Daniel

Daniel chapter 7 starting to read at verse 1, page 893 in the Bibles. In the first year of Belshazzar, King of Babylon, Daniel had a dream. And visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream, Daniel said, in my vision at night, I looked and there before me were the 4 winds of heaven Turning up the great sea. 4 great beasts.

Each different from the others came up out of the sea. The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on 2 feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it. And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on 1 of its sides.

And it had 3 ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told get up and eat your fill of flesh. After that, I looked and there before me was another beast, 1 that looked like a leopard, And on its back, it had 4 wings, like those of a bird. This beast had 4 heads. And it was given authority to rule.

After that, in my vision at night, I looked and there before me was a fourth beast terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts. And it had 10 horns. While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little 1.

Which came up among them, and 3 of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes, like the eye of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the ancient of days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow. The hair of his head was white like wool.

His throne was flaming with fire and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him, 10000 times 10000 stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking.

I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. The other beasts have been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time. In my vision at night, I looked, and there before me was 1 like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power.

All nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away. And his kingdom is 1 that will never be destroyed. And good evening for me. My name's as Daryl said, I'm Dean dryden.

I work at the church here. So let me add my welcome to you. It's good to be together tonight. Can I just also give a special welcome to some friends that are visiting as well? Some of you may remember, Patrick Friesen, who came over with a team of Canadians a couple of years ago.

They were called free servant, and they did a load of music in Kingston. So Patrick is here tonight with his wife, Trudy. So it's good to have you here, brother. So stick around. If you do remember them, go give him a a cornerstone welcome afterwards.

That would be great. So, the other thing to say is, god's got sense of humor. Tom set me right up this morning when he said, the job of Preacher is to, you know, bring bring the, bring the message from the text as plain and then god in his providence made me choose Daniel 7. Right? So Thank you.

Thank you very much, Lord. But it's it's a privilege to be here and to bring god's word tonight. But Let's let let's pray before we start and ask for god's help. Heavenly father, we do thank you for your word. Thank you that it is your your holy life giving word.

Lord, please, would you help us tonight, as, as we read, as we think about what it says, help us lord to discover treasure here, help us to see our savior, the lord Jesus, help us to be taken up with who you are. By your spirit, lord, would you would you teach us encourage us, rebuke us and change us. And, we ask all this for your glory in Jesus' name. I'm in. So if you if you ask the average non believing person on the street, what they they think god is like I I wonder, I think you probably still would get answers like, the man upstairs, or the big guy in the sky.

Which is why you might have heard preachers when they're talking about what god's like, when they give descriptions of god. They start, I tell you what he's not like. So they start they might say something like this. God is not like, you know, the man in the sky with a big white hair and a fluffy beard and the white dress. That they might say that kind of stuff.

Well, the the trouble is, as you read Daniel 7 and especially around verse 9, That seems to be exactly, part of the description you do get, except for the the the fluffy beard, of course, but You read the name ancient of days, which means advanced in years, and then you read about his appearance, which is which says his clothing was as white as snow in the hair on his his head was white light wall. Now add to that, the way TV and Hollywood portray god think of the Simpsons and literally you do have a man in the sky, don't you? Or, you know, if you've seen Evan or mighty, you might think about Morgan Freeman. So it's not it's it's it is really no wonder people have a picture of god that is a a bit like father Christmas, old, a bit eccentric at times where, you know, well meaning, but largely irrelevant. You know, you might you might try him in an emergency, but, a genie in a lamp would probably be more useful.

Now, obviously, this is a totally wrong view of of of what god is like, but don't we sometimes live like that. We we live like we believe that. We know God is our all powerful creator, but how easy is it for him to become an irrelevant in our lives. Well, whether you're in the first group that really do believe that god is nothing more than a big grandpa, or you're in the second group of people that, and you you know you should know better. I wanna show you tonight a glimpse of the real god the 1 who designed you to worship him.

And so I'm gonna hold out to you, this god So we can we can recalibrate and repent and be re renewed in our minds and in our hearts once again. So So let's get, Grandpa god out of our heads. He will he will not do. You need the god of the Bible. You need the god that Daniel 7 shows us.

We all need this god. The god that is worthy of our adoration. So let's have a look at Daniel 7. So first, let me let me show you. My first point really is, is is god is, he is worthy of our adoration.

Look at, look at, verse 9 with me. We're gonna gonna focus on this, this, this section of of Daniel's, vision, the the theophany So we're we're gonna be looking at specifically, mostly at versus 9 and 10. It's 9 9 and 10 says As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the ancient days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the the hair on its head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire and its wheels were ablaze.

A river of life a a river of fire was flowing coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him, 10000 times, 10000 stood before him. The court was seated and the books were opened. So when you when you when you see verses 9 and 10, we're given this theophagus, this visible manifestation of, of god, given to human given to Daniel in this case. Our gracious heavenly father reveals his character here.

He he gives Daniel a vision of, as I said, a visible manifestation of what he's like. And so when you read the details, of how he's dressed or what his appearance was like. The words act like pictures. So an example is I might I might call Toby a Diamond Geezer, you know. He's such an easy diamond, I need to toby.

Is always helpful. I'm I'm not saying, you know, he's, a valuable jewel. Am I? I'm not saying you're hard and you know, pretty in when the when you shine a light on it. I'm saying you're, you know, you're you're valuable, you know, you're you're your your your trustworthy and solid.

So that's that's what that's what we're we're we're thinking about here. So so look at verse 9 with me. As I looked, thrones were set in place. So first of all, he's the king. He's the ruler.

Thrones are set in place, and the ancient of days took his seat. The ancient of the days is the only 1 who takes the seat at this point, and what an awesome sight it is. Tom was talking this morning, wasn't he about about people standing to read the law of the the law of the lord in Myanmar and how that showed a reverence for for his authority. Well, everyone's standing here, and the only 1 sitting is god. This is This is how you treat a king when he comes into the room.

You don't sit till he sits. This is actually how people used to preach in in in in a in back in church history. I remember reading about Augusta, and he would come in to to his church and he would sit down and everybody would stand and they would preach his sermon. I I thought about trying that tonight, but yeah. Maybe not.

But this king, he's he's he's worthy to be seated. He's the ancient of days. What's why is he called that? Well, Psalm 90 verse 2 helps us to to understand this. Psalm 90 verse 2 says before the mountains were born, or you brought forth the whole world from everlasting to everlasting, you are god.

He's not only the king. He's the eternal 1. He always has existed and always will exist. So there's your answer to that annoying little. I mean, the angelic faced 6 year old who says, alright, where'd god come from then?

You know, he's always been, hasn't he? He's never he's never not been. But look closer. Thus 9 again, his clothing was as white as snow. The hair of his head was white like wool.

His throne was flaming with fire. All this white as snow and white as wall and fire is telling us something. God is not just a king. He's not only eternal, He is pure. This is what this is saying.

There's not a spot or a blemish found on him. In him, there is no sin. There is no shadow of turning with him. He is altogether perfect. It's hard for us to imagine perfection, isn't it?

It's hard for us to imagine a perfection that at 1 and the same time can totally grab your attention, but that would blind you if you looked at it. That's the kind of perfection we're talking about here. It's it's so attractive and yet it's it's deadly. So here's a couple of you know, the, you know, these are a couple of examples of things that in the world that you might find attractive and blinding, a hot summer day, and a gorgeous red Ferrari purr's past you in traffic, and most of us drool. It's beauty, isn't it?

It's lovely, but it it doesn't blind you. It's nice to look at. Or think of this. I don't know if you've ever been to a hot country, you know, the the hot country I've mostly been to is, is Florida. Well, it's not a country.

It's a state in the United States, but you know what I mean. With my wife on holiday. And, you know, I know some of you have just been there, so you might you might understand this. You go into a shopping mall in Florida, and, you know, your eyes adjust to all the lights and all the, you know, the lovely air condition and stuff like that. You come out of you come out of of the shopping mall, or you step out of your car, and you look at you look at the floor of the car park, and you you your eyes are repelled from it.

But you can't look at it too long. It's so bright, and that's just a reflection of the sun. It's blinding. But it's not, it's not beautiful. You don't stare at it.

Do you even go, oh, look at that? It's a car park. It's brilliant. You know, you can't get these things that go together. No.

But god's perfection, is is attractive. It's beautiful. Spotless. And and if if we if we were able to see him, we wouldn't be able to keep our eyes off him, but we wouldn't be able to, you know, last very long. So this is our this is who god is.

This is the god that Daniel sees a vision of. What do you think so far? He's worthy, isn't he? He's worthy of our adoration. He's the king who is eternal and is blindingly pure.

And so he's worthy for us to adore for who he is. But, wait, we're not finished. The verse the verses go on. Verse 10, says a river of fire was flowing coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him 10000 times 10 thousands stood before him.

The court was seated, and the books were opened. See, see how many people are waiting on him in verse 10. Thousands upon thousands attended him. All eyes are upon him because look at, you know, just look at him. It's not just a throne that you're looking at, is it?

It's not just a throne room with a king. It's a court. He's a judge. And this king is a judge, and he's seated. And 10000 times 10000 stood before him.

The courts were seated, and the books were opened. Now, it would not be wrong for you to feel uncomfortable right now, knowing what you know about god. And knowing what you know about yourself, knowing you know who I am. You know, I I know who I am. I know what I know what I've been thinking, what I've been doing.

But you only need to feel that way if you're on the wrong side of this god. You see, the judgment that is taking place here is the judgment of god's enemies. For those who are his people, for those who see him as worthy of our adoration, He is, secondly, he is with us in our affliction. You see, this theophany, this vision of god comes within a larger vision of of a war of utter chaos. It's a it's a war of chaos and destruction that has Daniel losing sleep.

And, I mean, you know, Daniel was probably quite you know, a a a well tanned man. He was a Mediterranean looking. But at the end of the chapter, you you see him saying my face went deadly pale. Like that car park we've been talking about. That's that's that's that's what this god's like.

But this is this is no Game of Thrones. This is the real deal. This is D Day. Just look at verses 2 and 3 with me. Daniel said in my vision at night, I looked and there before me were 4 winds of heaven, turning up the great sea.

4 great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. Now we're not gonna go into what these 4 beasts were. But I just wanna focus on the fourth beats beast, which is wickedly frightening. It's the 1 that really, does it for for for for for Daniel, scares his scares the life out of him. Verse 7, look, After that in my vision at night, I looked and there before me was a fourth beast, terrifying and frightening, and very powerful.

It had large iron teeth, and it crushed. It devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the all the former beasts, and it had 10 horns. Now look at this little horn. Cause Daniel doesn't, you know, he he he goes on.

While I was thinking about the horns, verse 8, there before me was another horn, a little 1, which came up among them. And 3 of the first horns were uprooted before it. This 4 this this horn had eyes like the eyes of human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. As I say, we're not gonna get bogged down into the detail, but my question is, who does this little horn represent? Who does this little horn represent?

Who do you think? As I was thinking about this, I just wanted to to add in. I love the fact that, you know, the Holy Spirit who's the author of the Bible you know, he's he's right in this story, and he, you know, he he gives his end he makes 1 of his enemies a little horn. Don't mess. But it's normally the little ones that you know, you have to be most careful of, right, let the reader understand.

The the little ones are usually the loudest, And in all seriousness, we really should not underestimate this 1. So whoever you think this arrogant little horn is behind him is satan himself for he speaks the enemy's tongue. And what is he speaking about? Well, he's boasting, isn't it? Did you see it?

Did you see it? Just read, verse the last section of verse 8. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. There he is. It's little horn.

Powerful. He's already taken out 3 of the other horns And he's just won't shut up. He's showing off. He's boasting. What is he boasting about?

Well, look look at verse 21. We're told we're given clues as to Some of the things he might be boasting about. Verse 21 of, Daniel 7, it says, as I watched, This horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them. So 1 of the things that this little horn is boasting about is persecution. He's crushing the people of god.

He's defeating them. Persecution. It's everywhere these days, isn't it? Here in the in the UK, it's, you know, it's hotting up and, you know, our freedom to speak out and tell the truth is is is is coming under more and more threat. You know, preachers street preachers are, you know, being arrested and, you know, our freedoms are going, but You you know, we've we've we haven't we can't speak here, really.

When you think about North Korea and Afghanistan, Somalia, 3 of the the the the they're they're the top of the league on the the, open doors, persecution lists. It said that an estimate is an estimated well, they don't know the figures, really. 2 200000 to 400000 Christians in North Korea. That's a big that's a That's a that's a big, kind of, like, gray area, isn't it? They're just not sure.

They they can't get an exact figure as Christians in North Korea must keep their faith completely secret. I wouldn't be surprised if we find out it's actually, you know, 800000. That's that's the kind of That's what god likes to do. But they're they're persecuted for their faith. They're put in jail.

So imagine 200 between 204 hundred thousand Christians in North Korea, a staggering between 240000 are in prison for their faith. Imagine that. It's insane, it's an insane figure. This is this is the work of Satan, isn't it? This is maybe something that that this little horn is boasting about seems to be winning Waging war against the whole holy people and defeating them.

This is 1 way the the the the the devil boasts. But I can imagine he boasts whenever whenever a believer, of any stripes starts to doubt the goodness of god. To start to doubt the the presence of god. You know, we're we're saying I'm trying to say this, this god he is he's worthy worthy of our adoration and he's with us in our affliction, but it doesn't look like it, does it? Doesn't feel like it sometimes.

What's your reflection? Where where are where are you struggling? Where where does where where does where does the the devil press in on you? And, tempt you to to deny Christ and to give up. Listen to what Roman Romans's Paul says in Romans 8, verse 35.

He says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? This the little horn would love to boast about that, wouldn't he? He would love to just go on about, oh, yes, I won. I won. I stopped him or her from going to church from love in Jesus.

Shall trouble? Shall hardship separate us or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword as it is written For your sake, we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. This is the thing. You know, think about that this this boasting little horn, the enemy of god.

At the very point, the very highest point of his boasting of the enemy of our souls, the vision of god breaks in, doesn't it? Does it surprise you when we read it? You know, Daniel's going on about beasts and terrifying and frightening And then it just keeps building and building and building. And then, you know, you hear about these words that are being spoken and then verse 9 breaks in. And I looked as I looked, Thrones were set in place.

The ancient of days took his seat. The vision of god breaks in, and he shows us that he is with his people in their affliction. That's amazing, isn't it? Just just, notice again in the in these verses, the the throne. Look at the throne.

First 9. His throne was flaming with fire. And its wheels were all ablaze. Did you notice that before? God's thrown.

His chair has wheels. Have you ever heard anything so strange in your life? God is in a wheelchair here. The throne that he takes has wheels that are ablaze with fire. This god is the god who is over all creation.

He he created it. He's over fire in the wind, water. And you can command them to do whatever he tells them to do. So the question is what kinds of chairs have wheels apart from those that help people who can't walk? The only place you would, see a king, you know, that would be stationary yet moving would be as he's riding his chariot out to war.

So this this picture is of god in his chariot throne. And it shows that god has the ability to be present where his people are, wherever they are, and whatever they're going through. The people of god are being crushed and destroyed, and and this little hole is boasting about it. But god is there. God is with his people.

A film I, haven't seen for, for years, actually. It's 1 it's 1 it's a brilliant film, though, is, remember the titans, if you like American football, Denzel Washington. I mean, I love everybody loves Denzel. I don't know a person who doesn't. But he, he He's a coach of TC Williams high school football team, and he has, he has aligned from it.

This is what he wants them to be. He wants them to be mobile agile hostile. Mobile agile hostile. This is a perfect picture. Of what god is like here, isn't he?

This is the this is the god that we read about. This is the god we worship and adore. Tonight, I wanted to show you who god is. The god, again, the god that you were made to love. I want to show you this god is worthy of our our highest love, our adoration.

But the the the biggest thing I think that is gonna help us to love him is to know his love for us. I'll read that again. The the biggest thing that will help us to love him is to know his love for us. Then we're gonna be able to stand victorious over satan. Then we'll be able to say with the apostle Paul.

No. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of god that is in Christ Jesus, our lord. Wanna be wanna be amazing, to 1 day fully say that in the, in the new kingdom. In the eternal kingdom.

I made it. We made it. Friends don't it's not gonna be long. Okay? I know that, you know, many, many of you, you know, we we sit here.

We look around We think, they've got it all together, you know. They don't look. They don't look like they've got stuff going on. And some of you have in a real struggles and real pains and worries that, you know, would you know, send all our hair white, but it's not gonna be long. So press on.

So how are we gonna know how god loves us? What what do we do? Where do we go to find out how god has loved us? Well, you may know the answer, you know, If you've been to any kind of sunday school, you hopefully will. But there's 1 supreme place where we look at and see the the the the love of god demonstrated.

And later on, we're gonna be taking the lord's supper that that again pictures it. His body was broken on the tree, and his blood was shed. This is where the love of god is shown to us, isn't it? In its fullest, in its fullest way. There's no other way.

There's no other way. There's no bigger expression of how god loves us than by him sending his son to die on the cross. And it's at the cross where the enemies of god, they thought they had achieved their most staggering victory. And I I I can't help but think of this boastful little horn. I can't help but think that his best boast was when Jesus stretched out his arms and took his last breath.

Think, you know, that was probably the most the the biggest boast you, you know, you failed. I think, you know, if if we if we look at if we if we look at Daniel 7 and we look at the new testament, I think that's that's where it takes us. And there's this this brings me to my last point. So he we've we've thought about how he's worthy of our iteration. Because of who he is, he's the king, the eternal 1, the the pure 1, the beautiful.

He's worthy of our duration. He's with us in our affliction. He he doesn't he doesn't slumber or sleep. He will he comes to our aid. And he fights on our behalf.

And finally, he rescued us from our accuser. He rescued us from our accuser. Revelation 12 10, if you if you, if you look that up, you don't have to turn it out, but But look it up later. There's a interesting little, thing we learned there that Satan is called the accuser of the brothers and sisters. And he constantly reminds god day and night of our failures, of our sin, of why we deserve hell.

And we're like captives to it, the captives, captives to guilt. You know, in 1 sense, it's true. You know, he's not accusing us of things we haven't done. He's the accuser of the brothers and sisters We're like captives to him because he he constantly reminds god. But look what happens Just look at verse 11 of chapter 7.

Verse 11 says, then I continue to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. That's it. I was, you know, surprised. I don't know if you are.

I was expecting a big fight You know, when when when people square up with each other, lots of words are exchanged. If you're anything like you know, if you went to a school like I did, you know, you would you would go around in circles for 5 minutes pushing each other, you know, But eventually, you fight, don't you? Where's the big fight? There's no big fight here, is there? There's no big battle.

He's speaking boastful words, and then bam, his slain. The beast is slain, and its body is destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. What happened is the question? Well, what happened is god happened. The court the courtroom was set.

The books were opened. The Accuser was there speaking his boastful words and waging war. And then again, verse look at verse 21 and 22. First 21 and 22. As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them until the ancient of days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the most high.

And then the time came when they possessed the kingdom. It's a definitive. It it the war's over, isn't it? The before it's even begun. What happened?

Well, what happened? The cross happened. Go go to colossians chapter 2. And you I want you to go there. So flip your bibles open in.

This is the only flip you need to do. Okay? Why was there no battle? How will we rescued with from our accuser without any fight? Colossians chapter 2 versus 13 to 15.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh and with that you know, you're thinking, yeah, he's accusing me. He's he's got a point. I'm dead in sin. I'm I'm dirty. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, god made you alive with Christ.

He forgave all of our sins. Having canceled the the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us. We we were condemned But he forgave us. He canceled this charge. This this this you know, guilty verdict.

And he and he forgave us all of our debts. He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having and this is where I think, you know, the stuff about the horn and, you know, him being slain or the beast. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross. He triumphed.

He didn't need to fight. Cross happened. Jesus died, and the the victory was won. And his enemies probably they didn't they didn't see it coming. They didn't know what god's plan was.

They're not they're nothing you know, don't think that god's enemies in this in the spiritual realms are his equals. They are not. And this is how god has forgiven us. This is how god has loved us. This is how god has rescued us from our accuser.

This is why we can say, you know, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. The cross happened. Also, the resurrection happened. I I love the, I know this is this might be, complicated and a little bit all over the place for those who are young Christians, but it's it's great to to dig into the Bible, when you when you get a chance and and look at these things. Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians is a book about, you know, it's it's written to a church, isn't it? Yeah? We'll see. What what could that have to do with visions of beasts and little horns. If he's in chapter 4, and verse 7 and 8 says, but to each 1 of us, Grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

This is why it says when he ascended on high, He took many captives and gave gifts to his people. And that's sending on high that Paul talks about in, in Ephesians chapter 4, is the son of man coming in the clouds to the ancient of days. Look at verse 13 of chapter 7 of Daniel. In my vision at night, I looked and there before me was 1 like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days, and was led into his presence.

He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. All nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is 1 that will never be destroyed. How about that? What happened?

The cross happened. The resurrection happened The rescuer happened. Jesus came into this world. The love of god happened This ancient of days, the eternal father sent his 1 and only son who he had lived with for eternity in the power of the Holy Spirit and he rescued us from our accuser. He is with us in our affliction.

And he's worthy of our adoration. Spray. Heavenly father. We, we thank you again for, this time where we've we've just scratched the surface of Daniel 7, and we've thought about what some of the things mean here. And we've seen that you are You are glorious and beautiful and spotless.

You are eternal. You never change. You're the king, and you sent your son You loved us in Christ. You sent him to to rescue us. And we no longer need to listen to our accuser.

For we have 1 who will speak in our defense. Father, we thank you so much for the for. We thank you so much for Jesus. We thank you so much that you you show us that in in so many different ways, what you've done for us, you've given your people visions in the past and written them down so that we can scratch our heads and and flick our bibles and and, think Lord, please, would you would you help what we've what we've been thinking about and reading tonight, lord, please help it not just to be, mental gymnastics. But please lord, would you be with us in our afflictions?

Would you cause us to love you to adore you for your your supremely worthy of of all of our praise? And so, lord, we we once as we come to this table, we pray as Daryl leads us, lord, that you would once again help us to to think on Christ and to enjoy him and to enjoy all the the blessings that he has given us now that he has rescued us. And we ask all this in Jesus' name, amen.