[0:00] Seeking the Lord's Prayer, let's turn to Daniel, chapter 12, and we'll read at verse 13.
[0:13] But go thou thy way till the end be, or thou shalt rest and stand in thy way at the end of the days.
[0:24] The name Daniel means God is the church, and the entire book named after Daniel is the work of one writer.
[0:38] And it is a book that asserts and confirms the sovereign control of the true God over all the kingdoms of the earth.
[0:52] Daniel is a Jewish exile, and was taken in the first foundation of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, and the kingdom of the desert in 6th or 5th.
[1:07] He was young, probably in the age group of 16 to 20 years, and was taken to Babylon. And he remained there for the rest of his life.
[1:19] He is presented to us as an outstanding, godly man. His life was paralyzed by faith, by prayer, by courage, by consistency, by the lack of compromise.
[1:36] He was a man greatly beloved of the Lord. And during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Daniel is elevated to a position of high rank as governor of the whole province of Babylon, and appointed the chief administrator over the healthy and wise men.
[1:56] However, with the death of King Nebuchadnezzar Daniel occupies a less important position, and not much has heard of him for around 20 years, until the period that we have in chapter 5, where Daniel again rises to prominence during the reign of Belshazzar.
[2:15] Daniel received from God a serious of visions, by which he made known to the people of this day, but would befall Israel, even into the distant future.
[2:30] And it was at the end of these visions that he received these words, But go thou thy way till the end be, for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
[2:45] And within the immediate context, the messenger is saying to Daniel, There will be no more visions. The time of visions have come to an end, And do not be curious about what these visions might mean, But go thou thy way.
[3:04] He is not to stand still, but to move forward, And to set God and his generation. Twice we find in this chapter, where Daniel is told to go thy way.
[3:17] In verse 9, Go thy way, Daniel, for the words have crossed up and sealed, Till the time of the end of the day of Belshazzar. Without text receiving, and verse 10, 13.
[3:31] For Daniel and us, And the way is the way of Send God by faith. In other words, to send God By following Jesus Christ.
[3:45] Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. For Daniel was Jesus to come. For us, it is that Jesus that has come, That has died.
[3:58] The Jesus that was buried. The Jesus that rose again. The Jesus that ascended to the right hand of the Father. The Jesus that is coming back.
[4:09] In the New Testament, there are at least two examples given to us, Of this kind of exaltation that is given to Daniel. This appeal that is given to Daniel.
[4:21] But go thou thy way till the end be. For thou shalt rest, and stand in thy wrong, At the end of the days. And the first one is the words of Jesus to Simon Peter, After his resurrection.
[4:36] As Peter, along with other disciples, After having breakfast, And as they are walking along the shore of Canadi, Peter noticed John walking behind them.
[4:47] And we have these words recorded for us in John chapter 21. Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
[4:58] Jesus said unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, What is that to thee? Follow thou me. The experience of these two men in life was so different.
[5:12] And as we know, they were different also in their days. Jesus here highlights the different days By which Peter and John was to glorify God.
[5:23] To Peter he says, When thou wast young, thou purtest thyself, And walkest one of thou dost. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, And another shall cure thee, and carry thee, Whether thou dost not.
[5:35] Thus be ye signified by what death he should glorify God. The expression that thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, And another shall cure thee, and carry thee, Whether thou dost not.
[5:47] Was used specifically to speak of those Who were laid on a cross for execution. This indicates that Peter would be put on a cross And taken to the place of his execution.
[6:01] John, on the other hand, Is reputed to have been the only apostle, Who did not suffer a martyr's death, Though he was very much persecuted. John's death was different from Peter.
[6:15] Possibly John died in bed, Instead of suffering on a cross. Christians will face different experiences, Even perhaps different deaths, By which they may glorify God.
[6:27] But however very dull experience may be, We all share a common calling, And that is, Follow me. If I am untied and I come, What is that to be?
[6:43] Follow me. The other example I wish to take up, Is that of the apostle Paul, In his literature to the Philippians. Now I know that we have recently studied this, In much detail, But as a way of reminder, Let us think back to chapter 3, Where Paul writes, Here Paul tells us that Christ has apprehended, Or that Christ has got a hold of him, And that Christ still holds him.
