Daniel 2 - Lifetime Warranty
Main Idea: Spend your life on God’s kingdom, which is the only thing that will last forever.
THIS WORLD’S KINGDOMS & RULERS ARE TEMPORARY
Don’t love their personalities or political power.
Don’t believe they will preserve you or provide for you.
Don’t be petrified of what they might do.
GOD’S KINGDOM IS FOREVER
Remember that His Ruler is the central point of all human history.
Realize the purpose of your life is found in His plans.
Rely on His power to ensure your ultimate protection.
Sermon Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)
We are going through the book of Daniel, and starting off over these six weeks in Daniel 1 through 6, began last week. And as we learned, this book takes place over the course of about 60 or 70 years in timeline throughout Daniel 1 through 12.
And it starts in around 600 BC, when Daniel, Hananiah, Michiel, and Azariah, who were four young men from the recently destroyed kingdom of Judah.
And they'd been taken over 900 miles away to Babylon, which was the superpower world empire of the time. They were basically enslaved.
They were made eunuchs, and they were trained for three years in the Babylonian customs, languages, and education in order to become court advisors to King Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned from about 605 BC to 562 BC.
Despite being almost a thousand miles from home, with no hope of ever seeing Jerusalem or the promised land ever again, these four individuals chose to live for God in the middle of an incredibly wicked and pagan culture.
Through looking at their example in this study, we're going to be learning what it looks like to thrive in exile, to have a meaningful, God-glorifying life in the middle of a culture that has no respect or use for God.
The title of today's message is Lifetime Warranty. And actually, we were laughing about this in Gary's class earlier.
You guys know when you hear something that has a lifetime guarantee, or a lifetime warranty, that's like for the life of the item itself. It's not for your lifetime.
Despite some of that phrasing, places like Patagonia with their boots, Briggs and Riley with their bags, Davik Umbrellas, these are all items that the manufacturers, they expect these to last for life.
Unlike my daughter's poor dog that keeps losing limbs because two-year-olds aren't cautious about poor craftsmanship in their play style. I brought this just to show you like, hey, some things in life, they just, they break apart.
They're not going to last. But today, we're gonna be looking at a lifetime warranty that is given to us by the Lord.
Today, God is calling our attention to spend, not just our money or our time, but our entire lives on something that is actually going to last, which is his kingdom.
As Jesus would tell us on the Sermon on the Mount, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That's what we're after today. The main thought of today is to spend your life on God's kingdom, which is the only thing that will last forever.
We're gonna do something a little bit out of the box today. Normally, we kind of walk through the passage as we're going through the points. We are going to be reading through Daniel chapter 2.
So if you have a copy of God's word today, pull that out. If you have a cell phone with a Bible app on it, and that's what you use, pull that out. There's some few Bibles in front of you.
We're gonna be in Daniel chapter 2. So I want to encourage you. We're gonna read through.
We're gonna explain some things. And then we're going to look at our points of the message at the very end. But we want to get the full picture of what God is doing about, you know, 2,600 years ago in world history.
And we want to see, God, what do you have for us today? Before we begin reading, let's pray, and then we'll get into God's word. Dear Jesus, we ask today that you would be glorified in your church.
Lord, make it clear to us when we have built our lives on foundations of sand. God, may we rely on the ancient of days to be our protection, our safety, our treasure, the one that we are pursuing with our life.
God, may the things of this world grow strangely dim in the light of your glory and your grace. God, we ask that you would speak to hearts today. Lord, speak to my heart.
And God, we pray that if there's anyone here today that doesn't know you as Savior, that today might be the day that they accept Jesus, the one true king of all. We love you, and we pray all of this in your name. Amen.
Let's begin reading. Daniel chapter 2 and verse 1. In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled him, and sleep deserted him.
Many of you might have at one point or another had some nightmares or some things that keep you up. Both myself and my mom have struggled with night terrors at various points in our life. I don't know if any of you all have ever experienced those.
It's fine for me. I have no idea what's happening, but there's some yelling and some screaming while I'm fast asleep that tends to make Samantha less than enthused.
But here this king, he had some dreams that were continually troubling him, and he couldn't sleep. Now, if you had that situation, you might take some Nyquil or some Zequil or something stronger, depending on your particular taste.
Verse number two, here's what the king did. He said, so the king gave orders to summon the magicians, mediums, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams.
Here, King Nebuchadnezzar assumed that there was some heavenly portent about this particular dream. This was so important. I need to call all my advisors and tell them, guys, I can't sleep, and that is now your problem.
Verse number three, or sorry, backing up in verse two, when they came and stood before the king, he said to them, I have had a dream and I am anxious to understand it.
He says, this means something for my life, and you guys need to tell me what it is. Verse number four, the Chaldeans spoke to the king. The Aramaic begins here.
The Book of Daniel is really weird in the Old Testament.
From this point here in chapter two and verse number four, all the way through chapter seven, instead of being written in Hebrew, this portion of scripture is written in the ancient Aramaic language. You go, great, what does that mean for my life?
Nothing right now, but we'll hurry on. It says, this is Aramaic begins here. May the king live forever.
Tell your servants the dream and we will give the interpretation. You want us to tell you what the dream means? Great, tell us the dream.
The king replied to the Chaldeans, my word is final. If you don't tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a garbage dump.
This is exactly what you want to hear from your boss at, you know, midnight. He says, but if you make the dream and its interpretation known to me, you'll receive gifts, a reward and great honor from me.
So make the dream and its interpretation known to me. They answered a second time. May the king tell the dream to his servants and we will make known the interpretation.
The king replied, I know for certain you are trying to gain some time because you see that my word is final. I said what I said and I'm not going back on it. If you don't tell me the dream, there is one decree for you.
You have conspired to tell me something false or fraudulent until the situation changes. So tell me the dream and I will know you can give me its interpretation. He says, if I tell you guys the dream, then you'll just make something up.
But how I really know that you know what's going on in my head is if you can tell me what I dreamed and then what it means. Verse number 10, the Chaldeans answered the king. No one on earth can make known what the king requests.
Consequently, no king, however great or powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, medium or Chaldean. What the king is asking is so difficult that no one can make it known to him except the gods whose dwelling is not with mortals.
They say this is something that's happening like within your immaterial self, like your soul, your spirit. And so you need to like talk to, you know, the spiritual beings. You have to talk to the gods if you want to know about this.
Verse number 12, because of this, the king became violently angry and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. I mentioned last week, they didn't have like a you're fired or severance pay or unemployment in ancient Babylon.
You fail the king, you die. Verse number 13, the decree was issued that the wise men were to be executed and they searched for Daniel and his friends to execute them.
So we can read there, Daniel and his friends, while court advisors, they weren't in this particular court meeting and yet they were still sentenced to die.
I do want us to notice here in verses one through 13, there's no knowledge of the future or of your true inner person in this world. No one in this world really knows what's going on in your head. But there is a God in heaven.
And God alone knows everything, including your inner thoughts and fears, as well as the course of this world. Also, human rulers are irrational, angry, and make bad decisions. And all God's people said, amen.
Let's continue on in verses 14 through 24. Then Daniel responded with tact and discretion to Arioc. Can I encourage you?
When you're engaging with government officials, tact and discretion is a great thing to have. He says, he responds to Arioc, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon.
He asked Arioc, the king's officer, why is the decree from the king so harsh? Then Arioc explained the situation to Daniel. So Daniel went and asked the king to give him some time so that he could give the king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his house and told his friends, Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah about the matter, urging them to ask the god of the heavens for mercy concerning this mystery so Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of
Babylon's wise men. The mystery was then revealed to Daniel in a vision at night and Daniel praised the god of the heavens and declared, may the name of god be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him.
He changes the times and seasons. He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.
He reveals the deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness and light dwells with him. I offer thanks and praise to you, god of my fathers, because you've given me wisdom and power.
And now you have let me know what we asked of you, for you have let us know the king's mystery. Therefore, Daniel went to Arioc, whom the king had assigned to destroy the wise men of Babylon.
He came and said to him, don't destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.
In these verses, we can see that god can save his people from stupid governments and rulers, and he is the one that directs all leaders, from lowly jailers, like we read about in Acts chapter 16, to court advisors like Joseph or Daniel, to kings like
Nebuchadnezzar or David. We can trust in god's wisdom and his justice to do what is right, to punish evil and sin, even our own evil and sin, and know that he will make all things right.
It's what he declares at the end of Revelation, that he is making all things new. Let's continue now with this vision.
And guys, whenever it comes to that one picture, just like throw your hands in the air or something, that way I know where we're at.
Verse number 25, Then Ariok quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him, I found a man among the Judean exiles who can let the king know the interpretation. As you guys will know, Ariok didn't find him.
He was just going around finding the wisest people that he was supposed to kill. Daniel found him and was like, hey, I got this. Or rather, the Lord has this.
Then verse 26, the king said in reply to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, we talked about that last week, they were given new Babylonian names in place of their Hebrew names.
He says, are you able to tell me the dream I had and its interpretation? Verse number 27, Daniel answered the king, no wise man, medium, magician, or diviner, is able to make known to the king the mystery he asked about.
He says, there is no person on earth who can actually tell you your future or your dreams.
You know, maybe 50, 70 years ago, people in America would have been more skeptical of things like maybe a poem reading or someone to interpret their dreams or a fortune teller.
Nowadays, as our culture has been searching and looking for truth, I want to remind you, as you interact with people, there's one person that knows your future, and it's not someone you gotta pay 45 bucks to.
There is one who knows your future, and it is God in heaven. Verse number 28, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will happen in the last days. This is awesome.
This is a wonderful thing. Now he's starting to give some interpretation of, this is what the dream means. He says, your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay in bed were these.
Do I have the image now or do I have that later on? Okay. I'll have you guys keep up this image for just a second while I describe it from the verses.
He says, your majesty, while you were in your bed, thoughts came to your mind about what will happen in the future. Some of you, you're just like that. You're anxious.
You're wondering what's going to happen? What's going to be my legacy? What am I going to do next year or next month?
He says, thoughts came to your mind about what will happen in the future. The revealer of mysteries has let you know what will happen.
As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but in order that the interpretation might be made known to the king and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
Daniel says, it's not that I have some magical power to tell you what's going on, but God wanted you to know what was coming in the future. And frankly, it's something that God also wants us to know today.
Verse number 31, your majesty, as you were watching, suddenly a colossal statue appeared, that statue tall and terrifying. Um, lost my place. Tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying.
The head of the statue was pure gold. Its chest and arms were silver. Its stomach and thighs were bronze.
Its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay and crushed them.
And then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found.
But the stone that struck the statue become the great mountain and filled the whole earth. This was the dream. Now we'll tell the king its interpretation.
If any of you dreamed about that, you might just assume, you know, I had some bad crab cakes or something, but here, God had a specific plan in mind for Nebuchadnezzar. Verse number 37. Your majesty, you are king of kings.
That is, he was the highest king at that point in world history. The God of the heavens has given you sovereignty, power, strength and glory.
Wherever people live or wild animals or birds of the sky, he has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold. If you're an epicanthas or you're a prophet, yeah, I am king of kings.
I'm the golden head and I take whatever I want. I go down to Egypt and I conquer them. I go to Israel and I conquer them.
We conquer to Syria. There's nothing that I can't do. He might feel pretty good.
But then we read, after you, do you know that your life is not all that there is and there will be an after you? Can I encourage you?
Maybe if you've got a few more miles on the car of your life, so to speak, what are you doing to invest in those that are coming behind you? Because there will be an after you.
It says, after you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom of bronze which will rule the whole earth. A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron for iron crushes and shatters everything.
And like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all the others. You saw the feet and toes partly of a potter's fired clay and partly of iron. It will be a divided kingdom.
There's some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with clay and that the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly fired clay. Part of the kingdom will be strong and part will be brittle.
You saw the iron mixed with clay. The peoples will mix with one another, but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay. In the days of those kings, the god of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
And this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.
You saw stone break off from the mountain without a hand touching it, and it crushed the iron bronze, fired clay, silver, and gold. The great god has told the king what will happen in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation reliable.
Here, I'm gonna give you guys just like a brief look, because you guys are, okay, wonderful. Lots of materials. What in the world's going on?
Here, there are four kingdoms that God is letting Nebuchadnezzar know. Hey, here's how world history is going to go after you guys. So Babylon is kind of this first huge empire there in the Middle East that covered a ton of ground.
Then after them, so that's the gold. Then you have the silver, which is Medo-Persia, which was a world empire from about 539 to 331 BC.
Then after that, you have the bronze, which would be the Greek empire, first spearheaded by Alexander the Great, which was kind of a world power from about 331 BC to 168 BC.
And then lastly, that bronze, you have the Roman Empire from about 168 BC or so to 476 AD. And then after that, you have not necessarily that the iron totally goes away, it just adjusts its format. And there are more things in it.
It's not just one like super strong world power. It's a whole bunch of things going on that's not as strong as the Roman Empire. And you have that divided world, which we've kind of seen take various forms from about 476 AD until the present.
So there you have these world kingdoms that are going to happen. And they've got their own individual things.
When we return to Daniel 7 through 12, we're going to look at where God goes in to detail about, hey, here's all of the things so that you can know that God does know the future.
As we look back in archaeology, and as we look at all of the documents that we have that make the veracity of Scripture certain. I was trying to think of a word. I couldn't think of it.
As we look at world history, we see God actually did know what he was talking about. In fact, he so well in the book of Daniel outlined what was going to take place that some people figured, okay, this all had to be written after the fact.
There is no way that Daniel could know these things. And that's exactly what Daniel said. I don't know these things, but there is a God in heaven who knows.
So you have all of these world kingdoms, and it goes through time from about 600 BC to you have the Roman Empire kind of ending or adjusting there at 476 AD in the various kingdoms.
And then there is this random stone that comes down, cut without hands, and it demolishes this world kingdoms, and it grows, and it's an everlasting kingdom.
Some of you guys might know the Hallelujah Chorus, and you might remember, oh yes, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God.
Jesus is talked about as that living stone. He is the cornerstone, that centerpiece, that the builders of this world's systems rejected, but that God has made king of kings and Lord of lords.
Jesus is the one that he will return in power one day, and the next time that he comes, he's not coming as a baby in a manger to live, to die in our place for our sins and to rise again.
When he comes back, he is ushering in the actual physical earthly kingdom that his disciples had been anticipating his whole time here on earth. Today, we do exist in the kingdom of God.
Certainly, every one of us that have accepted Christ as our savior, we have a king that we pledge our allegiance to, that we love. But there will come a day when Jesus comes back to reign on this earth. And so here's what God told Nebuchadnezzar.
He says, hey, you're pretty great for now, but your kingdom is not going to last.
And all of the kingdoms of this world and all the great people that are coming after you and the magnificent kings with large palaces and worldwide events, all of it's going to come to nothing because there is a king that I'm going to install.
This is the one that would sit on the throne of his ancestor David as God promised. This is the one, the descendant of the woman, the offspring, the seed of the woman that will crush the head of the serpent Satan once and for all.
He is the king that is the blessing to all nations that was prophesied to Abraham a thousand years before this. God, his entire point in world history, has been to bring us Jesus Christ.
Then let's read on in verses 46 through 49, and then we'll hit our points and be done. Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell face down.
He worshiped Daniel, not really the person that Daniel was trying to draw attention to and bring worship to, but he worshiped Daniel, gave orders to present an offering and incense to him.
The king said to Daniel, your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery. Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts.
He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. At Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon.
Those are his friends, Hamaniah, Meshach, and Nazariah, to manage the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king's court.
Nebuchadnezzar here thinks that Yahweh, the God of Israel, he's a great God, even temporarily better than Akku or Bel or Marduk.
We can see in these verses that God blesses his children, even in the middle of the paganism and the evil that they were encountering.
Their presence in the middle of idolatrous, wicked, murderous politicians was exactly where God wanted them so that others could hear about the God of Israel. Okay, so what do we take from this today?
I don't assume that either our current president or whoever our next president is, I don't think that they're going to have a dream and be like, hey, Jen, I'm killing all of the, you know, wise, whatever your title at your job is, I'm killing all of
the wise you guys, unless you can tell me this dream. So what do we take from this today? As I mentioned at the beginning, the point of this message is spend your life on God's kingdom, which is the only thing that will last forever.
First today, I want us to see that this world's kingdoms and its rulers are temporary. Whether the powerful king of kings Nebuchadnezzar or a lowly psychotic Nero from the first century AD, every single worldly ruler and kingdom has fallen.
Look at France's revolutions from the 1700s and 1800s, Germany's various empires and parties in the early 20th century, or even the ever shifting European Union and the crumbling USSR.
Over 2500 years after God gave Daniel this vision, we see the same truth again and again. God wins. His truth prevails.
His kingdom spreads across the earth, and this world's governments and powers are blown away chaff. So what do we take from that truth? First, in relation to worldly rulers, don't love their personalities or their political power.
We can see this in Psalm 146 and verse 3. Don't trust in nobles, in a mere mortal who cannot save. When his breath leaves him, he returns to the ground.
On that day, his plans die. If you put your trust in everyday human rulers, you're going to be let down.
They're either going to do things you don't want them to do or they're not going to last long enough in order to do everything that you would like.
In Proverbs 29 and verse 26, Solomon, a king himself, would say, many desire a ruler's favor, but a person receives justice from the Lord.
When the prophet Samuel first saw David's oldest brother, he was elated and thought he'd super easily found the next king of Israel. However, God told Samuel what he wanted in an earthly ruler.
God didn't want someone who was outwardly impressive, tall, powerful, commanding. King Saul was already all of those things. He wanted someone with a heart that would follow and obey God.
Did David himself fall in that following? Absolutely, several times. But the account of David's anointing to be the next king of Israel highlights for us the importance of not pursuing what this world views as important.
The most important thing about the rulers of a nation, whether a city council member or a senator or a president, is the same most important thing about every person. Do they have a heart to follow and obey God's word?
The most important thing is not what's their economic policy or how will they fix the border. The most important question we can ask is, do they obey God?
Someone can be well loved in this world's estimation because of snazzy marketing or great quips, but we as Christians need to not fall head over heels for the temporary rulers, but for the eternal ruler.
One way to gauge that for your heart, notice this upcoming week, how many times Trump, Kamala, Biden, Democrats, Republicans come out of your mouth or out of your phone, and how many times Jesus, God, and the Bible comes out.
You can even search through your texts or your emails or your Google history to find out how much you really do practically love the Lord and his kingdom versus the temporary government of America.
Don't love the personalities or the political powers of this world. Secondly, don't believe that they will preserve you or provide for you. As Isaiah said in Isaiah 31 and verse 1, woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who depend on horses.
They trust in the abundance of chariots and in the large number of horsemen, they do not look to the Holy One of Israel and they do not seek the Lord. Psalm 20, David, a king, would tell us, Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his Messiah.
He will answer him from his holy heaven, with mighty victories from his right hand. Some take pride in chariots and some in horses, but we take pride in the name of the Lord our God.
You and our country will not be safe based on if your preferred candidate gets into office. You will be safe based on the protection and preservation of God himself.
If you get something good, it's not because of a human ruler, but the ruler of heaven caring for you. If you are free to exercise your faith, it is because God has allowed that to take place.
It's why Paul's only instructions in the New Testament in regards to government are, obey whatever is not directly against God's word, pay your taxes, and pray to God himself that the leaders will let us live our lives following God.
You want to live a peaceful life in all godliness and honesty? Paul says, pray for your spiritual leaders. That is, God is the one that determines that.
He doesn't say, pray to the leaders that you would have a peaceful life in all godliness and honesty. He says, pray to the Lord for that. Lastly, don't be petrified of what earthly rulers might do.
Proverbs 29 and verse 25 says, the fear of mankind is a snare. It's a trap. But the one who trusts in the Lord is protected.
In Luke chapter 12, our Lord told us, I say to you, my friends, don't fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will show you the one to fear. Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death.
Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear. Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight.
Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.
Jesus tells us there's only one to fear in this life. And contra JFK, the only thing we have to fear is not fear itself.
The only thing we have to fear is living our life apart from our heavenly Father, who loves us and knows even the hairs on our heads. And if God looks after the sparrows that are sold, if God... I'll break it down for y'all in Maryland.
If God knows the crabs, God knows you. If I'd planned this out a little better, I would have had like a sign that says, hey, crabs are sold, you know, this many crabs for this much. If God cares for the crabs, God cares for you.
Do you think God is unaware of your life or your needs? Do you think God doesn't know that you need provision? Maybe God might be working in your life so that you would call out to him.
That perhaps if everything went your way with human government, you would never turn to the Lord. Are you looking to God himself for your safety? Some of you are more scared of the opposing political party than you are of God.
You believe that other humans are the key to your safety, your happiness, and your freedoms. But that's simply not true from the Bible's point of view. Jesus knows the end from the beginning.
He's the one that takes away rulers and installs new ones. He's the one that tears down governments and builds up their replacements. If you believe what the Bible says, then you don't need to live the next three months in fear.
You don't have to think about possibly taking matters into your own hands. You can pray. You can vote.
You can send letters or emails or calls to your representatives in whatever levels of government. You can encourage other believers to follow biblical principles in their voting, but then leave the results in the hands of Almighty God.
He's been at this a long time, and you can trust him even when things don't go the way that you think that they should.
I'm sure Daniel wasn't like, hey, I'm really glad for the government change that we had from being in Judah to now serving in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, who's literally worshiping me with gifts and offerings and sacrifices after God told me his
dream. I'm sure that he wasn't like, hey, this is a better thing overall, but God was the one that was in charge and God knew what he was doing. Today, do you trust him to know what he is doing? Why would we trust him?
Because the greatest kingdoms on earth, they get shattered and blown away, but God's kingdom is forever. First, remember that his ruler is the central point of all human history. Jesus is the point of it all.
History is split, even in our Gregorian calendar, into BC and AD, or BCE, or CE, if you're feeling particularly edgy. But that central point is still the same. It's Jesus Christ's advent on this earth.
If you don't know Jesus today, if you've never heard the story, Jesus is God himself. He is God the Son. All of humanity, we've messed up.
We have not met God's standard of perfection and holiness. God made a perfect world. We brought sin and death into the world through our rebellion against him, through saying and doing and thinking things that go against God and his nature.
As a result of that, we abandoned God's life, and we were on the road to condemnation and death and hell forever, separated from God.
But God loved us so much that he gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish, but will have eternal life. Jesus went to the cross 2,000 years ago, and he took the penalty that we deserve to pay.
He took that penalty for our sin. He was buried and he rose again from the dead three days later.
And now he offers to you the opportunity to have a relationship with God, to know him as your Lord and your Savior, that if you would accept Jesus' payment for your sin, that you can know God both now and forever. You will be his child.
You will be one that will participate in this everlasting kingdom.
Galatians chapter 4 tells us, when the set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive the adoption of children.
God had a specific time in history when he intended on sending Jesus. And he came. And Philippians 2 tells us, Jesus didn't just come to like pay for your sins.
He is the king that will reign forever and ever.
Philippians 2, for this reason, God highly exalted Jesus and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven, that is the angels, and on earth, that's mankind, and under the earth, that is those
in the grave, the demons themselves, all will bow the knee to Jesus. And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus is the central point of all human history. God made it that way.
Is Jesus the point of your life? Secondly, today, realize the purpose of your life is found in the plans of God. We are here today to glorify God, encourage other believers in the Lord, and recruit new followers of Jesus.
Your purpose on earth is not sports, or a great retirement, or even just good times with family. You are a star witness in the courtroom of other people's lives, giving your testimony about who Jesus is and what he has done.
This is what the Apostle Paul tells us in Acts chapter 20. I consider my life of no value to myself. My purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of God's grace.
In 1st Timothy 1, he says, I received mercy for this reason, that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus would demonstrate his extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life.
Your life is meant to be a pattern to those around you of what it looks like for God to invade your kingdom.
I'm smashing into the kingdoms of your heart and to grow that you would show what Jesus is like to your family, your friends, your co-workers, your neighbors. You are meant to be one of those stones that show the rule of God's kingdom.
In Galatians 1, Paul also said, God, who from my mother's womb set me apart and called me by his grace, he was pleased to reveal his son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles.
Your very existence from the moment of your conception, God has made it so that you would know him and so that you would tell other people about him. That's his goal for your life. Is it your goal for your life?
And then lastly today, rely on God's power to ensure your ultimate protection. Some of you are incredibly scared about the election in just under a month. Can I encourage you to rely on Jesus to save you, not Trump or Kamala.
If God sustained Cory Ten Boom through the Holocaust, if he sustained Adoniram Judson through seven years of difficulty in Myanmar, if he sustained Paul and Silas in a Philippian jail cell and used an earthquake to get them out of their chains, and
if he sustained, as we'll see next week, Canadiah, Michelle, and Azariah in a literal fiery furnace, then I believe that God will take care of you. The old hymn says, be not dismayed, whate'er betide, God will take care of you.
Beneath his wings of love abide, God will take care of you. God will take care of you through every day or all the way. He will take care of you.
God will take care of you.
David wrote Psalm 121, and I love that fact because if you know David's life, he's constantly getting spears chucked at him, he's having the Philistines fighting against him, he's going against Goliath, he's having to be on the run from Saul, he's on
the run at different times, even from his own son, Absalom, and a rebellion within his own kingdom. And here's what that person, who underwent all sorts of human difficulty, all sorts of governmental oppression, both from his own governments and from
outside ones. And here's what he said, and here's the mindset we need to adopt. I will lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip. Your protector will not slumber.
Indeed, the protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep. The Lord protects you. The Lord is a shelter right by your side.
The sun will not strike you by day or the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all harm. He will protect your life.
The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever. Do you believe that your king is a good king? Do you believe that he will love you and take care of you and provide for you and preserve you?
Do you believe that his plan is best? Today, which kingdom gets your focus? Are you praying for the salvation of our leaders so that they would obey and follow God?
Today, if you don't know King Jesus, please talk to me after service. I would love to open the Bible and show you how you can know that you are in God's kingdom through accepting the work of Jesus Christ.
Today, you can try and rely on this world's kingdoms, or you can try and rely on a kingdom that has a lifetime guarantee.
