WEEKLY SERMON
Last Sunday of End Times/Christ the King
Daniel 7:1, 13, 14 – The
Kingdom
of Christ Comes Out
on Top!
November 21-23, 2009 by: Pastor Wessel
Daniel
7:1, 13, 14 – 1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel
had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his
bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. . . . 13 "In my vision at
night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming
with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led
into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power;
all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His
dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his
kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
Introduction
– Never, always, everyone, no
one. Do you get skeptical when people start using words like these?
Do they sound harsh in your ears? Do they put your defensive barrier up?
Aren’t words like, sometimes,
rarely, maybe, and hopefully easier to handle? It seems a lot safer
and a lot wiser to talk without being 100% sure – never say “never” or
“always”, in case you have to eat your words and be embarrassed of your
boldness.
Because really, in life, how often are we 100% sure? Even if we are
99.9% sure, there is a chance that we might be wrong. Think about the
ads for prescription medicines: “in
rare cases, may cause . . .”
There is still that chance of a negative side effect and that is why
they have to give those warnings. For the most part, we would say that
it is not smart to speak in the extremes; it is better to be cautious
and moderate. Stay in the middle. Recognize that it is dangerous to make
a claim that is too bold. Don’t we often caution politicians about
making bold promises because we know they are not all powerful, but need
to depend on the cooperation of others to make things happen?
Do you think these words from the book of Daniel are shocking? I think
many people would be shocked by their extremism. Sadly, for many people
these words are probably ridiculous because they contain absolute words:
all, every, everlasting, will
not, will never be. Not a whole lot of gray area, is there? There
isn’t any wiggle room; there is no way to ride the fence. When you hear
these words, you either have to say, YES! I agree, I believe it; or you
have to say, NO! I disagree, I don’t believe it.
These extreme words describe the kingdom
of Christ and tell us that every other kingdom of the
world, from Iran, to China, to the USA will one day fall short and be
lost in memory when Christ our King returns. On the last day:
The
Kingdom of Christ Comes Out on Top!
I. All People Will Worship
Him
II. His Power Will Last Forever
and Will Never Be Destroyed
I. All people will
worship him
His name means “God is my judge” – Daniel. Although he had a home, he
wasn’t home when he saw this wonderful vision. He was many miles from
home, in the land of Babylon. Why him? Jerusalem,
the city of David, and the temple of
the Lord Almighty had been destroyed because God’s chosen people had
ignored the contract they had made with God. They had thumbed their
noses at his commands. So why did Daniel get to live in the land of
those people who had carried out such terrible destruction with their
armies? Why was Daniel given a position of authority in the government
of Babylon? Why was he, like Joseph in Egypt long ago,
chosen by God to interpret the meaning of the dreams that God gave to
these foreign rulers?
The kingdom of Babylon
was a powerful kingdom. By military might they forced other nations into
submission. But all rulers have people who oppose them. Every country
has people who think that those in power should not be in power. They
disagree with decisions that those leaders make. They don’t think the
rulers have the best interests of the people in mind. They don’t like
the personalities and moral characters of the rulers. So they do all
they can to get rid of those in authority. Sometimes with violent
rebellion; in some places, with a vote; maybe with a peaceful
revolution.
Daniel sees to the end of time and sees one like a “son of man” with no
one opposing him. No one has the right or the power to oppose him. The
Ancient of Days (a name for God the Father) gives him authority and
sovereign power. And Daniel sees
“All peoples, nations and men of every language” worshipping Jesus
Christ and acknowledging him as king. On the last day, all people will
be forced to recognize that there is only one who is worthy of all our
praise. Even those who did not revere and respect him in this life? Even
those who rejected the message that he is the only Savior and the only
way to eternal joy? Yes!
But it may not be the type of worship that we normally think of. We
worship Christ because we are so joyful and grateful that he has taken
care of the punishment of our sins. Unbelievers will worship Christ
because they will see that everything
they worshipped during their
life on earth was inferior and not able to bring them everlasting peace.
The things that we worship and idolize in this life are helpless when it
comes to saving us. Even unbelievers will have to say that Jesus Christ
alone is worthy of praise and is King over all, when they are imprisoned
forever because of their rejection of their Savior.
God commands us not to honor and worship anything more than him. We are
not to make idols of people or money or pleasure, but only serve and
love God. When you walk into temptation and your heart becomes too close
to what you have in this life, look to this son of man, so you can find
peace and reassurance as you face the last day. See clearly again that
he is worthy of your praise, because he is the king who has come to
conquer sin and all its consequences. By his powerful resurrection,
Christ your king has removed the curse of death from you and he welcomes
you into his kingdom as an honest and obedient citizen.
II.
His power will last forever
and will never be destroyed
The king at the time when Daniel had his dream from God was a man named
Belshazzar. One day Belshazzar had a feast and he saw a hand that was
writing some mysterious words on the wall. The handwriting basically
told him that his days were numbered and that his power as king would
soon come to an end. He would die and the kingdom would belong to other
people. Daniel had the chance during his lifetime to see the end of the
power of Babylon
and the beginning of the power of Persia. This vision allowed him to
see further into the future. You see a gap in the verses. We go from
verse 1 to verse 13. The verses in between tell us that Daniel saw a
vision of 4 beasts, strange and powerful animals. These beasts
represented conquering kingdoms. The beasts that he saw in this vision
showed him that Persia would be overcome by another
kingdom and the cycle would continue, with stronger kingdoms coming and
destroying the weaker kingdoms.
Is there a survival of the fittest in terms of this sinful world? Yes!
The worldly strong do overcome the weak in order to achieve their
earthly goals, but there is always someone stronger that comes along.
According to the judgment of the world, sometimes we are the strong who
overcome and sometimes we are the weak who are overcome by others.
Kingdoms and governments come and go. Some countries are very old and
their governments are very old, but different people come into power.
Power changes hands, because old rulers die or become irrelevant. It is
true that the power we enjoy in this life comes and goes, like a flower
that blooms brightly for a time, but then withers and dies. In this
life, all good things must come to an end.
But in Daniel’s vision, the one like a “son of man” has
“an everlasting dominion that
will not pass away.” The Kingdom of Christ,
“is one that will never be
destroyed.” We are not talking about power that passes from father
to son, to grandson, to great grandson. We are talking about the power
of one Lord Jesus Christ that lasts forever. The rule of the
Son of God and Son of Man is not temporary. He remains powerful forever.
There will be nothing new to replace his kingdom. There is no more
powerful kingdom that will come along and destroy the power of Christ.
He is all powerful. He is the King of the hill and no one will be able
to push him down.
Do we have to wait until the end of time to enjoy being part of the Kingdom of Christ? On the last day, everyone will
have to acknowledge that the
Kingdom
of Christ does come
out on top, greater than any government that we try to establish in this
life. But even now, as we gather here for worship, we acknowledge Christ
as our King. He has been lifted up to the right hand of God and already
he has the authority, glory, and sovereign power as our eternal Lord and
Savior. Jesus said to his disciples when he met with them in
Galilee
after he rose from the dead. “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Although we are not yet in the glory of heaven and made perfect, yet we
are part of the everlasting dominion that will never be destroyed. That
is why God calls us to hold onto our faith in Christ as our most
precious treasure. Nothing else lasts. Every ambition of this life will
be destroyed to make way for the eternal kingdom. There simply is
nothing more valuable than knowing Christ as your Savior and being a
part of his everlasting kingdom.
What are your goals? How do you decide what is most important for you.
How do you decide what is most important in your family? Do you weigh
all your decisions in view of the fact that you are a Christian and part
of the Kingdom that will last forever? As you evaluate people’s
decisions and events in our world, do you do so with the light of the
Word of God helping you to see clearly?
Jesus tells us not to store up for ourselves treasures on earth that can
be lost or destroyed. Instead, he calls us to store up treasures that
will last forever and never be destroyed. There are many filters through
which we can see our lives and the lives of those around us. But the
filter of God’s Word is the best, because it helps us see from the
viewpoint of what will last forever and never be destroyed. Seeing
things from our place in the kingdom of Christ
is the best way to see things.
Be careful that you don’t rely too much on the powerful things of this
life. It may be your own physical and mental strength. It may be
powerful government. It may be a powerful business you work for. Of
course, you know all these things can grow weak and collapse. Twenty
years ago the Berlin Wall was torn down. Many people consider that the
end of Communism. Its goals unmet, that philosophy of communism, that
many feared would overcome world, fell flat on its face.
Don’t trust in earthly power. Fall down before God in weakness and
humility, seeing yourself as powerless. Your sin has made you powerless
to build anything that lasts forever. You cannot save yourself. You
cannot save anyone else. No power on earth can rescue you from the well
deserved punishment of your sins. But the power of heaven’s king has
rescued you. He died for you and through the Spirit, you die with him in
order to live forever.
By the work of the Holy Spirit, your life in Christ has begun and will
not end. With Christ as your king, you are part of his everlasting
dominion that will not pass away, that will never be destroyed. Eternal
life has begun. The Holy Spirit has connected you with your eternal
King. Death for you as a Christian means that your soul will go to rest
with God. The resurrection on the last day means that your body and soul
will come together, perfectly formed. As Christians, you are winners,
now and forever, coming out on top in the Kingdom of Christ.
Conclusion
–
Maybe not all extreme words are bad. Trusting in Christ, your King and
Savior, some extreme words are wonderful to repeat and confess and
share. Everlasting? Never be destroyed? All people will worship? Yeah,
that describes the Kingdom of Christ.
It describes the place and the one who loved us so much, who gave up the
crown of glory, so that we can share it with him. It describes my Lord
and my Savior, the one that I owe every moment of my life. Rule over our
hearts and minds, eternal king, that we may enjoy your peace forever!
Amen.
