Kingdom Down #2 - God is in Control of Who is in Control

[Music] all right if you got your Bibles go to Daniel chapter 2 we got to move really really fast we got 49 verses I got five pages of notes I usually use two pages of notes so we're gonna get through it all today I'm talking about Jesus coming back and I need to finish before he does so please go to Daniel chapter 2 all right here we go all right let me catch you up to speed this is like binge watching on Netflix we're gonna go 12 weeks in Daniel let me cover chapter one to get you caught up for chapter 2 Daniel chapter 1 the year is 605 BC that is before Christ there is a nation called Babylon it is ruled by a godless man named Nebuchadnezzar it's a counterfeit of God's kingdom and he is the counterfeit Jesus well after 490 years of disobedience on behalf of God's people God is very patient some people think that they're getting away with something no one gets away with anything all we are doing is storing up everything and they were storing up for a day of judgment and justice so after 490 years of patience God allowed Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon to invade and overtake the nation of Israel to conquer the people of God to plunder the temple and to take them as slaves in exile today we'd call them human trafficking or we would call them prisoners of war against their will they are taking God's people are to the place that for them would have literally been hell on earth the 700 mile walk was made by the children of God including some young men who had high IQ high EQ raised in royal families their names include Daniel after whom the book is titled they are chosen to serve in the king's royal palace well they're then made eunuchs they are castrated in addition and they are teenage boys so they are young with their whole life before them Daniel then is tempted tested and tried they try to give him a new name that would cause him to convert to a new religion he has to learn a new language he's a citizen of a new country and they also want to change his diet and have him eat things that are sacrificed to demonic false God so he takes a diet of veg Taron isms let me just summarize for you every man who's here it says I don't like my life you got it so good he was a eunuch vegetarian in Babylon working in a harem true or false that could be not your best case scenario work employment vocational opportunity that's where Daniel finds himself and he is surrounded with the spirit of Babylon and he is filled with the Spirit of God and ultimately the battle is not just against flesh and blood but powers principalities and spirits those demonic counterfeits that are at work invisibly through those things that we see visibly and so surrounding Daniel is the spirit of Babylon working in and through all cultures and Nations the spirit of Babylon continues its counterfeit work all the way up until the last book of the Bible revelation in the closing chapters it reveals to us the end of history where Jesus returns and puts down the spirit of Babylon once and for all the way that Daniel navigates 69 years of his life the book opens as a teenager ends with him in his eighties as he does navigate life amidst the Spirit of Babylon by the power of the Spirit of God and it's ultimately a battle between the genuine real spirit of god in this counterfeit spirit of battle and how do you know that the spirit of Babylon is it work the spirit of Babylon we see in Daniel chapter 1 seeks to overturn disrupt confused gender sexuality marriage does not want believers to have children and overtakes education and universities to brainwash kids to think like Babylonians and not become believers so they send him to basically the University of Babylon and there he is to be brainwashed with a three-year undergraduate program in how to become Babylonian that's Daniel chapter 1 chapter 2 there is a problem we'll jump in and get moving Daniel 1 through 3 in chapter 2 in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar so he's the counterfeit Jesus he is the demonic King Nebuchadnezzar had dreams have you ever had a dream you wonder Lord was that you or not the burrito or what you know what was that right what was that he's gonna have a dream his spirit was troubled this one freaked him out it's like a night terror he's up all night he's he's waking up in a cold sweat and his sleep left him he can't stop thinking about it he's up all night and the king commanded that the and then he gives these four categories and they are repeated throughout the book magicians and chanters the sorcerers and the Chaldeans that also means Babylonians be summoned to tell the king his dreams so they came in stood before the king and the King said to them I had to drain my spirit is troubled to know the dream he has a dream he's up all night he is very anxious about what he has envisioned he assembles the equivalent of his White House cabinet and he's going to tell them you need to tell me what my dream means now let me explain a few things for you in this chapter you will hear about Nebuchadnezzar's dream and then it is interpreted by Daniels vision both are seeing that's why those who received dreams and visions they're oftentimes in the Bible called seers the difference is a dream is seeing while you're asleep a vision is seeing while you're awake in our day of screens think of it like that that God is showing you something and you're watching it and their day they didn't have screens but God would give them that same kind of supernatural capacity and opportunity and so Nebuchadnezzar gets a dream and then Daniel has a vision now when you get a dream or a vision the origination is from one of three possible sources it could be from God it could be from Satan and the demonic realm counterfeiting you and or it could be from your own imagination so just because you have a dream or a vision doesn't mean you should automatically assume that it is true that you need to test it to see which source it comes from from the Lord from the demonic or from your imagination I have had all three and and Daniel is going to help discern by the Spirit of God through a vision what ultimately the dream in fact meant some of you asked why does God use these kinds of ways to communicate it's because people tend to find the Lord in one of two persuasion and power those who find the Lord through persuasion they have mental objections and questions to Christian faith so they need evidence and cumulative case reasoning and they need facts and they need their questions and objections answered they come through persuasion others come through power I got healed and angels showed up I had a vision I had a dream God spoke to me he just did something supernatural broke through some people they they they want to or they need to have their questions answered others they need to have their problems solved either way it's God's means of revealing himself to his people now let me say this when we get into dreams and visions there is a category of Christian teaching called cessationism and it essentially says that these kinds of supernatural inexplicable ways that God works have ceased in this era I do not believe that I believe that is antithetical to the Bible and I think that false teaching is a strong word but I would suggest it as a possibility for this kind of teaching because God is the same yesterday today and forever therefore God works yesterday today and forever continuously and if they needed God's powerful presence we do as well and if they were only able to overcome