[7:25] This is what happened to him on the road to Damascus. Christ apprehended him for a particular purpose. What was it that Paul was apprehended for by Christ?
[7:36] Well in chapter 3, verse 14 he tells us, He says, I pressed, held the mark of the high pride, Of the prize of the high calling of God, In Christ Jesus.
[7:49] Yet again we have that favourite imagery, That Paul uses, Now time and time again, Of a runner, In a race, And the runner is pressing towards, The finish line.
[8:01] Paul is telling us, That he has not yet reached that finish line, He has not completed the race, But he is pressing on it, He is driving towards, The purpose of running our races, To reach the finish line, To receive the prize.
[8:18] The writer to the Hebrew says to us, Let us reassign every way, That the sin which hath so easily beset us, And let us run with patience, The race that is set before us, Looking into Jesus, The author and the finisher, Of our faith.
[8:34] The prize of the high calling of God, In Christ Jesus. When does this high calling take place? It takes place at the beginning of the race.
[8:45] It is that the call that initiates the race, The call that brings us, Into a relationship, With Jesus Christ. It begins with our conversion, And continues all the day, While we are running the race, Until we reach the finish line, And we receive the prize.
[9:06] The prize is the fulfilment, Of the call given, At the beginning of the race. The call that unites us to Christ, And that unites us to each other, And brings us into our relationship, With Christ, And into our relationship, With each other, Which we at best enjoy, And we anticipate, The continuation of that relationship, As the fulfilment, Of the call, And the prize, At the end, Of the race.
[9:36] Paul says, Brethren, I count not myself, To our very end, But this one thing I do, Forgetting those things, Which are behind, And reaching forth, To those things, Which are before, I best have the map, Of the prize, Of the high calling of God, In Christ Jesus.
[9:57] He has not reached, The finish line, For which he has been, Apprehended for, By Christ, But he longs, To arrive at it. What then is the prize?
[10:10] To be perfect, In Christ. Enragic, Do tantis forces, Who gave himself for us, That he might redeem us, From all iniquity, And purify us, Unto himself, A peculiar people.
[10:25] John says, In Swishlet, In chapter 3, It does not get a fear, What we shall be, But we know, That when he shall appear, We shall be like him, For we shall see him, As he is.
[10:39] We are reminded, That there is no such thing, As perfection, In this time. Paul himself knows, His imperfections. People who say, I am conscious, Of my imperfection, I am aware of sin, I am not what I ought to be, They are the people, Who have spiritual life, In them.
[10:59] The other people, Who is coming, This race. The whole picture, We have in scripture, Is one of development, And progress, Reaching forth, Into those things, Which I have before, I bless, Till the man, For the prize, Of the high calling of God, In Christ Jesus.
[11:19] Paul does not live out, His life, And his past experiences, But he moves forward, For getting those things, That are behind, He does not mean, That a Christian, Should forget, The past experiences, But he means, That we must not rest, Upon them, Upon our past experiences, We must not be, Forever, Be to be back, Upon them, In a self satisfied way, A man in a race, His business, Is not so much to consider, How far he has arrived, Around the track, But to discover, How near he is, To the prize, That is, Ahead of him, There is always, A temptation, Just to be looking back, And making, Making any progress, Forward, The Christian night, Is always a striving, A struggle, A never, An endeavour, To be ever,
[12:20] Moving onwards, Looking unto Jesus, The author, And the finisher of our faith, And it is the same principle, That the messenger gave to Daniel, On this occasion, But go thou thy way, Till the end be, Move forward, Go thou thy way, Till the end be, For thou shalt rest, And stand in thy love, At the end of the days, Well, What is the way, For me, For me, And you, But go thou, Thy way, For what is the way, For me, And you, Well, The way for us, Is to follow Jesus, And to bless, Tell the man, For the prize, Of the high calling of God, In Christ Jesus, God has not left me, Or you, In darkness, Of ignorance, As to the way, That we should take, To be reconciled, And to be at peace, With him, He has revealed the way to us, Jesus said,
[13:21] I am the way, The truth, And the life, No man come unto the Father, But by me, And to follow Jesus, And to be, In his appointed ways, To abide, In his words, So as to grow the knowledge, Of his teaching, And experience, Of his life, In John chapter 8, Jesus said to those Jews, Which believe in him, If ye continue in my word, Then be a mighty sacrifice indeed, And ye shall know the truth, And the truth shall make you free, The sound of the pride, Thy words are allowed unto my feet, And allowed, And true, My path, What does it mean, To follow Jesus, Well we read there, In the gospel of Luke chapter 9, And we read of three men, Who met with Jesus, And the first encounter, We have in chapter 9, Verse 57, And it came to pass,
[14:22] That as they went in the way, A certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee, Whitherso other than both, And Jesus said unto him, Touches and foes, And the birds of the air have nested, And the Son of Man hath nowhere to lay his head.
