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Encouragement for the journey from God’s Word.
Today's Scripture: Daniel 7 / Proverbs 28:23-24
Music credit: "Awaken the Dawn" by Stanton Lanier, https://www.stantonlanier.com/
CCLI #1760549
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- Well, a good Monday morning to you. We're on the last day of October of 2022, and wrapping up yet another month.
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- Just two months left in this year. Isn't it incredible? Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?
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- Well, today we're reading in our Bible reading plan in Daniel chapter 7, and there's a lot that could be said about this chapter, but I just want to zero in on one idea, really.
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- You know, Daniel has this vision of these four beasts that come up from the earth, and each of these beasts, they represent some different nation.
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- And first one that comes up was a lion, and then, you know, the lion comes up, does its thing, very, very powerful, and so forth, and then another beast comes up and takes the place of the the lion, and it was a bear, and so forth.
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- So these four beasts. Now, one of the things this vision indicates to us is that, you know,
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- Daniel saw prophetically in this vision what we know to be true, shall we say historically, from just looking at world history, and that is that the kingdoms of this world, they come and go.
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- A powerful nation, a nation develops power and greatness and becomes exceedingly powerful in the world, and can conquer all kinds of other nations, and so forth, and so on.
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- I mean, think, for example, of Great Britain. You know, there was a time when the sun never set on the
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- British Empire, and they could make that boast because of its...I mean, it was incredibly great and powerful empire.
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- Not so much today. So, I mean, we know this, historically. We know this from just, you know, looking at world history.
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- Powerful kingdoms come, and then powerful kingdoms go. They end up being taken over by an even more powerful nation, and subjugated to that nation that took them over.
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- But Daniel's vision also demonstrates that there is a kingdom coming that will be an eternal kingdom.
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- It is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in his kingdom, all the earth is going to serve him.
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- All of the earth is going to be subject to him, and his will be an everlasting kingdom. There won't be another one that rises up and puts him down.
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- So listen to the vision of Daniel regarding this kingdom of Christ.
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- He says, I was watching, in verses 13 and 14, I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the
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- Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven, he came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
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- Then to him, that is, the Son of Man, was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.
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- His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed.
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- And then at the end of the chapter, verse 27, the end of his vision, it says,
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- Then the kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the
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- Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
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- Well, this is a glory, there's a lot of things that can be said about this passage, but about this kingdom.
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- There's a lot of debate about the nature of it, when it's coming, and so on and so forth. But here's the thing, here's the thing,
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- I wanted to zero in on the main thing, and the simple thing, and that is that the kingdoms of this world will be owned by, they will become the kingdoms of our
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- Lord, of our Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.
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- He will rule over all of them. But there's also this interesting point in verse 27, that the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the
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- Most High. So if you're one of Christ's people, you're one of God's people, one of the saints of the
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- Most High, then this is your kingdom. This is your inheritance.
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- This is what you have to look forward to in eternity. So it's reassuring to know, when we look at our world, and really our world's in a state of flux.
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- There were empires that were great 150 years ago, that are not so great today.
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- There's all kinds of stuff going on in Europe. There's struggle for power, and authority, and dominance.
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- Who's going to come out on top here? We don't have a crystal ball to know the answer to that question, do we?
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- And we don't have a whole lot of revelation to dogmatically say what's going to be the outcome of this present crisis in Europe?
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- And what about China? And what about this rogue nation in North Korea?
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- And what about the Middle East, and the Iranians, and so on and so forth?
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- Well, one thing we can say with confidence, based upon Daniel's vision, all of these nations that are grasping for power and dominion, they're going to lose it.
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- They may get some for a while, but they're going to lose it. It's all going to become subservient to the
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- King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, the Son of Man, to whom will be given all the nations of the earth.
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- All dominions will be subjected to him. And so we look forward to that day, and we say, even so, come,
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- Lord Jesus. So Father, we do thank you for this wonderful hope and promise that is set before us in this vision, that all the nations of this earth are going to bow down before the
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- King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. May it come, and may it come soon, we pray, and we ask this in Jesus' name, and for his sake,
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- Amen. All right, well have a good rest of your Monday. Hope your week gets off to a great start.