Turn with me, if you would, now
to Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 2. I got to my study Monday morning
and I opened Daniel chapter 3. because I thought we were finished
with chapter two and I immediately started seeing things and writing
things and just enjoying myself. And for some reason, the whole
time I was writing, I kept thinking, this feels like I ought to be
preaching this on Sunday morning. Maybe we're going to go somewhere
else for Wednesday night. When you have many messages to
do, you know which ones they are most of the time. I can start
a message and know this is the last message I'm going to preach
this week, you know, Sunday evening. But I kept working on chapter
three, thinking this feels like, doesn't feel like Wednesday night,
feels like Sunday morning or just another time. I kept feeling
that into Tuesday morning and I ended up having a little email
conversation with a brother who lives in another state and he
was being very kind and very encouraging to me and we had
this exchange back and forth and in his last email, to me,
he ended it with two verses of scripture. And when I read those
two verses of scripture, I realized I know why chapter three
does not feel like Wednesday night. This is Wednesday night. I want to bring this message
to you and I feel that I have not yet properly conveyed it
on these pages. I'm begging the Lord to make
it clear right now. I have something that is just,
again, as soon as I read those two verses, it just hit me like
a ton of bricks, as we say. You know, whatever our Lord will
give us in this study through Daniel, I wanna take our time
with it and enjoy it. I don't wanna hurry through this
for the sake of hurrying through this. Sometimes I think I feel
that way, like I need to, like we've been in Matthew for a long
time now, we gotta hurry through this. Why, where are we going?
Honestly, where are we going? I was feeling so blessed the
other day thinking how much I have loved being in Matthew. It has
felt so special to me, and this feels so special to me. I just
feel like everywhere I'm going, it's just a comfortable place
to be. It's just a comforting place
to be. And I just, you know, what do we need to get in a hurry
for? We'll just keep doing this until the Lord comes and gets
us. But the Lord blessed my heart,
you know, from something in chapter two again. So we're going to
take our time, we're going to look at it, we're going to hopefully
enter into it, say amen to it. Let me read what will be our
text and then I want to read to you the two verses that this
brother sent to me that got my attention and blessed my heart.
Daniel 2 verse 26 says, The king answered and said to
Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, are thou able to make known unto
me the dream which I have seen and the interpretation thereof?
Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, the secret
which the king hath demanded cannot the wise The astrologers, the magicians,
the soothsayers show unto the king, but there is a God in heaven
that revealeth secrets and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar
what shall be in the latter days. Now let me show you the verses
that this brother sent to me. Hold your place right here and
turn back to Jeremiah chapter nine. Back toward Genesis, a
few books to Jeremiah chapter nine. Jeremiah 9 verses 23 and 24 is
what he wrote down. Thus saith the Lord, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glorieth Glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me. That I am the Lord which
exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight,
saith the Lord. As soon as I read that, I had
a pausing moment. in light of studying Daniel and
the revelation of these secret things, all of these revelations
of secret things, I immediately related that to God's people
who have had this great mystery revealed to them. If we belong
to the Lord God, we have had a great mystery revealed to us,
a great mystery. And it's the mystery of Christ.
The mystery of what the gospel actually is. And that's the point
right there. If I can convey what I'm trying
to convey, it's this right here. The mystery of what the gospel
actually is. People talk about the gospel
and I say this with a broken heart for men and women. I don't
say this in judgment. I don't say this. I say this
with a broken heart, but this is the honest truth. People talk
about the gospel. They supposedly, you know, they
say that they preach the gospel. People say that all the time.
Oh yeah, he preaches the gospel. People sing about the gospel. They have these huge gospel singings. They have all of these tactics
and everything that they do to try to witness the gospel. People
are trying to witness the gospel. But here's the problem. They
don't actually know what the gospel is. They don't actually
know what the gospel is. It amazes me how many people
promote the gospel who have no idea what the gospel actually
is. God's people have the mystery
of what the gospel actually is revealed to them. God's people
have had the announcement of Christ revealed to them. God's people have had the mystery
of why Christ came into this world revealed to them. They see that he came to accomplish
a work and he accomplished it. They see that he didn't just
wander around to see if he could help anybody in any way. They
see that every step he took, he was earning righteousness
for his people. That's what he did. Every step
he took, he earned righteousness for his people. God's people
see that in every drop of blood that he spilled, he paid the
sin debt for his people. God's people are among the few
that realize it is finished. It is finished. God's people
are among the few that realize it is finished, and it's very,
very few. God's people are the only ones
who have seen Christ in all the Scripture. And we'll say that
one again. God's people are the only ones who have seen Christ
in all the scripture. God's people are the only ones
who have been caused to see that every story in this book points
us to Christ. Every word that speaks of Christ
points us to Christ. Every word that speaks of man
points us to Christ. And we'll repeat that. Every
word that speaks of Christ points us to Christ. Every word that speaks of man
points us to Christ. Every law points us to Christ. Every prophecy points us to Christ. The things that the scripture
says Christ must do for his people, Christ did for his people. And the things that the scripture
says man must do as his people, Christ did for his people. I'm
going to repeat all that. Everything that the scripture
says Christ must do for his people, Christ did it for his people.
And everything that the scripture says man must do as his people,
Christ did it for his people. Does that make sense? If it does,
you know, the mystery. God's people are the only ones
who have had the mystery of Jesus Christ revealed to them. When
you hear somebody say, and I can't tell you how many times I've
heard this. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard this.
When you hear somebody say, well, now this scripture over here
is talking about Christ, but this one's talking about man.
They'll get into one of the epistles. Well, the first half of that
epistle is about Christ. Now the last half is all about
man. When you hear somebody say that, you're listening to a person
who has not had the mystery revealed to them. Last night, a few of us were
talking about some of these denominations that believe in election. Many
denominations do. Limited atonement. But in the
process, they've still missed Christ. They've still missed
Christ. Can a person believe in election
and still miss Christ and wind up in hell? Can a person believe
in election, still miss Christ and wind up in hell? Absolutely. And God's people know why. God's
people know why. God's people have had the mystery
revealed to them that election is not salvation. Election is not salvation. The one we are elected in is
salvation. You say, what's the difference?
Life and death? That's the difference. Limited atonement is not salvation. Another way of saying that is
particular redemption. Particular redemption is not
salvation. The redeemer. The atoner is salvation. You say, I don't
understand what you're talking about. Then beg God to reveal
the mystery. The mystery that starts with
Christ, stays on Christ, and ends with Christ. Not doctrine,
Christ. Samian. was told by the Holy
Spirit of God that he would not see death until he had seen the
Lord's Christ. And when our Lord was eight days
old, they brought him into the temple. And when Simeon saw that
child, he picked that child, he held that child in his arms
and he said, I can die in peace. I have seen salvation in this person, in this person. It's in a person. You hear people
talk about unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible
grace. And here's again what I'm trying
to convey. All of that is called the truth. God did elect a people. Christ
did particularly redeem a people. God's spirit will call all of
those people. It will be irresistible. They
are coming. Oh, that's the truth. And you
hear people say those things and claim those things. And it's
confusing. And you know, what, what's the
difference? You know, you hear people talk
about all these things, but then they say the way you can
know you're included in all that is if you see the fruits of the
spirit in you. I can't tell you how many times
I've heard that now. The way you can know if you're one of
the elect and one of the redeemed and one of the call is you'll
see the fruits of the Spirit in you. That's a person who has
never seen the mystery. The way God's people can know
that they are included in God's work is they will see the fruits
of the Spirit in Christ. It will always be Christ. Their faith will be in Christ. Their faith will look to Christ. They will say, if any of that
is in me, it's only Christ in me. If I have any of that in
me, it's only because Christ is in me. Those who have not
seen the mystery will say, yeah, but it's in there. You'll see
it in there. Those who've seen the mystery will say, no, I won't
either. I will not. It'll only be seen in Christ.
Look at this flesh. Honestly, look at this flesh. Those who have seen the mystery
will say, let's get honest. Look at this flesh. Look at this
mind. Look at this heart. Those who have had the mystery
revealed to them will say, Christ is my wisdom. Christ is my righteousness. I
don't look to my flesh for that. I don't see it there. Christ
is my sanctification. Righteousness is the good that
we do. Sanctification is the good that
we are, the holiness that we are. I don't see that in myself, but
I see it in him. I see it in him. Christ is my
redemption. Every road in the scripture,
every road in salvation, every road in my walk to God. People talk about the Christian
walk to God. Every road leads to Jesus Christ.
Every road leads to Jesus Christ. Christ is the end of all of it. Christ is the answer to all of
it. God's people have had the mystery
of Christ, the mystery of the gospel, the mystery of salvation
revealed to them. And what struck me in these two
verses is we need to just pause for a second and acknowledge
our God and what he's revealed to us. That's what tonight is. I just want to take a pause.
We're just going to pause as we're going through all this.
We're just going to pause. and acknowledge God for what he has
revealed to us. That's exactly what Daniel did.
Hold your place right here in Jeremiah 9 and flip back to Daniel
2. Daniel 2 verse 26. The king answered and said to
Daniel, whose name was Balthasar, Art thou able to make known unto
me the dream which I have seen and the interpretation thereof?
Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, The secret
which the king hath demanded Can not the wise men, the astrologers,
the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king that there
is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets? That is always the answer. Daniel said, no, I can't. Daniel, can you do this? No,
I can't. But there is a God in heaven
who can. I don't care what this scripture is asking. Can you
do this? Here's the answer. No, I can't, but there is a God
in heaven who can. And Daniel said, I acknowledge
him in the matter. Look right here at verse 30.
He said, but as for me, this secret is not revealed to me
for any wisdom that I have more than any living. Daniel was made
to be so wise, so wise in these things. He was so wise to the
mysteries that were hidden to everybody else. It keeps saying
these things were revealed to Daniel. He was so wise to all these things,
but by God's grace, he was allowed to knock glory in it. His only
glory was in his Lord. Pray God will allow that to be
us. What do we have to glory in? What do we have that we have
not received from him? If we received it, why would
we glory as if we hadn't received it? Turn with me over to Luke
10. Luke 10 verse 1 says, after these
things the Lord appointed other 70 also and sent them two and
two before his face into every city and place whether he himself
would come Therefore said he unto them, the harvest truly
is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord
of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his
harvest. So he sent these 70 disciples
out to preach the gospel and they went, they preached the
message of the gospel mystery of Christ. Now look at verse
17, it says, And the 70 returned again with joy, saying, Lord,
even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said
unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold,
I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and
over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means
hurt you, notwithstanding. In this, rejoice not. that the
spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your
names are written in heaven." He said, pause for just a second
and get back to the root of the matter. Just go back to the root
of the matter. Rejoice in what God has done for you. That's what I want us to do right
now. We're taking a pause to just glory in the fact that the
Lord has caused us to know him. He's caused us to know him. By his mercy and grace, he has
given us an understanding. An understanding of his loving
kindness. His grace, His mercy, an understanding
of His judgment, an understanding of His righteousness,
all of which has been given to us in the person of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Flip back over there to Jeremiah
9. Jeremiah 9, verse 23, it says,
Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich
man glory in his riches." What he's saying is, let not man glory
in anything that he thinks is his own. Verse 24, but let him
that gloryeth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
me. The apostle Paul said in Philippians
3, I used to glory in everything that I thought was my own doing.
But he said, now I count it all done because I realize that's
all it is. And he said, all my hope and
desire is that I might know him. That's it, that I might know
him. and know the fellowship of his
suffering and the fellowship of his death and the fellowship
of his resurrection. Paul said, that's all my glory.
He is all my glory. He's all my glory. Verse 24,
but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth
and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving kindness. Where was that loving kindness
seen? At the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light, the loving kindness of God towards sinners. Verse 24, he said, I am the Lord
which exercise loving kindness and judgment. Where was that
judgment shown? At the cross. He said, and righteousness, where
was that righteousness applied? At the cross. The moment Christ became our
substitute, the sin was taken and his righteousness applied.
What a wonderful thing to glory in. We have nothing of ourselves
to glory in, do we? Nothing. Again, I just, this
is what hit me. This is along the lines of what
we've been talking about. You know, God is the revealer.
He reveals it to who he's pleased to reveal it to. But it just,
oh, it hit me. How rare it is, how special it
is, how God has revealed himself to us. He has revealed the mystery of
Jesus Christ to us. And he's the only thing we have
to glory in. The cross of our Lord, the fact
that he delighted in everything he did for us, that's our glory.
the fact that he delighted in the cross for us. That's all
we have to glory in. Thus saith the Lord, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this. that
he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which
exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight,
saith the Lord. In the midst of all this, that's
just a little pause to acknowledge our revealer. and all these glorious
things that he's revealed to us. It's just giving credit where
it's due. That's all we're doing. Giving
credit where it's due. He's our glory. His delight in
saving us is our glory. Not unto us, O Lord, unto thy
name we give it all. Amen. Let's all stand together.