[14:39] This man knew something about the demands of following Jesus, He understood that following Jesus meant going wherever he went.
[14:50] This man that made Jesus was full of self-confidence, And will follow thee, Whitherso ever thou goest. Now we know that self-confidence often needs to unfold.
[15:03] This man had to learn that, To follow Jesus meant to forget oneself entirely. To reject any thought of doing what will please ourselves, Rather than God.
[15:17] We have to reject everything that will get in the way of offering ourselves to God. Jesus said, Jesus said, If any man will come after me, Let him deny himself, And take up his cross daily, And follow me.
[15:33] For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, But whosoever will lose his life of my sake, The same shall save him. This is what it means to be following Jesus, Taking up the cross and following him.
[15:47] It means a lot more than just knowing who Jesus is, And what he has done. To be a follower of Jesus means that, His life and all his suffering, Becomes a pattern for our lives.
[16:01] If we are truly following Jesus, We must be prepared to suffer, And even to die, For him. Paul writes for a tribute to Stephen, On the behalf of Christ, Not only to believe on him, But also to suffer for his sake.
[16:17] Jesus never presented the Christian life, As a life of ease, But always as all of Satanists. He says, Copsis hath holes, And birds of the air have nests, But the Son of Man Nath know where to lay his head.
[16:34] And when he came into the world, There was no hope for him at the end. And even when he comes to ride into Jerusalem, We would expect him as a son of God to come, With great pomp riding a horse At the head of a mighty army, But instead, What do we find?
[16:50] We find Jesus riding at one of the foe, Of a man's. The reason Jesus did so, Was to display his humility. The man, This man had had every right, To claim ownership, Of everything that he had made.
[17:06] Does not the Son, His name of God, That he owns the capital, A thousand to do? Yet here, His God manifest in the flesh, And was riding into Jerusalem, And on a borrowed coal.
[17:19] The writer, To the Hebrew, Writes, There is one patient, The race that is set before us, Looking into Jesus, The order and finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before him, Endured the cross, Despising the shame.
[17:34] To follow Jesus means, That we are bound to suffer, To hear a remarkable neighbors, And to face dilemmas at work, We are bound to have people criticising, Their uncompromising commitment, And stance on ethical issues.
[17:54] This does not mean, That we cannot own property, Not our wealth, Or ambitions, Or spend time on recreation, But what it does mean, Is that we must never allow, Of things to get in the way of, Through discipleship, Of following, And sending Jesus.
[18:11] To follow Jesus, Calls us, Into a life, Of discipline. The separate encounter, We have in Lucas, In verse 59, And he said unto another, Follow me, But he said, Lord, Suddenly first, Go on, Buddy my father, Jesus said unto him, Let the dead, Believe the dead, But go thou, And preach the kingdom, Of God.
[18:37] Jesus said to this man, Follow me, He had a distinct, Command from Jesus, And although he wanted to, Follow Jesus, Nevertheless, There was, A hesitation on his heart, And he wanted to, Negotiate the terms, With Jesus.
