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Voddie Baucham - The Theological Reason for Hope · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Well, as we come to the middle of Daniel chapter 2,
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  Speaker 1: we come to a passage of Scripture that is often
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  Speaker 1: subsumed in the overall story of the interpretation of the dream.
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  Speaker 1: There's so much drama before it, the drama of the
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  Speaker 1: threat against the wise men, which ultimately becomes a threat
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  Speaker 1: against Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. That drama and that
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  Speaker 1: tension draws us in. And then, of course, there is
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  Speaker 1: the interpretation of the dream. The interpretation of the dream
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  Speaker 1: captures our imagination because of the way that God just
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  Speaker 1: unfolds what then was the future, but for us is history.
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  Speaker 1: He unfolds history before it happens in the hearing of
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  Speaker 1: this great king. And so we... want to emphasize the
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  Speaker 1: tension that exists and the danger that exists. And then
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  Speaker 1: we want to get to the resolution and especially the
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  Speaker 1: meaning of this resolution as it points Nebuchadnezzar and exiled
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  Speaker 1: Israel toward the coming of the King of Kings and
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  Speaker 1: the Lord of Lords. And yet in the middle, There
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  Speaker 1: is our text today that I believe is not just
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  Speaker 1: slightly important, but extremely important. And here's why. I believe
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  Speaker 1: this section that we're examining today is really the thesis
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  Speaker 1: statement for the book of Daniel. I believe that this
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  Speaker 1: section here today puts all of Daniel in its theological
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  Speaker 1: context and I believe this section here today is crucial
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  Speaker 1: to us understanding what we are about to read as
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  Speaker 1: we continue through this book. This is the theological framework.
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  Speaker 1: This is the theological construct. This is the reason for
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  Speaker 1: their hope. The theological reason for their hope. There is
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  Speaker 1: a historical reason for hope. And the book of Daniel
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  Speaker 1: itself stands as this historical reason. We see Daniel... as
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  Speaker 1: a picture of God's preserving power, of God as the
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  Speaker 1: covenant keeper, of God holding on to his covenant people
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  Speaker 1: even in the midst of exile, bringing them through that
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  Speaker 1: exile and restoring them to himself and for his purposes.
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  Speaker 1: And so from a historical perspective, we look to that
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  Speaker 1: and we have hope. But from a theological perspective, the
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  Speaker 1: question is why? Why? Why should that give us hope?
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  Speaker 1: It happened. But of course, we've said before and we'll
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  Speaker 1: say again, narrative is not normative. Just because something happened
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  Speaker 1: doesn't mean that it's going to happen again, doesn't mean
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  Speaker 1: that it's going to happen that way. There are many
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  Speaker 1: things that happen, but they don't necessarily give us a pattern.
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  Speaker 1: Ananias and Sapphira happened, but that's not the way we
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  Speaker 1: handle church discipline today. Amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord. Okay?
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  Speaker 1: The pillar of fire and the pillar of smoke, that happened.
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  Speaker 1: But that's not the way we get from place to place.
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  Speaker 1: So we have to understand the theological underpinnings in order
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  Speaker 1: to grasp the reason for our hope. And that's what
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  Speaker 1: we have today. The reason for our hope. I didn't
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  Speaker 1: say the reason for Daniel's hope. It's the reason for
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  Speaker 1: our hope. Well, how can the reason for Daniel's hope
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  Speaker 1: be the reason for our hope? Because, I mean, really,
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  Speaker 1: after all, this is for Daniel and for exiled Israel, right? Yes.
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  Speaker 1: But the universal theological underpinnings have been and always will
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  Speaker 1: be the same. And in fact, what we see in
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  Speaker 1: the book of Daniel points forward not just to to
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  Speaker 1: Israel at the end of its exile, but it points
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  Speaker 1: forward to the consummation of all things in the person
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  Speaker 1: and work of Christ. This is the reason for our hope.
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  Speaker 1: This is why you have hope. This is why I
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  Speaker 1: have hope, being found in Christ. So go with me
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  Speaker 1: to verse 17. And we'll look at verses 17 through
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  Speaker 1: 30 here. In Daniel chapter 2. And remember, up to
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  Speaker 1: this point, the king has had a dream. And the
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  Speaker 1: king has called all of his experts in. We started
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  Speaker 1: with the training that Daniel and his friends received. And
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  Speaker 1: so we know they've been brought into this school of
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  Speaker 1: wise men, if you will. Now we come to a
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  Speaker 1: time immediately thereafter where the wise men are needed again.
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  Speaker 1: The king calls the wise men in. He wants to
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  Speaker 1: know the dream and its interpretation. They say, not only
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  Speaker 1: can we not do that, but no one can do that.
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  Speaker 1: Only God can do that. He says, that's really bad
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  Speaker 1: for you. Because if you don't do that which only
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  Speaker 1: God can do, we're going to tear you limb from limb.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, with Nebuchadnezzar in the ancient Near East,
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  Speaker 1: that's not an idle threat. I mean, just think about
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  Speaker 1: what happens to people. You know the story of the
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  Speaker 1: first six chapters of Daniel. You don't bow before the statue.
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  Speaker 1: You go to a furnace of fire to be burned.
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  Speaker 1: You don't worship when you're supposed to, how you're supposed to.
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  Speaker 1: We put you in a den full of lions to
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  Speaker 1: be eaten alive. So, When Nebuchadnezzar says, if you don't
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  Speaker 1: do this, all of you will be torn limb from limb,
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  Speaker 1: he means if you don't do this, literally, all of
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  Speaker 1: you will be torn limb from limb. By the way,
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  Speaker 1: that gives us a picture of the historical setting and
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  Speaker 1: the historical context of exile. This is not just being homesick. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: This is being in a place where terrible men do
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  Speaker 1: terrible things. I believe, in fact, that it's because this
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  Speaker 1: is a place where terrible men do terrible things that
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  Speaker 1: we have this dream sequence. Can you imagine what Stalin's
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  Speaker 1: dreams were like? Lenin? Hitler? Hitler? Can you imagine how
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  Speaker 1: Pol Pot slept? Or Mao? How about our own president
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  Speaker 1: after Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Regardless of how you feel about
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  Speaker 1: whether or not that was necessary, can you imagine having
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  Speaker 1: to pick up the phone and be the person who
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  Speaker 1: makes the call that says, drop him? And then having
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  Speaker 1: to sleep the next night? Can you imagine the images
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  Speaker 1: in your own mind? This man is serious. You will
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  Speaker 1: do this for me or I will kill all of you.
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  Speaker 1: They know him. He means it. And that's where we
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  Speaker 1: pick up with Daniel here and his friends. In verse 17,
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  Speaker 1: note also the use of the Hebrew names here. I
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  Speaker 1: believe that's significant. Then Daniel went to his house and
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  Speaker 1: made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
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  Speaker 1: and told them to seek mercy from the God of
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  Speaker 1: heaven concerning this mystery. By the way, that phrase, the
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  Speaker 1: God of heaven, that's a name used for God that
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  Speaker 1: really comes out of the exiles. The God of heaven.
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  Speaker 1: So that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed
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  Speaker 1: with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then
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  Speaker 1: the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of
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  Speaker 1: the night. That's it. You would think that we get this,
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  Speaker 1: you know, whole involved, intricate picture of the prayer. What
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  Speaker 1: kind of prayer is this? We're going to die and
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  Speaker 1: God's got to come through. We got to have the vision.
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  Speaker 1: What kind of prayer is this? Do not lose sight
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  Speaker 1: of the significance of this fact. This is not about prayer.
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  Speaker 1: It's not about prayer. Does that mean prayer is insignificant? No,
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  Speaker 1: prayer is significant, but this is not about prayer. The
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  Speaker 1: prayer part of it is, we just, that was it
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  Speaker 1: right there. Daniel comes in, he informs the guys, pray
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  Speaker 1: to the God of heaven that he might have mercy
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  Speaker 1: on us, that we might not die, and then the
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  Speaker 1: next thing you get is not the prayer meeting. Then
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  Speaker 1: the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of
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  Speaker 1: the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel
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  Speaker 1: answered and said, we don't get the prayer, but here's
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  Speaker 1: what we get. We get the praise after the prayer.
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  Speaker 1: This is not about the prayer. This is about the praise.
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  Speaker 1: Blessed be the name of God forever and ever. To
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  Speaker 1: whom belongs wisdom and might forever. He changes times and seasons.
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  Speaker 1: He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom
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  Speaker 1: to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.
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  Speaker 1: He reveals deep hidden things. He knows what is in
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  Speaker 1: the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you,
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  Speaker 1: O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise.
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  Speaker 1: Now he's gone from being the God of heaven to
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  Speaker 1: the God of my fathers. How many of you know
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  Speaker 1: God of my father's? When you hear that phrase in scripture,
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  Speaker 1: it's always our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac,
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  Speaker 1: and Jacob. Here he just says God of our fathers.
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  Speaker 1: How can we not go to Genesis 41 in our minds?
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  Speaker 1: Genesis 41, Joseph before Pharaoh interpreting dreams. The linchpin in
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  Speaker 1: Israel's first exile. I give thanks and praise for you
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  Speaker 1: have given me wisdom and might and have now made
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  Speaker 1: known to me what we asked of you. For you
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  Speaker 1: have made known to us the king's matter. Therefore, Daniel
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  Speaker 1: went to Ariok, whom the king had appointed to destroy
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  Speaker 1: the wise men of Babylon. I told you he was serious.
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  Speaker 1: He had already assigned the task. He went and said
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  Speaker 1: thus to him, do not destroy the wise men of Babylon.
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  Speaker 1: Bring me before the king and I will show the
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  Speaker 1: king the interpretation. Then Ariok brought in Daniel before the
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  Speaker 1: king in haste and said to him, I have found
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  Speaker 1: among the exiles from Judah a man who will make
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  Speaker 1: known to the king the interpretation. Ariok comes in haste.
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  Speaker 1: He comes in a hurry. Who wants to kill on
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  Speaker 1: behalf of the king? Ariok doesn't want this. He's ecstatic.
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  Speaker 1: And in haste, he comes before the king. The king
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  Speaker 1: declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, are you able
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  Speaker 1: to make known to me the dream that I have
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  Speaker 1: seen and its interpretation? Daniel answered the king and said,
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely I am. I have a spiritual gift that puffs
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  Speaker 1: me up. Daniel answered and said, with all due respect
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  Speaker 1: to Ariok in his introduction, Ariok says, I found a man.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel says, No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can
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  Speaker 1: show the king the mystery that the king has asked.
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  Speaker 1: But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries,
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  Speaker 1: and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will
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  Speaker 1: be in the latter days. The dream and the vision
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  Speaker 1: of your head as you lay in bed are these. You,
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  Speaker 1: O king, as you lay in bed, to you, O king,
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  Speaker 1: as you lay in bed, came thoughts of what would
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  Speaker 1: be after this. And he who reveals mysteries made known
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  Speaker 1: to you what is to be. But as for me,
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  Speaker 1: the mystery has been revealed to me, not because of
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  Speaker 1: any wisdom that I have more than all the living,
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  Speaker 1: but in order that the interpretation may be made known
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  Speaker 1: to the king and that you may know the thoughts
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  Speaker 1: of your mind. Amen. There it is. There's the reason
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  Speaker 1: for our hope. The theological underpinnings, if you will, as
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  Speaker 1: to why it is that we can hope in God
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  Speaker 1: in spite of our circumstances. Why it is that we
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  Speaker 1: can hope as we look to what for us is
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  Speaker 1: an uncertain future. There are four reasons. And these four
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  Speaker 1: reasons are intertwined both in the praise and in the testimony.
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  Speaker 1: They overlap. You put them together and they overlap, these
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  Speaker 1: four reasons. Let me give you these four and then
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  Speaker 1: we'll look at the praise and the testimony and how
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  Speaker 1: these four come together. Number one, all wisdom belongs to God.
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  Speaker 1: Number two, God is sovereign over the affairs of men.
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  Speaker 1: Number three, Men cannot know the mind of God apart
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  Speaker 1: from special revelation. Number four, God's revelation to man is
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  Speaker 1: an act of mercy. There they are. That's the theological
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  Speaker 1: underpinning of our hope. All wisdom belongs to God. God
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  Speaker 1: is sovereign over the affairs of men. Men cannot know
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  Speaker 1: the mind of God apart from special revelation. And God's
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  Speaker 1: revelation to man is an act of mercy. That is
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  Speaker 1: why we may have hope. That is why Daniel has hope.
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  Speaker 1: That is why this book gives hope to all of
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  Speaker 1: the people of God. First, all wisdom belongs to God.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter 2 and verse 20, Daniel answered and said, Blessed
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  Speaker 1: be the name of God forever and ever, to whom
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  Speaker 1: belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons. He
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  Speaker 1: removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to
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  Speaker 1: the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. In
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  Speaker 1: the testimony, look at verse 28. And in verse 28,
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  Speaker 1: you see, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.
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  Speaker 1: The principle is the same. All wisdom belongs to God.
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  Speaker 1: Chapters 1 through 6 are basically a battle between human
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  Speaker 1: wisdom and man's wisdom. That's the whole picture here. When
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  Speaker 1: you look at chapter 1, what happens? It's set up
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  Speaker 1: for us by Daniel in the way that he presents
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  Speaker 1: chapter 1. In chapter 1, what we find is the
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  Speaker 1: type of young men who were brought in. Look with them.
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  Speaker 1: Look with me in verse 3 of chapter 1. Then
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  Speaker 1: the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some
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  Speaker 1: of the people of Israel, both of the royal family
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  Speaker 1: and of nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skill,
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  Speaker 1: skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge and understanding, learning
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  Speaker 1: and competent to stand in the king's palace. And teach
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  Speaker 1: them what? The literature of the Chaldeans. Find men... with
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  Speaker 1: the best wisdom that this Hebrew culture can give. Now,
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  Speaker 1: the best wisdom that this Hebrew culture can give is
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  Speaker 1: insignificant when compared to the wisdom of our Babylonian culture.
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  Speaker 1: But we want to educate some of these lowly Hebrews.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, if their wisdom was any match for
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  Speaker 1: our wisdom, we would not have conquered them. If their
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  Speaker 1: God was any match for our God, we would not
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  Speaker 1: have conquered them. Nevertheless, we're not going to wipe them out.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to bring some of them in and give
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  Speaker 1: them the benefit of our educational system so that they
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  Speaker 1: can be wise beyond anything that their culture could produce.
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  Speaker 1: So there in chapter 1, it is set up. The
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  Speaker 1: question is, where does wisdom lie? And in chapter 1,
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  Speaker 1: there is a battle of wills already. Who's the wisest
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to how we are to eat and
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  Speaker 1: maintain ourselves? Well, chalk up one for God. These boys
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  Speaker 1: end up being 10 times better. Why? Because they learned
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  Speaker 1: the skills of the Chaldeans 10 times better than the Chaldeans? No,
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  Speaker 1: because the wisdom of God far outshines the wisdom of man.
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  Speaker 1: Because apart from God, there is no wisdom. Proverbs chapter
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  Speaker 1: 2 and verse 6, for the Lord gives wisdom. From
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  Speaker 1: his mouth come knowledge and understanding. The fear of the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: in fact, is the beginning of wisdom. James says, if
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  Speaker 1: any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who
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  Speaker 1: gives generously to all without reproach and it will be
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  Speaker 1: given to him. God is the source of all true wisdom.
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  Speaker 1: Now let me hasten to say here, this does not
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  Speaker 1: mean that men who do not know God do not
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  Speaker 1: know anything. There are smart individuals who do not know God.
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  Speaker 1: You can ride down south and go to NASA and
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  Speaker 1: talk to, you know, literally rocket scientists, astrophysicists, engineers, and
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  Speaker 1: the like that will spout information to you that will
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  Speaker 1: immediately have you wondering why their heads are not larger
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  Speaker 1: than they actually are because the average-sized brain should not
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  Speaker 1: be able to contain such knowledge. And yet— If they
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  Speaker 1: say in their heart that there is no God, they
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  Speaker 1: are no more than educated fools. Completely lacking in the
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  Speaker 1: wisdom that matters. See, there is a such thing as
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  Speaker 1: common grace. And it is common grace that allows people
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  Speaker 1: to learn and to conduct themselves successfully. It is common
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  Speaker 1: grace that has allowed Nebuchadnezzar to be at the head
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  Speaker 1: of a nation that has God. culture and art and
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  Speaker 1: architecture and and food and wine and and and entertainment
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  Speaker 1: and the like his culture has all of these things
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  Speaker 1: and yet it is based on a humanistic foundation that
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  Speaker 1: sees man as the center of the universe and because
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  Speaker 1: of that it is a house of cards Our true
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  Speaker 1: wisdom begins with God. Because if you do not know God,
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  Speaker 1: you do not know the purpose of things. And if
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  Speaker 1: you do not know the purpose of a thing, you
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  Speaker 1: will ultimately abuse it. God created the world. If you
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  Speaker 1: don't know the purpose of the world, you'll abuse it.
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  Speaker 1: You'll either abuse it or you'll worship it. God gives
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  Speaker 1: us marriage. If we don't know the purpose of marriage,
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  Speaker 1: we'll abuse it. God gives us our families. If you
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  Speaker 1: don't know the purpose of a family, you'll abuse it.
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  Speaker 1: God gives us architecture and science and literature and art.
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  Speaker 1: And if we do not know the purpose of those things,
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  Speaker 1: we will abuse it. And the purpose of those things
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  Speaker 1: is to magnify the wisdom of God, to magnify the
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  Speaker 1: mercy of God, to magnify the redemptive acts of God.
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  Speaker 1: If you do not know that, you will abuse the thing.
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  Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, man becomes the center and
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  Speaker 1: focal point of all of your architecture, all of your art,
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  Speaker 1: all of your music. all of your science. Here, Daniel
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  Speaker 1: reminds us, God is the source of all wisdom. By
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  Speaker 1: the way, why does that give hope to you and
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  Speaker 1: to me? Because we know God. Amen? I may not
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  Speaker 1: have as much information as the rocket scientist, But here's
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  Speaker 1: what I know. He can get to Mars, but I
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  Speaker 1: can get to heaven. Amen? Secondly, God is sovereign over
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  Speaker 1: the affairs of man. Here, look at verse 21. He
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  Speaker 1: changes times and seasons. He removes kings. He sets up kings.
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  Speaker 1: He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those
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  Speaker 1: who have understanding. Now, again, back in verse 28, God
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  Speaker 1: has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in
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  Speaker 1: the latter days. How can God make known to King
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  Speaker 1: Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days? By the way,
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  Speaker 1: notice this is not what Daniel says. Daniel doesn't say,
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  Speaker 1: God gave you a dream so that you can make
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  Speaker 1: a choice. That's not what Daniel says. Daniel doesn't say,
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  Speaker 1: God gave you this dream so So that you would
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  Speaker 1: know that if you go down this road, here's what's
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  Speaker 1: going to happen to you. And if you go down
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  Speaker 1: that road, here's what's going to happen to you. That
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  Speaker 1: happens in Scripture. That's not what happens here. Daniel doesn't
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  Speaker 1: say God gave you a dream so that he would
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  Speaker 1: give you a choice. Daniel says God gave you a
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  Speaker 1: dream so that you'll know what's going to happen. And
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  Speaker 1: what we're going to find out next week is God
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  Speaker 1: gave you a dream about how you are going to
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  Speaker 1: be wiped out. But don't fret because the nation that
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  Speaker 1: wipes you out is going to be wiped out. And
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  Speaker 1: that's okay because the nation that wipes them out is
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  Speaker 1: going to be wiped out. And ultimately, there's only one
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  Speaker 1: kingdom that's never going to be wiped out. And it
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  Speaker 1: has to be the kingdom of this slave that's standing
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  Speaker 1: before you giving you the interpretation of the dream. I'm
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: so happy to tell you. Nebuchadnezzar rebels against the dream. Again,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: and it's important that we get a little bit ahead
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: of ourselves here because what we're going to see is
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: that the top part of that statue is gold. Later on,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: Nebuchadnezzar is going to build a statue of himself. All
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: of it's gold. He's basically going to say to God,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: You are not sovereign in the affairs of men. You
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: can't take me out. I'm not just the top part
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: of the statue. I am the statue. I am the
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: kingdom that will live forever. But Daniel does not say,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: God's issuing a challenge to you to see if you
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: can outlast him. Daniel says, God is showing you what
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: will come to pass. God is sovereign in the affairs
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: of men. Nebuchadnezzar cannot prevent the march of history and
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: the fall of his kingdom. And Daniel could not prevent captivity.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: Here's what's interesting. Daniel and his friends come and pray
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: to God, and we see that. Later on, we're going
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: to see Daniel in this habit of praying three times
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: a day. Have you ever wondered this? Daniel prays, and
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: God answers his prayers. And so, basically, if we take
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: that route, it's all about prayer. If you pray, God
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: will answer your prayers. Do you think Daniel prayed that
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: they would get out of exile? Yep. Yep. And God
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: answered that prayer. No. Not for two or three generations. No.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: I love you, Daniel. And I hear the cry of
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: your heart and I appreciate it. But you are going
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: to die a slave. You are never going to be
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: free again. And nobody you know is ever going to
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: be free again. Every one of you is going to die.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: And it's your children's children who are going to get
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: out of here. And no matter how fervent the prayers are,
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: God is sovereign in the affairs of men. So then
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: how come God answers this prayer and not the other prayer?
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: To give you hope. As a member of the covenant community,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: in the midst of your circumstances, whatever they are, to
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: give you hope. The hope is not that you're going
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: to get what you want when you want it. The
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: hope is that you belong to the God of the
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: universe and he is going to be glorified. And your
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: greatest desire is for him to be glorified. And because
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: he's sovereign in the affairs of men, your greatest desire
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: is going to come to pass whether you see it
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: or not. We see this in Scripture, do we not?
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Look in the Old Testament. 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: verse 6. O Lord God of our fathers, are you
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: of the nations. In your hand are power and might,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: so that none is able to withstand you. Job chapter
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: 23 verse 13. But he is unchangeable, and who can
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: turn him back? What he desires, that he does. Job
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: chapter 42 verse 2, I know that you can do
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Psalm 135, 6, whatever the Lord pleases, he does in
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: heaven and on earth, in the seas and in the deeps.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: Isaiah 43, 13, also henceforth I am he. There is
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: none who can deliver from my hand. I work and
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: who can turn it back? Isaiah 46, 8 through 10,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: remember this and stand firm. Recall it to mind. Your transgressors, remember,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, you transgressors, remember the former things of old.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: For I am God and there is no other. I
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: am God and there is none like me. Declaring the
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: end from the beginning and from ancient times things not
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: yet done. Saying my counsel shall stand. and I will
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: accomplish all my purposes. And here's from Daniel chapter 4,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: verses 34 and 35. from the mouth of Nebuchadnezzar. At
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: to heaven and reason returned to me and I blessed
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: forever and ever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. And he
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: does according to his will among the hosts of heaven
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: stay his hand or say to him, what have you done?
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: That's Nebuchadnezzar's testimony in just a couple of chapters. God
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: is sovereign in the affairs of men. God rules and
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: reigns in the affairs of men. Let me explain what
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: this means. Sovereignty is about authority. This means that there
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: is no authority higher than the authority of God. There
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: is no one who can stay his hand. There is
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: no one who can stop him or thwart him. None whatsoever.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: God is not in competition. God is not running for God.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: He is sovereign over all things. Oftentimes we talk about
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: his providence, which is the way that he exercises his
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: sovereignty in the affairs of men. But God has absolute
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: rule and reign and whatever he does is right. Whatever
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: he does is right because he's God. It gives us
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: great hope If we know this, but if you don't,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: if you are here today and you do not believe
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: in the sovereignty of God, you have no hope. If
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: you're the type of person, you know, who sits around
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: and twiddles his thumb and wonders whether or not God
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: is going to be able to accomplish things, you have
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: no hope. If a tree falls on your house and
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: you believe it was because God was slumbering and not
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: because the sovereign Lord of the universe in his eternal
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: sovereign plan decreed that that tree would fall on your house,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: then you've got problems. Because if God can't control the
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: direction a tree falls in your yard, what makes you
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: think he can get you to heaven? If God's twiddling
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: his thumbs, hoping against hope then what makes you think
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: that the future is going to unravel the way he
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: says it's going to unravel? No, no, no, no, no.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: The sovereignty of God is what gives you hope. Knowing
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: that God rules all things is what gives you hope. Now,
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: it's a terrible thing at times because there are things
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: that happen to us that are awful. There are things
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: that happen to us and to those around us and
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: people who we love that are absolutely unthinkable. Here's what
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: I know. God is good. He can't help but be good.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: And whatever has come to pass was for God's glory.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: And ultimately, because I'm his, it's for my good. I
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: believe that because I trust the sovereign God. Folks, this
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: is the only way that you have hope in the
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: midst of dire circumstances. It's the only way. And this
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: is not theoretical. This is Daniel in the midst of exile.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: Daniel has probably seen members of his family killed. Daniel's
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: been hauled off in chains. He's a slave. He sits
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: here in the midst of a pagan culture, serving a
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: pagan king, reading pagan literature, reading things that probably makes
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: his flesh crawl. He's despised. He is a little thing.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: He is of absolutely no importance in this culture. He
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: is not a big man. He is not an important man.
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: He is a slave. He is not free. He can't
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: go run. on the hills that he ran on when
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: he was a boy. He's not even free to sing
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: the songs of his youth, to worship God in the sanctuary.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: This is Daniel's lot in life, and yet God uses
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: this man and his circumstances to say, there is hope.
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: He's taken off with the eunuchs. You have no future
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: beyond yourself, Daniel. No wife, no family, no children. And
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: yours is the story of hope. And if you don't
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: get that, it's just because you haven't been in the
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: valley yet. But when you are in the valley, trust me,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: when you are in the valley, the last thing you
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: want is to be surrounded by people and circumstances that
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: have never looked anything like a valley. But you know
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: what gives you hope when you're in the valley? Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: God is good. God is in control. God is sovereign
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: over the affairs of men. I'm in the valley right now,
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: but yea, though I walk through the valley of the
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: shadow of death, you are with me. Your rod and
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: me in the presence of my enemies. Do you believe that?
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: On your worst day, are you able to say, you
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: Can you say that on your worst day? You can
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: only say that on your worst day when you know
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: and understand that God is sovereign over the affairs of men.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: Because here's Daniel. He is a slave, a eunuch, no future,
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: not going back to his homeland, and he's grinning from
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: ear to ear. Why? Because God says we don't get
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: to die today. God says we don't get to die
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: with them. And God says we don't get to get
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: torn limb from limb. Stuff's bad. But it could be worse. Amen?
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: And that's good news. We don't get to die today.
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: That takes me back to the garden. And here's Adam
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: and Eve and the serpent standing there. And here are
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: the curses that are being handed down. And Adam and
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Eve have been told that in the day you eat
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: of that fruit, dying you shall die. We're standing before
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: Almighty God. And he looks to the serpent and he
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: says to the serpent, You're going on your belly. You're
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: going to eat dust. I'm going to put enmity between
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: you and the woman, between your seed and her seed.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Eve's heart is leaping for joy. Why? Because God just said,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: I'm not dying today. I'm going to be a mother.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: Daniel's heart is leaping for joy He's in exile and
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: he's never going to get out. But he's not going
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: to get torn limb from limb today. And God has
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: just reminded everyone of who is sovereign. You need that, saints.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: You need that. Because there are people who have authority
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: over you. And there are people who will lord that
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: authority over you. There are people who will mistreat you
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: and who will abuse you. But here's what you need
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: to know. God is sovereign over them. And so we
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: submit ourselves to authority gladly. Thirdly, Man cannot know the
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: mind of God. apart from special revelation. Look here in
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: verse 22. He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: Isn't that, what a beautiful turn of phrase. God knows
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him.
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: The dark, the foreboding, the sinful, the awful. God knows
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: what's there. And the remedy for it dwells with him.
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: Then look at verse 27. No wise men, enchanters, magicians,
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: astrologers can show the king the mysteries that the king
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: has asked. The Chaldeans know this. Nebuchadnezzar was not a fool,
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: but he could not interpret his own dreams. God shows
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: him that you need special revelation. He was not a fool,
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: but he could not interpret his own dream. He had
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: a dream in his own head, in his own mind,
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: and he could not interpret it. He was absolutely helpless
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: and he loses control over it. Go and get my guys.
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: Go and get the guys who are trained to do
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: things like this. By the way, the Chaldeans, in spite
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: of their training, could not interpret the dream. Chapter 2,
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: verse 10 and 11. The Chaldeans asked the king and said,'
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: There is no man on earth who could meet the
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: The thing that the king asks is difficult.' That's an understatement.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: And no one can show it to the king except
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh. They get that.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: They can't do it. They are trained. They've been to
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: school for it and they can't do it. Nebuchadnezzar is
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: the most powerful man in the world at the moment
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: and he can't do it. The men who serve him
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: in this capacity, they can't do it. But watch this. Daniel,
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: in spite of the fact that according to chapter 1
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: and verse 17 says he has the ability to interpret dreams,
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: he couldn't do it. But wait a minute, he did it. Yeah,
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: but what did he do first? He goes to Hananiah, Mishael,
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: and Azariah, and he says, here's what's going on. Pray.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: Pray for what? Go back again. Verse 18. Seek mercy
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: from the God of heaven. concerning this mystery, so that
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: rest of the wise men of Babylon. Daniel doesn't say,
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: pray that I can exercise my gift. Daniel says, pray
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: that God will be merciful. He can't do it. It's
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: not possible apart from special revelation from God. You cannot
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: know the mind of God apart from special revelation. Oh yes,
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: the heavens declare the glory of God. Oh yes, because
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: of what God has revealed, we are without excuse, Romans
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: chapter 1. That is absolutely true, but it is completely
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: and utterly insufficient to save you. You can't get there
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: from here. You need God's Word. By the way, you
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: do need God's Word because Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: and 2 makes this very clear. God, after He spoke
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: many ways in these last days, has spoken to us.
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: It's a completed act. Has spoken to us through His Son.
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: The final, ultimate revelation of God is the person and
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: work of Jesus Christ. We don't trust in the vision
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: of the night. As our confession says, these former ways
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: now having ceased. By the way, if these former ways
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: had not ceased, we would have to have three ring
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: binders instead of leather bound Bibles. We have God's word
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: and it is utterly sufficient. Finally, The revelation of God
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: is a merciful act. God does not have to reveal
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: himself to us. God does not have to condescend to us.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: God could just do what he does. God could have
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: just done this in Daniel's life. He could have done
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: this with Israel. All that we have in the Old Testament,
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: God could have done without it ever having been recorded.
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: All that God did in the New Testament, in the
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: person and work of Christ, God could have done without
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: it ever having been recorded. Yet, that is not what
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: God did. Mercifully, God communicates to his people. He speaks
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: to his people. Through his word, he continues to do that.
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: In their circumstance, God was merciful to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: and Azariah. They didn't get to die today. Amen. It
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: was merciful. And they prayed and asked that God would
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: show mercy. And that's precisely what God did. But here's
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: the second thing. God was merciful to the Chaldeans. How
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: many of you know that the people around you are
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: blessed because you belong to God? How can you live here,
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: for example, in this land and not recognize the fact
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: that just the residue of people who serve God is
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: a good thing? Just the historical benefit of walking and
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: living in the shadows of people who loved and served
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: God is a blessing. And here the Chaldeans have brought
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: these lowly Jews who may despise God. They despise the
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: way they look, the way they smell, the way they talk,
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: the way they dress. They despise everything about these people
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: and think that they are superior to these people. These
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: people are absolutely nothing. In fact, when everybody gets called in,
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: do you notice Daniel doesn't get called in the first time?
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: Because these are the outsiders. They're the tainted ones. They're
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: the ones who just sort of come in to the
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: understanding of who we are and what we do. They're
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: sort of junior Chaldeans and they're worse than junior Chaldeans
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: because they're foreign Chaldeans. We've been bathed and immersed in
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: this stuff. So when the king needs something, he calls
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: on his boys, not those lowlifes. And if it wasn't
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: for those lowlifes, every one of us would have been
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: torn limb from limb. Thank God for the lowlifes. God
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: reveals himself to his people. And it is an act
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: of mercy, not just to them, but to those around. Children,
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: listen to me. All around me, I look at children
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: who don't yet know the Lord. And yet, you're being
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: raised in a home with a mother and a father
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: that knows God and they know God's word and they
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: continue to saturate your life with the word of God
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: and you are blessed even though you don't know it.
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: And you won't know it for a long time, children.
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: By God's grace, I pray that you come to repentance
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: and faith that you come to know the Lord Jesus
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: Christ and then you look back over your life and
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: there will come a moment where you as an adult
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: will be overwhelmed with the desire to pick up the
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: phone and thank your mother and your father for bathing
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: you in the word. And if you don't believe me,
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: just ask your mom and dad because some of them
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: just reached that moment right now. You're grateful. You're grateful.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: for the people of God that surrounded you when you
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: did not know God. You're grateful for the blessing that
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: you received when you did not know God simply because
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: of people who did, because of people whose lives were altered, transformed,
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: and changed by the Word of God and by the
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: person and work of Jesus Christ who is the Word
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: of God incarnate. And because of that, your life was touched,
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: your life was blessed, and eventually you came to repentance
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: and faith. By God using people to whom he revealed
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: himself in his word. God's revelation to man is an
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: act of mercy. Even a lost man who finds the
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: word of God. is blessed, first and foremost, because he
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: can find God there. But secondly, it's better than anything
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: else he's ever going to find. Amen. There is a
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: reason for your hope. And the reason for your hope
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: is not just because of what God has done. And
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: that's good. The reason for your hope is not because
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: of how much you impress God. Because you don't. The
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: reason for your hope is alien to you. The reason
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: for your hope is the same as the reason for
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: Daniel's hope that we see here in this section. The
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: reason for your hope is the fact that That all
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: wisdom comes from God. That God is sovereign over the
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: affairs of men. That you have absolutely no hope of
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: comprehending what is in the mind of God apart from
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: God's revelation. But praise be to God. He has revealed himself.
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  Speaker 1: And that is an act of mercy. And on next week,
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: what we'll see is that what he reveals brings even
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: more specificity to our hope. Because it points us to
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: the fact that the person and work of Jesus Christ
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: is not an afterthought. And that it's because of the
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: sovereignty of God that he was able to bring about
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: your redemption today. through the person and work of Christ
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: in the fullness of time. And he told us so
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: long before it ever happened because he's God all by himself.
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: And if God can superintend those circumstances to bring about
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: Christ's redemptive work, then you and I need to know
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: then God can superintend the rest of history and bring
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: about the consummation of all things in and through our Lord, Master, Savior, King,
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: and Friend, Jesus Christ. That's why we have hope.