Book Review: The Message of Daniel

I've admired Dale Ralph Davis as a Bible teacher and writer for a long time. When I was preparing to preach through Daniel in the autumn term, I was delighted to hear that he had just published a new commentary on Daniel in The Bible Speaks Today series from IVP.

As you would expect if you've read his material before, this isn't so much a technical commentary as an enlarged and expanded series of sermons preached by Davis. Along the way he touches on some of the key issues and mentions some of the disputes found in bigger commentaries, but they aren't his primary function. His analysis of the text is first class; his exegesis is always spot on; but his illustrations are out of this world! The apparent ease with which he illustrates the passages, always having stories or observations that perfectly prove the point he's making could lead to a series dose of coveting - or even better, a determination to improve my own illustrations.

This would be a good book for anyone wanting to learn more about God working in and through difficult, even hostile situations. If you're feeling like you're in Babylon, trapped in exile (which, let's face it, is every Christian while we're still in this sinful world), you'll benefit from Davis' warm style as the truth makes its mark.

The Message of Daniel is available from IVP at 28% off the retail price.

Sermon: Daniel 11-12 Knowing God

Since the news broke of Nelson Mandela’s death on Thursday, it seems that everywhere you turn, there’s something about him (even this sermon!). The papers have been full of images from his life; the TV programmes show a variety of moments from his 95 years. Nearly a century covered in a minute or so.

In these closing chapters of Daniel, we get something the same. Daniel, by this time, must be in his late 80s or early 90s. He had been brought from Jerusalem as a young man; he’s been in Babylon for the 70 years of exile; and it’s now the 3rd year of King Cyrus. But rather than seeing the past; Daniel is given a vision of the future. It’s not a rewind; rather it’s four hundred years of future history in these chapters, in fast forward.

But rather than the ‘best bits’ (if you’ve been watching I’m a Celebrity), what he is shown are the worst bits. The people of God will return from exile; they’ll be back in Jerusalem. But Jerusalem sits in no-mans-land. All around, the big kingdoms come and go with politics and powerplays and persuasion. And war, and violence, and destruction. We began to read from verse 29, where a particularly violent king comes on the scene. Antiochus Epiphanes IV is enraged because he tried to attack Egypt, only to be stopped by the Roman army (Kittim) coming by boat.

Just like a child in a tamper who then smashes another toy, Antiochus turns his anger on Jerusalem. He brings the pig to be sacrificed on the altar of the temple. He attacks the city and kills many people. He sets himself up as greater than God. It’s the exact opposite of the Orange mobile phone slogan: ‘The future’s bright.’ Rather, it’s a terrible future.

So why does this make it into the Bible? These are Daniel’s retirement years; why is God troubling him with all this stuff? And what’s the point of reading it now, if it all happened in the years after Daniel lived all that time ago? After the great stories of the fiery furnace and the writing on the wall and the lions’ den, why does it end like this?

God is revealing the future through his prophet. But this isn’t just an episode of the Antique’s Roadshow; looking at old things that are interesting or downright weird which can sometimes be very valuable. As we zoom in and look at the detail, we discover that the pattern of events back then is repeated and even magnified now for us. Opposition to God and his people isn’t just a thing that happened way back then. Rather Anitochus is like a model of the opposition we’re warned about in the New Testament.

Keep a finger in your Bible at Daniel 11, and flick over to page 203 in the New Testament - 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Paul is writing to the church at Thessalonica about the end of the world and the day of the Lord. It’s not going to come before the last great enemy appears - ‘the lawless one’. Look at verse 4. ‘He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God.’

Daniel was given a vision of opposition in the old testament, and the very same words are used of the antichrist in the new. Sometimes football players watch videos of other teams’ games. You might wonder why they would bother. But if they’re going to be playing against Liverpool next Saturday, they’ll want to know what Liverpool were doing last week. They want to beat the team. They’ll see how they attack, and then learn how to stand against them. That is what God is giving us here, in these closing chapters of Daniel. The enemy is always the same. There are no surprises. So how can we stand firm? How can we be sure of holding fast against antichrist?

Look at the end of verse 32. Here we find the heart of the battle plan. Here’s the difference between standing and falling. ‘He (that is, the enemy) shall seduce with intrigue those who violate the covenant; but the people who are loyal to their God shall stand firm and take action.’ Every other English translation says it slightly differently - ‘but the people who know their God...’

Do you notice the order of what it says? Knowing your God comes first. Knowing your God is the secret to standing firm and taking action. The advice isn’t to do something and then see if maybe God is somehow in it. No, first, know your God, be confident in his character, goodness, power, will, and then you will be able to stand and take action.

It’s what we’ve seen the whole way through Daniel. Daniel and his 3 mates weren’t the only Judeans who came to Babylon, but they were the only ones who knew their God and decided not to defile themselves from the king’s table. Daniel knew his God, who reveals mysteries when all the wise men were facing the chop. The three friends were confident that their God could save from the fiery furnace. Daniel could read the writing and declare judgement to Belshazzar because he knew his God. He kept praying when it was illegal and went into the lions’ den because he knew his God.

From first to last, the whole Bible is an invitation to know God, to get to know him better. It’s what we saw in Bible study the other night at the end of 2 Peter: ‘Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ As we read his word, talk to him in prayer, spend time with him, so we get to know him better. Daniel’s book was written down so that we would know God better. You see, God is the hero of the story.

He is the one who rescues his people. The one who rules over history. The one who sets up kings and removes kings. The one who can’t be surprised or caught napping. And because we have the New Testament, we know that this God stepped into time in order to demonstrate his love as he was born in Bethlehem and died on the cross and rose again to give us new life.

There’s a hint of that in the last chapter: ‘Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.’ (12:2-3)

Even the attacks of the enemy are not the end. God rules, and will raise his people to everlasting life. This is the God we are invited to know; this is the God we are invited to trust. Do you know this God today? I don’t mean do you know something about him - it isn’t an exam we’re studying for. Rather, do you know him?

What a difference that would make to the struggles you face this week. Knowing God will help us stand firm and take action. The Christmas season is a great time to invite someone to come along to a carol service - why not think this week of someone to ask? Maybe there’s a situation in work - knowing God will make a difference; knowing he is with you; giving you power. You might be dreading spending time with far-out relatives over Christmas - knowing God and his priorities will help with your attitude towards them, and who knows, the whole situation could be changed. It may be that you know about God, but you don’t know him. Today, take some time and say to God: I want to know you. He will answer the prayer. I’d be delighted to introduce you.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 8th December 2013.

Sermon: Daniel 8:1-27 The Ram and the Goat

This morning I’ve got a question for you: Does God know what will happen in the future? Do you think that God can tell what the future holds before it happens?

The reason I ask the question is that it’s one of the questions that some people ask when they read the later chapters of Daniel. They look at some of the detail that is written, things like the way the kingdoms rise and fall, or the 2300 evenings and mornings of devastation, and they decide that this must have been written afterwards.

Daniel may well have been in Babylon around 600BC, but surely these chapters must have been written after the things they’ve described in 200BC? Is it someone else who has pretended to be Daniel, to make him look good, that he was able to tell all these things in advance? Because, let’s get real - no one can tell what the future holds, can they??

But when we come to the Bible, we aren’t just dealing with words that people have written down. These human words are the very words of the living God - the God who says that ‘I am God and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done.’ (Is 46:9-10).

After all, if you were writing it to make it look like Daniel was the hero, you wouldn’t include the bits where Daniel says I don’t understand this - in verse 15, but also in verse 27 after the angel Gabriel has explained it!

This is Daniel writing, recording a vision he received in the third year of Belshazzar - two years after the one from chapter 7. Once again the living God is declaring the end from the beginning. God is telling him what the future holds. So what is it all about, and why is Daniel told?

In the last chapter we encountered some scary beasts - the lion with eagle wings; the bear with tusks and teeth; the leopard with four wings and four heads; and the unmentionable beast. In this new vision there are just two beasts - perhaps more familiar to a farming community, but still scary in their own way.