the Spirit of Babylon by the supernatural provision of God the same is true for us as we likewise combat against that same spirit of Babylon I believe in the supernatural I believe in healing I believe that God answers prayer I believe in Revelation and some of you will say well what about the Bible I am a Bible guy I came to all these conclusions teaching verse by verse nearly half of the books of the entire Bible and God speaks and God lives and God acts and God heals and God delivers and when he does he is to be praised and I'll give you I'll give you you clap forgot everyone I'll give you one example I've had visions that have come true I've had dreams that have come true the most recent vision and dream that I had was a few months ago I had I saw that I was preaching finishing the book of Philippians on January 5th I was planning on taking that Sunday off because on Friday January 3rd our oldest daughter got married so I assumed that I would be a basket case on January 5th and I would need to recover and so I thought I'm gonna take that day off but God showed me that I was in the pulpit finishing Philippians that day and the theme is partnership in ministry so I prayed and I asked the Lord okay Lord am I supposed to be in the pulpit on January 5th I was planning on taking it off and what if Lord you want me to finish Philippians I'll do that and God said I'm gonna send a first-time guest and I'm gonna move in their heart and they're gonna give a very generous gift and they're gonna improve all of the technology in the main room so that more people can worship me and hear my preached word I was like okay so I told grace and I told some of the pastors hey pray I think January 5th gonna be a big day I will be in the pulpit and guess what happened exactly what God said first time visitor took care of everything everything is God declared okay all of this is to say that God's people should not chase signs and wonders they should chase God but as we chase God's signs and wonders might follow us as we follow him and that's the storyline of Daniel and we believe that God still lives and God still acts and God still speaks so here we go the rest of the problem then the Chaldeans the Babylonians said to the king in Aramaic from this point through the end of chapter 7 the book is in the language originally of Aramaic the remainder of the book is in Hebrew why because it is Hebrew people who are living in Babylon and God is functioning here as a bilingual missionary speaking to both groups it's like our recent mission trip to Mexico we bring bilingual people to bridge the gap between cultures that's what he's doing Daniel ultimately is a missionary to Babylon then the Chaldeans said to the king and Aramaic Oh King live forever which just so you know we're all going to live somewhere forever you know that says in Daniel 12:2 that multitudes that sleep in the dust will they will arise some'd everlasting life some to everlasting death we're all going to live forever it's just a difference if we're going to heaven or hell that's the only difference not not how long we live but where we live forever the king you will live forever you got to get ready for that last day that's your most important day tell your servants the dream and we will show you the interpretation so he brings together his cabinet and he says ok guys I had a dream and they're like great tell us the dream and we'll interpret it and he tells them no you tell me the dream and the interpretation you ever tried to read somebody's mind first of all you don't want to do that it's crazy in there but also only God can do that amen I mean only God knows what's in our mind so they're giving he is giving them an impossible task goes on tell you're serving the dream we will show the interpretation the King answer said to the Chaldeans the word from me is firm if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation you shall be torn limb from limb in your houses shall be laid in ruins that's a rough performance review right there I don't know if your boss may be rough that's a real rough boss he's like ok do the impossible or I'm gonna dismember you and burn your house to the ground and he had the authority to do so there were no human rights in this day you couldn't call the police he ruled as God goes on but if you show me the dream and its interpretation you shall receive from me gifts rewards great honor it's gonna go really good for you therefore show me the dream and its interpretation next slide please they answered a second time and said let the king tell his servants the dream and we will show its interpretation hey tell me the dream in the interpretation oh well how about we just give you the interpretation you give us the dream they're trying to negotiate the deal they're trying to negotiate the deal the King answered had said I know a certainty that you're trying to gain time you're stalling you guys can't do the job and you just want to waste my time because you see that the word from me is firm if you do not make the dream known to me there is but one sentence for you you have agreed to speak lying in corrupt words before me till the times change therefore tell me the dream and I shall know you can show me its interpretation next slide the Chaldeans answered the king and said there is not a man on earth who can meet the Kings demand what they're saying is you got you got a problem that's beyond our solution you have a god-sized problem and we're not done and no great and powerful King is asked such a thing of any enchanter or magician or Chaldean like look we did our undergrad work and our graduate working dream interpretation we never took a class on figuring out the dream like we got nothing we're not prepared for this this is impossible and this is the point goes on the thing that the King asks is difficult no one can show it to the King except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh Oh certainly God wouldn't come down and become a man if he did that would really help ha ha there you go kids that's what happened because of this the king was angry very furious commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed so he's going to kill them all so the decree went out and the wise men were about to be killed and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them so they took Daniel as an exile made him a slave made him walk 700 miles turned him into a eunuch sent him to the University of Babylon he's getting good grades studying all the demonology and counterfeit and then the King says I'm sick of all of these people let's kill them all Daniel and his friends haven't done anything they just showed up and now they're gonna be sentenced to death it's a crisis next slide then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion he does this in chapter 1 he does does this in chapter 2 here's the point when you're under pressure you need prudence okay when you're under pressure you need prudence freaking out never helped okay screaming yelling having a nervous breakdown right throwing a fit self-medicating you need prudence his life is on the line and the lives of many others including his friends are on the line and you'll replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch the captain of the King's Guard who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon he declared to Arioch the king scoffed why is the decree of the King so urgent what's the hurry then Arioch made these matters known to Daniel and Daniel when Ana requested the King to appoint him a time that he might show