Live with Hope and Purpose
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Thxs to Nathan “gift”/ Renaldon Begay /Youth Leader FBC Gallup/ Married w/ 4 kids 3 girls Raquel (25) Kylie (18) Miss Noah (2) 1 boy Zachery OPEN YR BIBLES TO DANIEL 7:13-14
Thxs to Nathan “gift”/ Renaldon Begay /Youth Leader FBC Gallup/ Married w/ 4 kids 3 girls Raquel (25) Kylie (18) Miss Noah (2) 1 boy Zachery OPEN YR BIBLES TO DANIEL 7:13-14
Daniel 7:13-14
Daniel 7:13-14
13 I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. 14 He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.
PRAY-Heavenly Father Lord I would just ask for your Holy Spirit to guide me as I bring your message. I ask that you would use my imperfect, fallible, words and speak to your church Lord. If anything let them know who is in control and were so thankful for your son who was divine but came to earth to save us from our sins. In your precious son’s name we pray. Amen!
INTRO- How can one live with Hope and Purpose? For one thing we know Christ is coming back it says the son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven.
62 “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
27 And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
His dominion will never pass away and His kingdom will not be destroyed. Answering this question makes me think about what other believers are going through in these times of the Pandemic. Some of you listening on the radio are probably thinking what’s next Lord. When will I be able to have some sense or normalcy? When will I be able to get gas with out putting on a disposable glove and wiping down my debit card after every use? When will i be able to play ball with my bro’s for early morning bball? When will I be able to sit in a coffee shop and watch youtube on my laptop while paying for atmosphere and expensive coffee Oh and why get it cold? Well I can tell you probably not for a while. BUT there is hope I already told you that Christ was coming back, God is in control, and His kingdom will never be destroyed.
What are some places people seek hope or purpose other than Jesus?
Answers: ( Money / Job / Relationships / Drug of Choice / Alcohol / Sports / Lottery Ticket / Casino / etc. )
There’s 4 points i’ll be covering today and falls inline with King Nebuchadnezzar. (follows that relationship)
I. DANIEL LIVED A LIFE OF A FAITHFUL SERVANT BLESSED BY GOD.
II. DANIEL ADJUSTS TO A NEW SENSE OF NORMALCY.
III. DANIEL WOULD HAVE TAKEN A STAND FOR GOD NO MATTER THE OUTCOME
IV. DANIEL LIVED A LIFE OF LOVE AND TRUTH.
I. DANIEL LIVED A LIFE OF A FAITHFUL SERVANT BLESSED BY GOD.
DANIEL ( a quick overview of the Prophet) Daniel was born in 621 BC / He was one of the many hero’s of the Bible. His name means “God is my Judge”, He was famous for wisdom and righteousness. He was good looking and was physically attractive (probably because he ate a lot of veggies). He was trained in the Arts, Writing Letters, He was made to learn the Chaldean Culture along with Babylon Culture. He was blessed with wisdom and had a talent that was given by God to interpret dreams. He lived over a 100 years and prayed to God three times a day everyday.
II. DANIEL ADJUSTS TO A NEW SENSE OF NORMALCY.
Daniel was deported with one of the first groups out of Jerusalem. Imagine your a 16 year old having to see the place where you grew up being taken over by the Babylonians.
PERSONAL: In my life here are a few examples of what has become my new normal. SLEEP SCHEDULE IS OFF 3 AM / WE HAVE A TP STASH / WE BUY SPAM IN BULK / GROCERY SHOPPING JUST GOT MORE INTENSE (WIPE DOWN ETC)/ YOU’LL BE LUCKY IF BLAKES ANSWERS THEIR PHONE / COSTCO RUNS IS AN ALL DAY THING / I’M TRAINED TO LOOK TO SEE IF CLOROX WIPES OR DISINFECTANT SPRAY IS AVAILABLE IN ANY STORE I GO TO
Daniel was given the name Belteshazzar. This was a one of the key things that the Babylonians did when they replenished their soldiers after conquering a city. They gave them new names and it was sort of a brainwashing process to link the new recruits to their gods rather than to support their former religious gods who they were loyal to.
Take a moment and think about what would happen to our country if we were taken over by another country?
ANSWER: Our rights would be taken away. We would have to adapt to this new sense of Normalcy to what ever country or government that takes over. What if we would have to treat the new leader as a little g god and have posters and tv shows brainwashing our minds.
What type of culture shock was Daniel going through?
Daniel stayed true to his name “God is my Judge” (What a great reminder when your going through a process of being engulfed in a new culture).
The King who Daniel had to answer to was King Nebuchadnezzar who lets keep in mind, God allowed him to be King (JUST LIKE THE LEADERS TODAY).
Daniel will be a servant for King Neb for 43 years. A high ranking civil servant. King Neb was a General who was known for beating the Egyptians at the battle of carchemish (south of Nineveh). I just want to point out that King Nebuchadnezzar was used by God to defeat the Egyptians.
Jeremiah 46:26 tells us that God handed the Egyptians over to King Nebuchadnezzar.
26 I will hand them over to those who intend to take their lives—to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his officers. But after this, Egypt will be inhabited again as in ancient times.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do you know of any leaders that you question that hold a position of importance? Do you ever know why or how they got there?
Answer: Keep these leaders that you thought of in mind while we talk about King Nebuchadnezzar.
Now that you know more about these two men and there were three friends of Daniel that supported him and related to Daniel because they were put into the same situation. They were young, good looking, smart, and the important thing was that they were all given new names as well. Daniel 1:7 tells us their real names but we tend to know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Chapter 2 in Daniel heard King Neb was going to kill his Wise men after a dream that he had of a massive statue.
He woke up and immediately wanted to know the meaning and have his wise counselors interpret the dream he had. No one would or could do this except for Daniel. What jumped out at me was this passage in
17 Then Daniel went to his house and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter, 18 urging them to ask the God of the heavens for mercy concerning this mystery, so Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of Babylon’s wise men.
Daniel told his friends to Pray! Pray for Mercy, Pray for Wisdom, Pray for incite of the dream. Daniel prayed and that is why we should pray!
Illustration: The importance of prayer. My Dad Hospital for Covid (he said it was the worst 13 days in his life) My dad has been on 30 some form of oxygen for 30 plus years now and when he called me from the ER that first night I prayed ! every phone conversation, text message, i always asked for who ever i was talking to to please pray for my dad. My dad had people praying for him from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado, Oklahoma, and even South America through out those 13 days. Those showers of prayer comforted my Dad. Praise the Lord he made it through. With those prayers many people were having a heart to heart talk with God. I know for some of my relatives that may have been the first time in a really long time talking to the lord. And because of the times all we could do was pray. So those of you listening thank you for your prayers.
Pray is important! Especially for our Leaders. We want our leaders to humble themselves before God and Pray. As it says in Daniel 2:46-47
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell facedown, worshiped Daniel, and gave orders to present an offering and incense to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”
How refreshing is it to know that our leaders would humble themselves and say “Your God is indeed God of gods”?
III. DANIEL WOULD HAVE TAKEN A STAND FOR GOD NO MATTER THE OUTCOME
We just got done talking about how King Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself and with the title of the third point (above) we find ourselves reading that King Nebuchadnezzar built a Gold (probably a gold plated) statue that was 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide.
At the end of Chapter two of Daniel it tells us that the Three friends were put in charge of the Babylon province and it was at the location of what they called the plains of Dura. When a musical announcement came it was commanded that you fall down and worship this gold statue
and all the leaders administrators (just think of it as a summer conference) where they would all gather and are required to worship this statue.
READ Daniel 3:6 Lets be careful who you bow to?
The three Friend’s stood fast for their God as the true living God and they knew that their lives were in God’s hands READ DANIEL 3:16-18
6 But whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. 17 If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king. 18 But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”
They had confidence that God could deliver them but they were determine to be faithful regardless of the consequence.
Illustration: This confidence was the kind of confidence my Dad had while he was in the ICU cubical. He called his cubical his prayer room. He felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and right now in this time the Holy Spirit is active now. The Holy Spirit was giving to use when we said yes to Jesus. Lets not forget that. When we have confidence in Jesus we can be determined to be faithful regardless of the outcome. So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said No respectfully that they will not serve this gold statue.
They had respect for King Neb and we must have respect for our leaders but be mindful of what God words say and abide by it.
WE BOW TO NO MAN. We know God has put leaders into their place of leadership and in Romans 13:1 (we learned this in Sunday school about 7 weeks ago and btw High school youth we still meet on Zoom)
1 Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.
Paul was showing us what it looks like to have a gospel shaped life. Paul is telling us what it means to follow Jesus in a broken world.
We have to represent Christ well in our community and world.
That’s why it’s so important to know Gods word and we have to recognize when someone is forcing us to sin against God that we not Bow to the world. Let’s look back to what King Nebuchadnezzar says in Daniel 3:28
28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
King Nebuchadnezzer Praises God and acknowledges who God is. (wow imagine what he just saw!)
IV. DANIEL LIVED A LIFE OF LOVE AND TRUTH.
King Nebuchadnezzer has a dream about a tree being cut down in Daniel 4, This dream terrified him.
King Nebuchadnezzer goes to Daniel to have him interpret his dream
and Daniel was shocked Daniel 4:19 was a loyal servant and was alarmed about the dreadful discipline that would take the kingdom from him. In Daniel 4:25 (WHY was he stunned?) Daniel spent a lot of time with the king. How do you tell Him bad news? This king obviously was one of the reasons Daniel had to pray so much. 3 times a day exactly for over a 43 years comes to around 47,085 prayers just under King Nebuchadnezzar.
19 Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was stunned for a moment, and his thoughts alarmed him. The king said, “Belteshazzar, don’t let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your enemies!
25 You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals. You will feed on grass like cattle and be drenched with dew from the sky for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.
Your kingdom will be taken away from you for 7 years until you realize who the most high supreme ruler is. (God) Daniel 4:27
27 Therefore, may my advice seem good to you my king. Separate yourself from your sins by doing what is right, and from your injustices by showing mercy to the needy. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”
Does King Nebuchadnezzer listen? (well for about a year!) yes he does BUT, look at Daniel 4:29-31 The Heart of this proud King held no repentance.
29 At the end of twelve months, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon, 30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?” 31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you.
King Nebuchadnezzer from all that he has learned and saw he seemed selfish. Don’t we do this all the time? Arent we selfish? King Neb basically became a wild animal for 7 years He instantly went insane while the words were still in the king’s mouth.
THE HEART OF THIS KING HELD NO REPENTANCE. IN ORDER TO BE A CHILD OF GOD, YOU MUST INVITE HIM TO RULE OVER YOUR LIFE.
Daniel 4:37
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of the heavens, because all his works are true and his ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
King Nebuchadnezzer was a ruler of the most powerful empires of that time and What did God do?
God can punish any ruler, now matter how much earthly power the ruler exercises. Give that to God. That is His battle.
King Nebuchadnezzer always came back and recognized who God was and is.
Every earthly kingdom is subject to God. He directs all history to his goals. King Nebuchadnezzer Grandson wasn’t so lucky in Daniel 5 God said his time was up and HAVE YOU HUMBLED YOUR HEART? King Neb Grandson knew the truth about God instead He exalted Himself. Daniel 5:22-24
22 “But you his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of the heavens. The vessels from his house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in his hand and who controls the whole course of your life. 24 Therefore, he sent the hand, and this writing was inscribed.
Daniel 5:30 Belshazzar Time was up.
30 That very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was killed,
IT’S NOT TO LATE FOR YOU LISTENERS , WE ALL HAVE SINNED AND FELL SHORT, GOD KNOWS THE INTENTIONS OF YOUR HEART
IT’S NOT ABOUT IF YOU LIVED YOUR LIFE A GOOD PERSON OR HOW MANY GOOD DEEDS OR WORKS YOU’VE BUILT UP THOSE ARE LIKE FILTHY RAGS
Romans 5:8
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
John 5:24
24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.
NEVER PUT OFF TOMORROW FOR WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY
John 10:28-29
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Daniel 7:13-14
13 I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. 14 He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.
There is hope and purpose for your Life is in Christ who is coming back, God is in control, and His kingdom will never be destroyed.
33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”