WEBVTT 00:00:00.660 --> 00:00:02.859 Just as we're getting going, let me ask you a question. 00:00:04.379 --> 00:00:06.459 What could you buy today with £20,000? 00:00:08.300 --> 00:00:15.300 While you're thinking on it, let me take you to the city that's in the east of Estonia called Tartu. 00:00:15.700 --> 00:00:16.839 Has anyone ever been to Estonia? 00:00:18.580 --> 00:00:21.059 Yep, two people have been. Excellent. Love Estonia. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:24.160 I don't know why. I think there was a 90s footballer that I loved from Estonia. 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:26.480 I've always had a fascination with the country ever since. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:33.780 It's Tartu, a country, Estonia, a country that before it got its independence in 1991, 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:36.439 was under the control of the Soviet Union. 00:00:36.980 --> 00:00:41.480 A union whose first leader was a man called Vladimir Lenin. 00:00:41.700 --> 00:00:43.679 Now there he is on the screen. 00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:51.200 And what they did right throughout the union is that they put up these statues of Lenin all over the place 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:54.679 in order to let everybody know who's in charge. 00:00:54.679 --> 00:01:02.299 So in Tartu, they put up this 11-foot statue of him right in the middle of the city square 00:01:02.299 --> 00:01:12.420 so that all the locals walking past would be under no illusions in terms of who was in charge in Tartu and in Estonia. 00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:16.960 Well, in 1997, years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:26.899 the city of Tartu, seeking to raise some public funds, put that statue on sale with a reserved price of £9,000. 00:01:27.379 --> 00:01:31.699 Now £9,000 today, £9,000 then is about £20,000 today. 00:01:31.919 --> 00:01:37.339 So if you felt so inclined and your little garden gnome at the front of your garden was feeling a bit lonely, 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:40.439 that could have been yours for about £9,000. 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:42.780 Now what is the point? 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:49.219 The point is, in words often attributed to 18th century British writer Percy Shelley, 00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:56.539 is that the earth is littered with the ruins of empires that once believed they were eternal. 00:01:56.739 --> 00:01:57.359 Take that in. 00:01:58.900 --> 00:02:04.519 The earth is littered with ruins of empires that once believed they were eternal. 00:02:04.519 --> 00:02:12.439 Now maybe you're here today and the present feels a bit rudderless for you. 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:16.680 You look out and it's a big scary world. 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:21.599 Climate change, international tensions, corrupt leaders. 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:27.599 It was really interesting seeing people's responses to that survey that we put out at the end of last week's sermon. 00:02:28.219 --> 00:02:30.240 And we're going to do the same at the end of this week's sermon as well. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:35.020 Just to hear about the things that are worrying us in the present as God's people. 00:02:35.640 --> 00:02:39.240 Maybe you're here today and your present feels rudderless. 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:44.900 Or maybe you're here today and if you're honest, your future feels ominous. 00:02:46.180 --> 00:02:47.439 You don't know what's up ahead. 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:49.180 You don't know what's going on in your life. 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:53.660 Maybe you're at a junction in your life and you're not sure if you can keep on going. 00:02:53.659 --> 00:02:59.780 Well, if that's you here today, and I take it we're all in that mixture somewhere. 00:02:59.939 --> 00:03:09.000 If that's you here today, then this is all about what the God of the Bible has done to secure our capital F futures. 00:03:09.979 --> 00:03:12.019 What he's done in Christ to secure that. 00:03:12.539 --> 00:03:18.919 And what the Bible always encourages us to do is to grasp hold of what our God has done for us in Christ to secure the future. 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:21.280 And as it were, work backwards. 00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:26.339 Because this reality has to impact the way that we make decisions in this life. 00:03:26.539 --> 00:03:30.019 What we do in this life and where we invest ourselves in this life. 00:03:30.060 --> 00:03:33.079 Knowing that the God of the Bible has the future sorted. 00:03:34.699 --> 00:03:39.479 The point of Daniel 2 is to tell all of the world where history is heading. 00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:44.759 And it all centers around the only kingdom that will never be toppled. 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:49.699 And let me take us to the theological truth that's right at the heart of this chapter. 