the interpretation to the king Daniel says oh just give me a little time I'm sure I can figure this out he just punished or was seeking to execute everyone who asked for more time he is asking for the thing that the King would not give anyone else here's the point if you belong to the Lord and you are serving the Lord you may get grace where other people only get punishment that God may give you an opportunity that he did not give them Daniel is asking for the same thing that the godless did and God granted his request let me unpack a little bit here about Nebuchadnezzar number one people who are never under authority or told no are impossible to deal with from his young age he had caretaker servants and slaves but he wasn't under any authority because he was being groomed to be king and as a result anything he wanted he got he was never told no if you are a person that refuses to be under Authority or told no you will end up being a tyrant if you are raising a child there is a parenting lesson here you are the parents and no is something really important for the child to learn otherwise they're gonna grow up and kill everyone else that's the story of the of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar number two on Nebuchadnezzar every one of us is Nebuchadnezzar with varying degrees of success so we look at that McKenna's when we say I can't believe that a man wanted to assemble a harem and live in a nice house and eat good food and and just have everybody wait on him while he lived in luxury and comfort welcome to Scottsdale this is the thing that we are all pursuing with varying degrees of success his house was bigger his harem was actual and not just digital but we're all pursuing the same thing so true number three a man who can conquer anyone or anything is easily conquered by God his nation expanded by mite and force and he would conquer peoples and nations and God just takes him down at an instant God doesn't even need to show up he doesn't even send an angel he literally just flicks a dream from heaven his Nebuchadnezzar and he's done you're not a big deal when God deals with you that's the point of Nebuchadnezzar you're not a big deal when God deals with you and some people some interpreters will say the reason he's asking them to tell him the dream is because he forgot I don't think he did he seems a little worried about this say man he seems a little freaked out he's up all night he's calling a council meeting he is putting out a death sentence this is not a guy's like what was that thing again I believe he saw the dream and he had a sense of its meaning and he was scared and he wanted confirmation because it determined his future and here's the big idea everyone needs Scott's help Nebuchadnezzar doesn't need food he doesn't need shelter he doesn't need comfort he doesn't need wealth he needs God the poor need God the rich need God the powerless need God the powerful need God those who don't seem to have any need truly have a need for God and that's the story of Nebuchadnezzar in addition let me talk a little bit about how God creates in Satan counterfeits the backdrop of the book is spiritual warfare God has a kingdom Babylon is the counterfeit God has a King Jesus Nebuchadnezzar is the counterfeit God has spirit-filled servants the counterfeit are demonized magicians enchanters and Chaldeans and what he says here is a couple of things I just want to stress number one counterfeit religion and spirituality do not work when you need it the most everything had worked most powerful nation on the Empire and then it doesn't work here's the point you may say and people say this all the time I'm not a Christian I don't believe the Bible I don't follow Jesus I have my own religion I have my own spirituality I have my own philosophy and it works for me let me tell you it won't work you will die and it won't work you will stand before Jesus to give an account and anything other than faith in Jesus does not work okay and what he's doing here he's showing them ultimately you need God today because if it's not working today it's not going to work into eternity in addition the demonic can only interpret the demonic if a demon gives a revelation a demon can interpret that revelation if a revelation comes from God a demon cannot interpret it only the Spirit of God can interpret it because it comes from the Spirit of God don't be surprised when people don't understand the Bible don't like the Bible don't don't make sense of the Bible that it sounds absolutely confusing to them because the demonic cannot interpret that which is from the Holy Spirit that's where you need the Spirit of God in you to interpret the Scriptures that he is written because the demonic can only interpret the demonic and only the Holy Spirit can interpret that which is from the spirit and so ultimately he gets a divine revelation but he cannot interpret it he needs the Son of God to bring the Spirit of God and the interpretation of God and ultimately we see here that the demonic rules until God shows up the demonic is in power until God arrives and he arrives first and foremost in the heart and life of a teenage boy who is a slave he has no power but he has the power of God and that begins to transform undermine and topple the entirety of the counterfeit kingdom of Babylon in addition this reveals to us this narrative the total complete failure of human wisdom to help people understand God and eternity they bring here's this here's the most powerful man on the earth who brings in the most educated people philosophers theologians self-help gurus people educated beyond their intelligence with more degrees than Fahrenheit and they got nothing that's what they've got because ultimately human reasoning apart from the Spirit of God and the Word of God it is absolutely non tenable and unhelpful and let me say this this reveals not just how God worked but how God always works I'll prove it to you so Babylon is today Iraq chapter 1 verse 21 we looked at the end it was going to be conquered by a neighboring nation that today is called Iran any of you noticed we still have some things going on there with Iran and Iraq it's because the spirit of Babylon is at work there is he or she or it is here and what we see here is that Nebuchadnezzar is unreachable can't get a missionary to him but God can get to him he blasts this all the time how could God not take to heaven but instead send to hell those that have never heard about Jesus and my question is always how do you know they haven't heard about Jesus my God can send an angel my God can send a dream my God can send a bush on fire and have a conversation with it he can get some stuff down amen he's very creaking sent a donkey and talk to you that's what he's doing right now he can do all these crazy things he can do all these things alright he's the god of the unexpected and so what God does is he sends a dream and he reveals himself to never can either you know what's going on in the world today the exact same thing you may or may not know this many many many Muslims in closed countries that we are having trouble getting missionaries into are becoming Christians how they go to bed they report the same thing they go to bed they have a dream that they die and they stand before Jesus Christ to give an account it fills them with dread they repent of their sin they put their faith in Christ and the church is doing very very well right now today in Iran the underground Iranian Church is filled with a whole generation of young people who love Jesus and hate living