Daniel sees a ram with two horns which charges about to the west and north and south. It rules the roost (to mix metaphors). Every other beast is powerless to withstand it. Perhaps you would have a ram or a bull that is (excuse me) top dog. Everyone leaves it alone. No one challenges it. Now we don’t have to guess what this is all about. We’re told in verse 20. The ram with the two horns is the kingdom of the Medes and Persians (you know the guys who would conquer Babylon later in Belshazzar’s reign, when the writing appeared on the wall). The Medes and Persians became the new superpower. No one could challenge them. They captured countries all around. They look unstoppable, for a while.

But then, from the west, comes a male goat. It’s almost a cartoon portrayal - you know when Roadrunner zooms along, not really touching the ground... You know what’s coming next - the goat tackles the ram, its one horn set to destroy. The goat throws the ram to the ground; it tramples over it.

Now again, we’re not left guessing. We’re told who this is: ‘The male goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn between its eyes is the first king.’ (21) You’ve heard of Alexander the Great? He was this king of Greece who had conquered the whole world by the age he was 30. I had barely conquered joined up writing! Greece defeated the Medes and Persians. But then Alexander died suddenly at the age of 32. The unified kingdom then divided into four lesser kingdoms, just as the four prominent horns grow up (8).

You can see why some people might be skeptical. How could Daniel know that all this political intrigue was going to happen? Surely this is more like reading a newspaper report or a history textbook rather than prophecy? But remember the claim of God in Isaiah 46: ‘declaring the end from the beginning.’ Can God do it?

From the big sweep of world history, suddenly the vision focuses in on one little character. From one of these four horn kingdoms comes a little horn. It grows exceedingly great towards south, east and ‘the beautiful land.’

Do you remember the opening titles of Dad’s Army? The arrows spreading across Europe showing the advance of the German army? It’s a bit like the advance of this little horn, this king who history records is called Antiochus Epiphanes. He advanced towards Egypt, but also toward the beautiful land - Israel - the place where Daniel is now far from, the place of his childhood.

So Daniel sees that this king will come against the restored Jerusalem in the future. Overthrowing the sanctuary (the temple) and removing the regular burnt-offering - the sacrifices of the temple. Even worse, he sacrificed a pig on the altar of the temple - an abomination (or desolation) to bring and sacrifice an unclean animal on the Lord’s altar.

Imagine how this all sounds to Daniel. He remembers seeing the temple being destroyed. He longs for Jerusalem to be restored. And yet here God is telling him (something that is sure and certain to happen) that worse days are coming. Another attack, the removal of sacrifices, the defiling of the temple. It’s almost too much to take in.

Now why does God tell him all this in advance? Why would God get him to write it down several hundred years early? Well, for a start, it’s confirmation that God knows the future - when later generations read this and saw the rise of the king of Greece and then this little horn, they could be sure that God was in control.

We see it in even greater detail as we come up to Advent and Christmas and recall again the prophecies about the coming of the Lord Jesus. They are fulfilled to the smallest detail, showing that God is in control, that he knows the future, that history is His story.

But more than that, even in the darkest days for God’s people, there is the assurance that evil will not finally win. The holy ones ask ‘How long?’ It might be a question you have asked. It’s the question the martyrs ask, as they wait for final judgement in Revelation 6. The answer is given in Daniel: ‘For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful place.’

After Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple there was a revolt, led by a priest called Judas Maccabeus. His fellow Jews retook the city and a great festival was held to re-purify the temple in 165BC. It’s still remembered today as Hannukah. And it came on the very day of the fulfilment of Daniel’s prophecy.

There is a God in heaven. He knows and declares the end from the beginning. The temple and its sacrifices point us to the fulfilment of all the prophecies; of that pure sacrifice that will never be defiled. And so we remember that sacrifice today. We hear the God who speaks, who gives us his precious and great promises. We can trust what he says. The end is near. So take courage, and keep going.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 3rd November 2013.

Sermon: Daniel 7: 1-28 Scary Beasts and the Son of Man

If I asked you to shout out what you knew about Daniel, you’d probably mention the lions’ den; the fiery furnace; and maybe the writing on the wall. The Sunday School stories of Daniel are always popular - we had great fun thinking about the lion’s den last week. Sometimes people only stay in the first half, but even though the second half of the book is less familiar, it’s still scripture - God is still speaking to us through it.

Now as you might have noticed, we’re coming up to a scary time of the year, with Halloween this week. Stories of ghosts and ghouls; costume parties; trick or treating; and all the rest. There are always some imaginative costumes, but none could match the scary sights Daniel saw in his nightmare: ‘I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.’ (2-3)

These aren’t things you’ll see at the zoo. They’ll not be in a David Attenborough wildlife series. A lion with eagles’ wings, standing up like a man; a bear with tusks and teeth; a leopard with four wings and four heads; and then the fourth beast - not even described - ‘terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong’ with iron teeth and lots of horns. It’s a frightening vision. Each ready to destroy; one following the other.

At that very moment, Daniel sees thrones being set in place. The Ancient of Days takes his throne - this one who has white clothing and white hair - like snow and wool. His throne is fire, and around him stand ten thousand times ten thousand serving him. The court is in session. The judge is in his seat. The books are open.

It’s as if Daniel’s attention is brought back to the beasts. The little horn on the last beast is speaking arrogant words. Despite being a little part of a beast, it makes boastful claims. It’s as if it doesn’t care that the court is in session. Every week the local papers carry reports of court cases. Anyone who disrespects the judge is found in contempt of court. The sentence here is worse. The beast is killed.

From the beasts back to the throne. Coming with the clouds comes one like a Son of Man - a human being, a man, in the midst of all these strange visions. From the Ancient of Days he receives ‘dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him.’ These are words that we’ve heard time and time again now in Daniel. In almost every chapter, we’ve heard the same chorus: ‘His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.’ (see 2:47, 3:29, 4:34, 6:26). They were spoken of the Most High God - but here, it’s the Son of Man who they’re spoken of.

It’s all too much for Daniel. He just can’t understand what he’s seeing. You might be feeling like that yourself. What does it all mean? All these weird beasts and thrones and characters? So Daniel asks one of the attendants, one of these ten thousand times ten thousand for some help.

The interpretation is found in verse 17 on. The four beasts are four kings (or kingdoms). You know the way sometimes in cartoons the United States will be portrayed as an eagle? Or an even better example - think of the way the rugby nations are known by their animal - the Kiwis (NZ); the Wallabies (Australia); the British and Irish Lions...

These beasts are kingdoms, starting from Daniel’s time forward - the Babylonians; the Medes and Persians; the Greeks; the Roman Empire. They may reign for a time, but ‘the hoy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever - for ever and ever.’ (18) They have come and gone, but for those who belong to the Most High, their kingdom will go on for ever. As if that isn’t enough it’s ‘for ever - for ever and ever.’ (You know the way sometimes children can make promises talking about infinity squared or forever and a day...)

This is all history for us - these kingdoms have come and gone. I remember stopping at Hadrian’s Wall on a school trip years ago - it had been built by the Romans. But for Daniel it was all future. He’s struggling to understand what will come. He’s particularly perplexed about the fourth beast - why it’s so frightening.

It’s as if he gives us another camera angle. The movie zooms in, on slow motion, as he sees the reason why the beasts are so scary. You see there in verse 21? These aren’t petting zoo crazy creatures. They aren’t even like the Flanimals invented by Ricky Gervais. They are dangerous, making war against the holy ones. Even worse, the horn was prevailing over them. The people of God were almost defeated, until the Ancient of Days came and judgement was given in their favour, and they were given the kingdom.

This is why the two halves of Daniel sit together. The very reason why Daniel and his friends found themselves in fiery furnaces and lions’ dens was because they were God’s people. These rival kingdoms wanted loyalty, but their loyalty was to God alone.

As we come to baptise Lexie today, we’re praying that she will grow up to love and serve the Lord. It isn’t always easy to follow the Lord Jesus - the world will be against her, just as the world is against each of us who take a stand for Jesus. The beastly kingdoms can seem scary; their power is real; their might is strong. They may even prevail against us for a time.