00:03:49.859 --> 00:03:54.799 And if you're looking for one key verse to get you into this chapter, it comes at verse 20. 00:03:57.019 --> 00:04:00.039 Where Daniel praises God for revealing the dream. 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:02.399 And he declares this about God. 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:05.000 He says, wisdom and power are yours. 00:04:06.239 --> 00:04:11.159 And so the big word that is right at the heart of this chapter is omniscience. 00:04:12.299 --> 00:04:14.299 God of the Bible is omniscient. 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:16.120 Now don't be freaked out by that word. 00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:17.100 Just break it down. 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:18.319 Think of omni. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:21.300 Got the omni center down there at the bottom of Leith Walk. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:22.680 Omni just means all. 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:26.139 And scient, that's the Latin word for knowledge. 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:29.060 That's where we get our English word science from. 00:04:29.740 --> 00:04:32.840 So omniscient just means that God is all-knowing. 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:34.699 He is all-wise. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:38.639 He is the God who declares the end from the beginning. 00:04:39.340 --> 00:04:43.340 He is the God who has a monopoly on knowing the future. 00:04:43.339 --> 00:04:55.379 And while every other rival kingdom rises, at the end of the day, it will fade like the grass and only his will remain. 00:04:55.379 --> 00:04:59.980 Now let me just say we can trust a God like this. 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:05.399 Because if he was wise but he had no power, he would be pathetic. 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:10.979 But if he had all power without wisdom to come to this God, he would be frightening. 00:05:12.179 --> 00:05:19.299 But in this God, boundless wisdom and endless power are united together. 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:24.680 And that is what makes him worthy of our fullest trust. 00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:29.220 And that's the message that's being declared to the world. 00:05:29.660 --> 00:05:32.500 Because blink and you might miss the little detail at verse 4. 00:05:32.660 --> 00:05:33.560 Have a look at it there. 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:40.360 Because what changes now in the book of Daniel, and this runs all the way through to the end of chapter 7. 00:05:40.459 --> 00:05:43.540 What changes is the language that it's written in. 00:05:44.780 --> 00:05:48.800 We move from Hebrew to Aramaic. 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:50.759 Now why is that significant? 00:05:50.899 --> 00:05:55.060 It's significant because that is the language of the everyday person on the street. 00:05:55.060 --> 00:06:01.300 It's the language that as many people in the world as possible can understand. 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:07.240 And so what's going on is that the writer of Daniel is saying this is a message that is not just for God's people. 00:06:07.939 --> 00:06:13.519 This is a message for the entire world to hear, to know, and to respond to. 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:17.199 This is a big news message for the nations of the world. 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:21.399 And it's a good news message for the nations of the world. 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:26.759 And so it makes to us two really simple invitations, this passage. 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:32.319 And if you take anything from today, take these two invitations home with you. 00:06:32.779 --> 00:06:33.759 Here's the first one. 00:06:33.979 --> 00:06:38.919 And the first invitation is not to overestimate the power of the world. 00:06:39.819 --> 00:06:41.259 And that's verses 1 to 30. 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:43.719 We get back into Babylon at verse 1. 00:06:45.099 --> 00:06:49.439 And Daniel and his friends, we have to understand, they've just graduated from the University of Babylon. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:57.259 So that three-year period of them being educated in the language of the Chaldeans, that is past. 00:06:57.339 --> 00:06:59.240 They've graduated from the University of Babylon. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:02.779 And we learn a bit more about this man, Nebuchadnezzar. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:05.000 I don't know if you noticed it when you read it through. 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:07.639 What kind of man is this who is the king? 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:10.439 This man who is deeply religious and superstitious. 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:25.040 In fact, if you go to the British Museum in London, you'll find a tablet with an inscription of a prayer that this man, Nebuchadnezzar, made to his god, Marduk. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:28.339 So he's a deeply religious man. 00:07:28.519 --> 00:07:31.920 And we've got historical evidence to show us that. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:37.800 But what we learn specifically about him here is that he's a highly ambitious man. 00:07:38.580 --> 00:07:44.040 So he's about 30 years old as we hit Daniel chapter 2. 00:07:44.740 --> 00:07:46.379 And he's on top of the world. 00:07:47.140 --> 00:07:48.879 He's at the top of his game. 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:52.500 He's ruling the world's most powerful empire. 00:07:52.500 --> 00:07:55.000 He has everything at his disposal. 00:07:55.420 --> 00:08:03.339 And he's hungry, not just for more power, but he's really hungry and wanting to control that power. 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:07.060 It's what power does to people, doesn't it? 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:08.339 It changes them. 00:08:08.420 --> 00:08:09.120 It corrupts them. 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:09.879 They want to keep it. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:10.819 They don't want to lose it. 00:08:11.259 --> 00:08:13.759 I always love that in Lord of the Rings. 00:08:13.899 --> 00:08:18.199 I always think Tolkien gets that so right when he talks about the one ring to rule them all. 00:08:18.579 --> 00:08:18.839 Doesn't he? 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:19.660 That's what the ring does. 00:08:19.660 --> 00:08:24.340 It darkens the mind, makes them suspicious of everyone else. 00:08:25.780 --> 00:08:28.660 And that's what power is doing to this man, Nebuchadnezzar. 00:08:28.780 --> 00:08:34.540 And yet, isn't it funny that all the power and influence are his. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.540 And yet he is a surprisingly helpless man. 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:48.379 There's a deep irony in the fact that Nebuchadnezzar is named after the Babylonian god of wisdom called Nabu. 00:08:49.659 --> 00:08:52.339 And it's a great irony that he has one dream. 00:08:53.399 --> 00:09:00.719 And at verse one, not only does this bring on insomnia, but it sends him into a spiral of paranoia. 00:09:01.959 --> 00:09:07.959 And as many of you pointed out to me last week, there's a Putin-esque streak to him, isn't there? 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:23.500 He's deeply suspicious of his personal advisors, of his personal cabinet, of the advisors and the astrologers, the best of the best in this part of the world, in this day, who he's gathered around him to advise him. 00:09:23.820 --> 00:09:28.660 And he accuses them, verse five, of trying to pull the intellectual wool over his eyes. 00:09:28.659 --> 00:09:33.079 And he knows that he's asking the impossible of his counselors. 00:09:33.219 --> 00:09:34.139 Did you notice that? 00:09:34.439 --> 00:09:38.120 Because he wants them not just to tell him the interpretation of the dream. 00:09:38.980 --> 00:09:42.719 He wants them to tell him the dream itself. 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:46.500 I've never played that game around the breakfast table with my kids. 00:09:46.579 --> 00:09:47.319 I've always played it. 00:09:47.439 --> 00:09:49.120 What did you dream about last night? 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:51.319 But I've never sat there and tried to guess the dreams. 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:55.920 But that's exactly what Nebuchadnezzar is asking of his advisors. 00:09:56.060 --> 00:09:56.760 Do you see this man? 00:09:56.840 --> 00:09:57.760 He's deeply suspicious. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:00.260 He doesn't want to give away control or power. 00:10:02.360 --> 00:10:05.520 No wonder they say, verse 11, this is too difficult for us. 00:10:05.760 --> 00:10:08.300 Only the gods could reveal this to us. 00:10:08.340 --> 00:10:10.680 And with that, they're bang on, aren't they? 00:10:10.680 --> 00:10:15.840 But here is the most powerful man in the world, surrounded by the cleverest people in the world. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:20.460 And do you see how they're completely in the dark when it comes to predicting the future? 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:27.720 And here I think is what we're supposed to understand and maybe even ask ourselves as the readers to this. 00:10:28.860 --> 00:10:35.280 That maybe real power in this world doesn't lie where we think it does. 00:10:37.640 --> 00:10:42.879 And verse 18, they, which I take it is the counselors, they seek out Daniel and his friends, 00:10:43.680 --> 00:10:46.320 presumably to bring them in on this killing act as well. 00:10:46.560 --> 00:10:50.980 And notice that Daniel, the first thing that he does when he hears this news, verse 17, 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:52.180 do you see it? 00:10:52.520 --> 00:10:55.620 He doesn't call a cobra strategy meeting. 00:10:56.580 --> 00:11:00.300 He gathers his friends and he calls a prayer meeting. 00:11:01.060 --> 00:11:01.660 Do you see that? 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:09.559 There is a lovely, non-anxious presence in Babylon about Daniel. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:12.259 Non-anxious. 00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:15.600 And it's not just because he's a cool customer. 00:11:15.779 --> 00:11:18.199 It's not because he's learned to kind of keep life all together. 00:11:18.339 --> 00:11:22.719 Because if that was the case, I don't think any of us would be able to stand. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:27.680 And this is all because of who he knows he can turn to in a crisis. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:33.440 The world around about him is panicking, but Daniel is praying. 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:35.940 It's wonderful, isn't it? 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:39.440 The world around about him is panicking, but Daniel is praying. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:48.320 And let me just encourage us not to underestimate what God can do with your non-anxious presence 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:51.900 in the midst of your workplace and your friends and your family. 00:11:51.899 --> 00:11:58.899 When people freak out and you're not freaking out, don't underestimate the power of that witness. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:03.879 I've got a friend, Andy Patterson, who was the mission director of the FIEC for years, 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:04.919 worked at Charlotte Chapel. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:09.620 He's written a great book on evangelism called Ready Evangelism for Everyone. 00:12:09.740 --> 00:12:11.620 And he just says really simply this. 00:12:12.259 --> 00:12:12.579 He says, 00:12:12.580 --> 00:12:31.660 Let me encourage us this morning to play the long game when it comes to evangelism. 00:12:31.740 --> 00:12:32.800 You want to take that book? 00:12:33.020 --> 00:12:34.180 I'll give it away this morning. 00:12:34.400 --> 00:12:35.420 Please come and grab me. 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.960 Taught me wonderful things this week about playing the long game 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:42.879 when it comes to loving our friends and family and our work colleagues well. 00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:47.120 But you see how there's a lovely non-anxious presence about Daniel. 00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:52.220 And at some point, God, and at verse 19 we get this, 00:12:52.920 --> 00:12:54.700 he reveals this dream to Daniel. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:12:59.700 And Daniel gives him all the praise and the glory. 00:13:00.980 --> 00:13:03.879 And he praises the God who is all wisdom and power. 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:09.600 And he quickly seeks out Ariok, who is the leader of the astrologers. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:13.039 And here are the crux of what Daniel says to Ariok at verse 28. 00:13:13.139 --> 00:13:13.840 He says this. 00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:14.539 He says, 00:13:14.700 --> 00:13:15.840 There is a God in heaven. 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:18.659 There is a God in heaven. 00:13:18.860 --> 00:13:21.460 And that's the message to the world. 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:24.580 That this God is a revealer. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:31.639 That without him, we are clueless as to what life is all about and what's up ahead. 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:33.399 We really, really are. 00:13:34.340 --> 00:13:35.240 We are clueless. 00:13:36.220 --> 00:13:37.600 This God is a revealer. 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.899 Let me just tell you the phrase not to say when you go to the doctors. 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:49.379 It's just before I came to see you, I read something on the internet. 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:55.720 Let me give you a clue as to what not to say to pastors when you go to see them. 00:13:56.580 --> 00:13:59.700 Just before I came to see you, I read something on the internet. 00:13:59.700 --> 00:14:01.860 Because I do this all the time. 00:14:02.680 --> 00:14:09.460 And what our smartphones do to us in this age is that they convince us that we are omniscient. 00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:12.480 That we are actually all knowing. 00:14:12.560 --> 00:14:14.840 We've got all this knowledge at our disposal. 00:14:15.420 --> 00:14:18.540 We've got all the information that we could ever possibly want. 00:14:18.539 --> 00:14:26.240 And what this convinces us of so often is the fact that we can become overnight experts in just about anything. 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:29.059 Did COVID not just prove that? 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.199 All of a sudden, you didn't need to have an hour worth of medical training in your life. 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:39.020 And all of a sudden, you could become an expert into how the country should be handling this. 00:14:41.780 --> 00:14:46.759 Friends, let's not overrate our ability to navigate our way through life. 00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:56.400 Counterintuitively, there is wonderful freedom to be found in not just acknowledging, but resting in the truth. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:02.939 That whilst we are swimming in information, we are shallow on wisdom. 00:15:04.439 --> 00:15:08.139 It's a wonderful lesson for us there to both learn and to rest. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:12.340 And we are called to be spiritual Benjamin Buttons. 00:15:12.459 --> 00:15:13.259 You ever seen that film? 00:15:13.539 --> 00:15:14.439 It's kind of weird. 00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:16.740 But it's a good one. 00:15:17.659 --> 00:15:22.799 This man that as he grows up, he actually becomes younger. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:31.519 And once you get your head around that concept and how it works, you all of a sudden begin to see, actually, there's a lesson for the disciple of Jesus caught up in that, isn't it? 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:40.439 That the older we get, the more we go on in the Christian life, the more like spiritual dependent children we should look. 00:15:41.719 --> 00:15:46.919 You know, the people that have made the biggest impact to me over the years are the people I can look at and say, 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:49.399 You are way more intelligent than I will ever be. 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:51.559 You've thought about things for years and years. 00:15:52.019 --> 00:15:56.759 And yet when you are asked a question, you are not scared to say the phrase, I don't know. 00:15:58.299 --> 00:15:59.159 I don't know. 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:09.399 And this invites us to come and admit that we don't know the future, but to place ourselves in the hands of the God who does. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.039 Why has this dream been revealed to Daniel? 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:15.139 Do you see him there say it in verse 30? 00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:17.980 Not because of any wisdom I have, and that should be our attitude. 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:24.679 Not because of any wisdom I have, but so that you would know that the God alone, he reveals mysteries. 00:16:25.220 --> 00:16:26.879 And ultimately that's true, isn't it? 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.379 In the gospel, we need this God to reveal to us how it works. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:34.120 Who we are, who he is, what our biggest problem is. 00:16:34.319 --> 00:16:40.039 And the only way that we can be reconciled to this God, it only happens because this God has revealed the truth to us. 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:47.740 This God is a revealer, and this teaches us not to overestimate the power of the world and our own abilities. 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:53.339 But the second thing it does is it invites us not to underestimate the wisdom of God. 00:16:54.459 --> 00:16:56.480 Don't overestimate the power of the world. 00:16:56.620 --> 00:16:59.120 Don't underestimate the wisdom of God. 00:16:59.179 --> 00:17:03.159 And with this, we take in from verse 31 right to the end of the chapter. 00:17:03.459 --> 00:17:08.480 And Daniel describes this great image, this mighty statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:09.839 Imagine that, it's terrifying. 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:14.480 Right, dreams freak me out the best of times, but to have a dream like that? 00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:18.579 This statue, this massive statue with layers to it? 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:23.759 And it's not like Nebuchadnezzar's had too much cheese before going to sleep, is it? 00:17:23.779 --> 00:17:25.779 There's a purpose behind this dream. 00:17:27.539 --> 00:17:29.759 And the key thing to this, see to this, 00:17:31.339 --> 00:17:37.559 is to see that this is the all-knowing, all-wise God telling the world how the future is going to pan out. 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:42.899 Now, we're not told specifically in this passage what the different parts of the statue are. 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:45.379 You have to wait to get a later on in the book to learn them. 00:17:45.619 --> 00:17:49.500 But you can read it back in and understand that these different parts, 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:53.099 they represent different successive kingdoms that are going to come. 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:56.960 So we have the head of gold there, verse 38. 00:17:57.480 --> 00:17:59.379 That is the Babylonian Empire. 00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:04.960 Again, like last week, notice the Lord giving language of verse 37. 00:18:05.100 --> 00:18:05.660 Do you see it? 00:18:07.260 --> 00:18:09.960 Nebuchadnezzar, you're king, not because you've played a blinder. 00:18:10.500 --> 00:18:14.140 You are king because God has given you power and the kingdom. 