under a demonic counterfeit regime that is just the spirit of Babylon in 21st century clothing and ultimately the uprising that you were seeing on the news this week the protests in the streets in Iran seeking to topple that regime is in large part fueled by the Church of Jesus Christ Iranian brothers and sisters who met Jesus in a dream so pray for them pray for them the Bible is not just about what happened it's about what always happens it's not just about what God did it's about what God always does there is a problem and Daniel responds with prayer then Daniel went into his house made the matter known to his buddies Hananiah Mishael and Azariah they were given demonic names by the king these are their god-given names they only refer to themselves by their god-given names the point is it doesn't matter what they call you it only matters that he has called you don't let what they put on you get in you remind yourself who you are and Daniels name literally means God is my judge and what that means is no one else is so they can judge him and he has not ears to hear because God is his judge but he gets his buddies and told them to seek mercy God we need help from the God of heaven the God who rules over all times nations places concerning this mystery so the Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the iseman a babylon then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night so again Nebuchadnezzar gets a dream while he's asleep they have a prayer meeting and Daniel gets a vision Daniel gets a vision this introduces the theme of prayer into the life of Daniel you'll see it in chapter 6 verse 10 that he prayed three times a day and he does so publicly and he gets in trouble for that in Chapter nine it gives a lengthy prayer from Daniel and it shows that the angel Gabriel who also visited his mother Jesus mother Mary shows up to answer the dream very quickly by answering the prayer in Chapter nine so again what we see here how does Daniel make it through Babylon by praying in any military combat as you're down on the front lines you can lose sight of what is happening you're not sure of the entire battle plan you call into headquarters they have a bigger perspective and they give you directives to navigate through your battle zone prayer is the communication line to the commander in chief prayer is how we ask God okay God you see what I don't see you know what I don't know tell me how to obey you and make it through my battle in Babylon and this is where urgency in crisis fuels prayer I am convinced that one of the reasons that we don't pray much is because we're not feeling much urgency when there is a crisis you pray differently you need to know that there is always for the children of God there should be a sense of urgency we need God desperately we need God continually and so what we see here is he doesn't respond with panic anxiety nervousness or fear whereas Nebuchadnezzar is up all night he's going to go to bed the psalmist says that the Lord gives his beloved sleep he doesn't rely on his intelligence his experience his education he doesn't melt down he doesn't just opinion poll everyone else he just literally calls God with his friends they have church and they are invoking the God of heaven please tell us what you want us to do I'll just say that this was Daniel's life group hey this is where I'm gonna sell life groups life groups are sermon based small groups this is where I will preach and the groups will gather to discuss the Word of God have a meal pray together pray for one another they meet on the campus they made all over the valley I think 75% of the church is signed up for a life group we've got record attendance the people are really really sweet and here's the point you need your crew before your crisis daniel has his buddies to call and they come over and pray why this is what they always do this is not the first time that they got together to pray in a house but this was an urgent time for them to pray together in a house the problem that many of us have we don't have a crew and then we have a crisis and then we get on the phone or we call the church or we run in the door help everything is falling apart okay we love you but we can microwave burritos in a way that we can't microwave relationships okay and Daniel has deep significant relationships that then he can invite to walk with him in prayer and to seek and beseech God with him in prayer you need that you need that you need that before the crisis comes a problem the prayer the praise this is a long section I I'm gonna read it fast like I'm auctioning verses if you got to go to the restroom come back if I got to go to the restroom stay there I'm coming back alright this is gonna take a while then Daniel blessed the God of heaven let me ask you this is could he have complained to the God of heaven sure I'm in Babylon not Israel I'm a eunuch not what I was hoping I I'm going to the University of Babylon I have a minor in witchcraft and a major and demon possession and now they want to kill me and I didn't do anything so but here's what he does he blesses God it doesn't matter how bad you've got it Daniel had it worse and if he can find something to praise God for there is always something to praise God for always something to praise God for Daniel answered it said blessed be the name of God forever and ever what he's saying is what I'm going through will come to an end but the presence of God will endure forever to him whom belongs wisdom and might he changes times and seasons here's craziness he removes kings and sets up kings see there are kings and there are presidents and there are prime ministers and over them who are in control is the one who is in control this is the hope of the believer it's not that this king doesn't matter but there is a king above that King and our hope is in him and our help comes from him and he puts up and he takes down nation's rulers and kingdoms in an election year I need you to remember this to praise God to pray and to don't forget who our king is okay don't forget who our King is he gives wisdom to the wise knowledge to those who have understanding he reveals deep and hidden things he knows what is in the darkness and darkness and the light dwells in him to you O God of my father's men this is you Daniel is a faithful teenage boy in Babylon because he had a faithful dad and the faithful grin upon a faithful great-grandpa we like to say that we open our Bibles to learn we open our lives to love so that lives and legacies are transformed they did that as a family and this is their legacy consequently you men need to know that you are the most influential human presence in your home and family if you read the Bible if you pray if you worship the odds are the rest of your family will and many times mom is trying to lead in the worship of God and that is being the counterfeit resisting that because after all the titans are playing the Chiefs are playing or the Packers are playing or the 49ers are playing and dad's got to decide I'm not going to sit in the chair and worship the game I'm gonna get out of the chair and worship the Lord there are very practical decisions and I'm not against football I'm not for the Raiders or the Steelers or the Cowboys you know and I prayed about it so don't judge me I'm not against sports and football but ultimately God needs to be first priority for every man and he needs to establish that his first priority for his home okay so how do we look at her like how does a teenage kid make it through Babylon his dad his grandpa