OK, all right, if you take your
Bibles and turn with me to Daniel, Daniel chapter nine. Daniel chapter
nine. It's right after Ezekiel, Daniel
chapter nine. And we'll be looking at verses
one through 19, this is a prayer of Daniel. This is the prayer
of Daniel concerning the deliverance of Israel. The scripture says, in the first
year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which
was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. In the first
year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number
of years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the
prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation
of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord
to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting, and with sackcloth
and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my
God. and made my confession and said,
O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and
mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments,
we have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly
and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy
judgments, neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets
which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
and to all the people of the land." Now, the title of this
message is Faith is Not Presumption. Faith is not presumption. There is a great difference between
faith and presumption. Daniel begins this and he says
and confesses, O Lord, to us belongeth confusion. In verse
8, O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face. Because we have seen
it. We have seen it. Daniel was reading
the prophet Jeremiah. And in Jeremiah chapter 25, the
Lord declares plainly that seventy years are determined. That Israel
was to be captive for seventy years, and at the end of seventy
years they were to be released. And as Daniel was reading this
prophecy, he realized that the time was at hand. He realized
that Israel was about to be delivered. Now that must have thrilled his
heart. Do you not think that was thrilling to him? That he
was alive in the time that Israel was going to be released. He
was alive during the time that God was going to fulfill His
prophecy and restore Israel. And so after Daniel understood
the prophecy, what do you suppose that he would do? Did Daniel read the prophecy
and say, yeah, well, I accept that. Now I'm just going to sit
back and wait for it. No, that's presumption. That's
not faith. That's presumption. Daniel's attitude was not one
of laziness. Did he say in his heart, well,
God's prophesied this, God's determined it. And so now then,
we'll just float along until it happens. No, that's not Daniel's
response. Daniel, by faith, the Scripture
says, set his face. In verse 3, he said, I set my
face unto the Lord. He understood the prophecy and
he set himself in faith toward God. In faith. set himself to
prayer. He understood God was promising
and that this was the appointed time, but he didn't presume upon
it. He sought the Lord for it. Now,
friends, this was the grace of God, no doubt, to deliver Israel.
How much more is it the grace of God to deliver his spiritual
Israel, to deliver his people from their sin? Daniel, he believed the Word
of God and pursued it by prayer and supplication unto God. He
asked God for it. We know the Scripture tells us
that God says, I have purpose to save Israel and I'll save
them, yet I will be sought for it. We should seek the Lord by
faith. We should believe and trust His
Word. Is it not true that all of our
understanding and faith comes by the grace of God? Daniel understood
this by the grace of God, and we understand the gospel only
by the grace of God. And there's a great difference
between having faith by the grace of God and being presumptuous. Now, when I use that word presumptuous,
I want you to know what it means. It means to boil over or to seethe
over with pride. Now, there is no worse kind of
pride than the pride of grace. That is the worst kind of pride,
is the pride of grace. This word presumptuous as mentioned
in Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 20. I'll read it to you.
It says, But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word
in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that
shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. Friends, there are many presumptuous
preachers. There are many who are boastful
and proud concerning what they call the gospel. Well, how do
we know if a man is being presumptuous or bold? What's the difference? What's the difference in boldness
of faith and pride of presumption? What's the difference? Well,
God says the difference is this. When a prophet is proud and presumes
something, If it doesn't come to pass, he's not sin of God. If it doesn't come to pass, he's
not sin of God. Daniel understood that 70 years
were determined, and he knew this and believed this and set
his face to God for it. He didn't presume upon it. He
wasn't proud or arrogant that he understood it. He confessed
that he was nothing but a sinner and that this was by grace. And what happened to Israel?
Were they delivered? Yes, they were. They were delivered. The 70 years that God determined,
they were delivered. So we know that this prophecy
was true and that Daniel believed this prophecy that was true. The true preacher of the gospel
may be bold and sure, but never proud or presumptuous. The gospel
message we preach is sure not because of our boldness, not
because of our sincerity. It is true because God says it.
The gospel is true because God says it. And I can be bold in
declaring the Word of God to you because it is In fact, the
Word of God. How do we know? Because it has
been accomplished. All that God says He will do,
He has done. And we are sure that whatever
God says He will do in the future, it shall be done. We are trusting
in the Word of God. Now, the deliverance. the deliverance
of spiritual Israel, which is God's people, we know was by
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
that has come and accomplished what God has promised. Now, we
do not presume, but believe the Word of God that says that God
chose a people for Himself. We believe the Word of God. We
believe that God the Father, in great love, in great grace,
chose a people from eternity for himself. Go to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 3, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him, in Christ, before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him, in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself." Why? Why would He do such a thing? According to the good pleasure
of His will. God in eternity chose a people
that He would save. Go over to 2nd Timothy, 2nd Timothy,
chapter 1. 2nd Timothy, chapter 1 and verse 9. The apostle says, who God hath
saved us. and called us with an holy calling."
Now, why would He do such a thing? Not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus when? Before the world began. See, the root of all our faith
rests in the salvation of God from eternity. God has loved his people with
an everlasting love. You see, God never began to love
me. God always loved me. God does
not change. You see, if God were to begin
to love me, then he would have to change. No, God does not change. He tells us in Jeremiah that
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. An everlasting love. So I'm not presumptuous to say
that I was chosen by God from eternity. It's amazing. And I'm not proud because nothing
I did deserved it. Nothing I ever could do for God
would merit such a thing. as being chosen by God. Number
two, we preach that the Word of God, we preach it boldly and
not presumptuously, because Jesus, the Son of God, has accomplished
our salvation. Not only did God purpose it,
but Jesus Christ has come and finished it. Finished it. The work is done. This is the
gospel message. The world's message is do. Do
this, do this, do this, do this, and then God will save you. That's
not the gospel. The gospel message is done. One
word. Done. Finished. Complete. Jesus Christ has completed our
salvation. God promised that His Savior
would come, and a Savior came. He promised that it would be
a man born of the seed of woman, and he was. He was born of the
Virgin Mary. He said he would be righteous,
and he was righteous. He said he would die, and he
died. He said he would be offered for sin, and he was offered for
sin. You see, our sin, the sin of
his elect, were imputed to Him. They were charged to Christ. And He was made to bear the guilt
of our sins in His own body on the tree. And God truly punished
my sins. All of my sins were punished
in the Savior, in Christ. He died under the wrath of God. He laid down His life, and by
His one offering, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Hebrews 10, 14. Perfected. Forever. Well, I'll tell you
what, when that was written, I wasn't born, and neither were
you. But He hath already perfected them that were sanctified. Them
that were chosen of God. And we believe this by faith.
We're not presuming upon this. This is the Word of God. This
is the Word of God. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I'll show you this in 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. Beginning in verse 19. I'm not
being presumptuous. This is what God says. Verse
19 says to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath
committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are
ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be you reconciled to God. For he hath made him, Christ,
to be sin for us. Now, when you understand that,
let me know. I don't fully understand what that is. The only thing
I can understand is that God took my sins and put them in
His own Son and punished Him as the guilty party so that I might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. that I might be made the righteousness
of God? I'm not presuming. I'm not proud
or boastful that I have done anything to merit the righteousness
of God. But God, through Christ, has
given me His righteousness and paid for my sins by the blood
of His own Son. And I'm not presumptuous to tell
you that God the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all flesh. This was prophesied in Joel,
but go to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, the apostle Peter
and the other apostles were given the Spirit of God, and they began
to speak in other languages. What a wonderful sight that must
have been. Everybody was gathered together
in all different kinds of languages, and when they began to preach,
everybody heard in their own language. What a miracle. What
a miracle. And he said this was because
it was testified by the gospel. Verse 17, And it shall come to
pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit
upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream
dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour
out in those days my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And
I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in earth beneath,
blood and fire and vapor and smoke. The sun shall be turned
to darkness, the moon to blood, before that great and notable
day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
This is the reason for the pouring out of the Spirit. The Spirit
of God is poured out now, not just to the Jews, not just to
that one nation. It is now poured out to all people
of all nations. Now, is it saying that God gives
His Spirit to every man without exception? No, that's not what
it's saying. It's declaring that God gives
His Spirit regardless of who you are, where you came from.
That has no bearing on this subject. That's wonderful because there
for thousands of years, only the Jews, were given the gospel,
and very few of us Gentiles were allowed to see it or understand
it. But now the Spirit is poured
out on all types of men. Women, bond, free, male, female,
religious sinner, vile sinner, same thing. Whosoever. Whosoever. believes on the Lord
shall be saved. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. And how does this come? How does
the Spirit of God come to you? How are men saved? By the hearing
of the word. This is how the Spirit moves. By the preaching of the gospel. Men are presumptuous to think
that God saves sinners any other way. God will not save sinners
by their own understanding, by their own academic knowledge
of the Bible. God saves sinners through the
preaching of the gospel. Go to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. And I'll tell you this, what we do
here, the world thinks is foolish. What we do here, the world believes
to be foolish. The world loves to entertain
people. They think the best way to get
people into church is to entertain them. But that's not God's means of
salvation. Look at it for yourself. Look
at verse 18 of 1 Corinthians chapter 1. It says, For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. The preaching
of the cross to them that perish is foolishness. But unto us which
are saved, the preaching of the gospel of God's grace is the
power of God unto salvation. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of the
world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of the world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. You see, by earthly
wisdom we cannot know God. It is impossible for men to learn
God by themselves, by their own wisdom. It pleased God that by
the foolishness of preaching to save them that belief. Why
do we do this? Because it pleased God, not because
it's popular. Obviously, it's not. Obviously,
the preaching of the gospel is not popular in our day. But I'm
not going to put my finger in the air and see what's popular.
I'm not going to be presumptuous. God's Word says that it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Well,
I'm going to preach. And I'm only going to preach
the Word of God. I really don't care about opinions. Everybody has opinions. But your
opinion is just about as good as mine. It's worthless. The
only thing that matters is God's Word. And I'm saying this boldly and
not presumptuously. I don't understand the gospel
because I have great intellect. That's not why I understand the
gospel. I understand because God gave me understanding. And
he gave it to me by the preaching of the gospel. And the Spirit
of God comes by the preaching of the gospel. And this gospel
we preach is by faith, not presumptuous, because God raised Jesus from
the dead. How do I know this is true? How
do I know God saved sinners? Because Christ is risen from
the dead. He's risen. In John 17, he said, Father,
I have glorified you on the earth. Now glorify me that I may give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given me. I'm not presumptuous
in this, I know God saves His people from their sin. He uses preaching and His Spirit
takes the Word of God that I speak or that any man of God speaks
and He delivers it to the people by His Spirit and they believe. I know that God will call His
people. Those that He chose, those that
Christ died for, the Spirit of God will come and give life to
them. And they will believe. In John 6, the Lord Jesus said, All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Now, that's great. You don't
have to be proud or presumptuous. Jesus said, all that come to
me, I won't cast you out. For I came down not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me, and this is the
Father's will which has sent me, that of all he has given
me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day. This is the gospel message, that
our salvation is sure. Sure. You see, Daniel knew Israel's
deliverance was sure by the Word of God. And I know this, my salvation
is sure because the Word of God says it. And I'm sure about this. that
I add nothing to this salvation. I'm sure of this. Daniel said,
I have sinned. Now, there's one thing about
me that you should all know by now, that all I have ever done
and all I am doing and all I'll ever do is nothing but sin. I like this statement, a man by nature cannot not sin. That's all we can do. Everything
we do is mixed with sin. Everything. I confess that, don't
you? Do you believe God's Word concerning
this? Isaiah, chapter 64. Come on, go with me. We're almost
there. Isaiah, chapter 64. Verse 6. But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And we all do fade as the leaf,
and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. There is
none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take
hold of thee. For thou hast hid thy face from
us, and hast consumed us because of our iniquities." Do you see
that all our righteousnesses, all your best stuff, is nothing
but filthy rags and not worthy to be accepted? So then, I'm telling you in boldness
that God receives all the glory. God receives all the glory for
my salvation. I do not dare add one thing to
the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Paul says, if you
add one thing, Christ shall profit you nothing, in Galatians. He's
talking about circumcision. That church wanted to add circumcision. And he said, if you add circumcision,
you're lost. I don't add one thing. Not even my faith. You see, my
faith don't count for anything. Because my faith is given to
me. I don't even have faith by myself. Faith is a gift of God. For by grace you are saved through
faith and that. That faith is not of yourself. It, faith, is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Lest any man should be presumptuous
or proud. Grace is a humiliating gospel. It puts man where he belongs
in the dust and exalts God where He is on His throne. And therefore, I preach, I throw
the message at a venture. I don't know where it lands or
what it does, That's not my business. God does that. God saves sinners. He's promised to do so. Why will
you not believe? Why would you trust your own
self? God says He'll do it. I pray that you do believe. And
if you do, speak boldly but not with pride. Speak boldly concerning
your Savior. Boast of Him. I pray that God
blesses through your hearts.