Daniel Part #3 Discovering the Dream of the King 3-8-09

Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 8 views
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →

Daniel #3:

Discovering the Dream of the King

3-8-09

2     In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologersa to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.b”

There was a crisis in the land—Explain prophetic dream

·                    Partial/warped understanding of the supernatural

·                    The KING and the Kingdoms were getting SHAKEN

·                    Shaking was on the nation of Israel—displaced in slavery

·                    Shaking was coming on the nation of Babylon

o       God began a shaking process in the Kings of Babylon in Daniel Chapter 2

o       Within Daniel see a lot of the CLASH of KINGDOMS

The King of Kings SHAKES Kingdoms and Kings

·                    He’s not intimidated

·                    “Lord of Heaven laughs”

·                    Hollywood shakes its fist at God—God of heaven laughs

·                    Government shakes its fist at God—God of heaven laughs

·                    Man shakes fist at God—I’ll do finances MY way—God of heaven laughs

“I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.b”

4 Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic,c “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”

When there is a shaking—There is a Hunger for Something REAL

 

There was a hunger in the King for the Spirit

·                     There was a hunger for something REAL that would meet the need

    • Shaken—scared—overwhelmed

·                     He was tired of the 'tricks of the surface spiritual'

·                     He felt a sense of crisis within the dream

·                     The dream pointed to the overthrowing of kingdoms

·                     He didn't need a magicians trick or illusion

·                     He needed something REAL

Same with TODAY:

When there is a shaking—There is a Hunger for Something REAL

The world is spiritually hungry

·                     They are looking for something real

·                     There is a weariness in hearts that are tired of magician's tricks

·                     They want the real thing

·                     Keith and Melody Green Testimony

7 Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”

8 Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.”

The King called their bluff

·                     The Shaking Calls our Bluff

·                     It isn't a time for who is cutest/smartest

·                     What the King hungered for was an encounter with real power

OUR King-- the King of heaven and earth is also hungry for something REAL

·                     We don't bring any power to the table

·                     Only our flawed weakness

·                     But what is the REAL thing He wants?

·                     Our HEARTS—DEEPER—DEVELOP

·                     Radical Faith--Abandonment

·                     All of our selves

When the crisis hits

·                     Many 'posers in the faith' want to perform their 'tricks'

·                     But surface performance isn't what God is after

·                     Totally surrendered and devoted HEARTS

    • Example:  Corrie??  

Robin Williams heart surgery

·         Sad for the man

·         Oscars—popularity isn’t going to save him—Only God can

·         Eternally—ultimately

And when God receives our totally devoted hearts in the midst of the need

·                     Like when Joshua said 'as for me and my house we will serve the Lord . . .'

·                     THEN something POWERFUL happens between us and the Lord

·                     Heaven opens-- and we are changed forever

·                     The crisis is resolved--and we emerge ESTABLISHED as His sons/daughters

ON the other side of this crisis Daniel emerged ESTABLISHED in God

·                     He was walking into a divine appointment

·                     It was a test that would produce something

10 The astrologers answered the king, “There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men.”

12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.

Why was Daniel marked to be slain?

·                     Because he and his friends were marked amongst the fortune tellers/magicians of the kingdom

·                     Daniel and friends didn't buy into the deception of this sin

·                     But God placed them in this godless place to be a light for Him

This set the stage for a 'power encounter'

·                     The King was hungry for TRUE power

·                     He was hungry for SPIRITUAL power

·                     He was looking in the wrong place--but his hunger was sincere

So Many times we miss it

  • We think, ‘They’re evil’ * NO—they’re hungry
  • Evil is offering them a LIE
  • Will you love them—pray for them—make room for them?

Now WHY was the King so angry????   Even in his anger

·                     We see a searching heart within the king

·                     He wanted REAL power

·                     REAL truth

·                     Real encounter

After spending years and years surrounded by the false gods of darkness

·                     He was at a vulnerable place

·                     He needed the REAL answer

    • His Life was being threatened—his KINGDOM was threatened

·                     But he discovered the thing he had trusted in for his entire life didn't provide the answer at all

·                     Crisis exposes that: who can you REALLY trust? Who will b there 4U

He wanted to 'kill' all the false teaching/leading in his life

·         There’s something about CRISIS

·         Makes you DESPISE the bad stuff

·         Diabetes friend—sugar = ‘rat poison’

·                     He was in darkness--and responding in his flesh

·                     But behind that response, was a hungry heart for truth

It's Fascinating that God uses places of desperate hunger

·                     To be the setting in which He reveals Himself

·                     Many times God allows us to get desperate so He can REVEAL Himself

In the midst of this Daniel is revealed for the first time before a King

·                     And he is released into his public ministry

·                     And the TRUE voice of God is heard for the first time in the land

14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15 He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.

In the crisis Daniel had access to the King

When we are in Crisis--shaking We need to access OUR King . . .

17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

Daniel Didn't fight this battle alone

·                     He gathered a team—Daniel activated his team

·                     There is POWER in prayers of agreement

18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

MERCY is the key in the midst of the crisis

·                     There’s something about The decree of mercy that releases the provision of God

·                     It releases PROTECTION

·                     It releases His grace

·                     It releases ANSWERS, resource

Something is set in motion the moment we cry for 'mercy'

·                     A mixture of our humility

·                     Our weakness

·                     Our acknowledgment only HE will be able to meet the need

·                     It ACTIVATES something out of the Father heart of God on our behalf

And as we stay in a posture of asking for MERCY--

·                     It releases His grace to us

19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.