his great grandpa he's worshipping the god of his father's this faith has been handed on by generations the greatest treasure your family has is not the heirlooms it's the faith don't worry about just passing on the wealth make sure you pass on the worship to the next generation okay he removes kings sets them down to you O God of my father's I give thanks and praise for you have given me wisdom mite and now I've made known to me what we asked of you for you've made known to us the Kings matter next slide please therefore Daniel went into Arioch whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon he went and said to him do not destroy the wise men of Babylon bring me in before the King Daniel says my God's got this and I will show the king the interpretation then Arioch brought in Daniel before the King in haste right he better hurry he's gonna kill everybody and said thus to him I found among the exhales from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation the King declared to Daniel whose name was Belteshazzar bel is a derivative of bail it's a demonic false god that's what they called him but he didn't call himself that are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation next slide Daniel answer the King had said no wise man enchanters magicians or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the King has asked what he says is no I can't do it dramatic pause Nebuchadnezzar's wondering then why are you here but but there is a God in heaven there's a God you don't know about there's a God that rules over your kingdom you need this God you have a god-sized problem there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days this king gave you the dream my friend your dream and the visions of your head as you lay and better these to you O king as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this he's trying to figure out how do I pass on my Empire to my heirs same thing we're all trying to do he goes on to say these are mysteries made known to you about what is to be but as for me this mystery has been revealed to me not because of any wisdom I have more than any older living but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king and that you may know the thoughts of your mind what he's saying is this nobody can do this but God can and I happen to know him I happen to know him Daniel starts by giving God glory and he could have been manipulated this circumstance when he's going to serve he could say I'm really smart I've been educated I get good grades you should really promote me no he's not promoting himself he's promoting his God and ultimately God promotes him and what you need to see here as well is that he is brought into the throne room this throne room is a demonic counterfeit everything God creates Satan counterfeits the divine throne room is where the King would sit upon his throne he'd be surrounded by his servants slaves and staff he would be honored he would be obeyed he would give decrees and he would receive praise God has a divine throne room it's called the divine council in the Bible it is where Jesus Christ right now the the true king is seated on a throne he is surrounded by departed saints angels and other divine beings called the sons of God sometimes we get a glimpse into that divine throne room to remind us of an unseen reality that exists and is as real is the world in which we live and what happens here this is a demonic counterfeit it is Nebuchadnezzar's divine throne room and in comes daniel and in daniel is the spirit of god daniel is walking right into enemy territory daniel is walking right into demonic stronghold and foothold and he does so fearless Lee because he has faith in the God who has brought into this moment and here's what we saw previously Daniel was home with his friends having Church and he was praying on his knees and now he is standing before a king the reason that Daniel could stand before the king is because he knelt before the king of kings everyone comes into the divine throne room and they kneel down to worship the king Daniel has already been in the real throne room so he's not impressed with the counterfeit and he doesn't kneel to the counterfeit King he stands because he's already knelt to the real King King Jesus this is where your prayer life sets up the rest of your life and let me say this God speaks to Daniel and his friends amidst prayer and praise divine revelation from God breakthroughs from God come in the context of prayer and praise this is why if you want to hear from God you got to spend some time in prayer and praise it's where we visit the unseen realm we invite the presence of God we access the throne room of God and God gives revelation this is my experience every Sunday a significant portion of my sermon including a large percentage of what I've already shared I don't even know until I stand here and then I learn things some of you some of you come and you're like man I learned a lot me too it's fun for us all right that God has to show up and reveal things and he does so in the context of prayer and praise and ultimately it's so that he gets glory and we get joy so there is a problem there is prayer there is praise now there is a prophecy and prophecy is God telling us the future so that we can prepare for it that's the function of prophecy 20% of the Bible when it was written was prophetic predicting the future that God rules over here's what he says you saw o king so he's gonna tell him his vision his dream you saw o king and behold a great image this image mighty and of exceeding brightness stood before you and it's appearance was frightening it's bigger than you and scared you since you could talk about head chest arms legs it's the picture of a person of a warrior the head of this image was of fine gold its chest and arms of silver its middle and thighs of bronze its legs of iron its feet partly of iron partly of clay which do not co-mingle and there's a weakness as you look the stone was cut out by no human hand and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them into pieces then the iron the clay the bronze the silver and the gold all together were broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found but the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth he's prophesying here human history gold silver bronze iron clay God's perspective is devolution that we are getting worse not better that every generation is less like God intended and created us to be the counterfeit of that is evolution that we are getting better and becoming more like God or gods the truth is that weird evolving that the way human beings treat one another is only increasing in evil and what he is doing here he is telling us about human history so today there are about 200 sovereign states in the world and they have fixed boundaries in the ancient world these boundaries were flexible if this king could conquer this king he could take all of the land and slave all of the people and take all of the plunder so it was constant war and seeking for your kingdom to conquer their kingdom there were no fixed boundaries and what he is prophesying here is human history and how God would work even through political upheaval and also social and political crisis now what I'm going to share with you are four kingdoms and then I'm going to share with you the kingdom of God and as I like to say here we have certain issues that are in the open end and certain that are in the closed so in a minute I'm going to get with you into specific historical prophecy it's in the