The Dream Giver 2 Series

Text: Daniel 2:24-49, Title: The Dream Giver 2, Date/Place: NRBC, 4/19/09, PM

A. Opening illustration: He’s the Ruler of Righteousness! Ill file,

B. Background to passage: we are picking up in the middle of a story here. God has orchestrated events that made the king dream a dream, be disturbed by the dream, and command all the wise men to tell him the dream then the interpretation. God has spoken to N and Daniel and created an impossible situation that only He can deliver from. Daniel prays, then praises, then God delivers, as we will see tonight. Remember that the theme of the entire book of Daniel is God’s absolute sovereignty over all things to His glory.

C. Main thought: And here again God shows N and the captive peoples that He alone is God!

A. The Revealer of Secrets (v. 27-28)

1. I love Daniel’s first statement to N—“but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets.” Again the truth is reiterated (as it will be a number of times in this text) that Daniel is not responsible for this revelation, God is. Daniel is in a very respectful way telling the king and all the hearers that all the gods of the Babylonian Pantheon are nothing, and only Yahweh is God. He directly attributes what we said was implied in the last message-these dreams came from God and only the interpretation can come from God. And the point of the dream is that God rules and reigns and raises up and tears down. It is a reminder to all of us that God is the One that knows and directs the future.

2. Ps 139:6, Job 11:7-9, 42:3, Rom 11:33, 1 Cor 2:10, 16, Pro 2:6-7, Jam 1:5,

3. Illustration: Two weeks later, he called the National Weather Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?" "Absolutely," the man replied. "It’s going to be one of the coldest winters ever." "How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked. The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting wood like crazy." Why don’t you ever see the headline, "Psychic Wins Lottery"? 5% or about 11 million American adults consulted a psychic or medium for spiritual guidance in the past month.

4. Do we ever want to know the future? Anybody watch the evening news and weather? Stock marker speculation? Gun purchases. Do you ever call the psychic hotline or read your horoscope? God is the only true means of discerning the secrets about your life! Need help? God is the one to turn to. Many times we ask for the advice of a dozen friends before we get around to asking the One who really knows. Let God be your #1 source for spiritual guidance. And also know that if you are born again, you have the Spirit of God living within you. The NT says that you have the mind of Christ, and can know the deep things of God as you search with the Spirit’s guidance. And also remember that if you do seek the Lord and you do get it right, it is not you that did it, but Him!

B. The Promoter to Power (v. 37-40)

1. As I mentioned earlier, the whole point of giving the dream and the interpretation of the dream was to demonstrate to N that God is in control of kings and kingdoms. Daniel explicitly tells N explicitly that He has power, glory, etc, only because God did it. And the dream is that the kingdom of Babylon will come to an end, and God will raise up three more earthly kingdoms and a spiritual one in their places. Tell what they are. And He even describes them to an extent. Politics, nations, wars, weather, and everything else are under His loving sovereign watch care. His control extends to all aspects of life. It is God who works His will in this world to bring about His determined ends.

2. Dan 2:21, 4:17, Pro 8:15-16, Luke 1:51-52, Jer 27:5-7, Acts 17:26, John 19:11, John 15:5

3. Illustration: “We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety. This is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need to have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy, but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.” –Tozer,

4. Anything that you have in life—power, job, intelligence, children, family, possessions, strength, athletic ability, business skill, education, experience, etc., you were given. There is no room for pride, for in and of yourself you deserved nothing. Everything is grace. Every gift comes from above. There is joy in possessing nothing according to Tozer. Ever been promoted, God did it. Need to be promoted, God does it. Hold to things too tightly and He might take them away so that He might have first place in your heart. Also remember that no election results come in without God’s sovereign oversight. At the perfect times He will promote, and then at the perfect time He will remove. We trust in so many things.