But the court is in session. The Ancient of Days is in control. Every word and deed and thought is recorded in the books. The Son of Man has come to earth - a human like us, yet also the Son of God - who has conquered by his cross. He has taken his seat at God’s right hand. Jesus has received this everlasting kingdom. He used this very chapter when he was on trial before the Sanhedrin. They asked was he the Christ, the Son of God. He replies: ‘From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ (Matt 26:64)

Daniel is given a glimpse of the future. These kingdoms come and go. The Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Greeks, Romans, all just ancient history. The Holy Roman Empire; the British Empire; the American dominance - all have come and will go the same way.

There is one king who will endure. One kingdom which will never end. In it, the subjects reign with the king. To name Jesus as king is to be on the right side of history. To recognise his right to rule, and gladly submit - this is perfect freedom.

The world can be a scary place. These beasts made Daniel fear. But to appear before the court without being reconciled to the judge - well, that’s much worse. Come, today, and submit. Bow before the king of kings. Surrender to him.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 27th October 2013

Sermon: Daniel 6:1-28 The Lions' Den

Who likes going to the zoo? What’s your favourite animal at the zoo? ... This morning we’re thinking about one animal in particular, which we heard about in our Bible reading. Does anyone know which one? The lion.

Now when you go to the zoo, can you get up to touch the lions? Can you give them a wee stroke the way you might stroke your cat at home? No! Why not? The lions are dangerous.

Why are they so dangerous? They’ve got sharp teeth and sharp claws. You can’t just go into the lions’ enclosure - it would be too dangerous. Lions are normally longer than I am tall - between 5 foot 7 and 8 foot 2 (170 - 250 cm); they stand about four foot tall shoulder height; and they weigh between 23 and 39 stone (150-250 kg). You wouldn’t want to go in beside them!

And yet that’s where Daniel was put. Daniel was thrown into the lions den. Why was that?

Last week we heard of how King Belshazzar of Babylon lost his kingdom. Now King Darius is in charge. [Get volunteers to act it out] He has three people helping him rule the kingdom. So anything Darius needs done, Daniel and the two others do it. But the others don’t like Daniel - he always worked hard; he didn’t take bribes; he made sure to do whatever was needed. He was a Christian in the workplace, doing what was right.

Now I’m sure that you all do your homework all the time, and always work hard in school - but imagine there was someone in your class who doesn’t want to do that. Do they like the hardworking people in the class? No, because they make the rest look bad.

So Daniel’s workmates tried to find something wrong with him to try to get rid of him. But there was nothing. They decided it had to be something about his God - because Daniel trusted in God.

So all his workmates went to the king and made a law which said that you could only pray to the king (and no one else) for the next month. Daniel went home and did what he always did - he opened up his window and prayed to God - three times a day.

The men took Daniel to the king and told him what had happened. He was praying to God, not to the king. The king knew he had been tricked, but there was nothing he could do. He had to throw Daniel into the lions’ den.

To make sure Daniel couldn’t climb out, a big stone was placed over the hole. The stone was sealed with the king’s seal, so that he had to stay. That night, the king was very worried about Daniel. He didn’t eat any dinner. He didn’t play on his Nintendo DS. He couldn’t watch TV. He didn’t sleep. He was worried.

As soon as it was light, the king went to the lions’ den to see what had happened. He shouted out: ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’

Can you imagine waiting to hear if there was any answer? Surely the lions would have eaten him? But there it was - Daniel shouted back to him. God had shut the mouths of the lions so that they didn’t touch him, they didn’t eat him.

Daniel was brought up out of the den, and there were no wounds on him. No scratch marks, no teeth marks. He was safe! God was able to keep him safe and rescue him from the lions.

But do you know what? Daniel reminds me of another story. Daniel points us to another place of death, where a man was put inside, and a big stone was put over the door, and the stone was sealed in place. Does anyone know the story?

But early in the morning, the man had been put in the place of the dead - not just where lions might eat you - but he was actually dead. But early that morning, he was alive.

The way that God rescued Daniel points us to and reminds us of the way that God rescues us - because Jesus died, and was laid in the grave, but rose to new life. We remind ourselves of his new life because we meet together each week on a special day - Sunday, the Lord’s Day, when we remember that Jesus is alive.

Darius the king told everybody about how God had rescued Daniel. Jesus has told us to go and share the good news about how he has rescued us. It’s why we sing our songs. God is able to rescue us from something even scarier than lions - from our sins.

This sermon was preached at the Church Family Service in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 20th October 2013

Sermon Audio: Daniel 5

On Sunday morning we returned to our series in Daniel, where the writing's on the wall for King Belshazzar. Hear why this king was finished, and how we need to learn from the saints of the past in this our generation.

Sermon: Daniel 5: The writing's on the wall

It’s amazing just how many everyday sayings find their origin in the Bible. By the skin of your teeth (Job 19:20); gird your lions (1 Kings 18:46); the fly in the ointment (Ecclesiastes 10:1); and how the mighty have fallen (2 Samuel 1:19). This morning, our Bible reading contains another of those everyday sayings. The writing’s on the wall. You know what it means - something bad is about to happen; the signs are there. But let’s see where the writing came from, and what it’s all about.

We’ve moved on now from King Nebuchadnezzar. He’s no longer the king; now it’s Belshazzar. He hosts a great big party - a thousand guests, all lords in his kingdom. There’s wine flowing, in fact, so much, that Belshazzar gives the command for the cups of gold and silver from Jerusalem to be brought into the party.

Remember how Nebuchadnezzar had captured Jerusalem? He had brought along the vessels from the temple - the cups that were used in the temple worship. Now Belshazzar uses them - not to worship the living God, but instead to praise ‘the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone. He’s using things devoted and set apart for God’s glory to worship false gods. What a betrayal! It’s just like what Paul says in Romans 1, speaking of how humans have exchanged the truth about God for idols.

But before you too quickly jump to condemn Belshazzar - is this something that we also can do? We may not explicitly speak out praise for the god of gold or whatever. We may not have a wee idol set up in our homes. But do we use God’s gifts for the glory of another? Do we take what is rightfully God’s and use it selfishly? If we are described as the temple of the Holy Spirit, how do we use our bodies - for God’s glory or for our own?

As Belshazzar is mid drink, suddenly a hand appears and begins to write on the wall. Now I know that in some houses writing can appear on the wall in felt tip or crayon and no one knows anything about it; but this was much more than a child’s scrawl. Belshazzar watches as it happens. He sees it, and suddenly he’s terrified. His knees knock, his limbs give way - he has never seen anything like this before. And what’s worse, he can’t read it.

Panicked, he calls for the king’s wise men, you know the enchanters, Chaldeans and diviners; but by this stage we know that they’re going to be useless. Despite the king’s promise of purple, pomp and position, no one can read it.

Just then the Queen Mother arrives into the hall. She had heard the panic and came to see what the fuss was all about. She tells the king about Daniel, who in the days of Nebuchadnezzar was chief of the magicians. She knows that (just as before) Daniel will be the one to interpret.

Look at verse 17. Daniel says that he is going to read the writing - but it’s not until verse 25 that he actually does it. First, he gives the king a little history lesson. He reminds him of how great a king Nebuchadnezzar was - because the Most High God had given him the kingdom. In verse 20 there’s a recap of chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar’s pride and humbling. It was a painful lesson for Nebuchadnezzar to learn - but here’s the point (v22): ‘And you, Belzhazzar his son, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this!’

Belshazzar knew about what had happened, and yet he refused to listen; he wouldn’t learn from it. It’s a bit like the feeling in Europe after the Great War that this was the war to end all wars. Yet within a generation, World War Two had begun. The lessons hadn’t been learned.

But if that was a problem politically, how much more when it is seen in the spiritual realm. How often we find godly parents who find it so difficult to pass on the faith to the next generation. The children grow up, they decide to go their own way. And it breaks the parents’ hearts.

