Sunday Morning 10.30.11
1 view
Skip to first unread message
jmichaelwalls
Oct 30, 2011, 8:59:30 AM10/30/11
to BaptistOut...@yahoogroups.com
LEARNING TO STAND ALONE FOR THE LORD IN A WORLD THAT HATES GOD
Daniel 2:12-18
The Dream Received by Nebuchadnezzar
Part 2
Introduction: Last time we saw two items in this chapter thus far. We saw
a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had but he forgot the dream. So he sends for
his "dream team". They were his consultations for all matter of his life.
He was a Gentile king who either did not know about the books of the
Bible thus written before that time or he did not care what it says. The
Bible is plain on the "dream team�s" activities. Deuteronomy 18:9-12
"When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee,
thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations."
"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his
daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an
observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch," "Or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer." "For all
that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of
these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before
thee."
The Lord prohibited the nation of Israel to learn these sins. They are
called abominations. Quickly let me tell what an abomination is. An
abomination is a term applied in Scripture to objects of great hatred.
Idols and their worship were so named, because they robbed God of his
honor, while the rites themselves were impure and cruel. Here is one
example from the list. The passing of a child through fire was a rite the
child is taken through the fire of a certain idol�s arms. All recognizing
of lucky or unlucky days, all charms for diseases, all protective charms
or spells to prevent evil, fortune-telling are here forbidden.
These men were impostors. They could not tell the king his dream. They
usually said what they thought he want to hear. As a Bible believing
pastor, I do try to tell you what you want to hear but what you need to
hear from the Word of God.
Let�s continue with this message.
III. THE FURIOUS KING Vs. 12-13
"For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to
destroy all the wise men of Babylon." "And the decree went forth that the
wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be
slain."
The practical is seen quickly here. It deals with a subject that I am
well acquainted. It is anger.
Anger is a characteristic of a fool.
Ecclesiastes 7:9
"Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom
of fools."
Proverbs 14:17
"He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is
hated."
Proverbs 22:24-25
"Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt
not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul."
Ephesians 4:26
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath"
Proverbs 19:11
"The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass
over a transgression."
B. Anger and wrath are subjects that carry a lot of verses in the
scripture. In fact those two words are found four hundred and twenty-one
times. What does the anger of a man do? It can drive a man to irrational
decisions. This passage of scripture is a classic example of that. His
anger is about to make him violate a scriptural principle in regards to
Daniel. Psalm 105:15
"Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm."
His anger was about to take the life of a prophet that can help him but
he is being irrational because of the frauds in his employees.
IV. THE FEARLESS PROPHET Vs. 14-16
"Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of
the king�s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:"
"He answered and said to Arioch the king�s captain, Why is the decree so
hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel." "Then
Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and
that he would shew the king the interpretation."
Daniel could have been killed instantly. But Daniel feared the
displeasure of the Lord more than of the king�s anger. God had given
Daniel discretion. Daniel knew the Lord would protect his life so he went
in and ask for time. He even won time of reprieve for the lives of those
frauds.
Daniel feared God. It was taught to him as a child and was part of his
life now. Let me give you two definitions of the fear of the Lord. One
comes from the margin of our Scofield Bible. The other I picked up along
the way.
"Reverential trust with a hatred of evil." "The continual awareness that
I am in the presence of a holy, just and Almighty God and that every
thought, word, action and deed is open before Him and is judged by HIM."
Psalm 118:8
"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
Psalm 119:74
"They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped
in thy word."
Proverbs 3:7-8
"Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It
shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his
commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring
every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or
whether it be evil."
When a man fears the Lord, he does not have to fear his enemies.
Luke 12:4-5
"And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body,
and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you
whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to
cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him."
The practical application is simple. We should fear God but not our
enemies. There is much in scriptures on this subject but I will only give
a few places.
Isaiah 41:10
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I
will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness."
Psalm 27:1
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is
the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
Hebrews 13:5-6
"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such
things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not
fear what man shall do unto me."
Psalm 118:6
"The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?"
V. THE FAITHFUL FEW Vs. 17-18
"Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:" "That they would desire mercies of
the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows
should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon."
Throughout the scriptures you will find that there has been a faithful
minority. These are people who have learned to stand for the Lord in a
world that hated God. A great example would be Gideon and his three
hundred men. It is constant theme throughout the Word of God. Joshua
23:10
"One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is
that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you."
Romans 8:31
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us?"
Faithfulness is a mandate from God.
1st Corinthians 4:2
"Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."
God never requires greatness only faithfulness.
C. The Faithful few ministry was one of prayer.
Matthew 18:19-20
"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as
touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my
Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
These men were having an old fashioned "cottage prayer meeting." It was
at a cottage prayer meeting that I first was under conviction to be saved
when I was ten years old. Some people think that they are a thing of the
past and don�t apply for today but I am convinced that they can be useful
once again if a church would do them again.
Four quick thoughts in regards to this prayer meeting
They prayed for God�s mercy on them.
They prayed believing God.
They prayed fervently. James 5:16
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye
may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much."
They prayed specifically.
Of course, we know that God answered this prayer. We will see this in the
rest of the chapter.
Conclusion: There are many applications that can be made in this message.
I have made many but will give a quick review and a few additional ones
also.
Anger can cause us to make irrational decisions. It is better to walk
away than exchange verbal sword fights when anger is a chief factor.
Prayer is essential in the work of God.
God requires faithfulness and will bless and reward faithfulness. It may
not be here on earth but God will bless and reward our faithfulness.
It is better to fear the Lord than man. After all, the most man can do to
us is to kill us.
We should not rely on dreams and visions but only on the Word of God. We
don�t need a new revelation. We have God�s complete revelation to man.
Next time we see how the Lord gave Daniel the dream and the true
interpretation of it for the king. The Lord wanted to let Nebuchadnezzar
that he was a human king and the Lord is the eternal king.
Daniel 2:12-18
The Dream Received by Nebuchadnezzar
Part 2
Introduction: Last time we saw two items in this chapter thus far. We saw
a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had but he forgot the dream. So he sends for
his "dream team". They were his consultations for all matter of his life.
He was a Gentile king who either did not know about the books of the
Bible thus written before that time or he did not care what it says. The
Bible is plain on the "dream team�s" activities. Deuteronomy 18:9-12
"When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee,
thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations."
"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his
daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an
observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch," "Or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer." "For all
that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of
these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before
thee."
The Lord prohibited the nation of Israel to learn these sins. They are
called abominations. Quickly let me tell what an abomination is. An
abomination is a term applied in Scripture to objects of great hatred.
Idols and their worship were so named, because they robbed God of his
honor, while the rites themselves were impure and cruel. Here is one
example from the list. The passing of a child through fire was a rite the
child is taken through the fire of a certain idol�s arms. All recognizing
of lucky or unlucky days, all charms for diseases, all protective charms
or spells to prevent evil, fortune-telling are here forbidden.
These men were impostors. They could not tell the king his dream. They
usually said what they thought he want to hear. As a Bible believing
pastor, I do try to tell you what you want to hear but what you need to
hear from the Word of God.
Let�s continue with this message.
III. THE FURIOUS KING Vs. 12-13
"For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to
destroy all the wise men of Babylon." "And the decree went forth that the
wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be
slain."
The practical is seen quickly here. It deals with a subject that I am
well acquainted. It is anger.
Anger is a characteristic of a fool.
Ecclesiastes 7:9
"Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom
of fools."
Proverbs 14:17
"He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is
hated."
Proverbs 22:24-25
"Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt
not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul."
Ephesians 4:26
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath"
Proverbs 19:11
"The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass
over a transgression."
B. Anger and wrath are subjects that carry a lot of verses in the
scripture. In fact those two words are found four hundred and twenty-one
times. What does the anger of a man do? It can drive a man to irrational
decisions. This passage of scripture is a classic example of that. His
anger is about to make him violate a scriptural principle in regards to
Daniel. Psalm 105:15
"Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm."
His anger was about to take the life of a prophet that can help him but
he is being irrational because of the frauds in his employees.
IV. THE FEARLESS PROPHET Vs. 14-16
"Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of
the king�s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:"
"He answered and said to Arioch the king�s captain, Why is the decree so
hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel." "Then
Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and
that he would shew the king the interpretation."
Daniel could have been killed instantly. But Daniel feared the
displeasure of the Lord more than of the king�s anger. God had given
Daniel discretion. Daniel knew the Lord would protect his life so he went
in and ask for time. He even won time of reprieve for the lives of those
frauds.
Daniel feared God. It was taught to him as a child and was part of his
life now. Let me give you two definitions of the fear of the Lord. One
comes from the margin of our Scofield Bible. The other I picked up along
the way.
"Reverential trust with a hatred of evil." "The continual awareness that
I am in the presence of a holy, just and Almighty God and that every
thought, word, action and deed is open before Him and is judged by HIM."
Psalm 118:8
"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
Psalm 119:74
"They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped
in thy word."
Proverbs 3:7-8
"Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It
shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his
commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring
every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or
whether it be evil."
When a man fears the Lord, he does not have to fear his enemies.
Luke 12:4-5
"And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body,
and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you
whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to
cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him."
The practical application is simple. We should fear God but not our
enemies. There is much in scriptures on this subject but I will only give
a few places.
Isaiah 41:10
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I
will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness."
Psalm 27:1
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is
the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
Hebrews 13:5-6
"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such
things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not
fear what man shall do unto me."
Psalm 118:6
"The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?"
V. THE FAITHFUL FEW Vs. 17-18
"Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:" "That they would desire mercies of
the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows
should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon."
Throughout the scriptures you will find that there has been a faithful
minority. These are people who have learned to stand for the Lord in a
world that hated God. A great example would be Gideon and his three
hundred men. It is constant theme throughout the Word of God. Joshua
23:10
"One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is
that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you."
Romans 8:31
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us?"
Faithfulness is a mandate from God.
1st Corinthians 4:2
"Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."
God never requires greatness only faithfulness.
C. The Faithful few ministry was one of prayer.
Matthew 18:19-20
"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as
touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my
Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
These men were having an old fashioned "cottage prayer meeting." It was
at a cottage prayer meeting that I first was under conviction to be saved
when I was ten years old. Some people think that they are a thing of the
past and don�t apply for today but I am convinced that they can be useful
once again if a church would do them again.
Four quick thoughts in regards to this prayer meeting
They prayed for God�s mercy on them.
They prayed believing God.
They prayed fervently. James 5:16
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye
may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much."
They prayed specifically.
Of course, we know that God answered this prayer. We will see this in the
rest of the chapter.
Conclusion: There are many applications that can be made in this message.
I have made many but will give a quick review and a few additional ones
also.
Anger can cause us to make irrational decisions. It is better to walk
away than exchange verbal sword fights when anger is a chief factor.
Prayer is essential in the work of God.
God requires faithfulness and will bless and reward faithfulness. It may
not be here on earth but God will bless and reward our faithfulness.
It is better to fear the Lord than man. After all, the most man can do to
us is to kill us.
We should not rely on dreams and visions but only on the Word of God. We
don�t need a new revelation. We have God�s complete revelation to man.
Next time we see how the Lord gave Daniel the dream and the true
interpretation of it for the king. The Lord wanted to let Nebuchadnezzar
that he was a human king and the Lord is the eternal king.
Pastor Mike Walls
Freedom Baptist Church Smithfield, NC
http://freedombaptistchurchnc.wordpress.com/
http://iglesiabautistalibertad.wordpress.com/
____________________________________________________________
Hyatt Summerfield Suites®
All Suites Hotel with a Full Kitchen. Free Breakfast & Wi-Fi. Book Now
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4ead4acbed83911a8aa6st01vuc
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages