Daniel: In Review

INTRO> If I where to sum up our journey through the book of Daniel, the past 9 weeks, 6 chapters, I would show you this picture (PIC) This is a picture of a man, during a Nazi parade in 1936 who is NOT saluting, at all. As Paul Harvey would say, “Here is the rest of the story..” The man in the picture is claimed to be August Landmesser. August actually joined the Nazi party in 1931 to get a job but was never really committed. He fell in love with Irma Eckler, a Jewish woman, he was later found out and expelled from the party on the ground of “dishonoring the race”. They were not found guilty and kept dating then were found out again and both shipped of to concentration camps. Eckler died April of 1942. August was drafted into the “penal battalion” which puts people directly on the front lines of battle and died October 1944.

APP> If there is ever a picture that summarizes Daniel it is this, a man who is standing out, a man who is not going with the eb and flow, a man who works for the empire but does not worship the empire. That’s Daniel and that is us now in 2018… all through the new testament we see that we are referred to as “aliens and exiles..”

• • • • “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,” 1 Peter 1:1 some translation say, stranger or aliens. It means that this is not our home.

APP> Here is want I want us to do today, I want us to review what we are learned, not just for head knowledge but to do what the bible says to do:

• • • • “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22

Truth #1- God is sovereign. 1:2

• • • “And the Lord gave Jehoiakim King of Judah into his hand…” If there is any over arching theme in the book of Daniel it is the sovereignty of God. Not even two verse’s in Daniel wants us to know this truth!.

APP> The Sovereignty of God is the biblical teaching that all things are under God’s rule and control, and that nothing happens without his direction or permission.

APP> How does this truth make a difference in your life? *ILL> Pastor John Piper pastored Bethlehem baptist church in Minnesota for 30 years, a man died during the first service, the wife came back for the second service. “I needed to hear that God was in control today.”

APP> What is my anchor in the midst of tragedy?

Truth #2- The enemy has a strategy. 1:7

• • • “ And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names…” We saw that in this new God hating culture, that they wanted to rid these people of their faith by destroying their identity.

*ILL> This past Easter, our family a lot like yours died Easter eggs, (PIC) It’s interesting that you put the egg in something and the egg takes on the color of the die. That’s a lot like you in the world.

APP> How am I protecting my identity?

Truth # 3- Christians engage the culture. 1:20

• • • “he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters…” We saw that Daniel and his friends were separate but also still engaged the world around them and the world around them was better because of it.

APP> Is the culture I live in better because of my faith?

Truth #4)- God’s wisdom outweighs the world’s wisdom. 2:28

• • • “but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries..” we see constantly in this book that the human condition can not solve it’s self. Daniel represents God’s prophet to speak God’s word to a broken culture.

*ILL> Just recently GQ, a mens fashion magazine released a list, “21 books you don’t have to read” and one of those was… surprise the bible! “It is repetitive, self-contradictory, sententious, foolish, and even at times ill-intentioned. If the thing you heard was good about the Bible was the nasty bits, then I propose Agota Kristof’s The Notebook, a marvelous tale of two brothers who have to get along when things get rough.”

APP> What do I do when I don’t know what to do?

Truth #5- Taking a stand will cost. 3:16-19

• • • “he will deliver us BUT IF NOT..” We see this great tension

in this book, Daniel and his friends and in the culture but they take stands against the culture.

“*Dr Martin Luther King Jr. preached a sermon on this text to his church on November 1967 he said these words, “Civil disobedience is based on a commitment to conscience. In other words, one who practice[s] civil disobedience is obedient to what he considers a higher law. And there comes a time when a moral man can’t* obey a law which his conscience tells him is unjust. And I tell you this morning, my friends, that history has moved on, and great moments have often come forth because there were those individuals, in every age in [and?] every generation, who were willing to say “I will be obedient to a higher law.” 

APP> Where am I feeling the pressure to compromise my faith? Politics? Religion? Family? Work?

Truth #6- Pride poisons everything. 4:37

• • • “and those who walk in pride he is able to humble…” Chapters 4 and 5 are summarized by this fact. We see how we are probably more like these prideful kings than we are like Daniel.

*ILL> You remember those one collapsable toys? I think that’s a great picture of BEFORE you meet Jesus and AFTER you meet Jesus.

APP> How has God humbled me lately?

Truth #7- God is faithful. 6:26-27

• • • Go all they way back to Chapter 1 with me and look at verse 21 “And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus..” Do you see this thread through out the whole book? God WILL do what he said he would!

*ILL> According to Archie “The Old Mongoose” Moore, his toughest fight occurred 56 years ago today on December 10, 1958. The fight took place at the Forum in Montreal against a challenger who was French Canadian. His name: Yvon “The Fighting Fisherman” Durelle. Durelle was 29 years old to Moore’s 41! Moore was the Light Heavyweight Champion of 6 years when he fought Durelle. Durelle dropped Moore three times in the first round but as the fight continued, Moore seemed to get more strength, in the 11th round Moore got his 127th knockout and won. He simply outlasted.”

“Daniel 1 wants you to remember that the servants of God will simply out-endure the kingdoms of this age. The Hebrew test of verse 21 contains only seven words- seven he brew words packed with dynamite.” Dale Ralph David, Daniel, pg37

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Big Idea > Daniel encourages Christians to go from just surviving in this world to thriving in this world.

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