God does not have spiritual grandchildren. We cannot presume to be a Christian just because your mum sang in the choir or your dad was churchwarden one time. To have Christian parents is a great privilege. Nebuchadnezzar had come to faith in the living God. But the next generation also must come to trust for themselves. Belshazzar knew the truth, but would not submit. Instead, he set himself up against the Lord of heaven.

His folly is seen in verse 23: ‘You have praised the gods... which do not see or hear or know; but the God in whose power is your very breath, and to whom belong all your ways, you have not honoured.’ This is the God who reigns over all; who sees all; who gives us the very breath we need to live. The God who sent the hand which wrote on the wall.

The message is clear - mene - God has numbered your days; tekel - you have been weighed and found wanting; peres (the plural of parsin) - the kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. They’re sobering words. They certainly sobered up Belshazzar from his drunken revelry, and brought him face to face with his future.

I wonder if those words were written on your wall, how you would fare? Numbered, weighed, divided. At the beginning of the Communion service we hear the great commandment, to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength. Have we achieved that for a minute, let alone a lifetime? While our sins may be different to Belshazzar - the actions we do; the root cause of sin is exactly the same: we fail to give God the honour he deserves.

We rightly deserve the same sentence. Yet here we are, gathered at a great feast, with vessels of wine. We meet, not for drunkenness, but around the Table of the Lord. We drink the wine as we remember the one who perfectly honoured the Father in every moment of his life; the sinless one who gave his life for sinners; who shed his blood of the new covenant for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Belshazzar hears the message, but does not repent. He continues to act in his kingly way - Daniel is clothed in purple, given a chain of gold and proclaimed to be third in the kingdom. And it was all pointless. At the very time that Belshazzar had been feasting, the Medes and Persians had been ready to attack - having diverted the river Euphrates away from the city giving them easy access. Belshazzar is finished. Darius the Mede becomes King.

The writing was on the wall for Belshazzar. The writing is on the wall for us, too, unless we take refuge in the king. Paul writes to the Colossians that Jesus was ‘erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.’ (2:14)

Come today to the table, eat of the bread and drink of the wine; remember what Jesus has done for you; no longer are we under God’s wrath; we are clothed, not in purple, but clothed in Christ’s righteousness. His kingdom stands for ever. This sup is just a foretaste of that great feast. Come by faith; and go in great joy.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 13th October 2013

Sermon Audio: Daniel 4:1-37

On Sunday morning we looked at the madness of King Nebuchadnezzar. It's amazing that this enemy, this pagan king writes a chapter of the Bible as he gives his testimony to the God of grace. Listen in for yourself.

Sermon: Daniel 4: 1-37 The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar

If you remember back to the start of the summer, we were finishing off our series in 1 Peter, and Robbie Robinson helped us to see that ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ (1 Pet 5:5). Now when you think of the proud, who comes to mind? Who is it leaps into your mind when you think of the category marked ‘proud people?’

From what we’ve seen so far in the book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar could certainly fit the bill. In chapter 1, he came and captured Jerusalem. He then threatened to kill all the magicians who couldn’t tell him his dream of the statue in chapter two. And last week we saw how he threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the fiery furnace for not worshipping his golden statue. He seems to be proud as he rules over the whole kingdom.

Yet, if you were listening carefully, you’ll have realised that this chapter is written by none other than King Nebuchadnezzar himself. Just imagine! Alongside David’s Psalms and Peter’s letters and Matthew’s gospel sits this chapter written by the enemy - King Nebuchadnezzar!What is going on here? How come Nebuchadnezzar gets to write in the Bible? In verse 2 he writes: ‘The signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me I am pleased to recount.’ Nebuchadnezzar, the foreign, enemy king is giving his testimony! He’s telling how he was going astray, how God dealt with him, and turned his life around.

And the presenting issue is the madness of King Nebuchadnezzar. [A few years ago a film came out charting the history of King George the Third’s situation - except the movie was called ‘The Madness of King George’ rather than ‘The Madness of King George the Third’ in case American audiences thought they had missed out on seeing the first two films in the series...]. As we read his story, you might think it’s easy to see his madness. It’s right there in verse 33. ‘He was driven away from human society, ate grass like oxen, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew as long as eagle’s feathers and his nails became like birds’ claws.’ He leaves his palace and lives in the fields. We obviously don’t recommend such a lifestyle. It’s very peculiar.

And yet it’s not the only madness we see in Neb’s life. The story begins with another dream. This time, it’s not a statue, but a tall tree, which is cut down. Again, those magicians can’t help interpret, so Daniel is brought in. He explains the dream - Neb is the tree, ruling over all, but he will be felled, driven out. This proud one will be brought low - until he knows that ‘the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of mortals; he gives it to whom he will.’ (25)

Daniel goes on to say that there’s a way to avoid this - ‘atone for your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged.’ (27) There’s an escape route - an early warning system to stop it happening. It’s the same message of John the Baptist and Jesus to ‘repent and believe’. Yet Neb ignores the warning signs, and carries on in his foolish madness. It is madness to ignore the warnings given by God.

A year later, the warning was fulfilled, the very thing he was told about actually happened. Neb’s madness was to ignore God’s call to repent, and instead to be boastful and proud. Verse 30: ‘Is this not magnificent Babylon, which I have built as a royal capital by my mighty power and for my glorious majesty?’ It’s all about me, myself and I - Babylon is his own, built by him, to display his glory. There’s no thought of the Most High God who gave him the kingdom, nor of anyone but himself. At that very moment, as the words were still in his mouth, he hears the voice of the great King of heaven - and he is driven out. His madness of ignoring God’s warnings and his madness of being proud leads to his punishment of proper madness.

After the set period of time, seven years, Neb was restored to sanity, and to his kingdom. But what was it that brought the change? Why was he sane again? As his testimony continues: ‘I, Neb, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me. I blessed the Most High, and praised and honoured the one who lives for ever.’ (34)

That lifting his eyes to heaven was him recognising that God is God and Neb isn’t; that heaven rules (26). Neb recognises his place, and gives God his due - that God rules, and gives as he chooses. In seeing the fate of Neb, we see that just like him, we aren’t the centre of the universe - God is - that we must give him the glory and the praise. As Neb reminds us, ‘he is able to bring low those who walk in pride.’ (37) God humbles the proud - this is the clear message from Daniel chapter 4. He humbled King Neb, who was very proud.

But what about us. You might be thinking, well, of course he was proud - he was the king of a mighty nation, he had conquered most of the world, he had the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the ancient wonders of the world. He might have been proud, but I’m all right - after all, I’ll never be king of anywhere, so I don’t need to worry. This is only a message for kings, not for ordinary people like me.

But you don’t have to be a king to be proud. You don’t have to be a ruler to think highly of yourself and your achievements. You don’t have to be the boss to puff yourself up with what you have done. Perhaps it’s in what your farm has achieved, building up from nothing; or coming top in the exams; being the best knitter or baker in the county; or in your work for the church. We’re all liable to pride from time to time.

But even worse is the pride that says: ‘I can work hard enough or pay in enough or achieve enough or be good enough to get into heaven by my own strength.’ Are you too proud to become a Christian? Too caught up in your own achievements, thinking you can save yourself? In whatever form or fashion it may appear, God opposes the proud.

It’s the message that rings out loud and clear from this passage. It’s the message that I hammered home a few years back when I preached this same passage in Dundonald. But as I’ve been studying the passage, I’ve seen that the other half of Peter’s declaration is not only true, but it’s what we also need to hear. ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’

God’s grace is the reason that Neb is writing this part of the Bible. This pagan king has had his life transformed by God’s grace, when he came humbly before the God of grace. And if Neb, even Neb, could come and find grace, then why not you and me?

You see, Neb was responding to the announcement that the Lord Jesus is the King of Kings. Look at verse 17. The watcher in the dream says that ‘the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of mortals; he gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of human beings.’ This is, I believe, the declaration of the good news of Jesus - Jesus is the lowliest of humans, the one who gave up all of heaven’s glory and went down, down, down to the death of the cross. Jesus who said ‘I am gentle and humble in heart’ (Matt 11:29) and invited us to lay down our burdens.

If you will come humbly to him, he will receive you, having done all that is necessary. As the old hymn puts it, ‘Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe.’ Come to the God of grace.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 22nd September 2013.

Sermon Audio: Daniel 3:1-30

On Sunday morning we had our monthly Family Service, continuing in our series in Daniel. With the mocking mention of all the various musical instruments in King Nebuchadnezzar's orchestra, we had our own impromptu orchestra making music, calling for the worship of the true and living God who saves from the fiery furnace. It gets a little bit noisy at times, so turn your sound down!

Family Service Sermon: Daniel 3:1-30 The Fiery Furnace

This morning I asked you to bring along some musical instruments - whether a drum or a didgeridoo. You might have been wondering why I asked you to bring it along. In the Bible, musical instruments are used to call us to worship God. Psalm 98 talks about using the harp, the sound of singing, trumpets, ram’s horns. Psalm 150 adds the lyre, tambourine, strings, flute and cymbals. Musical instruments are a call to worship God.

If you have one with you, and even if you haven’t, I want you to listen carefully. Every time I say ‘musical instruments’ I want you to play yours for five seconds! If you’ve no instrument, God has still given you one - your voice. You can play an imaginary trumpet; or whistle. But just for five seconds, so listen carefully!

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah lived in Jerusalem. When they went to the temple, they heard all the musical instruments as they called people to praise the God of Israel. But that was a long time ago now. King Nebuchadnezzar had attacked the city, took away the cups from the temple, and took Daniel and his friends back to Babylon. They couldn’t hear the musical instruments of Jerusalem any more.

But Daniel and his friends were given jobs serving the king. They went to school and learnt lots about the Babylonian culture and religion. They were helped by God to do their job well. (And last week we heard how) Daniel even helped the king by revealing a bad dream he had, and what it meant.

The dream was about a statue, and about lots of different kingdoms that would come and go after Neb. It had been made of gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay. Neb had an idea. He would build a golden statue of himself. It would be 90 feet tall - about the height of our tower.

The day came for the statue to be unveiled. Neb was excited. He invited all the people who worked for him from across the world. Everyone was given the command: When you hear all the musical instruments, bow down and worship the statue. If anyone heard the musical instruments but didn’t bow down, they would be thrown into a fiery furnace.

And so all the musical instruments began to play. The noise was really loud because all the musical instruments were playing. And everyone bowed down and worshiped the statue. Well, nearly everyone.

You know the way you can be driving along and see a tower standing tall against the backdrop of the fields? Or when you’re coming towards Belfast the city hospital tower stands out? When as everyone was bowed low, three people continued to stand out, because they were still standing up.

Their enemies, the astrologers went to the king. They reminded him of the command - when the musical instruments are played, everyone bows down. But, they said, when the musical instruments were played, just now, these three stayed standing.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel’s friends who had been given new names) were brought before the king. He reminded them of the command - the musical instruments play, you bow down, everyone is happy. So here we go, let’s have the musical instruments, and you can bow down and worship my statue. But before the musical instruments could play their tune, these three said no.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said that they would not worship the statue, because they could only worship God, the living God, the God of Israel. They knew that God could rescue them from the fiery furnace. They knew all about how God had saved their people before them. But even if God did not rescue them from the fiery furnace, even then, they would not worship anyone but God.

Neb had them bound up in their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes. They were wrapped up as if they were going out for a walk on a really cold day with the snow up to the knees. But they were thrown into the furnace, all tied up.

Suddenly Neb got a shock. He thought he had forgotten how to count. How many men were thrown into the furnace? Count with me: Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. One, two, three. But when Neb looked in, he saw four! They were walking around as if they were in a park on a summers day. Not tied up. And the fourth looked like a son of the gods.

Even though this was five hundred years before he was born, this is Jesus, the Son of God, who is with them in this difficult time. God is with them in the furnace, because they did not bow to worship anyone else. God, their God, was able to save them.

Neb orders the doors to be opened and the three to be brought out. They stood before him, just as they had before they were thrown in. God had saved them. God had helped them. Neb knew that his gods could not do that. His statue was just a statue, a lump of gold, and couldn’t rescue anyone. ‘No other god can save in this way.’ But God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego - this God can save.

And that’s a good reason for us to hear the musical instruments - as they call us to worship our God. This is the same God who sent Jesus to rescue us from the danger we were in; the same Jesus who is with us now every day, no matter what we are going through. So even if there are musical instruments calling us to worship anyone else or anything else - football players, pop stars, or whatever - the musical instruments should remind us that God is with us; that God alone is able to save, so for his glory, play your musical instruments!

This sermon was preached at the Family Service in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 15th September 2013.

Sermon Audio: Daniel 2: 1-49

Sunday morning saw us continuing in the book of the prophet Daniel. Presented with the mystery of the king's dream, Nebuchadnezzar discovers the futility of the Babylonian and Chaldean gods, and learns that there is a god in heaven who reveals mysteries and declares the future before it comes to pass.

Sermon: Daniel 2: 1-49 The King's Dream

Have you ever had a really bad night’s sleep? For some, every night might be like that - no matter how you toss and turn you just can’t get over, or stay asleep. For others, you’re disturbed by crying children, or sleeptalking, or your spouse’s snoring. What about bad dreams or nightmares? It all seems so vivid; you’re caught up in the panic of whatever is seemingly happening; it’s hard to understand, even though it’s unforgettable. Ever woken in a cold sweat because of something you’ve dreamed?

If you have, you’re in good company. As Daniel 2 opens, we’re re-introduced to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He’s had a bad night; a bad dream, and he wants to get to the bottom of it. Now we might not know where to turn if we had a bad dream, but Neb had the right people on staff. He brings in the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and Chaldeans (a special breed of priests), and asks them to tell him what it all means.

The magicians are quick to point out a slight problem - if the king would just tell them the dream, they will give the meaning of it (4). But Neb isn’t playing ball. He wants them to tell the dream, and then give the interpretation. After all, if they’re as clever as they’re made out to be, it’ll be no problem to them. They keep stalling. They realise they’re caught. They just want some details.

Neb isn’t so slow. He knows they could string him along with any old story if he told them what he had dreamed. Imagine how it would go: ‘You say you dreamed about a bridge over a river, but the bridge collapsed as you were walking over it? Well, don’t be pushing out and invading any more countries or you’ll perish...’

Look at verse 10. They admit defeat: ‘There is no one on earth who can reveal what the king demands! ... and no one can reveal it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.’

This is the elite of the Babylonian religious system; they claim to be priests and powerful religious types. Yet they can’t do anything; their gods might, but won’t. The problem becomes even more intense. Neb isn’t going to keep them on the payroll - if they can’t do the job, then why pay them? But rather than ‘you’re fired’, they’re going to hear ‘off with their heads.’ It’s not just them - Daniel and his three friends (from Judah) were to be killed as well.

So what do you do when you find yourself in Daniel’s position? These other guys are useless; their religious system is a fraud; and your life is on the line. Would you try to think up what the king might have dreamt about? Consulted the big book of nightmares?

Daniel turns to God, and calls a prayer meeting. Verse 17, he gets his friends to pray, to seek mercy from the God of heaven. His first reaction is to pray. I wonder if that’s how you respond, or if prayer is further down the list (or even on the list at all). Daniel knows this is beyond him - no one can reveal it - and so he turns to the throne room, to ask for God’s mercy.

Now if you were writing the chapter, what would you put next? I think I would write about the dream in great detail, explaining everything as I went along, but that’s not how the author tells the story. Look at verse 19. ‘Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.’ Daniel now knows what the dream is and what it means, but we’re left waiting to hear. The suspense is rising, but the story is suspended until Daniel praises God for revealing the mystery.

Who is this God? He is the one to whom belongs wisdom and power; Power, because he changes times and seasons, he deposes kings and sets up kings. Wisdom, because he gives wisdom to the wise; he reveals deep and hidden things. This is the God who rules on high. This is the God of mercy.

So Daniel goes to the king. He’s asked if he is able to tell him the dream (26). You can almost see the king’s face fall as he begins his answer: ‘No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can show to the king the mystery that the king is asking...’ (27) That’s the very issue. In case Neb is getting worried, Daniel continues: ‘But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries...’ This true God is able to reveal mysteries, to show what the future will hold, because he holds the future.

And so eventually, after 30 verses, we get to discover what the king saw. He dreamt of a great statue, huge, shiny, and frightening. It was of various parts - the top of gold, chest and arms of silver, middle and thighs bronze, legs of iron and feet or iron and clay. Yet this impressive statue is shattered into pieces by ‘a stone was cut out, not by human hands... (which) became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.’

Now what is that all about? What could it possibly mean? Daniel gives God’s interpretation. The head of gold - this is Nebuchadnezzar. He is the ruler of the entire world - the superpower of his day. But his kingdom will not remain forever - another one will follow, of silver. Just think of the former glory of the British Empire, when (as the Last Night of the Proms reminded us last night) Britannia ruled the waves. Think of the old maps coloured red to show the extent of the kingdom (reminds me of the schoolboy asked why it was said that the sun never set on the British Empire - he answered that the BE was in the east, whereas the sun set in the west...). This silver kingdom is the Medes and Persians. Next, comes bronze - the Greeks. And finally, the iron and clay, the Romans.

God is telling Neb about the future, and in the time of the Roman empire, something new and different will happen. These are all earthly kingdoms, but in those days, will come a kingdom not of human hands - this stone which shatters all power and rule, and which grows to fill the whole earth.

‘And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever.’ (44) For Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, these things were all in the future. They looked ahead to see what God had promised to fulfil.

But from our viewpoint, we look back, to see what God has done. We can see much clearer than Daniel ever could, just how it would all turn out. In the days of the Romans, this new heavenly kingdom was established, as the king came to declare the good news. The Romans are long gone - a history project for school children. But this kingdom, Jesus’ kingdom, has continued for two thousand years - the promise is true, that is shall never be destroyed.

When you apply for a loan, the bank checks your ‘credit rating’ - what you have done in the past helps them decide how reliable you’ll be in the future. Check out God’s credit rating. Not one of his promises have fallen to the ground. As we look to the future, it can seem so uncertain. We don’t know what it holds. But Daniel calls us to trust in the God who holds the future. There is a God in heaven who is faithful and true. He reveals mysteries, and he has revealed himself to us, especially in the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus, the King. Will you trust in him today?

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 8th September 2013.

Sermon Audio: Daniel 1:1-21

On Sunday morning I began preaching through the book of Daniel. In the first chapter, we follow Daniel and his friends as they are taken from their homes in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, where they use the hardest word of all: No! Daniel's life in exile is a case study in helping us to live as exiles and strangers in the world as we Dare to be a Daniel.

Sermon: Daniel 1: 1-21 Dare to be a Daniel

When we started at university, my friend David came to lunch looking very flustered one day. We had gone to school together, and now university, doing the same course. In first year, though, you could take your pick, so in the first week, I toddled off to Sociology while David went to his first class in Theology. Waiting outside the lecture room, he got some odd stares; looking around he wondered why everyone else seemed to be female mature students... until he went into the room, the lecture started, and it was then he realised he was in Third Year Nursing - he was in the wrong place, he didn’t fit in!

As time goes on, we’re finding ourself out of place, not quite fitting in to the culture around us, like a fish out of water. It doesn’t feel right. If this was once a Christian country, it is not any longer. The culture is changing, and not for the better. Laws are changing, marriage is being redefined, and to disagree is to bring derision.

We shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus promised us persecution. And if you remember back to before the summer, it was the message of Peter in his first letter. We aren’t the first generation of God’s people to face such hardship. In order to help us, God has given us a case study - a real life example of people living in such a situation - and it’s found in the book that we’re starting today: Daniel.

The opening seven verses are all doom and gloom. As some of you might know, I have an interest in photography. After taking the digital photos, you can tweak them with photo editing programmes on the computer. A photo can start off all colours, but then you move a button, and the colour drains away. What was once vibrant is now stark, greys or even black and white. It’s as if the button is being used as you read through these verses.

Jehoiakim is king of Judah, reigning in Jerusalem. He’s been king for 3 years when Nebuchadnezzar besieges the city. He captures the king, as well as some of the holy vessels used in the temple. He and they are carried off to Babylon - a journey of 500 miles on foot. As if that weren’t enough, some of the young men from the royal family and the nobility are also taken.

We’re told about four of these young men. They’re far from home. They’re forced into school to learn the literature and language of the Chaldeans, to re-educate them, make them forget about home and instead learn all about their new country. They’re being prepared to work for the king in the civil service. And in a final move, they’re given new names.

In the Bible, names are important. They each have a meaning - they mark out the person’s identity, who they really are. Now if you look at verse 6, you find their names. Do you see the endings of the names? They either have an ‘el’ or a ‘iah’. Both of these are names of the Lord God - el as in ‘El Shaddai’ and iah as in ‘Yahweh’ (or ‘Hallelujah’ - Praise the Lord). It’s a bit like ‘Christopher’ these days. But these names are changed to have Babylonian gods’ names. Daniel (God is my judge) becomes Belteshazzar (Bel’s prince); Hananiah (the Lord is gracious) is now Shadrach (illumined by the sun-god Shamash). Mishael (who is like God?) becomes Meshach (who is Ishtar?); Azariah (the Lord is my help) finds himself Abednego (the slave of Nabu). Just imagine if a Christopher (Christ-bearer) was renamed Muhammed...

Put yourself in their shoes. They might ask: What is God doing? Why are we in this situation? Doesn’t God care? But then they also ask what does God want me to do in this situation?

So let’s look at the first question: What is God doing? Jerusalem has been attacked, God’s king and God’s temple cups taken away. God had promised that he would send his promised king through this line and this city. But now there’s no king, and the city will soon fall. Is God powerless? Growing up, we used to play top trumps. You had a pack of cards each with, say, cars on them. Each card had its stats, and you tried to beat your opponent’s on what you thought was best. So, for example, a Ferrari F12 might have 730 horsepower, and it would beat an Austin Metro with 48hp.

So is there a heavenly game of top trumps going on? Are the gods of Babylon (these of the renamed Israelites) better and stronger than the God of Israel? Look with me again at verse 2. ‘The Lord let King Jehoiakim of Judah fall into his power.’ However it looks on the surface, the writer reminds us that the Lord has allowed Babylon to win.

Other versions use the word ‘gave’. It’s a word that is repeated in the chapter (although not in the NRSV) - the Lord gave the king into Neb’s hands (2); gave Daniel favour and compassion in the sight of the palace master (9); gave knowledge and skill to the four young men (17). The Lord is in control, even when it looks like he’s not. God is sovereign - not just sometimes, but all of the time. It can be hard to know that or believe that at times. But even on the darkest day of history, when the promised king had finally come, the one who seemed to have the crowds with him, the one to win a great victory, as he died on the cross, seemingly forsaken and abandoned. Even on that day, God was in control, working all things for his purpose. It’s the reason we can meet around his table today, remembering his death and celebrating his risen life, waiting for his kingdom.

God is in control. It’s a truth that Daniel reminds us of - something these four guys needed to remember - and something we need to know day by day in a hostile culture; in life’s circumstances; when things don’t turn out how we had thought or planned or hoped. God is still in control. When we know this, it raises another question - how should I live? What does God want me to do?

When the flood comes, do you go with the flow? It’s so much easier to let the river carry you along. It’s harder to swim against the tide, to go against the flow, to take a stand. But that’s what Daniel does here. Verse 9. ‘But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine.’ He wants to stay pure, to not eat the king’s food. It may have been sacrificed to those false gods. So he takes a stand. He says NO.

Think of the pressure he must have been under. There were lots of other young men from Judah. They seem to have eaten the food and said nothing. But Daniel and the other three refuse. “But everyone’s doing it. Come on ahead. Don’t be a stick in the mud.” Daniel had resolved, had made a firm commitment to refuse.

Where are the situations where you find yourself under pressure to go with the flow? At work, where everyone leaves early or fiddles expenses? Among friends, where juicy gossip is shared?

Daniel and friends eat their vegetarian diet for ten days and are found to be better and fatter than the other young men (so fatter must be a good thing!). God is in control, honouring those who honour him, giving them knowledge and skill. What a turn around. The chapter began with defeat - now God has placed his men close to the king, in the king’s court. What is it that you’re going through today? In what way do you need to know that God is sovereign, in control? And knowing that, how will you stand for him?

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 1st September 2013.

Sermon Audio: Daniel 11: 1-45

Last Sunday was perhaps my most challenging preach yet, in the lengthy chapter of Daniel 11. Here's the mp3 file from my sermon, on Antiochus and the Antichrist.

Sermon: Daniel 11: 1-45 The Shape of Things to Come

We’re less than two weeks away from the General Election, and you just can’t escape it - TV, newspapers, radio, internet - everyone is talking about the general election, and especially the opinion polls. People are trying to predict what will happen in the future - which party will win enough seats to form the government, how the country will be changed. Yet even the ‘experts’ are divided as they think different things will happen.

Imagine, then, if someone were to say that they could tell you, not only who would win this election, but every election for the next two hundred years! You might think that impossible - yet it’s what God is revealing here to Daniel. Daniel 11 may well be the most difficult chapter in the whole book, with the detailed description of the movements and battles of the kings of the north and south. We won’t be able to look at every detail, but the important thing to remember here is that God reveals the future before it happens.

Some people think that the history is so detailed and accurate that it must have been written afterwards, but that is simply not the case. It is an integral part of the book of Daniel, and demonstrates again how God knows the future and can reveal it. The pattern of kings rising and attacking one another, the intrigues and plots, were all spoken to Daniel years (even centuries) before they happened. God reveals it, to encourage and strengthen and warn his people. Can you imagine those returning to Jerusalem from exile, receiving this word from the Lord through Daniel, and then watching as the politics perfectly fulfilled what was said?

For the first 28 verses, Israel isn’t really mentioned or threatened. The Persians kings give way to the kings of Greece (Alexander the Great etc), but his kingdom is divided, and two main branches, north and south, keep fighting with each other - the Seleucid dynasty (the kings of the north, based in Syria), and the Ptolemic dynasty (the kings of the south, based in Egypt). These great kingdoms are at war, and Israel is sitting in between them, watching the movements back and forth.

However it all changes in verse 29, where our reading started this morning. The glorious land (Israel) is under threat, as the king of the north - by this time Antiochus Epiphanes IV - turns his attentions to Jerusalem. As we look at these verses, though, we’re not just reading about ancient history. Rather, Antiochus stands as the great enemy of God’s people, and as such, (as we’ll see later) represents the enemy of Christians today and into the future. We’ll look at these verses under two headings - first, Attack on the holy covenant, and second, the response of God’s people.

Firstly, then, Attack on the holy covenant. Antiochus Epiphanes has been on the warpath, conquering all round him, fighting against the kings of the south, but in verse 30 he is frustrated by the ships of Kittim - the Mediterranean Sea. In frustration and rage, he instead attacks Jerusalem - the place of God’s covenant, the temple. Look at verse 31 with me: ‘Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.’

For Daniel and the first readers, this was unthinkable. The temple is the place where God dwells among his people. It is only just being rebuilt after the exile, as the first exiles return with Ezra. Yet the temple will be profaned - made unclean, desolated through the actions of this great enemy. As we look back, it’s clear that Antiochus removed the altar for burnt offerings, and instead installed a pagan altar in the temple. Offering sacrifices to a false god in the place of the worship of the true and living God.

But it wasn’t enough for him to disrupt the worship of God, he also attacked the people of God, seeking to lead them astray. For some, this meant flattery - look at verse 32: ‘He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant.’ These Jews have given up on God, and instead welcome this inter-faith worship - they are led astray by flattery - smooth words, designed to tickle them.

Others, though, resist, so he is on the attack - verse 33 speaks of some stumbling by sword and flame, captivity and plunder. This is an all-out attack on the Old Testament church, motivated by anger and rage against the people of God.

Now, you might be wondering - why are we reading this passage? After all, this is ancient history. Yet as we read on, the figure of Antiochus Epiphanes also represents the enemy of God’s people right throughout the rest of history. By the New Testament, this language is picked up and used to describe the man of lawlessness, the man of sin, the antichrist. Let’s read verse 36, then flick over to 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. Do you see the similarity? This man of lawlessness exalts himself against every so-called god... so that he... proclaims himself to be God. So, do you remember in Mark 13 when Jesus is asked by his disciples about the destruction of the temple - and in Jesus’ reply he speaks both of the end of the temple and the end of time? In speaking of one, he speaks of the pattern of the future as well. It’s the same here - Antiochus is such that he is the pattern for antichrists and the antichrist.

All through Daniel we have seen that God is in charge, God is on the throne. In chapter 7 we were introduced to the Son of Man, given all authority. Yet here in Daniel 11, this enemy of God’s people arises - Antiochus; through him we see the continuing enemies of God’s church - many antichrists, leading up to this final great antichrist, the man of sin. He exalts himself to the place of God, and attacks the church.

Daniel 11 is therefore still a warning to us - to watch out for the enemies of the people of God - who seek to destroy us through flattery or attack. These antichrists are the human agents of our great enemy, the devil, who constantly seeks to attack us, attacking the covenant, questioning if we’re really saved (when really we’re so terribly sinful).

So if Daniel 11 is a warning to us, what should our response be? How did Daniel 11 help the people of God in Jerusalem resist this attack, and how will it encourage us to resist as well?

Let’s go back to verse 32: ‘He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.’ Some were seduced, led away by flattery, as they violated the covenant - we’ve already thought about them briefly. Yet it doesn’t happen to all. Some resist - what is it about them? ‘but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.’ It’s clear that standing firm and taking action will lead to opposition, persecution, even death - it appears that the stumbling mentioned in verse 33 to 35 refers to falling in death.

This is a wake-up call - to be part of the people of God means opposition and even death (as Paul writes to Timothy, ‘all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted’ (2 Tim 3:12), and as Jesus says. ‘if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you’ (John 15:20)). As we gather today, it appears that we’re more in danger of being flattered away than of standing firm, because we have it so comfortable here.

But why is it that the Jews in that day would stand firm, and why we’re also called to stand firm in our day? What is it drives people to be committed, to stand firm and take action for the cause of truth? ‘the people who know their God shall stand firm.’

It is the people who know their God - who are confident that God is in control, that God is reigning, sovereign over all, that God is judge, and will vindicate and protect his people - not from suffering, but through suffering. (That image in 35 of the wise who stumble are refined, purified and made white is of the slain saints under the altar of God in Revelation 7:14). For us, as the covenant is attacked, as the ground and means of our faith is called into question, how much more do we still need to know our God as the grounds of our confidence and firm standing?

We know our God even clearer than Daniel could have as we look at the cross and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. The new covenant he has instituted in his blood, dying our death, giving us new life. Our salvation is secure - based on the finished work of Christ. And our enemy doesn’t like it, not one bit. You remember in Revelation 12, the dragon, the devil seeks to devour the male child, the Messiah. He is foiled, so instead goes off to make war with those who ‘keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.’

It has been said before that the church is not a cruise ship, but a warship - under attack from the world, the flesh and the devil. As we know our God better through our Bible reading, we have the confidence to stand firm in his covenant, no matter what the enemy throws at us. So what’s your response this morning? Are you in danger of being flattered away from what is yours in Christ? War all round, but you are lying on a sunlounger?

Or will you stand firm because you know your God? Getting to know him better as you daily read Scripture, pray, and watching out for the dangers.

