STRENGHT FOR EXPLOITS
Study Text: Daniel 11:30-35
Dan 11:30-35: For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.
35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
-Three ideas are contained in verse 32, which is our topic verse. There is the thought of knowing God, being strong and doing exploits. God’s people are characterised by what they know, what they are and what they do. Believers (Christians) are different from worldly and unconverted people in these three respects - in the matter of knowing, being and doing. Notice that these three characteristics of the child of God are related, for only as we know God can we be strong; and only as we are strong can we undertake exploits in the name of the Lord. Conversely, if we are not doing exploits for God it is because we are not strong; and if we are not strong it is because we do not know God well enough. In this study we shall examine the three ideas in Daniel 11:32.
1. KNOWING GOD
- What does it mean to know God? So many claims to know God or many live on the assumptions that they know God, while in the real sense, they did not know Him at all or only know little of Him.
- It is not enough to know about Him. It is possible to know much about the Lord, His nature and attributes, and yet not to know Him personally. Rom 10:1-10: Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
- We can, of course, only come to know God through the Lord Jesus Christ – John 14:6-7: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.This is the initial sense in which we come to know God as our loving heavenly Father through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour; but we must go on to know Him progressively, for there are degrees of knowing Him.
- How do we really get to know God?
1. We get to know Him as we spend time in communion and in fellowship with Him.
- We can only really get to know anyone by spending time in his or her presence, and we can only really get to know God as we spend time alone with Him and cultivate fellowship and friendship with Him – as Enoch did, Gen 5:22-24: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
2. We get to know Him as we listen to Him speaking to us.
- When friends get together they talk and listen to one another, and thus they get to know one another; and as we wait in the presence of God regularly, He speaks to us in and through His Word, and we hear His voice and, like Mary, really come to know Him. Luke 10:38-42: Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
3. We get to know Him by speaking to Him.
- Fellowship is mutual; it is not a one-sided affair, and when we come into the presence of the Lord and open our hearts and our lips to Him we get to know Him, as David did. Ps 55:16-17: As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
4. We get to know Him by observing His ways of working.
- We get to know God as we see what He does and how He does it, and in this respect we can only get to know Him gradually in the daily paths of practical experience as we follow on to know Him. 2 Peter 3:18: But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
5. We get to know God as we fellowship regularly with the people of God.
- Healthy fellowship regularly with the people of God would help us in knowing God. In this gathering of the people of God we are being encourage through the word of God, and to remain steadfast in serving the Lord. No wonder the Bible says we should not forsake the assembly of one another, because we have a lot to benefit in our relationship with God by doing so. Heb 3:12-14: Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
- All this should make us ask ourselves: How much do I know Him? For the measure of our knowing…will determine the measure of our being…and our doing!
2. BEING STRONG
- The more we know Him the stronger we shall be. Shall we be strong physically? We should remember that He is the source of our physical life as well as of our spiritual life. Shall we be strong morally? Yes – as Daniel was when he was cast into the lions’ den; and as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were when they were cast into the fiery furnace. Shall we be strong spiritually? Yes. Eph 6:10-12: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
- As we go on to know the Lord:
1. We shall become stronger in our confidence in Him.
- We shall be filled with a holy assurance; we shall have confidence in God and enabling to endure in adversity, trial, sorrow and any kind of affliction. Rom 8:33-39: Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2. We shall become stronger in our power to meet and overcome temptation and evil.
- How weak we are sometimes! Why? Because we do not know the Lord enough; but as we get to know Him better we shall receive more power to meet and to overcome those things that are displeasing to Him.
- The life of Joseph is a very challenging one. He refused to give in to the wife of his master despite the persistent compelling and enticing persuasion. This strength came as a result of his knowledge of God. Gen 39:7-14: And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
8 But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
14 That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:
3. We shall become stronger in our ability to be a strength to others.
- A Christian once prayed, “Lord, make me as Thine arm, upon which the troubled and tried can lean!” Is that the kind of prayer we should pray and that God will answer? Indeed it is!
- Thus, as we know God we become strong. And when we are strong, then what happens? We will do great exploits for the Lord. Isa 40:28-31: Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
3. DOING EXPLOITS
- An exploit is: “A heroic deed of achievement”; a great and daring feat. The Bible is full of illustrations of men and women who did exploits for God. Think of Gideon and his 300 men (Judges 7:19-23); Samson (Judges 14:5-6); Elijah on Carmel (1 Kings 18:36-39); and see God’s picture gallery of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. Think also of the apostles and the early Christians who hazarded their lives for the name of the Lord (Acts 15:26), and turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6)!
-What are mighty exploits? What are these great things that people who know their God do? Often we define things according to the world's definitions. We think mighty exploits are great deeds done. We think of people whose actions have impacted the world. We think of the glory and the fame.
-Truly mighty exploits - ones that count for eternity - can only be done by people who know their God. It then follows that we must look for mighty exploits from God's point of view, not man's.
- If we really know God and are thereby made strong in Him, we also shall do exploits, and we shall do them in two ways:
1. By prayer. We shall find ourselves walking in the footsteps of men like Elijah who through prayer brought the judgement of the absence of rain upon the idolatrous nation for a while. James 5:17-18: Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
2. By Witnessing. We shall find ourselves walking in the footsteps of the early Christians, whose hearts were so full of the love of Christ that their lips were constantly filled with the message of the gospel as they went from place to place witnessing to the power and grace of God.
- What does God look for in mighty exploits?
1. Love
Jesus gave the first commandment as loving God completely. All mighty exploits flow from a love of God. Any other motive is self-seeking and renders great actions eternally impotent. Our love for God must be first. We act out of our desire to please him in all actions - great and small.
2. Obedience
God looks for men and women, boys and girls, who will obey His instructions. Too many people want to decide for themselves what is right or wrong. That was the failure of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is not a choice God has given mankind. He has already declared what is right and wrong. Our choice is simply obedience or disobedience.
3. Submission
Mighty exploits can only be done by people in submission both to God and to His leadership. They know what it is like to be under authority, and so they have authority.
4. Self-Denial
To do mighty exploits we must consider the cause of our King greater than our own lives. We must be willing to put it all on the line. We cannot seek our own glory, fame, or satisfaction. We are to be consumed with the Kingdom of God.
5. Principles
Mighty exploits can only be done by people who will stand on Godly principles no matter what the cost. They do not violate the Covenant. They will not be moved by selfish ambition. They will not compromise. They will treat everyone ethically and fairly no matter what the cost.
-What do mighty exploits look like? Jesus did His greatest work on the cross. To the world it looked like failure, to God it was the greatest victory possible.
-One of Job's mightiest exploits was when he praised God after he lost everything, including his health. Mighty exploits are done by people who have the love of God expressed in their community.
-Yes, they will oppose evil, but it is far more than that. Remember that evil is overcome by doing good. The end never justifies the means. The ends and the means must both be righteous. We can't go around shooting abortion doctors, for example, even through they are murderers. How many of us have had such doctors into our homes for a friendly meal?
-The price we pay for doing what is right may be high - sword, flame, captivity. In the long run; however, we will win and the Lord will abundantly reward us for any sacrifice on His behalf.
-We need to clear our minds of the clutter that often clouds our vision. We need to begin to see things how God sees them and to express the unconditional love of God. Then we will do mighty exploits that will echo for eternity even if they are unrecognized on earth. This is not something for super saints, but for everyone one of God's people.