open hand at the very end I'm gonna tell you about the kingdom of Jesus Christ that's in the closed hand this we can disagree on this we're all excited about so let me show you what this looks like okay so here is the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and the vision and interpretation of Daniel and what he's talking about here is a succession of Empires Babylonian medo-persian Greek Roman he starts chapter 2 verses 36 through 38 he's starting with the Babylonian Empire he says this was the dream now we will tell the king its interpretation you O king the king of kings it's counterfeit title to whom the god of heaven has given the Kingdom God gave you this job you should thank him don't get arrogant the power the might and the glory and into whose hands he has given wherever they dwell the children of men the beasts of the field the birds of heaven making you rule over them all here's the key for you are the head of gold so his his dream and Daniels vision was this massive towering powerful person and Nebuchadnezzar looked and he saw his head at the top he says what does this mean Daniel says you are the kingdom of gold that is the Babylonian Empire Nebuchadnezzar is the most frequently mentioned pagan King in the Bible some 90 times God calls him my servant and the lowest of men this man lived in absolute security he had a massive army he was the superpower in his day he had a massive wall surrounding his fortified city it was 90 feet high you could run a four-horse chariot around the top of it and turn it around he had a moat he had guards he feared no one he feared nothing and then God shows up and he's terrified he's terrified and he was called in his kingdom he was called the king of gold and his kingdom was called the kingdom of gold it was opulent it was rich it was wealthy as they would conquer other nations they would plunder them what we saw in the storyline of daniel when they plundered israel they took all of the objects out of the temple so now you've got all of god's gold in babylon with all of satan's gold this is the gold headquarters for the world after him though his empire wouldn't exist forever every one of us is trying to establish a kingdom that never ends he was trying to establish a kingdom that never ends after him comes the medo-persian empire this is the chest and arms of silver Daniel chapter 2 verse 39 he says another Kingdom inferior to you shall rise up after you you're stronger than these guys but God's gonna let them win he's going to allow them to conquered you these events of the conquering of Babylon and the Babylonian Empire they are recorded in Esther another book of the Bible and these two arms many students of prophecy seem to think that these two arms represent the medo-persian Empire that it was two kingdoms that came together as one Kingdom and that's the medo-persian Empire after that comes the Greek Empire this nation goes down this nation goes this nation rises up it says in chapter 2 verse 39 and yet a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth this Greek Empire was brought into existence historically by Alexander the Great when he would march into war the breastplates for his soldiers their swords their shields and their helmets what do you think they were made out of bronze his was called the kingdom of bronze and he was the king of bronze God specifically controls the events of human history what happens after that is the Roman Empire comes into existence the Roman Empire was the most powerful nation on the earth in its day as well Daniel 2 verse 40 through 43 and there shall be a fourth kingdom one two three four fourth Kingdom just like Daniel says strong as iron not as valuable but powerful because iron breaks to pieces and shatters old things and like iron that crushes it shall break and crush all these and as you saw the feet and toes partly of potters clay partly of iron it shall be a divided Kingdom but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it just as you saw iron mixed with soft clay and the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly place so that the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle as you saw the iron mixed with clay that is soft so they will mix with one another in marriage but they will not hold together just as iron does not mix with clay history records that this is exactly what happened to the Roman Empire it kept expanding by conquering through force but eventually it had such a wide geographic Dominion so many disparate languages nationalities ethnicities people groups that ultimately it was a divided group and Rome could not control the Roman Empire and so it fell apart as people were more loyal to their local region or to their family of origins to their religion or their ethnic traditions so eventually the might roman empire crumbled and fell the point is this the nation that conquered the earth could not control itself what is true of the roman empire is true of you and i that you can conquer people and things but controlling yourself is the hardest mission that you have during the course of your life the roman empire ruled and then it ultimately declined now the whole point of the roman empire was to bring forth jesus christ the whole point of prophecy the whole point of history is Jesus Christ and it was the Roman Empire that was ruling and reigning at the time at the birth of Jesus it was the Roman Empire that called for a census that compelled and caused Jesus parents to leave their hometown of Nazareth and ultimately go to Bethlehem which was their family of origins because the Roman government forced a census that ultimately was the Roman government that brought charges against Jesus arrested Jesus executed through crucifixion Jesus buried Jesus put in front of his burial tomb a stone with the inscription and the insignia of the Roman Empire and Jesus Christ rose from death under the rule of the Roman Empire and Jesus Christ came in what the Bible calls the fullness of time up until the Roman Empire these various nations and clans and tribes were always at war and were disconnected in disparate what the Roman government brought is PAC's Romana it's called the Roman peace furthermore it brought into existence a road system not unlike our modern highways that connected all of these people groups so that when Jesus lived and Jesus died and Jesus rose the news of the resurrection of our King Jesus Christ could be sent to the nations of the earth under the auspices of Roman peace and the Roman Road system that was possible in the history of the world until that day had Jesus died and risen previously the news would have been contained it would have not been released to the nation's you and I are here because Jesus live died and rose during the Roman Empire and the message has made it all the way to Arizona some of here's what some of you are thinking God is not bigger than you think he's bigger than you can't think some of you say I don't understand all this okay trust the one who does trust the one who does and let me say this the God who wrote the word rules the world the God who wrote the word rules the world we teach little kids this song he's got the whole world in his hands it's true in the hands of Jesus is all of human history the promise and in the days of those kings the God of heaven name is Jesus we'll set up a lot a kingdom it's all about a king of the kingdom he's talking about the first coming of Jesus during the Roman Empire here he is transitioning to the second coming of Jesus Christ it seems to indicate that there will be some sort of reconnecting and recollecting of that disparate ancient Roman Empire in the latter days at the end of time it may be that the Spirit of Babylon is seeking to reassemble a counterfeit kingdom and Jesus says I've had enough I'm coming down now and the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed every other King Kingdom nation comes and goes in the kingdom of God endures forever nor shall the kingdom be left to and other people nobody's going to conquer King Jesus it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end and it shall stand forever you're going to see this in Daniel 7 you're going to see this Daniel 12 this is now the theme of the book and why we live kingdom down just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand and that it broke into pieces the iron bronze clay the silver and the gold a great God has made known to the king what shall be after this and King the dream is certain and don't ask me if I'm sure I'm real sure once daniel gets a word from God he is fearless he is not going to negotiate or edit the Word of God for Nebuchadnezzar do you think Nebuchadnezzar liked this interpretation no but it's the truth it's the truth and what he's talking about here is a kingdom will come when a stone comes and crushes all the other nations it's a stone not cut by human hands who is that stone Jesus says in Psalms says it in the gospel says it in the epistles that Jesus Christ is our cornerstone the stone the builders have rejected has become the capstone all the other nations rejected Jesus and the cornerstone is where you would begin it was small but it was significant because if the cornerstone was wrongly set then everything built upon it would be crooked and eventually tumble and the prophecy that was given to Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted by God through Daniel was this anything that isn't founded on Jesus comes down and doesn't work ultimately it collapses and crumbles so the point is this start your day with Jesus start your year with Jesus start your family with Jesus start your marriage with Jesus start your parenting with Jesus start your business with Jesus start your schedule with Jesus story your finances with Jesus lay the cornerstone first and lay everything else on him apart from Jesus nothing works everything crumbles that's the moral of the story and it says that this stone is not cut by human hands meaning he's not just one of us he's like us he's like the son of man Daniel 7 says some say this refers to his virgin birth others would say that it refers to his eternal Kingdom I believe that both are true I believe that both are in fact true I want you to see history focuses on Jesus Daniel's prophecy goes from the first coming to the second coming we are a few thousand years in the middle and people will wonder why is God not speaking about what is happening today because the center of history is Jesus so the focus is on the first and the second coming it's not that what happens today doesn't matter but ultimately we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus he is the one who truly matters and then Daniel gets a promotion Daniel gets a promotion then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face what does he do he falls down to us to worship Daniel this is what we do if you don't know God you worship people we call it the fear of man but ultimately you live for their approval you live for their pleasure you live for their provision you change who you are what you think what you do so that they will approve of you social media doubles down on the fear of man which is the counterfeit to the fear of the Lord here he doesn't understand God God comes with Daniel so he worships Daniel he's still confused it's interesting Daniel kneels before the king of kings stands before the king and the King kneels before the one who kneeled before the king you need to know that this is the history of the children of God that if you will kneel before your king Jesus today you will stand with your King Jesus forever and others will kneel down as you rule and reign in the kingdom of God alongside Jesus Christ the Bible says to those who overcome he has Thrones appointed for them he has a place from which you will exercise Dominion and authority over a kingdom just as Daniel did the King fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel and commanded an offering and incense be offered up to me is like we're gonna start the church of Daniel all right here's we're gonna do give me a guy with an acoustic guitar everybody needs to except Daniel in their heart kids are gonna pray for hours - Daniel we're gonna put Daniels picture up we're gonna put braces what would Daniel do he's rolling out the whole marketing campaign this could have been a real opportunity for Daniel how many of you if you were Daniel you're like I'll roll with that you know I I think my face is pretty I'd make a good t-shirt and I kind of like the song about me he doesn't allow himself to be worshipped he keeps bringing the glory back to God even when those who are present don't understand this fact the King answered it said to Daniel truly your God is God of gods I just met the varsity God and the Lord of kings and the revealer of mysteries for you have been able to reveal this mystery then the King gave Daniel high honors great and many gifts made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and the chief prefect that means he's at the top of the org chart over all the wise men of Babylon he is now the Bible teacher in Babylon he is running the University of Babylon wouldn't it be awesome if all the universities were run by a Bible teacher Lord make it so Daniel made a request of the King and he appointed rakshak and Bennie if you're a VeggieTales fan over the affairs of the province of Babylon but Daniel remained at the Kings Court a couple of things about Nebuchadnezzar a couple of things about Daniel number one here's what we learned from Nebuchadnezzar you can you can ultimately revere God in your mind without receiving God in your heart Nebuchadnezzar he Revere's God but he doesn't Seve God both Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar Revere God but only Daniel receives God my question to you today would be have you received Jesus Christ as your God it's not just enough to revere him you need to receive him for a life changing an eternity altering relationship in addition anyone can admire God's power but only God's children can experience God's power Nebuchadnezzar is like that's incredible and Daniels like this is the spirit filled life this is the spirit filled life God doesn't want you to just admire he wants you to experience his presence and power in addition we learn a few things about Daniel I'll share a few with you be a good citizen until the point that you can no longer be a good Christian he faithfully lovingly dutifully serves Babylon up until the point where it makes him more babylonian and less believer be a good citizen up until the point that you can no longer be a good Christian in addition your faith is to be public and not just private people say well you know faith is a private matter not a public matter no Argo God rules over all and so all is under his jurisdiction and Dominion and Daniel is very public with his faith he praises he prays the prophesies publicly it is a public and not a private faith in addition the Lord Jesus tells us that we should not seek after signs and wonders Daniel is not seeking signs and wonders and miracles and that which is supernatural and inexplicable he is pursuing God and here's what I want you to know for those who follow God don't be surprised when signs and wonders follow you we are not to chase signs and wonders were to chase the Living God and signs and wonders followed those who chase the Living God supernatural things happen in Daniels life supernatural things happen in our life as pursue our king the Lord Jesus Christ and faith is ultimately building your life on God's character and control even when you don't see what he's doing you don't like what is happening and you don't agree with its timing and here is the Summum bonum of this text and it is this that God knows rules reigns the future and it is fixed and unchangeable and that it ultimately is going to culminate with the second coming of Jesus Christ and as a result this is to give us clarity comfort and courage in the midst of our life here in our Babylon I'll give you an example of where I'm going with all of this some some time ago grace and I were sitting on the couch and we had two shows so we'd watch a show and then when the commercial come on we go to the other show one of the shows was the nightly news and there was a lot of kind of concerning things happening and I felt myself a little nervous and then flip over to the other show it was the History Channel and on the History Channel was also concerning things but I was a freaking out because I know the end for God and the children of God everything is the History Channel nothing is the news nothing catches God by surprise nothing is out of God's control if God isn't freaked out you don't need to freak out if God knows the future you don't need to know the future you just need to know the God who knows the future and know that he's got it figured out for you that's the story of Daniel okay rub your brain if any of you leaving I didn't learn anything I don't even know what to do for it I get I you know I don't even know what to do for him rub your brain take a deep breath we're gonna go deeper for a moment did everything that Daniel prophesied 600 years before the coming of Christ happened yes yes in the stone not cut by human hands the King shows up he's born under the Roman Empire the angel Gabriel who will appear in Daniel chapter 9 to bring a message to Daniel shows up in Luke chapter 1 2 similarly bring a message to Mary Gabriel says Luke chapter 1 he speaking of Jesus will be great and called the son of the Most High and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and the reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end Gabriel told Daniel Jesus is coming to set up a kingdom Gabriel comes to Mary and says the time has come both are young both are living under foreign empires both they're battling against the Spirit of Babylon Jesus is born the King has come he starts as a stone he ends as a mountain he comes the first time in humility he's coming the second time in glory now let me say this this is rather curious some people show up to visit Jesus we have this in our nativity every Christmas who are they the Weizmann they didn't show up to where Jesus was born the Bible says that they showed up at the house of Mary and Joseph that means that Jesus was a couple years old Jesus had been born and the news got out because of PAC's Romana Roman peace and road system that a king had been born to a virgin in a town of Bethlehem fulfilling all of these prophecies in the Old Testament and it says that some men came from the east we don't know how many we know how many gifts they brought they make a long journey here's what's curious Daniel has to make the 700 mile journey to Babylon from Babylon come the Magi which means magician they make the 700 mile journey back to meet the real King they were taught by their fathers fathers fathers Daniel became the chief Bible teacher in Babylon he taught them the prophecies of the Word of God they believed in the Word of God for 600 years the descendants of the magicians that Jesus taught were the Magi who came from the east to see the fulfillment of prophecy and to welcome the real king they kneeled down at his presence and they are the first worshippers of Jesus in the New Testament they are the direct descendants I believe of the Babylonian magicians hence Magi is short for magician furthermore they bring three gifts what are they gold frankincense myrrh gold from Babylon the kingdom of gold it struck me this morning as I was praying I wonder if the plunder that was stolen from the temple and the gold vessels that were taken to Babylon were not kept by those who learned the Bible from Daniel awaiting the coming of the king and wanted to return to him his rightful gold in addition Gold what's the second frankincense that's for priests and worship prayer and praise the presence of God myrrh that's an embalming fluid for a dead person this is burial preparation shows that Jesus is king goal Jesus's priests frankincense Jesus is sacrifice myrrh that our King would come to die that we might live let me just tell you this if you put yourself under Bible teaching it could affect 600 generations of your family and when the King shows up again I'd love to see people with your last name running to meet him that's why we planted a church that's why we open the Word of God that's why we planted a church that's why we open the Word of God so let me close with this today we live right on the precipice of history we're on the edge the prophecies have been fulfilled we're waiting for what Jesus Christ to come again it's king of kings and Lord of lords and to set up a kingdom that never ends and to raise you from the dead and to wipe every tear from your eyes and to provide for all of your needs and to bring healing into your body because our king is not like that King you couldn't come into the presence of Nebuchadnezzar unless he invited you but the Bible tells us that our King Jesus sits on a throne and he rules from a throne room and that he welcomes his children to come into his presence to receive grace and mercy in our time of need that means that right now we have access to the throne room of Jesus and one day that king and that kingdom and that throne will overtake this world and you can go see Jesus whenever you want and Jesus will give you everything you need Wow that's all I got that's all I got okay Oh pray that's holy God Wow Lord we don't even have words we don't even have words Lord our three-pound fall and brains are exploding just getting a glimpse into what you have planned for eternity and all of history Jesus thank you thank you that you tell us what's coming so that we can have faith and not fear we can have hope and not horror we can have gladness and not great Lord Jesus thank you that you are in control of whoever is in control thank you Lord Jesus that you are coming again to establish a kingdom that never ends Jesus that could be today that could be tomorrow we don't know when it is but I pray that like the Magi we would cling fast and our children and our children's children would cling fast to the prophetic promises of promises and prophesies of the Word of God and when Jesus returns kneel down and worship the king and we asked for this grace in his good name amen you

Channel: Real Faith by Mark Driscoll

Views: 9,700

Rating: 4.8441558 out of 5

Keywords: Mark, Driscoll, ministry, thetrinitychurch, scottsdale, arizona, bible, teaching, gospel, theology, jesus, biblestudy, faith, bibleverse

Id: 1bMP4oBO5Pg

Length: 71min 30sec (4290 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 19 2020