This post is a transcript from a sermon I preached on March 12th, 2023 at Enclave Community Church. The transcript has been edited to be like a blog post and thus far more readable. Linked at the end of this page is the audio sermon.
I want you in your mind right now to think about the future.
Think about your future. The future of your world, your church, your community, your city, your state. Think about the future of the world in general and what kind of emotions or thoughts you have concerning these things. Some of us might have negative emotions. We might look at the world and say, “It's not looking well.” You might have despair, pessimism, and just negative thoughts, and that's okay. It's not necessarily bad to have negative thoughts. Some of us might look at the future of our lives and the worlds and have really positive thoughts of hopes, expectations, and optimism.
The book of Daniel deals with this question of the future. Specifically Daniel deals with the future of the world such as kings and kingdoms. However, the things Daniel writes may also be applied to our lives as believers; how we feel and act in the world.
Here’s the main point, both of the book of Daniel, and of what I am trying to communicate: God is sovereign and we find peace, comfort, and satisfaction in him despite our circumstances when we faithfully serve him.
God is sovereign and we find peace, comfort, and satisfaction in him despite our circumstances when we faithfully serve him.
This is a message that Daniel and his friends knew intimately. Daniel was written during the time of Jerusalem's exile under Babylon. They were faced with real, severe persecution and oppression. They had to rely on the sovereignty of God in their faithful service to him.
I want to expand the main point as we look at the book of Daniel by doing two things. First, we're going look at God's sovereignty in Daniel 7:9–14. Second, we are going to look at examples of God's faithful servants in Daniel 3, 6, and Matthew 26:39.
God Is Sovereign
Daniel 7:9–14 and passages that are similar to it fascinate me. The images are so vivid and powerful. With just a few sentences the author condenses millennia of redemptive history and eschatology into an awesome picture.
Imagine you're at Carmel Beach just hanging out. As you sit, a lion with wings walks out of the waters and stands up and somehow you know it's given the mind of man. What would you do? I wouldn't be staying there. Let's say you're crazy enough to stay there, and as you sit a bear comes out with three ribs in its mouth and you hear a voice saying “devour much flesh.” If you're crazy enough to stay, even then a leopard comes out with four wings and it has dominion. Finally, there's this terrifying, terrifying beast. Daniel doesn't even tell you what it is really. He says it's terrifying and exceedingly strong. What's crazier is what happens next.
I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire. (Daniel 7:9–10)
These beasts are, are crazy, insane, and terrifying which is why Daniel says what he says in verse fifteen. However, God comes and he sits down. He just sits down. His thrown is fire. It's burning wheels of fire. And then this happens in verse eleven.
Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was killed, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time. I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a son of man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. (Daniel 7:12–14)
These beasts come out of the water and God, all he does, is sits down and fire comes out from his throne and it kills the most terrifying of the beast. Not all of them. It kills the most terrifying one and strips the other ones of their dominion.
That is a crazy picture of God's sovereignty and his control not only over the lives of the beast, but what they do. He can allow some of them to live and they still have no power. What's even crazier is the following verses:. He gives dominion everlasting to his son in verses thirteen and fourteen. This divine figure who's like a son of man. Notice the parallels here. The four beasts in verses 1–8, they're beasts. They're not humans. They act like humans: the lion stands up and has a mind of man, the leopard has dominion, and the fourth beast has a talking horn.
That is a crazy picture of God's sovereignty and his control.
Daniel says in verse 13 “one like the son of man.” This divine figure who is human, comes up to the ancient of days, is presented before him, and is given dominion everlasting. In verses nine through through twelve, Yahweh kills the beasts and thousands serve him. In fact 10,000 times 10,000 stand before him. But in thirteen and fourteen, he gives his dominion to the son and all peoples, nations, and languages serve him. There's the beasts that act like men and the son of man who is a man and he receives true dominion.
There is a contrast we see back and forth throughout the book of Daniel: true humanity comes only from communing and being faithful to God. Pastor Andrew talked about this a couple weeks ago. The way to be truly human is to commune with God. In other words to be with God. When you reject God's sovereignty and you're not faithful to him, you turn into a beast.
This is a story we know. Nebuchadnezzar rejected God and His sovereignty and he literally turned into a wild animal. When God restored Nebuchadnezzar’s humanity, he accepted and acknowledged God as Yahweh. True humanity comes only from communion with God. Those who do not commune with God turn into wild animals, and those who do commune with God become all they can be in Christ and in Christ alone.
True humanity comes only from communing and being faithful to God.
God has conquered the powers of this world and he has set up His kingdom. God is sovereign. How can we apply this? We can know in our heads that God is sovereign, but think back to the future. There’s crazy things happening in the world right now. Much of our outlook might not be that optimistic. We know God is sovereign but does that always, truthfully, give you comfort?