[18:54] How am I, One called Matthew, Of whom we are told that, When Jesus passed by, That he saw a man named, Matthew, Sitting at the receipt, Of custom, And he said unto him, Follow me, And Matthew arose, And followed Jesus, It is indeed, A very subtle thing, To have a command, From Jesus, And then, To resist it, And yet then, To pause for a moment, And then, Think of your own situation, To do it, You have a command, From Jesus, To believe in him, And to follow him, It is a very subtle thing, To have that command, And to assist it, Maybe in this man, We have a picture, Of yourself tonight, And I would ask you, To be careful, When you hear, The word of God, Or the preached, Or right, And it comes to you, With an unusual power, So much as to arrest you, And it may have it difficult, To get away from it,
[19:55] I plead with you, Do not try to, Get away from it, Or if you do, You will be adding, To your own deal, This man was called, By Jesus, Who said to him, Follow me, But there is, That hesitation, In Christ, To negotiate terms, For the Lord, He said to Jesus, Lord, Suddenly, Forst to go, And bully, My father, As what Christ gives, Evidence of the place, That Jesus had in his heart, And life was secondary, He wanted Jesus, And suddenly yes, He is like a person, Who says, Well, I would like to follow Jesus, But first, I must be married, But first, I must have a good job, Or first, I must have a nice one, Jesus, Jesus always, Comes, Settled, But to follow Jesus, We must make him, The first, And the last object, Of our affection, For we must surrender,
[20:56] A whole life, To him, We must be like Paul, Who said, For me, To live, Is Christ, Jesus said, Come to this man, Let the dead bury their dead, But go there, And preach the kingdom of God, One may feel, That the words spoken by Jesus, On this occasion, Was rather harsh, On first reading, One would think, That this conversation, Should increase, Sometime, Between the death, Of this man's father, And his burial, But it is likely, That this man's father, Was on a dead dead, It helps us to know, The cultural background, In those days, The Jewish people, Buried their dead, Within 24 hours, And family members, Would sit around, The body of the deceased, Until it was buried, If the father, Had died already, His son, Would not have been, Talking with Jesus at all, But sitting at home, With his family, In mourning, What then,
[21:57] Was the nature, Of his request, When he asked, For permission, To bury his father, He was asking Jesus, To let him care, For his father, In his old age, Until, He was dead, This was a good claim, For honouring your parents, It's one of the, Ten commandments, And looking after them, In old ages, One way of honouring them, But Jesus, In such assistance, Argue that he was using, His family situation, As an excuse, To delay him, Following Jesus, Then another, To bury your father, When he dies, But I have called you now, He says, To this man, To follow me, Sometimes, What hinders people, From following Jesus, Is not sinful, But nevertheless, It gets in the way, Of what God, Really wants us to do, And that is, To follow, Jesus, He is a man,
[22:58] For a more convenient time, The claims of family life, Have a place, In the Christian life, And honouring these claims, Is part, Of our service, To God, However, Nothing, Is more important, Than following, Jesus, We must do, What Jesus, Want us to do, Not what our family, Wants us to do, Nobody else, Can do that for you, However kind people, May be, And however earnest, People can be, Tell us your spiritual state, They cannot follow, Jesus for you, However earnest, I have been over the years, That you would follow Jesus, I cannot, I cannot, It is not possible, The foreign way, To do it, On your behalf, You have to do this, For yourself, You are the person, That has, To follow, Jesus, The barrier,
[24:00] Of this man's matter, Could be done by others, But no one else, Could follow, Jesus, For him, This is your, Responsibility, To follow, Jesus, The rung of the verse, Of the people who are to talk, Almost thou persuadest me, To be a Christian, To which God replied, I want to God, That not only thou, But us all adhere to this day, With both almost, And all together, Such as I am, Except these bonds, You are no Christian, Unless you are an all together, Christ, Almost thou persuadest me, Is to be lost, Almost thou persuadest me, To be a Christian, Is to go to hell, You must be a Lord, Together Christian, You must be,
[25:00] A totally committed person, To follow Jesus Christ, In the third, In the third, We come to, We come there, In Luke chapter 9, And another, Another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, But let me first go, But then, Farewell, Which are at home, At my house, And Jesus said, That to no man, Having put his hand, To the bow, And looking back, Is lit, For the kingdom of God, This man, We seem like, Giving a reasonable request, For this man, To go home, And to say, Farewell, To his family, However, Jesus knew, That if this man, Went back, That he would be tempted, To stay, And to be kept, From making a definite break, Of this old way of life, When you are thinking, Of making a break, Of the old way of living, And following Jesus, Be aware of those, Farewells, When Abraham sent, For the servant,
[26:00] To thank a wife, For Isaac, Which we have, Recorded for us, In Genesis 24, And the servant, Been successful, Found Rebecca, But her brother, And her mother said, Let the damsel abide, With us a few days, At the least ten, After that, She would go, But the servant, Knew that this was, A dangerous procedure, And he said, Who will hinder me not, Seeing the Lord, Have prospered my way, Send me away, That I may go, To my master, And they said, We will call the damsel, And quiet at her mouth, And they called, Rebecca, Said to her, Would you go, This man?