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:18.900 And you can imagine Nebuchadnezzar loved hearing the fact that he was the head of gold. 00:18:19.540 --> 00:18:23.400 You can imagine this is a great start to him being told the interpretation of the dream. 00:18:23.500 --> 00:18:24.180 What a start. 00:18:24.180 --> 00:18:26.860 But you work your way down from the head of gold. 00:18:27.539 --> 00:18:31.519 The chest and the arms of silver are the Medes and the Persians. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:33.580 They're the kingdom that's going to come after Babylon. 00:18:34.779 --> 00:18:39.720 The kingdom of bronze, verse 39, is the Greek Empire that's going to come after that. 00:18:40.140 --> 00:18:41.759 Led by Alexander the Great. 00:18:41.860 --> 00:18:45.019 If you know your history, that's the man who famously wept, apparently, 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.740 because there were no more lands for him to conquer. 00:18:47.740 --> 00:18:51.140 It's a lovely thing to say, isn't it? 00:18:52.660 --> 00:18:57.620 Fourth kingdom, verse 40, you can make a good case for saying that this represents Rome. 00:18:59.579 --> 00:19:03.519 But for now, see the point in this, that the main things are the plain things 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:04.859 and the plain things are the main things. 00:19:04.940 --> 00:19:07.640 It's always how we should understand and interpret our Bibles. 00:19:08.120 --> 00:19:09.640 What's the main thing here? 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:17.780 The main thing is for the world to understand that such is the extent of the omniscience of God 00:19:17.780 --> 00:19:22.960 that he declares things to have happened before they've even happened. 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.840 And supremely, he declares that all the kingdoms of the world will be shattered 00:19:28.840 --> 00:19:31.540 by the kingdom that he establishes. 00:19:31.620 --> 00:19:36.880 Do you see that little stone that crops up there at verse 34? 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:41.740 This stone that was cut by no human hands. 00:19:41.860 --> 00:19:45.340 This stone which is going to be the way that God establishes his kingdom 00:19:45.340 --> 00:19:47.000 and it's going to be one that lasts forever. 00:19:47.840 --> 00:19:50.420 And it all focuses on this little stone. 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.540 This unimpressive looking stone. 00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:56.620 This tiny little stone. 00:19:57.580 --> 00:19:59.280 Not gold, not bronze, not silver. 00:19:59.380 --> 00:20:00.340 This little stone. 00:20:02.140 --> 00:20:03.820 And it tells you something, doesn't it? 00:20:03.819 --> 00:20:07.899 That such is God's wisdom that he is going to establish his kingdom 00:20:07.899 --> 00:20:11.720 not by power and by might, but by his wisdom. 00:20:11.879 --> 00:20:14.419 And yet, make no mistake that this is the kingdom 00:20:14.419 --> 00:20:16.720 that's going to shatter all of the rest. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:22.900 And some 600 years after the events of Daniel, 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:28.440 an angel would appear to this teenage virgin girl in Bethlehem 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:32.660 and tell her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her 00:20:32.660 --> 00:20:35.120 and the power of the Most High will overshadow her 00:20:35.120 --> 00:20:37.779 and the baby that would be born to her, 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.200 his kingdom will have no end. 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:45.340 And in many places in the Gospels, 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:49.200 you see Jesus refer to himself as the stone. 00:20:50.340 --> 00:20:53.180 He is the stone that the builders rejected 00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:56.539 that has become the precious cornerstone. 00:20:56.700 --> 00:20:57.900 It's just the first one, 00:20:58.460 --> 00:21:02.200 the first stone to be laid in the building of a huge temple. 00:21:03.460 --> 00:21:05.640 That he is going to be the stone of stumbling. 00:21:06.740 --> 00:21:07.779 That we will just be walking down. 00:21:07.819 --> 00:21:09.779 You've had that experience, just walking, running down the road 00:21:09.779 --> 00:21:11.139 and all of a sudden you clip and you fall. 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:13.220 You've hit the stone, you've hit over something. 00:21:13.299 --> 00:21:14.220 That's the image there. 00:21:14.819 --> 00:21:16.200 He's going to be the stone of stumbling 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:19.099 when it comes to understanding how we can be right with God. 00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:22.119 That's why people reject him 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.700 because they don't want to come to God on his terms. 00:21:27.059 --> 00:21:28.480 And it's fascinating, isn't it? 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:31.200 You can't help but draw this conclusion and this comparison. 00:21:32.839 --> 00:21:34.700 When you look at King Nebuchadnezzar 00:21:34.700 --> 00:21:37.619 and how he is, his character, his anger, his fury, 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:39.619 his desperation to keep control, 00:21:40.779 --> 00:21:42.920 you cannot help but contrast him 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:45.039 to the king of this stone kingdom 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:48.759 and how he uses power. 00:21:49.460 --> 00:21:51.920 I think it's one of the most endearing things about Jesus 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:53.500 as you read about him in the Gospels 00:21:53.500 --> 00:21:55.759 is how he uses power 00:21:55.759 --> 00:22:00.180 and how he uses it to serve and to save people, 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:01.839 not to lord it over people. 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:04.500 That's what he'll say to his disciples in Matthew 20, 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:05.859 if you want to go away and look at it there. 00:22:05.859 --> 00:22:08.839 He says that when they're arguing over who is the greatest, 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:11.279 when they're thinking about how we get on top of each other 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:12.299 to reach the top, 00:22:12.679 --> 00:22:13.479 he says, no, no, no, 00:22:13.539 --> 00:22:16.079 the lords of the Gentiles rule over people. 00:22:16.179 --> 00:22:17.259 But then he has that phrase, 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:19.379 not so with you. 00:22:19.380 --> 00:22:22.060 this king will win, 00:22:22.060 --> 00:22:23.600 not by might and by right, 00:22:23.760 --> 00:22:26.400 this king will win by sacrifice. 00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:29.780 And through his death and resurrection, 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:35.319 God establishes that king 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:39.740 and he sets him on his holy hill 00:22:39.740 --> 00:22:42.160 and he declares to the world, 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:43.180 in my wisdom, 00:22:43.399 --> 00:22:44.819 I have established my king 00:22:44.819 --> 00:22:45.799 and I've set him there. 00:22:47.399 --> 00:22:50.200 And he's done it through the death and resurrection of Jesus. 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:53.139 And he's building his kingdom. 00:22:53.779 --> 00:22:55.599 And this is what I want you to understand this morning. 00:22:55.720 --> 00:22:56.299 By grace, 00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:57.399 if your faith is in this, 00:22:57.400 --> 00:22:57.700 Jesus, 00:22:57.860 --> 00:22:58.620 by grace, 00:22:59.100 --> 00:23:00.460 we who have believed 00:23:00.460 --> 00:23:02.920 have been brought into this kingdom. 00:23:04.019 --> 00:23:05.480 And with millions of others 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:06.460 down the ages, 00:23:06.620 --> 00:23:07.840 right across the nations, 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:08.880 in Jesus Christ, 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:09.840 we have a ruler 00:23:09.840 --> 00:23:12.560 who will never be toppled from his throne. 00:23:13.540 --> 00:23:14.500 And one day, 00:23:14.600 --> 00:23:15.400 this Christ will return 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:18.800 and bring in the consummation of his kingdom. 00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:20.200 He will come and he will return 00:23:20.200 --> 00:23:21.060 and he will reign 00:23:21.060 --> 00:23:23.360 and all wrongs will be put to right. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:26.519 And if that is where history is heading, 00:23:26.819 --> 00:23:30.459 towards this unshakable kingdom, 00:23:30.619 --> 00:23:31.019 then friends, 00:23:31.139 --> 00:23:32.639 we can walk into the future 00:23:32.639 --> 00:23:33.779 with a God like this. 00:23:34.719 --> 00:23:36.459 If we know that by grace 00:23:36.459 --> 00:23:38.839 and through the death and resurrection of Jesus, 00:23:39.419 --> 00:23:40.479 that we have been given 00:23:40.479 --> 00:23:42.019 an unshakable kingdom, 00:23:43.699 --> 00:23:44.839 then no matter what is going on 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:45.639 in your life today, 00:23:45.679 --> 00:23:46.879 you can know that that is how 00:23:46.879 --> 00:23:48.079 your story is going to end. 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:51.199 You know, just as we close 00:23:51.199 --> 00:23:52.539 and just to maybe help us think 00:23:52.539 --> 00:23:54.379 about the application of this passage, 00:23:55.619 --> 00:23:57.179 let me just tell you 00:23:57.179 --> 00:23:58.099 about two older men 00:23:58.099 --> 00:23:59.039 in this church family. 00:24:00.699 --> 00:24:02.240 And just to save any embarrassment, 00:24:02.419 --> 00:24:03.139 we'll just call them 00:24:03.139 --> 00:24:04.799 Keiko and Marley, okay? 00:24:05.779 --> 00:24:07.659 And I went to visit Marley recently 00:24:07.659 --> 00:24:08.639 and he was telling me 00:24:08.639 --> 00:24:10.159 how he often phones Keiko. 00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:12.079 And he tells me 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:12.980 how the two of them are just, 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:14.599 they have a laugh on the phone 00:24:14.599 --> 00:24:16.000 and they joke about the fact 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:17.599 that they're not as fit and as able 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:19.219 as they used to be. 00:24:20.740 --> 00:24:22.179 And Keiko always ends by asking, 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:24.599 sorry, Marley always ends 00:24:24.599 --> 00:24:25.399 by asking Keiko, 00:24:25.559 --> 00:24:26.480 what are you up to 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:27.480 for the rest of the day? 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:30.119 And he just replies, 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:31.419 he says, I'll just be here. 00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:33.759 I'll just be waiting on the sound. 00:24:35.459 --> 00:24:36.619 And what he means by that, 00:24:37.139 --> 00:24:37.740 he's talking about 00:24:37.740 --> 00:24:38.899 the sound of the trumpet, 00:24:39.159 --> 00:24:40.379 the sound that will announce 00:24:40.379 --> 00:24:41.699 the return of the Lord Jesus. 00:24:43.059 --> 00:24:43.879 And what takes that 00:24:43.879 --> 00:24:45.139 from being a cute story 00:24:45.139 --> 00:24:47.039 to a powerful testimony 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:47.899 is when you know 00:24:47.899 --> 00:24:49.000 what those guys have been through 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:49.519 in their lives. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:52.879 You know what they've been through, 00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:54.299 some serious stuff in their lives. 00:24:55.339 --> 00:24:56.299 And yet I listened to him 00:24:56.299 --> 00:24:57.200 tell me that story 00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:59.240 and I thought, 00:24:59.379 --> 00:24:59.920 thank you, brother, 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:01.159 for convincing me 00:25:01.159 --> 00:25:03.619 that you are fully convinced 00:25:03.619 --> 00:25:04.799 that at the end of the day 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:05.839 there's only one kingdom 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:06.799 worth waiting for. 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:08.799 There's only one kingdom 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:10.559 worth investing yourself in. 00:25:11.639 --> 00:25:12.720 There's only one kingdom 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:14.019 that's going to stand in the end. 00:25:14.019 --> 00:25:15.480 And no matter how hard 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:16.700 it gets in this life, 00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:19.759 that will never be taken from us. 00:25:20.299 --> 00:25:21.960 That unshakable kingdom 00:25:21.960 --> 00:25:23.940 that by grace 00:25:23.940 --> 00:25:25.400 we have been ushered into 00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:28.420 by this stone king. 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:30.920 And so we wait for him. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:33.519 Let's just close in prayer 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:35.240 and I'll close with these words 00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:36.539 from Isaiah 64. 00:25:36.539 --> 00:25:39.799 From of old no one has heard 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:41.639 or perceived by the ear. 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:43.859 No eye has seen a God 00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:44.920 besides you 00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:47.200 who acts for those 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:49.279 who wait for him. 00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:50.659 And so Lord, 00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:51.920 we just thank you this morning 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:53.960 for the wonderful truth 00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:55.420 that the kingdom 00:25:55.420 --> 00:25:56.779 that Jesus has established 00:25:56.779 --> 00:25:58.740 will never be shaken. 00:25:59.700 --> 00:26:00.240 And so Lord, 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:00.700 I pray, 00:26:00.819 --> 00:26:01.420 particularly as we turn 00:26:01.420 --> 00:26:02.359 to communion now, 00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:03.139 that you would help 00:26:03.139 --> 00:26:05.200 raise the eyes of our hearts 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:06.519 to him 00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:08.380 in all his beauty 00:26:08.380 --> 00:26:09.340 and majesty. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:11.180 Be with us, Father, 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:12.400 as we journey on this morning. 00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:13.400 In his name we pray. 00:26:14.120 --> 00:26:14.539 Amen. 00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:14.680 Amen.