Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20020120.htm

DANIEL: HOPE FOR TODAY'S DISILLUSIONED YOUTH
Part III: God's Hope For People Distressed By Evil Rulers
(Daniel 2:24-49)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

It can be discouraging particularly for young people to step out into the adult world and try to live a fulfilling life in view of the evil they face in the world's influential rulers:

(1) The January 12, 2002 issue of World magazine, p. 8 reports a rising African-American author, Stephen L. Carter has written about the repression of America's black clergy by the political pressures they face. In his recent book, God's Name in Vain: The Wrongs and Rights of Religion in Politics, Stephen Carter writes "the fortunes of the black clergy's leadership (and of black people generally) have become so bound up with the fortunes of the Democratic Party that it is no longer possible for the leaders to press ideas that their religious understanding of the world might demand.'" In particular, he singles out the Rev. Jesse Jackson who was once "passionately pro-life' but was forced to become pro-choice in order to get the Democratic Party to take him seriously.'"

How then can ESPECIALLY African-American young PASTORS who desire to teach the TRUTH in their CHURCHES going to accomplish GOD'S WILLl against what POLITICAL pressures they face in the PULPIT to the CONTRARY?

(2) The recent Enron Corporation collapse has revealed a great injustice done to some of its investors. While some former Enron executives and politicians they supported with that money made off with lots of company money, some individual investors have lost all of their retirement savings which were placed in Enron stock.

How then can young people or any of us who are seeking the "pursuit of happiness" stated in our U. S. Constitution attain that goal when injustices of INFLUENTIAL EXECUTIVES in concert with the POLITICIANS they support can obliterate even BASIC RETIREMENT nest egges of individual investors?



How can a YOUNG person or ANYONE in our world attain unto a MEANINGFUL LIFE against the forces of greed and power-hungry RULERS in business and politics that can upset one's life's savings or even efforts to minister God's Word in a CHURCH today?

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "In the wake of religious or economic abuses of powerful rulers, many of the YOUNG in PARTICULAR can feel their FUTURE is hopeless! Is there an ANSWER to give us ALL hope?!"
  1. When God gave Daniel insight into the king's dream, He ALSO revealed the dream answered the king's own PRE-SLEEP CONCERNS on what FUTURE HISTORY held, Dan. 2:19, 28-29a.
  2. Thus, Daniel could inform the king God had given him a dream to ANSWER his PRE-SLEEP concerns of the future, Daniel 2:24-29b.
  3. Daniel then testified his INSIGHT into the dream thus came NOT from any PERSONAL ability, but from GOD as a GIFT toward settling the CONCERNS of Nebuchadnezzar's mind, Daniel 2:30.
  4. Hence, Daniel revealed the dream foretold AGES OF DECAY under GENTILE rule relative to Israel until WORLD HISTORY was RESCUED by GOD'S ETERNAL KINGDOM, Dan. 2:31-45:
    1. Daniel first relayed the king's dream unto him, Daniel 2:31-35:
      1. He revealed the king dreamed of an awesome image of a man with a head of gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass and legs of iron with his feet a mixture of iron and clay, Dan. 2:31-33. Thus, the top of the image was both valuable and honorable and continued to DETERIORATE in value and honor from there on down until it was ready for a collapse!
      2. In the dream, a stone not cut out of a mountain with human hands then crashed into the feet of the image, shattering the whole image into tiny pieces for the wind to blow away. The stone then grew into a huge mountain, filling the whole earth, Daniel 2:34-35.
    2. Daniel next told how this dream predicted Gentile history in relation to Israel from Nebuchadnezzar down to Christ's kingdom, 2:36-45:
      1. First, the gold head represented Nebuchadnezzar's reign, 2:36-38.
      2. Meeting the king's concern about the future, God relayed after him would come an inferior nation (in the silver), 2:39a, 32b. We now know this was Medo-Persia, Ryr. St. Bib., KJV, ftn. to 2:39.
      3. That kingdom would be followed by a further more deteriorated empire represented in the brass that would rule the known world in relation to ISRAEL, the kingdom of Greece, Ibid., Dan. 2:39c.
      4. The fourth kingdom, a kingdom of iron came to be Rome, a nation that forcefully subdued nations, Dan. 2:40, Ibid., ftn. to Dan. 2:40.
      5. Well, Rome was never truly conquered by another empire, but arose as strong only to decay into a mixture of non united peoples by overextension of dominion, Bib. Know. Com, O.T., p. 1335f. Hence, this internal deterioration is portrayed in the iron legs giving way to iron mixed with CLAY for the feet, Daniel 2:40-41.
      6. Since Rome was never conquered by another empire, but its people still exist as modern EUROPE, and as the image's TOES number TEN to equal the ten kings the ANTICHRIST encounters when he sets up his rule in Rome (Revelation 17:9, 12-13), the FEET portray the "Revived Roman Empire" of the Tribulation Period!
      7. Thus, in the days of antichrist's Revived Roman Empire, God will set up an unconquerable rule that will destroy the remnants of Gentile world rule, a kingdom identified as Christ's coming eternal kingdom according to Dan. 2:44-45 with Rev. 19:1-22:5!
  5. King Nebuchadnezzar so appreciated the insight God had given to him through Daniel that he honored God and Daniel as best as he, a pagan king, knew to honor God and his subject, Daniel, 2:46-49:
    1. Falling on his face before Daniel, the king testified Daniel's God was the God of Gods and Lord of kings to reveal this dream, Daniel 2:47.
    2. Nebuchadnezzar also paid homage to Daniel and elevated him to high position in the kingdom of Babylon, Daniel 2:46, 48.
    3. Daniel also rightfully used his promotion to elevate his 3 friends who prayed with him for insight into the king's dream, 2:49 with 17-18.
Application: To ADJUST profitably to evil seen in world rulers and governments, God wants us, (1) like DANIEL, to (a) purpose to heed His Word (Dan. 1:8) so (b) we ALSO can become part of His LAST eternal kingdom, the GREAT STONE MOUNTAIN of Dan. 2:44. (2) In OUR era, this means (a) believing in Christ for salvation from sin to become part of His kingdom (Jn. 3:16: Col. 1:12-14) and (b) obeying His written Word in life and testifying of His coming kingdom so others can be recruited for Christ. Then, like Daniel, we will also see God honor US as we thus live for Him, cf. Daniel 2:46-49; John 12:26!

Lesson: Though history records the DECLINE of the VALUE and HONOR of man's GOVERNMENTS in world history due to SIN, GOD will set up a final kingdom to replace these evil rules, and we NOW can become a part of THAT kingdom and live for it with God's blessing! >

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Josh McDowell's book, A Ready Defense, p. 459 supplies a testimony of a man who once committed himself to developing a "new world order" under despotic communism.

His name was Jan Chelcicky, a man who once became the National Communist Youth President of Czechoslovakia dedicated to transforming the entire world into a "new world order" of communism.

However, the evening following his election to this high post, he drifted off to sleep. Like Nebuchadnezzar centuries before him, Jan dreamed a troubling dream. In it he heard the words from the sky, saying, "Take heed that ye be not deceived; for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ . . . and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." [These words are a general paraphrase of Christ's prophecy in Matthew 24:4-5, 30.]

Jan reports he awoke with his heart pounding fiercely. Sensing God's presence in the room, he dropped to the side of the bed and onto his knees and prayed, "Oh, Lord, forgive me. Accept me.'"

After struggling with what he had done in view of its possible persecution fallout, Jan Chelcicky decided to tell his communist comrades, "I am resigning my functions as your leader for I can no longer be a Communist . . . I can no longer follow Marx and Lenin because I am now a follower of Jesus Christ."

Jan became a pastor of a small church near the Russian border resigned to go to prison if need be.

His testimony: "Lenin taught that you change man by changing society. Jesus, however, teaches that you change society by changing man. I serve in God's new world order' introduced by . . . Jesus Christ."