When Antiochus attacked Jerusalem, the Maccabees revolted - and defeated him after a terrible struggle. They had a concern for God’s holiness, and for the city of God. The very last words of Daniel 11 gave them confidence that the attack would not last forever - ‘Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him.’ Enemies will arise, but they will not succeed forever.

Revelation and 2 Thessalonians (among others) look forward confidently to the end of the man of lawlessness, the antichrist. God is in control, and Jesus will be glorified by all. Armed with this confidence through the knowledge of our God, will we too stand firm and take action?

This sermon was preached in St Elizabeth's Church, Dundonald on Sunday 25th April 2010.

Sermon Audio: Daniel 5: 1-31

Here's the sermon mp3 from last Sunday morning looking at God's Graffiti from Daniel chapter 5.

Sermon: Daniel 5: 1-31 God's Graffiti

All the talk these days is of obesity and fat. At least once a week, there’ll be some survey or news report on the latest findings. Obesity among children. A rise in diabetes. Just on Thursday past, the BBC were reporting that people in Northern Ireland are becoming healthier, but obesity is also on the rise.

The focus is on your weight. Getting weighed can become a frightening thing, and the calculation of your BMI (Body Mass Index). I’ll not ask your weight - it would be rude to - but what if we were to be weighed by God? Not our body mass index, but our SSI - our soul sin index?

As we come to Daniel 5, we notice straight away that we have moved forward a few years since the last chapter - there’s now a new king, Nebuchadnezzar has died, and Belshazzar is king. Will the new king be like the last one? Last week, you might remember, finished with Nebuchadnezzar’s confession and humility. Will Belshazzar follow in his father’s footsteps? How is Belshazzar’s SSI? What’s his sin weight?

We meet Belshazzar in the context of a great feast he has organised - a thousand guests, a great time, and plenty of drink.

In order to get the party started, he orders that the gold and silver vessels - the chalices, cups, jugs and all the rest that were brought from the Temple in Jerusalem are brought out to drink from. Using these holy things which were used in the worship of God, he turns to idolatry, praising the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone. The vessels set apart for the worship of the Lord, and he uses them for idolatry.

But immediately some fingers appear, writing or engraving a message on the wall. Belshazzar is already afraid - verse 6 says his colour changed, his thoughts alarmed him, his limbs gave way and his knees knocked together. Not so great and powerful a king now, is he?

The message is there, but is unknown - just as before, the wise men of Babylon, the Chaldeans can’t understand the message, and don’t know what it is saying, despite the great rewards promised for the one who can interpret it.

A message from God, without interpretation. Yet there is someone who hasn’t forgotten the old days. The queen (probably the queen mother, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar) remembers Daniel, the one with the ‘spirit of the holy gods’ who could interpret Nebuchandezzar’s dreams. A message from God needs a man of God to interpret it.

It seems that Belshazzar knows who Daniel is - look how he greets him in verse 13: ‘You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah...’ He knows all about who Daniel was, but must have dismissed him from his position as chief of the magicians when he became king.

Daniel refuses the rewards the king offers, and begins to address the matter at hand. But rather than reading the words and explaining the message, Daniel begins talking about Belshazzar’s father instead. If you were with us last week, you might even be thinking that we’re just covering old ground again - that the story is being repeated from verses 18 to 21. He was humbled until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.

Verse 22 gives us the reason for the repeat: ‘And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven.’ Belshazzar, you might think that you’re greater than your dad - but you forget that God is even greater again - he is the one who rules over everything, and you have set yourself up against him. You have rebelled, even though you saw what happened to your father - you haven’t learnt the lesson he learnt, but have instead repeated the folly.

How did he lift himself up against God? He defiled God’s holy things, and he committed idolatry. Idolatry is praise in the wrong place. It’s praise of the created things rather than the Creator. It’s praise of dead and false things rather than the living and true God.

He praised the gods of silver and gold - which do not see or hear or know. A lump of gold isn’t going to save you. A lump of silver isn’t going to hear you. And while he praised all these, he forgot about the living God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways.

It’s a bit like working for one company, being paid by them, yet using all your time to work for another company. Or it’s like loving the gifts you received (for Valentine’s Day) but hating the one you received them from - enjoying all these good things, but turning from the good giver.

Daniel then gets to the heart of the message: four words for the king. Mene mene tekel parsin. Numbered, weighed and divided. The living God, in whose hand is the breath of Belshazzar, is the one who can bring his breath to an end. The living God is the one who judges his stewards - and Belshazzar has been judged.

Your days are numbered - your wickedness has reached its limit, you have crossed the line, and your reign will come to an end. Why? Because you have been weighed and found wanting. It’s the image of scales, and his sin is great. His SSI is huge, and his sins are piled up in the negative balance. And what will happen? His kingdom will be divided and given to others. God is the judge, the king, the one who rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom we will (21).

Notice that there is no opportunity for repentance here, as there was offered to Nebuchadnezzar in 4:27 - just the message of swift judgement. God is free to act as he will - ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion’ (Romans 9:15 quoting Exodus 33:19). God’s election and purposes stand - some to life and some to destruction.

Belshazzar follows through on the rewards he promised, but in the end, they were hollow rewards. God carries through his judgement swiftly. Darius the Mede becomes king as Babylon is overrun by the Medes and Persians that very night.

So what is this passage teaching us? What is it that we can take away today?

1 - God has no grandchildren. Belshazzar saw his father bring converted, but he rebelled all the more. Each is responsible for what they have done in the light of what they know. Belshazzar had seen the change in his father, but had continued in his own sin.

Christian parents, perhaps this is a great burden for you - as you see your children walking away from what they know. This may not be because your witness is lacking - they will make their own choices and will be responsible for them. For your part, keep praying for them, and being a witness to them.

Or if you’re the son or daughter of a Christian, don’t think that you’re all right that way. You too must turn from your sin and humble yourself as you have seen your parents humble themselves.

2 - Idolatry is foolish - we may not praise the gods of gold and silver, but to love and serve created things rather than the Creator is to turn away from him. Remember who God is, and his great power, the one in whose hand is your breath.

3 - God is concerned for his glory. Belshazzar seemed to cross the line by demeaning and defiling the holy vessels - to use them for a drunken orgy was to defile God too. How do we use the things set apart for God’s name and glory?

Some of the Corinthian Christians had fallen ill and even died due to their disrespect for the Lord’s Supper and their disrespect for the brothers and sisters - for the body (1 Cor 11:30). How do we use the things set apart for the Lord - our bodies? ‘You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.’ (1 Cor 6:19-20)

4 - God is active in history, in judgement. God reacts to Belshazzar’s wickedness and removes his reign, enabling the Medes and Persians to conquer his kingdom. Do not think that God is far off, or uninterested - that he just wound up the universe like a clock and has left it to run by itself. God is not distant - he sees the wicked in their wickedness and will judge at the proper time - whether in time or on the great day of the Lord.

God is in charge - God is the king, no matter what is happening on earth. This is the recurring message we’re seeing right through the book of Daniel - yet hopefully we’re seeing how that is worked out in different circumstances, and how God exercises his rule.

If the Lord were to weigh us, how would we come out? I’m not speaking about your body weight - but weighed as Belshazzar was weighed. Tested, and found wanting?

All of us would be found wanting. Our sins are great, and we have nothing in the other balance. Even our righteous deeds are sinful, like filthy rags before God. We have no goodness, nothing to offset the sins we have committed.

But through the grace and mercy of God, our wrongdoing can be removed, the weight of our sins taken away, through faith in the Lord Jesus, trusting in his death for our sins. He takes away the weight of sin and instead gives us his goodness, his righteousness, his obedience. This is the great exchange that we are counted righteous, and weighed down with the grace and glory of God.

How is your weight today? Are you weighed down by your sin, or by God’s goodness and grace?

This sermon was preached in St Elizabeth's Church, Dundonald on Sunday 14th February 2010.

Sermon Audio: Daniel 4: 1-37

Here's the sermon mp3 from last Sunday's sermon on Daniel 4: The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar.