Daniel 2 - Resolved faith in peril

Transcript (Auto-generated)

Glory to be to God. Amen. Well good morning everyone. It's great to see so many smiling faces before Open Guides were. I just want to say thank you to all those who contributed to the men's breakfast yesterday morning, to those who came first of all and we worked out Plan B or Plan C as it poured rain. We couldn't have our open fire but we had some camp, camp oven stuff happening and some great, great mince, mince on toast, mince on bread and there was a great time. I've got to share God's word as well. Folks, we've been journeying through Daniel. Just a hand up if I may, I want to put you on the spot. If you've been reading Daniel recently. Excellent. Do anyone read Daniel chapter 2 in this last week? Okay, thank you. Right, Mike Rafferty, come up here and tell us what it's all about please. There's a fair bit in this chapter. I'm going to move past some of it but I just want to say that it's great to open a God's word and see what it means to us. That's why we open God's word, yeah? To see what it means to us. What the teaching is for us personally. And we're going to pray now. Just ask, Lord we thank you Lord that you open your word to us, Father that we may be changed by it. That Father that the words written on paper, Lord or on the screen, Lord it will be your words and Father to us directly. We thank you we can see that you are a good God. Lord you are a faithful God and we mean those words from our heart. They're not just platitudes. Lord we mean them from our heart. And Lord as we open your word today, Lord help us to explore it more deeply than we've ever explored before. Father I just thank you for the privilege it is to do this and to share with my brothers and sisters in your name. And Father ask again the words that I speak of your words, Lord not mine, in your name, amen. So we learned last week from Pastor Dave that the exile had happened and then the nation was taken over by the Babylonians and brought into Babylonia and Nebuchadnezzar was the king at the time. And we learned that Daniel then under the pressure of assimilation in a foreign culture was able to rest back in God, be intentional in God and say I'm not going to buy into the culture that we're in now at the moment. I'm not going to be assimilated into that. I'm not going to live its lies or its false gods. I'm going to walk in faith and he withdrew and one of the examples, the great example was to withdraw from the table of the food that was set before him and to say I'm not going to eat that not because of dietary commitments but because of my faith in God is that I'm not going to be part of this assimilation culture. Now that's a challenge for us all isn't it? Not to be part of a simulated culture because we're in a culture now that just implodes upon us, impacts upon us. It works on our psyche. It works in the aspects of our hearts and minds to say you could do this but that's okay and I believe as Christians as those who profess to follow Jesus Christ and Lord and save him we need to be resolute in how we walk with him and how we walk in the culture we're in and this is a great example in chapter 2 of Daniel looking at the culture and being intentional about how he can be God's person in that space. Such was his resolute faith. He's resolved to say no I'm a person of God and I have an answer here that only my God can give and want to be part of that. Okay let's start we'll start with the first part. It's a long chapter and it's got an early mark today so we'll be here for an hour or two it won't matter. In the second year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. His mind was troubled and he could not sleep so the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him that he had had a dream to tell him he had had a dream and when they came in and stood before the king he said to them I've had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means. The astrologers answered the king may the king live forever which is always a good thing to do when you be in front of a king like this. May the king live forever. Tell your servants the dream and we'll interpret it and I find this next passage very refreshing. The king replied to the astrologers this is what I firmly have decided. I will not tell you what my dream was and interpret it. I will have you cut if you sorry this is what my this is what I affirm you decided. If you do not tell me what my dream is and interpret it I'll have you cut into pieces and your houses turn into piles of rubble but if you tell me the dream and explain it you will receive me from me gifts and rewards and great honor so tell me the dream and interpret it. Once more the replied let the king tell his servants the dream and we'll interpret it then the king answered I am certain that you are trying to gain time because you realize this is what I have firmly decided. If you do not tell me the dream there is one penalty for you you have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things hoping the situation will change so then tell me the dream and I will know that you can interpret it for me. The astrologers answered the king there is no one on earth who can do this as the king asks no king who ever great and mighty has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer well the king asked is too difficult no one can reveal it to the king except for gods and they do not live among humans the king was so angry and furious he ordered the executioner of all wise men in Babylon so the decree was ensued to put wise men to the death and the men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them as death as well so we have a situation where Daniel is an innocent bystander he is just part of this group of wise men he's just living in society he is living under God's rule in his heart but he's still cohabitating in society we get like that sometimes we cohabitate amongst all sorts of things and all of a sudden I'll bring in a new rule I've got a shooter's license and after the tragedy of Bondi they change the rules for having a shooter's license and then so they bought that in so I'm just an innocent bystander I didn't stand there in at Bondi and go yeah get them all please stop I wasn't even involved but because of my association with this group then I have to comply to a different set of rules so being in the court of King and Cabernet what's his name Nebuchadnezzar yeah I didn't I almost fail this part of Boba College the court of Nebuchadnezzar being in that court was a little bit like this the king's word is final unless it isn't the king's decrees are fatal unless they aren't demands and expectations are high too impossible this is what met these wise men don't forget Daniel wasn't in this original conversation so he's hearing what's going on he's trying to work it all out it was also full of magicians enchanters and sources diviners and astrologers and they were all on staff so their livelihood was at stake so their answer to this king this pagan king was going to be the difference between life and death for them and because they couldn't interpret it because they didn't have what they needed they had to try and make something up King saw straight through that I couldn't help when I was reading this bit of the passage I was thinking of those you know the magic balls you know the magic eight balls they used to have years ago and used to shake it and used to decide your future or something on it I thought this what these guys would have been like quick king tell us yes that's right and it's interesting too that because the king didn't tell them anything they had nothing to go on and their proclamation was that no one on this earth can humankind can reveal this only god and the door was opened by heavenly father so what do we learn from this little passage let's have a look at the first part where Daniel is intentionally stepping up Daniel hears the decree he says in verse 14 when ariok the commander of the king's guard had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact he asked the king's officer why did the king issue such a decree and ariok then explained the matter to Daniel straight away Daniel steps up straight away he steps up and when he heard this he wanted to find out what's going on so if we're going to be resolute in our in our culture we're in and have resolute faith we need to also remember that we need to be respectful and in these dire times we need to be respectful of how we approach we need to use tact we need to use the words that God gives us not our own words and unfortunately we live in a time where it seems that Christians almost polarized by politics and they're polarized by different teachings and the church itself on a broader scale is being polarized by different understanding of what even marriage is yet God's word is always resolute God's word is always faithful and always direct and so standing there he's walking it all out in Proverbs 51 5 1 says and it gently ends it turns away wrath but a hearth harsh ends the stairs up anger so Daniel his approach was respectful the Bible tells us that he said man what's going on what's the jig what's happening and and so he told him he said mate you guys are going to get wiped out soon because no one can do this and it's interesting too that it goes on that he's the next passage it says in verse 15 he asked the king's officer decree and explained at this Daniel went to the king and asked for time so that he might interpret the dream for himself then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends he urged them to plead for mercy to God concerning this mystery so that he and his friends might be might not be executed with the rest of the wise men not only respectful in dire times not only was he using diplomacy but he also understood quite clearly that when he speaks with respect to those who don't believe then he opens their hearts and minds when we share our faith we share our life with people we need to do it with such respect that that will open their heart and tenderize them to the gospel then when we speak with words that soothe and words that can gradually and lovingly bring them to the cross we're doing what God has called us to do we can shove things down people's throat but we cannot that will not have the effect that God is after it pushes people away always stand by your faith always be resolute Daniel didn't back down on chapter one he said no God he said straight to Nebuchadnezzar no I'm not going to do that such words his authentic action and his heart and the way that he spoke that King Nebuchadnezzar was responding to that now just have a thinker moment in the situations you're in in your daily walk your resolute faith in this culture we're in in this almost a simulation we're under how do you respond to the things that are really hurtful or really against God do you sit in judgment of that person do you make judgment judgment and exclamations or do you say in your heart Lord I want to pray for them right now they may know the living Savior because obviously they don't because the words they've spoken have been abhorrent to me they're offensive to me but oh Lord I want to pray for them they might know that you love them dearly and want them in a relationship with you never can there's a stepped up his respectfully response in these die times in his resolute faith so they could trust God to give you the wise and tactful words when speaking to antagonists and seek to speak the words that are prayerful and not harmful I wonder if anyone needs to repent right now or the person who cupped them off in the way the church this morning or the one who was taking forever in the drive-thru to order their coffee because we're trying to get here on time we're running late or whether or not it's just a case of you know who you are you know God knows you and you need to spend some quiet time with him none of us are here to judge we're just here to encourage the second thing we learned from this passage is when times are at their worst to seek God we read in 2 17 and 18 then Daniel turned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hannah and I am a shell and a zire as a rise sorry he urged them to plead for the mercy from God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he and his friends might not be executed the part that impresses me is he didn't say Lord get us out of this mess or we want answer to prayer change the circumstances he said I want mercy just can we just sit down brothers and pray for mercy in this situation that God might reveal himself to us pray for mercy that we know who we are before him but we need to be honest with God a lot of us like that get out of jail clause if you've ever played monopoly there's two cards and just to strike fear into your heart of the enthusiast and the committed monopoly player one is straight to go and click $200 the other one is go to jail and cost you $50 what you used to know what it is in euros now but to get you out of jail sometimes we're so self-protective we forget that when times are worse we just need to come before God it needs to be immediate rather than those gather those around you to seek in Psalm 28 to it says hear my cry for mercy as I call for you to help as I lift up my hands towards your most holy place ask you a rhetorical question when was the last time you prayed a prayer like that was the last time you just said Lord I need mercy because I'm struggling Lord I'm not perfect but this person has just pushed the buttons the wrong way Lord help me please let me read those words again from Psalm hear my cry for mercy as I call out to you for help as I lift up my hands toward your most high place what a great and loving God we have that there is an avenue for us to be able to come before him with that sort of brokenness and say Lord I just need your mercy if you're struggling today if you're here today we're hearing listening at home and welcome by the way if you're trying to work through what God means in your life and how to impact you can I encourage you read this Psalm Psalm 28 verse 2 and see how his mercy imbides in you be challenged by the answer to that prayer because sometimes you want to just get out of this stuff because it feels so uncomfortable we feel like we've done wrong we just need some of our circumstances to change the first thing is not to pray for the circumstances to change the first thing is to pray for God's mercy and I praise God for down your doing this in the midst of all this simulation amidst all this foreign culture all the things were impeding and pushing in upon him his reaction was get the brothers together the ones he knew were faithful and pray for mercy we pray in all circumstances not just the ones that are going badly pray in all circumstances as well we have a great God Psalm 40 verse 11 says do not withhold your mercy from me Lord may your love and faithfulness always protect me I love the prayers in Psalms let me read that one again there's a few nodding heads do not withhold your mercy from me Lord may your love and faithfulness always protect me in midst of dire peril in the midst of the peril path a resolute faith reaches to God and understands that when God answers his answer is the one we need not the one we think we want but the one we need the third passage and I jump through Daniel interprets the dream in in 21 22 he gives praise to God in his prayer 20 in 23 I praise and thank you God for my ancestors you give me wisdom and power you have made no one to me and what we have asked of you you have made no one to us the dream of the king in verse 27 and 28 give glory to God a resolute faith a person of resolute faith gives glory to God it's not about hey look what I've done or gee you did well with that and being an Australian male it's really hard fellas isn't it to take praise someone says gee you did a good job of that oh thank you let's sit in the yesterday and and all the chaos around trying to redo the men's breakfast and I'm in there making damper I'm trying all these different experiments and I'm not sure how they're going to turn out because some of the fire was extra heavy and some was a bit tamer and so we put the three dampers in and we got them going and they turned out with varying degrees of satisfaction and then someone says great damper Dougie and I can think was thank you Jesus I wasn't sure how that was going to go if we give God the glory in verse 27 28 Daniel replied no wise men enchanter magician or diviner can explain the king the mystery he has asked about but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the days to come your dreams and visions that pass through your mind as you are lying in bed are these and then they explain the dream now there's an a whole sermon in the explanation for the dream there's a whole understanding of just the historic history of the world unfolding before Nebuchadnezzar's there's the understanding that in all those things kingdoms will rise and fall but let's just have a look at Daniel's response in the midst of all the pressure he was under that he could have lost his life and everyone all the otherwise men in inverted commons would have lost their lives as well very rarely are we in a position where we lose their lives we can't answer perhaps we've got that really weird question on the on the tax return we might be in trouble for that well perhaps you know we can't give an answer that sort of meets the needs of those who are asking the question but it's not life-threatening but here we have a life-threatening situation resolute faith in a time of peril if we can step back from that for ourselves a little while and say what's our resolute faith in the times when we're living in now and just in my life what's happening after church this afternoon what is going on the first point to point out is to avoid selfish ambition and give praise to God soon as you you have that revelation you get to share it you say thank you lord say it in your heart I know he's given you gifts and talents and skills but the moment we say well that was my idea on taking glory for this or I'll thank you let it go to our heads a little bit what we're doing we're taking away the focus from a God who loves the lost and they start to look at man and can never never can as it was all about people looking at him second thing God enables you to overcome achieve and serve it is God who enables it is God who enables you to overcome not your own efforts it's only God who enables you to achieve anything it's only God who enables you to serve I find it difficult sometimes that when we struggle with different things in our lives that you start to draw back and start to take control and when we take control of things that's when things don't quite go as we would really love them to be but it's only God who can do that the God of heaven will prevail and his king kingdom will be set in the rock and verse 44 when Daniel at the end of the dream talks about how it's all going to be bought down there's going to be this one rock standing it points to Jesus in verse 44 and the understanding is that it's the salvation will come to the world through the ultimate king the foundation of all mankind and so in interpreting the dream he's putting it all in perspective he's giving glory to God he's not doing it he's own ambition he's not doing it out of his own understanding he's saying well hey look there's one coming that's mightier than you we've been singing about that today if I didn't know better I'd say that Pastor Dillon would have read chapter two before he put these songs together I wonder if that's a bit of a stretch Pastor Dillon you know he's up there with his poor Logan head wobble on up them own bless him Philippians 2 3 says do not put do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain can seek rather than humility value others above yourself in a foreign culture that we're in in a time when we are trying to be assimilated by different practices and laws and theologies and philosophies and things that just aren't of God can I encourage you to act in humility Daniel just walked humbly before the king and said king this is what I want to do and I'd say this with all respect the fourth one that comes from this passage in verse 47 and you live for these days you live for the people having all of a sudden those little light bulb moments when it pops into their head faithfulness can impact those around you when you're resolute and your faithfulness can have an impact or those around you that you might even perceive because you're just living your life for God you're just trying to do the right thing and you're responding to him you're not looking for ticks on the board you're not looking for notches on the gun this is what it says in verse 47 then king Daniel said surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and the revealer of mysteries for you are able to reveal this mystery in brackets to me the testimony of this king this mighty king of Babylon this king who struck fear into the hearts of everyone who would listen was brought to that revelation that this is only God can do this only your God can do this a God bigger than the gods I know wouldn't it be wonderful just to have the affirmation your heart after being a conversation with someone you know in the community your navy your friend your workmate and they come to a realization that God is in control or God has he said God loves me that just gives you that little tingle on the back of your neck when people just acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and say when they acknowledge that God is in control and amongst all the things that happen in fear of life and pain of death such was he resolute in his faith I did a bit of a research in Old Testament gods just to know that when you say God of gods and king of kings whatever I had a this is what I came up with you know amongst around this time the Israelites confronted and dealt with Asheria which is a god of futility Baal the god of storms and fertility Chemosh a Moabite god Dagon the Philistine fish and grain god that's an interesting one molash associated with baby and child sacrifice there's just some of those who they're dealing with at the time now you cast your mind into our society and think how many of these gods are present today how many gods can dome the things that are important to him how many of those influences come through the fertility things how many influences come through just making something greater than what it should be the glory you know the harvest king and the harvest for sacrifice and we live in that pagan world and Daniel is a word for this time is to be resolute in our faith and to do those steps that we've called us to in second Corinthians it says the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of god in first Corinthians 120 where is the wise person whereas the teacher of the law whereas the philosopher of this age has not god made foolish the wisdom of the world and Daniel stepped forward and said king give us a bit of time this is a bit of time to go and pray before we do anything before you make a decision give us a bit of leave way the pastor comes to you and says how about uh have you could i get you to think about serving on this particular place our first reaction is oh thanks pastor that's great or is our reaction let me pray about it for a while and you go and pray and say lord is this what you want for me you've had an affirmation from this person and maybe an affirmation affirmation from another when we faithful in resolute times we open hearts and minds the alternative of this present life and that's what our world needs is an alternative to this present life alternative to what they're living now i've told you the story of a young man who came to see me and he is fiance about getting married and i said look i can't marry you and unless you agree to the biblical understanding of marriage and i have a bit of a paragraph i give to the couples because i've done a lot of in the gutton locky area i did a lot of unchurch weddings as i call them through relationship but always this was the mainstay wouldn't do it without this and as he read it he said almost with tears and i said this is what i've been looking for i said what do you mean he said i am so sick of the world and what's happening now i'm just it's so confusing and nothing's making sense i know what's wrong but i don't know why it's wrong but he said when i'm read through this i understand that god has a plan for everything so he must have a plan for me we got to share the gospel with him he gave his life to the lord before they were married he and his wife was already a believer and so and they had a christian wedding that glorified god and there was a witness to all their family and then he was baptized on new year's day at the end of that year people are looking and searching don't be filled they're not people are seeking god their signal turned to this world we're in don't be filled by simulation saying no we've got a great and wonderful and powerful god we just sung about him do you believe what you just sing do you believe the words you sing i'd encourage you to keep digging into though spend some time meditating on the words that are put together okay i'm just going to close up worship team if you'd like to make your way up i have no problem with you being on stage with me it only makes me look good cool by association just want to finish up with a couple of points about resolute faith respectfully respond to questions and threats yeah threats respectfully respond to threats turn a millions to god and seek his wisdom acknowledge god's hand and give the glory to him in all aspects allow others to see here and witness what resolute faithfulness in god looks like because when you do that you're being a disciple and that's what we're called to do heavenly father we thank you lord in the midst of this world you are victorious father we just recently reflected on easter and the victory over sin and death through your son jesus and his resurrection and lord as each person here today reads through daniel reads chapter three next week waiting to see what you're going to teach them father i pray that you'll infer affirm in our hearts what it means to be resolute in this world father to walk lord with the courage you give us only through you father to be able to speak words lord tactfully with respect and yet and share the gospel that father others will be impacted by a god who not only answers prayer but also shows that he loves them dearly father we know lord that you've called us to this purpose as your disciples will help us to go forward lord with a faith that is stronger and resolute in this world in your name we pray amen