"God of the seemingly Impossible"

Daniel 2:1–13 ESV

1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9 if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. 11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” 12 Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.

Language

Daniel is one of the few book in the Old Testament that was originally written in two different languages. One was known as Aramaic (also known as Chaldee or Syriac), the common language of the ancient Near East, and the other was Hebrew.

Predominate Theme

God’s people will experience suffering and be threatened with extinction, but that will not be the end of the story because their God is the living and all-powerful God who can do the seemingly impossible.

Chapters 1-6 Show God’s sovereignty at work for His people

Chapters 7-12 Show His sovereignty over the Gentile nations and Israel by unveiling what He will do with them far into the future.

Daniels Name means “God is my Judge” or “God is Judging” or “God will Judge,” and this was the burden of his message.

Daniel is also one of three Old Testament books that is apocalyptic. (forecasting the ultimate destiny of the world; foreboding of imminent disaster or final doom).

Note: God is Sovereign over rules and over the gifts of His people. We should always use our gifts and abilities to point people back to God.

Daniel and his friends have now graduated with flying colors for the Babylonian fittest young men competition. While the test was a significant moment in Daniels life it was just the beginning. It is important to remember that we persevere to the end.

How often do we use our gifts for the kingdom of God and see the amazing results and then think we are just going to coast into the kingdom of God. Perhaps in Daniel’s day, as in our own, there were many who did not survive the pace and in whose lives the good seed of the Word of God was ultimately choked. (Mark 4:18-19)

INTRODUCTION

When God gave Nebuchadnezzar his dream, it left him with a restless spirit. He was troubled and his spirit became anxious, such was the sense of foreboding that he experienced. supposedly his anxiety was spurred by the lack of being. It is possible that Nebuchadnezzar remembered that Nebuchadnezzar could remember his dream; nothing in the text itself forbids interpretation.

Perhaps he wanted to make sure they would not pull their intellectual wool over his eyes by providing whatever interpretation of the dream they though would most appropriately meet the king’s mood and receive his approval.

In his book Dwell: Life with God for the World, Barry Jones gives an image for holding the tension between inner spiritual growth and outward mission: breathing. “There is a rhythm of life that pulses through the biblical vision of what it means to be human. A kind of breathing in and breathing out. An inhale and an exhale. The breathing is our participation in the divine life. The breathing out, our participation in the divine mission” (Barry Jones, Dwell: Life with God for the World) Our spiritual habits and disciplines cultivate an inner spiritual health and manifest themselves in our work in the world. Isaiah’s message to God’s people was a reminder that they were inhaling without exhaling—something that only results in death. It also doesn’t even work—it’s impossible to keep inhaling without exhaling the CO2 from your body. It’s not just that these empty rituals were only half of the breath, the absence of the exhale was evidence that no one was truly inhaling at all.

BIG IDEA: Your life shows what you believe about the God of the Impossible.

1. God creates impossible situation to reveal His Greatness.

In the middle of impossible situations how does the world react?

The world tends to react with panic and what I call the Chicken little Syndrome. (the sky is falling, the sky is falling)

I think the greater problem Christians face today is a lack of true belief that the God of the Bible who did seemingly impossible things does not do impossible things today. We read stories like Daniel and say, “that was good for that day and time but God doesn’t really do the impossible today,” or we make common place the impossible things that God does do on a regular basis.

Kevin and Natalia, were members here at the Journey. He was a chief warrant officer in the army and his wife was born and raised in the Ukraine. They felt the Lords calling to join the mission field in the Ukraine after he got out of the army. I was listening to a live stream thy posted about the situation going on in the Ukraine with the Russian army positioned to invade at any minute. They have chosen to stay in the Ukraine and proclaim the gospel to the lost and hurting.

God places us in seemingly impossible situations to reveal His Greatness.

Two features that describe Nebuchadnezzar also illustrate the truth about anyone who chooses to live their lives apart from God. This How the World deals with impossible situations.

(1) Humanity’s Basic Insecurity

When God gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream, it left him with a restless spirit.

Note: Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is more trouble because he fails to remember the contents of the dream. (a fairly common occurence with dreams). It is possible of course that Nebuchadnezzar could remember his dream; nothing in the text itself forbids that interpretation, perhaps this was more of a test for his personal cabinet.

Nebuchadnezzar had everything a person could dream of possessing: power, fame, influence. Not only that but he he was in the process of creating an empire that would memorialize him and a city whose gardens would be known as one of the wonders of the ancient world. Why, then, should a mere dream have him with such anxiety.

