DANIEL: MAN OF COMMITMENT.
Intro. Committed to purity. He had purposed not to defile himself with the king's meat or wine. The king's meat had been sacrificed first to the king's gods. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging.
PRO 23:29
A. Nazarite vow. One to qualify for an overseer of a church was not to be given to wine. All things are lawful for me, I will not be brought unde...
"NEBUCHADNEZZER'S DREAM."
I. DANIEL'S INTERPRETATION OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM.
DNL 2:36 This [is] the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
DNL 2:37 Thou, O king, [art] a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
DNL 2:38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the...
Intro. We have just elected a new president who has just completed the selections for his cabinet posts, and many people are looking to the government to provide jobs, health programs, a stronger economy, and cure whatever ails us, while reducing the National debt. They feel that we are entering into a new age, and have great hopes for the future. I wish I could share their optimism...
"THE COMING KING"
Intro: Nebuchadnezzar's troubling dream.
I. THE REASON FOR THE DREAM vs .29.
A. Lying on bed wondering what was to happen to all this, his kingdom.
II. THE DREAM ITSELF, THE GREAT IMAGE.
A. Head of gold.
B. Shoulders of silver.
C. Stomach of brass.
D. Legs of iron.
E. Feet and toes, Iron and clay.
F. The coming kingdom of Christ.
G. He is the rock out of...
"COMMITMENT"
Intro: The story.
I. THE VALUE OF COMMITMENT.
A. It gives you the strength to go against the current.
1. Everyone had bowed to the image except three.
2. Paul spoke of the course or current of this world.
a. It is anti-God: "love not the world..."
b. The world declares the material is superior to the spiritual.
3. Without real commitment you will be swept away.
"THE COMMITMENT THAT WINS"
Intro: The setting of the text.
I. THE VALUE OF COMMITMENT.
A. Men of commitment are men of accomplishment.
1. The men who will get the job done.
2. The men that will win.
B. Everything worthwhile takes effort.
1. Without commitments, effort lacking.
II. THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMITMENT.
A. We shall each of us face the fiery furnace.
1. God never pro...
I. THE STORY OF THE THREE HEBREW CHILDREN.
A. The great image of gold in the plain of Dura.
1. The commandment to bow and worship the image.
2. The penalty for refusal was to be cast into the burning fiery furnace.
B. The disobedience of the three Hebrew children.
1. Nebuchadnezzer's rage and fury at the report.
2. The commandment to bring them before him.
3. The offer of a s...
I. THERE ARE IMPORTANT LESSONS WE NEED TO LEARN IN LIFE.
A. God is determined that we should understand certain truths that He has set forth in His word.
1. These are the basic truths or laws that will lead you to the good life that God desires you to live.
2. Basically life is made up of things that will build you up, and things that tear you down.
3. God has warned you about t...
Intro. Belshazzar's great feast for a thousand of his lords. Under the influence of his wine he ordered the gold and silver vessels to be brought that had been removed from the Temple in Jerusalem, that they might drink their wine from these sacred vessels. As they drank from these vessels, he praised the gods of gold and silver, when suddenly their appeared a hand that wrote on the...
DANIEL A MAN OF EXCELLENT SPIRIT
Intro: Man is made up of body, soul, spirit. Not originally created in this order. Our mind is in the middle being ruled by body appetites or spiritual desires.
I. "AN EXCELLENT SPIRIT WAS IN HIM"
A. A man whose spirit excelled.
1. The spirit was uppermost and ruled.
B. How did this come about?
1. He was a man of purpose.
a. He had purposed no...
"THE EXCELLING SPIRIT"
Intro: Another possible translation perhaps closer to the idea in the original Hebrew "because the spirit excelled in Him" He had discovered the true order of life. A spirit governed life.
I. HOW WAS THIS SO?
A. Daniel was a man of purpose. He purposed in his heart not to defile himself.
1. The kings meat offered first as sacrifice to idols.
2. Probably n...
I. KING DARIUS HAS JUST SPENT A MISERABLE NIGHT.
A. He realized that he had be hoodwinked by wicked men to condemn a man to death that he highly loved and respected, one who he was considering to set over the whole realm.
1. These men had appealed to his vanity, and pressured him to sign a foolish decree that no one could offer a prayer or petition to anyone except him for a perio...
I. DANIEL'S VISION OF THE SUBSEQUENT KINGDOMS OF MAN.
A. They are marked by violence and destruction.
B. He sees in his vision a final world leader who blasphemes God and turns against the Jews who are classified as the saints of the most High.
C. Man has been in rebellion against God from the Garden of Eden.
1. One of the first things that man did was to rebel against the comma...
Intro. In the first three verses of the chapter Daniel tells us that this vision came to him in the third year of Belshazzar's reign and that he was in Shushan in the province of Elam, known today as Iran. Shushan later became the capitol of the Medo Persian Empire. He was no doubt there as a representative of the King, perhaps even in the position as an Ambassador. Last Sunday we t...
I. THE INCENTIVE FOR PRAYER.
A. His understanding of the word of God.
1. Lev.26:33 "And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths as long as long as it lieth desolate, and you are in your enemies land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.
"DANIEL 9."
Intro. The background to the chapter is Daniel's interest in prophecy. He knew from the prophecies of Isaiah that the 70 years of captivity were almost over. He began to seek the Lord with fasting and prayer. I believe that his purpose was to make himself available to the Lord.
I. THE PRAYER OF DANIEL.
A. He acknowledged that faithfulness of God and the unfaithfulness...
"THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE"
Intro: God had promised the Jews a Messiah. Here is one of the most amazing prophecies of all when the Lord tells the very day the Messiah will come.
I. THE NEED FOR A MESSIAH (Daniel was in prayer).
A. They were in captivity in Babylon.
1. Daniel confesses the reasons for captivity.
a. We have sinned (missed the mark...)
b. Committed iniquity.
I. GOD'S PROMISE OF A SPECIAL DAY.
A. In the Psalm that we read this morning, "This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it."
1. That is not just any beautiful morning that you might wake up to blue skies.
2. It is a day when God will provide salvation from the powers of darkness.
3. A day of rejoicing in God's salvation, when the people will be shou...
I. THERE IS A SPIRITUAL CONFLICT RAGING IN THE UNIVERSE AROUND US.
A. It is a war against good and evil.
1. The prize is the control of the minds of men.
2. Thus you are thrust into the battle, like it or not.
3. Your life will be controlled either by good or evil.
4. We sometimes refer to this as the battle between the flesh and the spirit, but in reality it is a battle agains...
Intro. This scripture is a prophecy and was fulfilled in the time of Judas Maccabeus. Who with a small band of men, dedicated fully to God, attacked and defeated the superior forces of Antiocus Epiphanies over and over again. Before each battle he would encourage his men to be willing to give their lives for God. The exploits of these men became legendary. There is a truth here that...
I. "AND THEY THAT BE WISE."
A. James asks in 3:13 "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show it by the way he lives in good works in meekness of wisdom.
1. He then declares that there is a wisdom that does not come from God that is earthly, sensual, and devilish. It is marked by bitter envy and strife in your heart.
2. Those who compete for glory in this...
"HOW LONG TILL THE END?"
I. THE REMARKABLE INSIGHTS THAT GOD GAVE TO DANIEL CONCERNING THE FUTURE.
A. The prophecies of Daniel are so precise and accurate that it has led the Bible critics to try to late date the writings of Daniel.
1. They claim that they were written after the fact by an unnamed scribe who put the name of Daniel on them.
2. Why have they made this conclusion?
"HOW LONG TILL THE END?"
Intro: God had given prophetic insight into the future. Man's destiny was to become progressively worse, verse 1. Then the Lord spoke of the end when man's technology would be increased to allow him to freely travel around the world. "How long till the end?"
I. AN END IS COMING.
A. Those who scoff at this thought.
1. Peter predicted these scoffers.
"HOW LONG TILL THE END?"
Intro: The Jewish people have endured great suffering and persecution. Many times they were conquered and subjugated by their ancient enemies. They were finally dispersed by the Assyrians and Babylonians, but a remnant returned and rebuilt from the ashes. Finally, Rome conquered and crushed the nation in 68-70. Scattered throughout the world they have been ...