May I please Almighty God to
bless us this morning as we meditate in His Word. Let us turn to the
book of Daniel, chapter 11, and we'll read verse 32. The book
of Daniel, chapter 11, and we'll read verse 32. And such as do wickedly against
the covenant shall be corrupted by flatteries, but the people
that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. You may wonder this morning why
I didn't read this 11th chapter in Daniel. Normally when the
reading It contains the texts which I hope to preach from.
Well, the 11th chapter of Daniel is obviously a prophecy. It was spoken to Daniel by an
angel and it doesn't really have any names in it. So it's really
quite difficult to make any assessment as to who and why and where the
prophecy relates to. In fact, if you read commentaries,
and there's quite a few which I look at usually, they all refer
to this prophecy and the various kings it refers to, which is
clearly enunciated in the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha is something that
we tend not to refer to, and I've never read the Apocrypha,
but it's interesting that they do refer to it, and I think from
historical standpoint, there's no problem with the Apocrypha. You might ask young people, especially,
why we don't have the Apocrypha included in our Bible today.
Because it was included in the 1611 version, the King James
Version, it was included, and in fact it was still included
in the King James Version until, unbelievably, 1885. So it was
there for a long time. And you might say, well, when
was it first considered not to be part of the Bible? Well, Luther
himself considered it not to be part of the Bible. And in
the 1500s, when he did his translation, he didn't include it in what
we term the Canon of Scripture. But it was not really until 1647,
when the Westminster Divines met, that they considered it
was not part of the true Scripture, and therefore didn't include
it in what they were considering as the canon or the books of
the true Bible. So from that point really it's
been omitted. And you may say, well, what's the relevance? Well,
let me just say this. There are errors in the Apocrypha. The Roman Catholics include still
today the Apocrypha in their Bible. But it's not included. And it's not included, and just
to give you one or two instances why we consider there are errors
in it. First of all, it intimates that
if you give alms, that means if you put money in the collection,
then your sins will be removed. But of course that's one of the
great tenets of the Roman Catholic faith and we don't believe in
that. It also says that prayer should
be made for the dead. Again, we don't include and think
that is a true statement. So it's another reason why we
don't actually include the apocrypha. And then thirdly, they recommend
praying to saints who have died already. And again, it's another
thing that we don't agree with. We only think that we can come
to God through our mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so
therefore we have those three examples. And then also, in the
Apocrypha, the Lord Jesus and the Apostles never made mention
of any of the books of the Apocrypha in the Lord when he was on the
earth or in the writings of the Apostles. So I think we have
good reason, therefore, not to consider it as part of the true,
holy Word of God. That doesn't mean to say that
we should never look at it, we should never read it. And perhaps
I should have read it, and should have read it in my life, but
I haven't done so. Anyway, coming back to the basic
question, that's really why I didn't read the 11th of Daniel, because
it makes reference to a number of things, of battles and of
kings, but no names are given. So I thought it was therefore
best to not include it, otherwise it wouldn't have made a lot of
sense to us this morning. Anyway, turning then to this
32nd verse, which I think is relatively clear. And such as
do wickedly against the covenant, shall he corrupt by flatteries.
But the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. We have a great adversary, the
devil, as I'm sure you're all very aware. I hope you're very
aware anyway. And he goes about as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. He wants to turn us from the
truth of God's word. He wants to direct us to believing
that which is not true. And he desires to turn us away
from the Word of God. And that's really what is stated
here. And such as do wickedly against the covenant, which is
really speaking here against the Word of God. So many people
today think that they can choose what parts of the Bible they
want to follow and then turn away from other parts which they
don't want to follow. They think it's up to them to
make a choice and make a decision. Well, the reality is, if we listen
to what the devil says, and if we turn away from the truth of
the Word of God, what are we doing? We're doing what the Word
says very clearly here. We're doing that which is wicked. And that's a very solemn statement,
isn't it? To do wicked things. And that's
to listen to what Satan is encouraging us in. We should not therefore
turn away from that. In actual fact, David in the
Psalms, in the 5th Psalm, he tells us this very wise words. For there is no faithfulness
in their mouths. A wicked person is not a faithful
person. Their inward part is very wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulcher
and they flatter with their tongue. people do flatter with their
tongue and the devil flatters people to think that they're
being very wise and they're very very clever to criticize the
word of God you think of the many atheists who exist in the
day and age in which we live always have done and the devil
flatters them to think they're being very wise think they're
being very clever and thinks they're making a stand by saying
and doing wicked things. Flattery. Flattery is a very
dangerous thing. We can all sometimes be subject
to flattery. We need to be very careful that
we turn away from it. You might say, what really is
flattery? Well, flattery is really false praise. It's something
which we don't really need and it's something which we don't
deserve. And it's false. And the devil's very good at
false flattery, to make people say things to us which only feeds
our pride. It doesn't, in fact, do us any
real good. In actual fact, it's disastrous. And so it is false praise. Be very careful that you and
I are not subject to false praise. We all love praise don't we?
Naturally we all love praise. Sometimes it's right and sometimes
it's good and sometimes it's very humbling when we realise
that God has enabled us to do things and we should always acknowledge
that when God enables us to do things we shouldn't claim any
credit ourselves. We should acknowledge it's God
who's given us wisdom. God's given us the ability to
do things. In our academic career, in our
work life, the Lord's given us the ability to do things and
to solve problems. We should never claim it ourselves. We should also acknowledge it's
the goodness of God who's given us understanding, who's given
us wisdom. The devil doesn't want us to
do that. He wants to claim it ourselves. He wants us to fill
our hearts with pride. So we have a great need to be
directed by the Spirit of God and to not fall under his flattery. He's a great flatterer. There
was someone in the Pilgrim's Progress who loved flattery and
was a flatterer. We have to be very careful that
we don't fall under that snare. We're all sinners. We're all
great sinners. The devil knows how to flatter.
The devil knows how to put things in our path which turns us away
from acknowledging the goodness and mercy and greatness of our
God. Let us be very aware then of
such a condition and such as do wickedly against the covenant
shall he corrupt by flatteries." It's a very straight statement,
isn't it? It's a very clear word and you and I need today, more
than ever, to be very careful that we're not subject to flatteries
and we accept them and therefore it just feeds our pride and doesn't
bring any glory to God. In fact, it detracts from the
glory of God. And we must remember that God
is a generous God, rightly so, and that He will have the honour
and He will have the glory. And what a mercy it is when God
gives us grace to understand that and to appreciate that,
because it enters into our natural lives, it enters into our spiritual
life. We should realise that anything
really Good in our life has been given to us by the Spirit of
God and that will bring things down into a right perspective
and we shall recognise then that left to ourselves we are as nothing.
But what a mercy when God gives us grace to acknowledge it is
of His mercy, it's of His goodness. Everything we have is because
of Him. It's the help he's given, it's
the wisdom he's given. And you see, when we're able
to acknowledge that, what does it do? It brings glory to God. Daniel acknowledged the help
he was given in being able to describe the dreams which the
kings have emanated from God. It wasn't him that had the wisdom. It was God, and we can remember
also David in his life. He acknowledged that it was God
that helped him to destroy the lion and the bear, and it was
also God that would enable him to slay Goliath. And so it came
to pass. It is very important to give
honor to God. And yet, you see, it's very easy
to not give honor to God especially in this atheistic age in which
we live, to think, well, if I say, well, it was God that helped
me, God that gave me wisdom to do this or that, the result will
be people will mock us. Well, so be it. It's much better
to have people mock us than to deny it was the goodness of God
to us which has enabled us to say and to do those things which
have indeed helped us in our natural life. So let us just
heed these words. They're words of grace, they're
words of goodness, tucked away in this book of Daniel, and so
let us remember. Otherwise, what is it we're doing
wickedly if we claim the skill to ourselves? Satan is so subtle. Let us not
do it. We live in an age when it's just
so, left to ourselves. will be just the same. And we
need the help and strength of Almighty God to acknowledge the
goodness and mercy of God toward us. And such as do wickedly against
the covenant, the word of God, the law of God, shall he corrupt
by flatteries. And then we have a little word,
but. Isn't it wonderful? In the word of God, there are
many little words of but. And it just changes the scene.
It directs us to a completely different avenue. And that's
just what it does here. But the people that do know their
God shall be strong and do exploits. Now this throws it the opposite
way, doesn't it? It brings us to our God. Now what a mercy it is this morning.
by the grace of God, and it's only by the grace of God, it's
only by the unmerited favour of God that we are brought to
a position like this, to know our God. But God's people do
know their God. And let's be very clear about
that. We're not like the Athenians
who erect an idol to the unknown God. When God shows to us His
mercy, when He shows to us His love, it is through His grace,
His unmerited favour. And it's wonderful and it's glorious
to know that the Almighty God has looked down from heaven and
has come to us where we are, perhaps in the midst of our mad
world, our mad life. pleasing ourselves, going about
to do that which we want to do, turning away from God, serving
ourselves, to realise that God, the almighty God has stooped
down from heaven itself and has come to us and has stopped us
in our mad career from following the devil, from following his
advice, from doing His will. And we have to acknowledge it
is mercy, it is grace, it is love that has done it. And surely
such a realisation will be very, very humbling. Very humbling
to think that Almighty God, the Ruler of the Universe, has
graciously condescended to come to us in our life on this earth
and to make us aware that he's mindful of us. He knows where
we are. He knows what we're doing. He
knows what we're thinking. And he has an eternal love toward
us. Great is the faithfulness of
our God. Great is His goodness toward
us. But the people that do know their
God. Well, this morning, what a mercy
if you and I can examine our hearts, which is needful to do,
to look within and see whether we have the blessed evidence
of the work of God within us. Carefully trace it out, carefully
examine, search it out to see whether you and I possess the
wonderful favour of Almighty God. And that means that God
has taken us in hand, that means that God has come to us. That means that God has changed
us. He's produced a change. He's
given us a concern about our eternal destiny. He's given us
a concern about what we deserve. He's given us to realise that
we deserve eternal punishment for our sins. He's shown to us
what sin is. He's shown to us how many sins
we've committed. He's shown to us how bad our
sins are. He's shown to us what a great
sinner we are. He's shown to us what we deserve to be cut
off forever and to cast into hell. Now that is the work of
the Spirit of God. And that is an evidence that
we do therefore know our God because our God has caused us
to realise where we were going where we were going going to
an endless eternity in hell now that's a wonderful blessing and
that's a wonderful favour and that is truly The evidence that
we know our God. These people, they know their
God. It's not a false God. It's not
an unknown God. It's the very great God who condescends
to revere Himself unto us as it is not unto the world. To realise He hasn't passed us
by. Many people are passed by. Many people have passed by. What
a mercy today, if you and I can prove that we haven't been passed
by. The God has stopped, you might
say. He's stopped at our door. He's knocked at the door. He's
caused us to open the door. to open the door to the Blessed
Saviour. That's the work of God naturally.
People don't want to open the door to the Lord Jesus Christ.
They want to shut it, because they want to carry on in their
own life. They don't want to bow down before
a gracious Holy God. What a mercy then today, if Almighty
God has come to us so that we have the evidence that we do
know our God. You see, people do know their
God. We don't know God when we pass
out of time into eternity. We know God on this earth. God reveals himself to us on
this earth as the Holy God. as the righteous God, as the
just God, as the God who rules our lives. This is the God that
the Church of God worship. This is the God that the Church
of God bow down to. What a mercy if you and I can
trace in our little lives a time when we bowed down to God. acknowledging that He is the
God. He is the God, like those people
who were worshippers of Baal in Elijah's day when they came
and said that wonderful evidence that God came down and consumed
the sacrifice. He is the God. He is the God. There's only one God. There's
only one true God. And that God is the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. A glorious and wonderful mystery.
of the Trinity. What a flame that is if God in
his love to us has revealed himself to us as he does not unto the
world and we are able therefore to confirm. Perhaps we're trembling,
it's good if you do, to tremble before a great God and yet to
have a humble confidence that this God is my God. What a blessing. What a mercy. If we have that evidence, it
will never be removed. Why? It's the work of God. It's the work of the Spirit of
God to reveal these things to us. A cause for rejoicing. A cause for praise. A cause for
blessing Almighty God to have this wonderful, therefore, relationship
with the Lord. So the Lord has brought us to
this position. We will then know what a mercy
it is to be able to pray to this God, this true God, this Almighty
God, this Ruler, this Ruler of the universe and this One who
is the Ruler in our lives, the One who is our Master, the One
who we want to obey. We don't want to turn away from
this God. We want to obey this God. We want to bow down and
worship this God. This holy God. This gracious
God. This merciful God. We want to
acknowledge Him as our God. The evidence that this God is
our God. But the people that do know their
God? Well, I hope then we have the
evidence that we know this God, because if we do, the Blessed
Spirit of God would have directed us to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. We come under conviction. The
Lord God causes us to come under conviction of our sin. And without
it, without it, the Lord Jesus Christ will mean nothing to us. The Word of God asks the question
in the Lamentation, is it nothing to you or you that pass by? And you can think of that as
somebody that reads the Bible that passes by and it doesn't
mean anything to us. Is it nothing to you or you that
pass by? What does Jesus mean to you? If you're not a convinced sinner,
he won't mean anything to you. But bless God if he does, because
you have need of a Saviour, someone to save you from your sins, someone
to take away your sin, someone to deliver you from the wrath
of God. Who is it? The Lord Jesus Christ. Well then you see what a blessing
it is that the Holy Spirit leads us to Christ and we see by faith
the glorious Saviour Jesus Christ suffering in our place, standing
in our place, bearing the punishment due to us instead. What a mercy that is. What a
wonderful consideration. And if the Holy Spirit applies
that truth with power to our soul, what we should know then
is the Saviour died upon that cross at Calvary to atone for
all our sins. All our sins taken away, washed
away in the precious, invaluable blood of the Saviour. Then the death of Christ will
mean something to us. It won't just be an historical
truth. It will mean something to us.
It will be very real. Because we will have to say,
my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. That is the reality in believing. That is the reality in knowing
the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. And it is the grace
and glorious work of the Spirit to bring us there. You won't
come there by yourself. You won't come there by yourself.
And because you can't come there by yourself, when the Holy Spirit
brings you there, it's then that we have the evidence of this
Word being so, so true. but the people that do know their
God. We know their God because it's
the work of the Holy Spirit. Now all of us must know this
before we die without any doubt. Our sister Sylvia knew this so
clearly and was able to speak of it so clearly and so often. Her joy and her privilege and
her pleasure was to exalt the Saviour. We should be very thankful that
we've had in our midst a good testimony, a good example of
one who truly knew her God. She knew where she was going
and she was looking forward to that day. But the people that do know their
God, what will these people be like? Well, we're told they will
be strong and do exploits. Exploits of course mean achievements,
things that God enables us to do, things perhaps naturally
and things for his honour and for his glory. We must always
remember it's God that enables us to do these things. These
people shall be strong and they shall do exploits. You and I might feel to be very
weak in and of ourselves. Well, that's a good thing, isn't
it? To feel ourselves weak. No, the Apostle Paul he was brought
down if he needed to be brought down at one time he was a very
proud man before he was converted and he thought he was doing everything
that was right but of course he was doing everything that
was wrong but nonetheless the Lord brought him down and he
brought him down and they brought him to that occasion when he was given of thorn in
the flesh. God gave him it. He didn't just
pick it up by the roadside. God gave him it. We're not told
what it was. We don't need to know because
therefore whatever God does in each of our lives we can always
come to the conclusion that God has given me this thorn in the
flesh. And it's not necessarily one
that the person next to us has received. But it's good to realize
that God, in His love toward us, does sometimes give us a
thorn in the flesh. And He gave it to the Apostle
Paul, and you might think, well, here's a man of God, he's going
to be able to pray, and he'll be taken away. We were told he
prayed three times. And I'm sure that was really
desiring it might be, but it wasn't God's purpose to remove
it. And don't therefore be disappointed
sometimes in our lives when things aren't answered in the way that
we expect. Because God has two ways of answering
prayer. He either answers it by saying
yes, or he answers it by saying no. We always want yes, don't
we? But God knows sometimes when
it's best for us to have a no. And therefore, on this occasion,
God did so to Paul. He didn't take away the thorn
in the flesh. But he didn't leave him and he
didn't bless him. And this is what the Apostle
tells us in the 2nd Corinthians, in the 12th chapter, the 9th
verse, he said, this is what Paul said, my grace is sufficient
for thee. The grace of God, the unmerited
favor of God, what a blessing that is. 4. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. That means that when you and
I are strong in ourselves, when you and I think we can cope with
things by ourselves, when you and I think we can solve problems
by ourselves, that means we're strong in ourselves. The Lord
weakens our strength in the way. And so he tells us what the Lord
said to him. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. And his conclusion, it's a good
conclusion he makes. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in mine infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. What he realized was the value
of the knowledge of Christ was far greater than anything that
this world could give to him. And that's a great blessing,
isn't it? To know that, to come to that knowledge. And it's only
God that gives it to us. But bless God when he does. And then to be able to humbly
acknowledge, like the Apostle did, Therefore will I rather
glory in my infirmities. Not something that you and I
would do naturally, but it's when God comes and blesses us
with his strength. When we know God, the people
that do know their God shall be strong, shall be strong in
the Lord. not in ourselves, in the Lord. How many people we have a record
of in the Word of God who are made strong in the Lord. Wonderful
blessings, wonderful favours to recognise this. You may remember
that the Prophet Haggai, who lived of course at the same time
as Daniel in those remarkable days when Israel or Judah came
back to Jerusalem from Babylon most wonderful really when those
kings Cyrus and Darius were used to send them back and Daniel
lived and Zechariah lived and Haggai lived and of course they
weren't easy times and there was trials and difficulties as
we should know if you read Ezra and Nehemiah you know it wasn't
easy but nonetheless the blessing was that God was with them and
Haggai instructs Zerubbabel and he tells him this, Yet now be
strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord. There's the confidence. And be strong, O Joshua, also
son of Josaneth the high priest. He doesn't stop there. And be
strong, all ye people. All the people needed to be strong. So do we today. We all need to
be strong in the Lord. Not strong in ourselves. Strong
in the Lord. And be strong, all ye people
of the land, saith the Lord, and work. For I am with you,
saith the Lord of hosts. God knows what you and I have
to do in our life on this earth. We're not born in this world
just to sit around and just to enjoy ourselves and just to please
ourselves. God has a work for all of his
people, all of us. And we should desire to know
what the Lord would have us to do. When the Apostle Paul was
converted on that Damascus road, what was the first thing he said?
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? He wanted to serve the
Lord. And may you and I be found like
that, willing to serve the Lord in our little life, short as
it is, on this earth. A willingness to serve the Lord. What a blessing it is, not to
go around looking for things that we can just do and occupy
ourselves with in our homes but to thank God for the wonderful
privilege we have of serving God and what a mercy it is and
so may we be like the Apostle and be like the servants of God
who truly were found desiring to serve the Lord We remember
those who were made strong in the Lord. We remember a number
of people, but perhaps Jehoshaphat is a well-known character. He
was a king and he had a great difficulty at one time. He was
surrounded by the enemy. They were very great. He didn't
know how he was going to work and what the result would be.
So what did he do? He prayed to the God in heaven.
And he was honest, and it's so good to be honest, isn't it?
He said, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon
thee. Well, God heard that prayer.
And God raised up a prophet, Benaniah, to say what the Lord
would do. And it was most remarkable. He
was to tell the people they wouldn't need to fight in the battle. How could that happen? did happen
and it can happen. You may have a great problem
before you. You may think you've got a great
battle on your hands. You see the enemy and you think
you're not going to win. Be strong in the Lord. Trust
in the Lord. Hope in the Lord. Because what
did the Lord do? Well, He set the enemy against
itself. They destroyed themselves. But what
happened before, and it's very relevant, the Lord gave them
confidence that God would grant the victory as had been prophesied. And so the first thing they did
as they began was to praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! They had to believe in what Jehoshaphat
had prayed and what Ben and I had said would come to pass, would
come to pass. It's a great blessing, isn't
it, when God gives us faith to believe. The Word of God tells
us, a solemn Word, without faith it is impossible to please God. So when you and I come to God
in prayer, May we be blessed with that faith to humbly believe,
and worthy as we are, He will hear, because we pray for Jesus
Christ's sake, and we are heard because of His merit, not because
of our merit. Well, be strong. Jehoshaphat
was indeed strong in the Lord. David was strong in the Lord
on many occasions. Many battles he fought, didn't
he? And he was reliant upon the Lord to fight the battles. He prayed to God for direction. Sometimes God said, no, don't
go and fight. Other times he said, go and fight.
See, God heard and answered his prayers and what wonderful victories
David gained, gained not from his own skill and strength, and
it's so lovely, isn't it, that well-known account of Goliath,
how he went in the strength of the Lord, I come in the name of the Lord. He was strong in the Lord. If you just ponder that and think
that although he was probably quite skilled in slinging stones. Nonetheless there was Goliath
no doubt walking down the opposite hill and he slung that stone
and it went probably to one of the very few places that were
available that didn't have armour over it, the forehead. Perhaps
part of the forehead was even covered with armour. But you
see the Lord directed that stone. The Lord granted the victory. He was strong in the Lord. His
confidence was in God, and God granted the wonderful blessing
and the wonderful victory. And so we can think of these
things, and of course the apostles had many wonderful deliverances
in their lives, and the Lord stood by them and strengthened
them, enabled them to cure people, heal people, He gave them that
strength to rely upon Him. We have the same God today, my
friends, the same Almighty God, who is now risen, risen from
the dead and ascending into glory. And there He sits on the Father's
right hand to answer our prayers today and to strengthen us and
be strong and to do exploits, to be blessed with achievements. These people that I mentioned,
they were blessed with achievements. God granted them achievements
for what they were able to seek because their confidence was
in God. What a blessing today. It's that
God grants us that true ability to commit our way unto the Lord,
to believe that he will give us strength, to do his will,
We live in a dark age, but we live in an age where God hasn't
changed, where God is able still today to do far more exceedingly
abundantly than we can ask or even think. He's able to bring
about a wonderful time of blessing. He's able to bring about a wonderful
time of blessing through our little lives, insignificant as
they may be. What a mercy then if we can commit
our way unto the Lord, and to seek that we might be useful
in His sight, and useful to do His will, and to desire to please
Him, and to testify of our beliefs, that we are indeed true witnesses. We are not those who turn our
back upon the things of God, but acknowledge He is the Lord. Well, what a blessing then to
have such a word as this this morning to remember the truth
of it. You may think of those worthies
in the 11th of Hebrews. The Apostle gives a long list,
doesn't he? And as he comes down to the end of that list he finally
says those who quenched the violence of fire escaped the edge of the
sword and a weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in sight,
turned to flight, the armies of the aliens. These were ordinary
people that God strengthened. We have a wonderful account,
a wonderful record, a wonderful word of God to help us in the
day and age in which we live and to believe therefore that
as the Lord strengthen his saints in days of old. He can strengthen
us today because the Lord is the same yesterday and today
and forever, an unchanging God. What a mercy. And so, may we
indeed go continually, not in our strength. Those wonderful
words, I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make
mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. There's our
secret. Amen.