The problem was that Nebuchadnezzar lived in world of mirages in the desert. He lived exclusively for this world and one day all the smoke an mirrors always move with the change and decay of this world.

God made humanity for Himself. The human heart, in Augustine’s memorable words, “is restless until it finds its rest in God.”

As long as Nebuchadnezzar sought security and rest in possessions or power or future reputation, he could never be content. Nebuchadnezzar, like so many people, had everything except the one thing he most needed: peace.

For the Christian, focusing on God’s promises provides an anchor for our soul.

(2) Humanity Lives in Hostility

Nebuchadnezzar’s true character is unveiled in his reactions to his situation. In the pictures of the kings life in Daniel we learn as much about Nebuchadnezzar from his reactions as from his actions. This is true of all of us. His reaction’s are continually marked by hostility and insecurity. Nebuchadnezzar is not at peace with the world because he is constantly in an internal battle.

Unbelievers may respond with Threats of Anger

340 million Christians living in places where they experience high levels of persecution and discrimination.

4,761 Christians killed for their faith

4,488 Churches and other Christian buildings attacked

4,277 believers detained without trial, arrested, sentenced or imprisoned.

James 1:2-4 say’s “Consider it all joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” When I here from people like Kevin and Natalia, I hear joy in their voices.

These two reactions are intimately connected. Nebuchadnezzar is obviously not at peace with the world because he is not at peace with God. The sense of personal peace is missing, therefore, he cannot be at peace with or ultimately trust others, not even his closest advisers.

What is the basic cause of these two reactions? They are symptoms of a basic internal conflict. We fear what we do not know or understand. The fear of the unknown is at the heart of all insecurity and many times Hostility. Today this plays out in the persecution of Christians around the world.

The strife and Conflict of the Heart

Shows him how little he can trust his own integrity - it also tells him that other people basically live for themselves and therefore cannot be trusted.

He was not prepared to allow God to show Himself to be God

Nebuchadnezzar’s conflict was the same one we all have he was unwilling for God to be the God and Lord of his life. God is going to show that He is the Lord of all History and all Kingdom’s. The ambitions of king Nebuchadnezzar were not hidden from God. God not Nebuchadnezzar, was and is God.

Nebuchadnezzar would have been one of those Paul talked about in Romans 1:25,30 “Who exchanged the truth of God for a lie and chose to worship and serve the created thing instead of the Creator.

Notice the impossible situation that King Nebuchadnezzar puts everyone in with his dream. He knows that he is asking what appears to be an impossible task for his advisers.

The king responds to his advisors lack of honesty and wishy washy answers as using a stall tactic to by more time. The advisors finally gave an answer that was the closest to accurate. They told the king that what he is asking is something that only the God’s whose dwelling place is not with man can answer.

Finally, it is agreed upon that only a higher power than theirs could possibly answer.

Note: If find it interesting that these pagan position hungry men realized that it would take a miracle of God to answer the Kings request.

Note: When Daniel found out what was going on and that their lives were in danger he responded to Arioch the captain of the guard why the edict was so urgent. Upon hearing the kings dilemma, Daniel requests an audience with the king.

Daniel 2:17–23 ESV

17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. 21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; 22 he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. 23 To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

GOD GIVES US STRENGTH WHEN WE NEED IT, NOT SOONER

In his book, Against the Flow, Oxford professor John Lennox notes that when God calls us to do something difficult he gives us the strength when we need it, not before we need it. Lennox illustrates this biblical principle with a story about an encounter with a Russian follower of Jesus who spent years in a Siberian labor camp for the crime of teaching his children about the Bible. Lennox writes:

He described to me that he had seen things that no man should ever have to see. I listened, thinking how little I really knew about life, and wondering how I would have fared under his circumstances. As if he had read my thoughts, he suddenly said: "You couldn't cope with that, could you?" Embarrassed, I stumbled out something like: "No, I am sure you are right." He then grinned and said: "Nor could I! I was a man who fainted at the sight of his own blood, let alone that of others. But what I discovered in the camp was this: God does not help us to face theoretical situations but real ones. Like you I couldn't imagine how one could cope in the Gulag. But once there I found that God met me, exactly as Jesus had promised his disciples when he was preparing them for victimization and persecution.

Lennox adds, "We can be confident, then, that the Lord will give us a sufficient amount of grace to handle whatever comes our way, whenever it comes our way—and not necessarily a moment before!"

2. Responding to impossible situations requires Wisdom, Prayer, and Praise.

Note: There is no other record of God having given anyone knowledge of a dream that another person had - without the dreamer telling him about it. Joseph had interpreted the dream of Pharao but only after they told him what they were. Daniel believed in the God of the impossible could do anything, even reveal the dream itself to him, as well as the interpretation.

As a servant of the Lord Daniel had received the Spirit of the Holy God, even Nebuchadnezzar would confess this later in chapter 4.

WHEN FACING IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION THERE ARE 3 WAYS BELIEVERS RESPOND

1). Believers Answer the World with Wisdom and Faith

Daniels Speech was marked with Wisdom: Notice the way that Daniel responded to Arioch the captain of the guard. It say’s he replied with prudence and discretion. Apparently Daniel had the ear of the chief of the guards but was able to request an audience at the very top of the food chain.

Notice that it was not only in what Daniel said, but it was in the way that he communicated his message. The CSB version uses the word’s tact and discretion. Here we see the spiritual instincts of discernment. The Hebrew word here for wisdom meaning “to taste.” We speak with people having a highly evolved sense of taste.

Spiritual wisdom is a highly developed sense of God’s way’s after spending much time in His word and prayer. It does not necessarily come with age. I have known many Christians who are young in age but have greater spiritual wisdom than people twice their age.

It doesn’t come by Christian zeal either, you can have a great passion and zeal for God but still lack spiritual wisdom.

2). Believers Answer the World with a lifestyle of Prayer.

When Daniel returned home, the first thing he did was gather his three friends together and arrange a special season of prayer. We will learn in the weeks to come that Daniel’s life was marked by prayer. (He knelt down on his knees three times a day and prayed giving thanks to God as was his custom in the early days).

“There is a difference in believing that prayer is important and believing that is is essential.”

Voice Recognition

There are certain people in your life whose voice you could recognize anywhere. For most people, you could be in a crowded mall, but if your mom calls you by your full name from across the room, your ear is going to pick up the sound immediately. You wouldn’t be able to do that same trick with someone you just met. It took years of being around that voice and becoming familiar with it in order to do always recognize it. We now have voice recognition software that cannot mistake your voice rhythm from anyone else.

If you want to hear and recognize God’s voice in your life, you’ve got to spend time around Him. The best way to know what God sounds like is to read his word. The Bible is his word. It’s breathed out by God. The more time you spend with scripture the easier it will be to spot God’s voice during times of prayer.

The focus of the prayer was on special revelation from God concerning the secret prayer.

“This is the first place we see united prayer recorded in Scripture; and the fact that these children of the captivity resorted to it gives us a hint of where their strength and power came from displayed in their holy and separate walk.”

Since the decree affected them all, they joined together in interceding corporately to “the God of heavens”. This title for God appears five times in this chapter plus elsewhere, considering the backdrop of their prayers in pagan Babylon as their setting.

They sought mercy from God alone, the only one who could help them in such an impossible situation. Prayer is essential if we are going to experience the power of God.

Note: Only those whose lives are devoted to God’s glory can ever pray in this way. Jesus points this out in his high priestly prayer in John 17 the marker of his followers is that they know God and the son whom Jesus has sent to redeem the world.

Note: Daniels concern for the lost and pagan wise man of Babylon should not be overlooked.

3). Believers Answer the World with a spirit of Worship

Daniels first response in having the secret of the dream revealed is not to run to his friends, or Nebuchadnezzar, but to the God of answers in impossible situations.

When is the last time you have seen God come through in a difficult situation and your first response was worship.

2 Responses of God’s answer leading to praise.

God is absolutely Sovereign.

God alone gives Revelation

(Both of these are made abundantly clear to King Nebuchadnezzar)

“Interpreting the Dream is important but knowing and worshiping God is ultimate.”

Daniel Akin -

Daniel recognizes 3 aspects of God’s answered prayer in His song

Praises God for His Eternal wisdom and power.

Praises God for His governing History (Sovereignty)

Praises God for His fellowship with His people by making His ways and His will known.

Daniel 2:24–30 ESV

24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.” 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 26 The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” 27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 30 But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

We Have Jesus

“You don’t really know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”

- Timothy Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

When everything in our life is relatively stable, we can easily forget our dependence on Christ. Take time to remember through prayer how your life is impacted by Christ’s love and presence.

3. God reveals the mystery of His Kingdom to show His power.

Daniel now speaks with great grace and boldness. He has a sense of taste (holy discernment), and also a sense of righteousness as he enters the throne room of a king. Daniel is not afraid to use the language that sent Nebuchadnezzar previously into a rage. Humans are dust, Daniel says; it is beyond their natural powers to do what the king has demanded. In Contrast here is what Daniel proclaims.

The Mystery of the Kingdom

There is something incomprehensible about gardening. You can do all of the right things—plant the seed at the right time, in the right soil, under the right conditions—and you are still totally dependent on things outside of your control.

The weather can make or break your crop for an entire year. Even if it’s a total success, so much of the process happens while you aren’t watching or working on it. In the same way, the kingdom of God is incomprehensible to us: we do the work we’ve been given to do, but we don’t see it taking shape or coming into being

*Only God in heaven knows all things.

“There is a God in heaven who reveals Secrets.”

God has revealed the secret to the king as he has demanded but not to highlight his great name or power but to highlight his great name.

The think that a man or woman of God should always do is give God the credit. When is it tempting to take the credit for what God has gifts us to do for His glory alone.

Daniel makes if abundantly clear that it is God alone who holds Nebuchadnezzar who holds his heart. He knows Nebuchadnezzar better than the king knows himself.

God gave Nebuchadnezzar his dream, God reveals the secrets for His own glorious purpose alone.

God has used his omniscience over his creation with his servants throughout the course of History.

This is the same spirit of jesus before the high priest and pilot; it is the spirit of Elijah before Jezebel; and now it is Daniel before king Nebuchadnezzar.

* Only God in Heaven can Do all things

vv. 31-45

The interpretation reveals a God who is absolutely sovereign in what He knows, and what He will do. This God knows the future - has a plan for the future - and will do what he wills to do with the future.

Notice the dream speaks of stone being used to symbolize the different ages that will come and go. We also see the image of stone being used in the New Testament as Christ is the chief cornerstone and Peter is called Petra the rock on which Christ will build his church.

THE DREAM INTERPRETED

The different parts of the statues body represent three different kingdoms:

Head of Gold (Nebucadnezzar)

Chest and arms of silver

Belly and thighs of bronze

Legs of iron

Feet of a mitxure of iron and clay

As the king watched a strange stone struck the image on its feet breaking them into pieces and crushing the entire statue. Rather than break into pieces itself, however, the stone mysteriously grew and became a huge mountain, growing all the time until it filled the whole earth.

Daniel explains that these different parts of the statue represent successive kingdoms and or empires. Of these great empires Babylon is to be the first, “you are the head of gold.” Three empires follow. If Babylon is the first, then the second (chest and arms of silver) represents the medo-persian Empire. The empire of Bronze represent the Greek Empire. It was to rule over all the earth. (v.39) Here we might instinctively think of the rise of Alexander the Great, who is said to have wept while still in his twenties because there were no more lands left for him to conquer.

Daniel described the fourth kingdom in great detail because it marks the era that especially significant events occur. It is strong as iron and shatters everything in it’s path: “That Kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others” (v.40). Almost instinctively we may think of the Roman Empire - of which is said, “they make a desert and call it peace.”

“In it’s feet” would lie the seeds of its own decay. Even though the Roman Empire possessed a longevity that surpassed all others according to scholars it experienced a decline and fall in its moral and spiritual corruption. Paul’s description of the Roman Empire is no exaggeration.

All of these kingdoms take backstage to the kingdom that God will establish. There are two elements which describe God’s kingdom.

1). God’s kingdom will be establish during these kingdoms. (meaning in the period of the 4 other kingdoms mentioned). “And in the days of those kingdoms.” (v.44).

Note: The work of the kingdom of God appears to be working during the other kingdoms and almost unnoticed by the great leaders of history.

2). God’s Kingdom will shatter all other kingdoms.

The destruction of these empires is described: “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found.”

This is a direct and deliberate echo of Psalm 1 in which a stark contrast is drawn between the destiny of the righteous and that of the wicked. In contrast with the righteous,

The ungodly are not so,But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Note: there can be no doubt that the kingdom represented by this stone is the messianic kingdom of God. This kingdom has several features.

It is God’s creation (v. 44 “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom”)

It is an indestructible and infallible Kingdom (v. 44 “ it shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people.”)

It is an all victorious Kingdom Eternal Kingdom (v.44 “It shall break in pieces and consume all of the other kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.)

It will be a Universal Kingdom (v. 35 “And the stone that struck the great mountain and filled the whole earth”)

All of this will happen despite the obscurity and apparent weakness of its origin; it is represented by mere stone, “cut out without hands.”

Note: The stone of course is Jesus the very cornerstone of our our faith and the church eternal and victorious.

Acts 4:11 ESV

11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

The decisive moment of the coming of the kingdom of God is seen as taking shape in the days of the fourth empire. It was during the period of the Roman Empire, when Palestine was an occupied country, that Jesus came in Galilee, preaching that the kingdom of God had drawn near.

Mark 1:15 ESV

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

A Glimpse Of The Future Kingdom

The movie Independence Day (Independence Day, directed by Roland Emmerich [Los Angeles: Twentieth-Century Fox, 1996]), shows residents of Los Angeles waking up to see a massive alien spaceship over downtown. People panic and stay home from work. The world is in ruins! In one scene, Captain Steven Miller (Will Smith) gets ready to go to work, but his girlfriend is upset he is leaving the house. When he asks why she is upset, she screams, “Why? That’s why!” as she opens the curtains to chaos in the streets and helicopters flying around an alien spaceship.

In our current society, the people can’t look out their windows and see the fully consummated kingdom of God, where justice reigns and evil has been vanquished. Instead, they open their curtains and see a broken world, still filled with pain and corruption. They might ask, “What kingdom of God? It sure doesn’t look like any kingdom of God to me out there.” Christians might even be tempted to stay home and let the world “go to hell in a hand basket.” However, to do so would be to miss our calling; the church, in whatever small measure, is called to give a glimpse of the future kingdom.

2 Messages for us today as a Church

1). The people of God already belong to the kingdom of God.

WHERE DOES YOUR LOYALTY LIE

Loyalty to the kingdom of God or the Kingdom of this world?

I think it is interesting that we are willing to pledge our Loyalty to so many things in this world, but when it comes to God our Loyalty is always contingent on the situation.

We pledge our loyalty to sports teams and figures, we pledge loyalty to our families, we pledge loyalty to our t.v. series or movies, we pledge our loyalty to our physical appearance. (you fill in the blank), we pledge our loyalty to our career.

Our Loyalty to God always tends to find itself contingent on what will it cost us. We use all kinds of excuses for not being faithful but at the end of the day it is all about Sacrifice. We live in a day and culture when people have lost a sense of sacrifice. We bow at the alter of comfort and convenience.

*Loyalty is not a word; it is a LIFESTYLE

The people of God live in a world that is dominated by other kingdoms. Totalitarian rulers and systems arise, demanding our loyalty and persecuting the kingdom of God. The tension between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world is very real and eventually it painfully erupts in our lives. However, when this happens our pathway is so clear. There is no doubt as to where our loyalty lie.

2). The people of God are assured of the future victory of the Kingdom of God.

We are all living for the future kingdom of God. Daniel’s interpretation of the kings dream all lead to the single conclusion that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. (1 Cor. 15:25) WE have received a kingdom that the writer of Hebrews describes as unshakable.

Hebrews 12:28 ESV

28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,

This single message is what has encouraged the people of God in the most desperate times of their lives. It is one of the greatest prospects that has gripped the hearts and prayers of the leaders of the missionary revivals of the eighteenth century. It gave courage to Daniel and has energized him for the rest of the journey he must travel.

No wonder Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate at Daniels feet. What else could he have done in the middle of his insecurity and instability but confess the greatness of Daniels God.

Nebuchadnezzar was awed by the God of Daniel but not changed. Conversion never took place for Nebuchadnezzar.

I wonder if this is a pre-cursor look to the scene we get in Philippians ....

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

CLOSING

Our story concludes today with two pictures of worship. The first picture is Daniel and his friends true worship of the God of the impossible. The second is the worship of Nebuchadnezzar which is a false worship. He is worshiping the idea of a God who can do the seemingly impossible. However, he is not worshiping in spirit and truth. He places the God of Daniel high on his list, however, the focus is placed on Daniel and Daniel’s God is still grouped with the other Gods.

Everybody worships something. Even atheist worship something. Listen to what the great American writer intellectual David Foster Wallace who committed suicide in 2008 once said at a commencement address.

Because here's something else that's true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism …. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And … pretty much anything you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things—if they are where you tap real meaning in life—then you will never have enough ….

Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you …. Worship power—you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart—you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on...

YOUR LIFE SHOWS WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT THE GOD OF THE IMPOSSIBLE.

Life is worship according to Paul in Romans 12:1

Romans 12:1 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

God chose the week things of this world to shame the wise, and all Kingdoms and Leaders will crumble at the foot of a Holy God.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE SHOWING TODAY?