I believe that's the best hymn
there is. And somebody needs to do something
to sabotage Anne to keep her from going back home. I've entitled this message, The Kingdom That Will Stand. The Kingdom That Will Stand. Now, in the next three chapters,
we're going to read quite a bit about a man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar,
the king that God raised up. And there are three fascinating
stories with regard to him in the next three chapters. And
Nebuchadnezzar does not realize it yet, he will, that he's nothing
more than a pawn in God's hand doing God's will. Beginning in verse one, and in the second year of the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams wherewith his
spirit was troubled and his sleep break from him. How many times
has that happened to you? You dream and you can't get back to sleep.
And you're thinking about the contents of that dream. Then the king commanded to call
the magicians and the astrologers and the sorcerers and the Chaldeans
for to show the king his dreams. So they come, they came and stood
before the king and the king said unto them, I've dreamed
a dream. And my spirit was troubled to
know the dream. I didn't understand it, but I
knew I was troubled. Then spake the Chaldeans to the
king in Syriac their language, O king, live forever, tell thy
servants the dream, and we'll show thee the interpretation.
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, the thing is gone
from me. I don't remember it. All I remember
is feeling troubled, but I don't remember what the actual dream
was. If you will not make known unto
me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, you shall be cut in
pieces, and your house shall be made a dunghill. That's pretty
severe. And these fellas knew he'd do
that. He'd done it before. And they
were no doubt troubled. How in the world am I going to
interpret a dream when you can't even tell me what the dream is?
Verse six, but if you show the dream and the interpretation
thereof, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great
honor. Therefore, show me the dream
and the interpretation thereof. I need to know both the dream
and what it means. They answered again and said,
let the king tell his servants the dream and we'll show them
the interpretation of it. The king answered and said, I
know of a certainty that you would gain the time because you
see the thing is gone from me. But if you'll not make known
to me the dream, there's but one decree for you. For you've
prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me till the time
be changed. Therefore, tell me the dream
and I shall know that you can show me the interpretation thereof.
Now, I love what he says to these guys. He says, you're just trying
to buy yourself time. and you're preparing lying and
corrupt words. You know, I thought, what a description
of most of what goes under the name of preaching. Corrupt words,
lying words that are not so, that are not according to the
scriptures. And he knew this, and he knew
what these fellows were doing. He was a shrewd man. And he says,
I know what you're about. Verse 10. The Chaldeans answered before
the king and said, there's not a man upon the earth that can
show the king's matter. Therefore, there's no king, lord, nor ruler
that's asked such a thing of any magician or astrologer or
Chaldean. It's a rare thing that the king
requires. And there's none other that can show it before the king,
except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh. What you're
asking us to do is impossible. The only one who can answer this
is that one who is not flesh. He said the gods. He obviously
didn't know who the living God was, but he knew this, or these
men knew this. What you're asking of us is impossible. It cannot be done. Verse 12,
for this cause, the king was angry and very furious and commanded
to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. And the decree went
forth that the wise man should be slain. And they sought Daniel
and his fellows to be slain. Now you remember from the last
chapter, last week, that Daniel and his fellows were 10 times
better than the Babylonians and the Chaldeans. And look how the
Lord had equipped Daniel. Look back in chapter one. And as these four children, verse
17, and as for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill
and learning and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding
in all visions and dreams. God had given him the grace to
see what they were and to interpret the meaning. Now, at the end
of the days that the king had said he should bring them in.
Then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar,
and the king communed with them. And among them all was found
none like Daniel, Hananiah, Bishel, and Azariah. Therefore stood
they before the king, and in all matters of wisdom and understanding
that the king inquired of them, he found him ten times better
than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. And
Daniel continued even into the first year of King Cyrus. Now,
he was so mad that he wanted to get rid of all wise men. I
don't know if he even thought about Daniel because he'd had
such respect for Daniel and these three men, but he was angry.
And he says, we're just going to get rid of all the wise men.
All you guys got is corrupt and lying words. You can't be trusted.
Verse 14, then answered Daniel with counsel and wisdom to Arios.
The captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay
the wise men of Babylon, had already had this command, kill
every one of them. He answered and said to Ariok,
the king's captain, why is the decree so hasty from the king?
Then Ariok made the thing known to Daniel. He told him about
how the king had a dream, couldn't remember what it was, demanded
that the wise men tell him what it was and tell him what the
interpretation is, and they couldn't do it. And so he said, you're
all gonna be killed. He gave this information to Daniel. Verse 16, then Daniel went in and desired
the king that he would give him time and that he would show the
king the interpretation. And Daniel went to his house
and made the thing known to Hanaiah, Meshiel, Azariah, and his companions,
that they would desire mercies. of the God of heaven concerning
this secret. They couldn't figure it out.
They were completely dependent upon the Lord to make it known. And they understood that. So
they desire mercies. Lord, please show us what the
dream is and what the interpretation is. And you know, we're just
as dependent upon the Lord as they are. You think this is a
supernatural thing. Well, me and you understanding
the gospel is a supernatural thing. The only way we're going
to understand it is if the Lord is pleased to make it known. Just like with these fellas.
Verse 19, then was the secret revealed unto Daniel. in a night vision. And the only way Daniel could
ever know what this dream was is that the secret would be revealed. And I'm looking at some people
right now who've experienced the same thing Daniel did. God revealed to you the gospel. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
glorious? God revealed to you His gospel. I love what Paul said, when I
pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called
me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. What a revelation. The Lord said,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you hid these things. You did this. You hid these things
from the wise and the prudent and revealed them unto babes,
even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. No man knows
the Son save the Father. Neither knows any man the Father
save the Son, and he to whomsoever he will reveal him. Do I have any idea of how blessed
I am that he has revealed himself and his gospel to me? He's hid
it from others, and he's revealed it to me. Well, Daniel's response, verse
20. Daniel answered and said, blessed
be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are
his. And he changes the times and
the seasons. He removes kings and sets up
kings. He gives wisdom unto the wise
and knowledge to them that have understanding. He revealeth the
deep and secret things. He knows what's in the darkness.
The light dwells with him, I thank thee and praise thee, O thou
God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might and has made
me known unto me now what we desire to thee, for thou hast
now made known unto us the king's matter. Now, I hear the term
quite often, a Christian worldview. You ever heard that? A Christian
worldview. I know it is, the world is. That's
all you need to know. That's the Christian worldview.
It all belongs to him and he's controlling everything and everybody
and he's rules. That's the Christian worldview.
The Lord rules the world and he controls everything. Verse 22 speaks of his omniscience. He reveals the deep and secret
things. He knows what's in the darkness. and the light dwells
with him. And not only does he know all
things, he knows the king's matter, speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, but
he also knows the king of kings matter, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everything is for his glory. Everything is for his glory.
You know that? You understand that? That this
book is about His glory. And you really believe that?
You really believe that this book is about the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ? You believe that? God has revealed
that to you. He's made Himself known to you. Now let's look where Daniel's
brought in before the king. Therefore Daniel went in unto
Ariok, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon.
He went and said thus unto him, destroy not the wise men of Babylon,
bring me in before the king and I'll show him to you. This was
Daniel speaking, destroy not the wise men of Babylon, bring
me in before the king and I'll show him to the king the interpretation.
Then Ariok brought in Daniel before the king in haste and
said thus unto him, I found a man of the captives of Judah that
will make known unto the king the interpretation. The king
answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar,
remember he changed it to a Chaldean name. It was Daniel and he gave
him a new name and it was named after one of their false gods,
like he did the other three, he named them Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. The king answered and said to
Daniel, whose name was Balthasar, are thou able to make known unto
me the dream which I've seen and the interpretation thereof?
You know, when I've read that, are you able to tell somebody
the secret of God, the secret of the gospel, the secret of
how God saves sinners by Christ? Can you make that known? Can
I make that known? Are you able to make known unto
me the dream which I've seen and the interpretation thereof?
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and he couldn't
let this dig go. The secret which the king hath
demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, and the magicians,
and the soothsayers show unto the king? What about those fellas?
Didn't they tell you? He knew the answer to that, but
he couldn't help but getting in that dig against these guys.
Verse 28, but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets. I'm not the one that can figure
this out, but God can make this known. There's a God in heaven
that revealeth secrets and maketh known to the King Nebuchadnezzar
what shall be in the latter days. Now notice what he says. He's
gonna let you know what shall be. Not what might be if, what
shall be. Not what will be if you, what
shall be. I love that. He's letting you know what shall
be because He's God. How does God know what shall
be? Because God determined what shall be, because God purposed
what shall be, and known unto God are all His works from the
beginning. He's going to let you know what
shall be. You know, you and I could get some comfort from this. If
the Lord gives us grace to believe it, do you know that everything
that takes place is God's purpose being done? You know, I was listening
to a guy preach, and he was saying something, but if you say that,
you're saying God's the author of evil. You know, that's That's just
stupid. God reigns, God's in control. And you want to, well, if you
say he controls everything, you're saying he's the cause of evil
and the author of evil. Well, I know who, he said, I
form the light, I create darkness, I make peace, I create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. Are you saying God does evil
things? No, I'm not saying that, but
I'm saying there's only one reason for evil, God. He's the only
reason. Didn't take him by surprise.
It was all a part of his purpose to manifest himself, to manifest
the glory of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. God reigns. He's in control and he's letting
Nebuchadnezzar know what shall be. Not what might be if this
contingency takes place and this condition is fulfilled, but what
shall be. Quit looking at secondary causes.
God is the cause of causes. He maketh known to King Nebuchadnezzar
what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream and thy visions of
thy head upon thy bed are these. As for thee, O king, Thy thoughts
came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter,
and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall
come to pass. He purposed it, it shall come
to pass. This is certain. There's not
anything you can do to stop this, there's not anything you can
do to bring it on. This is what's gonna happen because God has
purposed it. Verse 30, but as for me, this
secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more
than any living, but for their sakes that you'll make known
the interpretation of the king, that thou mightest know the thoughts
of thy heart. Now, Daniel does what all true
prophets of God do. I'm not any better than anybody
else. This isn't happening because of me. There's nothing special
about me that's causing this to take place. God's doing it
because he's willing to do it. Verse 31, now he gives him a
drink. Verse 31. Thou, O King, sawst
and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness
was excellent, stood before thee and the form thereof was terrible.
The image's head was a fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver. his belly and his thighs of brass,
his legs of iron, his feet, part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest, now here's the image. Did it look like a man? I guess
it did. A man with a gold head, silver arms, silver belly, a
bronze midsection, iron legs and the toes made out of iron
and clay. Now, here's what all this means.
Verse 35. Verse 34. Thou sawest, this is
still part of the vision. He is not giving him the interpretation
yet. He's just giving him the vision. This is what you dreamed.
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands. There was nothing human that
touched this. It was cut out without hands. which smoked the image upon his
feet that were of iron and clay and break them to pieces. This
rock, this stone cut out without hands. Then was the iron, the
clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken to pieces together. Things that we consider so durable.
This stone crushed them and destroyed them and they became like a chaff
of the summer threshing floor and the wind carried them away
and No place was found for them. They were gone. And the stone
that smote them, smote the image, became a great mountain and filled
the whole earth. Now in this vision, this stone
becomes all that there is. There isn't anything else, but
this stone. Verse 36, this is the dream. Now we're going to give you the
interpretation. We're going to tell you what
all this means. Thou, O King, verse 37, art a
king of kings. For the God of heaven hath given
thee a kingdom, and power, and strength, and glory, and wheresoever
the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the
fowls of the heaven, that he hath given them to thine hand, and he hath
made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of God. Now he's talking about the kingdom
of Nebuchadnezzar, the most mighty man in the world whose will was
done. He says, there's one reason you're
like this. God made you this way. That's
the only reason you are this head of gold. Verse 39, and after
thee, you're not going to stay. This kingdom is not going to
last. After thee shall arise, and they're gonna defeat Nebuchadnezzar.
After thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee. That's
the kingdom of the Medes and Persians. We read about that
with Cyrus as the king and Darius as the king. And Daniel was through
their reign too, but they defeated Nebuchadnezzar and took over. And another third kingdom of
brass. which shall bear rule over all
the earth." Now this is talking about Alexander the Great. He
bore rule over all the earth. And you can see God's wonderful
providence in this because through Alexander the Great, what is
the main language of the earth? Greek. Greek. This is how the
gospel was going to be communicated through this language, the Greek
language, and God set this up so this would take place, so
everybody would be reading Greek, speaking Greek, and this exact
language that's more exact than any other language is what God
used to communicate the New Testament. And what about this fourth kingdom?
Verse 40, and the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron. This
is talking about Rome, Rome, the Roman Empire. And the fourth
kingdom shall be strong as iron, for as much as iron breaketh
in pieces and subdues all things, and as the iron that breaketh
all these shall it break in pieces and bruise. And Rome took over
the world. And once again, you can see God's
wonderful providence in this. Because through the infrastructure
of Rome, the roads, the ways to the city, every road leads
to Rome, a way for the gospel to be spread was there that wouldn't
have been there until this kingdom took place. So God used all these
kingdoms for the bringing about of his purposes, but none of
them are gonna last. And this one won't either. All
the kingdoms men have been a part of and this one's risen and that
one's risen, they all end up falling. And if the Lord didn't
come back, this one will end up falling. Verse 41. And whereas thou sawest
the feet, the toes, and part of the potter's clay, and part
of the iron, the kingdom shall be divided. It fell apart, but
there shall be in it of the strength of the iron. Forasmuch as thou
sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, and as the toes of the
feet were part of the iron and part of the clay, so this kingdom
shall be partly strong, partly broken, And whereas thou sawest
the iron mixed with myrrh clay, they shall mingle themselves
with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another,
even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be
destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be
left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume
all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever. Now, this fifth kingdom, you
know what kingdom this is. This is the kingdom of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is the kingdom of God. This
is the kingdom of heaven. It will be forever. It will stand forever. The kingdom of God. Now, this
kingdom that he's speaking of now, I love thinking about this.
It's not a worldly kingdom. The Lord said, and I hope we'll
all listen to this, my kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would
fight and you wouldn't be able to stop them that I should be
not delivered hence. But now my kingdom is not of
this world. This is not some kind of political
kingdom. It's not of this world that has
nothing to do with this world. You know, don't get too taken
up with any of the kingdoms of this world. They're all gonna
fall and there's only one kingdom that's gonna last. the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, my kingdom is not
of this world. Now it's a kingdom is the jurisdiction
over which the king reigns. What do kingdom without a king?
Well, it's not a kingdom, is it? A kingdom has a king. And Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, is the King of this kingdom. He's the Lord of lords. And He's
the King of kings. And all other kingdoms are in
His hand. I love that scripture, Proverbs
21. The King's heart. I don't care what king you're
talking about. Anywhere in the world, the King's heart is in
the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. The father said to him, thy throne. A king has a throne. Thy throne, oh God, is forever. It's an eternal throne. It's
a throne of glory. It's a throne of justice, justice
and judgment, a habitation of thy throne. And thank God it's
a throne of grace. Let us come boldly to the throne
of grace. Thy throne, oh God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Now his kingdom is omnipotent. No other kingdoms can stand before
him. Look in verse 44 once again.
And in the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up
a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom
shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces
and consume all these kingdoms. and it shall stand forever. There's
nothing that can stand against this kingdom, the Lord Jesus
Christ. I love the way he talks about how the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. Hell will try to keep her constituents,
but anyone the Lord is pleased to bring out of there, He's going
to bust the doors down and bring His people out. You see, He's
the King of kings, and He's the Lord of lords. And this kingdom
is a kingdom of grace. Turn with me for a moment to
Matthew chapter 20. If somebody asks me what my favorite
parable is, I think this is what might come up to my mind first.
Matthew chapter 20, for the kingdom of heaven is
like. Now that ought to catch our attention. What's the kingdom
of heaven like? Well, here he's going to tell
us. The kingdom of heaven is like. unto a man that is in householder,
which went out early in the morning to hire labors into his vineyard.
And when he agreed with the labors for a penny a day, everybody
got the same thing. Everybody got the same thing. Everybody
got what was right. He sent them into his vineyard. And remember,
this is what the kingdom of heaven's like. This is not a worldly kingdom.
The world doesn't operate on this principle. Only the kingdom
of heaven operates on this principle. And he went out about the third
hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And
he said to them, go, ye also into the vineyard. And whatsoever
is right, I'll give you. Now you just write that down. That's what he's always gonna
do. Whatsoever is right, that is exactly what I'll give you.
And they went their way. Again, he went out about the
sixth and ninth hour and did likewise. And about the 11th
hour, 5 p.m., He went out and found others standing idle, and
saith to them, why stand ye here all the day idle? They said,
because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, go ye also
into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, you shall receive. I just love that. Do you know
if the Lord brings you into heaven, it's right? It's right. If the Lord sends you to hell,
it's right. Whatever he does is right. And that's the emphasis in this.
Whatsoever is right, that's what you're going to receive. So when
evening was come, the Lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward,
call the labors and give them their hire beginning from the
last unto the first. And when they came that were
hired about the 11th hour, they received every man a penny. Just like he said at the beginning
of the day, you get into this labor, you get a penny. Not more,
not less. But when the first came, they
supposed that they should have received more. Now, wouldn't
you suppose the same thing? I worked 12 hours. They worked
one hour. I bore the burden and the heat
of the day. It wasn't even hot when they
were working. Of course, I'll get more. I've done more. And they likewise received every
man a penny. And when they had received it,
they murmured against the good man of the house, it's not fair,
saying, these last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made
them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of
the day. But he answered one of them and
said, friend, I do thee no wrong. Didst not thou agree with me
for a penny? Take that thine is and go thy way, and I'll give
unto this last, even as unto thee, Is it not lawful for me
to do what I will with my own? Can you say amen to that? He goes on to say, is that I
evil because I'm good? So the last shall be first and
the first last for many are called, but few are chosen. Now that's the kingdom of sovereign
grace. And this kingdom is the kingdom
that requires the new birth to see it or enter it. You're going
to have to be born of the Spirit of God for you to even know what
I'm talking about. It'll make no sense unto you
if you're not. And you've got to be born of the Spirit to enter
this kingdom, both to see it and to enter it. And I love the
descriptions the Bible gives of the subject of this kingdom.
The subject, that's me and you. Matthew 5, three, what's the
first beatitude? Blessed are the who? The poor
in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And then the last beatitude says
blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake. for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. And you and I both know that
that's not talking about you're persecuted because of the good
works you do. That's talking about maintaining the righteousness
of Jesus Christ as the only righteousness there is. I love Paul's definition
of the kingdom of heaven in Romans chapter 14, verse 17. Remember
that? It just dropped out of my mind.
Turn to Romans chapter 14, verse 17. I know it, but as soon as
I said, remember that, I forgot what it is. Romans 14, 17. Verse
17. For the kingdom of God, that's
what we're talking about. The kingdom that shall stand
forever. The kingdom that will destroy
all other kingdoms. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink. It's not there's something you
can do to make it better and there's something you can not
do to make it worse. It's not meat and drink. It's
not do's and don'ts. It's not man's religion. But what is it? I love the simplicity
of this answer. It's not meat and drink. It's
righteousness. the righteousness of God, the
righteousness of Jesus Christ, the believer's personal righteousness
before God. Seek ye the kingdom of God and
His righteousness. And what comes as a result of
that? Peace. If the righteousness of Jesus
Christ is my righteousness before God, that's my personal righteousness.
I've got peace with God. He doesn't have anything to be
mad at me about. I'm perfect. I'm perfectly righteous. And
I've got peace with his providence. He's controlling everything.
No reason to worry. He rules. He reigns. He's in
control. And what comes from that? Joy. Righteousness. His righteousness. Peace that comes from His righteousness,
anything else, I don't have any peace from. But oh, if His righteousness
is the only righteousness, what peace we have. And what comes
out of that peace? Joy. Joy, the joy and peace of
believing. Now look what, back to our text
in Daniel chapter two, we'll close her up. Verse 45, for as much as thou
sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands.
Who's that stone? You know, that's the Lord Jesus
Christ. and he became a mountain so large that he's always there.
Isn't that Christ is all? Christ is all. And he destroyed
all these other kingdoms. The stone was cut out of the
mountain without hands, and that it break in pieces, the iron,
the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God hath
made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. and the
dream is certain and the interpretation thereof, sure. Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell
upon his face and worshiped Daniel. Now he shouldn't have done that.
You know that, and I know that. This is his first experience. He's gonna get to where he knows
better than this. By the time we get to chapter four, he wouldn't
have done anything like this. But this is the first thing he
does. He was impressed with Daniel. and commanded they should offer
an old blessing and sweet odors unto him. The king answered unto
Daniel and said, if a truth it is that your God is a God of
gods. and a Lord of kings, and to reveal
her a secret, seeing thou couldst reveal this secret, then the
king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts,
and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and the
chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon." He
became the Babylonians' boss. Yeah, it didn't sit real well
with them. They try over and over again to do something about
this, but here they bring in this Hebrew, and he somehow is
able to interpret these dreams, and now he's over us. How the
wise men of Babylon hated Daniel and these three young men. Then
Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But
Daniel sat at the gate of the king. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for that
kingdom, the kingdom of thy son that will stand forever. How
we thank you for the stone taken out of the rock without hands,
thy son. And how we thank you for his
reign. And how we thank you for his
salvation. How we thank you for the forgiveness of sin. How we
thank you for his righteousness as our righteousness before you.
How we thank you for your good prophets that you control everything. Lord, how we thank you for the
revelation of thy gospel that you revealed that which we would
never have known had you not revealed it. And Lord, take this
message and bless it for your glory and for our good. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen.