He needs God's mercy. 403 00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:00,080 And so this, his prayer of contrition leads to praying with 404 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,840 confidence. Listen now, this prayer ends in 405 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,160 verse 18 and 19 using the English standard version here. 406 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,240 This is amazing when you think about what is what he has just 407 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:16,680 prayed for here. It says, Oh my God, incline your 408 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:22,520 ear and hear, open your eyes and see our desolations and the city 409 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,280 that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas 410 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,160 before you because of your righteousness, but because of 411 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:34,280 your great mercy. Oh Lord, here, oh Lord, forgive. 412 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:40,720 Oh Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not for your own sake, Oh 413 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:45,760 my God, because your city and your people are called by your 414 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:48,840 name. You hear the confidence in 415 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:53,880 Daniel's prayer, broken heartedness before God, crying 416 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:58,440 out for mercy, mercy, and then saying Lord, pay attention to 417 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:04,440 what's going on here and act. But he's not appealing for God 418 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,200 to answer his prayers based on who Daniel is, not based on his 419 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,480 righteousness, on Daniel's righteousness, righteousness, 420 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,840 but because God, your great mercy and your great name. 421 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:18,080 That's why we want you to act. Daniel is praying and he's 422 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:24,400 appealing to God with wanting God's name to be glorified. 423 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:26,920 It's not a coincidence. When we get to the New 424 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:32,680 Testament, Jesus disciples say teach us how to pray a response 425 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:38,480 which Jesus says, you know, Father, hallowed be your name. 426 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,000 Hallowed be your name. That's not a declaration as much 427 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,440 as a position petition. It's literally a prayer. 428 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,040 Godfather in heaven, make your name known. 429 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:54,240 I'm sure we have all prayed a prayer like that before, maybe 430 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:58,160 praying about something in our lives right now where we are 431 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:02,080 begging God to pay attention to what's going on in our lives and 432 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:08,120 act, do something, please. But we need to realize why are 433 00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:10,480 we praying that? Are we praying that so our lives 434 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,880 can be comforted a little bit? I'm sure. 435 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:17,120 But we need to be praying so God's name is glorified in 436 00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:21,760 whatever we are going through. Whatever He answers, His name is 437 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,200 glorified. So that's what drives our 438 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,080 praying from beginning, middle to end. 439 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:31,560 And we get to Janiel chapter 10. He's praying for about 3 weeks 440 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,280 and a messenger comes to him and says your prayers have been 441 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:36,520 heard. And these last three weeks there 442 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,560 has been a spiritual battle raging in the heavens as you 443 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,080 have been praying. You know, I'm sure I have, I'm 444 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,720 not doing this book justice, but there's just so much in this 445 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,800 book of Daniel. We see in the last 6-6 chapters, 446 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:54,560 7 through 12 our visions Daniel has has and I want to draw our 447 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:56,960 attention to very briefly to three of those visions that 448 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:04,520 Daniel had had one vision which God Daniel realizes that God 449 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:07,480 will redeem his people. It's actually right where we 450 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,640 left off there in Daniel 920. Gabriel brings a response to 451 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:17,240 Daniel's praying. It says in verse 24 of Daniel 9 452 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:21,680 there try to follow along with me here on this. 453 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:25,880 This was this was a big chunk of scriptures for me to wrap around 454 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,560 my wrap my head around says they're beginning in verse 24 of 455 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,360 Daniel 970 weeks are determined for your people and for your 456 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:36,680 holy city to finish the transgression to make an end of 457 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:41,280 sins to make reconciliation for iniquity to bring in everlasting 458 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,640 righteousness to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the 459 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:50,320 most holy know therefore and understand that from the going 460 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:54,120 forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until 461 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:59,680 Messiah the Prince there shall be 7 weeks and 62 weeks. 462 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:02,040 The street shall be built again in the wall. 463 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:07,360 Even the troublesome times. And after the 62 weeks Messiah 464 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,200 shall be cut off, but not for himself. 465 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,600 And the people of the Prince who is to come shall destroy the 466 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,840 city and the sanctuary, and the end of it shall be with a flood. 467 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,400 Until the end of the war desolations are determined. 468 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,920 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. 469 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,560 But in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice 470 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:32,440 and offering. And on the wing of abominations 471 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:36,120 shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation 472 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:41,000 which I did, which is determined is poured out on the desolate. 473 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,280 OK, I'm going to try to sum this up as best as I know how to. 474 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,800 You can read all kinds of commentaries and history books 475 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,480 and all kinds of things that these guys try to figure out. 476 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:59,640 Scholars that know way more than any of this in this building. 477 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,880 No, I don't know it all. I'm not claiming that I figured 478 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,920 it all out, but summing up what most biblical scholars would 479 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,720 read that these passages say that 70 weeks there in verse 24 480 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:16,120 is a reference to 70 sevens, literally 490 years. 481 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,440 And this is a prophecy of what is to come. 482 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,080 And the picture is in different scholars as they debate 483 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:28,120 different points, but they all get to the same .490 years from 484 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,080 wherever they start. Just soon after, when the people 485 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,800 of God are restored to the city of Jerusalem where the temple is 486 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:39,160 built, takes us to the first part of the 1st century where an 487 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:43,600 anointed one comes finish the transgression and puts an end to 488 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:48,240 sin and reconciles for iniquity. And the picture is God in the 489 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,360 midst of his people in exile for for a number of years before 490 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:56,840 coming to Christ, saying, hold on, I've got somebody, I've got 491 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,200 a plan, I've got somebody who's coming. 492 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,960 I'm sending an anointed one who will be cut off and who will 493 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,840 take away your sin and my redemption will come. 494 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:10,880 God will redeem his people and God will also resurrect his 495 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:12,640 people. If you want to turn to chapter 496 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:16,840 12, this book is filled with rescue in the book of Daniel, 497 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,840 rescue from fiery furnaces, rescue from the lion's den. 498 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,440 But the ultimate rescue happens in chapter 12, beginning in 499 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,760 verse one. It says there at that time 500 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,600 Michael shall stand up the great Prince who shall, who stands 501 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:33,160 watch over the sons of your people. 502 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,680 And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was, since 503 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,560 there was a nation even to that time. 504 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,880 And and at the time your people shall be delivered. 505 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:47,480 Everyone who is found written in the book, and many of those who 506 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:51,280 sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake, some to everlasting 507 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,600 life, some to shame and everlasting content. 508 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,000 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the 509 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:02,160 firmament and those who turn away many to righteousness like 510 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:06,200 the stars forever and ever. There's so many illusions here 511 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,240 to what we see also in the Book of Revelation, Daniel in this 512 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:16,080 last half of the book of of, of Daniel has a lot of some people 513 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:18,960 say it's kind of like the Old Testament version of Revelation. 514 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:24,560 If you want to say it's talking about the end of history, when 515 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:27,840 God's people will be raised up with whose names will be written 516 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:31,600 in the book, the book of life, raised to everlasting life, 517 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:35,480 others to shame and content. And of course Daniel's going to 518 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:38,720 die before this happens. We get down to the very last 519 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,160 verse in the book and look what it says there in verse 13 of 520 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,440 chapter 12. But you go your way till the 521 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:50,680 end, for you shall rest and will rise to your inheritance at the 522 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:54,120 end of days. That reminds us of the Jesus's 523 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,760 words in John 11. He who believes in me, even 524 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:02,720 though he dies, he shall live. God assures us He will resurrect 525 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:05,840 his people and ultimately God will reign over it, over his 526 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:07,080 people. This is where I want to take us 527 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:09,040 to. Probably the two most important 528 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:14,840 verses in the book of Daniel, Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14. 529 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:20,760 What happens here in in Chapter 7, Daniel sees a vision of 530 00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:24,480 earthly kingdoms and then above these earthly kingdoms he sees 531 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,680 God's Kingdom reigning over all kingdoms that belong to the 532 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,680 Ancient of days, which is a reference to God the Father. 533 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:36,120 In verse 13 Daniel says I was watching in the night visions 534 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:40,040 and behold one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of 535 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,880 heaven, He came to the Ancient of days and they brought him but 536 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,320 near before him. Then to him was given dominion 537 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:51,120 and glory, and a Kingdom that all peoples, nations, and 538 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:55,200 languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting 539 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:59,280 dominion which shall not pass away, and his Kingdom, the one 540 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:04,920 which shall not be destroyed. God will reign over all people. 541 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:08,679 And in this particular picture, Daniel sees a vision of a coming 542 00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:12,360 king, a king greater than king Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar, 543 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:19,560 Darius or Cyrus. It's a king who's human, like 544 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:24,080 the Son of Man, reference to Genesis chapter 1, Psalm chapter 545 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:25,239 8. He is human. 546 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,679 He is also divine. He's coming in the clouds of 547 00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:29,239 heaven. That is a clear reference to His 548 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:34,920 deity, which we see in Mark 14 verse 61. 549 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:38,719 And we see that Jesus was brought before the high priest. 550 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:40,639 The high priest asked him, are you the Christ? 551 00:34:40,639 --> 00:34:43,040 And Jesus responds, he says I am. 552 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:46,080 And you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of 553 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,199 power, coming with the clouds of heaven. 554 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,320 And as soon as he said this, they shouted that it was 555 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:56,199 blasphemy what he was saying, claiming to be evil with God. 556 00:34:56,199 --> 00:35:00,040 And they spit on him to begin to feed him and lead him to a cross 557 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:02,760 where he claimed to be the Son of Man. 558 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:07,680 And of course, that's when he gave his life for us. 559 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:10,680 This is why Jesus said the beginning of the Great 560 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,680 Commission before saying, go and make disciples of all nations. 561 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,480 He said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to 562 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:20,560 me. Who gave him that authority? 563 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,200 The ancient of days and upon his death on the cross for our sins, 564 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,760 his resurrection from the grave over sin, he was given all 565 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:34,120 authority in heaven and earth. And this is how a God center 566 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:37,640 perspective leads to God center praying based on God center 567 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:40,720 purposes. You know what, what is our what 568 00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:44,280 should our life look like? If we have a God centered 569 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:49,680 perspective based on all what we've seen in our God centered 570 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:55,280 picture in Daniel, we are to praise God, praise him. 571 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:59,120 We've sung about that multiple times this morning, praising 572 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:03,960 God, praise God, give glory to God. 573 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:07,040 He is sovereign over all things in the past, the present and the 574 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:08,840 future. He holds our lives, He holds 575 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:13,320 time in his hands. He deserves, He desires and He 576 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:19,960 demands total praise, Revere and worship God and pray to God. 577 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:21,800 He is the source of all strength. 578 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:27,640 We have nothing apart from Him. So we pray with we, we, we pray 579 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,800 with courage, we pray with confidence, we pray with 580 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:34,160 contrition. We we're pray with consistency 581 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:37,760 as as well to make His name not name known. 582 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:45,800 There may be one here who needs to obey the gospel call to be 583 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,040 baptized for the remission of your sins. 584 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:53,280 We are to hear the word of God, believe that Jesus is who he 585 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,520 says he is. And that word, belief is a 586 00:36:56,520 --> 00:36:59,600 loaded word. There's more than just 587 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:01,480 believing. You know, even the the demons 588 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:05,400 believe who Jesus is. You know, belief is an action. 589 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:07,800 You know where to believe in him. 590 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:09,800 We're supposed we're to change our lives because of our 591 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:12,080 beliefs. We're supposed to learn and obey 592 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:14,040 His commandments that we read in the New Testament. 593 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:17,600 Believe, then we'll repent. Repent of our former way of 594 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:19,240 life. We're not doing what we used to 595 00:37:19,240 --> 00:37:22,000 do anymore in a sinful life. We're turning towards God. 596 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:25,040 We're turning our face towards Him, and we're living that life 597 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:27,400 that He expects us to live and that we want to live. 598 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,760 Confess in the name of Jesus that He is the Son of God and be 599 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:32,760 baptized for the remission of our sins. 600 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,520 Then, and only then, will Jesus add us to His church. 601 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,360 Maybe there are those here who have been baptized but just need 602 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:44,800 the prayers of the church or need to make a public confession 603 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:46,480 in any way. We want to offer that invitation 604 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,120 at this time, while we stand in, while we.