Just the sentence, just the words; when I say God is sovereign, is your reply, “oh, all my cares are taken care of”? It’s an annoying answer when we’re talking to Christian friends and we’re explaining our troubles and trauma and all they say is “God is sovereign.” Yes, but what does that do for me right now? Sometimes it doesn't feel like God is sovereign. When we read passages such as Daniel 7:9–14 we often say “I wish that could be in my life.” Sometimes we don’t see the sovereignty.
What do we do when we know in our heads that God is sovereign but can’t feel it in our hearts? What do we do when we are not experiencing the power of God in our lives? We look to faithful examples of God’s servants.
God’s People are Faithful
The Faithfulness of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego
The first example is in Daniel 3. Three men, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. King Nebuchadnezzar he sets up a golden statue of himself and says, “When the trumpet sounds, you’re to bow down and worship the image of Nebuchadnezzar.” However, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego remain faithful to God. What is the result of their faithfulness to God? They’re thrown into a fire.
Their refusal to worship the king and their faithfulness to God led to them facing death. As they’re taken there, the people who are taking them to the fire are killed, but the three men are saved. There’s a theme of a purifying fire. As a result Nebuchadnezzar says that all should respect, fear, and tremble before the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, because only this God can do a mighty work such this. Nebuchadnezzar extols God.
Transformation happened from the faithfulness of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. A lot of us, hopefully, prayerfully, will not suffer that type of persecution in our lifetime. However, when I read stories like this all throughout the Bible and through Church History I ask myself, “If someone came to me and said, ‘if you don't bow down before this statue, I'm going to throw you into a fire,’ would I remain faithful?” God says in his word that when you do, big things happen. As a result of the faithfulness of God’s servants the king makes a new decree that Yahweh should be feared and trembled before. The faithfulness of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego actually did something.
The Faithfulness of Daniel
The second example is in Daniel chapter 6. There are people who are against Daniel. They get the king to make a new decree that says if you worship another god besides the king, you should be thrown in the lion’s den. Once that decree signed, the Bible says that Daniel knew it was signed and he went to a window and three times a day he prayed.
As soon as Daniel knew that a new decree was signed, he went and remained faithful to God. He prayed to God three times a day until his captors came and threw him into the lion’s den. Daniel, after surviving the lion’s den, tells the king that angels came and shut the mouths of the lions and God had preserved him. Daniel was faithful. What happened? The king made a new decree that all should worship Yahweh. He says this in in Daniel chapter 6, starting with verse 25:
Then Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages who were living in all the land: I issue a decree that in all the realm of my kingdom people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever. He rescues, saves, and performs signs and miracles in heaven and on earth, He who has also rescued Daniel from the power of the lions. (Daniel 6:25–27)
Daniel was faithful, and it transformed lives. I have to imagine the lives of the people in that kingdom were changed as a result of Daniel's faithfulness.
The Faithfulness of Jesus
The final greatest example is the faithful servant, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ultimate example of a faithful servant to God. In every circumstance, and for Jesus, even to the point of death on a cross, he remained faithful to God. In Matthew 26:39 Jesus is sweating blood in the garden saying, “Let it pass, but your will be done, not mine.” Jesus is reaching the point of death and it’s so imminent that he’s sweating blood, but he’s remaining faithful to God. I don't think I need to explain to you that Jesus’ faithfulness to God changed the world. He changed hearts and minds, and the world. As a result, in Daniel 7:13–14 Jesus is given dominion. He ascends to the father, sits at the right hand, and receives a kingdom that all peoples and nations would come and serve him.
Massive Change Comes Through Simple Faith
Here’s the point of this second point: massive change comes by faithfulness and not human interactions and programs.
There was some crazy things happening in Rome during Jesus’ time. If you were a Roman soldier and you weren’t regularly having relations with young boys, you were looked at as effeminate. That's pretty bad. I don't think we would even stand for that today. Not to mention there was other things that were widely accepted such as leaving your babies out in the street as a form of abortion/infanticide.
You know what Jesus didn’t do? He didn’t gather his disciples and say, “I’ve got some issues I wanna settle at the Roman forum. We’re gonna go to the Senate, we’re gonna talk to the senators. I'm gonna write my local official and change some laws.” Jesus, the Son of God who had all power, didn’t seek legal change to clean up Rome. He was faithful to God and that faithfulness in God led to massive change in the Roman Empire over the course of history.
Daniel didn’t hear a decree and say, “I'm not down with tyranny. We’re going straight to the king. We’re taking this straight to the top.” No. He remained faithful to God and he prayed. He didn’t get protests gathered up. He wasn’t talking to his friends about policies and change. He was faithful to God.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were faithful to God. They didn’t seek to change laws. They said “We must remain faithful to God.” Change happened.
God is sovereign. If you want to really believe that, faithfully serve him. I don't think we understand the power of simple faith because it’s hard for us to rely on it. We have such a voice today such as a freedom to speak and we rely on that tool for change because it’s easier and tangible. What would happen if everyone in just you world was sold-out-faithful to God?
Massive change comes by faithfulness and not human interactions and programs.
Forget the political change. Forget what’s happening in the rest of the world. Big things will happen if you’re faithful. This is not an if, and, or but. When you are faithful to God, when you serve him in faithfulness, when you commune with him, lives are transformed. Your life is transformed. The lives around you are transformed. Your network; everything is transformed. This is a reality that we need to experience.
God is transforming lives. He’s drawing people to himself through you, making you more pure and whole and changing society. During the good times and the bad, in and out of season, God’s people ought to be, and are, faithful to him. When we are faithful, he transforms the world. It's real. It happens. Look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Look at Daniel. Look at Jesus. You cannot tell me lives weren’t changed from them praying and refusing to bow to idols.
What would happen if you refused to bow to even just your own personal idols? Would transformation take place? Would wholeness be had? Would true humanity be reached? Would you find God delightful? Would you take satisfaction, comfort, and joy in him? I bet you would.
But sometimes we’re scared and maybe even feel guilty because we look at these examples and say, “I'm not like these faithful servants,” but we're in good company.
When You Are Anxious and Scared…
Daniel has these amazing, awesome visions that are terrifying and great, and he says, "as for me Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.” I'm assuming that God is sovereign, but do things alarm you? Do they give you anxiety. I'm anxious and I'm scared and Daniel tells me kind even if I see visions of God with great power killing these things, I can still be anxious and scared.
Jesus, the son of God (he knew his mission) was anxious and scared of the cross. And so when we are feeling like, “I'm not like these servants. I'm not. I'm scared. I don't know how to interact with God's sovereignty.” What do we do? We dwell upon his sovereignty and we continue to faithfully serve him. I'm sure Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were scared. Imagine you're being taken to a fire and as you're being taken there, the people that are taking you there are dying. I would be scared – but remain faithful!
God, I'm scared. I have beasts in my life. I am terrified of them. I am terrified of the seeming power that they have, but I’ve got to remain faithful. I’ve got to trust. I’ve got to commune with God, receive the father's love, the grace of the Son and the power of the Spirit. Though I'm scared and anxious and nervous, my faithfulness to God will see me through because God is sovereign.
Here's the big point: when God takes up his throne in your heart and in your life, he kills the most terrifying beast, and he strips the lesser beasts of their power.
The beasts in Daniel, make no mistake, are kings and kingdoms. But they can be applied to our personal struggles. And when God takes his throne in your heart, those wheels of fire starts spinning, which is painful because it's purifying; it's refining what is holy in you and purging what is unholy. What's the most terrifying beast in your life? Sin and death. He puts it to death and burns it forever. The other things, the remaining roots of sin and death that are trying to rear their heads, he strips them of their power. This is what happens. God is there, and your capacity to experience that fire of God will expand as you commune with the father, the son, and the spirit. He has slain the most terrifying beasts in your life, stripped them of their dominion and is purifying you, making you whole, turning you from a beast into all he has created you to be.
Secondly, we faithfully serve and commune with God and watch him transform our lives and the lives of those around us. God is God. God takes care of of all the things in our lives, and I want you to think right now of the most terrifying things you have. Do you have it in your head? God has taken care of those things. It can be a myriad of things. God has dominion over it. He has has conquered it in all we do. You don't have to do anything to be saved. You just receive God's power and love through communion with him.
Here's the big point: when God takes up his throne in your heart and in your life, he kills the most terrifying beast, and he strips the lesser beasts of their power.
God’s love is showering you; there's never a time where God doesn't love you as fully as God can, and he's God. We, as we remain faithful to him and commune with him, expand our capacity to receive that, be transformed by it, and then pour it back out on others and our lives.
Conclusion
I think what I'm really trying to preach here is that through God's sovereignty, faithfulness to him, change can happen. I think it's time for change. It's time for change in my life and I have to rely on God's sovereignty. I get so low and the only thing I have to hold onto is that God has control.
God, these beasts are terrifying. If I could run away from them physically, I would, in fear, and what do I have to hold onto? You're sovereign. Stay faithful. So my prayer for us is that as we dwell on the sovereignty of God in passages like Daniel, in the gospels, in the Bible. I pray as we read and pray and commune with God, that we would expand our capacity for faithfulness to him and transform the world.
If you believe you have this already: expand your capacity to receive it. And please do something. If you don't believe, then this sovereignty, this comfort, this peace, this human wholeness is waiting for you. Repent of your sin and believe.