FBCWest 304 | update title
Recorded On: 09/16/2018
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Genesis 1:1-5
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:2 The earth was 1formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was 2moving over the surface of the waters.
Genesis 1:3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
Genesis 1:4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Genesis 4:1-3
Genesis 4:1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD."
Genesis 4:2 Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Genesis 4:3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.
Transcript of Service
Daniel is one of the books that of two primary books that that people really are uncomfortable with being in the Bible they don't think that it's accurate or it's got to be written later or whatever one of those is Genesis because obviously science has taught us that the six-day creation couldn't have happened which is always interesting because science will tell us just how certain they are things happened and then later this oh well we found out something different and now we're really certain that this happened and then they find out some more well know what that was wrong but we're really certain of that that was what's happening so if you're kind of convinced that science knows what's going on wait another day or two the other book that has that kind of difficulty is this book that we're studying because of what we're going to talk about now and some other prophecies because these prophecies are so dead on the critics say there's no way that somebody could have seen this in the future you know that in the past to see in the future so that's why we're titled as the message similar to a movie title back to the future when Daniel was alive that was our past and so he is going to give some prophecies in this section that we're looking at and later in his book that quite frankly people just argue there's just no way that a human can do that and Daniel and his book is going to go you're absolutely right but there is a God in heaven and my view is that if God could and did create the world and all that it contains he knows what's going to happen in the future it's not that hard for him as a matter of fact not only does he know what's going to happen in the future he determines and his sovereign over the future and so there are those who will say okay this had to be written way later and then in order to kind of just by because there are some other passages in this that even for us is the future but I'll say so they have to interpret it certain ways and those who believe that Daniel got this revelation from God will interpret it a different way so I'll give a real quick there are several kingdoms that that Daniel is going to discuss and those who believe that it was written later well there's a portion that was still future to that later and so they reinterpreted says well instead of it being Babylon and medo-persia it's Babylon medo-persia Greeks and they go from there so that's all I'm gonna say about that I just fly think they're wrong so I'm gonna go from the belief and assumption that Daniel got this from God that it was before it happened and God knew it and we're going to say why did and quite frankly if I did not believe this I'd go sell insurance I mean there's a lot of people who read the Bible but well this couldn't possibly happen okay wonderful find out a book that canon and study that but it but if this is just fiction then it might be a nice read but it's more than that so we're going to take up Daniel chapter starting with verse 24 therefore Daniel went into Arioch whom the King had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon and he went and spoke to him as follows do not destroy the wise men of Babylon take me into the King's presence and I will declare the interpretation to the king so in case you weren't here previously basically the King wanted to know what his dream was whether he had forgotten it or not we can argue about and he wanted the interpretation the wise man kept saying well tell me what the dream is and we'll give you the interpretation and the King goes no no I want you to tell me what the dream is and then I'll believe your interpretation and they stall for time and King says that's it kill all the wise men so they go off to kill Daniel Daniel wait a minute why why are you in such a hurry what's the deal so then Daniel goes into the King and asked for time which again I find interesting because he didn't give his own wise people time but because God granted favor to Daniel he allowed Daniel some time Daniel then has a prayer meeting God reveals the dream and the interpretation and Daniel bursts out and prays so that's where we are so he goes to Eric who's given the the mission of killing all the wise men he says stop I'll be able to declare the interpretation to King this is great then Arioch Hurley brought Daniel into the King's presence and spoke to him as follows I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king notice he takes credit I found it wasn't while I was off killing people whatever Daniel said give him some time he could come up with and Daniel came to me and said it would be it would be moron if they said there's this guy who can do this here he is but it's no he's taking credit and and that's so humanly typical we all want to take credit I mean pastors are well known for that we we will talk about the spirit moving and whatever and then we'll say yeah but I grew the church and I made these buildings and I did all this and you didn't do whatever so he
wants to take credit which i think is a little gutsy here's what if Daniels wrong I found this guy well not only the wise men going to die I want to take your head off too because you brought me a charlatan but he takes credit I found this man from among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king the King said to Daniel whose name was velvet says sir are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation so he asked you know he makes it he doesn't take arias word for it he asked annual can you do this but he doesn't call Daniel Daniel he calls him by his name the name that they have given Daniel which means that the bill will protect him now notice Daniels responds not like Arriaga Daniel answer before the king and said as for the mystery about which the King has inquired neither wise men conjurer's magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king true statement but I find it's interesting because in essence he's starting off his presentation by saying nobody can do this so if the King doesn't have any president okay you're dead too he starts up no person can do what you've asked however however there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days notice Daniel doesn't take credit as a matter of fact Daniel doesn't even take credit for being if you will the guy who's able he says God reveals it to you it's not that I'm wonderful see how great I am I've been able to interpret this for you because God gave me the guy to do it to present it to you it's God reveals to you I'm an instant consequential middle person this was your dream and the visions in your mind while you're on your bed as for you O king while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what will take place so Daniel not only says I know what the dream is but I know what you were thinking before you even had the dream before you had the dream you were wondering what's going to happen you're this mighty king who has absolute rule your word stands there is no legislature there is nobody who makes laws the king makes laws the King breaks laws it's the king's absolute power and so he says you are wondering about the future and because you are wondering about the future you had this dream in God revealed it to you but as for me this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind again Daniel says I'm not at brighter anybody else it is God who has revealed it but he didn't reveal it to me to make me better he revealed it to me so that I might tell you because God gave you this mystery it's for your benefit it's kind of like what we as believers supposed to do be beneficial to others and so he says I'm just Alexa just telling you what you bath O king you O king we're looking and behold there was a single great statute that statue was which was large and of extraordinary splendor was standing in front of you and it's appearance was awesome so I saying first part of this there's this great tremendous statue you were standing in front of it and it was huge and awesome to behold and the head of that statue was made of fine gold its breasts and its arms of silver its billing its thighs of bronze its legs of iron its feet partly of iron and partly of clay and you continued looking until a stone was cut without hands and it struck the statute on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them then the iron the clay the bronze the silver and the gold were
crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away so not a trace of them was found but the stone that struck this statute became a great mountain and filled the whole earth so Daniel says that's the dream you're standing in front of a statue it was awesome as large and it was made of multiple different materials first 36 this was the dream now we now he could be using the Royal we or he could be saying God and I are going to tell you what it means so we'll tell you what the interpretation before the King yo King or the King of Kings to whom God of heaven has given the kingdom the power the strength and the glory and wherever the sons of men dwell or the beasts of the field or the birds of the sky he has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all you are the head of gold Daniel says in essence looking from Nebuchadnezzar's perspective he had absolute power and if you look as as the materials of the statute change the power of the leader begins to diminish but he sent under the Babylonian system the Kings word was law you didn't consult anybody he didn't have to you made the rules here's the bad news after you there will rise another Kingdom inferior to you now the Babylonian Kingdom Nebuchadnezzar who started his reign in 605 BC he died somewhere either in 652 or 6 I'm I'm sorry 662 or 560 BC but the kingdom of Babylon fell in 539 BC so this new Kingdom has now come and that is what most interpreters considered to be the medo-persian kingdom the inferior one made of silver and it rained from 539 BC and then Alexander the Great and 334 BC invaded their territory and by 331 BC he also Li conquered the medo-persian Empire so then this third kingdom of bronze which will rule over you so we had the medo-persian and again there was this two groups who ruled they had a king but again he was more refined because he had to get additional authority by other rulers and then you have the bronze which is a stronger material and if you've seen any of the movies or whatever you have noticed that they wore less plates and helmets a bronze one of the reasons they were able to defeat the Persians was they had just tunics and and wicker type of shields so Alexander with his tactics and God's preordained decision ruled and conquered that area however it started to dissolve in 190 BC and by 31 BC it was totally vanquished verse 40 then there will be a fourth Kingdom as strong as iron and as much as iron crushes and shatters all things so like iron that breaks in pieces it will crush and break all these in pieces this is as most interpreters understand the Roman Empire and the Roman Empire if you will was aptly described as iron I mean because they destroyed anything in their way they were cool until they got what they wanted if you don't to just give you an example think of their treatment of Jesus think of their treatment of the
various ethnic cultures that they defeated they made them slaves they did what they could do because they impose their will but even in that if you will it was the Senate and Roman people at times the Emperor would try to take over or whatever but it started out being kind of like a republic so again to the absolute authority kept going down to the people and the Roman Empire lasted until about 476 ad now if you read various scholarly material they will not use BC and AD because you're not supposed to use those things anymore it's supposed to be BCE and CE II before the Common Era and Common Era I still use BC and AD because the defining issue of history of mankind is before Christ and after his death and so I'll still use that as a dividing line now in that you saw the feet and toes partly of potters clay and partly of iron it will be a divided Kingdom but it will have the toughness of iron and as much as you saw iron mixed with common clay and as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be and you saw that the iron mixed with common clay they will combine with one another and the seed of men but they will not adhere to one another even as iron does not combine with pottery now if you read various experts and whatever they will say that this kingdom is the revived Roman Empire they're much smarter than me they may be right I have a different take because you see the revised Roman Empire hasn't happened yet I don't see a bench of gaps in the statute so I'll tell you what I think and what I think and 250 might buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks I don't drink coffee so I don't know what it costs I think there was another Kingdom that arose after the Roman Empire and it expanded from the Middle East westward to northern Africa and even to Spain and it has expanded eastward even to Southeast Asia and to places like Indonesia it's made up of two primary religious sects but there are a number of others it's made up of two primary ethnic groups although there are others and I think that that Kingdom is in existence and it started about 600 AD that's what I think because as I see the various countries that are involved in that you will see some countries who are ruled by monarchs some countries are ruled by oligarchs some people are ruled by a theocracy some people are ruled by a form of democracy it's a very so that there and but these two sects have difficulty really joining one another although they have a common purpose they just want it differently so in my view you've got a statute that's just even to this day all the wise people say it's revised Roman Empire I know that there will be come a day when I will know whether I'm right or wrong whether I'm alive or not to see it but my caution is don't believe what I say and don't believe what everybody else tells you research it for yourself to determine what does the word of god
say verse 44 in the days of those kings that God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed and that Kingdom will not be left for another people it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms but it will itself endure for ever in as much as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron the bronze the clay the silver and the gold the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future so that the dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy he said Daniels in essence telling Nebuchadnezzar you may have absolute power and throughout the rest of the history of this world there will be empires that will rise and fall and rise and fall but there will become an empire that will crush and destroy all empires even the previous ones so much so that they are less than the dustpan of history and this will be done by a rock by a stone that is cut without human hands which means it will be done by God and this kingdom will fill the whole earth and this kingdom will be forever and this kingdom will last or the others won't now I want to give you a little remembrance of rocks and stones remember in Exodus the people of God were wandering around and they were complaining that they didn't have any water and so Moses went to God and said the people are about to kill me because there's no water and God tells Moses to do a really weird thing to strike a stone a rock and Moses does and water comes out and everybody's drinks it days pass people are complaining about the water again Moses gets fed up tells God there about stone me whatever God says speak to the rock speak to the stone Moses makes an error in judgment by not taking God's words seriously and strikes the rock water comes forth which shows you that God is a very merciful God because if it God have been God you can eat sand but God's merciful he gave the people water but he posed Moses because you didn't take my words seriously you're not going in the Promised Land you can see it from a distance you're not going in Paul tells us in Corinthians that rock that stone was cheese we're also told in Psalms the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief Cornerstone this is the Lord's doing it is marvelous in our eyes Isaiah also says thus therefore thus says the Lord God behold I am lying in Zion a stone a testa stone a costly cornerstone for the foundation firmly placed and he who believes in it will not be disturbed or disappointed the Old Testament is giving us clues to the mystery about this stone that is cut without hands and I want you to see what Jesus said about a stone in Matthew chapter 16 verse 13 through 18 if you have your Bible as you can turn to it donal be up on the screen now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi he was asking to his disciples who do you say that the son of man is and they said some say John the Baptist and others Elijah but still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets and he said to them but who do you say that I am and Simon Peter answered you are the Christ the Son of the Living God and
Jesus said to him blessed are you simon barjona because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father who is in heaven I also say to you that you are Peter or little stone or little rock and upon this rock I build my church and the gates of Hades or hell will not overpower it now there are two generally accepted interpretations of this passage our Catholic friends tend to think that Jesus is building this church on Peter we as Baptists and Protestants disagree and our interpretation the one that I have taught and usually follow is that Jesus is saying on the statement that Jesus is the Christ is where he's going to build his church let me give you another possibility for consideration again not saying this is the correct interpretation just want you to think about it what if Jesus when he said you are little rock upon and then he points this walk and he points to himself upon this rock I will build my church that Jesus is the chief Cornerstone Jesus as the stone cut without hands Jesus is the one that will start the kingdom by decimating all of human endeavors Peter will follow this up when he will quote both the passages that I have read to you in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse forces this and coming to him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men but as a choice and precious in the sight of God you also as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ for this is contained in the scriptures behold I lay in Zion a choice stone a precious cornerstone and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed this precious value then is for you who believed but for those who disbelieve the stone which the builders rejected this became the very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word and to this Doom they were also appointed so when Daniel gives the interpretation of what this stone with cut without hands comes and hits the feet which means that's when it will take place won't take place during Nebuchadnezzar time won't take place during the medo-persian Empire won't take place during the Greeks won't take place during the Romans it'll take place during this last Empire but it will cause not only the eradication of that Empire but all other forms of human government even democracy as it once was said democracy is the worst form of government except all those that have been tried beforehand but there's one form of government that will be perfect and that is when the king of kings and Lord of lords comes to establish his kingdom and he has called you and me to be members of that Kingdom and not just members of that Kingdom but citizens but not just citizens but to be sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty to be brothers and sisters of Jesus so we are a part of a kingdom as Peter will describe of a royal priesthood a royal group of people that's who we are and so whether your whatever your Republican or Democrat or independent a communist a socialist a radical late or anarchist whatever it is whatever you hope to achieve will only be for a short period of time because his kingdom will last forever and your kingdom will end up in dust as I told you before that excites me
because my dream was to be president as I explained to you even if I was and even I had this perfect ability and and everything was wonderful some person would come and change it all it's the history of the world most people don't even know who Nebuchadnezzar was and none of us know how to spell his name we're lucky that we know how to pronounce it because enough people are pronounced it but God has included me to be a child of the king in a kingdom that will never change in a kingdom that was ruled by a perfect God who is a lover of you and me verse 46 then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage so at Daniel and gave orders to resent him and offering and fragrant incense and the King answered Daniel and said surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of Kings and a revealer mystery since you have been able to reveal this mystery interesting this king who was told by God that he was in essence the goal part of the statute that God had given him absolute rule does homage not only to Daniel who is the vessel for the interpretation but worships God and acknowledges that not only is God the God of gods even the god of his fake gods but he is the God of Kings that he is the king of kings that he has power only because the king of kings allowed him to have power and if he gives worship and praise to that king and then being true to his word verse 48 the king of promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon which is we're going to see later doesn't make all the other wise guys happy because this foreigner is promoted to this high position but again notice Daniel has given praise to God doesn't take just for himself the promotion and Daniel made a request of the king and he appointed Hananiah Mishael and Azariah now I know your bibles say the Babylonian names but I want to repeat one more time that names given by them by their people who worship their God so Daniel wanted not only him to be promoted but he wanted Hananiah Mishael and Azariah to receive the benefit so he made appointed them over the administration of the province of Babylon while Daniel was at the Kings Court living in a foreign land presents us with all sorts of difficulties and obstacles but we need to use the wisdom of Daniel to understand that we give glory to God then whatever ability or talent that you have been given you've been given it because God has given it to you you may have a voice that rivals the Angels it's not your voice God gave it to you you might have the ability to turn $1 into billions it's not your talent God gave it to you you might be able to rule vast empires as Nebuchadnezzar saw it was because God gave it to him and even though initially
like most of us humans if we let it go to our head our golden head he comes to realize that our God is the god of gods Lord of lords King of Kings and we should always understand that and understand that when we come to a situation where somebody needs our help it's not that I have this so that I can help you but that God gave this to me so that I might help you I didn't receive the interpretation so that I might be wonderful and then give it to you I received it for your benefit and that's how we should approach all of our ministry I received it for your benefit not my glory but for his and all God's people said you you