In the midst of his NIGHT of need

·                     The vision was revealed.

Interesting how

NEW vision is often birthed in the midst of our NIGHT of NEED

There is a creative element in the Kingdom of God

·                     That THRIVES with new vision

·                     In the midst of the night of our need

BUT we must properly align with God in the night of need

·                     Access the King

·                     Activating and gathering our Team around us

·                     Praying For Mercy

·                     Listening/waiting in the night

·                     Watching for the new vision, even when it costs us FLESH

    • Our sleep * This is BIGGIE:  Help me God but don’t make me STRETCH
    • Help me lose weight—don’t make me exercise/diet
    • Bless vitamins curse the calories . . . !

·                     Pushing past our weakness

·                     And into His strength

·                     As we wait,

·                     As we watch

·                     As we listen

NEW Vision is birthed

  • Some of you might be in night of need . . . Seasons of Crisis and Shaking Can Release the SUPERNATURAL when the people of God Align—cry for mercy—wait . . . (Develop)
  • When you see a season of crisis/shaking—watch for the timing of God
    • There is OFTEN a release of the supernatural
    • In the midst of the suffering
  • Africa/Zimbabwe  team Testimony in midst of need/crisis
  • They reached beyond—let’s scrape by
  • Built building debt free
  • Develop
  • Dream of God big—architecture—IT—professional musician

Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.

Wisdom and Power are HIS

·                     How many know the kind of wisdom Daniel needed wasn’t world wisdom?

·                     Daniel made the declaration that WISDOM and POWER belong to God

·                     It TRUMPS the world's wisdom and power

·                     IT cancels/overtakes

·                     It OUTLASTS it OUTDOES the wisdom and the power of the world

·                     It is GREATER/stronger and mightier than any puny force of man

·                     This wisdom and power didn't come from Daniel-- he had nothing to do with it

·                     It came from God alone

·                     And Daniel made a declaration of praise and worship to God for it 

21        He changes times and seasons;

  • God CHANGES the season/time
  • GOD is the One that CHANGES times and seasons
  • God changes TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • He who lives outside time in Eternity
  • Enters into the timeline in which we live—brings SHIFT/Change

he sets up kings and deposes them.

·                     He is the FINAL Authority—Again, GOD is the ONE

·                     Period

·                     He sets up and deposes

He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22     He reveals deep and hidden things;

he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. 23     I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you,

you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

Daniel praised God for the wisdom/insight that was given to him

·                     "You have made known to us the DREAM of the King".

For Daniel it was a life or death moment

·                     He needed to know the dream of this king

And though THAT king was wicked/evil

·                     God is a RIGHTEOUS King

·                     And when we are in the crisis of life—when SHAKING comes

·                     What we REALLY need is to KNOW the Dream of the King

When you know the dream of the King

·                     Brings Vision

    • See different context
    • See BEYOND the limits
    • Looking through the eyes of HIM who is limitless

·                     Hope/faith/peace

    • Can you imagine how Daniel felt after revelation? Joy—Confidence—Awe—Peace—Authority*
    • When you have the DREAM of the King you will have a sense of JOY—confidence—DIRECTION that the world doesn’t have

·                     It brings promotion

·                     You move into new realms of authority and blessing

·                     It cancels our death sentence

    • It cancels a DEBT we can’t pay on our own!!!!!! ·                     And opens up doors to a new life we never imagined
    • I’m sure when Daniel taken into captivity wasn’t thinking, I’m going to RULE in this place * But that’s what GOD saw

It brings new levels of access

·                     Daniel's life wasn't perfect after this

·                     The lion's den still lay before him

·                     But he had the King's ear

·                     And with future King's he had the king's HEART as well 

When we take the time to find the dream of the King

·                     We have the King's EAR

·                     We have the King's heart for our lives and our world around us

Last week shared some of the Dream of the King for the River

  • Reach more—Advance * Special Needs
  • King’s dream different than world
  • World—survive
  • Kingdom—THRIVE—Dominion
  • Africa testimony—Zimbabwe
    • Debt free building
    • We’re not going to just build a building—going to do it debt free
    • Not going to just survive—multiply
    • Funding Health system for nation

In your night of crisis

·                     Will you take time to find the dream of the King?

What is the dream of the King for creation right now?

·                     Is it jobs? Finance?

·                     No--it's SOULS

·                     It's the nations

·                     It's His BRIDE

And though there seems to be a night of need

·                     And a crisis on the land

·                     There is STILL a dream of the King

·                     Waiting to be discovered

·                     A dream that will bring promotion

·                     Access

·                     Influence

·                     Power—Supernatural Release

·                     To bless the generations

Will we search for it?

·                     Will we gather friends around us to seek for it in our night of need?

·                     Will we cry for mercy and humble ourselves before the Living God

·                     Will we listen--even when it's costing us sleep

·                     Will we press IN

·                     Will we press THRU?

We need to find the dream of the King


----

a Or Chaldeans; also in verses 4, 5 and 10

b Or was

b Or was

c The text from here through chapter 7 is in Aramaic.

Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more