2024-01-21 - Whom you'll Serve

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Whom You’ll Serve

Intro:
A few years back, a couple went on a trip to Colorado for Christmas. On the way home, their plane approached a storm and they had no choice but to go through that storm. They sat in the back and they felt the sudden plunges, this turbulence was like nothing they ever experienced. It was miserable, they saw all the folks in front of them bobbling. They were afraid. But as they looked back, they saw the flight attendants sitting on their little drop down seats in the back, talking as if though this was normal. They realized, they had been through this before, they had trust in the aircraft that was built to handle this turbulence, they trusted the pilots ability to navigate the storm.
Link:
We to go through storms of life, we go through dark patches, through challenges but we can trust the God who has us in His hands, we can trust the pilot of our lives, JESUS.
Today we are starting a new series on the book of Daniel.
INTRO TO DANIEL:
Over the course of this study, you will look at and learn some amazing things.
The book of Daniel can be divided into two sections.
1-6 Historical Narrative
7-12 Predictive Prophecy
Both sections contain parts of each other but this is the major difference between the first and second half of Daniel
An awareness that God is personal being who personally interacts with His people
A conviction that God blesses righteous living
An understanding of the need for God’s people to maintain faith in him regardless of the outward circumstances
An understanding of God’s sovereignty and control over the events of human history, including not only kings and nations but also the specifics of each of our individual lives.
As an awareness that God will one day providentially cause good to triumph over evil
An awareness that God is now providentially guiding human history toward its prophetic culmination.
An exalted view of the thru majesty and glory of Jesus Christ, the divine Messiah.
An increased conviction of the trustworthiness of the Bible in general and the prophecies in the Bible in particular.
Daniel himself
Daniel was born into a royal family, Daniel 1:3 & 6 Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, 6 Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.”
Daniel was handsome, Daniel 1:4 Young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.
Daniel became one of the major prophets in the O.T.
Daniels name means, “God is my judge.”
Daniel was uncompromising in his faithfulness to God & his contemporaries acknowledged both his righteousness and his wisdom. Ezekiel 14:14
Ezekiel 14:14 NKJV
14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord God.
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Ezekiel 14:20 NKJV
20 even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord God, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”
Ezekiel 28:3 NKJV
3 (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
This sarcasm here is written to one who claimed to be god, but he was called out saying your not even as wise as Daniel and he himself wasn’t god, so how can you be a god?
Daniel was taken captive as a youth probably around age 15-16 in the year 605 BC
Daniel was of the first of three deportations involved in Babylon’s victory over Judah, the second took place in 597 BC and the third and final in 586 BC
Daniel wrote the book of Daniel, it was customary in Bible days to name the book after the man who wrote it.
Jesus in the N.T. identified Daniel as a prophet of God, thus validating the book of Daniel, again as part of the Bible.
Matthew 24:15 NKJV
15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
One thing to note as we study Daniel is:
In the book of Deuteronomy, God through Moses promised great blessings if the nation lived in obedience to the Sinai covenant. God also warned that if the nation disobeyed His commands, it would experience the punishments listed in the covenant—including exile from the land (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). - Rhodes, Ron. 40 Days Through Daniel: Revealing God's Plan for the Future (p. 8). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition.
God made 4 covenants with Israel:
Abrahamic Covenant = Unconditional Genesis 12:1-3
Genesis 12:1–3 NKJV
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
When God made the covenant with Abraham which promised descendants, a land, a future worldwide blessing. (It was confirmed with Abraham’s son Isaac & grandson Jacob.)
Mosaic Covenant = Conditional Exodus 19-24 & Deuteronomy 28
The Mosaic Covenant is a conditional covenant made between God and the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-24). It is sometimes called the Sinai Covenant but is more often referred to as the Mosaic Covenant since Moses was God’s chosen leader of Israel at that time.
The Blessings and Curses for obeying/disobeying the Mosaic Covenant is whats listed and spelled out in Deuteronomy 28
Davidic Covenant = Unconditional 2 Samuel 7
God’s promise to David that his future descendant would rule the world.
New Covenant = Unconditional Luke 22:20
Luke 22:20 NKJV
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
Here we see Jesus was pointing back to the covenant that was given in the O.T., See Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:24-28; 37:14; Joel 2:28-29
In the book of Daniel, we see the Covenant made with Israel/Judah here was broken. It was the only one of the 4 that is Conditional. And the Jews broke their covenant with God.
Its good to note that just b/c we can break a relationship or in this case they broke their covenant, God won’t break Hes end of the deal/covenant.
That’s why we see in 2 Chronicles 7:14
2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
So
God desires us to
Not be like Judah or Israel. They broke their conditional covenant with God. Our covenant though is not conditional, but he still desires us to follow and obey what He has asked us to do.
Be like Daniel. Daniel determined right from the get go that He was going to follow and serve God. Next week when we get into looking at Daniel 1, will see this in Daniel 1:8
Daniel 1:8 NKJV
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Philippians 4:13 NKJV
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Daniel purposed he would not defile Himself. God wants us to do the same
Daniel did all he did through the power and strength of God, God wants us to do the same
Application: As an individual & church. We live in a wicked society, Vermont is the least churched state in the USA per ca-pita. Some of the most liberal ideologies coming out of Montpelier, drugs, drugs and more drugs. Our town needs JESUS, our state needs Jesus. Will we be like Daniels in a Babylon? Will we be determined and purpose in our hearts to follow God?
There are so many good lessons in Daniel. Such as:
Trusting God as we serve him in a difficult society.
Testing and being taught what the
World wants us to think but at the same time
God is trying to teach us what to think
The question is who will we listen to. If we listen to and follow God he will do great and mighty things through us Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
The community will:
See a difference in us
Respect us, not because of who we are but because of what God is doing through us.
Challenge: As we approach February 4th, just 2 weeks from now, will enjoy our potluck and then we will sit down and brainstorm ideas of where we think we see God may be inviting us to do something great with Him, to see our community changed, to see them come to Christ, to see us grow and our church grow both in the ways of the Lord and then numerically.
Invitation: This will never take place if first, you have not given your life to Christ. Romans 10:9-10
Romans 10:9–10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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