[26:37] And she said, I will go, The one will say to you, Why so fast? Why not wait, A while, To following Jesus?
[26:51] Why do you have to be, So fast, In following Jesus? We want you to, Wait a little longer, Before and back, On your journey, With Jesus.
[27:04] The one will always, Try to hold you back, The one will always, Try to hinder you, From following Jesus. This young man, Was going back, With a whole purpose, In his heart.
[27:18] He should have been, Like Matthew, That we have already mentioned, Who followed Jesus, Who made a feast, And poured all his companions, To come together, With Christ. The proverb, No man, By goodness hand, Will flow, And looking back, Is fit for the kingdom of God.
[27:36] And the proverb, Comes from the fields, Where the best way, To flow, Is to keep looking ahead, At some, Fixed point, In the distance. Those, Who keep looking backwards, On ends up, Six sacking, All over the field.
[27:53] If we look back, To anything in the world, We are not really, Filled to be disciples. We may wonder, What happened to these three men? Did they follow Jesus?
[28:03] Well, It would be interesting to know, What they all did. But Luke does not tell us. But one thing we do know, Is that Jesus, Was on his way, To the cross.
[28:17] He was on the way to Jerusalem. He went to the cross, To kill his life, As a ransom, For the salvation, Of sinners, Like me and you. And today, He is commanding us, Tonight, He is commanding us, To follow him.
[28:34] Let us take the words, Of the writer, To the Hebrews, Again, When he said, In his flung of patience, The race that he set before us, Looking into Jesus, The author, And the finisher, Of our faith.
[28:50] Look not to the left, Look not to the right, But look straight, At Jesus. But go thou thy way, Go thou thy way, Of following, Jesus Christ.
[29:03] Go thou thy way, Till the end be. Whatever, Our situation may be, It is to go on, And to follow Jesus, Till the end be.
[29:17] This is what is to map, Our lives, All our days, Following Jesus, Till the end be. The end of our lives.
[29:29] The ending of our lives, Is by God's appointment. We know not what the end shall be, But that it will be, That we do know.
[29:41] And so we must continue, Knowing that, That the end could be, To tonight, The end could be, To God or beyond, But we are to live, Every day, Following, And serving, Jesus.
[29:57] Paul would say, At the end of his days, Of following Jesus, And serving Jesus, I have fought, A good fight, I have finished, My push, I, Have kept, The faith.
[30:13] And tonight, I give you, My final, Exaltation, Assured pastor, My friend, Follow Jesus, By following Jesus, You have life, By following Jesus, You have heaven, By following Jesus, You have everything, You have everything.
[30:42] Attached, To these words, Is the following promise, For thou shalt rest, And stand in thy love, At the ending of the day.
[30:53] The writer to the Hebrews, Speaking about the children, Of Israel, Then enters into the promised land, Of Cain and Christ, For if Jesus, Or if Joshua, Had given them rest, Then would he not, After all have spoken, Of another day.
[31:08] They are therefore, Remaineth there for a rest, To the people, Of God. But go thou, Thy way, To the end we, For thou shalt rest.
[31:24] The writer made it clear, That our rest is something, That is ultimately the future. It is something, That still remains, For the people of God to enter.
[31:37] For the children of history, As made as the rest of Cain and was, It was not the ultimate rest, That God intended for his people. The rest of Cain and was outward, Physical and symbolic, Of the rest that was to come.
[31:54] But go thou thy way, Go thou thy way of following Jesus, And attach to it is this promise, For thou shalt rest, And stand in thy home, At the end of the days.
[32:12] The understood Cain has only been symbolic, Of a greater place of rest. What is said of Abraham, Was true of all the Old Testament saints, When it says, By faith Abraham, And he was called, To go out into that place, Which he should not receive, For in the heritage, He obeyed and went down, Not knowing where he went.
[32:33] By faith he sojourned, In the land of promise, As in a strange country, Dwelling in tabernacles, With Isaac and Jacob, The heirs for them, Of the same promise, For inew for a city, Which hath foundations, Whose builder and maker, Is God.
[32:48] These all died in faith, Not having received a promise, But having seen them apart, Have been persuaded of them, They embraced them, And confessed, That there were strangers, And victims of the earth.
[33:01] For they have said, Such things declare, For they have seen a country, The desire of every country, The desire of heavenly country, Where our God is not ashamed, To be called dead God, For he hath prepared for them the same.
[33:18] Go thou thy way, Of following Jesus, Till the end be, And thou shalt rest, And stand in thy love, At the end of thy name.
[33:28] Yes, this present life, Is a time of trials, Yes, this present life, Is a time of temptations, And testings, It is like the wondrous journey, Of the children of Israel, But at the end, There is for the believer, A greater rest, Than that of the promised land, Of the kingdom of Canaan, Our final day of rest, Is yet to come, It awaits us, In heaven, The present is a time of tears, A time of struggle, A time of conflict, But the day is coming, When it shall be all over, There will be no more tears, There will be no more conflict, There will be no more struggle, There will be no more sin, But until that day, Until that day, We have to go on, To the end be, For thou shalt rest, And stand in thy love, At the end of thy day, Thou shalt stand in thy love,
[34:31] At the end of thy day, So of course, This poings to, An eternal beauty, Of Jesus and his people, There is a phrase often used, In the Old Testament, In conjunction, With the death of the saints, And we find, And he was gathered to his people, We read there, Abraham gave up the ghost, And died in a good old age, An old man, Full of years, And was gathered, To his people, We read, Isaac gave up the ghost, And died, And was gathered into, His people, Being old and full of days, Now, Some Old Testament scholars, That this phrase, Is nothing more than, A conventional way, Of saying in time, But I think, There is a lot more significance, To it than that, When it says, They were gathered, Into his people, He was gathered, To his people, David, In losing his son, Said, I will go to him,
[35:33] But he cannot come to me, In heaven, All the children of God, Shall meet, And I believe, And they shall recognize each other, We shall see each other, Not as we are now, Or have been, But as we were meant to be, We shall all be, In his likeness, As I come now, My dear friends, To my kind words, Among your spirit minister, I exhort you, There is there for fear, There is a promise, Being led to us, Of entering into this place, Any of you should seem, To come short of it, For unto us, Was the gospel preached, Just while listen to them, But the word preached, Did not profit them, Not being mixed with faith, To them, But heard it, See, Therefore, Remaineth, That some was led to the name, And they to whom it was for speech, Entered not in, Because of unbelief,
[36:36] Again, In him, And a certain day, Saying, To the Lord, To the Lord, And he said, Today, You hear his voice, Harden, Note your heart, Let his neighbor, To enter into that place, Lest any man fall up, With the same example, Of unbelief, To the Christian, To the Christian, To man, I leave you with ease for us, But go thou thy way, To the end be, For thou shalt rest, And stand in thy mouth, At the end of the days, Paul says regarding, The church, As he wrote to the Thessalonians, For what is our hope, For joy, Of the crown of the justice, Are not even ye, In the presence, Of our Lord Jesus Christ, At his coming, For ye are, Our glory, And joy, I can only take from that,
[37:38] That he would know, That this is glorious, Among whom he had labored, On that day, Of the return, Of the Lord Jesus Christ, And may the same feelings, As ours be true tonight, Between pastoral, And confidation, Of not lost of ye church, That you will be our hope, Our crown, Of your justice, In the presence, Of our Lord Jesus Christ, At his coming, For you are, Our glory, And our joy, But go thou thy way, Till the end be, For thou shalt rest, And stand in thy mouth, At the end, Of the days, And my prayer is that, For me and yourselves, That when the day come, That we shall all stand together, And partake,
[38:39] Of that race, That belongs, To the people, Of our God, In the Lord, That we shall believe, For you are my glory,