Episode Transcript
Good morning to everyone.
If you take God's precious word and turn to the book of Daniel chapter 2.
Daniel chapter 2.
God willing we'll be expounding verses 16 through 18.
Daniel chapter 2 verses 16 through 18.
The tile of the mess this morning is going in and going home. going in and going home.
If you're a first-time visitor this morning, we welcome you here.
And every sermon we have is verse by verse.
We start at chapter 1, verse 1, and explain every verse in that book.
And then we go to another book.
We want you to leave the service knowing the Bible a little better than when you walked in.
Daniel chapter 2, verses 16 through 18.
While you're trying to remind everyone that we have dinner on the grounds afterward today.
Our first of the month dinner on the ground, so feel welcome to come over after and have something to eat if you like.
Last week we learned that God had given the king of Babylon a troubling dream.
We read in our verses last week the king ordered the death of all religious leaders called wise men.
Because the pagan religious leaders who stood before King Nebuchadnezzar were unable to tell the king the dream he had and to give him the interpretation thereof.
The king responded in anger and quickly commanded for all the religious leaders to be killed.
And this included Daniel and his godly friends.
Nebuchadnezzar made the mistake, we learned, of rejecting the true religion on account of an experience he had with a false one.
When they came to kill Daniel for being a wise man, they explained to him the reason for his pending death.
The king was angry, they said, because the wise men could not tell him the dream, the interpretation thereof.
But Daniel was different than those wise men, because Daniel's wisdom didn't come from the world, or from an idol, or from the starry host of heaven in the sky, Daniel's wisdom came from God.
So before they killed Daniel and his friends, Daniel asked and received permission to stand before the king.
The king gave Daniel permission, look in your text now, "Then Daniel went in."
Then Daniel went in.
Let's pray.
Thank You for Your precious Word.
Thank You for the singing this morning.
Thank You for the Sunday school we've had.
Thank You for these precious people, Lord, who've showed up, Lord, to learn Your Word.
And I pray to You, Lord God, that You'll feed us, that all eyes will be upon You, and Your Holy Spirit will teach us Your Word, that we may draw near to You in obedience and faith.
In Jesus' precious name we pray, amen.
Then Daniel went in.
Daniel went in and stood before the king.
Daniel didn't try to fight, run from, or bribe the guard who came to arrest him.
When Daniel learned of the king's problem, Daniel went in to where the king was.
The king was angry at the wise men.
He was angry at the religious leaders in his kingdom because they had failed him.
So Daniel went in to address the king's grievance.
Now you don't see any of the other religious leaders making their way to go stand before the king, do you?
No, no.
Daniel was the only one in there because they all had conceded that it was impossible to do what the king required of them.
When Daniel stood before the king, he stood alone.
Because only Daniel's God could give the king what he was looking for.
And that's the way it is with Christianity.
Christianity, by the way, didn't start when Jesus came.
Christianity was here before the foundation of the world, the Bible says.
Christianity was in the Garden of Eden when God preached the first gospel message.
But that's the way it is with Christianity.
Just like Daniel being the only one standing before the king who could give him what he needs, only Jesus can give us what we need.
Death is the common enemy of every man, and only Jesus has overcome it for man.
I've noticed an uptick recently in the Islamic rhetoric, especially with our arresting people who are sympathizers for Hamas and all here in the nation, And I've noticed that they're getting a lot more attention now.
And Muhammad died in the 7th century BC.
His body is in the same grave in Medina that it has been.
And Muslims still go visit his grave to this day.
And a few hundred years earlier, before Muhammad was born, Jesus lived and died.
And Muhammad wrote about Jesus.
Isn't that right, Hannah?
Thank you, Hannah.
Muhammad wrote about Jesus.
Jesus' followers testified that Jesus died and rose from the dead.
And they gave eyewitness testimonies of having seen Him and visited with Him after His resurrection.
And Muhammad acknowledges that Jesus lived, but he denies that He died and rose again.
Muslims teach that Jesus never died at all.
Worse than that, Muslims teach that the Comforter, remember Jesus told His disciples before He died, He said, "It is expedient that I go away, but if I go away, the Comforter will come, and He'll abide with you for how long?
Forever."
And then He explained the Comforter is Him.
He said, "I'm with you, but I shall be in you."
He said, "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you."
And Muslims teach that the comforter that Jesus said the Father was going to send after Jesus left was not the Holy Spirit, they said it was Muhammad.
And boy, that's a lot of comfort, isn't it?
If you were in the king's position right now and that's what religion had to offer you?
Jesus praised the Father and the Father sends Muhammad who dies and leaves the people behind.
But He made sure before He died to tell His followers to kill those who believe in Jesus Christ."
Boy, that's very comforting.
That just warms the heart, doesn't it?
Jesus said the Comforter the Father would send would abide with us forever, not be buried in Medina, but abide with us forever.
Jesus said the comforter would be Him Himself.
Only Christianity has a comforter who will never leave us.
Only Christianity has a Savior who died to put away our sins.
And only Christianity overcame the grave on our behalf.
When it comes to sin and death, only Christianity can stand before the king and give him the answers he needs.
All other religions, like the wise men of Babylon, can't give us what we need and they are waiting on their time to die, just like those false religions were right then.
They're waiting on their time to die.
When will they die?
When Jesus comes.
Like Nebuchadnezzar, when I was lost, I I summoned all the religions of this world, and they could not give me what I needed.
But when they gave up, that's when Jesus came in, like Daniel.
And that's when he offered me the answers that I sought to know.
Why did Daniel go in to stand before the king?
Daniel wanted to let the king know that all religions are not the same, and all religious leaders are not swindlers.
Daniel didn't give up hope like the other religious leaders and resort to fear and panic.
Trusting in his God, Daniel went in before the king, look back in your text now, and desired of the king that he would give him time.
Now there are three things that Daniel asked for during this difficult time.
First, Daniel asked the king for time.
Daniel asked the king to give him some time so Daniel could exercise due diligence as a wise man to seek and learn the truth that the king desired.
Daniel didn't have the answer the king needed, but Daniel had the God who had the answer.
Isn't that good?
So Daniel wanted the king to suspend his death sentence long enough for him to seek God's help to know the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had.
Daniel desired the king that he would give him time, look back in your text now, and that he, that is Daniel, after being given that time, would show the king the interpretation.
Well, that's what the king wanted.
He was all about that plan.
He wanted that interpretation.
The other wise men told the king it was impossible, But Daniel told the king, "Just give me some time, by God's grace I'll give you that interpretation."
So eager to have his dream revealed, the king suspended Daniel's death sentence to give him time to give the king the answer to his troubling dream.
Verse 17, "Then went, then Daniel went to his house."
Then Daniel went to his house.
Now, in verse 16, take your pen, an underscore, went in.
See, in verse 16, Daniel went in.
In verse 17, Daniel went home.
Verse 16, Daniel went in.
In verse 17, Daniel went home.
Daniel went in to his earthly king, Daniel went home to his godly companions.
You see, Daniel first addressed the worldly problem with the worldly source.
Then Daniel sought a heavenly solution to the worldly problem.
Man, God's Word is so good!
Daniel addressed the worldly problem with the worldly source, and then Daniel sought a heavenly solution to the worldly problem.
This is the proper way of resolving earthly conflicts for the saints.
Address the worldly problem with the worldly source, then seek a heavenly solution to your worldly problem.
Daniel clarified the problem in the king's house, but Daniel solved the problem in his own house.
Why?
Because he took that problem to God.
Daniel went to his house, look back in your text, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, otherwise known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He goes home and he makes known Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
They also were considered wise men in Babylon, so they also had been ordered to be slain.
So Daniel is letting them know what was what is transpired between him and the king, verse 18, that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven.
Daniel is saying, "Brethren, I just left the king.
I just told him that if he would hold off on his execution of us, and if he would just give me a little time, that I would tell him his dream and give him the interpretation of it as he desires.
Now brethren, let's seek help from the true God of heaven and ask Him for His mercies.
Now, watch what's taking place here.
Daniel asked the king for time.
Daniel asked the brethren for prayer.
Daniel asked the Lord for help.
Let's go over that again.
Daniel asked the king for time, Daniel asked the brethren for prayer, Daniel asked the Lord for help.
What do we learn from that?
From the world, seek what is reasonable.
From the brethren, seek what is spiritual.
From the Lord, seek what's impossible.
Don't expect the world to understand the church's spiritual things.
Don't expect the brethren to accomplish the Lord's impossible things.
And don't expect the Lord to overlook your reasonable things.
When those men came to arrest Daniel and take him to be slain, Daniel didn't say, "Oh well, it must be the Lord's will.
I just need to sit back and have faith and not worry about it.
I guess I'll be seeing the Lord soon."
Now, Daniel didn't sit.
What did the Bible say Daniel did?
He went.
He went.
There was action on Daniel's part.
Daniel went into the king and then Daniel went home to his brethren.
Daniel went to see the king and address the matter with him.
Then Daniel went to his godly friends and asked them to pray.
Faith does not absolve us of our responsibilities, it emboldens us to do them.
Faith does not absolve us of our responsibilities, it emboldens us to do them.
Hebrews 11, verse 7 says, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet," what?
sat down, he moved with fear.
We could say he went, couldn't we?
He moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
By faith Noah didn't sit down, Noah moved.
Like Daniel, Noah went.
By faith Noah did what was reasonable trusted God to do what was impossible.
By faith, the Bible says Abraham offered up his only son Isaac.
What did Abraham do?
By faith, Abraham did what was reasonable and trusted God to do what was impossible.
By faith, little David slew the giant Goliath.
David did what was reasonable and trusted God to do what was impossible.
This week when I was alone with one of my co-workers, he completely surprised me.
It was silent.
We're sitting there.
He's on the other side of the monitoring screens at work.
And suddenly he told me that he had been reading my book knowing I'm saved and that he's really enjoying it.
And from there God opened up the door for a wonderful conversation about the gospel and I tell you praise God he gets it he gets it and I was rejoicing in my heart to listen to him by faith we preach the gospel and people believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or we could put it this way, we do what is reasonable, but we trust God to do what is impossible.
By faith, we offer Jesus to God as the sacrifice for our sins, and God saves us from our sins, and He justifies us and raises us from the dead.
We do what is reasonable.
We believe on Jesus.
God does what is impossible.
He makes us righteous and raises us from the dead.
Just because we trust God for our health, brethren, doesn't mean we don't take our medicine.
Faith, again, does not absolve us of what our reasonable responsibilities are.
It emboldens us to do them.
So Daniel went in before the king, then Daniel went home before the brethren, and they collectively saw the God of heaven for what?
Mercies, it says.
Mercies.
The Chaldean word translated mercies has the idea of that tender and protective love that a mother would have for her child.
The root idea is the womb.
And that's the kind of love that God has for us.
You don't get any more passionate, any more merciful, any more strong than that kind of love for a child.
So that's the kind of love to God and from God that they prayed for.
And they prayed for those mercies, look back in your text, concerning this secret, concerning this secret.
The word secret here means something that's not revealed, something that's not disclosed, something that's got a cover over it.
Our God is a God of secrets, is He not?
He's a God of secrets.
He tells parables that are hard to figure out.
He gives prophecies that you're not going to actually understand for hundreds or thousands of years to come.
He's a God of secrets, and He's also a God who reveals In Genesis chapter 41 verses 14 through 16 we see something very similar to this.
Not between Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, but between Joseph and Pharaoh.
The Bible says, "Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon, and he shaved himself and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it.
"And I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it."
And Joseph answered Pharaoh saying, "It's not me.
I can't interpret the dream."
He said, "God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace."
God can give you the answer you need.
God can calm your troubled soul by giving you that answer.
Why is God a God of secrets?
God's truth concealed gives men humility.
God's truth revealed gives men joy and gives God glory.
Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar were humbled by the secret that God kept, but afterward they rejoiced in the secret God revealed.
Daniel and his fellows, they sought God for the impossible, So the revelation of this secret, look back in your text, that Daniel and his fellow should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
That God would put a difference between these true believers and the false religious believers who had disappointed the king. me once again in the book of Exodus, God said I'm going to put a difference between the Egyptians and between my people.
The plague won't touch them, it'll just touch the people who do not believe on me.
And God willing, we'll continue this exciting story next week.
All thank God for His wonderful rich truths and His Word.
Father, we thank you, Father, for your precious Word.
We thank you, Father God, for being a God of secrets.
And being a God that reveals secrets, the secret that's not disclosed is like, Father, the Old Testament pictures of Jesus.
It was there like Nebuchadnezzar's dream, but it wasn't understood until that cover was pulled off.
And I thank God that the Bible says that even though the veil still remains on Israel's face when they see Moses, if they'll turn to Jesus, the cover will be pulled off.
And then on that day, God will receive glory and they will receive joy.
Thank you, Father, for disclosing Jesus to us.
We pray, Father, for the food that we're about to receive next door.
We thank you, Father, for every person who came today.
We pray for your perfect will in their lives.
We ask in Jesus' wonderful name.
Amen.
