The God of the Impossible (Daniel)

Formal Elements:

Text: Daniel 2 (read vv. 19-23)

Daniel 2:19–23 KJV 1900

19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: For wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, And knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoweth what is in the darkness, And the light dwelleth with him. 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, Who hast given me wisdom and might, And hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: For thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.

CIT: Captive Israel's hope was that their bondage would not last forever because the God of Israel, Who is the God of heaven, could depose kings and will in the end replace all human kingdoms with His everlasting Kingdom.

Proposition: Hold out hope that God, in Whose hand today remains the heart of kings, will one day through His Son, Jesus Christ Who is coming in power and great glory, will soon replace every world government with an Eternal Kingdom from our Heavenly Father.

Purpose:

MO - Supportive

SO - I want my hearers to realize, like Nebuchadnezzar did, that "God moves mountains, but prayer moves Him."

Title: God of the Impossible

Structural Pattern: Elimination

Informal Elements:

Initiation:

A Government “Of the Sinners”

LM - Illustrate the problems of broken human systems of government.

Any form of government CAN be a good form of government; the problem is not with the government; the problem is that we're all sinners" and as such are incapable of executing God's will on the earth without His divine intervention.The founders of our nation, this "Great Experiment" called the United States of America, knew that left to himself, man would tend toward corruption.In an act not short of sheer genius, they threw off the tyranny that oppressed their liberty, and paid for it with their life, fortunes and blood, and handed to us a form of Democratic Republic where "We the People" could in essence govern ourselves through elected representatives who convene to make our laws, and judges who are supposed to seek to uphold them, and executives who are supposed to seek to protect them. How we have survived as a nation is only a testimony to God's sustaining grace and our predecessors' prayers and sacrifices.

LI - Can there be "Utopia?"

Salvation

Before Jesus became man, he knew how sin had left its serpent's trail upon men and that divine wrath rested upon a world of sinners; and it was because he heard the wail of the lost and as God the son was manifested in flesh, that all flesh might be saved...Jesus came into a lost world, died, and rose again that abounding sin might give way to the more abundant salvation and grace.

[His message, like John’s was] Repent ye! and proclaimed it. In his thinking and teaching the need for repentance was as universal as the fact of sin and the provision of salvation. Although he declared that "God so loved the world," he did not generalize in his teaching, which was always based on individualism. In his thought, the individual was the unit of salvation, as evidenced by his "whosoevers." We hear and read a great deal today about a social salvation and about the utopia of an ideal republic. But the individual is forgotten.

Jesus, however, came as an individual Savior to preach an individual evangel…He directed his appeal to the conscience of each person. Jesus made real the republic of God to each individual believer in whose heart and life the forces of good became operative and dominant. The simple heart of one man or woman gave him suitable audience. Fresh from his own heart, these truths came into the individual life of select men and women, creating new ideals and hopes and forming new character and destiny, as Nicodemus, the woman at the well, and others experienced.

...salvation is not something but someone. "Behold, God is my salvation." When godly, aged Simeon took up the child Jesus in his arms and looked at his sweet, innocent face, he said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen the salvation" (Luke 2:29, 30). Having seen salvation personified in him who was born a Savior, Simeon wanted to go to heaven. Salvation, then, is not merely a spiritual gift that Jesus offers; it is himself.

Luke 2:29 KJV 1900

29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart In peace, according to thy word:

Luke 2:30 KJV 1900

30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Further, his mission to save is embodied in his human name Jesus, which means, "Jehovah the Savior" (Matt. 1:21). Used as an acrostic, this [matchless] name spells our salvation:

Matthew 1:21 KJV 1900

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

J esus

E ternally

S aves

U s

S inners

Call Him Jesus! He shall save us From the tyranny of sin;

From its condemnation save us,

From iniquity within.

[Herbert Lockyer, All the Teachings of Jesus, All Series (Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1994).]

Continuation:

A Government “By the Sinners”

LM - Show how God's people through the ages have suffered under various times of authoritative overreach. Whether Assyrian kings, Babylonian rulers, Persian monarchs, Greek oligarchs, Roman Emperors, Arabic Sultans, Holy Empires, Heads of both Church & State, Stalins, Hitlers, and today, Presidents, Parties, Governors & Judges, God's people through the ages, believers from all walks of life, all backgrounds, have suffered under the hands of men and women who have succumb to the corruption of power in a fallen world. Few are the ones who, in humility, refuse to be called a king like George Washington. None can wield the authority vested in them without experiencing all the forces of hell that a fallen devil with his ministers of light impose upon the powers of the air.

EXP - Provide a brief character overview of Nebuchadnezzar, and describe how God uses extraordinary circumstances to get his attention. Point out the way God used another sleepless night to get his attention. Emphasize the Divine Passives of the narrative (see Greidenhaus?).

TR - Under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon achieved world-wide acclamation. He would soon look around, and attribute, wrongly, all the great success he had experienced to himself. Those who have become intolerant of the vast, but admittedly imperfect achievements of this "Great American Experiment" have worked tirelessly for generations to undermine the peace and advancement we fought so hard to achieve with our allies following the leader of the free world. God reminds us through the turmoil we endure today, to every one that thinks he stands, to take heed, lest he fall.

TS - No leader, whether civil or spiritual, no matter how talented, charismatic, shrewd, crafty, or winsomely forceful, can do ANYTHING without the enablement of the God of heaven to either empower or allow his or her advancement on the world's scene. No matter how hard he has tried throughout human history, mankind has never yet arrived at the place where he could say he has achieved "Utopia." Yet there are those today who would despise you for simply living your life, traveling in your gas-powered vehicle, stepping on the wrong blade of grass along the hiking trail, walking too close to them, and now, even breathing on them because you, to them, are part of the disease, not the solution. To them, your God, if He is the God of the Bible, has failed to bring in the New Order, and so, they are speedily doing everything possible to help speed that process along. That Book you call the Bible is nothing more than a dusty old relic, and full of old myths about an ancient people who lived in religious superstitions and if you want to give yourself to following what that Book says, then to them, you are so far removed from their perceived reality that you are part of the problem, not the solution to making this man-made "Utopia" happen. You with your "Pie-in-the-Sky" promises are nothing but an old fuddy-duddy.

Next Movement:

A Government “For the Sinners”

LM - Did you know that many people today are looking for answers? Sometimes this world puts demands on them that are more than they can handle. Imagine with me for just a moment that you are in a Monday morning company wide meeting with (Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, the Ford Family, etc.). Your job, when you were hired on, was to be the chief engineer. For years, you've had good success at these meetings because you were able to come with training, ideas, and innovation to keep the company running at its best. You sit down together with all the big heads around the table, and the chief executive walks in obviously in a great cloud. The air is so thick you can cut it with a knife. He doesn't even take his seat like normal, but just paces back and forth for an uncomfortably long time. You notice something catch your eye on his face, and see he is saturated with perspiration. After what seems like an eternity, he turns to the group, with a blaze of passion and fear in his eyes, a look that makes everyone in the room wonder if he has finally snapped, if all the pressure of running a fortune 500 has finally gotten to him, and his mind has flipped, kind of a squirrelly look. He begins to explain that he needs help with something that has disturbed him. He explains how that the night before, he had a dream, you know, one of those dreams, and it terrified him, but for the life of him, he cannot recall the details of his dream. He then looks you square in the face and demands that YOU tell him what he dreamt, AND what it means! You begin to look back through all your college notes and engineering lectures, you talk to your corporate associates and they too like you are just left scratching their heads. They didn't teach you how to do this in school! You put together your best answer for him, and try to get some more data to input into your algorithms so you can hopefully begin to make heads of something tangible, but to no avail. He then says that if you can figure out the problem, you will be his second hand man, but also warns you if you can't figure out how to essentially "read his mind" then it will not only mean your job, but everyone else's job too, and he will make sure you never work again doing anything other than cleaning toilets.

EXP - Consider the problem posed to Nebuchadnezzar's "Wise Men" when he asked them to perform something humanly impossible. Compare them with the "Wise Men" who came to find Jesus when they deciphered Daniel's timeline and knew that He had arrived, but needed to know "where."

TR - Even the best leaders come to a place eventually where they reach their limit. This however, was different. This was divinely orchestrated. The God of Heaven was working in the life of Nebuchadnezzar to bring him to the place where he had to face his finiteness. These "Wise Men" were powerless to accomplish what was being asked of them. How many today, like these, feel that way? Can you imagine how helpless they must have felt? Four different veins of worldly knowledge, and yet, no one has an answer. Have you ever been there? No, I'm not talking about that final exam you didn't study for like you should have. I'm talking about something obviously so impossible that any hope of resolution seemed absolutely hopeless. How many "Wise men" of recent days have speculated, and planned, and implemented, and indoctrinated, and instigated every possible avenue imaginable, only to come to the place where they find out everything they thought they had figured out, all that they had attempted fell short, and the end of every attempt was nothing but more failure? Did you know that (as verified by history repeatedly, and even the WSJ) that despite the false claims of any democratic socialist today, "socialism has failed everywhere it's been tried-even where it succeeded." There has only been one place on earth where socialism actually succeeded, the kibbutzim of Israel. "They were democratic and egalitarian; sharing possessions, meals, even child rearing. But once the Jewish state was securely on its feet, kibbutzniks chose to switch to private enterprise. Socialism, they learned to their surprise, was not a happy way to live."

TS - To those who yearn for some better tomorrow, but want to try to get there without the Bible, and without the God of the Bible, will find out, when God finally brings them to the end of themselves, what these "Wise men" faced, that apart from God's intervention, there will never be true peace on the earth. Except the Lord build the house (whether the house of your family, or the houses of our governments), they labor in vain that build it.

Consummation:

A “Government…Upon HIS Shoulders”

LM - Did you know that the greatest power wielded is not on Capitol Hill? It's not in the armament of the greatest military on earth? it's not to be found in the greatest infiltration of data mining operations known to man? it's not in the halls of Apple, Microsoft, Google or Facebook? it's not in the machinery of Amazon or Walmart? it's not in the greatest technology on our tractors? it's not in the sophistication of a space force?

ILL: It's Better Higher Up

The famous preacher D.L. Moody told about a Christian woman who was always bright, cheerful, and optimistic, even though she was confined to her room because of illness. She lived in an attic apartment on the fifth floor of an old, rundown building. A friend decided to visit her one day and brought along another woman—a person of great wealth. Since there was no elevator, the two ladies began the long climb upward. When they reached the second floor, the well-to-do woman commented, “What a dark and filthy place!” Her friend replied, “It’s better higher up.” When they arrived at the third landing, the remark was made, “Things look even worse here.” Again the reply, “It’s better higher up.” The two women finally reached the attic level, where they found the bedridden saint of God. A smile on her face radiated the joy that filled her heart. Although the room was clean and flowers were on the window sill, the wealthy visitor could not get over the stark surroundings in which this woman lived. She blurted out, “It must be very difficult for you to be here like this!” Without a moment’s hesitation the shut-in responded, “It’s better higher up.” She was not looking at temporal things. With the eye of faith fixed on the eternal, she had found the secret of true satisfaction and contentment. ~Our Daily Bread [Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002).]

EXP - Describe Daniel's intervention, and how he came to know the answer by Revelation. Point out the Divine Passive of God's revealing Himself to Daniel. Show how this connects to the life of prayer that Daniel had in a close walk with God. If we are going to see victory, it will only come by prayer. If we will make a difference in the world around us, providing hope to others through our life, it will only come as God reveals Himself through His people, because they be people of prayer, mighty, effectual prayer. Christianity has stagnated and reeks the stench of dying carnality in all its corridors. But I don't know about you, I serve the God of the living, not the God of the dead! The God I serve, should He choose, or not, is capable to deliver. He is capable to bring victory. The God of Israel is my God. Daniel's God is my God, and His Son, Jesus Christ is Messiah. God wasn't finished with Israel, even though they pined away in captivity under tyrannical oppressors. God wasn't finished with Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had a great humbling on the horizon as he navigated the destruction of his own pride. God was only getting started. Far away from the Land of Promise, God revealed to His faithful servant Daniel what would happen in the days ahead. Daniel, the man of God, carried that hope to God's people that their bondage would not last forever because the God of Israel, Who is the God of heaven, could depose kings and will in the end replace all human kingdoms with His everlasting Kingdom.

FR - Can there be a "Utopia?" Never in the way the democratic socialist yearns for some "Green New Deal." But will there one day be a perfect form of human government on the earth? Just as certainly there will be, as certainly as Christ came the first time, born in a manger, sought out by those truly "Wise men" who had their understanding enlightened by God's faithful men like Daniel of Babylon, Jesus Christ the Righteous will one day burst on the scene of mankind again, and put to flight the armies of the nations that oppose Him, and vanquish all the enemies of the God of Heaven, and be enthroned as the prophesied Son of David, bringing true "Peace on earth, good will toward men." If we are to see this happen though, we must be people of prayer like Daniel prayed. We were commissioned by Jesus Himself to "Pray." When God's people pray, they tap into the greatest power on earth, the power to move mountains by faith, the power to bring a little taste of heaven on earth to lost sinners. The first time Jesus came, it was to Bethlehem, to be laid as a helpless little baby in a feeding trough, and led to pour out His own blood for sins on a cruel cross at Calvary; but the second time He comes, it will be on a majestic, white, blood-covered Kingly war horse in Bozrah, and He will come traveling to the Mount of Olives, to bring all things under His feet with a Rod of iron.

APP: He Had a Disciplined Prayer Life

Jewish people were accustomed to pray at nine o’clock in the morning, noon, and three o’clock in the afternoon, the third, sixth, and ninth hours of the day, and Daniel carried that discipline with him to Babylon. Those who set aside special times of prayer are more likely to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17), for the special times of prayer help to sanctify all times and keep us in touch with God.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV 1900

17 Pray without ceasing.

When Daniel and his friends needed to know Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and understand it, they gave themselves to prayer, and when the Lord gave them the answer, they prayed further and thanked Him (Dan. 2:14–23). When Daniel’s life was in danger, he went to his home and prayed, and the Lord delivered him from the lions (Dan. 6:10). Frequently Daniel asked the Lord or His messengers for wisdom to understand the visions the Lord gave to him. Daniel depended on prayer.

Daniel 6:10 KJV 1900

10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

In the church today, it seems that many people turn to prayer only when everything else has failed. Their translation of Psalm 46:1 is, “God is our last refuge when our own strength is gone and we don’t have anywhere else to turn.” What a tragedy! A.W. Tozer used to say, “Whatever God can do, faith can do, and whatever faith can do prayer can do, when it is offered in faith.”1 Daniel not only prayed alone but he also prayed with his friends, because he knew the value of two or three believers assembling together to cry out to God. “I’d rather be able to pray than to be a great preacher,” said evangelist D.L. Moody; “Jesus Christ never taught His disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.” [1 A.W. Tozer, The Set of the Sail (Christian Publications), 33.] [Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Resolute, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2000), 151–152.]

APP: Intercession

Intercession is prayer in which praying people mediate between people in need and God who can answer their needs. Moses provides a classic biblical example of intercession. After God’s people turned from him to worship the golden calf, God intended to destroy them. But Moses pleaded, “Turn from your fierce wrath; and repent of this evil against thy people” (Ex. 32:12). And the Lord answered Moses’ prayer.

In his high priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus offered an example of intercession in which he prays not only for his friends, but also for future generations: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;” (v. 20).

John 17:20 KJV 1900

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

Intercession is the privilege and responsibility of every believer. In 1 Timothy 2:1, Paul urged:

1 Timothy 2:1 KJV 1900

1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

Ephesians 6:18 KJV 1900

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

...and set the example by interceding for various churches. Intercessors today often use his prayers (e.g., Eph. 3:14–20; Phil. 1:9–11; Col. 1:9–17) as models for their own. Intercession can be offered for large-scale matters such as evangelization or revival. Reformer John Knox is famous for pleading, “Give me Scotland or I die!” The eighteenth-century Moravian church is noted for its one hundred years of nonstop intercession for global evangelization. The Moravians’ example inspired the intercession that preceded later revivals in America and England, which in turn led American evangelist D. L. Moody to conclude that “every work of God can be traced to some kneeling form.”

However, noted theologians have made it clear that intercession for individuals is also crucial. Eighteenth-century ... William Law believed that praying for individuals cultivates the intercessor’s heart: “There is nothing that makes us love a [person] so much as praying for him.” And during the Nazi occupation of his nation, Norwegian Ole Hallesby observed, “Our prayer for a spiritual awakening will without question be most effective if we take up the work of interceding for certain individuals in particular.”

When believers make intercession, they join the fellowship of Jesus,

Hebrews 7:25 KJV 1900

25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

...and the Holy Spirit,

Romans 8:27 KJV 1900

27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Intercession is so important to God that he graciously provides an alternative when believers don’t know how to pray. In such instances, as the apostle Paul explained,

Romans 8:26 KJV 1900

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Intercession, patterned after the mediating work of Christ, provides a remarkable opportunity to transcend self-interest and participate in the good purposes of the sovereign God for others. An unintended outcome is that by enlarging an intercessor’s own heart, persistent intercession can also be personally transformative. [Cynthia Hyle Bezek, “Intercession,” ed. Glen G. Scorgie, Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 533.]

APP: The Significance of Christian Intercession…Why Should Intercessory Prayer Be Made?

Ezekiel 36:36-37 states that God works to carry out His purposes in response to the prayers of His people. In verse 36 He declares,

Ezekiel 36:36 KJV 1900

36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.

...and then adds,

Ezekiel 36:37 KJV 1900

37 Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

Prayer in harmony with His known will is thus an amazing power that He has entrusted to His people. An unnamed poet expressed it as follows:

Prayer is the mightiest force that men can wield,

A power to which Omnipotence doth yield.

A privilege unparalleled, a way

Whereby our Loving Father can display

His interest in His children’s need and care.

Jehovah’s storehouse is unlocked by prayer,

And Faith doth hold the key.8

This mighty power of prayer, Lindsell observes, “differs from all the powers of the world; it is the only power that cannot be used for evil. Every other power of the world can be used for good or for evil. But the greatest of all powers-prayer-can only be used for good. And God has promised that by prayer you can release His power to fulfill the preaching of the gospel to the ends of the earth.”9 Yet it is a ministry open to any instructed, yielded, faith-prompted child of God, regardless of age, gender, or circumstances.

In 1872 D. L. Moody made a short trip to England for rest, with no intention of doing any preaching while there. While Moody was in London, a Congregational minister asked him to preach in his church the coming Sunday morning and evening. Moody consented. The morning service was marked by smug, stolid drowsiness, making Moody rue his acceptance of the service. At the evening service he gave an evangelistic message and asked all those present who would decide to receive Christ to rise; hundreds did so. Surprised and thinking they had misunderstood him, Moody asked them to be seated. He repeated his invitation more clearly and again the response was the same. As a result of the meetings that followed, four hundred were received into the membership of the church.

Moody began to make inquiries as to the secret. Finally he learned of a bedridden girl named Marianne Adlard. She had read about Moody’s work in Chicago, and putting that report under her pillow, she began to pray that God would send Moody to her church for a revival. When her older sister returned from that lifeless morning service and told Marianne that a man named Moody from Chicago had preached, the bedridden sister asked not to be disturbed that afternoon so she might give herself to unhindered prayer. As she prayed assurance filled her heart that God had heard her prayer for revival in their church.

Learning about Adlard, Moody visited her. During the visit she asked Moody to write his name in her birthday book, promising him that she would pray for him as long they both lived. The visit left Moody with a deepened and abiding sense of the importance of the ministry of Christian intercession. Both Scripture and church history establish that it is a vital ministry in the furtherance of God’s redemptive work.10 God clearly uses intercessory “prayer in the implementation of His will. It is God’s way of getting things done.”11

This is in keeping with the amazing fact that Scripture portrays two members of the Godhead as themselves engaged in intercession. Romans 8:34 states

Romans 8:34 KJV 1900

34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

...Thus all three members of the Trinity are vitally involved in intercession in God’s redemptive work. Christian intercession is crucial because it unites believers with the very activity of God Himself.

[8 Author and source unidentified. 9 Lindsell, “The Relationship between Prayer and World Evangelization,” 253. 10 For a listing of history-changing answers to prayer see Harold Lindsell, “Prayer and the Battle for the World,” in Unleashing the Power of Prayer, 294–96. 11 Jack Taylor, “The Laws of Prayer,” in Unleashing the Power of Prayer, 115.]

[D. Edmond Hiebert, “The Significance of Christian Intercession,” Bibliotheca Sacra 149 (1992): 20–21.]

Hold out to others the hope of Daniel, the comfort of the Scriptures, that God, in Whose hand today remains the heart of kings, will one day through His Son, Jesus Christ Who is coming in power and great glory, will soon replace every world government with an Eternal Kingdom from our Heavenly Father.

And above all else, like Daniel, pray for laborers to be sent into the harvest, plead for souls, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and say with the Revelator, "Even so, Come, Lord Jesus!"

Revelation 22:20 KJV 1900

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.